Young Writers Society

Hey guys!! It's been a while, but I'm gonna be annoying and make an SB ... and try even harder to be on YWS!! New motivation wooo! X3

So here goes ...

It was any normal day or you. You were doing what you always did on a Saturday (or equivalent to) afternoon. Only something was a little different. You went to bed a little later than usual ... what, 10 pm? Try 2:32 am! You walked over to the window that gives you a perfect view of the sky, and you stare just that little longer. And you see a star ... or was it a star? It was white and flashed across the sky, didn't it? Thinking nothing of it, you go to bed, wanting to sleep, to get rid of the bone weariness that has suddenly taken over your body ...

And then you wake up in a plain white room that seems to go on forever with dozens of other people ... no ... CREATURES waking up all around you.

"Welcome to The Room," a pleasant female voice rings out. "I am Computer, and I will be updating you every day on your progress. Before we start, I will explain the rules ..."

Rules:


Now with the rules our of the way ... let's get to the fun bits!
Your characters! Now, the characters can be ANYTHING of your choice! And when I say anything, I literally mean ... you can be half Timelord, a human, a Rakshan (If you've read some of my stories you'll understand ^//^) an alien from Mars, or something you've come up with on the spot.
However, if your character IS made up right on the spot, or not a lot of people have common knowledge of your character, please explain the properties of your character. Give important details like appearance, origin, language (though everyone speaks the Universal Galactic Trading Language in The Room) and magical properties/power/abilities.
If your character is a human, fear not! Your character will be given the offer of three abilities to choose from upon awakening! (EDIT: they will have a list of three abilities they can acquire)

Character Profile:


Alright ... I think I've thoroughly confused most of you. Don't worry, that's just my sanity slipping tehe ... sorry. Right the purpose of The Room:
You are all given this information by Computer: The Room is like a test lab, you have been given unknown, frightening surcumstances and introduced to creatures you've never seen, nor heard of. Well, for some of you, that is. It is a place to test the brain power of different species in different situations.
Any questions? I'll gladly answer! ^^
What will happen?

Why not just refuse the challenges?

Why does this sound like it's a game to a higher power?

Wait, wait, wait, wait ... wait ... Universal Galactic Trading Language?

Are you crazy? *Raises eyebrow*


The Charries!!
Humans:


For now, that's it! Please enjoy and have fun!

Lorrin

A burly man swings his arm, closed fist heading for my face. With a smile of pure glee, I duck and skip forward, my own fist jabbing into his gut. I leap away from him to attack my next opponent before he falls to the ground. My heart pounds as I take the smaller man on. This one isn’t as drunk as the others, and looks like he knows how to fight. He gives me an annoyed look before turning away from me. I shrug before I’m pulled back into the centre of the fight.
“You started this, Snake!” A woman screeches. “You can end it.”
“Did I?” I try to keep the amusement from my voice. “I distinctly remember it was a human that bumped into me. I was enjoying my drink when it was knocked from my hand.”
It’s true, though. I was sitting at a table near the wall when a man walked passed me, shoving my arm hard, my wine tipping all over the table. So what did I do? I stood up and demanded an apology. When he spat in my face and said he doesn’t apologise to vermin, I punched him in the face.
Which turned into a massive fight. And now I’m in the centre of it all. It’s not the first time something like that has happened before, but not in this tavern. It doesn’t surprise me that everyone here is as racist as they are further from the city. In fact, the closer to the city you are the worse they are.
Someone runs at me and I dance out of the way. Someone else runs at me, and I meet him halfway, my fist connecting with his nose. It breaks, and he’s sent flying back. Shouts erupt from the onlookers, and I dance about, my feet barely touching the ground. The man before comes running passed, his hand grabbing my forearm, and he drags me out of the bar, the shouts still going, the fight obviously not over.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” The man growls at me.
“Don’t touch me,” I hiss and walk away.
“Are you crazy?” He asks me.
I spin around. “Do you know me?” I snap. He baulks. “Ha! Thought not.”
Spinning around, I continue walking away. A hand grabs my shoulder, and I whirl around to punch the man in the chest. He dances back, but I’d still hit him. Anger flares in his eyes and he takes a step toward me, but doesn’t raise his fists. I glare at him, waiting for him to hit back, when a bustle behind him catches us off guard.
The fight has taken to the streets, and a man is charging toward us, his angry eyes on me. I push the man in front of me out of the way. The man charging us bears down on me, and the man I’d pushed away yells my name. I turn my head to stare at him in shock. Only Dentae knows my name!
Something hits me hard in the temple. I stagger back to find the huge bear of a man snarling at me. My temper flares like the pain in my head. I see red, dimly aware I’ve unsheathed my scimitars. When I come to I’m stumbling through a dark alley, my head throbbing. I fall over onto a bundle of blankets, letting a small sigh escape my lips, before darkness enfolds me.

