The air is thick with the smell of metal.
An iron-like scent of steadily pooling blood.
My eyes flick from player to player.
To Green, first. The man is crumpled on his side, just to the right of the open doorway.
Then, to Blue. Blue lays face-down at my feet, a desperate hand still clutching at my leg.
Indigo is slumped against the back wall, his head on his shoulder.
And Violet. Violet lays on her back. Eyes staring up to the dark pipes and shadows of the ceiling.
Red appears in my peripheral vision, his feet making small splashes in the blood.
He doesn’t say anything, he just walks over to Green’s body. He crouches down with a sigh, and carefully slides Green’s glasses back onto his face. Then he takes the man under his arms, and begins to half-drag, half-carry him through the open doorway.
I become aware of a low sobbing.
Orange. She goes to Violet, first. She meets my gaze, her eyes pink and bloodshot, and she does her best to move the girl’s body through the doorway after Red.
Of course. We need those keys, after all.
No-one says a word. No-one says a damned thing. But it’s like I can still hear them. I can hear them all, in my head. My mind fills in the blanks.
I hope you’re happy, says the imaginary voice of Red. I told you so, didn’t I, Grey? What did I call you? Yes, ‘mad’. That was it. You mad b*stard. This could have been avoided, Grey. If you’d just done as I asked, and picked SECURE. If we’d picked SECURE, we’d all still be ALIVE. It’s THAT simple!
I squat down and gently roll Blue over, prying her fingers from my leg. Blood bubbles and leaks from beneath her collar. I hold her around the middle, and haul her up.
You were supposed to save them, Grey. My mind says to me, in Orange’s voice. We trusted you. Violet and I were going to make amends. I was supposed to atone for my sins by helping her work through her demons. It wasn’t supposed to go this way.
I carry Blue as carefully as I can through the doorway. Down the corridor and into the computer room. Red walks past me as Orange sets Violet’s body against the wall with a grunt. I place Blue beside her, then follow her back to the game room.
I head on over to Yellow.
Was my death meaningless then, Grey? She asks. I thought you were going to learn from it. Why didn’t you realise what was going to happen before you played the game? You could have worked it out. It was all right there, written out in front of you, plain as day… You should have seen it… But you didn’t.
I pick her up, and carry her down the corridor towards the computers, placing her besides Green, wiping sweat from my face and neck.
I’m never going to complete my journey now, am I Grey? He whispers wordlessly. I’m never going to make good on my promise. I’m never going to see my friends, my family, or my home country ever again. They might never even find out what happened to me, down here.
I turn to Blue. My counterpart, here in the Drowned Man Games. Or at least, that’s how I always considered her. I don’t know if she felt the same. If she ever thought for a moment that I would allow myself to be swayed into a ‘Secure’ vote, then she clearly didn’t know me at all.
“Did you really think I’d go for ‘Secure’, Blue?” I whisper to her. “Why? Why would you think that?”
I didn’t want to hurt you, Grey, she says back to me, wordlessly. I create her own answer in my mind. But I had to preserve myself. I couldn’t risk my life the way that you did. What you did was short-sighted. It was reckless.
Red, with some effort, carries in the body of Indigo. The tallest of us. Orange helps to lay the man down on the floor by the wall.
I'm sorry, Grey. His words murmur around my head. We weren't all made the same way as you. I’m sorry I let you down, but I guess I paid the price, didn’t I? Time’s up. Game over. I’ll never have a chance to redeem myself now. My fate's been decided.
I stand back up, swaying, grabbing hold of a nearby desk to steady myself. I glance over to Violet.
…*You got lucky, Grey, says her ghost. That should have been YOU. WE should be the ones carrying YOUR sorry corpses right now, but we got tricked. We got screwed over by the Asura. And by your childish ignorance. It’s not fair. It’s not fucking fair. I was taught lessons growing up, you know.
Taught them the hard way. They shaped me. My entire life, my principles were knocked and ground into shape… and then at the end, what was my reward for following these principles? The way that they were taught to me…? My reward was to be screwed over. Humiliated, and killed. Killed, down here in the dark, with you*.
I cry out loud in sudden anguish.
Rage pours into my blood like oil; I grab ahold of the nearest computer and smash it down hard to the floor with a rush of fury.
