Episode 15: Punishments, Jacob (Part 1)

---

Daniel opened the door to a windowless room. Only four concrete walls and a dim light hanging from the ceiling, barely illuminating the center. In the middle, a wooden table with a chair. Nothing else. Jacob entered slowly, looking around with distrust. The Master came in behind him carrying a box. He set it on the table with a dry thud. Inside were blank sheets, several pens, and bags full of drugs organized by type: crystal, coke, pills. Jacob looked at them with his eyes shining. Daniel took out another smaller box. He opened it and dropped several dildos of different sizes and thicknesses onto the table. Some realistic, others smooth, all intimidating. Jacob swallowed. Then Daniel walked to the corner and uncovered something covered with a tarp: a complete sex machine, with adjustable harnesses, programmable speeds, and even the option to place two dildos at the same time. Jacob felt his cock harden instantly. “This is yours while you’re here,” Daniel said without looking at him, walking toward a small refrigerator in the other corner. He opened it. It was completely full: sandwiches, fruit, yogurts, cheeses, cold cuts, drinks. And at the back, several large cucumbers, thick eggplants, and ripe bananas. Daniel closed the door. “Oh, and this too.” He took several thick books from another bag: Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Heidegger’s Being and Time, Camus’s The Stranger. He left them stacked in one corner of the table. Jacob looked at them briefly, but his attention remained fixed on the drugs and the machine.

Daniel crossed his arms and stared at him. “You can do whatever you want in here. Get high. Fuck yourself with whatever. Eat until you burst. I don’t give a fuck. But you don’t leave here until you give me an essay.” Jacob looked up. “A philosophical essay. Long. Where you explore who you really are. Why you reached this point. Why you’re here. What decisions brought you here. It has to be intellectual, deep, argued… but also degenerate. I want to see you there, Two. I want you to strip yourself bare on those pages.” He pointed under the table. There was a red button embedded in the floor. “When you have it ready, press that. I’ll come read it. But think very carefully before you do.” He came closer, leaning in until he was inches from his face. “Because if what you give me doesn’t satisfy me, if it isn’t enough, I’ll take something from this room. And only I will decide how long this goes on.”

Jacob felt a chill. “And if… if it’s good?” Daniel barely smiled. “If it’s good enough… I’ll consider giving you your life back.” Jacob’s eyes widened. He didn’t fully understand what that meant, but the possibility excited him. Daniel straightened, walked toward the door, and before leaving said without turning around: “Time is running, philosopher.” CLANK. The door closed. Jacob was left alone. He looke...