The boy's eyes open slowly and he groggilly stares at the ceiling.
"Wheram I...."
Suddenly he hears a beeping noise.
"GWAH!!"
He notices the armband at his wrist, and sheepishly sits up to read the displayed text.
Good morning, Remnant Nyan. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and your stored memories have been sent to your grieving families.
Nyan blinks a few times.
After this announcement, you may proceed to testing. Please remember that any attempts to remove or vandalize your armband, your antigravity pack, or the device in your hand will result in instant death.
Instant death, not good
Do not allow any other test subjects to view your armband screen or reveal your instructions in any way, shape, or form, as this will result in instant death. Any attempts to read the armband screen of another test subject will also result in instant death.
This is one structured dream, I woke up in it and now directions?
Do not attempt to use a device belonging to another test subject without his or her permission. Do not submerge your device in water, even partially. Do not expose your device to temperatures above 500 degrees Kelvin. Do not attempt to eat your device.
Nyan giggles at the idea of eating a chunk of metal, despite himself.
Upon completion of the test, your memories will be restored and you will be brought home. No further test protocol guidelines are required or will be provided. Happy testing!
He continues to stare for a few more seconds, only pausing to brush the hair out of his eyes. As the text switches he reaches down and pinches himself. The wall in front of him slides open, revealing another room.
"WHATTHEFUCKINGHELL!!!"
His armband beeps again, displaying new text.
You have five minutes to proceed and introduce yourself to your companions.
Nyan forces himself into standing, and drags himself into the next room.
Five other people stood in the room, all seeming to have come from adjoining chambers.
"Hi I'm Nyan and..."
He loses it and buries his head in his hands crying behind his curtain of hair.
edited 4th Dec '11 7:00:39 PM by Aqueos
Bet you didn't see that comingPetal wakes up, slowly, and a slight smile plays on her face as she awakes, sits up, and starts to stretch, quite unaware of the scene around her. That's when she hears a beeping noise, that makes her flinch a little. That's what catches her attention. She arches an eyebrow, and everything starts to form for her.
Wait, what just...?
And then, that's when Petal completely awakens, and turns her attention to the screen of the armband.
Good morning, Remnant Petal. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and your stored memories have been sent to your grieving families.
Petal blinks as she gathers this information. "...Grieving families?" she says in a small voice, as if she thought the armband could hear her, "Stored memories? ...Can I at least know where I am?" The armband ignores her as the words continued rolling across the screen.
After this announcement, you may proceed to testing. Please remember that any attempts to remove or vandalize your armband, your antigravity pack, or the device in your hand will result in instant death. Do not allow any other test subjects to view your armband screen or reveal your instructions in any way, shape, or form, as this will result in instant death. Any attempts to read the armband screen of another test subject will also result in instant death.
The still clueless Petal just tilts her head, and raises an eyebrow at this. Lots of death on the line, apparently... but why?
Do not attempt to use a device belonging to another test subject without his or her permission. Do not submerge your device in water, even partially. Do not expose your device to temperatures above 500 degrees Kelvin. Do not attempt to eat your device. Upon completion of the test, your memories will be restored and you will be brought home. No further test protocol guidelines are required or will be provided. Happy testing!
Petal remains clueless as she re-reads the words on the armband, and then she re-reads them again. No matter how many times she reads it, it didn't make sense. That's when the text disappears, and is replaced with her name, some random number and other random stuff, that makes even less sense to her than the actual message. "Huh..." For now, she decided to just try to let this whole thing make sense.
Then, the doors reveal a different room, and Petal, completely unprepared for the action, lets out a small shriek of fear, and jumps. She shivers a little, and wraps her arms around herself, before the beeping returns. What now?
You have five minutes to proceed and introduce yourself to your companions. 5:00:00
"Oh, companions?" she whispers to herself once more, then smiles to herself like she did when she awoke. At least she wasn't alone. She finally gets to her feet, enters the other room and goes to introduce herself... But, that's when she sees a short young man with blonde hair, and within not even a few seconds, he starts to weep, which startles Petal.