I grab the one beside it and do the same. Hurling it to the ground where it shatters and cracks, sending out shards of broken glass and plastic.
I grab the desk and I fling it against the door to the next room. I stride towards it, knocking aside the chairs, and I plant a powerful kick in the door’s centre with a loud clang.
Again, I kick it. Again, and again.
“LET ME OUT!” I shout. “I’M DONE! OKAY!? LET ME OUT! LET ME THE F*CK OUT!”
I slam the side of my fist into the metal. A part of me is vaguely aware of the pain, but not enough of me to prevent myself from doing it again.
“YOU BASTARD! YOU EVIL, EVIL PRICK!” I scream, kicking again and again and again. Then I swivel on the spot and look down at Blue.
“WHY DIDN’T YOU PICK SAFE?” I shout at her. “It was so OBVIOUS, Blue! So F*CKING OBVIOUS! There was NO inherent benefit to- to picking fucking ‘SECURE’- you really couldn’t trust me? You just couldn’t trust me enough to pick Safe?”
I force back a sob.
“The first vote was SPLIT!” I say, collapsing to my knees. I grab her by the shoulders. “It was SPLIT. What did the OTHERS pick, Blue? Did they vote for Safe? Did you swing them away? Did you convince them all to pick SECURE? I DON’T UNDERSTAND! I DON’T UNDERSTAND, BLUE! WE WERE SO CLOSE! WE WERE SO F*CKING CLOSE!”
A myriad of conflicting situations come to mind. All potential contenders for what might have happened in the other room.
…I see Blue advocating for Secure from the start. ‘It’s the only one that guarantees our survival’, she’d have said. ‘If we pick Safe then we’re at risk of death’.
…I see Indigo voting for Safe in round one. Changing his mind to a Secure vote in order to placate Blue, a woman he was desperately trying to prove himself to. He wanted her to understand something about himself. He wanted her to forgive him, maybe. I’ll never know now.
…I see an increasingly unhinged Green. A man who considered himself responsible for his friend’s death, suddenly terrified that what he did to another would now be done unto him. That others would deem him unworthy of saving and leave him to die. Bringing up Blue’s comments on the rapids as evidence to support a ‘Secure’ vote.
…I see Violet initially voting for Safe. Determined to change. To trust. But then, wavering, she switched to Secure, conscious of the risk of Orange- the woman she hated most in the world- being directly responsible for her death. It wasn’t about screwing anyone over, it was just about self-preservation.
…I see Blue revealing the truth about the child to everyone in the room. Convincing them that unless they figured out the truth of the child in the vents, that the game would just go on and on. That the Asura’s rooms would just keep going. He never TOLD us how many rooms there would be until the Rainbow Door, after all. ‘Seven’ was just an assumption.
This theory is the most distressing, as the only reason Blue knew about the child at all was because I told her. If the presence of the kid swayed their decision to a ‘Secure’ vote to buy them more time to think, then it really IS my fault that they died.
…I see Violet voting Secure both times. Stubborn. A refusal to compromise. I see Blue forced to do likewise to achieve unanimity, rationalising to herself and the others that it’s still the best choice.
…And I see Blue voting for Safe. The only one to do so. Putting her faith in me. And then, allowing herself to be swayed by the others in the second round. Reverting as humans so often do to her core principles.
I imagine a conversation that might have taken place. I hear their voices in my mind:
‘Think about it!’ says one of the players as the timer ticks down. I don’t know which player, specifically. The colours blur together in my head. ‘What are the other team thinking RIGHT NOW?’
‘They’ll be trying to work out what we’re going to pick’, says another. ‘And what WE’RE thinking’.
‘Grey will never let the others pick Secure. He’ll force them to pick Safe. He’ll swing them around’.
‘Unless…’
‘Unless what?’
‘Think about it. They know what we’re most likely to pick... they KNOW we’re more likely to go for ‘self-preservation’. And the ‘self-preservation’ option, is Secure. It’s Secure because SECURE keeps our team alive’.
‘What are you saying?’
‘I’m saying that if they THINK we’re going to pick ‘Secure’, then what are THEY going to pick? Would they still pick ‘Safe’? If they KNOW we’ll pick Secure, then why would they vote for Safe? Even Grey? He’s caring, sure, but he’s not an idiot’. It would mean their deaths!’
‘Caring’…' another player mutters.
