You feel both excited and scared, as you kneel in front of her. She very much enjoys you in this state, the devilish grin giving that away. The touch of her soft hands on your neck sends a shiver down your spine. She let's go with one hand, reaching for the collar on her desk. The collar's fabric feels soft on your skin. It also vaguely smells like lavender, probably from having been washed recently. It goes click as the buckle connects on the back of your neck. You could have identified the collar even with your eyes closed, even among the many collars she has for you. It is made from jeans fabric, but dyed dark red. This makes it stand out more against your skin. It also has an additional feature that you added when making the collar: The buckle has a magnetic lock that, when activated, prevents you from opening it without her permission and key. Usually you don't get the key however, and she will just do the unlocking herself.
Today, you will get an additional piece of equipment. She grabs an AirTag, a custom made holder, and a padlock from the same table. You can feel her index finger on your chin, pushing your head up. You react by raising your head, exposing the head, but more importantly, the ring in front of your collar. To which, with another click, the AirTag inside the holder attaches with the padlock. You are now trackable by her, in close range down to the centimeter, when further away, it depends how many phones are nearby. The more devices close by that can relay the location the more accurate the tracking will be.
She unpacks yet another device. It looks like a black box with two metallic strips on the bottom of the case, to be strapped to a limb using elastic velcro. She gestures for you to extend your arm to do exactly that. The metal strips feel cold as they touch your upper arm. As the device is strapped down tightly. This device is also your lose-condition for today's game: When she gets close enough to connect to the device over Bluetooth, she can trigger an electric shock right into your arm.
She gives you a choice. You can either take your phone with you or leave it behind. Taking your phone with you would offer access to navigation in this unknown city, at the cost of significantly improving the AirTag tracking ability. Leaving it behind would make you stealthier however. You decide on leaving your phone behind, as you need any bit of tracking inaccuracy you can get.
She gestures for you to get up. As you do, she hands you a bottle of water, and makes you recap the ground rules: You're allowed to go wherever you seem fit, the tracker and shocker are off limits for you to mess with, and if you're not found by midnight, head to the train station to be picked up.
With that, you get kicked out the front door. Five minutes. That's all the head start you get in this. So you start going. Towards the city center for now, as you start to debate where specifically you will go to seek hiding. One of the more obvious spots would be a park, not many people, and if there are, they are spread out. But also due to the wide open area, it would be easy to spot you in broad daylight. A less obvious choice would be a shopping mall. While yes, there are more phones there to improve tracking performance, those phones might have worse location tracking due to the concrete building. And even then, the multiple floors make you harder to find, even with exact coordinates. So you decide to go to the shopping mall, which thankfully, almost every road sign on the road you are on has directions to it.
About five minutes after you left, she starts searching for you. You don't know much about how she is planning on catching you. You don't even know what mode of transport she uses. Which makes it significantly harder to plan a route. You decide that roads without tram lines and with less traffic will probably be your best bet. Which sounds great on paper, but your lack of navigation means that you are also heavily reliant on traffic signs. Of which the side streets have significantly fewer. So you do end up having to walk over to the main street to check directions every so often anyway.
In the end, that does work out fine, and you arrive at the mall without seeing her once. Now you have to decide on a strategy though. The safest bet would definitely be to constantly move, probably in the lowest floors of the mall with the worst signal.
You spend what you think is approximately half an hour strolling through various clothing stores, trying out winter coats that definitely don't fit your style, looking at watches that cost more than your income, and admiring camera lenses that won't even fit your camera. You are constantly nervous, checking your surroundings, making sure nobody follows you. Her in particular. But you don't see a sign of her. Though she is probably getting closer.
While strolling around, you see something shiny between the cushions of a try-out bench of the shoe store. Wedged in between there is a euro coin! Since you left the house without a wallet, this is the first and only piece of currency you have. It's not much, but maybe it will buy you a small treat at the bakery. There's just one problem with this: The bakery is on the upper floor, which means, taking the escalator and exposing yourself to the views of the entire mall.