"Oh!! Are you okay?" she asks out of instinct, and immediately rushes toward him. "Are you alright??"
edited 4th Dec '11 6:27:08 PM by PottedHair
There will be that one day that my bad luck will come to an end. It won't come for about thirteen hundred years, though.Hmmmg...
Slowly, the girl woke up to find herself in a wholly unfamiliar environment, her mind uncharacteristically free of much thoughts or memories as she rose from her comfortable bed.
Where am I...? She thought briefly... but after a few seconds nothing about it... or just about anything came to mind. Just a white haze where her thoughts should be.
The girl heard a beep coming from her wrist, so she checked it curiously. There she found a message addressed to her which detailed the rules of the game.
After reading that she should be afraid she knew... she actually did feel the dread tie a knot in her throat but the girl soon found that she was good at setting such feelings apart from her thoughts. Right now she had to do what the instructions said... even without her memories she knew that she didn't want to die.
So, she stood up... just to notice her reflexion on the walls. That brought a little smile to her lips. Spades took a little while to inspect her appearance... with jumpsuit wasn't all that flattering but she liked what she saw. Her straight black hair went very well with her pale skin... her crimson eyes looked rather exotic... her figure was quite pleasing to her eyes. The tattoo on her cheek which said Spades was most certainly new... but it was charming in its own way. Being barefoot on the other hand... while she could see the aesthetic appeal she wasn't crazy on stepping on cold metal and who knew what else from now on.
After letting out a small frustrated sight over that issue Spades decided that it was time for her to meet the others her wristwatch thing indicated. Her steps where full of confidence and a little graces as she went over to the reunion room... only to find a young man crying and a woman running over to console him by the look of things.
Well now this was a bad start. Spades leaned on the wall, crossing her arms as she waited for them to be over with that before she introduced herself... all the while looking at the situation with a slight look of disapproval.
"Are you alright?"
Nyan lifts his head a bit to see a concerned women running toward him. In the background a girl about his age leans against a wall, her arms crossed with an irritated expression on her face.
Get it together Nyan, get it together. Things may be bad but you could die for this
Nyan pulls up to full height and tries to wipe the tears out of his eyes, and the hair out from in front of them.
"It's just so much and..."
He breaks down for a moment, but continues before the women can intervene.
"I just hoped it was a dream that this was some figment of my imagination... That this was all some sick dream. But now... were just pawns in a chess game, lab rats in a maze. It just scares me to know were just part of some sick experiment, and all of us could be killed at the flick of a switch."
He sighs and looks at the floor for a moment.
"Sorry about that.... I'm Nyan and you're?"
He bats his hair out of his eyes again.
I really need to deal with my hair.
Bet you didn't see that comingThere's another girl, a girl with long black hair who enters the room, that Petal predicts is somewhere around this boy's age, looking pretty annoyed, maybe even infuriated with everyone. (although Petal, being as clueless as she is, doesn't even bother trying to understand why... even if the answer is obvious) This is as the frightened young man tells of his feelings, and Petal nods her head in understanding, although inside her mind, it was a completely different story.
Lab rats? ...Never really thought of that before... and... is this all just really a sick experiment? I mean... there's got to be a reason. There's a reason for everything. But, why would anyone take away our memories? Why would they threaten so much on the line, so much death? Do they want us to die?
...No, no, Petal, don't think like that. No one wants us to die. No one is trying to kill us. No one is trying to cause any harm. There is a reason for everything. There is a reason...
...Right?
"Sorry about that.... I'm Nyan and you're?"
Her thoughts are immediately halted,for a moment, and her attention snaps right back to Nyan, immediately. Oops. Note to self; got to stop zoning out...
"Oh!! Don't be sorry, please don't be sorry. There's no reason to be sorry, none at all. I understand." She gives another light smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself, did I? I'm Petal."
edited 5th Dec '11 4:21:46 AM by PottedHair
There will be that one day that my bad luck will come to an end. It won't come for about thirteen hundred years, though.Where Am I?
Bloom sits up, adjusting her sunglasses as she looks around. A solid metal room, except for a door... Weird. Kinda cool, even if it does seem to be highly unfriendly to the enviroment. Hmmph. Metal takes too long to decay.