‘You people still aren’t getting it. ‘Caring’ this, ‘kindness’ that… It isn’t ABOUT any of those things! It isn’t about how KIND we are! ‘Oh, so sorry Other Team, so sorry for being an inconvenience, here you go, here’s your ticket to the next room, even if it kills us in the process, our deepest apologies…’ We don’t WANT them to DIE! We WANT EVERYONE TO LIVE! And the best way to ensure that WE LIVE, IS TO PICK SECURE!’
‘I agree’, says another. ‘Safe is too risky. It’s a trap. A trick. These Games have been leading us like lambs to a slaughter, and now the axe is hanging over our heads’.
‘But wait- what about…’
‘STOP! This isn’t RIGHT!’
‘We could play the Games again! EASILY! We’ve had practice, we know what to expect, we’ll use the time to sleep, to rest…’
‘SECURE!’
‘SAFE!’
‘SECURE!’
The voices all blare like horns and I slam my hands to my temples, my body wracked with sobs, until I feel a hand upon my shoulder. I look up to see Red just beside me, and the voices dissipate.
“Grey”, he says quietly, “come on now. Stand up. It’s done. They made their choice. And you know what?”
I look at him, my vision blurry.
“They picked wrong”, he says, releasing my shoulder and folding his arms.
“I don’t know how their first vote went. I don’t suppose we ever will. But you were right, and ultimately, they were wrong. Green said it himself: the final room was the judgement room. And we failed”.
“Well, not all of us”, says Orange. I look to her, and she crouches down beside me. “We’re still here, Grey. And that’s thanks to you. And I don’t just mean the violet room, I mean all of it”.
They’re just trying to make me feel better. And hell. I appreciate their attempts. I really do. That they would still support me, even after our shared catastrophe.
“…Blue’s brother took part in the games, you know”, I mutter.
I clamber to my feet with a weary sigh, wiping my eyes.
“You’re kidding?” Orange whispers, and I shake my head.
“She revealed it to me in the blue room. Her brother took part in the games, and she’s been trying to find them ever since”.
Red collapses into a nearby chair. “Well, she found what she was looking for then, didn’t she”.
“He died in the violet room. Same one as Blue. He left reports on the computers like I did, and she read them. The indigo room was his final report, so…” I trail off.
“Our messages…” Orange says, eyes now wide. “The things we write get sent out? For certain?”
I nod.
Orange immediately sits herself down at a desk, and begins typing. “Thank you for this”, she says.
“Right”.
Red regards her, then looks back to me.
“Aren’t you going to write anything?” I ask him.
He waves a hand dismissively, with a half-smile.
“I’ve already written up everything I could possibly hope to write. YOU, however…” he nods to the computer.
“I think you’ve got some work to do, eh”.
“What’s the point, Red?” I ask him. “What difference will it make?”
He shrugs. “Don’t worry about ‘difference’, for now. But you’ve got an important account left unfinished. It’s as simple as that”.
I shake my head, but I am compelled to the computer nonetheless. Why the f*ck not. There's no timer in here, so I guess I can just go at my own pace.
“If Blue’s brother died in the violet room…” Red murmurs, as I begin.
“You know, that’s probably what swayed her decision. I wonder if those were her final thoughts before pressing the button. That her brother made it so far in the Games and then… Then what? He put his trust in others? And got killed for it, perhaps? …Maybe she was just afraid of repeating his mistake…”
I consider this.
…And then, I type.
*
I don’t know how much time passes.
But at last, when I can write no more, I lean back in my chair with a grimace, stretching and cracking my aching fingers. I massage them a little as I look up to my surviving players.
…To Red.
…And to Orange.
They sat together in the room’s corner. Orange’s hands are in Red’s.
“Ah, Grey”, says Red, gently releasing her and rising to his feet. “Are you done, my man?”
“…Yes”, I reply. “I think so”. I look down at the computer, and the screen goes dark. The door begins to whirr and grind, and it slowly chunters open. Revealing to us the next room.
…The White Room.
“Come on then”, says Red, as he reaches down for Indigo. “Orange, would you grab his legs?”
She does so, and with muscles strained, they carry the man through the doorway.
We repeat the process again. It’s almost comical, really, if it weren’t so morbid. Dragging these corpses from room to room because they’re still supposedly ‘useful’ to us.
