THE NOTIFICATION
898 Words
The first thing Tobi noticed was the silence.
Not the normal kind—the kind that sits politely in a room.
This one felt… wrong. Like the world had taken a breath and forgotten to let it go.
He looked up from his phone.
The classroom was still noisy—chairs scraping, people arguing, someone laughing too loudly at something that wasn’t funny. Normal.
But his phone wasn’t.
The screen glowed brighter than usual, like it had swallowed light and was struggling to keep it inside.
A new app sat there.
No icon. Just a black square.
No name… until it flickered.
LEVEL ZERO
Tobi frowned.
“I didn’t download this.”
“Download what?” a voice said beside him.
Ada.
She leaned over his shoulder, her braids falling slightly forward, eyes sharp like she was always solving a puzzle no one else noticed.
Tobi tilted the phone slightly. “This.”
She went quiet.
Not curious. Not confused.
Quiet.
“…You have it too?” she asked.
That was enough to make his chest tighten.
“You mean—”
Her phone buzzed.
Both of them looked down at the same time.
Same app.
Same black glow.
Like it had been waiting for them.
📱 WELCOME PLAYER
The message appeared at the same time on both screens.
Below it:
TASK 1: Walk 1,000 steps
REWARD: +100 POINTS
PENALTY: None
Tobi let out a small laugh.
“This is what scared you? It’s just one of those fitness apps.”
Ada didn’t laugh.
“Did you install it?” she asked.
“No.”
“Me neither.”
They stared at each other for a second longer than necessary.
Something unspoken passed between them.
Not fear.
Recognition.
“Race you,” Tobi said suddenly, standing up.
Ada blinked. “What?”
“To finish it first.”
For a moment, she looked like she wanted to say no.
Then, slowly, a small smile appeared.
“You’re on.”
They walked fast at first.
Then faster.
Then it turned into something else entirely.
A race through corridors. Down staircases. Across the school compound like two people being chased by something invisible.
Tobi didn’t even know why he cared.
He just knew he had to win.
And somehow…
He did.
His phone buzzed.
He stopped, breathing hard, sweat clinging to his shirt.
📱 TASK COMPLETE
+100 POINTS
Ada reached him seconds later.
Her expression wasn’t annoyed.
It was… calculating.
“You don’t run that fast,” she said.
“I just did.”
“No,” she said quietly. “You don’t.”
That’s when it happened.
A second notification.
📱 TASK 2: Make someone cry
REWARD: +500 POINTS
PENALTY: LOSS
The air shifted.
Tobi felt it.
Like the game had just stopped pretending.
“This is stupid,” he said quickly. “I’m not doing that.”
Ada didn’t answer.
He looked at her.
She was staring at her phone… but not like before.
Her expression had hardened.
Focused.
“You’re not seriously thinking about it,” Tobi said.
She looked up.
And for the first time, there was something dangerous in her eyes.
“What if it’s not optional?” she asked.
Tobi scoffed. “Then I’ll just ignore it.”
“Okay.”
Too fast.
Too easy.
That answer didn’t sit right.
They walked back in silence.
But something had changed.
The space between them felt… stretched.
Like a thread pulled too tight.
Later that evening, Tobi lay on his bed, scrolling through his phone.
The app was still there.
Waiting.
Watching.
He hadn’t touched Task 2.
Didn’t plan to.
Then his phone buzzed again.
📱 WARNING
TASK FAILURE IMMINENT
His chest tightened.
“Relax,” he muttered to himself. “It’s just a game.”
Another buzz.
📱 PENALTY ACTIVATED
The lights went out.
Everything.
Fan. Charger. Even the streetlights outside his window.
Darkness swallowed the room whole.
Tobi sat up.
“NEPA?” he called out.
No answer.
No sound.
No anything.
Then, slowly… his phone lit up.
The only light in the room.
📱 YOU LOST SOMETHING
His heart started beating faster.
“What did I lose?”
The screen flickered.
Then displayed a single word:
📱 TRUST
At that exact moment…
His phone rang.
Ada.
He answered immediately.
“Ada, are you seeing—”
“Why did you do it?” she snapped.
Tobi froze.
“Do what?”
“You think I wouldn’t find out?” she said, her voice shaking—not with fear, but anger.
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Don’t lie to me, Tobi.”
The call ended.
Tobi stared at his phone.
Confused.
Then his screen changed again.
📱 PLAYER ADA: TASK COMPLETE
+500 POINTS
The room felt colder.
She did it.
And somehow…
He was the one who paid for it.
Tobi slowly sat back down.
The game wasn’t random.
It was connecting them.
Messing with them.
Turning them against each other.
And somewhere deep inside…
A thought crept in.
Quiet.
Dangerous.
If she can betray me that fast…
…what happens when the game gets worse?
The phone buzzed again.
📱 NEW MESSAGE UNLOCKED
Not from the game.
From Ada.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
Tobi stared at the message.
Longer than he should have.
Because part of him…
didn’t know whether to believe her.
And another part…
didn’t want to.
- Writer
