The Refusal

The decline button wasn't grayed out.

I stared at my phone for a solid five minutes making sure I wasn't seeing things. But there it was. Active. Clickable. Right next to the accept button like it had always been an option.

NEW OPPORTUNITY ASSIGNED

Gig Type: Special Task
Pay: $2,800
Time Commitment: 3 hours
Location: 1847 Riverside Industrial Park, Unit 4D
Start Time: Tonight, 2:00 AM

I'd heard about Special Tasks. Everyone had. The whisper network among gig workers is pretty extensive when you've been doing this as long as I have. Seven years in the game. Score of 798. Not great, not terrible.

I knew people who'd done them. Knew people who wouldn't talk about them. Knew one guy who did three of them and then just stopped showing up anywhere. His apartment sat empty for six months before his family finally came to clean it out.

So when the assignment came through, I did something I'd never done before.

I clicked decline.

A popup appeared.

Are you sure? Declining this opportunity will result in immediate score adjustment and may affect future assignment eligibility.

Yeah. I'm sure.

I clicked confirm.

Another popup.

Score adjustment: -127 points
New Contributor Score: 671
Your account has been flagged for review.

Ouch. But okay. I'd expected something like that.

What I didn't expect was the phone call thirty seconds later.

Unknown number. I almost didn't answer.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Torres? This is Jennifer from Harmonic Solutions Assignment Compliance. I'm calling regarding your recent declination."

"Yeah. I declined. That's allowed, right?"

"Of course. You have every right to decline opportunities. However, Special Task assignments are prioritized placements. We'd like to understand your reasoning to better serve you in the future."

"I don't want to do it. That's my reasoning."

Silence on the other end. Then: "I see. May I ask if there's something specific about the assignment that concerns you?"

"I don't know anything about the assignment. That's what concerns me."

"The details are provided on-site for confidentiality reasons. This is standard protocol."

"Then I guess my answer is still no."

More silence. "Mr. Torres, I want to make sure you understand the implications. Your score has already been adjusted. Further declinations may result in additional penalties. We have your best interests in mind."

"Appreciate the concern. I'm good."

"We could potentially offer additional compensation. Would $4,000 change your assessment?"

"No."

"$5,500?"

"I'm hanging up now."

"Mr. Torres, please—"

I ended the call.

Two minutes later, another assignment notification.

NEW OPPORTUNITY ASSIGNED

Gig Type: Standard Delivery
Pay: $18
Time Commitment: 45 minutes
Start Time: Now

A regular gig. Normal stuff. I accepted it. Went and picked up someone's Thai food and dropped it at their apartment. Easy money.

When I opened the app afterward, my score had dropped another fifteen points.

New Contributor Score: 656
Reason: Service quality concerns

Service quality concerns. For a delivery I'd literally just completed perfectly. Five-star rating from the customer and everything.

I refreshed the app.

Another notification.

NEW OPPORTUNITY ASSIGNED

Gig Type: Special Task
Pay: $3,200
Time Commitment: 3 hours
Location: 1847 Riverside Industrial Park, Unit 4D
Start Time: Tomorrow, 2:00 AM

Same task. Higher pay. Different start time.

Decline button was there again.

I clicked it.

Score adjustment: -89 points
New Contributor Score: 567

My phone started ringing immediately. Same unknown number.

I didn't answer.

It rang four more times over the next hour. I ignored all of them.

Then I got a text.

"Mr. Torres, this is Jennifer from Harmonic Solutions. We're concerned about your account status. Please call us at your earliest convenience to discuss resolution options. Your current trajectory is unsustainable."

I turned off my phone.

When I turned it back on the next morning, I had thirty-seven missed calls and twelve voicemails. All from Harmonic Solutions. All saying essentially the same thing. Call us. We can help. Your score is dropping. We need to discuss options.

I deleted them.

Opened the app.

Contributor Score: 512

I hadn't done anything. Just slept. And my score had dropped another fifty-five points overnight.

There was a new message in my inbox.

URGENT: Account Review Required

"Your recent activity patterns have triggered a compliance review. Please schedule a consultation within 48 hours to avoid account suspension. Available consultation times: [Link]"

I didn't click the link.

I went to work instead. My actual job. The one I'd had before the gig economy ate everything. I still worked three days a week at a hardware store. It didn't pay much but it was steady.

My manager, Tom, called me into his office an hour into my shift.

"Hey, so. We got a weird call this morning."

"Yeah?"

"Some company called Harmonic Solutions. They were asking about your employment status. Wanted to verify your hours and reliability."

My stomach dropped. "What did you tell them?"

"Told them it was none of their business. But Ramon, what's going on? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No. Just some gig app I use sometimes. They're pissed I turned down an assignment."

"They're calling your other employers because you turned down an assignment?"

"Apparently."

Tom shook his head. "That's insane. You want me to tell them to fuck off if they call again?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

But I knew it wouldn't matter.

By the time I got home, I had an email from my car insurance company. My rate was being adjusted due to "updated risk assessment factors." Up forty-two percent.

My credit card company sent a similar message. Interest rate adjustment. My "creditworthiness profile had changed."

