Karoshi Archives

day 3 - Questions

The third day of their confinement had arrived, and with it, a growing sense of despair that grabbed each of them like an ominous shadow. The roaring alarm cut off the air in the room, tearing them out of their restless sleep and plunging them into the cruel reality of their confinement.

With a macabre synchronization, a large box came down from the ceiling, breaking the silence with disturbing softness as it lay in the center of the room. The captive gazes were set on the mysterious container, a source of food in an increasingly unhospitable and unknown world.

The breakfast, if you could call it that, was an inexpensive mixture of eggs, rice, and vegetables in equal portions, a balanced diet presented as a gesture of supposed benevolence by its unknown captors. The prospect of food, however, failed to dispel the growing fear that overwhelmed them like a thick, palpable fog.

With trembling hands and stomachs twisted by anxiety, they bowed over the food, devouring every bite with a desperate urgency. The resonance of the computer fans seemed to resonate in their ears, reminding them of the inexorable passage of time and the uncertainty that accompanied it. The weight of the "puzzles" and of the routine work to which they had to be subjected, though not very heavy, was stressful enough that no one in their sound judgment would want to do so.

The heavy silence that followed was abruptly broken by the voice of the auditor, resounding from the bits with a calculated coldness, as if he were enjoying the torment he inflicted.

"It is time to continue with the work," the voice announced, its metallic and ruthless tone echoing on the walls of the room. A frost passed through the spines of each of them, a feeling of paralyzing fear clinging to their intestines with frozen claws.

The gazes crossed, full of fear and despair, not because they didn't know where they were; they gradually developed a claustrophobic feeling, which escalated with every minute that passed.

The computers turned on automatically, and as if it were a primitive instinct, they simply sat down and "worked" doing these simple but tedious tasks, which encompassed much of their thoughts, because beyond that there were no other activities, as the phrase "work, eat, work more, sleep, repeat" was not a very encouraging phrase surrounding the thoughts of the five subjects.

With every mouse click and every keyboard hit, the feeling of being trapped in a distorted reality became more palpable. Bright screens and flashing lights seemed to be the only "connections with the outside world," a virtual window to a world that escaped them more and more.

Between disturbing whispers and stealthy gazes, the five plunged into their assigned duties, each lost in a maze of thought and unanswered questions. The room was filled with a tense silence, broken only by the gentle whispering of computers and the occasional crushing of a chair when it was moved.

In the midst of monotony and uncertainty, a sense of unrest grew in the air. Kosuke felt that this atmosphere must somehow break, and that was better than finding out what was going on there.

"Psst, hey Yasuo," whispered the friendly-looking boy.

(Uh, this insatiable fat) thought Yasuo inside, but he kept the margin and replied in a friendly way, "Tell me, Kosuke,what is happening right now?"

"Have you ever wondered where we are?" said Kosuke, thus breaking the silence with a question that had been rotating in his mind since he woke up in that claustrophobic place.

Yasuo slightly lifted his gaze from the screen, surprised by the sudden interruption. He whispered before answering, his voice filled with uncertainty. "All the time, but it seems we're trapped in some kind of twisted experiment. Do you have any idea who might be behind all this?"

Kosuke denied it with his head, his expression a reflection of the confusion that consumed them all. "Nothing. I only have wild theories that lead nowhere. But something tells me we're not dealing with something ordinary here."

The conversation attracted the attention of the other three, who temporarily set aside their tasks to join the exchange of words. Riota, with a sharp look in her eyes, always had to ruin the conversation with some out-of-place comments.

"Don't tell us, as if we didn't know," exclaimed Riota in a preponderant way. "May the theory of losing weight come into your mind?."