One Up

Chapter 13

She kicks and screams at the guards as we watch them drag her in with the rest of us. I recognize her as Cleona Wayfield from Dublin, Ireland. Her head thrashes about, red locks of hair flying around as the guards struggle to keep her contained. I have to say, I didn't fair any better when they d**g me into here as well.

When she is deposited on the floor with a thud, the guards quickly go out and lock the door behind them. Cleona gets up and starts beating on the door with her bound wrists as we all look on tiredly. I admire her fight, but it's useless.

We are all trapped here.

"Unless you want to be tased, I suggest you calm yourself," a young woman says as she enters through a side door. Like Marion, she is dressed in a white labcoat, but she lacks the cynical mind that the previous scientist had. As a matter of fact, when her brown eyes gaze among the room, she looks rather... bored. Cleona stills at last, but not without glaring at the scientist.

"As you can see behind me," she starts, gesturing toward the twenty glass boxes neatly organized among the warehouse-looking room. They look similar to the ones at the ILG, except bigger. "-there are twenty Fearscapes, and twenty of you. For the next week, you will be in these pods with electrodes connected to your head. Electrodes will connect to your Amygdala, the part of your temporal lobe that processes fear. Not only that," she says, walking into the glass boxes and placing her hand on what looks like a virutal reality set. "-you will wear Virtual Reality headsets designed by us. Unlike gaming virtual reality sets, these headsets will be able to project your fears into a visual, digital format. Those digital formats will become real, and your avatar will have to face those fears with the tools we give you. Know this though, whatever happens to your avatar, will happen to you realistically."

We all glance at each other nervously, curious as to what she means. I take a look at Sage. He stares back with worry. Finally, one of the winners from Japan raises his hand, asking the question we were all thinking.

"How can we get hurt if we are facing digital fears?" he asks. We all watch as the scientist smiles, before she continues on explaining.

"You see, there will be more than just the electrode in your Amygdala. There will be electrodes connected to the parts of your brain that send signals to different parts of your body. So, for instance, if your fear happens to be a monster of some sort, and they stab you in the heart, the electrodes will send a signal to your brain to stop your heart. That part of your body will shut down, and inevitably... you will die."

A hush falls over the room as we process this information. I knew that we could die, but this? I think inwardly. A few cries of anger and sadness fill the room, and multiple guards start filing in. The scientist gazes over us one last time.

"I will leave you all for the evening to process this information, but tomorrow, we begin the first stage of your fear test. I will see you in the morning."

As soon as she turns to leave, her pale face tilted up in arrogance, people start shouting. A few of the winners start trying to run, but guards grab them and throw them to the ground. I remain silent as I process this information.

There are many things in life I can deal with. I can deal with my brother dying, and my father leaving us. I can deal with being captured by the government and I can deal with being cloned. But dealing with the fears that can hurt me? Kill me?

No thank you.

One of the guards stops in front of me, and I allow him to lead me back to my chambers without a fuss. The only way I can plan my escape is to follow the directive so that I can see where the guards take us. The more direction I know, the better I can navigate this building and when I can navigate the building, I'll be able to truly escape.

The guard grabs ahold of my leather wrist cuffs, leading me away from the warehouse and out the glass, bulletproof door. Taking a left, we go down the long stretch of hallway. I take note of the little door numbers at the sides of the doors we pass, as well as any room names.

We make a few left and right turns until we stop at my door. Using his keyless fob, he holds it against the lock beside the door until it goes green and I hear a 'click'.

Quickly, he releases me from my cuffs. As soon as they are off, he deposits me into the room, shutting the door swiftly behind me. I don't bother fussing. Instead, I go over to my cot and lie down. Closing my eyes, I go back through the course we took from the Warehouse, hoping to plan a course towards freedom.

I don't realize that I drifted off until I find myself standing in front of him. Not my brother. Not even my father. It is Damien. I look at him angrily as his dark eyes stare at me with amusement.

"Did you miss me?" he says, his smile turning cynical as I had always remembered it. I roll my eyes in disgust. "Of course, you think that just because you stole my dignity, you think you can steal my dreams too? Give me a break." Damien's smile remains-crooked, like a demon's. It's been forever since I've seen him, but the thing that will never be rid from my mind is his demonic smile. It makes me cringe.

"Come on, you know you wanted it. You are mine," he says, reaching for me. I start to move back quickly, finding I have no where else to go when my back hits the wall. His hand continues forward, and it is just about to touch me when the familiar sound of hinges wake me up from my dream.

I blink in the bright, LED lights several times, looking at the guard who had walked in. He regards me with indifference as he lets me know that it is tine to go. I rise, putting on my black knee-high boots, before walking towards the guard.

I don't know what fears I will find today, but there is one fear that I hope doesn't surface; one memory...

...and that is the memory of Damien r****g me.