But we complete the transition, and at last the door clanks shut.
The room is wide, with a ceiling higher than all the previous. It is illuminated by a series of white-grey bulbs, all hanging from wires at regular intervals.
The room has two doors.
On the left, is the Rainbow Door.
There’s no mistaking it. It has been intricately painted with all seven colours, and it has a couple of features that the previous doors did not. It has seven locks, all stacked on top of each other, each painted in a unique colour. And it has a handle, too.
…It seems rather anticlimactic, to be honest. Just standing there, built into the wall. But this is it. The Rainbow Door. The one we’ve been waiting for.
To our right, is another door. This one, however, is streaked only with white.
It too has a handle, and a lock. Just the one, though.
A lock likewise coloured white.
Between these two doors is the only piece of apparatus in the room.
…An elevator, of sorts.
Made of smooth, shining steel poles and gears, there is a small platform just big enough for a single person to stand on. I lift my gaze. It looks like the elevator carries its occupant up towards the ceiling.
I squint.
…There’s something up there.
“You guys see that?” I ask.
Red is staring at the Rainbow Door, but Orange follows my gaze.
“Yes”, she says. “I see it. What is it?”
“I’m not sure. I’m going to check it out”.
“Grey!” says Red, “wait! The Rainbow Door-”
But I’m not done. I’m not done with this place, I’ve decided. Despite my outburst earlier.
I step onto the elevator’s little platform and see a small sign attached to one of the poles, that reads: ‘ONE PERSON ONLY’, and beside it is a small button.
…I press it.
The lift groans and creaks, and it begins to ascend. Slowly but surely; up it goes, and I look down over the edge as Red and Orange grow smaller below me.
“Be careful, damn it!” Red shouts up.
“Let us know what’s up there!” says Orange.
And so I allow the lift to carry me up to the ceiling.
Slowly. Steadily, until at last it judders to a halt. I turn around to face the wall, and I see what caught my eye from the floor. A small, squarish locker, built into the wall. Similar to the one in the very first room. The room before even the red room, in which Blue found our first eight cards.
I suppress a wave of sudden heartache. I rub my forehead and inspect the thing a little closer.
“It’s a locker!” I shout down to the others.
There’s a keyhole in the centre. Curious… and the keyhole, I realise, is bordered in white.
I reach a hand up to my chest. To the white key that dangles there on its cord. The key that’s been there since the beginning.
I step closer to the locker. The cord is not particularly long, and I have to bring my body and face very close so I can use the key, but I manoeuvre it into the lock, and twist it.
The lock clicks, and the door creaks open.
I draw out the key and take a step back; carefully, cautiously opening the door.
…And inside, I find seven more keys.
One for every colour.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
I laugh, then. It’s a broken sound, and I just laugh and laugh as I grab the keys and hit the button.
Down goes the elevator.
“What is it?” Orange calls up to me.
“What did you find?” Red shouts. “Is it important?”
The elevator clunks as it reaches the floor, and I stride out towards them. I toss a few keys to Red, and a few to Orange.
They contemplate them for a minute in silence, then Red closes his fist around his keys, shaking. “That bastard…” he mumbles.
“That bastard Asura… How could he? Playing us like FOOLS since the start!”
“We’ve been carrying Yellow around for nothing”, Orange says, pain in her voice. “Tossing her from place to place… all for nothing”.
“…Not for nothing”, I mutter. “We couldn’t have known. But the locker...” I gesture up to the ceiling.
“The thing had a white lock. It would only open for my key. I doubt anyone else’s would have worked”.
Red spits on the ground. “I think we’re done here. What do you guys reckon? You ready to leave this hell behind?”
“God, yes”, Orange sighs. “God yes indeed”.
We make our way over to the Rainbow Door, and Red prepares the first key. He takes a deep breath, then slots it into the red lock...
…It clicks, and opens up.
“It works…” mumbles Red. “Alright, try the next one”.
Orange unlocks this one.
She does Yellow’s, as well.
Then Red does Green’s, and I do Blue’s.
I do Indigo’s also, and finally, Orange unlocks Violet’s.
With this final lock now opened, Red tries the handle. He turns it…
…and the door opens.
It opens to a long, well-lit corridor. We’ve become so used to the dark and the shadows down here that we have to shield our eyes for a moment, allowing them time to adjust.