She stands up, brushing dust off of her suit. And what's with that? That's not anything she would wear, ever. Too grey... dull. She fingers her pendant as she thinks over her predicament. That's when she notices the armband. She brings it up to her face, confused at what it is, only being able to recognize it as an odd computer, as she reads the instructions aloud.
"Good Morning, Remnant Bloom..." Is that her name? It seems... Sort of right... But not perfect... Bloom... Bloom... It's not her real name, she suspects, but it'll do for now.
"Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and your stored memories have been sent to your grieving families." My family thinks I'm dead? ... Who IS my family? What kind of people were they? She thinks.
"After this announcement, you may proceed to testing. Please remember that any attempts to remove or vandalize your armband, your antigravity pack, or the device in your hand will result in instant death. Do not allow any other test subjects to view your armband screen or reveal your instructions in any way, shape, or form, as this will result in instant death. Any attempts to read the armband screen of another test subject will also result in instant death. " Well, that's good to know.
"Blah blah blah, warning warning..."
She sighs, looking slightly annoyed. "Well.. At least I get to meet some new people... I can't let this stupid test get me down.. I KNEW the government was up to something..." She smiles, and walks out her door...
Two women, one looking rude and mean, standing on the wall, and another... Is that man with her crying? That's much more important than the girl could ever be! She runs over to the man, dropping to one knee and hugging him. "I don't even know what's wrong, but stop that, stop it right now!"
I ship it.Petal steps back a few paces, and widens her eyes at the strange girl with sunglasses unexpectedly coming up to Nyan and hugging him. She did look strange, that was true... but it was obvious that she was also concerned for Nyan. Petal knows, obviously, that this girl could be trusted. But... it might take a while to get used to her.
"He's upset, miss, he's scared, about this mission..." Petal says, unaware of why she was saying it, though. "...His name is Nyan, and I'm Petal..."
She backs up a little more, feeling a little awkward standing there.
And he has good reason to be afraid, too... she thought, but shakes her head, to keep the negative thought away from her.
"...If you don't find it impolite to ask, who are you, miss?"
edited 5th Dec '11 3:26:22 PM by PottedHair
There will be that one day that my bad luck will come to an end. It won't come for about thirteen hundred years, though.Good morning, Remnant Areopagus.
Ah Oui, je m'appelle Areopagus. C'est un bon nom.
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and your stored memories have been sent to your grieving families.
I still remember some. Bilingual, evidently.
After this announcement, you may proceed to testing.
Areopagus didn't feel competent about taking tests.
Please remember that any attempts to remove or vandalize your armband, your antigravity pack, or the device in your hand will result in instant death.
Like he'd even do that.
Do not allow any other test subjects to view your armband screen or reveal your instructions in any way, shape, or form, as this will result in instant death. Any attempts to read the armband screen of another test subject will also result in instant death. Do not attempt to use a device belonging to another test subject without his or her permission.
Secrets and antisocialism encouraged? Areopagus didn't like that.
[[AC: Do not submerge your device in water, even partially. Do not expose your device to temperatures above 500 degrees Kelvin. Do not attempt to eat your device. Upon completion of the test, your memories will be restored and you will be brought home. No further test protocol guidelines are required or will be provided. Happy testing! ]]
"Ah oui, toi aussi!" Areopagus said. Then he looked around the room at everyone else.
"Oh, allo, I am, ah, Areopagus!" he said. He walked over to the group of other contestants, noting they were dressed the same as him. "Ah dew nut mean tew eenterjekh, but, ahm, we should nut delay, non? Eet eez nahce to meet yew."
edited 7th Dec '11 5:15:17 PM by Taco
"Oh!! Don't be sorry, please don't be sorry. There's no reason to be sorry, none at all. I understand."
She smiles, though it seems a bit forced.
"I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself, did I? I'm Petal."
Amusing she used sorry so soon after...
A women comes out of nowhere, hugging him.
What the
"I don't even know what's wrong, but stop that, stop it right now!"
A bit late to the party, but it's nice to know that I'm with caring people.
He glances over at the girl by the wall.
Still she has made her point by standing there, I broke down so easily.
