Experiment X

11 | Evaluation

11 | Evaluation

    The training time is over. The three days are gone. The 72 hours up. They’ve done all they can in preparation. There’s nothing left. Emberly can easily now conjure flames with her hands, and manipulate the fire at her will. She also came aware of her ability to release energy-charged, fiery, nuclear explosions. The first time she had did that, both her and Kel had been speechless—it had came from nowhere. But she had been focuses her anger against everything…This place…Not knowing anything about her past…This mysterious voice. It all.

    It had stunned her, but now she is beginning to get a hang of it. At least that is a relief. In the short amount of time, she at least managed to transmit her powers to Kel through the connection although, what time she did wasn’t long, but he, however, had somehow mastered it. It is beyond her. Maybe her abilities are only more complex to transmit. But she would get it eventually. Kel had told her anyways, put under enough stress, she would make it happen, if they needed her abilities. Emberly can only hope he’s right. But how much stress would it take?

    Emberly is thinking these things, as they can only do what they are exactly doing now: waiting. The Whitecoats are coming. The Whitecoats are coming. The Whitecoats are coming.

    To evaluate them. Emberly guesses to see what they can do. Outside of that, she doesn’t know. Outside of that, she doesn’t want know.

    The silence is choking. It’s like an unbeatable poison. Suffocating them.

    Without the slightest forewarning, there’s an odd ding—it’s almost comical. It nearly startles Emberly and she gasps quietly as there’s a muffled hissing sound, the sliding of a door and a long shadow is cast into the Whitecell. The shadow belongs to the Whitecoat: a tall, intimidating figure striding toward them, his white long lab coat furling behind him like billowing sails. The intense white lights bleach out his features for a moment, and then he is standing before them, holding a clipboard, his eyes hollow with apathy.

    Emberly is almost afraid to look up at him, but she must. She slowly lifts her eyes and when they light upon his face, it’s as if she enters a strange, distant dream. How in the world does his face seem familiar? She must remind herself to breathe.

    But everything about him seems cold, and…perfect. To his polished, sharp appearance. Everything on point. But his eyes…There is just something about his eyes. They seem to pierce straight into her heart, and bullet their way through her emotions and her unclear past.

    “Please stand.”

    As if the words are pulling strings, they each are raised to their feet. Fully standing, Emberly sees how tall this man actually is, stooping high above her; but, Number 2 is taller than her as well. Maybe she is just, short.

    “I am the Creator,” he introduces himself, smiling in spite of it all. “The one who gave you your unique abilities, and now it is time to evaluate you, so that we may design an obstacle course to suit your gifts exactly in the last stage of the training process…Who would like to go first?”

    Kel and Emberly look at each other tentatively, unsure, and Kel makes the decision. “I’ll go.”

    “Right then,” the Creator chimes, with that weird smirk still plastered on his chiseled face, his skin seeming too white, too tight over his bones. “Let’s see what you got, Number 2.”

                                                                      …

    Waiting. Again. This time for something entirely different. What they never saw coming.

    Emberly is sitting across from Kel, wrapping her arms around her knees. They are not looking at each other. So many thoughts about what awaits them burn through her brain.

    She must think of something else. Think about the evaluation instead.

    It wasn’t much, at all. All he had asked her to do, was show him what she could do. And she did it. There had a few “ah’s” and the noises of him scribbling notes down onto that clipboard, and he gave them that awkward smile again before he just turned around and left them alone. He had told them the Voice would announce their departure time for the obstacle course, when it was ready. And she felt it to be soon. So soon. What would await them?

    She knows it would be tailored to their specific abilities…But what would that be? Emberly just shakes her head, sighing. Giving up on coming up with anything reasonable.

    But something has been bothering her. And it had been with her since that Whitecoat…The Creator, he called himself, said. He had mentioned a Controller…A Controller of what? What is he controlling? Them? Why? Is the head of all this?

    Emberly just couldn’t shake the feeling that there is so much more that’s being left unsaid. What if they are all lying to them and this whole Tournament is nothing but a giant façade painted with their to-be blood?

    Then again, what if…It isn’t. And this is…all real.

There’s just too much doubt in this game. Whatever it is.

    If anything, they had met the man who had created them. Had made them into whatever they are. With these “gifts” he had called them; why had she gotten such a terrible vibe from him? And why did he look so damn familiar?

    None of this makes any sense. At all.

    She just hope, some time…In some moment it would. It would all click together and they would all realize. Grasp this one missing piece of this entire puzzle. And what makes her afraid is that, she believes they don’t want to know this missing link, because of what it is—that they wish to keep it hidden, which gives her reason to think that this is all just some twisted joke.

    The bastards. All of them.

    “Attention all Tournament participants,” The Voice blares into existence, and shocks Emberly, and she sees the surprise in Kel’s eyes. But it’s less expressed. “Your personalized obstacles courses are now ready to be used. Once you clear the course, you will be escorted by the Arms into the Meeting Chamber, where you will introduced to the other participants, and from there begin the Tournament. Good luck participants, and all hail New America!...That is all.”

    This is it. Emberly blinks, feeling all emotion drain from her, except anxiety. They must stand, so they do. Suddenly, there’s movement in their cell. The awfully humorous ding occurs again, and within the far wall, there’s the hissing. And a dark portal is created, leading to what they know they cannot escape.

    Emberly swallows, and her eyes narrow. It’s time be strong. She looks to Kel, who returns the determined stare. “Are you ready?”

    He nods. Not knowing what to expect, they approach the dark doorway and are soon lost within its blackness, their burning Cores providing the only glimmering means of light.