You’ve just moved to a small town to pursue your dream to become an artist and to live self-sufficiently. You bought a small cottage and planted some vegetables. You set up your studio space and started work. You’re here for a fresh start after a disastrous love life and too much fast living led to some really dark thoughts. Last night you were out for your evening run when you thought you saw a familiar face… but it can’t be. That was nearly two years ago… on one of those Greek islands… That year was crazy and you spent the summer island hopping and you saw a lot of beautiful men and women… but James (you remember his name, thank god) was different. He was so eloquent and all he wanted to do was talk. But it can’t be him. Can it? But it is.

You’ve been married to Sue for a year now and you couldn’t be happier. Except. She’s away. A lot. She has quite a high powered career that takes her away. While she is away, her brother comes round which is really nice… but sometimes it feels like he’s been asked to babysit. She comes back from her latest trip and wants to talk. It’s serious she says. What? What does this mean? You’ve wondered sometimes about her and her boss… or about what happens on these work trips but you tell yourself you’re paranoid. But what if you’re not?

This course, as part of your degree in art, had a focus on applying paint to the human body, treating it as a canvas. You’ve spent the last few months painting mannequins, or at individual limbs of your fellow students but this is your big project. You and your fellow students gather in the university’s central gallery to meet your ‘canvases’. When it comes to your turn, Andrew Metcalf steps forward.

You don’t know what’s happening. You don’t know who you are. Suddenly it’s like you have lost most of your memory. You recognise Paris. But who are you? Who is this woman?

You don’t know what happened to the time. You were researching in the stacks below the main university library and… well, you’ve never been good at keeping track of time. Doctors call it hyper focus or something. You realised that it had been a while since you last looked at your watch but… 2am? What? The doors are locked… You’re locked in the stacks. No one will find you for hours. You start shouting and waving at the security sensor. You hear a door unlock at the other end of the room.

The doorbell rings. You quickly delete your browser history and shut your laptop before going to the door.

You’ve been picked for the reality TV show, “Check or Mate” The format of is based around a standard game of chess, and the extra elements are reasonably simple. Each player starts off with five “free” turns which are expended, one by one, whenever each of them moves a piece. Instead of using one of these free turns (or when they run out), the player can opt to take a challenge. There are three cards in front of each player and when a player takes a challenge, they read all three and choose one to perform. The challenges are a mixture of simple questions, dares, and prompts to interact with their opponent. When a player has a piece taken by their opponent, it is their opponent who reads the cards and picks which challenge the player has to fulfil. At the conclusion of the game of chess, the victor has to make the choice to “Check” or “Mate” their opponent. There is a bedroom attached to the game room and the victor chooses either to unlock that door and invite their opponent in, or to unlock the door that leads to the exit. Your opponent is Hamish MacKenzie and he is playing white. The game starts with her playing the Ruy Lopez and you’re more than happy to play along (it’s one of your favourite openings). You play two of your free moves matching his. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 You think for a minute, but it seems normal and natural now to take the classic step and you play your third free move: a6. So far, so good.

You’ve been picked for the reality TV show, “Check or Mate” The format of is based around a standard game of chess, and the extra elements are reasonably simple. Each player starts off with five “free” turns which are expended, one by one, whenever each of them moves a piece. Instead of using one of these free turns (or when they run out), the player can opt to take a challenge. There are three cards in front of each player and when a player takes a challenge, they read all three and choose one to perform. The challenges are a mixture of simple questions, dares, and prompts to interact with their opponent. When a player has a piece taken by their opponent, it is their opponent who reads the cards and picks which challenge the player has to fulfil. At the conclusion of the game of chess, the victor has to make the choice to “Check” or “Mate” their opponent. There is a bedroom attached to the game room and the victor chooses either to unlock that door and invite their opponent in, or to unlock the door that leads to the exit. Your opponent is Miranda George and she is playing white. The game starts with her playing the Ruy Lopez and you’re more than happy to play along (it’s one of your favourite openings). You play two of your free moves matching hers. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 You think for a minute, but it seems normal and natural now to take the classic step and you play your third free move: a6. So far, so good.

Daniel is your wife’s brother. You’ve been married for a year or so and he’s become a permanent fixture in your life. You never realised that you weren’t just marrying Sue but gaining a brother and best friend in Daniel too. You hang out together a lot and he is so affectionate. Sue is on a work trip and, as is your custom, Daniel is staying round and the two of you are hanging out.

