Tainted Skies – Flashback: "Protocol 47: Internal Termination"
Year: 20XX | Location: White Room Sector Delta-13
The metal door creaked open with a screech like nails on bone.
Two boys were shoved inside—one bleeding from the lip, the other already bruised across the jaw. The door slammed behind them, sealing them inside the White Room's newest experiment.
A single voice crackled over the intercom, calm and clinical:
"Only one leaves alive. Eliminate the threat."
Silence fell. Thick. Poisonous.
Footsteps echoed—slow and deliberate.
Alex rose first. His body trembled, but not from fear. His knuckles were pale around the hilt of the knife they'd left on the floor. A wicked grin split his face, blood streaking one cheek like a symbol give to him..by the system itself.
"Hey there…" he rasped, eyes gleaming under the flickering overhead light.
"Number One."
Kael remained still—crouched against the far wall, chest rising and falling with quiet restraint.
"Funny how we meet again," Kael said softly.
"You really don't learn your lessons, do you?"
Alex's grin twisted.
"I've studied my lesson very well."
Then his voice snapped.
"I'LL KILL YOU THIS TIME!"
He lunged.
Steel clashed against steel.
The sound rang out like thunder in the confined metal walls. Sparks danced as they collided—grunting, snarling, moving like animals forced to war. Kael ducked under a wild slash and shoved Alex backward into the wall.
"Give up!" Kael barked.
"They want us to kill ourselves, not each other!"
"You think I give a damn?!" Alex roared, swinging again.
The blade sliced across Kael's shoulder. Blood hit the floor like a signature.
Kael gritted his teeth, eyes burning.
Alex rushed again—but Kael was faster.
SLASH.
Alex staggered, clutching his side as blood gushed between his fingers. He dropped to his knees, breath ragged.
Kael stood over him, chest heaving, knife trembling in his grip.
"...Give up..." Kael asked, his voice eerily calm.
Alex looked up, blood trickling from his mouth.
"I hope you rot in hell."
Kael flinched—not from the threat, but the honesty.
He tightened his grip.
"Our minds," he whispered, more to himself than anyone.
"They've ruined us. This place… it's not survival anymore. It's rot. It's slow death."
Alex choked—vomiting blood onto the sterile floor.
"I…"
Kael raised the knife.
His heartbeat pounded like a war drum in his ears.
Then—
A whisper.
Do it.
His eyes widened.
Kill him.
It came from the vents.
Kill him.
From the floor.
KILL HIM. KILL HIM. KILL HIM. KILL HIM—
The room pulsed with voices—dozens, hundreds. An echo chamber of cruelty. A hymn of madness.
And then—
Cold.
A shadow crept behind Kael, slithering like ink across the sterile white wall. It reached around him—not with hands, but with arms made of nothing. Darkness wrapped around his chest like a noose disguised as a hug.
It pressed its head to his shoulder. A whisper, cold and sweet.
"Let me help you. Let me in."
Its arms tightened.
"Just one movement. Just one plunge. You'll finally be free."
Kael's vision blurred. His grip faltered.
KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM—
"You were made for this," the shadow breathed.
"Obey."
He couldn't tell if the shadow was real or his mind—
—but it held him like a lover and a weapon all at once.
He let out a choked breath—
CLANG.
The knife hit the floor.
He dropped to his knees.
His chest rose and fell. Fast. Shaking. Hollow.
And just like that, the voices vanished—like smoke cleared from a battlefield.
The shadow melted away. Gone. As if it had never existed.
Silence returned, jagged and cold.
Alex stared, still clutching his wound. Not in shock at being spared—
—but at the fact Kael resisted it.
Kael didn't move.
He stared at his hands, stained in sweat, blood, and guilt.
Alex let out a breath. Then a broken laugh.
"You… moron," he muttered.
They didn't move again.
Didn't speak again.
They just breathed.
Both alive.
Both broken.
Both still here.
---
SYSTEM REPORT: TASK FAILED.
SUBJECTS 01 + 05 REFUSED TERMINATION PROTOCOL.
ANOMALY DETECTED IN BEHAVIORAL CONDITIONING.
DIRECTIVE: BLACK BOX ISOLATION.
DURATION: 4 (FOUR) CYCLES.
FULL SENSORY STIMULATION TO BE WITHHELD.
BEGINNING NOW.
[END LOG]