I checked my Contributor Score.

487

I hadn't even opened the app all day.

The next morning I got a letter from my apartment complex. They were declining to renew my lease. "Recent changes in resident reliability metrics" made me ineligible for renewal.

My score was 441.

I sat on my couch looking at that number. Watching it tick down slowly. 440. 439. 438.

They were bleeding me out. Systematically destroying my ability to function in society because I'd said no to something I didn't want to do.

My phone rang. Unknown number.

I answered.

"Mr. Torres. This is Jennifer. I think we need to talk."

"What do you want?"

"I want to help you. Your score is entering critical territory. Below 400, you'll start experiencing significant lifestyle impacts. Below 300, you become essentially uninsurable and unemployable. Below 200, most housing options close. Below 100—"

"I get the picture."

"Then you understand that we need to resolve this."

"How?"

"Accept the Special Task assignment. Three hours. One night. This all goes away. Your score gets restored. The review gets cleared. Life goes back to normal."

"And if I don't?"

"Then we continue monitoring your account and applying appropriate adjustments based on your participation patterns."

"You mean you keep destroying my life until I agree."

"I mean we continue following standard protocol."

I looked at my score. 421.

"What happens in these Special Tasks?"

"I'm not authorized to disclose that information."

"Then I guess we're done talking."

"Mr. Torres—"

I hung up.

I spent the next week watching my life collapse in slow motion.

My score hit 380. My bank called. They were closing my credit card account.

352: The hardware store let me go. Tom looked sick when he told me. Said corporate called. Said my "reliability metrics" made me a liability. Said he fought it but there was nothing he could do.

353: My phone service got suspended. "Account holder no longer meets service eligibility requirements."

354: I got pulled over for a broken taillight. The cop ran my information. Came back to my window looking at me like I was dangerous. "Sir, I'm going to need you to step out of the vehicle."

They impounded my car. Some obscure regulation about minimum Contributor Scores for vehicle operation.

223: I couldn't buy groceries anymore. Self-checkout machines rejected my payment. "Account flagged. Please see customer service." Customer service told me I needed to resolve my Contributor Score issues before they could process transactions.

I was living on cash. What little I had left.

189: My elderly neighbor Mrs. Chen, who I'd known for four years, who I'd helped carry groceries up the stairs at least a hundred times, saw me in the hallway and pulled her grandson inside her apartment. Locked the door. I heard her call someone. Heard her say "There's a low-score in the building."

190: I got an eviction notice. Not because my lease was ending. Because my score had dropped below the building's minimum threshold. I had seventy-two hours to vacate.

I packed what I could carry. Left everything else.

My score was 127.

I'd been living in my car for three days when I got the notification.

Somehow. On a phone that wasn't supposed to work anymore. Through a data connection I shouldn't have had.

NEW OPPORTUNITY ASSIGNED

Gig Type: Special Task
Pay: $8,400
Time Commitment: 3 hours
Location: 1847 Riverside Industrial Park, Unit 4D
Start Time: Tonight, 2:00 AM

The decline button was grayed out this time.

My score was 94.

I'd lost everything. My apartment. My job. My car got towed two days ago because I couldn't afford the impound fees. My bank account was frozen. I couldn't buy food. Couldn't get shelter. Couldn't access any services.

Below 100, you basically stop existing as far as society is concerned.

I sat in a public park at midnight looking at that notification.

Three hours. $8,400. Back into the system.

Or keep refusing and... what? Die on the street? Get picked up by cops and thrown in whatever facility they've built for low-scores?

I thought about fighting. About finding a lawyer. About exposing what they were doing.

But who would listen to someone with a score of 94?

I looked at the start time.

2:00 AM.

Two hours from now.

The Riverside Industrial Park was forty minutes on foot.

I started walking.

Not because I'd decided to accept.

But because I wanted to see the place. Wanted to look at Unit 4D. Wanted to know what I'd given up everything to avoid.

I got there at 1:50 AM.

The building was exactly like I'd imagined. Concrete. Dark. One light above the door.

There were other people standing outside. Four of them. Looking as miserable as I felt.

At exactly 2:00 AM, the door opened.

A man in a gray suit stepped out.

"IDs please."

I didn't move.

He looked at me. Really looked at me. At my clothes I'd been wearing for three days. At my face I hadn't been able to wash. At my empty hands because I'd lost my wallet somewhere between the park and here.

"Mr. Torres. We've been expecting you."

"I didn't accept the assignment."

"No. You didn't." He smiled. "But here you are anyway."

He gestured to the door.

"Please. We have so much to show you."

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

One notification.

Assignment Auto-Accepted: Participant Arrival Confirmed
Score adjustment: +806 points
New Contributor Score: 900

I looked at the other people. They were all staring at their phones too. Same shocked expressions.

The suited man was still smiling.

"The thing about refusal, Mr. Torres, is that it's only meaningful when you have other options. You don't. None of you do. Not anymore."

He held the door open.

"Welcome to Special Tasks. Let's begin."

I walked through the door.

What choice did I have?

My score was 900.

Everything would go back to normal.

All I had to do was go inside.