Chapter 2: Stand Up and Shout
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The next day, 5H 30m - Security Room
The skeletal hand was grasping the screen control as the recording of the last night reached its conclusion.
“That’s why your subject, number 77, is out of the program.” - Boris spoke slowly, his creeping voice reaching Diana’s ears as her eyes widened in realization.
“Mr. BORIS, THIS IS UNFAIR!” - Diana shouted, slamming her hands against the desk - “IT WAS 66 FAULTY! HE MADE A TRAP FOR MY TRAINEE!”
“Mrs. Diana, please refrain yourself.” - Boris spoke calmly - “As per usual, all the cost of sending Mr. 77 to his home country, and all other cost will be discounted of your paycheck.”
“Please, Mr Boris, I can’t lose more money… I have many bills and…”
Diana’s words were cut short when Boris raised his hand.
“Mrs. Diana, I have an offer for you…”
“What?”
“It’s more like a game… to me” - Boris face distorted in a semblance of a smile - “There still five candidates for the job, if you can make the selection process work faster than the expected month, I will erase all your debt about the trainee.”
Diana was speechless yet happy. It was a chance to retain her money to pay all the debt she made while gambling and, at the same time, make the candidate number 66 lose his job opportunity. It would be like killing two fluffies with one sorry stick.
“Today, I already have made preparations to test our subjects; can I let you design the next test?” Boris spoke calmly.
She smiled and nodded. With this, Boris rose from his chair and presented his hand to Diana.
“Good to have you onboard, Mrs. Diana Latet.”
“Good to be onboard.” - Diana replied.
After the awkward handshakes, Boris looked into Diana’s eyes one more time.
“Our conversation is over now.” - He spoke, indicating the exit door - "Please contact the chief of the Milkbag’s center. I need to talk to him. ”
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The sun was already high in the sky when Vincent woke. Cleaning the drooling from his mouth, he took his phone to look at the time. 6 AM and a message.
Hun… Elisa texted me… - Vincent thought while opening the message.
+Vincent, please be ready for another tour into the facility and to be introduced to your job for today. I will be there to fetch you at 6:20. Be ready.+
“FUCK!” - Vincent jumped from his bed, wide awake now, and ran to the bathroom. He had only 20 minutes to do all his hygiene and be ready for the day.
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Vincent was not surprised at all when, at exactly 6:20, Elisa knocked on his door. But what surprised him. Was her appearance.
While Vincent was using a simple wrinkled shirt and jeans, she was wearing a full-business suit, which combined with her short black hair and her feline gaze made her really stand as someone of importance. Vincent felt ashamed for his clothes.
“Vincent, Good day. I hope you had a good sleep night.”
" Good day, Ms Elisa. "- Vincent was trying his best to hide his sleepiness and discomfort by the disparity in their clothes - “So… maybe I should change my outfit?”
Elisa just smiled at him, which made him even more nervous, but she made a sign to him to calm down.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about it. This formal wear is only obligatory to the administrative workers, you have yet to be contracted.” - With her answer, Vincent seemed to relax a bit; Even if Elisa seemed cold to him, maybe she cared. Then, she reached into her pocket and handed something to Vincent – “By the way, I believe you will need this.”
" My glasses!" - Vincent was grateful, and after equipping the item looked back at Elisa - "Where did you find them? "
“It doesn’t matter.” - She turned and made a gesture to Vincent to follow her - “We are late.”
" Late for what?" - He looked at the woman who was already some steps ahead of him.
“Breakfast.”
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Vincent followed Elisa around, out of the housings and into the facility. It was the first time Vincent had the opportunity to look around the white corridors of the place, and he noticed an unusual number of cameras all around. It made him a little uneasy, but there was little he could do.
After going down a set of stairs and following more white corridors, Vincent found himself in a large space, full of tables and people in white uniforms. It was the cafeteria.
Elisa made way to a table and Vincent followed, and when both were seated, she made a sign for the waitress who was also wearing a white uniform.
“I hope you learn your way to here, because you will come here alone at lunch time” - Elisa smiled and Vincent nodded, his anxiety denying him the chance of saying he didn’t learn the path - “Anyway, there are some things we need to talk.”
Elisa was serious, extremely so. Vincent started sweating, but his emotionless mask held him together.
“First, you need to understand that this is a competition. Please look around.” - As per instruction, Vincent looked and saw four people in casual clothes, one of them even carried a backpack. “If you want this job, you need to understand. This. Is. A. War.”
