Cube Zero: The Newly Imprisoned

Chaper 1: Inside the Cube

Within Axion Forest in southeastern Zenitrius, the sound of a flute echoed far from it's source, with gray wolves howling to it. The source of the sound was a flute-playing young woman named Gale–who is 22 years old to be exact–who lived in a cabin in a clearing with her younger, 12-year old brother.
The cabin itself wasn't very large, but it was a decent living space. It was a two-story building; It resembled a log cabin when it came to how it looked on the outside, but looked like a mix of a 1930's-style home and a hunter's lodge in terms of both it's interior layout and decoration.
Gale had long, messy brown hair with brown eyes and dried mud on her face, arms and feet, while her brother had naturally spiky brown hair with hazel eyes, and resembled a younger version of his father.
Blake was the boy's name–or at least, that's what he's normally known by–and he and his sister had been living alone for 10 years because their father, a man who should simply be called Bartok, had been missing for that same amount of time.

Blake walked out of the cabin and onto the porch; He then sat on the railing, and found his sister, Gale, on the roof.
"Hey, Gale!" He yelled, so Gale could hear him. Gale immediately stopped playing her flute so she can respond.
"Yes, Blake?" She replied.
"I've been wondering about Pa over these past couple days... I wonder what happened to him..." Blake said.

"I don't know, Blake. He's gone. Declared dead in absentia, I bet." Gale replied, and went back to playing her flute.
"No. He has to be somewhere. But...where?" Blake muttered to himself, looking at Gale. Suddenly, there was a small tremor, which caused Blake to fall off the railing.
"Blake! You okay?" Gale said.
"I'm okay..." He replied.
Gale then climbed off the roof, but by the time she was on the porch, Blake had disappeared. "Blake? Where'd you go?" She said in a concerned tone. Unknown to Gale, Blake had snuck into the forest.
"Where could this tremor have possibly come from?" Blake muttered as he rested near a tree, and before he could realize it, someone had snuck up behind him and tranquilized him.
"Blake!" Gale's voice echoed, as Blake was taken away by who looked like a military soldier.

After what seemed like an eternity, Blake barely regained consciousness with a 14-year old boy in his field of vision. The two had similar physical builds, but the boy had bright blond hair in a small mohawk, blue eyes, and generally different facial features.
Blake also couldn't hear anything, so he didn't move as the boy said: "He's awake, Sparky!"
The boy then exited the room, and Blake regained his hearing.
"Where...am I?" He thought as he looked at the ceiling. He then sat up, and leaned against a wall. Immediately, he found himself to be wearing a gray prison uniform–with his surname, Bartok, stitched onto the shirt–black boots, and some sort of barcode tattoo on the top of his right hand. He looked around, and found that he was in a cubical, blue-coloured room.

"And my sister... Why can't I remember her name?" Blake thought, and tried to get to his feet. However, unbearable pain surged through his body, and he once again fell unconscious.
Then, a woman, who had the nickname "Sparky," derived from her supposed "electrifying" personality, climbed into the room to see Blake unconscious. She had slightly wavy brown hair, blue eyes, and other general features of a young British woman. Despite the nickname, her shirt had the surname "Alderson" on it.
"Hunter said he was alive." She muttered with an English accent, and picked Blake up.
"He is quite young. He shouldn't really be in–"
"Is Sparky still alive?" A female voice echoed, interrupting Sparky, and she looked at where she thought the voice came from. She could somehow hear what is said in the adjacent room.
"Hmm... Hunter, can you confirm that the room is not rigged?" The voice said again.
"It does not contain a trap, Nightshade. I was just in there." Hunter replied.

Nightshade then climbed in to the room, and saw that Hunter was right about his claim. Nightshade had black hair with dark purple accents and black eyes. Her sleeves were rolled up, and one of her boots was tied to her belt. Her shirt displayed the surname "Leiber."
"Is the boy alright?" Nightshade asked Sparky as she entered the room.
"Hunter said that he woke up, but I ain't sure." Sparky replied.
"Let me check him." Nightshade said, and Sparky placed Blake on the floor. She then checked most of his vital signs, and looked at Sparky.
"He's alive, Sparky. He might still be unconscious." She said.
"I'm guessing Hunter was right."

