HAITHEN - The Void That Lies -

Chapter 1 - Gateway to Haithen

Unfamiliarity can be scary. The comfort and safety of home is snatched away and locked behind fear.

With a home or a place you know, there's a feeling of tranquility and awareness, no need for vigilance or alertness. What if you're taken away from home? What if your home was stolen from you, with no apparent way to leave or no knowledge of your surroundings.

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"Fuck, my head... where am I?"

Alex wakes up after being knocked out, he looks around the place he's in, and it looks... strange. A featureless room with a blood-red coloring going over the entire room. He stands and gets up from the floor he had his back against, trying to regain his balance. All he could wonder was where he was. He couldn't find a standard door, the only thing that stood out was a metal door that had no real way to open. Alex looked above the door and saw a screen with the text "AWAIT YOUR TURN" in a bright white color.

"My turn...?" he asked. Alex was confused, where was he? What turn? He turned around and saw a giant robot, watching him. It scared Alex half to death. He couldn't really tell what exactly it's supposed to be. It had a screen on its head with one long and sharp slit dotted in it as if it's an eye, two antennas on the top and two wide and red blade-shaped objects on each side. Its chest was somewhat human-shaped, but more angular and simple. Sharp shoulder pads and rubber jointed arms would extend out of them, with a circle and spikes for fingers making up the hand. It didn't even have legs, it was just one stick with a wheel, and the spine separating the chest and waist was also made with the same rubber-like material the arms were.

Alex has never seen something like this. What's this robot doing here? How long has it been there? How long have I been here? It felt like he was finally gaining awareness of what's going on, but still had what felt like thousands of questions. He just wanted to go home, he was scared and shaken. The robot near him was not helping either way, it just gave him more questions. It was getting too much for Alex. The dim lighting, the red hue, the watching droid, he finally broke.

He yelled and cried for someone to let him out, banging on the metal door until he would hear the bones in his hands start to break. Nothing really stopped him, he was just scared out of his mind. This isn't home, this isn't home, the thought kept screaming in his mind. What felt like hours for Alex passed as he kept bashing his fists on the metal surface, until it suddenly opened and heard a man's voice. The door opening made Alex fall.

"Stop that, please. It's hard enough to keep the rest of you Playmates in check." said the man. Alex was confused, he got up from the floor and got his vision straight to get a better look at the man.

"Who... who are you? Where am I? What's a Playmate?" asked Alex, panicking and drowsed in fear. He observed the man, he had a dark blue-purple hat and coat combo, hiding most of his features, mainly his face. His hands were covered in what Alex thought were black gloves, but they looked shiny and... bumpy? "What the hell is going on?"

"Tch, it's always the same fucking questions with you things. Though, I am surprised you're even sane enough to speak. Looks like you're a special little one, eh?" Alex felt like he was being taunted with a tone of malice. What's this guy thinking...?

"Hm... Well, I may explain a bit since you seem to be unlike the others. My name is Sorum. Sorum Valentine to be specific. You've been taken here as a sign of either punishment or a gift from a previous action that you've done, however, it seems it mostly seems to be punishment." said Sorum. Without giving Alex time to process this, he continued. "You're not far from your home, but neither are you close to it."

Sorum shifted his hat closer to his eyes, giving Alex time to ask a question. "What am I doing here? What punishment do you mean, and how did I get here?"