The men led us down a long, narrow hallway. I kept glancing around. Everything felt like a weird dream I couldn't wake up from.
We stopped in front of an enormous steel door. One of the guards tapped a code into a panel as it scanned his face and the door opened.
We were ushered into a massive circular room. The ceiling stretched up at least four stories.. Surveillance cameras were mounted at every angle. I could feel the lenses following us as we stepped in.
The dim lights barely lightened the place. The walls were made of concrete. No windows, no clocks.
I glanced around.
There was a lady beside me with messy black short hair with her arms crossed.
The guy with tattoos and piercing all over his face kept pacing like a caged animal.
Everyone here looked broken in some way.
Suddenly, a loud crackling sound came from the speakers hidden in the ceiling.
A deep voice spoke:
"Hello everyone. Welcome to the Recall Trials."
The room went dead silent. You could literally hear everyone breathing heavily across the room.
"You have all been chosen,to participate in a very special event."The room stayed quiet.
"This game will be live-streamed exclusively to the elite sector. They will be watching your every move. Your every choice. Broadcasting will begin in exactly two hours. Prepare yourselves."
People started whispering. Live-streamed? What the hell did I just get myself into?
"The game will last for one hundred days," the voice added. "The reward... onehundred millionand a place amongst the elite."
There was a loud gasp from the room.
A hundred million dollars?
Holy shit.
That's more than enough to stay away from my old man forever.
Enough to start over.
I could build my own empire with that money.
I could feel this huge smile tugging at my lips before I even realized it.
I wasn't the only one.
A few others were smiling too , hungry smiles, desperate smiles.
Everyone here needed this money.
Badly.
But then someone spoke up from the crowd ,a tall guy, maybe in his late twenties."How do we know you're not lying? How do we know the money even exists?"
The lights dimmed even more, and then, a massive glass structure lowered from the ceiling , shaped like a piggy bank, but transparent. And inside?
Stacks.
Mountains of cash.
"This is your prize. But remember only one person walks away with it,"the voice spoke.
The entire room gasped again. I could hear whispers now: It's real. It's really real.
Even I had to swallow down my shock. That much money... all real... just hanging there.
"If anyone wishes to leave now, you are free to walk away. No punishment. No consequences," the voice spoke again
Everyone froze.
No one moved.
Not a single person.
Guess we were all too desperate, too broken, too greedy.
"Good. Now, you may return to your rooms. Prepare yourselves. The game begins in two hours.There will be a countdown timer during each game. You must complete the task before it runs out… or you'll be eliminated."
The doors at the other end creaked open, and silently, all of us,like puppet, turned and started walking back.
No one said a word.
No one looked back.
I glanced around again, seeing the excitement, the hunger in everyone's eyes.
I had made the right choice.
There was no backing out anymore.
As we all headed back from the hall, they handed us these trays of breakfast—eggs, toast, and some weird grey-looking drink. I didn't care much. I wasn't even that hungry. My head was still spinning from everything— the piggy bank stuffed with cash. A hundred million dollars? It felt too good to be true, but it lit a spark in me. You could see it in my eyes.
People were already forming little groups, whispering, laughing like they'd already won. Everyone had some plan, some dream. The mood was lighter, hopeful. That kind of money could change everything.
I quietly stepped into the room.. I walked to my bed and sat, trying to collect myself.
After finishing my breakfast, I ended up taking a nap.
When I woke up, the room was still full of life—people were chatting, laughing, hanging around like it was some sort of camp.
Then I saw her.
One girl, sitting by herself in the corner of the room. She hadn't touched her food. She didn't even look happy like the others. She just sat there with her head resting on her knees. Then she pulled her hair loose from a bun, and it just fell -long, soft, like silk. I couldn't stop staring for some reason. There was something about her... something beautiful.
Then she looked up.
And our eyes met.
I swear, for a moment, I completely forgot how to breathe. Her eyes...God, her eyes. Were they green? Or blue? I couldn't even tell. It was like both colors were mixed in this unreal way. I don't even know how to describe it… just that they were stunning. Calm, but cold.
And her face, she looked so delicate, like something you weren't supposed to touch. Angelic. Not the kind of beauty you see in Sector A, where everything's been lifted, injected, or adjusted. Hers felt untouched… real. Fragile in the most haunting way. I didn't even know why, but I panicked. My heart was racing like I just got caught doing something wrong. I looked away quickly, hoping she didn't notice, but I knew she did.
As I tried to snap out of it, someone sat down beside me.
"I know who you are," a blonde girl whispered to me.