“Wait a moment, Ms Elisa, why are you talking this to me?” - Vincent raised both hands, in a protective way - “Because of the mail I received, I thought I already had…”
“No. Nothing is free, and you need to earn your job. Now, put your hands back on the table, or they will see that something strange is going on” - As Elisa was saying these words, the waitress approached - “And this is why you need to focus on your studies.”
“May I have your requests?” - Ask the oblivious waitress.
“Hun…” - Vincent stumbled over his words - “yeah? I want…”
“He wants bread with butter and coffee, for me the usual.”
The waitress nodded and took her leave. Vincent couldn’t act, he had never even thought about a situation like this.
“Look, Vincent, I don’t like or dislike you, but I will be dammed if I lose my position only because a potential employee didn’t make the cut, understood?” - Vincent was understanding everything, in special the part she would help him only to save herself - “If you want to win, you will need two things, always.”
“Two?”
“Yes, two” - She raised two fingers - “First, you need to always follow the rules, no matter what happens. Understood? Always follow the rules.”
“Yes, understood. And…”
Elisa opened a big smile and spoke loudly.
“And you need to learn to appreciate each snack, you can’t just swallow everything!”
Vincent looked around and quickly saw the waitress coming with their request. Elisa really knew what she was doing. Not a second after the waitress left, Elisa returned to her “serious” face.
“And second” - she raised her finger again -" You need to know how to have empathy and make bonds."
“So basically, I need to follow the rules and be a good guy, right?” - Vincent smiles shyly but confidently - “easy-peasy.”
“You say this now… I want to see it in some days…” Elisa spoke ominously— “Anyway, never let your guard down, they have cameras everywhere and a test can come at any minute.”
“Wait, if this is true, why are you telling me this?”
“The cameras can’t pick up sounds”- with this, she started eating her breakfast and Vincent followed - “Anyway, I almost forgot. First rule, no pets allowed at the housings, okay.”
“O… Okay.”
“Now eat, your first assignment will start shortly.”
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Some minutes after eating breakfast, Elisa took Vincent through some corridors and into a room. The place was only big enough for two sofas, an armchair and a television.
There, Vincent took a quick glance around. Three cameras in the place and four people inside, and by their clothes, they were his ‘rival’.
“Vincent, please, wait here with them as we prepare your assignment.”
For Vincent, the code was clear. A test was coming.
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Time seemed to drag on as Vincent, quietly seated on the sofa, awaited for what was to come.
“Hey dude, How are ya!”
“hum…?”
“Dude, name’s Andy, and you?” - Vincent finally looked at the voice, only to find a big guy with a dumb smile.
He hasn’t paid attention to him before because he was focused on his though, but now he had no choice. Andy was big, easily topping Vincent Height, something exacerbated by his long blond hair. By the way he spoke, he was one of those extroverted people.
“Hum…hi. I’m Vincent. Vincent Valentine” - Vincent extended his hand for a handshake, but Andy slapped it in a hi-five motion.
“Awesome dude!” - Andy spoke happily, Vincent felt as if he was really loud - “You know those three are pure localist, but when i saw you i thought “Wow, this guy seems really chill””
“Ok…?” - Vincent learned English alone, so he had no idea about some words like this “localist”.
“Cool!” - he then approached Vincent, sitting by his side and winking - “Are you charfing that girl that was with ya at the breakfast?”
“char… fing?”
" Yeah, bro, you know, hitting on her!"
“Woah, no!”
Andy smiled. And as the talk continued, Vincent found himself more comfortable, letting all about the tests, cameras and work fade into the back of his mind while he chatted with what looked like to be a new friend.
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After thirty minutes, Elisa and five people entered the room. Leading the group was the chief of the HR department, who bore a dark look that Vincent compared with some depiction of the entity death.
After their entrance, the leader spoke.
“Please, make a line.”
All the potential employees got up from their seats and followed the instruction. Vincent took a quick glance at Elisa, who was clearly using an emotionless mask. He knew, he always wore it.
“My name is Boris, and I’m in charge of your selection.” - Boris, the leader of the supervisors, spoke - “We have been observing you all for the last half an hour and, for the next assignment, we choose to pair you up.”
A big man wearing a red shirt and a great beard spoke, his voice booming like thunder. For Vincent, he must have work chopping trees.
“Mr Boris, I prefer to work alone and…”
“First, Number 7, it’s up to ME to decide the pairs” - Boris, in all his frailty, approached the big man, with the same dead eye expression - “Second, you only speak WHEN I let you speak, understood?”
For a moment it seemed as if number 7 was going to punch Boris, but if he did, Vincent was certain that it would break all the bones of this guy’s body.
Number 7 didn’t answer, so, after some tense seconds, Boris retreated and started to talk to everyone.
