Young Writers Society

Tara's jaw dropped when they entered the room. It was unlike any she'd ever been in before.

"This is CB's room, then?" She asked. "Who is he?" What is this place?"

Queenie rolled her eyes. Always with the stupid questions.

"If you think that anyone here has the answer to those questions, you're just plain stupid," she said, her back turned to Tara as she examined the contents of the room. This CB person was either one hell of a scholar, or they were just a hoarder.

Queenie was leaning toward the later option.

From how James had described it, this was a simulation of the room, not the real deal. Like some of the rooms they used when they had to run through a particularly complicated job. Technology like that was expensive, though, and hard to erase or replace records from, so she didn't get to use them all that often, which sucked. When she did get to use it, it was always with a team, different every time. She half-suspected that father dearest took the heads off the people she worked with to keep them quiet about all the little secrets they learned. Of course, she couldn't confirm that.

"I do feel like it would have been better to ask for the room to show you the way out," Queenie pointed out.

James turned back to Queenie.

“Fair,” he said. “We can try that out and see if it’ll work. I just thought this might give us a better insight into who exactly CB is.”

Queenie sighed, reading over the notes around the orbs on the curved table, "CB is a collector of information and curiosities. A stalker with technology that's probably unbelievably advanced for most of your worlds who was in the middle of taking some notes when this thing brought up the room, or something of the sort. They like to read a lot of gibberish," she gestured to the books that were clearly used the most, frayed at the spines and corners and kept on tables and low shelves, "Probably magic or something." Under any other circumstances, she would consider the spellbooks signs of mental unwellness, or just a connection to some kind of weird religion. But since she'd been kidnapped - well and properly kidnapped, from her home and everything - magic was the most likely explanation.

She turned back to the group, gathering up the notes and examining them closer. Those orb things were probably crystal balls of some kind, showing CB other worlds and, specifically, them. The ones that mentioned her were filed to the back of the stack as she focused on the others. The notes were unfinished, so there wasn't a whole lot of information to be found in them, but the others didn't need to know that.

Before they could even ask about them, she folded the notes up and put them in her pocket. "Point is, the bitch is a hoarder, but they're smart enough to navigate this space and use all this nonsense," she gestured to all the foreign equipment in the simulated room, "Probably capable of doing repairs to this simulator, too, but that's just a guess. It doesn't matter, though, because we have the means to potentially find the way out of here."

Colleen stepped right towards the candle, breathing in its scent.

Scanning over the many bookshelves didn't grant her any kind of information, not like what Queenie just said.

Even more than she had before, Colleen felt rather well, ordinary, because she was stunned and a bit freaked out and she had lost some of her vocabulary, amongst the rest of the group.

"So, should we divide and conquer the, er, room? There are a lot of things here that can hopefully help us."

His gaze followed the notes as Queenie slid them into her pocket. Considering that he was (badly) hiding the books on James and himself, he felt like he was more aware of where the information was going. Part of him wondered if she had taken notes on all of them instead of just her. He wasn't sure how he felt about that - especially considering that they might have had something about Maahes and Vala's off-world missions on them.

But the other part of him was focused on something much more pressing. Odris was starting to get the sinking feeling in his chest that they weren't going to get any answers until CB showed himself - he seemed to just be giving them a long string of clues.

"I wish we knew why he was doing this," he muttered, drifting over to the books on magic. He wondered if CB had a book on summoning spirits.

James wandered to the table, watching as Queenie picked up the papers on the table and shoved them in her pocket. Ever since she'd planted the idea of using the room to find a way out, he couldn't think of anything else. He didn't know how much time they had. If CB knew where they were and was keeping meticulous records... was CB watching them at this moment? Were they even gaining ground? Was this simulation actually going to help them?

CB had led him to this room in the first place. They probably would've expected them to use it for something like this. Gathering information.

He wasn't sure his skepticism was helping.

"I don't know if I want to know," he said quietly, in reply to Odris.

As Queenie tucked away notes (that probably had sensitive information about them or herself), he pulled off the sheets covering the large orbs on the table.

Underneath, were crystal balls - each illuminated from the inside with images of... all of them.

But the images weren't frozen in time. They were active. He stared at a picture of himself, looking at the crystal ball on the table. Queenie and Odris were in the "frame."

Well, now he knew for sure they were being watched. Except, they couldn't see CB in the room. Maybe they weren't being watched at this exact moment? He also didn't know if the room could make people appear, or just inanimate objects.

