Hotel Selten

In His Hands Again

Ophelia slowly opens her eyes as she saw a familiar figure in front of her. “You!” Ophelia tried to raise her arm but she can’t. She looks at it and saw she was locked in place with these metallic chair cuffs. She struggles as she tried to escape her imprisonment. “Where are my friends? Where am I!?” She shouted at him while she struggles. The doctor is keeping his smile that made her more pissed. “Well, I am sad to say that they are here too. But, isn’t it beautiful? All of you are here in my place. Apparently, I didn’t pile you up in a single room like what friends do. I am smarter than ever before, Ophie. You and your friends aren’t gonna run away from my grasp.” 

“Then, why wouldn’t you kill us!?” Ophelia said as she looks up at him. He suddenly laughs and turns his back to her. “I am classier than that. I have more plans than killing you guys and waste your precious life. Anyway, I’ll come back to you in a sec, I’m gonna prepare my gift for the residents of my former home.” He giggled evilly as he left her in her room. She was in a white and well-lit up room. She looks around, nothing to be seen except for her and the chair she is sitting in. Minutes later, the door slams as three underlings of Asante entered the room. 

“What are you gonna do to me!?” She reacted as one of them draws an unfamiliar black rubber object. “What is that!? You are not gonna kill me!” She moves her head backward as one of the staff attempted to put it on her head. The other two help to hold her as she struggles. “Let me go! I am not gonna wear that device whatever it does.” She was defeated as she can feel the cold and rubbery texture of it on her head. She bangs her head to put it out, but with one click of a button, it was locked firmly on her head.

One of the staff holds on to their ears, it’s not even their ears, it was like white small earbuds. The staff nod as one of them pressed another button. In just a click, everything went black for Ophelia, she went unconscious on her own chair in the facility.

Ophelia opens her eyes and looks around. It was a familiar place, the trees, and the ambiance is familiar. She was sitting on the ground and seems stranded in this place but she feels otherwise. She stands as she wipes the dirt on her back. She tried to wander around as realization came to place to her, “Is this the Black Forest?” She asked, trying to grasp some clues. “If it is…” She ran around, trying to find something. It will be a hard find since it’s a whole forest.

Hope resides on her once more as she saw a familiar river. She looks across it as she saw the place she has been looking for, the hotel. She crossed the water stream as she looks at the magnificent building hidden behind the trees. She runs towards it as she looks around, it seems empty. “Hello? Anyone here? I’m back!” She shouted as she looks around. From the shadows, there emerges a familiar feminine figure. “Peony?” 

“Ophelia!” She exclaimed as she hugs her. “Peony, I had an insane dream, I—” Peony holds her chin. “It’s not a dream, Ophelia. I went through that too, none of what happened that you remembered in the past is true. We are in some sort of technology Asante has built. Remember the rubber thingy, you remember that they put that on your head, right?” Ophelia’s eyes widen as she looks around, she shakes her head as she realizes everything. “I… Where are the others?”

“Well, I and Hugo are here,” Blaise said as they approached them. “Blaise! Hugo!” Ophelia exclaimed as the two groups meet. “Apparently, Asante took the technology into its finest. I don’t even know why he is still working for these bastards. He will create more money and have a technological empire when he puts these things on the market. That’s the most passive way to take over the world, to be honest for him if he wants that thing.” Blaise said as he looks around, “Our conscious is in a machine, I don’t know why he does this, but whatever it is, it’s not good.” He added. 

“Hey! Found you guys!” Ernest exclaimed from afar as he and Melvin approached them. “Took us a minute to realize everything. I feel so light-headed at that point. We were just in the back, ya know.” He said as he pats Blaise’s back. The others came by minutes later and they were all complete. “What is Asante’s plan again? This seems ridiculous.” Alice commented as she sits on a tree stump. 

“Behold, me!” The voice they all hate emerges from nowhere as a man with a white lab coat who is no other than Asante himself. “Speaking of the devil,” Hugo said as the others draw their weapons. The doctor seems not bothered with it and still has his sinister smile upon his face. “There’s no need to be hostile but you need to later. You guys love games right?” “No—” “Shut. Whether you like it or not, we will be playing a game. Well, just me and my companions though, because you guys are the toys.” 

“What do you mean?” Ophelia asked him as the doctor looks at her. “Well, you are here and now you are automatically programmed with your abilities and powers as an available character in-game. I have the right amount of buddies to play with me so no one will be left behind.” Asante started to speak like someone talking to a baby, “I don’t want anyone to be jeawous of the others. All of you will experience to fight each other or die… In the game!” The doctor smiles widely. Adam impulsively tries to attack him but suddenly, his hands work by themselves. His leaf katana disappeared as he started to walk back to where he was before. “What’s happening to me!?”