Petal's voice snaps him out of his thoughts,
"He's upset, miss, he's scared, about this mission..." Petal says, unaware of why she was saying it, though. "...His name is Nyan, and I'm Petal..."
There's a few moments of silence, which Petal uses to back up, moving away from the rather awkward, yet still nice, hug still held around him. She opens her lips to speak,
"...If you don't find it impolite to ask, who are you, miss?"
Nyan continues to look at Petal for a moment, before he sees a big man approach them, bouncing along almost as if he was in an amusement park.
"Oh, allo, I am, ah, Areopagus!"
What world is he on? Is he insa-
"Ah do not mean to interject, but, um, we should not delay, no? It is nice to meet you."
His heavy French accent weighs down the words, making them difficult to understand.
Nyan stumbles on his words, the height and forwardness of the man having stunned him somewhat,
"Oh uh not at all, uhhhh...."
How would you say that everything's good without lying through my teeth so soon to everyone...
"C'est bon."
Thank god I know a tiny bit of French.... it'll probably put me on good terms.
He couldn't quite recall why he knew French though and the man's gaze pushes him into speaking again.
"Um I'm Nyan and that's Petal," attempting to gesture towards the women in front of him, "and uh, well this women is about to introduce herself."
I hope that got the point across.... This guy seems to be a bit..... damaged.
edited 6th Dec '11 7:22:09 PM by Aqueos
Bet you didn't see that comingPetal's attention momentarily turns to her armband. Shnizz... why is time always my enemy??
She then turns to the man with the French accent, and raises an eyebrow, trying to decode exactly what he was trying to say. His accent was just a slight bit too thick for her to understand what he was saying. Although, she does catch the word "Areopagus" and a small bit of a phrase, "it is nice to meet you".
"Oh, uh, not at all, uhhhh.... C'est bon."
Good, at least someone else knows some French...
"Um I'm Nyan and that's Petal, and uh, well this woman is about to introduce herself."
Petal notes how he tries to point out the young woman hugging him, and giggles to herself at the difficulty of such an action. She then turns to the man with the thick French accent and waves to him. "...Um... hola! Como estas?"
...Petal, that's Spanish, you idiot... oops.
She attempts to cover up her mistake with even another light smile, and one more wave, then quickly turns away again to Nyan and the woman hugging him, mentally scolding herself for the stupid mistake.
edited 7th Dec '11 8:14:54 AM by PottedHair
There will be that one day that my bad luck will come to an end. It won't come for about thirteen hundred years, though."Allo Nyan, Petal! C'est un bon jour to meet you. I understand this breakdown you're having, but we cannot spend zat tahm zat could be spent fahnding eour memries, you no?" Areopagus said, "Ah recommend we get to knew aresailves een ze tests."
He gave the hug a third person with a light hug. "Nah, pool yourselves together."
"UUUUUUURG!"
A young girl tripped over her own feet out into the open with everyone else. She looked disorientated and angry. "This sucks!" She stood up shortly, still a little tipsy. "I don't appreciate bein' conked out and put in some crazy box with a bunch of weirdos!" She folded her arms, glancing at the thing she was forced to wear on her wrist. "And this tattoo sucks. Not even a cool color or anything."
She wanted to violently stomp around and whine like the little girl she was. But she didn't really look like it. Hell, her muscle definition was more prominent than at least one of the guys in the room.
"I'm Bloom!" The woman stands up, ignoring Petal's other questions, and the entrance of Aeropagus, and moves over to the newest young girl. "Now now! You shouldn't be all mopey. That won't solve anything at all!" Bloom hugs the girl breifly. "Come on, we should go! Follow me, everyone!" Bloom dashes into the next chamber.
I ship it."Ah miss." Areopagus said, trying to remain calm, "Ah dew nut appreciate your ah... truculence, ma'am. Aussi, zat ez nut a tattoo, since eet ez threi deemensionall."
Who was this girl, to just be a big loud jerk like that? It wasn't like this was even necessarily bad, but she had to go and assume the worst. "But pear apps we have gotten off on ze rung foot. Je m'appelle Areopagus, et toi?"
Petal, overwhelmed with all of this new information, simply resumes her awkward standing. She touches her hand lightly over her forehead; she was getting a slight headache. Only Bloom's name and the new person entering the room were caught, before she was out of room in her brain for thinking. And there's only a few minutes left!! CRAP!
