In a wide room lay a frail-looking young man with short gray hair. Slowly rising his head:"Damn… I must have leaned on my surgery again."
Looking right and left, he saw nothing."I hope I didn't turn blind... Wouldn't even be a surprise... God, my head... I feel like I've been hit by a truck."
Then, the lights buzzed on, revealing the room around Kairo.He was in a chamber connected to a huge white hall. And it seemed he wasn't the only one there.Dozens of similar pods lined the hall… but something was off.
"I know these faces... vacant eyes, trembling hands, sunken skin. The ones medicine keeps alive when everything else has given up."Is this what a party looks like?
One of the men lying nearby suddenly screamed,"Damn it! Where are we?!"
Silence swallowed his rage.Those who still had strength wandered off, trying to find an exit. Some of us couldn't even sit up, let alone walk."Where's the doctor? A nurse? Anyone? This place looks like a giant hospital."As expected, they found nothing.
Suddenly, red light flooded the room.A massive screen appeared in front of us, displaying only two words
[ Die ] [ Contain ]
Two chambers opened—one on the left, one on the right.Then the display shifted into a countdown.
[29:59]
[29:58]
Are we supposed to choose? What happens at zero?
Somewhere deep down... I already had the answer.The same man who screamed earlier shouted again,"You sick freaks! You can't be serious! What is this, some sick show?!You think we're lab rats?!"
He clicked his tongue and stormed toward the room on the right, followed by five others.There, he picked up a needle-like device and stared at it for a minute or two.Then, without hesitation, he injected it into the back of his neck.That's when I noticed a small black mark on his neck.In fact, we all had it—just small enough to miss before.
Suddenly, the man screamed:"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"His eyes filled with tears, limbs jerking uncontrollably.
A minute passed, and he was still screaming.
[25:00]
Some others went into the left room. There was a single button.Above it, a single word
[ Die ]
One man let a single tear fall, then pressed the button.His eyes went lifeless. He stood still for a moment… then dropped—like a puppet with cut strings.
Minutes passed.I saw a girl, about my age, walk into the right room.She didn't speak. Just stood there, calm… resolved.Well, there was no other choice.I followed her in.
I glanced at the screaming man. His voice was almost gone from screaming.Bloodied teeth—cracked from the strain.
Then, out of nowhere, the girl beside me turned and said,"I'm Mira, by the way. What's your name?""Kael," I replied.Without missing a beat, she gave a crooked smirk and said,"The first one to scream is gay.""…Wait, what?"
She didn't answer.Instead, she tore a strip from the hem of her dress, ripped it in half with surprising precision, placed one piece between her teeth, and handed me the other—calm as if we weren't about to undergo torture.Then she injected herself… and collapsed next to the others.
"Tsk."I held the gun-like injector for a moment, bit down on the cloth, and followed.The moment the serum entered my neck,I felt my blood boil.Fire spread through my veins the instant it hit.The headache intensified tenfold. My skin burned.I felt like my flesh was being torn apart.It didn't ease up—it only got worse.I felt something crawling under my skin—worms? I wanted to scream, but instead, I bit the cloth harder.My eyes nearly popped from the pressure.I sensed the others moving in the hall, but I couldn't focus on anything except my pain.Minutes passed.Then, suddenly, the pain vanished.
A message flashed before my eyes
[ Integration complete. The user's choice must be fulfilled. ]
And then, everything went dark.