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Monkey paw's finger curls: You can see them. They're EVERYWHERE. People you thought you knew and loved have numbers greater than zero over their head. Despite your horror, you try to make use of the power to try to bring them to justice. No one believes you. You have the Cassandra's curse of the status quo. 'Steve? What are you talking about? He'd never do anything like that. Butter wouldn't melt. You should probably shut your mouth before we get offended about what you said about our friend and kick the shit out of you. Know what I mean?' You watch the news and see everyone who has a position of power over you and your loved ones has a non-zero number. You try to escape into fictional media but your favorite actors are non-zeroes, the author pictures in your favorite books show non-zeroes, the album sleeves of your favorite bands show non-zeroes.
Knowledge can be a burden.
Sow the seeds of suspicion. "Bet he is a pedo". Don't be too pushy. But maybe it will help someone speak out?
That's not how monkey's paw twists work.
Justice can be brought without anyone believing a thing you say.
Ehh. Serial killers tend to only get so far.
I heard in america, that FBI says there are few serial killers around that never get caught. They probably have a system or lack thereof.
Given that most solved murders are cases where the victim knew the killer, go out and kill random people with non zero values. Spread it around.
You may eventually get caught. How many is enough to say it was worth it?
Yes, there's no real chance they've all been caught. I'd guess risk increases with rate of killing, though, and the status of their victims.
Then as you live in horror and disgust, you see people's numbers rise day after day, unable to prove to others their horrendous crimes.
And then you befriend a stranger on the internet. You are nervous at first but you can't see them, so you can imagine their number is zero. You hit it off. They're amazing. Funny. Sweet. Kind. Hardworking. The relationship turns into a distant romance. Then you finally meet. You had no idea the number could go that high.
Or… you meet up and are flabbergasted by their ZERO. You could not be happier. You get extremely close, get married, have a child together… twins! You’re out overnight with friends, and your partner’s friend comes to visit. You return the next day to find the kids sleeping in and your beloved and their friend having a nice brunch, laughing with each other gleefully with the number two over each of their heads.
Or x2
You meet up for the first time in real life, and they do not have a number. How could this be? EVERYONE has a number, thank the gods they’re almost always zero! You’re immediately suspicious of their intentions and past actions. They’re not acting anything like they did online… they’re actually acting really fuckin weird, which greatly discomforts you.
You grapple with this internal conundrum, but you had failed to notice something crucial: The instant you saw each other, their eyes so briefly darted up, looking above your head.
Wow, that's way more depressing than I could imagine.