You decide to take the risk, taking the shortest path to the next escalator. That is when it happens. She is taking the escalator next to you. But downstairs. Your eyes meet, she starts to grin. You have never dashed up an escalator this quickly in your life. You need to get out of there, fast. Hopefully outside of Bluetooth range of the shocker. Your best bet seems to be the parking garage: Cars, concrete, bad tracking. You spot the sign on the ceiling, and run out the side of the mall, past all the people queuing to validate their parking tickets.
Arriving in the parking garage, you are surprised by how empty it is, and by how there doesn't appear to be an easy way out. There appear to be stairs and an elevator on the other side of the park deck, but next to you is an up-ramp with an EXIT sign on it. You decide to ignore the sign prohibiting humans from walking up it, and run to the upper deck.
One deck higher, you glance over your shoulder to see if you are being followed by her. If she managed to catch up. It does not seem so.
You hear the door opening in the park deck below you. Is it her? You don't have time to think. Best to follow the EXIT signs.
So you follow them up, multiple up-ramps, till you are at the very top of the parking garage. You do now understand it's construction, there is the down-ramp up here, leading down the side of the parking garage in a big spiral.
Which, doesn't really help you much. You are now on the topmost park deck, somewhat cornered. Also, your lungs are burning and you are exhausted. You need to find a way out of here. Preferably without walking.
You walk over to the side of the park deck with the stairs and elevator. Using (and even being around) the elevator is somewhat high risk, since you never know if she is in it, coming up here, catching you. As you decide that the risk is high but necessary, you call the elevator. Hiding around the corner on the staircase, just in case she is in the elevator when it arrives. With a ding the elevator arrives, and you hear the doors opening. There are footsteps leaving the elevator. It makes your heartbeat jump. Is it her? Did you just successfully dodge her?
Still in hiding, you remain silent until the foot steps get quieter, leaving towards the park deck. As you deem it safe enough, you come out of hiding and just about catch the elevator doors before they fully close.
As the elevator doors close behind you, you finally allow yourself a brief moment of rest and breath. Leaning against the side of the elevator next to the buttons. On the other side of the elevator is a mirror. You admire yourself for a second. Your messy hair is something you are pretty proud of, it makes you feel very pretty. And the collar acts as a symbol, for care, for ownership, for comfort. You touch your collar, running your fingers along it from the back of your neck to the front, where the AirTag sits. You grab it, in your hand, squeezing it.
You sigh, remembering that you don't actually have that much time to waste. So you press the GROUND FLOOR button on the elevator.
During the ride down, you think of where to go next. It has gotten darker outside, so maybe the idea of the park from earlier might be better now. Maybe also just some less populated, more posh district of town. Definitely out of the city center, there is way too much night life here.
Also you should keep an eye out for a church, as you have lost track of time and would like to have a reference. Since the mall is still open it can't be that late, but you never know.
With another ding the elevator stops and opens it's doors. Where you freeze in place. There she is, leaned against the wall, phone in hand, looking right at you. You dare not even breathe as she starts grinning and moving into the elevator. A shudder goes through your entire body as she puts her hand on your neck. Grabbing it, pushing you against the elevator wall. Her grin gets more evil, as she whispers into your ear: "I win". Followed by a sharp stinging pain in your upper arm. You instinctively want to grab the shocker, rip it off your arm, but she stares at you, and slightly shakes her head. You stop right in your track and just let the pain happen.
As the pain lessens, she also lets go of your neck. As you sink to the ground, you can only manage to say two words: "love you". She kneels down in front of you, with a "Love you too. You did good, my prey". You lean your head on her arm, and whisper a quiet "thank you". As a reply, she wraps her arms around you, gently squeezing.
After a while, she helps you get up again, with a "Wanna go grab ice cream?". You still don't trust your ability to properly speak quite yet, you just respond with a silent but enthusiastic nod.