“First, numbers 3 and 55, you will go first.” - a couple took a step - “Please, Mr Sigmayer, lead them for their assignment.”
A man that was behind Boris made a sign for the couple, and the three of them exited the room.
“Next number 4 and 66”– Vincent remembered the number of his room and, hesitant, step forward. To his surprise, Andy did the same. “Ms Elisa, take these two for their assignment”
Elisa made a signal, and Andy and Vincent followed her. As Vincent was stepping out of the door, he could still hear the conversation inside.
“Now, for you, Mr 7… I have a special job.”
And the door closed behind him. It was not his problem anyway.
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The trio walked around in the hallways of the facility in the direction to the place of the job, in the way Andy tried many times to initiate a conversation, but to no avail. After some time walking, Elisa stopped in front of a door.
“Your goal is simple, clean the room.” - She spoke coldly - “If you find any kind of biological residue, beyond you two, in the room, please dispose of it on the spot. Understood?”
As the door opened, a filthy stench filled the air and the trio saw what seemed to be a cistern, full of what looked like feces.
“Good luck, boys.”
Elisa spoke, letting the now duo to their own devices.
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Like the previous rooms, the one Vincent and Andy entered was white and spacious, there was a door in the wall on the other side of the room, and the floor was covered in a stink brown substance. It didn’t need to be a genius to know that this thing was a mix between urine and feces.
At the center of the place there was a bucket filled with water and two brooms, and a trash bin label 'Biological Waste".
“Bro, this place stinks!”- Andy started complaining - “I almost feel the taste… ugh… not cool…”
“So let’s work more and talk less”- Vincent replied, forcing himself not to take the same posture as his acquaintance. - “Even I can’t deal with this stench for long.”
Andy nodded, and as both were walking to the broom, Vincent scammed the room with his eyes, identifying four cameras in the place. They were watching.
Because of his idea, Vincent and Andy started working in silence, and before long the place was almost clean.
“Almost done”- Vincent spoke - “Andy, you did a good job.”
“Bro, this was AWESOME!” - Andy spoke loudly, something Vincent felt rather annoying - “We make a great team!”
“Yeah… we do…” - Vincent just smiled weakly.
That’s when everything got black, and all the lights of the room shut down at the same time. In the pitch-black space, Vincent took a deep breath. Something was coming.
“Hewp…daddy…”
“Bro, there’s a ghost in here!” - Andy screamed - “We need to GET OUT!”
“Andy, don’t move and shut up” - Vincent retorted - “Let’s see what this is…”
As if hearing Vincent’s words, the lights started to work again. And what was in front of the duo disturbed then.
It was a type of micro horse completely covered by a puck green fur; its back legs were all mess up, the right was clearly broken and twisted unnaturally, and the left one had cut so deep that you could see the bones and the severed nerves; the forelegs were a littke better, only so good as to let the unfortunate creature drag its bloody body around the ground; On its stomach, two oversized breasts stand out, making even more pathetic its tentative of moving; the torso was all bloodied, full of gashes and cuts; but what drove more attention of the two man was its face. Blood was dripping from it’s toothless mouth while an eye was dangling from its socket, being held only by the optic nerve.
The small creature was crying in a short bursts of a sound that looked like “buhuuu”, a contradiction of the severity of its wounds, all while it was trying to move without success.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS, BRO!” - Andy screamed again, but Vincent was quiet. His glasses were a little blurry, so his eyes were hidden.
First, Vincent walked calmly around the creature, looking at the track of blood. There was none. Only where the tiny horse stood.
“buhuuhuu…Hewp…daddy…” - the creature spoke in the middle of the gargling noise made by its bloodied and toothless mouth.
Andy stood frozen, he didn’t know what to do or what that thing was. Vincent on the other hand, took another approach.
From behind, he approached the creature and kneel, with his right hand he started stroking the thing’s soft scruff.
“Your dad is not here.”
As if an alarm ringed inside the being, it started crying louder while Vincent gently stroke it. At the same time, Vincent was counting all the injuries of the creature. There were too many.
That’s when, to Vincent’s surprise, the creature lowered it’s head and started muttering something. Andy couldn’t hear it, but Vincent could, and his eyes widened.
So he took a deep breath and put both his hands on the neck of the little equine, after assuming a position on it’s back, then he started pulling its head in his direction with all his strength. First, the thing started gargling again. But stopped when a loud CRACK was heard.
Its neck was broken. It was dead.
After the deed was done, Vincent lifted the body of the creature and gently put it inside a trash bin for biological residues. Vincent’s eyes were empty. It as if he was but a shell.