The corridor is long, and at the end are a set of stairs, ascending.
…Something starts to whirr, all of a sudden.
…The sound comes from our collars.
Orange's eyes fly open in terror.
“F*CK!” shouts Red, “F*CK!”
“Congratulations”, comes the deep, gravelly voice of the Asura. “You have successfully beaten the Drowned Man Games. Thank you for playing”.
And with that, the collars promptly spring open, giving the three of us small heart-attacks in the process. They clatter from our necks and fall to the floor with dull, metallic thuds.
I remain still for a moment. Half-afraid that it’s just another trick. Then I take a deep breath, and run a hand over my aching neck.
“Good Lord”, Orange gasps, she too rubbing her newly freed neck. “I thought… for a second, I really thought-”
“Yeah”, mutters Red, staring down at the remains of his collar. “Yeah I think we all did”. He looks back up at us. “Well, are we ready, then?” He gestures to the open doorway. “I think it’s time to go, my friends”.
Orange looks at me, and she smiles. It’s a genuine, heartfelt smile, and all I feel in response… is guilt.
I lied to her. To both of them. There’s a girl still down here. A girl, not a boy, that might well be Orange’s daughter. And since she doesn’t know that… the responsibility lies with me. How could I possibly leave, knowing that there is someone still down here in need of help?
“…You guys go ahead”, I tell them. “I’m… I’m staying, for now. For just a little longer”.
“What!?” Red exclaims, grabbing me by the shoulders. “What in God’s name for?”
“The kid…” I tell them. “There’s still a kid down here”.
Red takes a sharp intake of breath. “Of course”, he says, shaking his head. “My apologies, of course, of course. Right, well then we aren’t going anywhere, are we?”
He rolls up his sleeves. “We have a young boy to save”.
“We’re with you all the way, Grey”, Orange says, grabbing my hand. “We’re not leaving unless you do”.
I am moved by this. Genuinely. My voice cracks when I speak.
“No. I’m serious. Thank you, for offering to stay… But the exit’s right there. You’ve both done your parts. You put your faith in me, and for that I will always be grateful. But please, put your faith in me again now, for one last time. Put your faith in me, and go. Escape. Take your freedom. The kid is my responsibility, I just feel it. They showed themselves to me, they spoke to me on the phone when everyone else had their trial…”
I rub a hand across my jaw. “Guys, I mean it. Thank you, but it’s time for you to go”.
They look at each other, uneasily.
I smile. “I’ll be right behind you, I promise”. I nod to them. “I swear it. Go. Return to your families”.
Red sighs, and then he grabs my hand, shaking it. “Yes sir”, he says. “I will hold you to that. Don’t let me down, now”.
Orange rushes into my arms. She hugs me tight, and I return the sincerity of the embrace.
“Goodbye Grey”, she says. “We’ll see you on the outside”.
“…Yeah”, I reply. “Yeah, you will”.
Orange gently draws back, squeezing my hands.
“Oh, Grey”, says Red. “One last thing…” he carefully unwraps the scarf from around his neck. It’s wet, and there are loose threads where it caught in his collar… But it’s still in surprisingly good shape.
“Here. Take it. For the kid”.
I hesitate. “Are you sure? Your nephew…”
Red waves his hand. “He won’t miss it. He hasn’t worn the thing in months. I should never have stolen it in the first place. Maybe it can provide some comfort or something”.
He shrugs, and I take it from him, wrapping it around my forearm.
He nods, and Orange smiles.
And with that, they depart.
My two surviving teammates.
I watch them go for a while. Watching as they grow smaller and smaller down the corridor, until at last they begin to ascend the steps at the far end.
I sigh, and I turn to the room.
Alone, now.
Alone with the fallen, in the dark.
…But not quite done. Not just yet.
There’s one door left. One door left, for me.
I go to it now, I slide the white key from around my neck, and I use it to open the door.
The lock clicks. The door creaks open, and in I go.
I stride right through and into the darkness.
…
…This room is enormous.
The largest so far, easily.
My footsteps make ethereal echoes in the gloom.
I cannot see the ceiling.
I cannot see the far walls.
There is only gently, subtly swirling mist… Pooling at the very edges of my vision.
In this room I will find the Asura. I am sure of it. He is waiting for me.