Slowly I come to, my eyes flickering open. I sit up and cry out in pain, clutching at my head. My temple throbs with a killing pain. I remember last night’s fight and walking into an alley, but that’s all. Slowly my eyes reopen and I stare about in shock at the pure whiteness that greets my gaze. The whiteness seems to stretch on forever, as far as the eye can see. I turn my head and my eyes widen further. I quickly pull the black hood over my head to cover my face.
Before me are creatures of all kinds, some still unconscious, some waking up, and others staring around in surprise like me. I notice a few humans, though I doubt they’re Rakshan. They don’t have the same air about them, and they seem ... smaller.
“Where the hell are we?” One of the humans shouts angrily.
“Welcome to The Room,” a pleasant female voice rings throughout the area. “I am Computer, and I will be updating you every day on your progress. Before we start, I will explain the rules ...”
Her voice trails off, and a wide screen appears before us. A green line runs across the screen, and I watch it suspiciously.
“You cannot kill another player unless the situation requires it. You will do as I say or you will be eliminated. You cannot escape, so don’t try. You will complete every challenge set to the best of your abilities, or you will be eliminated or disadvantaged. All of your information will be presented on the bracelets around your wrists,” the voice explains.
“We don’t have bracelets around our wrists,” a female voice rings out angrily.
I feel a slight constriction around my wrist, and look down to find a strange band around my wrist. “Oh,” I murmur, getting a few strange looks from the creatures closest to me.
Everyone then starts to look down at their wrists in surprise, and a few cry out angrily. I look back at the screen, my eyes narrowed. I do not appreciate being taken from my home and thrust into this strange space with a talking screen that sounds alive. My anger boils as I straighten. The blades in my wrists threaten to slide out, but I restrain myself.
“Where are we?” I yell out icily.
“I have told you, Lorrin of Raksha, you are in The Room,” the female voice tells me.
“For those that need to change, you will be given new clothes. Are there any more questions?” The line goes flat as the voice stops speaking.
“Yeah,” a male voice calls out in an odd accent I’ve never heard before. “When will we be goin’ ‘ome?”
“That question cannot be answered,” comes the reply.
“What planet are we on?” A female voice asks.
“That question cannot be answered,” repeats the screen.
“What are you, exactly?” Another creature asks, its gender not obvious by its voice.
“I am an AI, my name is Computer,” replies Computer.
“Why are we here?”
“That question cannot be answered,” Computer says patiently.
“How much does this programme coast?”
“That question cannot be answered,” Computer maintains that calm voice.
“What’s the time?”
I turn to look for the creature that asked such an absurd and irrelevant question. I don’t find anyone, and return to staring at my feet in silence.
“It is 5:27 in the morning,” Computer responds.
5:27? Is that early or late morning?
“Is that time early?” I call out.
Most creatures in the room snicker and chortle at my question. I ignore them and continue staring at the ground, my hands clenching into tight fists. If I had my hood down and the hilts of my scimitars showing they wouldn’t laugh at me. For them that question might be stupid, but we don’t determine what time of day it is by using numbers, we determine the time of day by the position the suns are in.
“It would be the beginning of dawn on your world, Lorrin,” Computer has no emotion in her voice as she speaks.
“What clothes will we be wearing?” Someone else asks.
“You will find out soon enough.” Computer doesn’t hesitate with her answer.
“Can you give an answer to our questions that will actually help?” A savage male voice growls beside me.
“The nature of your question is not relevant to the situation,” Computer answers infuriatingly calmly.
Silence fills the room for a while.
“That concludes today’s update, please wait while The Room prepares the first habitat,” Computer says, and then the screen disappears.
“Wait!” I yell, running to where the screen was. “Will I see my brother again? What will Dentae think at my absence?” My voice has risen to an angry scream, and I’ll bet all eyes are on me. “I want to go home! I don’t want to be here! How do we leave! I didn’t sign for this! My brother will have your head! Computer! Computer!”
My words are met with silence. I turn around to find metal racks come out of the ground, grey and black clothes hanging from hooks on the racks. Some of the creatures flick through the clothes and grab some. No one makes a move to get undressed. Frowning, I stroll over to the metal things and flick through the clothes until I pull out a tunic and pants that look like they’ll fit me. I stash them in a pocket on the underside of my cloak and then stare around. Everyone seems to be waiting.
“The first habitat is loading,” Computer’s voice rings out through the room again. “Today’s challenge is to test your senses. You will be given a room full of food and you will need to eat. Some of the dishes will be laced with poisons that will kill you, so you need to learn which ones are safe to consume. Questions.”
I hate how this thing talks. “Yeah!” I yell before anyone else can. “When can I see my brother again?”
“That question is irrelevant to the situation –“
“No it’s bloody not!” I snarl.
Suddenly everyone starts to yell, whether it’s at me or Computer I’m not so sure. A small smile graces my lips at the prospect of a fight. Curses! Why do I have to enjoy conflict so much?
A sudden careening sound fills the room and I drop to the floor, screaming, as pain shoots through my head. When the careening stops everything is quiet. Or have I gone deaf? I look up to find everyone staring around in shock.
“Questions relevant to the situation, please,” Computer says with ... a hiss at the end of the word please?
“What about drinks?” Someone calls.
“The beverages will be uncontaminated. It’s best you drink your fill,” she says.
After a small silence, the room darkens and when it lights back up, we’re in a dimly lit room with tasteful deep shades of brown and red. A large banquet table stretches out before me with all kinds of exotic foods presented in the fanciest way possible, some of the food seemingly far-fetched.
“You have ten hours to identify the foods and then find your way out before the room implodes,” Computer says, and then the room is silent.
“That’s it?” I hiss. “That’s the best you could –“
A hand claps over my mouth. “Shut up,” a male voice sneers in my ear. “You just shut up. Your talkin’ could get us all killed.”
After a short struggle I give in and slowly let out a breath. The hand is removed and I glare at the ground. I hate it when someone gets the best of me, or has the upper hand in strength.
“Alright, folks,” an odd looking creature chirrups. “Dig in and don’t die.”
At that I chuckle.

Okay everyone! I was hoping to have a few more ... never mind. I'll start the SB. Everyone, have fun!! Sorry if this is quite long, as well. It's just to kick start and give everyone something to grasp and go, "Ah sweet, so that's how it's gotta go XD"

Morn

The Archangel woke to the sound of shouting. Instantly, he was alert, groping for his sniper. Finding it on its place on his back he clicked the safety off and slid up into an easy crouch. He placed his sights on the person closest to him, his rage egging him on

"do it, Do It, DO IT!"

Yet at this, he cast down his gun and tore at his hair in pain.

"do it, Do It, DO IT!"

Tears streamed down Morn's face, he could see her now, standing in front of him, pleading to an unseen assailant then screaming in sorrow as she watched her child die. Then the unthinkable happened, he was back, in the same basement of that same abandoned house in the same chair with the same ropes tied around his legs and the same unspeakably nightmarish thought going through his head,

"He has a family to, he has a family to, he has a family to."

Then, He appeared. Morn had a gun in his hand, not his sniper, but an old pistol. He had it pointed at Him, yet that one thought kept circulating,

"He has a family to, he has a family to, he has a family to."

Morn watched as everything he ever loved crumpled to the ground, a bullet in her head.