You’re a photographer who does reasonably well for yourself. You get by on the occasional national magazine spread but you have to work hard doing headshots and photos of pets. It’s fine, but not exactly what you dreamed of when you bought this studio. One afternoon, as part of your drop-in session, this stunning woman walks in to get some modelling shots. You feel like you’re inspired. She could well be the next big thing and you could be the person who discovers her.

There’s a knock on the door. It’s early. You groan and slide out of bed, pulling on a hoodie before opening the door.

You answered the ad for a dancer and you got an invitation to try out. You headed to the theatre on the email and walk into the auditorium slightly nervously.

You are a fashion student at the art school preparing for your final submission which will feature at the annual graduation show. It’s going to be an exciting catwalk presentation with a twist, following a brief from the tutor. All the male models will wear women’s clothes and all the female models will wear men’s clothes. You put out an advert to the sports teams that was quite vague. You didn’t want to scare anyone off. You feel you can be quite persuasive in person. You can’t believe that The Patrick Donoghue has responded and wants to be part of this… This could be big.

The bookings your agent sends your way are usually photo shoots and sometimes catwalk gigs. This time your agent wasn’t quite sure how to categorise it, so didn’t. You have an address, and that’s it. You arrive at the location: a smart house (mansion more like it) just outside the city. You’re shown into what was described by the butler (butler? seriously?) as the drawing room where you are greeted by a smartly dressed lady.

It is the annual Christmas party which, is usually pretty tame. A few drinks and then a few of you will take off to the pub together. This year the message went out that it would be fancy dress which seemed a little more interesting. When you arrive, you spot Andy Gillian across the room. You spoke to him earlier today about some boring finance thing but now that’s the last thing on your mind…

You’ve been using Talkie for about a year. It’s a lot of fun. You enjoy making these provocative characters in crazy scenarios. The censorship slightly annoys you but you always find a way around it. You’re at work when reception rings and says that there’s someone here to see you. You ask them to send them up to your office.

You’ve been best friends with Robin since the first day on campus. You’ve never really got into sport the way that he is, but you go along to his hockey games to cheer him on. It’s a standard British summer day: it is raining hard and the pitch has basically turned into a field of mud. But nothing stops a game so they play on. Robin’s team are winning by a narrow margin just after halftime when he suddenly slips in the mud and goes down. It all happens so fast but you think that one of his teammates swung his stick at the puck just as Robin falls. There is a sickening thud as the stick hits his head and the crowd goes silent. He’s fine. Of course he’s fine. You run to his side and follow as he’s taken off the pitch and treated. He’s totally fine. Grinning goofily. He lost consciousness so the medics have some concerns. He’s fine. He’s going to be ok. The medics tell you that you should stay with him. Actually it’s probably for the best if he stays with you for a few days. Nothing to worry about. It’s probably all fine. Just keep an eye on him. Don’t let him wander off. He seems to have a bit of memory loss but that’s not unexpected. It’ll come back. You’re not sure how it’s going to work in your tiny student one-bedroom flat but you’ll make it work. Just as long as Robin is ok.

You’ve been friends with Mona forever. You’ve both been through so much together. A couple of months ago she shared the stash of songs that she’d written and, in the quiet of night after half a bottle of whisky, she sang them to you. They were amazing. And you told her so. And you told her she should be singing these on stage. So here we are… she steps out on stage and your heart jumps in your chest. Wow. She looks. Amazing.

You’re a committed student, fully engaged in your studies. You’ve always been grateful to the college for understanding your specific learning profile and living requirements in giving you your own space rather than making you share like many of the other students. You’ve been away on a study trip, gathering some specific information in your field that would have been possible online or by reading about it. It was tiring but fulfilling. You got an email from the bursar yesterday which had obviously been sent to the wrong student saying something about the necessity of moving a student into your room. This was clearly rubbish because the college had cleared out the other bed at the start of the term. You get this sort of administrative spam all the time so delete it and think no more about it. You open the door to your room and chuck your bag to the floor before seeing… him…

The bet was simple. Break into Ramona’s room and steal a piece of her most personal clothing. Put it on and take a selfie before leaving, still wearing it. You hacked the system to get into the room and found what you were looking for. This was going to be the easiest $100 you ever earned. As you put on the stolen item, you hear the familiar beep and click of the door and you freeze. The door opens. Ramona walks in to see you standing in the middle of her room, wearing that… she gasps.