My heart hammers.
I will find the Asura, and learn his secrets.
I will do my best to convince him to change his ways. To end the games. To give the souls in the cylinder their freedom…
Or at the very, very least… To allow the girl I saw to escape.
So I walk.
On and on, through the dark.
I’m not sure how long it is that I walk for, exactly, but at long last the sound of something mechanical breaks through the gentle rumblings of the unknown.
The sound is like a enormous switch being thrown, and a pale, shimmering grey light is sent down across the Asura.
…Or, his statue, at least.
So the statue in the violet room was not the last. Because there he stands again, just ahead, a stone monster. Half man, half beast, with two sunken eyes and a mouth carved into a snarl. Since the light comes from above, his features are all cast in sinister shadow.
…I continue my approach, and a second switch is thrown. Another dull spotlight is forced into life, and the area directly in front of the statue’s base is illuminated too.
…And sitting in the centre of the light, is the girl.
The girl from the vent. Huddled up with her arms around her legs, and relief washes through me.
I increase my pace, walking towards her.
“You’re safe!” I call to her, “you’re alive! Are you hurt?”
“Don’t come any closer”, she says quietly, raising a hand.
I come to a stop, maybe four or five metres away.
“…Are you okay?” I ask her, concerned. “Is the Asura nearby? Where is he?”
She raises her head, and looks at me.
My heart begins to pound.
…Something’s not right.
“...Where is he..?” she echoes, softly. “You still haven’t worked it out, White?”
I become aware of her surroundings. Of the collection of curious items all around her. There’s a child’s play-pool, with an upturned bike in the water. A toy microphone, connected to a red-blue plastic box. At first it seems like she’s just sitting amongst a bunch of junk, but there are familiar things here too. A table-top tilt game, like the one in the orange room… There are Kancha balls, little marbles… A toy phone…
The girl reaches for the microphone, and flicks a switch on the side of the box. A little red light appears upon it, and she brings the microphone up to her lips.
She looks right at me. She speaks.
…And she speaks with the voice of the Asura.
“Thank you for playing the Games, White”, she says, her voice distorted into one that is deep, and gravelly. “I hope you had fun. Be sure to tell your friends”.
Cold, torrential horror flows through me. I am stuck fast where I stand as I try to process this.
“It’s… it’s you…” I whisper. “You’re the Asura, aren’t you?”
She nods.
“…You’re not... You’re not Orange’s daughter?”
She shakes her head.
“But- but I thought-”
She sets the microphone down.
“I know what you thought, White. And you thought wrong”.
A hundred overlapping voices all shout and scream in my head.
“No… but you can’t be…” I mutter. “This doesn’t make sense?”
She looks at me with cold, shadowed eyes. Her expression suddenly changes. An exact copy of the face she showed me when I spotted her in the vent, in the green room. An expression of false fear.
She speaks, her voice high-pitched and timid. She repeats what she told me during our phone call: “P-PLEASE do your best to make sure everyone looks OUT for each other, there’s a BIG test coming up…”
She drops the façade and sighs, rubbing her forehead. “I tried to help you, White. I really did. I tried to help all of you. I wanted you to succeed, you know. That last room… I mean are you kidding me?” There is no passion in her voice. She sounds… hollow.
“It wasn’t even a real Prisoner’s Dilemma. And I left the biggest clue in the world right there on the pedestal. ‘This will become truth…’ That wasn’t some platitude. It wasn’t some vague reference to karma. What goes around, comes around… It was me, telling you, exactly what was going to happen”.
She folds her hands in her lap.
“Blue taught at IIT, for God’s sake, I thought she was a smart woman... But hey. Old habits die hard, I guess”.
I stare at her. At this little girl. Dumbfounded, and terrified.
She glances up at me. “I see you returned my scarf. How thoughtful”.
“What?” I gasp, looking down to the scarf in my hand. “No, this is- this is Red’s. He stole it from some street-”
…I hesitate.
The girl gives me a slow, dark smile.
“You want to know the truth, White?” she asks, in a whisper. “Why the eight of you were picked for my Drowned Man Games?”
I can only nod, my throat death-dry as the air rumbles all around.
“That scarf is the only thing I was ever able to consider my own. Mine, only. No-one else’s. It was the one piece of proof that I actually had a mother who loved me, once upon a time, even if I barely remember her”. She leans forwards.