Then he felt the bonds on his feet disappear, he rushed forwards only to find himself back in the Room, that white hall of infinite depth. The sorrow he felt turned to rage then into a cold iron lump of deadly determination that drove Morn forwards to sit on the banquet laid out before him and listen to the assignment given. Someone had saved him, someone was giving him a second chance and Morn was bent on taking it.

Jay

I opened my eyes to pure white and a muffled scream. Slowly, I stood up and surveyed my surroundings. I was encircled in a large white room, a glowing green line at the top right of the room talked to us

" The beverages will be uncontaminated, its best you drink your fill." The room darkened, and a minute later, food and drink materialize. I heard a voice pipe up behind me,

"Alright folks, dig in and don't die." Realizing my throat was very dry, I grabbed a glass of pure white liquid and drank it down. Feeling a bit better, I grabbed another glass and walked through the small crowd of people. Looking at the creatures around me I noticed all the wonderful differences of everyone, some were human, some were aliens, some had two different colored eyes like me, some had blue skin. I began to think this wouldn't be as bad as I thought it would. I walked up to a dark haired woman, about 20, with a denim jacket and piercing blue eyes. I smiled and extended my hand

"hello, would you mind telling me where we are?" The woman looked at me blankly.

"you missed computer explaining all that?" She asked. I nodded.

"well you didn't miss much, we're in an artificially created room. All your information is stored in a bracelet on your right wrist, and theirs no way we're going back home anytime soon. I nod again, taking this all in, then I smiled.

"Thank you for the information Ms?"

"Aileen"

"Ms Aileen. I guess we'll be seeing each other soon." I said, she nodded, I turned and walked away. I figured If I was going to be trapped in this room, it would be best to get to know everyone. I walked up to a man about 20 with white hair and a leather jacket and extended my hand.

"Get lost." He looked at me for a minute, then walked away. I looked at his retreating figure for a second more, then, brushing the insult off, walked on.

Hazel Jay

As the moon gleamed into her room, Hazel took in a breath, and stared down at the book below her. To her, the moon was her light, and it was a pretty good one.

Though, she could feel sleep gaining on her.

Giving in to her drowsiness, Hazel tossed the book onto her nightstand, along with her glasses, then crawled under her covers, almost immediately passing on once her head hit the pillow.



"You couldn't possibly think we would ever leave you, darling!" Her father beamed.

Hazel sighed, and nodded. The comfort of knowing she'd never be alone took over her, her mind, and she let herself be convinced that she'd never, ever be abandoned.

But, oddly, all of a sudden her mother's voice slowly drifted into another female's voice, one she didn't recognize.

"-est your senses. You will be given a room full of food and you will need to eat. Some of the dishes will be laced with poisons that will kill you, so you need to learn which ones are safe to consume. Questions.” Her mother said, but...but it wasn't her voice?

A few shouts out of rage erupted, and Hazel shot her eyes open.

her first instinct was to reach over, and grab her glasses to examine her room, and try to figure out who was yelling, but her hand grasped at nothing.

Hazel shot her head towards her hand, and her eyes immediately bulged. She was not in her room.
Instead, she was met with a dim, weird room, with tables filled with food and drinks. Very, very unfamiliar.

Hazel bounced up, and as she took notice of several different species in the room, her eyes brows furrowed further. "What..." She mumbles, completely confused. "What...what's...going on?"

A voice speaks up behind the girl, and she twists around, startled. "I believe," the person pauses, "we're in the room."

Hazel stares up at the person, a guy, maybe around her age, then blinks. "How...um, how is that helpful?"

In the dim light, she could barely see him, or what he even looked like, but that was okay.

He shrugs, then smiles down at her slightly. "I just thought it'd be funny to act like I knew what I was talking about."

Hazel's frown deepens, as she examines the things around her, the gears in her mind turning. "So...you don't know, uh..anything?"

It suddenly hits her that this is the first guy who's ever spoken to her. Willingly. Besides her teachers and father.

Her cheeks turn crimson, and Hazel turns her face to the side, refusing to make eye contact again.

"Some computer lady was explaining to us the rules, when I woke up." He offers.

Computer lady? "The rules?"

"Yeah. Here, walk with me," He says, as he starts to walk forward. After a short hesitation, she follows him warily. "Basically, we're trapped in an inescapable room, that perhaps changes habits everyday, to which we have to survive our way through the habitats. In this one," He nods forward, towards the tables filled with fancy food, and glasses with different colored liquids in each. "we have to find out a way to tell if the food is poisoned. I'm not entirely sure how we're supposed to do that, but I'm su-"

"You don't know how to tell if food is poisoned or not?" Hazels asks, adding a laugh at the end of it.

"No? I didn't know I was coming here, therefore I didn't know I had to learn how to determine whether or not food was poisoned. Who learns how to do that these days, anyway?" He mutters, a bit of bitterness catching on.

"Knowing how to do it isn't anachronistic." She says, but then frowns. When did she say big words like that when talking to other people?

Usually, she refrains from big words, because then she' has to explain to the person what it means. But even she wasn't sure what it meant.

"Anachronistic?" The guy asks.

To her own shock, she says, "Anachronistic- an error in chronology; especially. A chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other. A person or a thing that is chronologically out of place; especially: one from a former age that is incongruous in the present. Though, to narrow it down, it means 'Out-of-date'."

With another frown, she questions herself. "I...what? How did I know that?"

Without waiting for an answer, she starts walking away from the guy, trying to figure out what was going on. But, she was stopped as the guys voice rung out towards her, "Wait, hey! What's your name?"

Hazel stops, says, "Hazel." Then continues on, for once not feeling smart enough.

"How is any of this possible? How did I even GET here? What is happening?!"

Hazel is answered by nothing, but then, a phrase pops into her brain, one she's never even heard before, but she mutters it, as if cursing, "Minahal nga langit, ayaw ako tan-awa ang usa ka butang nga dili ko buot nga makita."

What? Since when did she speak another language, besides Spanish and German? She needs ANSWERS. Not random words and strange languages!

