Black & White-English Version

1-Burning building

I still remember when I was the new one, when I didn't know where I was nor what was going on.

I was walking fast in the packed streets of Tokyo, to get back to the tiny flat the production company gave me two years ago. I only had to resist three more months, then I would have returned to my beloved England, to drink tea and read a good book in my home's garden. 

I didn't want to accept that job, but I was forced to. My collegue was pregnant and I was sent to take her place. I worked in the filmmaking industry and the film we were producing, was taking place in Tokyo...but it was taking longer that we planned. More than once, I found myself thinking it was because of that job that now I was stucked in Borderland.

When I opened my flat's door, all the lights switched off like in a blackout and once I got in, I noticed that something wasn't right. The sky, which was bright and sunny, turned dark grey, but the ever odder thing was that every now and then, red laser beams came down from it and reached the ground, somewhere on the horizon.

I went to the window and looked outside. I wasn't prepared for that scene: where there was a huge crowd of people, now there was no one.

Confused more than ever, I went down the stairs and went out; I looked around and started screaming as an idiot, hoping that someone would hear me, but obviously, no one replied.

My brain wasn't working properly so I did something very senseless, but that it turned out to be a life saver for what happened next: I went back upstairs and changed. I wore sweat pants, a hoodie and a comfy pair of sneakers. I did take a backpack as well, in which I put a water bottle, some snaks and a first aid kit (better to be prepared for any eventuality, right?). I left my phone on the table as soon as I realised that it had stopped working, just as the lights and the eletricity; even the big screens of the city were all off.

I started wandering around, passing abandoned cars and without meeting anyone. The more I walked, the more I started wondering if I was alone in that place, whatever it was.

My thoughts got interrupted by a sudden burst of light that came from one of the screens, black as the night till a few moments ago.

There were two words on it: Game Arena. And an arrow pointing at the direction.

"Game Arena? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked outloud, no one could hear me anyway.

I decided to follow the sign for the Arena and soon enough, I found myself in front of a forty-story building. My heart started beating fast when I saw what I've been looking for hours: people. A lot of people. And they were all going inside that building.

I started running and as soon as I went inside, I heard a bip sound and got through other red beams. I walked over to the closest people and asked them what was happening.

"Another newbie, how boring." One of the guys said, the tallest.

"Why do they always come to us?" The other guy asked.

"Maybe cos we look friendly." The first one asnwered.

"If you don't wanna tell me, fine. I'll find out myself." Patience wasn't my strongest quality, so I turned around and started walking towards a corner.

"Get a cell phone and come back here." The tall guy said.

Only in that moment I noticed a desk with some cell phones on it, the majority of them were already taken.

A metallic voice announced that we needed 15 more participants and to be patient. I took a random phone and got back to the two guys.

"So, listen to me very carefully cos I don't want to repeat myself." The tall guy looked bored and annoyed. "You are now in what everyone believe to be an alternative Tokyo, that everyone calls Borderland, where to survive you have to play these Games, like the one in which you are now. Each Game has a difficulty's degree from 1 to 10 and the type of Game is defined by the symbol on the card that appears at the beginning of it."