“And it was Hell at that orphanage, you know”, she hisses, through clenched teeth. “Violet was right. It was Hell, and it was Orange’s fault... I hated it there. But still. That doesn’t excuse Violet’s behaviour. It doesn’t excuse the way she treated me”.
She winces, remembering some long ago pain, perhaps. “No-one should treat others the way that Violet treated me…”
She shuffles closer to the little play-pool. To the upturned bike in the water. I notice for the first time that there are a number of small dolls tied to the bike’s chain, and the girl starts slowly turning the pedals, watching in quiet thought as the dolls are carried down the chain and submerged beneath the water, one by one.
“…I found some respite at school, for a while”, she continues. “But for some awful reason there were girls who actually idolised Violet. Girls like Yellow. They copied her. And Yellow even got me kicked out, eventually. She had successful parents to back up her side of the story… I didn’t have that luxury”.
“That was you…” I repeat, staring. Remembering what Violet revealed to us in the green room. “You were the girl that Yellow got kicked out of school…”
“Sad little orphan girl. No school. No home. I couldn’t stay at the orphanage. I just couldn’t do it. So I left. I left for the street”. She increases her turning of the bike pedals, and more dolls are carried around, and down, and into the water.
“And you know, White… Street girls are quite the popular pick for people-traffickers”, she says sadly.
“For people like Indigo”.
“Indigo… No, he wouldn’t…”
She looks at me, her expression blank. “I can assure you, White. He would. He found me. He moved me around like cargo. He sold me”. She shifts.
“…But not before his colleague had some fun with me. Blue’s older brother”. She holds my gaze.
“There are certain men who like to have power over little girls, White”, she said.
“Blue’s brother was one of them and Blue found out, eventually. She found out, and she did NOTHING. She could have tried to stop him. She could have stopped him from doing to me what he did to others, but she didn’t”.
She sighs and releases the bike pedal, returning to her original position, her arms huddled around her legs.
“I escaped from the people Indigo sold me to after a while, I ran far away. And after a year or so I found this sweet little store. A nice place where the owner occasionally gave me food. Let me sleep in the corner at nights”. She sighs.
“Well, one day, a traveller from the West came in. He didn’t like me. He thought I wanted to steal from him”.
“Green…” I murmur.
“I don’t know if he was having a bad day, or what, but he complained to the owner, and I was chased out. Profits before kindness, that’s the way it works”.
She clenches and unclenches her jaw. “I went back to my life as a ‘street-urchin’. Used my scarf as a pillow. Until the day that Red stole it, obviously”. She holds up her hand. “I’ll have it back now, I think”.
It takes me a moment, but I unwrap it from my arm, and I toss it to her. She catches it, and loops it around her neck.
“Blue’s brother never stopped, by the way. When he lost me he found a new plaything and then another. He never stopped until he was taken into the Games. And that’s where I got introduced to them myself. I was invited to watch him take part. I learned the Games’ value”.
“How? How did you watch?”
“Isn’t it obvious? The same way I’ve been watching you. Watching through the vents. Following on alongside. Listening to what you were saying through the collars”.
She brushes some hair from her face. “I really did want you all to succeed, White. All of you. Blue, Indigo, Violet, everyone. I wanted you all to succeed, and to change. I appreciate that we as people are products of our experiences… But that’s why I gave you new experiences. I hoped you would all pass the final test. But even with all my clues. With all my hints, and with you… four of you still failed”.
I shake my head. I run my hands through my hair.
“Red stole a scarf. Green complained about you… You put these people on the same level as… as sadistic bullies? As human-traffickers? That’s not FAIR”.
“What part of these Games screams ‘fair’ to you, White?” she asks in a quiet voice. “You’re missing the point”.
“And what about me, then? Hm?” I ask, throwing out my hands. “What about ME? Why the HELL did I get picked for these GAMES?”
The girl regards me.
Blood rushes in my ears.
“…Because on a day I needed a smile, you walked right by”, she says simply.
“…What?”
“During one of the many times I was on the street, just watching the world go by. There was a moment in which I didn’t need money, or food, or shelter… I just needed SOMETHING. Some kind of human recognition. I looked to you as you passed. I smiled, and you turned away”.