“Wow… Dude… are you okay?” - Andy was worried about his new friend, about his empty eyes and bloodied clothes.
“Yeah… let’s finish this…” - Vincent spoke mechanically.
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After all the work was done, an announcement was made, and it could be heard all around the facility. It was lunchtime and everyone was hungry; almost everyone, Vincent had lost his appetite.
“Hey Bro, let’s go!”
“Go ahead, I need to use the bathroom first”
“You know, if you aren’t feeling good, I can accompany you …”
“No, thanks; I’m alright… alright” – Vincent then started walking in the direction he believed was the bathroom, while Andy walked in the opposite direction.
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Vincent was not alright.
His hands were still trembling, and even after finding the bathroom and washing his face in cold water, but it was not enough.
To make things even worse, he was now lost.
His anxiety started to raise more and more, as each time he felt as if he was close to the cafeteria, he found nothing.
After some minutes of walking without seeing a single soul, he entered a small room, and it caught his attention. First, he entered in the hopes of someone being there, but what he saw made him smile.
It was a one-way mirror, probably used in some kind of research and, on the other side, there were six mini horses, even smaller than the one that appeared in the room he was in before.
He took around and found some papers about the creatures by the side of the mirror. It had no name on it, just a short introduction. Maybe the author stopped at lunchtime.
" Registry of observation of six Fluffy foals; all of them are weaned but haven’t reached the sexual mature stage. For god’s sake, why did they make us watch these stupid Fluffies? Everyone knows how dumb they are!"
Vincent made a face; the way this researcher was conducting his notes was terrible. Even so, his curiosity was at its peak, and he decided to watch the small creatures for a little moment.
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It was amazing how relaxing it was.
Vincent was amazed by these little creatures, who could speak and play with a small ball and blocks; more over, he noticed how these creatures created bonds between themselves on an emotional level; he could see clearly the sketch of a social structure with roles. For each one – one where the strongest would be on top.
But he theorized that these Fluffies were, as human, capable of reprising their instinctual nature in favor of the social life if all the basics necessities, as express by the Maslow pyramid, were fulfilled.
Then a door opened on the other side of the small room where the foals were playing, and a man entered.
Vincent recognized the man for his clothes and beard; it was number seven.
The foals, seeing the man entering their enclosure, started shouting something like “new friend?” and “Play with fluff!”
“Yes, I am going to play with ALL of you!” - Seven spoke slowly, his booming voice making all the foals cheer in happiness, but only Vincent, on the other side of the mirror, noticed the wicked smile morphing on his face - “The name of the game is Wack-a-Mole… And you all ARE THE MOLE!”
Seven shouted, taking a hammer from his back. The foals never saw it coming as he brutalizes each and everyone of them. Blood was spilled everywhere while Seven laughter boomed all around.
There was nothing he could do. He could only watch.
And Vincent, as if mesmerized by the display of violence, could only watch till the show was over.
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After being lost for some time, Vincent was just sitting in the hallway waiting for someone to pass by, and after the lunchtime was over, someone eventually found him.
Vincent was still wearing his emotionless mask, but the cracks are starting to appear, and when they told him he could just go back to the housings, he accepted their offer.
When he finally entered his room, he ran to the bathroom to barf. The image of the foal being murdered, of him killing the fluffy with his hand when it said “wan die”… even the blood on his clothes remind him of everything…
The world was spinning. And the more he remembered the foals, the more he barfed. He had nothing on his stomach, and yet he still barfed.
Tears started streaming from his eyes as he couldn’t contain his emotion anymore.
Maybe it was time to take a bath.
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April 18
I… Fuck…
shit…This must be a fucking joke, some cosmic joke to fuck with me…
The things these people are doing… The thing I DID!Shit…
*This IS insane… *
I KILLED a living thing… A FUCKING LIVING THING!
And what is worst is that I felt NOTHING!
*No joy nor regret. Zero. *I even saw some of the babies of those creatures, foals I believe, being brutalized, and I FELT NOTHING.
Is their goal to turn us into some kind of psychopaths?
This is a game for then, maybe they are even streaming everything… who know… I don’t know anything anymore…
I just want to forget everything…
But it is too late for me, right?
If I’m with mud at my knee level, I might as well dip with everything I got.
This is not something I am happy about, but I knew that something was strange when I signed to come to this fucking island far away from my family and everyone I knew… without money, without an escape route. I can only go forward.
By god… I am fucked… And I don’t know what to do anymore…
I’m hungry, sad and alone. Can this get fucking better?
Anyway… I search something about those critters in the net and sleep; sleep always makes the problems go away.