Left.
Right.
Duck the blow.
And spin.
Like a ballet dancer, Luke span through the brawl with ease. These were the thugs: Good thugs no doubt, but thugs non the less. He kinda felt sorry for them, but he couldn't dwell on the idea. He swung his knife into the nearest's neck. They chose the wrong line of work.
There were about five of them, but despite being outnumbered, it didn't take Luke long. It would have taken him a matter of seconds, if it wasn't for the fact he had to stay silent. It was the dead of night outside, but gangs don't sleep.
In a final sweep he brought his blade into the abdomen of the last of the henchmen. He'd been hired to take out this branch, and it had certainly been delt with. Machine components from the computers on the wall lay all over the place, and the whole place stank of burned plastic. Using his in-built computer, he contacted his client, a rival gang, and sent them the information he'd found on the mainframe. It was mostly encrypted, but it wasn't difficult for Luke to crack.
All in a days work.
Now time to get out before the cops arrive.
Climbing onto an upturned filing cabnet, Luke took the cover of a ventilation shaft. When he had connected to the computer mainframe he'd accessed all of the building blueprints, and now knew it's structure inside out. Hauling himself into the shaft, he began to spider-climb up the inside. It was not long before he was at the top, and clambering onto the roof. The cold air hit him, accompanied with a foul industrial concoction of car fumes and smog. Dogs barked in the distance, and in pathetic retaliation against the world of crime, a police car whined somewhere to the east. Using Google Maps, Luke plotted his route back to his apartment.
Taking a running leap, Luke jumped of the side of the building, landing in a roll on the next roof along, letting his high strength body armour take the impact. Then he walked casually down the fire escape. The city thrummed in the night around him, and Luke blended in to the stream of humans and assorted aliens on the colony star. He walked for about a minute before he got the the nearest escalator bay, the place where he could enter the lower layers of the star and head to his apartment. He got onto the next escalator, which slowly descended to the second layer. From there he walked calmly through the subterranean streets until he reached his room. Then, suddenly hit by the days activity, he slumped straight onto his bed, barely noticing the surprisingly bright star on his artificial window...

***

When you are an Augmented Human, dreams are easy. True, sleep in necessary no matter if you are half computer or not, but when parts of your subconscious are computer driven, themes and basic ideas can be set before sleeping, and as long as nothing happens in the real world to change that, like an overly loud alarm, or being moved as you sleep, these will determine what one dreams.
Green grass, blue sky, white clouds. A meadow. His younger sister, smiling, laughing, chasing rabbits.
His younger sister had never seen a rabbit.
The sun shone with radiating warmth in Luke's pre set Shangri-La. The air smelled of nectar and honey, bees buzzed, birds chirruped, the whole world was beautiful.

***

A harsh light stung Luke's sleepy eyes. A harsh AI voice rang in his ears.
This wasn't his bedroom.
He sat bolt upright, the computerised side of his brain sending a jolt of adrenaline through his bloodstream. All around him humans and aliens were waking up, or wandering about, or shouting and jostling in fear and anger. The AI had stopped speaking, but Luke just rewound and listened again to what it had said.
So that's how it was.
Luke didn't like AI's at the best of times. They always gave out an aura of infallibility and, well, intelligence, until they made a mistake. Or broke. Or just went wrong. Luke generally mistrusted AI's, but when it was apparently in control of life or death for him, then he despised it.
Luke then checked his equipment. He had taken off his energy pistol from last night, but he still had his pistol and six bullets, and in his boot he could feel his energy blade pressing against his ankle. He had his fedora, and his armour was still on.
Luke stepped up to the table. He then changed his taste and smell onto hypersensitive. Suddenly he could smell the races all around him, and taste the metallic tint to the sterilized air. Cautiously taking up a bread roll, he sniffed it. He was overwhelmed by the smell of hot, fresh bread, but behind it...
arsenic.
Luke carefully placed it to one side, and was about to try another, but he heard a voice from close behind.
"Minahal nga langit, ayaw ako tan-awa ang usa ka butang nga dili ko buot nga makita." It was a girl who had spoken, of about Luke's age. She had elbow length brown hair, and confused green eyes.
Luke's inbuilt translator had picked it up, and Luke was shocked. "Watch your language, if you don't mind. We're in a tight situation here, and obscenities won't help."
She looked at Luke, puzzled. "What language even is that?"
Luke was puzzled. Surely she would know what language she had spoken? But he answered plainly, "You were speaking Arthteckh. And now I have some questions, if you don't mind. Who are you? Whence came you? And do you have the faintest idea why we're here?"

Gunnar the Great

Running a club full of thugs, murderers and other law-breaking criminals wasn't easy. Bar fights usually broke out and I had to break them up. Unlike me, most of the men there didn't have any abilities—just a hell of a lot of guns and pocket knifes. In fact, I rarely came across anyone with powers. So it was just me and my Glock devotee. Threats and pressing the barrel into someone's head usually worked a treat. Newcomers started fights. Not the usual.

But that night was different.

A stocky man trudged into the bar, at least 6'5, limbs as rock hard as boulders. He'd make Goliath tremble in his boots. Walking straight up to me, he slouched on the counter, blue eyes focused on mine. Trouble was spray painted across his forehead.

"You—" he began, pressing a large index finger into my chest, "have taken something from me."

Slipping the glass I was cleaning under the counter, I pushed his hand away from me and took a step back. The only thing between me and him was a block of wood. That wasn't really going to protect me from his fist, was it?

"Care to explain?" I asked smoothly. He slammed his fist down onto the wooden surface, causing heads to turn and eyes to stare in our direction. No one picks a fight with Gunnar.

"My girl," he roared, now both fists colliding with the worktop, making glasses shudder from the force of his hands. Man, was he strong. "You took her, you dirty thief!"

"Look, I may be a thief, but I'm certainly not dirty," I replied, a few chuckles passed round. "And your girl came to me. Said you were beating her up. And I don't like people who beat up their girlfriends."

Silence. The guy—I think he was called Samuel— glared at me, obviously seething for telling everyone what kind of a person he was. His head suddenly tilted, motioning towards the door. A sigh escaped my lips and I nodded, clambering over the counter and sulkily headed towards the door. It slammed behind us both as we entered the back alley.

"You will pay for this," he muttered, raising his fists. But before I could swipe my gun out of my pocket, he grabbed my neck and the next thing I saw was the brick wall.