Hunter then entered the room as Blake again regained consciousness. Nightshade then leaned Blake against the wall, and he looked at her in confusion.
"Who...are you?" He asked. "That would remain a mystery–to us, anyway." Sparky replied–answering Blake's question.
"What do you mean?" Blake said.
"Well... I can explai–"
"Sparky. Let me explain it to him." Nightshade broke in.
"Alright. If you want to..." Sparky replied, and backed away. Blake got to his feet as Nightshade said: "Well, kid. We can barely remember anything. Not even how we got here or who we are. As for me, those two have been calling me Nightshade–"

"I honestly have not been calling you Nightshade." Sparky said, interrupting Nightshade's statement.
"Yes, you have..." She replied, looking at Sparky.
Sparky angrily looked at Nightshade and said, "Damn right, mate..."
Nightshade looked at Blake and said, "Look, kid. This here's a very dangerous place..."

She barely got to finish her statement when Sparky interrupted her with, "She is right, you know."
Blake then looked at Sparky, acknowledging her statement. Content, Sparky continued her statement by saying, "Before you go anywhere, I want to make you aware of the fact that there are traps in this structure."
"How do you know?" Blake asked, with fear and concern in his voice.
"Because," Sparky said. "I entered some room, and I nearly had my head cut off!"
A visible, nasty, jagged scar on the left side of Sparky's neck was evident of her encounter with that particular trap. Blake merely remained silent, looking at Sparky's scar with a fearful expression.

"Don't scare the boy! He's spooked enough as it is." Nightshade said, noticing Blake's expression, and she looked at Sparky.
"Alright..." Sparky said. Blake slightly shrank back when Nightshade approached him, and she said, "It might be advisable for you to stay with us."
"Why?" Blake asked.
"Because," Nightshade replied. "We're trying to find a way out of this place."
"But, wouldn't you encounter a trap sooner or later?"
"Kid," Sparky said. "We'll make sure you don't fall victim to one of those traps."

Meanwhile, in an observation room, the same three technicians that witnessed Dreyfus' demise had overheard the trio's encounter of Blake, and immediately decided to comment on this.
This room, part of a larger facility, had office-style filing cabinets–up to the ceiling–lining the perimeter of the room, with an elevator in the middle of the wall. A control panel of-sorts was in the middle of the room, and all the wiring for the security and control appurtenances were in the middle of this panel.
A four-way monitor was hanging from the ceiling that was covered with a ventilation system and two hanging lights, with the monitor and other computer equipment allowing these people to watch prisoners and their attempts to escape this structure, and these attempts have always ended in death.

One of these "technicians," named "Nyra," was a tall, 25-year old woman with long light brown hair with faded red highlights, blue-gold eyes, and a semi-linear pattern of red face-paint was precisely between her forehead and eyes. She spoke with a vague French accent, and seemed to be the wisest of the three.
The other two technicians, a 19-year old girl, "Taylor," and a ten-year old boy, "Nyroc," respectively, both spoke with Australian accents. Taylor had medium brown hair with blue eyes, while Nyroc had barely spiked black hair and iris-less white eyes to indicate the fact that he was blind. He barely resembled Blake in terms of facial features, was somewhat shy and taciturn, and was a bit short for his age. In fact, he was the height of a two-year old child, and stood on his chair as a result.
Now, note the names of "Nyra" and "Nyroc;" These two are specific examples of people who were born during an eclipse, either solar or lunar, in either an ancient lineage or a group of individuals that are known as Nyrolians, depending on one's perception of the term.

"This oughta be interesting..." Nyra muttered.
"If you think so, mate." Taylor replied, hearing what Nyra had said.
"I'll keep a close observation of the four." Nyra said.
Nyroc somehow had a sense of his surroundings. He looked up at his own monitor, and then at Taylor.
Taylor then noticed this and she said to him, "Is something the matter, Nyroc?"
"Probably has to do with the fact that he's a bit concerned for them..." Nyra sarcastically said.
"Oh, shut the hell up." Taylor said to Nyra, sitting up after being slumped in her chair.
Nyroc then shifted his attention to Nyra, looking at her with a glare of disapproval.
"What the hell do you want?" Nyra impatiently snapped.
"Don't be so hard on him, mate. He's only a child." Taylor softly said.
Nyra then seemed to be growling in anger, but at the same time, she seemed to be greatly frustrated.
"Nyra..." Nyroc uttered.
"I believe she wants to be left alone, Nyroc." Taylor solemnly said, quietly ending the conversation.