She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath, as Areopagus continued to confuse her with his accent, and excessive use of French. Perhaps she'd learn a thing or two about French, but for now, it was way too confusing. And to think that I was actually looking forward to meeting most of these people...
edited 8th Dec '11 1:53:32 PM by PottedHair
There will be that one day that my bad luck will come to an end. It won't come for about thirteen hundred years, though."Well at least I agree with our energetic friend here, we should get going into the next room as the voice said" Said the girl leaning by the wall, finally lifting her voice since she walked into the meeting room.
The girl then walked over to Areopagus and Petal "As for introductions I'm Spades as you might see" the black haired girl said, pointing with her index finger at the tatoo on her cheek "And tell me, is it only my imagination or does the last girl to walk into the room look just like me?"
00:00:00
A previously invisible chink in the middle of the floor widens to reveal another polished metal room below them. Even if one were to refuse to jump, the floor would continue to recede into the walls until they no longer had anything to stand on, and the doors to the starting rooms are locked.
No special instructions are required for this test. However, please note that one object is a distraction.
Key
◊
"Out of time, huh..." Spades said as she saw the floor opening up for them to jump down. She then turned to the two she was talking too "Might as well... please feel free to reply to my question when you get down there"
With that, and after seeing how Bloom landed down unharmed, Spades jumped down into the first test chamber. Once down there she took a look around and thought to herself Well, the next course of action to take seems rather obvious
Petal, suddenly startled by the floor pulling into the wall, flinches a little, and backs up some, before she realizes that there's no other way.
"Weee!! Off to wonderland!"
...It's official, Bloom's utterly insane!
With a small gulp, she leaps down, and shrieks for a moment before making contact with the ground, stumbling slightly, her heart rate racing to the speed of light. Her eyes remained wide-eyed as she finally reached the ground, and attempts to calm down her breathing. "Oh wow... o-kay... that was eventful..." She takes a look around. "...Where are we again?"
edited 8th Dec '11 6:04:44 PM by PottedHair
There will be that one day that my bad luck will come to an end. It won't come for about thirteen hundred years, though."Well, I want to SAY Wonderland, but that's just something I like to yell. It appears that we are in the first of a series of testing labs. Oh, you're that other girl, right? Petal, was it? Hello!" Bloom waves to Petal, looking like she isn't tired at all. "Most likely a government testing facility. With an insane AI. Jesus, I knew they were up to SOMETHING. Well, looks like we have no choice but to go through, so we may as well have FUN with it."
edited 8th Dec '11 6:08:01 PM by neopie
I ship it.

The lights come on.
They lie in polished metal rooms, with only one door. The cameras, one set in each wall, swivel to their prone figures and wait for their eyes to open.
As soon as they wake, the armband beeps and a message appears on the screen.
Good morning, Remnant _____. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and your stored memories have been sent to your grieving families. After this announcement, you may proceed to testing. Please remember that any attempts to remove or vandalize your armband, your antigravity pack, or the device in your hand will result in instant death. Do not allow any other test subjects to view your armband screen or reveal your instructions in any way, shape, or form, as this will result in instant death. Any attempts to read the armband screen of another test subject will also result in instant death. Do not attempt to use a device belonging to another test subject without his or her permission. Do not submerge your device in water, even partially. Do not expose your device to temperatures above 500 degrees Kelvin. Do not attempt to eat your device. Upon completion of the test, your memories will be restored and you will be brought home.
No further test protocol guidelines are required or will be provided. Happy testing!
The message stays on the screen for a few moments, in case the Remnant wants to look at it a few more times, then disappears. In its place is the Remnant's name, a number, and barcode. Their new identity. If they were to look at themselves in the polished metal walls, they might see the same thing tattooed on one cheek.
As their new reality sinks in, the doors open. The hexagonal room ahead is as featureless as the room the Remnant is already in.
The armband beeps again.
You have five minutes to proceed and introduce yourself to your companions.
5:00:00
Another beep, and the timer begins.
edited 4th Dec '11 4:34:46 PM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!