Blackness. No. I had my eyes shut tight, and I was looking at my eyelids. They crept open and pure whiteness hit me, shocking me into scrabbling to my feet. Around me was people—no, some, but... not all. Aliens. Freaking aliens. Everywhere I looked was different races, species—things. I felt like I had just jumped into a Star Wars movie.

And then a voice rung out, an annoying female voice that didn't even sound human—she was obviously computerized. It bugs me so much that I wanted to find the plug and shut her down. A list of rules were given, but I was half listening because of the trauma of being here. Of being around them.

Where was I? All I knew was that it was a flipping white room, that's obvious, but where? Where the hell was I? Who were these people? What was I doing here? The confusion made me pull at my hair in frustration.

"The first habitat is loading,” the woman's voice suddenly informed us. “Today’s challenge is to test your senses. You will be given a room full of food and you will need to eat. Some of the dishes will be laced with poisons that will kill you, so you need to learn which ones are safe to consume. Questions.”

Voices cried out all around me, sending my heart racing. I felt damn claustrophobic and I realized I wasn't coping too well. My chest rose and faltered too quickly and I was still gripping my hair. Something told me that I was heading towards a nervous breakdown. I couldn't go through all the crap again. Trying to get my life on track—I couldn't...

Get a hold of yourself!

Shaking my head, I let go of my hair and began to calm down. My breathing shallowed and I suddenly noticed the room had changed. A table stretched out in front of us with various different foods all laid out, tempting me. But Computer had said something about poison, was it? Damn it! Freaking attack, I should have listened.

"You have ten hours to identify the foods and then find your way out before the room implodes,” her voice rings out again. There's a way out? Wait—implodes?

A girl in front of me suddenly hissed, "That's it? That's the best you—"

My hand clasped around her mouth, I snapped, "Shut up! You just shut up! Your talkin' could get us all killed." I wasn't risking my life over a kid. She struggled so I let her go, taking a few steps back. Jeez, some people.

All around, different beings conversed. It's nothing like I had ever seen. And I had seen a lot.

Lorrin

I stare at the food before me. It looks so weird. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Some of the creatures … hmm … people. Seems fair to call them people. They are in a sense, aren’t they? Right, some of the people are eating already, smelling the food, staring at it … doing the Gods only know what to it, before eating.
“This stinks,” I mutter. “None of the food is Rakshan.”
I pick up a glass of what appears to be water and smell it. It doesn’t smell fresh, but it is water. Taking a sip, I look around and notice the man that had told me to shut up before is glaring at a bowl of what must be soup. I quickly down the glass of water and stroll over to him. Alright mister, you think you can get the best of me?
“Havin’ trouble with the food?” I drawl.
He shoots me an evil look. “I thought I told you to shut up,” he bites out.
I lift my top lip in a sneer, showing off my fangs. “I don’t take orders from anyone, especially a human,” I spit.
His blue eyes narrow. “What are you?” He asks.
Letting my eyes trail down to the soup, I reach over the table and grab something at least recognisable. A green apple. As I do so, I inhale sharply. The soup is clean. No poisons. Apple is clean too.
“I’m a Snake-Child. Clearly you’re not Rakshan,” I turn to him and eye him up and down. He’s tall, with a broad chest and shoulders, an angular face and short, blondish hair. But compared to the city folk I deal with on the streets of Shae’Lian, he’s small and weak looking. Shame that, I’d have enjoyed picking a fight with him. “Yet you’re a human.”
“I’m from Earth,” he eyes me up and down. “You don’t look like much of a snake to me.”
A savage hiss rips through my throat, and I narrow my eyes at him. My almost black eyes, with the slitted black pupil. Of course you can’t see it because my irises are so dark. I have fangs … jeez I probably look more like a half demon. The hiss then dies on my lips.
“Well I am,” I huff. “I just have very dark eyes.”
He raises an eyebrow. “And that convinces me you’re a snake … how?” He asks.
I roll my eyes and take a bite of the apple. “I could kill you in a matter of seconds, and not by using my swords,” I tell him. “That’s not a threat, I’m just stating facts,” my eyes drift around the room, and I’m suddenly bored of talking to this weakling human. “By the way, the soup isn’t poisoned.”
“How do you know?” He asks.
Tapping my nose, I flash him a smile. “Good senses. I’m a Snake, remember,” I tell him and walk away.
As I walk down the table, I notice something odd about the walls. Everyone is so bent on getting the food that they haven’t looked at the rest of the room. The walls … aren’t made of wood, and the corners flicker and spark every few seconds. I search for a door but don’t find one.
“What is that?” I mutter to myself, walking over to the walls. I tap them, and jump back in surprise. They look like they’re made of wood, but they’re cold and feel like stone! “Jeez this place is creeping me out.”
“What are you doing?” The human from before asks behind me.
I spin around. “Take a look at the walls,” I point out the flickering.
“Huh,” he sniffs. “It’s glitching.”
“Glitching?” I frown.
He gives me a curious look. “When something computerised starts to … falter, I guess. It’s called glitching,” he explains.
“Oh,” I wrinkle my nose. None of that made sense. “So um … what’s computerised mean?”
“What kind of place did you come from that doesn’t have computers?” He gives me an incredulous look. I give him a look, not that he can see it, as my hood is still over my face. Explains why my sneering hasn’t had an effect on him. I wonder if he’s curious, by talking to me still, or if he’s stupid.
“Erm …” I tilt my head to the side. “I’ve heard of technology, my brother told me that a Kingdom is made of it. But where I’m from … we use horses to transport around, or we walk. The only metal we have is our farm tools and weapons. I have no idea what a computer is, my brother has never told me about technology, except that it’s a complete waste of time.”
He guffaws. “It is not!” He growls, and then composes himself. “Right, you said before you’re a snake. I’m curious to know … how are you a snake?”
I regard him coolly before taking off my hood. My nose twitches and I can hear everything much clearer now that it isn’t muffled by the material of my hood. The man before me ogles at me, his blue eyes wide.
“I’m half snake. I am a Snake-Child,” I roll my eyes. “And stop staring at me like that or I’ll rip your throat out.”
“You are very strange indeed,” he mutters.
Gods help me I’m going to kill this frustrating, weakling human.

