Jake used to be the smart one in the apartment. Straight-Aâs, poli-sci major, always reading some dense theory book or arguing about systemic inequality in the group chat. Skinny, glasses, hoodies three sizes too big, the kind of guy who said âactuallyâŚâ way too often. His roommatesâChad and Bryceâcalled him âthe nerdâ behind his back and sometimes to his face. They were the opposite: gym rats, backward caps, MAGA trucker hats hanging on the wall, protein shakes in the fridge, always blasting bro-country or some alpha-male podcast while they did curls in the living room.
One Friday night Jake came back from the library late. Chad and Bryce were already half-drunk, sprawled on the couch in nothing but basketball shorts, phones in hand, smirking like theyâd been waiting for him.
âYo, Jakey-boy,â Bryce drawled, âcâmere. We found somethinâ sick.â
Jake rolled his eyes but sat down anyway. He was tired. He figured theyâd show him some dumb TikTok or a thirst-trap edit. Instead Chad held up his phone. A black screen. Then it bloomed into a glowing white spiral, pulsing, slow at first, then faster, colors bleeding inâred, white, blue, red again. A low bass hum started leaking from the speaker.
âWatch,â Chad said, voice suddenly calm, almost gentle. âJust watch the spiral, bro.â
Jake snorted. âWhat is this, some Reddit hypnosis bullshit?â
But his eyes stayed glued. The spiral seemed to pull at the center of his forehead. The room got quieter. The hum got deeper. Bryce leaned in from the other side.
âRelax, dude. Let it happen. You donât gotta think anymore. Thinkingâs hard. Thinkingâs for betas.â
Jake wanted to laugh. Wanted to stand up. But his body felt heavy. Warm. The spiral spun faster and the words kept coming, overlapping now, Chad and Bryce trading lines like theyâd rehearsed this.
âEvery spin makes you dumber.â âEvery spin makes your cock harder.â âSmart thoughts leak out. Muscle thoughts flood in.â âObey Chad. Obey Bryce. Obey the bros.â âReal men donât think. Real men lift. Real men stroke. Real men vote red.â âOld Jake was weak. New Jake is strong. New Jake is empty. New Jake is horny.â âStroke for the spiral. Stroke for MAGA. Stroke for the bros.â
Jakeâs hand moved on its own. Slid under the waistband of his jeans. He didnât even realize he was doing it until the first groan slipped out. His mind flickeredâwait, what the fuckâbut the spiral ate the protest. Swallowed it. Replaced it with heat. Pleasure. Blankness.
Inside his skull the old Jake was screaming.
This isnât me. Iâm not this. I have midterms. I have opinions. I have a personalityâ
But every time he tried to grab onto a thought, another pulse of the spiral would hit and his fist would tighten around his cock and the scream would turn into a whimper, then a moan. The more he fought, the better it felt to give up.
Chad reached over, casual as anything, and tugged Jakeâs hoodie off. âThere we go. No more hiding that body, bro. Gonna get you jacked. Gonna get you looking right.â
Bryce was already pulling up a shopping app on his own phone. âBasketball shorts. Stringer tanks. Backward cap. Gold chain. Weâre dressing you like a proper fuckboy. No more nerd shit.â
Jakeâs eyes never left the spiral. His hand never stopped moving. Slow, steady, mindless pumps. Drool started collecting at the corner of his mouth.
The old Jake clawed one last time: Iâm Jake. Iâmâ
A louder pulse. Red-white-blue flash. A voiceânot Chadâs, not Bryceâs, but something deeper inside the spiralâwhispered straight into the core of him:
Youâre nothing now. Just a gooner. Just a cock. Just a dumb jock bro who obeys. Trump 2028. Lift. Stroke. Obey. Lift. Stroke. Obey.
The last fragment of old Jake shattered like glass under a barbell.
His eyes glazed completely. Mouth hung open. Hips started bucking weakly into his own fist. Chad and Bryce grinned, high-fived over his head.
âGood boy,â Chad said. âNow say it.â
Jakeâs voice came out thick, slow, empty. âI⌠Iâm a dumb gooner bro⌠gotta lift⌠gotta stroke⌠gotta obey⌠America first⌠bros firstâŚâ
Bryce turned the spiral off. Didnât matter. It was already burned into Jakeâs brain. The second the screen went black he whined, desperate, like a dog that lost its treat.
âNah nah, you donât need the phone anymore,â Bryce laughed. âYouâre hooked. Youâll do it just thinking about it now.â
They dragged him to the gym the next morning. Jakeânow just âJockâ to themâwore the new clothes theyâd ordered overnight: red gym shorts that barely covered anything, a sleeveless MAGA tank so tight it looked painted on, high socks, backward cap. He stared at himself in the mirror between sets and felt his cock twitch every time. Smarter thoughts tried to surfaceâthis is humiliating, this is wrongâbut each one got crushed under the memory of that spiral, under the pulse of pleasure that rewarded obedience.
By week three he couldnât form a full sentence that wasnât about lifting, stroking, or owning the libs. His grades tanked. Didnât care. Professors emailed. Didnât read them. Phone stayed on porn and workout TikToks. Every pump of iron made him hornier. Every edge session in front of the spiral (they still played it sometimes, just to watch him melt) made him dumber. Every time Chad or Bryce said âflex for the brosâ he popped a boner instantly.
Inside, old Jake was gone. Just a faint echo sometimes, right before he came, a tiny voice that whispered help right as the orgasm drowned it forever.
Now he just grins like an idiot, drools a little, strokes himself stupid in the living room while Chad and Bryce film it for their private group chat labeled âProject Goonbro.â
âSay cheese, Jock,â Bryce laughs, phone up.
Jake flexes, shorts tented, eyes vacant, voice thick with permanent haze:
âY-yeah bros⌠own the libs⌠stroke for Trump⌠fuck yeahâŚâ
And he cums again. And again. And again.
No thoughts. No future. No escape.
Just a braindead gooner in basketball shorts, addicted to the spiral that lives in his head now, forever.