“You are that one kid that said yes but didn’t really listen in class. As I have said before, you are in a game, so players will control you. You can control yourself sometimes as long as there are no input moves to you. You are just like a puppet in this game.” He giggled as he sighs. “Anyway, I must go now, I don’t want to be part of this bloodshed. Good luck~” He wiggles his fingers as his goodbye wave. “Wait, are we gonna really d—” Ophelia was stopped as the doctor vanished in front of them. Suddenly, all of them feel that lightheadedness once more as they all pass out. 

Ophelia woke up again as she looks around, she was in a city-like place. As she was about to lift her hands and look at it, she unwillingly started to run. “Woah!” She exclaimed as she runs through the streets. She turns her body several times and suddenly docks for no reason. Whoever is controlling her must be new to this. Her hand moves on its own as she started to collect water and it circles her with just as near as realistic in real life how she does it. “Huh… What more I can do as a character here?”

She started to run again and keep turning. She suddenly shoots at an NPC with her water. “Woah! Don’t!” She starts to do other stuff against her own will and also depleting her water supply. She started to refill it once more. She feels so degraded when she can’t control herself. All she can do is move her eyes, breathe, move her mouth, and all that. She can’t control where she will go. “Ouch!” She exclaimed as the one who controls her mistakenly bumped her on the wall. She was so unlucky that her player was a douche bag as she was bumped and bumped, again and again, making her dizzy and hurt. 

She started running again as she saw in the distance Peony and Alice were fighting each other. “Peony, I am sorry!” She said as she grabs her legs with her whip. “Try to go against it, Alice!” She said as she immediately twirls around and the whip lets go of her feet. Her seeds went down the ground as she unwillingly grew them. “I-I can’t!” Alice said as she dodges all of Peony’s attacks. “Guys!” Ophelia exclaimed as she was running towards them as she lets out a wave taller than everyone else in this area. Both of them run until the wave resides. “Ophelia! J-just run!” Alice said as she started to charge towards her. “I can’t, I am not in control!” 

Alice suddenly snapped her with a whip as she shrieks in pain. “I am sorry, Ophelia!” That’s only she can say, that’s the thing she could ever do so her unintentional attacks hurts less emotionally. The vines started to crawl to their feet as they try to run away. They all tripped as the vines crawl on their body and started lifting them. They were dropped as they were high enough as they all scream in pain. Peony gasped as tears started to flow in her eyes. She tried to go against every move she does, but it was the burden they will endure until what Asante said, “die”. 

Ophelia stands as she unleashes two waves, one in front of them and one behind them. They were fast and is strong enough to make an enemy weak. Peony and Alice tried to run but they were unaware of the wave behind them as they both got thrown off the wall. A surge of the attack came from Ophelia as she was moving very fast that she even got tired. Alice was thrown off as she bangs her head on a pipe that made her unconscious and fell to the ground. Ophelia gasps, “Alice!” She exclaimed as she tried to go to her but she can’t. Peony runs away from them as the brunette teenager cries. “No, not them. You monsters!”

“I wouldn’t want you to miss it, my former caretaker. I want you to witness everything that I can do, you raised me anyways. I want you to be proud of me, of my works. See how I improved since I was taken from the hotel and see what I have managed to achieve since I have been the head researcher of this organization.” Asante holds Miss Eve’s shoulder who is trapped like how everyone does. “You are not the Asante I took care of, so I wouldn’t be so proud, since this Asante is not my creation, this Asante is an abomination.” 

The doctor acts like he was wiping a tear even though he shed not even a single one. “That hurts me a lot, Miss Eve. It’s coming from someone who acted like my mother. The one who I loved the most in this whole world. Well, honestly, you are the second one from my inventions but you are still in the highest position!” The lady rolls her eyes, “Whatever you do, it’s not a sight worth seeing and an achievement that I wouldn’t be proud of, never.” 

“Whatever. Staffs, let her in my own technology world if you don’t mind.” His staffers hold Miss Eve and put the same thing on her head as she passes out too. Asante sits in front of her with the chair that was served to him just now and puts on his own technological headband. They both got transferred into games as spectators. He approached the lady who is watching in fear as the people who she treats as her children fight over. “What a wonderful sight to see, it’s just like the training in the hotel all over again. Wou—”

Asante suddenly wakes up in real life, “What happened!?”