Goads woman into attacking her

“I'm special, and that bothers you. After all, you've never been special in your life, have you? No wedding ring, no husband, always watching the other girls get the person you were really interested in. No accomplishments really. A life of mediocrity, unfulfilled, knowing that it's never, ever going to get better. I'm a teenager and I'm going to be rich. I'm not the best looking, but I'll probably have boyfriends and husbands and children...being a celebrity makes you a lot more attractive. I'll get to rub shoulders with the beautiful people and you...you're just going to get older and lonelier. Nobody is ever going to love you. I won't always be a teenager, but you'll always be mediocre.”

She was on the edge, now. All I needed to do was push a little harder.

“Well, the real thing that bothers you the most is the possibility that I've already implanted an idea in your head that will turn you into the equivalent of a Simurgh bomb.”

The color drained from her face.

“Maybe I've already made you forget what we've already talked about,” I said. “And tonight you're going to strangle your....cat is it?”

“It's the one thing you really love, and you'd never forget the feeling of your hands around that little neck. It feels like chicken bones, you know. Seeing that look of betrayal in her little face ...well, I'd imagine that would be almost as difficult as getting arrested for your little...side projects.”

My face exploded with pain, and a moment later I was on the ground with an adult woman on top of me. A moment after that the world around us disappeared as we were both sprayed with containment foam and everything turned dark except for her face snarling above me. I was happy that we were far enough apart that she couldn't bite me. Neither of us could move.

***

Youth