Game Set, Play (w|w version)

Separated part 1

In Rose's head

Gwen? Where'd she go? What is this? A forest? I need to find her and Alex. Or anyone. Well, not just anyone. What if I'm alone? He said multiple terrains. I think. What did the voice say? Four terrains. He said that there were four but we'd only be split between three of them. If we're six and there's three areas, and this forest is one, then there's a good chance that one of them is also in here with me. Wait, there were how many people? I counted fifteen plus them is twenty plus me is twenty-one. So three areas, twenty-one people. If we're split evenly, then there's seven in each... but there are four areas. Focus. What if she's not here? What if the others here are all strangers? How do I find her? That's not focusing. Focus. She's fine. She can handle herself. Alex can take care of herself too. What about Peter? He'll be in trouble if someone attacks him. Okay, focus. I just need to find one, then we'll find another and another. I need to find someone first. Back to numbers. There are three terrains so maybe some of them are here but then, maybe not. If this is a game, there has to be structure. We're twenty-one so the areas can't be that big is he wants us to fight each other. I should start walking. Or running. I should try to cover more distance. What if I run and then, I'm too tired to fight? I'll half-run.

This isn't bad. There are no animals trying to kill me. No beings of any kind trying to kill me. Would they be trying to kill me? He said that the point of the game was to amuse him. From all the movies that I've seen, that means killing each other but what if the point is something else? Like what? These trees are so tall. Tall brown trees with green leaves. Where am I? Did we create another portal? That would be something if we did this in our sleep. Especially since we weren't all together. Long distance sleep portal making. I doubt that we pulled that off. There might be no one else here at all. It's super unlikely but not impossible. It depends on his sorting system... self, focus! His existent or non-existent system won't help me. If I could fly, then I could see from above and further away. Maybe I could climb a tree. No, I don't want to. I should. It would help. I'm not getting anywhere by running slowly and I can't see far with all these trees. Up there, I could see people... and they could see me. Is it worth the risk? Probably. Why would they be looking up at trees anyway? I have to climb. I don't like climbing. Self, you have to. It's either find someone sooner or take forever and die here alone. That's probably an exaggeration... Climb! I don't like climbing. I've always sucked at it. I need to. I need to find the others. I can just picture Gwen telling me, "Really? You couldn't get over your fear to save your life. That's sad." And Alex would mock me too, "It's a tree. What's the big deal? Such a baby." She might not say "such a baby" aloud but she'd think it. Focus, self, you can do this. What if someone sees me? Self, climb! I can do this. I can do this. All right. One hand on one branch and then... I should take off my socks for a better grip. ... There we go. Okay, hand, branch, other hand, anything to hold onto. Foot up, don't think about it. I should sing a song. Climb, climb, climb, 'cause I'm a monkey too, isn't it fun to climb? 'Cause monkeys like to cclllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmbbbb. Singing isn't working but that's all right. I think I have a comfortable rhythm.

Rose climbed the tree nearly to the top. When she couldn't see anyone, she shouted out rooster and cow sounds. Less than a minute later, a red flame hit the tree bark below her feet and she nervously lowered herself back down to the ground.

Inside Sam's head

Gwen? Peter? Alex? Where'd everyone go? Peter! What if he's alone like me? He could end up in trouble. He can't defend himself. Hopefully, Liz is with him. Or Rose. Someone. Anyone. We all need to get back together. Something tells me this game's going to get violent. We're safer together. Who knows what kind of abilities those other people had... or non-people. The voice said something about being chosen from different planets. And there was that red guy. Who else was there? But I know nothing about aliens so that won't help me assume their abilities. It's probably safe to assume everyone else in that cage has some sort of ability, dangerous or not. Being separated is definitively a disadvantage. We need to get back together for all of us to make it through this. I better start looking for them. Step one: determine your location. I'm in a forest from the look of it. I see trees in every direction and nothing else. If we're still on our planet, it's not anywhere near our nation with these colours. Step two: determine the location of the others. I don't know that yet. The voice said there were four locations. They might be in the forest, they might not. Step three: determine a way to get from your location to theirs. That doesn't help. Not yet. It looks like I'll have to explore until I find out more. I'll go this way. It feels lucky. I'll run to cover more distance quicker.