Interaction [Dreamnotfound]

30 | Tests

Dream lurched forwards in his seat, then hastily moved back. He was trying not to react... but it was pretty evident.

The government tests. The very tests that had torn his family apart.

"What... kind of information do you have?" George asked carefully, keeping an eye on Dream to gauge his reaction.

Floris's expression changed ever so slightly. It went from talkative...

To sly.

Cunning.

"I know all about them. I know where they're run, I know how they work, I know how to conduct them. It would be one of the promotions I got, if I turned George in - I would be allowed to spectate the tests."
Dream shuddered. Why would anyone want to spectate the tests? Dream had watched his mother... his mother take the test...

Without realizing, he had frozen up in his seat. He didn't notice a thing until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

George was standing over him. "Hey, you okay?"
Dream nodded, trying to compose himself. "Yeah, I'm fine..."
It was barely a whisper, and luckily, George noticed that Dream's behaviour was off. He took Dream's hand gently.

"Come inside, ok? I don't think it's a good idea to talk about this now."
Dream shook his head. "No, I... I want to hear more..."
George pulled him up. "Another time," he replied firmly. Dream sighed, but didn't bother protesting. George motioned to Bad, whispering "keep him company, I'll be there in a few minutes."
Bad was more than happy to comply, taking Dream's arm and leading him inside. Once they had gone, George took his seat once more, turning to face Floris.

"Tell me more."

Dream was still shaking slightly, and Bad had noticed. He lead Dream to his temporary room, taking a seat on the bed and motioning for Dream to join him.

Dream sat, exhaling shakily, closing his eyes briefly as he tried to collect his emotions. Bad sat silently.

After a moment, Dream looked up. "I'm sorry for the trouble, Bad. You can go back out if you want."
Bad shook his head. "No, I'd rather be here for you, Dream. You know you can tell my anything, right?"
Dream nodded. "Yeah, I just..."
Bad waited, and Dream continued. "I want to know about the government tests, but it's a hard... a hard topic for me to, you know, talk about."
Bad nodded, questions whirling around his head but not asking for fear of scaring Dream. Dream took a deep breath and continued.

"I grew up in a Layout Center, Bad."

Bad tried to conceal his surprise, but his sharp intake of breath was enough to tip Dream off. So that was how he knew Floris - they must have grown up in the same Center.

Dream nodded, a small smile on his face, which slowly faded into deep memories, the smile dropping away. Finally, he spoke.

"There's really no good way to say this, so I'm just going to be blunt."

He was nearly choking on his words, but forced them out.

Bad grabbed him. "Dream, don't force yourself to tell me anything you don't want to, okay?"

Dream nodded. "It's fine, Bad." He took another breath. "My mom died... died from government testing, when I was really young. My dad left us because of that, and my sister... I don't know where she went. I haven't seen her since."
Bad's face flipped in an instant, sorrow evident across his features. "I'm so sorry, Dream."
Dream shrugged. "I didn't really know them. Anyways, I..."
His mother's screams ran through his head. Stop. Please, stop.

"I don't remember anything from that night, anyways. It doesn't matter."
Bad nodded slowly. "Okay..."
Dream shrugged. "So just hearing about the tests... it was hard, I guess. Just memories."
Bad nodded. "I... I get it, Dream."
He didn't elaborate, but Dream didn't ask him to. They sat there in silence.

Finally, Bad spoke up. "Does anyone else know?"
"Only George," Dream confessed, staring at his feet.

Bad nodded. "I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me."
Dream smiled ever so slightly.

"Thanks, Bad."

Floris was running over possible outcomes in his mind. What to tell? What to hide?

He decided to start with the most obvious. "You know the... the brain chips, what to they call them here? Smallchips?"
"Microchips?" George asked.

Floris nodded. "Those, they're how the government runs the tests. Do you know what Virtual Reality is?"
George nodded, but Skeppy shook his head. Floris explained. "It's like a video game, but inside of your head. The projections we make come from the Microchip."
Skeppy nodded slowly, trying to process this, and Floris went on. "Basically, the subject is placed inside a world and has to complete the game, without any instruction."
George stared, and Skeppy furrowed his eyebrows. "How is anyone supposed to do that?"

Floris shrugged. "Most don't make it through the first night."
George felt like he would be sick. Skeppy leaned back in his chair.

A random game. No instruction.

No wonder so many people died from these tests. It was disgusting.

Floris looked grim. "I think the government made the game, but I'm not sure. It was tested, still is being tested, I don't know why, but in the end, there's probably some great objective that the government hasn't told me yet."

George couldn't even process this, but an idea came to his head. "Can you show me the game?"
Floris thought for a moment. "Yeah, I have some screenshots on my phone, just from playing the game outside of testing," he replied.

George waited as he pulled them up. Yeah, Floris wouldn't be eligible for testing, would he? Probably not, considering how high of a rank he had managed to obtain.

Imagine that. Never having to worry about being tested.

A dream come true, wouldn't it be?

Floris leaned forwards. "Here."

He passed the phone to George, and George almost dropped it in shock of what he saw.

Blocks. Animals. One in particular that stood out.

A bat? No, a bird like mob. With wings. Blue wings and yellow... no, green eyes.

A phantom.

This wasn't any game. This was...

This was their game.

This was Minecraft.