DarkDesires forum. Still open in another tab somehow, which shouldn't be possible if my computer just got hijacked, but clearly the rules of logic don't apply tonight.
The message is from AuctionAdmin_DarkDesires:
You have $1000 good faith money. The link is safe. TOR is a secure browser used for anonymous communication. Look it up. You have 45 seconds.
Look it up.
Right.
Because I definitely have time to research internet security protocols while a countdown timer ticks away and my entire computer is potentially being compromised by?—
My fingers are already moving.
Open Chrome. New tab. Google search. "What is TOR browser."
The results populate immediately. Wikipedia. Reddit threads. A dozen tech articles with varying levels of paranoia.
The Onion Router (TOR) is free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication...
...used by journalists, activists, and individuals seeking privacy...
...not inherently dangerous, though often associated with the dark web...
I skim faster, absorbing fragments. It's legitimate. It's actually a real thing. Not a virus. Not malware. Just a browser that lets you access parts of the internet that aren't indexed by Google.
The parts where illegal things happen.
The parts where people get trafficked.
My stomach twists.
But also... the parts where people maintain privacy. Where whistleblowers operate. Where, apparently, sex auctions that pay twenty thousand dollars for twenty-four hours exist.
The timer on the download page reads twelve seconds.
I click download.
The progress bar fills. Fast. Faster than it should for something that's supposedly complex and secure. Maybe that's how you know it's legitimate? Or maybe that's how you know you're being scammed?
I don't know.
I don't know anything except that I'm already in too deep to back out now.
The installation completes. A new icon appears on my desktop—an onion. Cute. Very on-the-nose for something called The Onion Router.
My laptop screen blinks again. Dings.
I actually whimper.
How many times can I be this stupid? How many red flags do I need before my brain engages and I do the smart thing and shut this entire operation down?
DarkDesires forum. Another message from AuctionAdmin_DarkDesires.
This one contains a link. Long. Incomprehensible. A string of random letters and numbers ending in .onion.
The next message appears before I can spiral further.
Double click the onion icon. Copy the link I sent you. Paste it into the address bar at the top. Press enter.