Hazel Jay

"You were speaking Arthteckh. And now I have some questions, if you don't mind. Who are you? Whence came you? And do you have the faintest idea why we're here?" He asked, as Hazel stared at the ground, speechless.

She spoke a different language? How...is that even possible?

She's only been studying Spanish and German for the past few years. Never, ever, has she even heard of the language called...Architect? Architect isn't even a language.

Arthteckh.

What was going on? First she's using big words while talking to a BOY, now she's speaking languages she doesn't even know? What's next?

Hazel blinked, then remembered she was asked a question. Er, questions.

For the first time, she looked up at the boy, and was shocked to see what she did. Human, yes, he definitely was. But...but there were...wires, ad metal infused with his skin. Was he part robot?

Or, no. Out of the blue, a word came to her. One she didn't think of a lot, because it was kind of complicated, and she didn't really think it was actually a thing.

"Augmented Human?" She blurts out, immediately flushing afterwards. But before she could apologize, or even say a word, he spoke up again.

"Yes, I am an Augmented Human. Though...that doesn't really answer what I asked."

Hazel buried her face in her hands, and sighed. "What did you ask?"

"Who are you? Whence came you? And do you have the faintest idea why we're here?" He repeats, and she glances up at him.

He was-this was a shock for her to even think about-quite handsome. On his head, he wore a cute little fedora, hiding his black hair, and he had on a leather jacket, that to Hazel, looked damn fine on him. Once Hazel realized she was staring too long, she caught his eye again, and smiled a bit.

"I'm Hazel," She introduces, extending a hand. He takes it gladly, and she gives a gentle shake. "Hazel Jay. I got here not too long, if that's what you're asking. I'm kind of in the position you're in. All I know is that we're trapped in an inescapable room, that perhaps changes habits everyday, to which we have to survive our way through. Today, our challenge is to figure out a way if the food is poisoned, and if we eat something that is...well, I guess we die. I do have a theory that's working itself out in my mind, but it might need some tweaking still, to actually sound right."

Hazel catches a small smiles tugging at his lips, but then turns her face away, yet again realizing that she's talking to another guy. A cute guy.

"Wait, did I just call a guy cute? Oh, what is HAPPENING to me?" She asks herself, frowning ever-so-lightly.

She then shakes her head, then looks back up at the guy, and offers a smile. "What's your name?"

The boy, now more visible in the dim lights, seemed to be around her age. With a nice jaw structure, and a lean body.

Oh, my GOSH, Hazel! Stop examining him!

With a tilt of his head, he says, "Luke," the boy, now known as Luke, grins, "Seven. Luke Seven."

Hazel arches a brow at the unusual last name, but then covers it up with another smile. "It's nice to meet someone who's not totally rude, Luke Seven."

"It's nice to meet someone who's not totally rude, Luke Seven."
"Well it's nice to meet someone who considers me not totally rude, although that said, when one has an energy blade to the neck it can tend to make one a little biased." This girl was nice, and at least she was Human. It wasn't that Luke had anything against aliens, but they could be so difficult to talk to when they had such a radically different culture.
"Wait, did you just say energy blade? That's... a knife with a high speed particle function burning matter when it comes into contact with another object, thus damaging other weapons while sparring and causing burns to living tissue."
"Well, yes. But energy blade is shorter."
"But how did I even know that?" said Hazel, sounding rather confused. She looked panicky, and Luke was afraid she may start suffering from post traumatic stress.
"Look, you probably just remembered the definition from somewhere o.k? Just sit down and calm down, take some deep breaths." Luke had now idea how to calm someone, but he did his best to sound comforting and authoritative.
"But you don't understand," she replied, sitting down a chair away from Luke, "I shouldn't know. Like Augmented Human. I've never seen, never even heard of either of those things before. It's like, I just knew what they were."
Luke was confused. How could she not know what an Augmented Human was? Luke thought for a moment, before asking "When are you from."
Hazel looked puzzled at the question, but answered, "2014. What do mean?"
"This room is a lot weirder than I thought. Even my grandmother was only a child when they stopped counting in Anno Domini."
"So, you're from the future?"
"No, you're from the past."
Hazel laughed. At least she didn't look like she was having any difficulties with the concept. Luke would've hated having to explain everything in baby talk.
"Look," said Luke, shifting seat closer to Hazel, "why not try eating something? The bread is arsenic tainted, but the soup and apples are fine, and the fish is o.k, even if it is farm reared salmon and not wild. Also the beverages are fine apparently, so would you like a little wine?"

Morn

He sat at the table, quiet, resolute. Morn knew what to do and he knew how to do it. Memories from a past life filtered through his mind, memories of an eight year old boy being served a plate of bread filled with deadly poison, memories of a boy who lay in bed clutching his stomach and spewing the contents of his stomach all over the silk mattress.

Morn grabbed a piece of bread and ripped it in half, he poked at the inside, moist, yet the bread was cold enough for Morn to know that it had been out of the oven for at least a few days. Throwing away the bread, Morn grabbed an apple and a fish from the platter in front of him. The apple was fine, no syringe punctures or any other sign of tampering, Morn bit into it and moved onto the fish.

He was a machine, the old training coming back to him as he ate his fill of the uncontaminated food, picking out signs of alterations and throwing out the crap. After eating his fill, Morn sighed, he had freedom now, he had time to think, time to-

Morn slumped, his eyes a dark void of lifelessness as his consciousness left him for a split second before another entity entered his body. Suddenly, Morn wanted it all, the food before him was his for the taking! Memories rampaged through his head, memories of a boy starving on his bed, a boy denied dinner because of he did not have the physical strength to run seven miles and climb up a building in a minute flat. But not this time, NOT THIS TIME! HE HAD EARNED THIS! IT WAS HIS!

Morn preceded to stuff his face with the luscious sustenance, he savored the exotic tastes of the poisons stowed within them, hating himself for doing so. Yet he wanted it all and his thoughts were drowned out by the singular entity screaming,

"I EARNED IT! I EARNED IT! I EARNED IT!".

Tears streamed from his face as he ate, he felt the toxins boiling in his stomach as he gave in to his greed.