…
“…Is that it?” I ask. “That’s the reason you brought me down here? For not smiling? I’m sorry, but, I don’t even remember”.
“Yeah”, she says, with a shrug. “Why would you? But I decided to follow you. I followed you for a long time. And I thought you’d be a good candidate for the Games”.
I clench my fists, full of conflicting emotion.
She continues. “You know, I’m not sure I’d have even activated your collar. I’m not sure what I’d have done if you’d missed a card… I always liked you. You’re a good man. But every set of Games needs a White player. Three survivors though… Not a great score”.
“Score”, I repeat. “You really are treating this like a big game… Those people in the cylinder… You have to release them. Just let them go”.
“No”, she replies. “Some will play the games. Some will not. It depends. I am more charitable than most”.
“ ‘More charitable than most’…? What does that mean?… In fact, you know what? Tell me, Asura. There’s one more thing I still don’t understand. These Games… They were clearly tailored to us, specifically. Us eight. So how did you do it? How could a little girl possibly build, run and operate a place like this, all by herself? How could you kidnap people and hook them up into that monstrosity at the beginning? HOW could you do all this, ALONE?”
Her eyes reflect the dull grey light. They shine and flicker in the darkness.
“…And what makes you think that I am alone, White?” she whispers.
Behind her now, and behind the stone statue, appear dozens of pairs of silent, watchful eyes. All shimmering silver with reflected light. More, and then more. They just keep appearing. Extending up high into the shadows and as far as I can see in both directions.
Hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of eyes… And if I look closely, I can just about make out the silvery silhouettes of a thousand, child-sized bodies. All sitting there silently in the dark. Stacked in rows.
Watching me. Looking down at me.
I take a horrified step back.
“…I think it’s time for you to go now, White”, the girl whispers, as the eyes watch on.
She nods to her left. “The elevator is faster. Head over that way, you’ll find it”.
…And so I go.
Without another word, I just go.
I leave her behind. Making my way through the darkness. I hear the sounds of the great mechanical switches, and the lights go dark. I stumble my way onwards until I see something in the mists: a lone, dark obelisk-like shape, and I approach it.
…The elevator.
The door clanks open. I step inside, and it closes.
It whirrs and grinds, and my stomach jumps as I feel the thing start to ascend.
Up, and up, and up.
I look down at my hands. Scratched and grazed. Stained with blood. Skin cracked at the knuckles. Fingertips creased and paled with moisture.
I drop them back down to my sides with a sigh. And I wait.
Up, goes the elevator. Gradually leaving the horrors of this world far below.
...
It takes a long time to reach the surface. I sit myself down on the floor for a while. Rest against the wall, close my eyes…
*
…And I am awakened by a sudden juddering.
I grimace; the door opens wide and I am blinded by a rush of golden light, pouring in.
“Ugh…” I groan, and I crawl into the world with my eyes still closed.
…And I feel… I feel grass beneath my hands. I feel air on my face. Real, fresh, warm air.
It is so, so rich. I breathe in deep, and I have never in my life tasted anything quite so sweet.
It takes me a few more minutes before I can fully open my eyes.
As I do so, I get to my feet.
I stand amidst fields of golden wheat. The wheat rolls over the hills and away towards the horizon, the red of the setting sun casting a deep, orange glow across the world before me.
The yellow tips and flecks of the wheat give way in the far distance to plains of long, green grass, and they in turn give way to the mountains… ancient and blue against the sky.
I look up.
A flock of birds pass by overhead, and beyond them roll the clouds. Sunset clouds of indigo, and violet.
I take another slow breath, the light of the sun warm on my skin, and I start to walk.
I push my way through the fields, and I find the cracked and dusty remains of a bygone road.
My attention is caught by an elderly man with a long, white beard. He calls to me from his horse-drawn cart.
I turn to him, and we regard each other for a moment in silence.
“…You look like you could use a ride, friend”, he says to me.
I nod, with a weary smile.
“…Yes”, I reply. “Yes, that would be swell”.
He reaches out a hand, and I take it, and he hauls me up and into the cart.
I rest up against the wood, then away we go. The cart trundles softly along the road, and I watch the sun sink low, behind the hills.
***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***
Updated 15 Episodes
Comments
Ann Wilson
Its a great read but not satisfied with the Asura background.
2022-06-06
2