He backed away from the crystal balls, looking around the room. Queenie had already hypothesized most of what he would've gotten out of the room anyway. There was no need to waste time. They all had lives to get back to.

"Okay. Uh. Simulation room - show us the way out of this place. The exit."

A pause.

"Command invalid," the robotic voice responded.

James stared out into the room. What did that mean? There had to be an exit. Every place had an exit.

"Show the - I don't know - the room or hall that leads to the way out," he commanded.

"Command invalid," the room said again. "'The way out' does not exist."

Queenie watched James as he commanded the computer to show them the way out. At least he was seeing the sense in looking for an exit in their limited time in this room.

"'The way out' does not exist."

She should have expected that. She should have been ready for another step back in this constant backward rate of progression.

But she wasn't, and the anger flared in her chest.

A steadying breath. Another. She'd be fine. She'd figure it out. Maybe she'd even drag some of her forced companions with her.

The way out does not exist.

Tara let those words sink in as her eyes moved around the room. She was afraid to touch anything in the fear she'd mess it up. They were being watched, and that made her actions that much more deliberate.

"Computer, show us the exit," Tara tried. Sometimes it was a matter of phrasing.

Odris knew how places like this worked. James's phrasing had been specific enough. He had asked for both the exit and a hallway or room that could have been the exit. If the simulation room hadn't shown them the way out before, it likely wasn't going to show them the way out now.

But he didn't have the heart to tell Tara that. He would voice his suspicions on not being able to leave until CB let them after the exit failed to appear. There was no point in arguing right now - and he hated arguing with other people, anyways.

Colleen hadn't expected anything to come out of asking for an exit, mostly because she still couldn't quite believe in this incredible kind of magic, or invention, or something that had to be from the future.

Or, maybe, something from where Queenie and Tara or Odris seemed to be from, as they weren't from her world. James seemed to be the closest to her in terms of whatever went on from their original homes.

"Er," she muttered, mostly to herself, before moving towards Odris, whose outfit still made her confused since it looked distinct from everyone else's as well. "I'm very confused right now. Have you ever been in a place like this?"

Colleen scuffed her shoe on the floor, trying not to blush. Gods, she felt a bit like a mad woman, just going up and asking random questions from people who probably wanted to be left alone.

Odris faltered.

He hadn't expected anyone would say something to him - and hadn't expected someone would comment on how comfortable he seemed in the room.

"I have," he admitted. "It's been awhile, but I've been in a simulation room like this before."

It had been even longer since he had to try explaining it to someone else, but Colleen looked like she needed the help. He thought it over for a moment before finally settling on an answer.

"I think the best way to explain a simulation room is that it's a trick of the light," he finally said. "It's meant to make your eyes think you're in one place when you're really not. It can also trick the other senses - like touch - so it feels like more of a real experience."

James stared out into the room. Tara's command fell on deaf ears. Or, deaf computer processors. All they heard was another: "Command invalid."

James clenched his fists at his sides. Fine. No exit? Well, they could at least try to get back out of this useless room. They'd done what CB had asked. Now he was going to do what he wanted.

"Fine," he said. "Computer, show us the door out of this room. The actual door. Not a simulation."

He didn't know if that would work, but he figured it'd be worth -- ah.

It did.

The same door he and Colleen entered through appeared, but it looked like the hand-prints were on the other side. The door had flipped back around somehow, not that James felt like questioning it at this rate.

He stalked over to the door, frowning at it for lacking a door handle or anything to open it - so he did the only thing he could think to do, and pushed. It didn't budge. He huffed, backing away before pushing up against it one more time, as hard as he could manage.

He could feel the door slip outward just a smidge, and then all at once.

The door flew open and James stumbled out into the hall, catching his balance and catching the door to hold it open - just in case.

"Let's get out of here," he said to the others.

As James held the door open, Odris decided now was the time to voice his suspicion.

He walked out into the hallway.

"I don't think we'll be able to leave this place until CB wants us to," Odris said. He was looking at James - finding comfort in the familiar face, and the hope that James would agree with him - but the comment was directed towards everyone. "There must have been some reason CB brought us here. If I'm right, we won't be able to leave until we fulfill it."

He glanced down at the book and tablet tucked underneath his arm.

Whatever the reason was, he doubted it was a good one.

Queenie stalked out of the open door as soon as it appeared. There was no way in hell she was going to risk getting shut in the simulation room alone.

"If they want us to fulfill a purpose," Queenie said in response to Odris's statement, "They'll have to tell us what the hell that actually is. Until then, I'm looking for a way out."