"I EARNED IT! I EARNED IT! I FUCKING EARNED IT!"

The he dropped from his chair and lay on the ground clutching his stomach thinking of only one thing,

This was him, this was who he was.

Jay

I walked through the crowd, careful not to bump into anyone, and sat at the table. Conversation rang around me and I couldn't help but listen. The crowd seemed generally confused and angry, and I couldn't blame them. I was still ill at ease being away from anything remotely recognizable. I scanned the crowd and noticed some humans. Smiling, I look them over, its always good to check on your family, albeit distant. Picture it as a father watching his child grow, I watched the first humans change and improve for millions and millions of years, I celebrated their triumphs, I helped them through their times of need. You could call me their god, their leader, but although I helped it was they who changed. They overcame the impossible, they evolved to fit their environments. This is how I came to love them so much, their adaptability inspired me, their minds were advanced for their race, everything about them gave me joy.

Suddenly, something caught my attention, two people, a boy and a girl, conversed at the far side of the room. Interested, I stood up and walked over to where they were standing. Suddenly, the girl, in her late teens, flipped back her hood revealing dark eyes and fangs. This surprised me, I saw the boy stiffen in shock. The girl spat something about ripping his throat out and I decided to intervene.

"I don't see the point in angry words, after all, we're all stuck in here together."

The girl looked at me strangely

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I smiled, "Well, we're all trapped together, I believe its best to put aside our differences and work to escape these confines." I heard the boy speak beside me

" *ahem* I second that" I look over to him and recognized the boy with the stark white hair. An awkward silence ensued, then I decided to speak.

"Well I would hate to leave without at least knowing your names." I say. The girl looked at me with distrust, then finally, in a bold voice,

"Lorrin"

I smiled and extended my hand, "Jay." Lorrin ignored my outstretched and walked away, an air of defiance about her. I watched her go, then turned and extended my to the boy with the white hair. This time, he took it.

"Gunnar"

I smiled, "I'll remember that."

"You better." He nodded, then turned and walked back to join the rest of the crowd. A spark erupted from the wall and I step back a little. I gingerly extended my hand and felt the wall. It was obviously artificial, it had grooves like tree bark, but unlike the roughness of bark, it was smooth and prickled with unseen energy. I checked other parts of the wall to see if it was malfunctioning too, but turned up with nothing. Sighing, I decided to rejoin the crowd and grab some food, the problem was, computer said the food was poisoned. Approaching the table, I examined the food in thermal. Everything looked normal, then I noticed the bread, It was stone cold. I figured they must have taken it out of the oven for so long for a reason, so I decided to avoid it. Then I noticed the turkey in the middle of the table. Licking my lips, I focused on my taste, allowing all my senses to dwindle away until I was deaf, dumb, and blind. My taste however, was multiplied one hundred fold, I could taste the individual smells of cheap cologne and primal alien scents. I located a turkey leg and gingerly tasted it. Nothing. I took a bigger bite, still nothing. Deciding the turkey was fine, I allowed my senses to return to their normal states, then shouted, "Hey! The turkey is okay!" Immediately, a small swarm of people gathered around the turkey.

Extricating myself from the crowd, I found a small bench and sat down. So far, everything was expected. There was always a slight danger factor and I expected it to slowly progress to more dangerous, but otherwise, I was enjoying the merits of having no responsibility other than to survive and I had been doing that for millions of years. Suddenly, I heard a thump and watched in slow motion as a man, middle aged, in a black coat slumped to the ground clutching his stomach.

Gunnar the Great

Pushing through the crowds of people, I grabbed the girl's arm that I had been conversing with. She thought she could scare me—she startled me with those dark eyes and sharp vampire-like teeth—but nothing did. I wouldn't let it. No one. Nothing. My natural instinct was to give fear the middle finger.

"Hey! Where you going?" I asked, my voice had that air of authority to it. Surprisingly, it didn't work and she gave me the fiercest scowl I had seen a long time.

"Away from you," she spat, pulling away from me. But I was determined. As she walked away, I followed her. Stopping in her tracks, she spun around. "Leave me alone."

"Look—we got off on the wrong foot," I began. She looked like a good fighter, she'd be of good use. If we had to fight, she would be a good ally. "Like that weird kid said, we should put aside our differences. Why not work together? I don't wanna snap your neck, so why not be... friends?"

Her eyebrows raised and her lip twitched slightly. The word tasted bitter in my mouth. "Friends" was definitely a term I didn't use often. In fact, I hated it. Friends liked to stab you in the back. Literally. A long time ago, I had decided not to get too close to people, but rather—my enemies. Like the saying goes. Good advice really.

"I'd rather go alone than with a petty human like you," she replied evenly, looking at me straight in the eye. Something about her unnerved me. I didn't like it. Plus the fact that she said "petty" angered me.

"Hey, you dumb sh—" Calm. I wasn't going to earn her trust by swearing at her. If she understood what a swear word was. I mean—who doesn't know what computerized meant? Damn aliens. I thought they were meant to be more advanced than humans. "Lorrin, hey! At least think about it!"

But she had sped off somewhere. I let out a few curses and stomped off in the opposite direction, heading towards the table. Some foods looked devine—some looked like they were a dish gone horribly wrong or rotted. I dreaded to think to try anything unusual. One bite and I could drop dead.

My hand reached out and picked up a somewhat earthy looking piece of fruit and brought it to my lips. The crunch in my mouth was almost the sound of realization. It wasn't pleasant. A vile flavour spread all across my taste buds and I choked slightly. A fit of coughs erupted from me as I gasped for breath.

"Oh, my gosh! He's been poisoned!" someone squealed. Or something.

Wafting my hand in the direction of the voice, I spluttered, "No. No I'm not. This food just tastes like it came out of someone's behind!"

Stumbling away, I tried not to laugh as I saw the faces of some. Utter shock. If all food there tasted like that then I wouldn't bother eating. Good grief. Maybe I should be a little more wary in future. All that hacking rubbed my throat sore.

