ENTER

C9 - Scarlet Lane

James is surprised that he is not bombarded by Uzar beings for what just happened.  He steps into the elevator and when the elevator stops and opens to the white room James is surprised, as again, no one is there.

After getting dressed in his earthling clothes and back in the colorful room on earth he anticipated that the AI voice will now inform him that he is not allowed to come back, but no voice comes.

The wall opens and James walks through it.  Outside the building, James notices that several kids are also leaving, one after the other stepping out of the wall.

James looks at the time and sees that it is six in the afternoon.

James goes home and is greeted by his mom that just finished dinner, “You are just in time for dinner.”

“Hi mom,” James greets her.

“With your friends?” his father asks.

“No, I went to work,” James says.

“On a Sunday?” his father asks in disbelieve.

“Yes, the company operates twenty-four hours,” James says, ignoring his father's facial expression. 

“I will eat later, thanks mom,” James says, walking off to his room.

‘I really hope I did not mess up my opportunity or ruin it for all the gamers that have the same DNA as I,’ James thinks as he falls onto his bed, regretting his decisions today, realizing that we will be without a solid income to pay the apartment he just paid a deposit on.

James fell asleep, being drained.  James woke up early the next morning, thinking he overslept.  James looks at his phone and sees that it is only six in the morning.

‘Wow, I slept well,’ James thinks as he stretches out.  James gets up and takes a shower before brushing his teeth and shaving the stubble of his face.

James was ready to leave at seven and on his way out his mom greeted him.

“I noticed that you didn’t eat your dinner last night, so I packed it for you for lunch,” his mom says.

“We get food at work, tanks mom,” James says.

“Easy to waste food when you don’t have to pay for it,” his father says from the living room.

James freeze and looks at his father, “f**k I can not wait to get out of here.”

“Excuse me?” his father says.

“James!” his mother says, shocked.

“Give the damn food,” James grabs the lunch box and storms out of the house.

James remembers that there is a woman sitting next to the road on his way to the buildings.

“Thank you, thank you,” she says, grateful for the food.

James makes a mental note to help her if he still has an income, ‘looks like she is going to deliver that baby any day now.’

Scarlet Lane is a twenty-one-year-old that grew up in a working-class neighborhood.  Her mother left when she was young, leaving her with her father, who was a drunk.  At the age of eleven, she got taken away from her father, going from one foster home to another, never finishing school. Physically, scarlet is in good shape, besides the eight-and-a-half-month baby bump.  She is tall with light skin, black hair, and brown eyes.  Scarlet worked on the corners and fell pregnant.  Her pimp told her to take an abortion, but she refused.  She still tried to work the corners while pregnant but after a lady from a welfare organization picked her up to take her for a medical check-up, she was informed that she had STDs and it is not good for the baby.  Scarlet stopped working the corners, thinking that she will wait for the baby to be born before she works again.  She has been living off the people that walk past her, handouts for the past two months.

James got to the four black buildings and noticed a lot of young adults standing around, trying to get in.

“What is going on?” James asks as he catches up with Emce and Emily standing in front of their building.

“Apparently some bloke touched a machine from Uzar,” Emce says.

“They are running tests to see if they picked up his DNA,” Emily says.

‘Crap,’ James thinks as he waits with the others.

“Some are going in,” James says, noticing some people getting access.

“Yes, if your DNA is different from the guy that touched the machine then you get to go in,” Emily says.

“So, you guys have the same DNA as the guy?” James asks, wondering. ‘What a coincidence,’ James thinks, feeling bad because how will they pay their rent now.

“No, we haven’t tried yet.  We were waiting for you,” Emce says, walking over to the building.

“Oh, thanks,” James says, hoping that they will get access.

Nervously James watches to see if the wall will open for Emce.

Emce stands closer and the blue light scans his eyes and face, but the wall does not open.

“Guess I am out of luck,” Emce says stepping away but then the wall opens.

“Thank goodness,” James says.

“Hopefully we will see you on the other side,” Emily says before stepping closer to the wall.

The wall opens for Emily and she gives a quick wave before stepping in.

James hunches on his knees, “thank goodness.”

James decides to not even bother trying to scan his eyes and face and just waits around.

Around noon James took out his card to see how much money he has left.

A red light was flashing, YOU ARE CLEAR TO ENTER.

“Hey, guys, check your cards!” James calls out to the other groups.

As the others check their cards, one by one they hit for the buildings and enter the walls.

James watches for a moment before entering the wall himself.