A distant voice shouted something about the turkey being all right, so I grabbed some. It sounded like the kid who had randomly come up to us. He seemed smart. Maybe useful? Shaking my head a little, I remembered that I wasn't complying a list of people to "befriend", I was collecting up the good fighters and the ones more likely to survive longer. It was all about tactics. Group together or die. Pick and choose. Root out the weak, stay with the strong.

Nothing was emotional based. It wasn't gut instinct. It was a must. You either die or don't. Simple.

And I was no where near ready to die.

Hazel Jay

Hazel's breath quickened, though she refrained from holding her chest. "But how did I even know that?" she asked, everything that's happened twirling through her head, causing her mind to spin.

"Look, you probably just remembered the definition from somewhere o.k? Just sit down and calm down, take some deep breaths." Luke's voice spoke, slightly frantic. Did he not know what to do?

"But you don't understand," Hazel felt as if she were whispering, as words spilled throughout her mind, and languages added up in her brain.

Mandarin, Chinese, Japanese, Bengali, Russian, Hindi, Korean-

Hazel settles down on a chair away from the boy, and holds her head. "I shouldn't know. Like Augmented Human. I've never seen, never even heard of either of those things before. It's like, I just knew what they were."

Luke was quiet for a moment, then simply asked, "When are you from?"

She looked up, confused as to why that mattered. Hesitantly, she answered, "2014.. What do mean?"

"This room is a lot weirder than I thought. Even my grandmother was only a child when they stopped counting in Anno Domini." He replied.

"So, you're from the future?" Hazel questioned, arching a brow.

"No, you're from the past."

She couldn't help but laugh.

"Look," Luke started, moving a seat closer to her, "why not try eating something? The bread is arsenic tainted, but the soup and apples are fine, and the fish is o.k, even if it is farm reared salmon and not wild. Also the beverages are fine apparently, so would you like a little wine?"

Hazel frowned, she'd ever had wine, more less any alcoholic beverages. But, it's always great to try new things, right?

With a nod, Luke was up, and already stalking over to the tables, picking out several different delicacies, some fruit, and two glasses filled 1/3 of the way up with dark liquid.

Hazel stared off at him, and a blush began to rise, as he looked up at her and smiled a bit. She tore her gaze away, and focused on the wall. Though, she caught a faint surge of energy spark off at the edge, and a word came to her.

Without being able to help it, she blurted out, "In public declarations, glitch is used to suggest a minor fault which will soon be rectified and is therefore used as a euphemism for a bug, which is a factual statement that a programming fault is to blame for a system failure."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she clasped a hand over the bottom half of her face. She'd never, ever, blurted out a definition like that, especially so quickly. Usually, she had to think of a word, then she'd remember what it was. But to randomly say the whole definition to a word she hadn't been thinking about?

Hazel's lip began to tremble, and her eyes squinted, as tears started to form. Was this what fear felt like?

She'd never been scared before, except for when her parents left. Other than that, nothing. There was nothing to be afraid of, if all you did was sit at home, do work, read, and go to school.

But with the languages, and the random words that came to her mind, how did she even know what an Augmented Human was? How did she know how to speak...Arthteckh? How did she even GET here?

Before she could stop them, the tears poured out, and she balled her fists up, tired. Scared. Confused. She slid her hand down her arm, but stopped when she reached her wrist. An unfamiliar band sat, it was tight. She tugged at the side, but it didn't budge. How could she not have known that was there?

With an aggravated sigh, she wiped at her eyes, and looked up. Luke was finally, after doing who knows what, making his way back over.

Furiously, she scrubbed her face with her hands, then settled back in her chair, sniffling quietly.

As he approached the chairs, she put on a smile, rubbed her arm, "Thanks, Luke.."

He nodded, and set the contents in his hands on a small coffee table sitting a few feet in front of the chairs.

Hazel leaned forward, and picked up one of the glasses. Once she raised the glass to her lips, she took a sip of the drink.

She could feel Luke's eyes on her as she tasted the slightly bitter beverage, so she grinned, and took another drink. "It's...interesting."

With that, she set the cup down, and glanced back over at the 'wall', determining whether she should mention it to Luke or not. Deciding to pass it off for the moment, she huffed, and looked back over at him, "You know, I feel much better now...thanks, again."

"You know, I feel a lot better now. Thanks, again."
"No need to thank me," said Luke, " goodness knows I'm gonna need friends in this hellhole. And I'm not talking about the environment: to quote Sartre, 'Hell is..."
"...Other people.'" finished Hazel, then smiled sheepishly.
"Exactly." said Luke, and smiled back.
"But if you are endeavoring to make friends," queried Hazel, "why not go and talk to one of the people over there?"
Luke glanced over to where she was looking to, and shook his head. "I won't befriend people like that, because they will have an agenda of their own."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well take a look at him." said Luke, pointing to a burly looking human with a short crop of blonde hair. "He is already trying to recruit. See, he's going for that tall person with the hood there. He's going for the strong, the killers. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to recruit me. But he'd happily desert them to save his own skin."
"Wait a moment... you said he was recruiting killers... why would he recruit you?"
"Well," said Luke, "I see no point in lying to you. If you need someone assassinated, I'm your guy."
Hazel looked shocked at the news, but said "So that's why you became an Augmented Human then?"
"Not quite, I was a gamer before. Just like basic circuitry, nothing next to what I've got now. But I went for what I was good at, and I was a damn good shot even at five."
"So you learned to shoot when you were five?"
"Best to start young. I've been an assassin for about 3 years now."
This shocked Hazel even more than when he'd said he was an assassin. "But you're about my age!"
"Sixteen, yeah. What about it?"
"But that means you were a thirteen year old assassin!"
"Well you gotta do something at thirteen." Luke smiled.
Hazel said nothing, so Luke asked "So who are you? Save, like, a girl from the past with an extended vocabulary?"
"Well, basically, I am the nerd at school..."
"School?' Luke interrupted.
"School, where you go to learn things!" Hazel said incredulously.
"Oh right, college. Please carry on..."
"Well I'm the nerd at school, and I live alone because my mom and dad moved to India. I don't really think my life story is quite as interesting as yours..."
"That's a matter of perspective," said Luke.
Just then a man across the room gripped his stomach in pain and crumpled to the floor.