The cold, rusty stairway shuddered as Leonidas walked, with each step shaking the stairs more than the last. He reached the fifth floor and opened the door leading to the hallway. The hallway felt sterilized, with its pure white walls and light grey flooring; decorations were entirely absent, as the Company cared little for researcher morale. Leonidas walked slowly through the hallway, breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself. It didn’t work; he dreaded coming to work, and it was all because of those creatures. Thinking about it filled him with spite as he walked, reminding him of why he was here. His thoughts were interrupted, however, by reaching the check-in gate before the testing chamber.
“Stop,” called the guard in front of the gate. Leonidas froze in place as the dispenser next to the gate lit up in a rare display of color and spit out a ticket and a needle, ending the colorful display. Even the ticket was a disgustingly bland white with some black writing on the sides and a large box in the middle. The guard’s eyes narrowed at Leonidas as he said, “You know what to do.” Leonidas sighed as he took the needle in one hand and pricked his finger on the other, drawing blood. He put his pricked finger on the large box and pulled off, revealing a bloody fingerprint. Leonidas gave the ticket and needle back to the guard who looked at it, nodded, and put it into a slot on a small grey box, which pulled the ticket in. “Hey,” the guard said, trying to start small talk as the gate processed the ticket, “If I’m not mistaken, you just got promoted to researcher recently, didn’t you?” Leonidas glanced over to the guard, disdain hidden in his eyes, and replied, “Yeah, I did.” The guard looked slightly offput by Leonidas’ lack of enthusiasm, but shrugs it off as the gate opens. Leonidas immediately walks through and notices a parting wave from the guard out of the corner of his eye, but ignores him and continues walking.
It was a short walk to his destination, which happened to be large double doors with a sign above them: Mental Evaluation Exam. Leonidas opened one of the doors into a room full of desks, with computers at each one, built purely for the M.E.E. He walks over to a desk in the corner of the room, ready to be done with this exam. As fellow researchers began to pile in and take their seats, Leonidas shrunk in his seat, hoping no one would try to talk to him. Luckily, no one did, and the proctor came to the front of the room to start the test. “Everyone,” the proctor announced, “go ahead and sign in. Use your work email and this password, and then begin the test.” As he said this, he clicked a button on the side of his glasses, which started up a projector behind him. It showed the password on the clinically white wall behind him and Leonidas finally started his test.
The test began, and it contained fifty standard questions. Things like “Have you ever had thoughts of self-harm or suicide?” or “Have you seen your family anywhere in or around the facility?” to make sure a researcher's mental faculties have not been compromised. On average, the test took about thirty minutes, but Leonidas did it in five. He had done the test a few times before and was sick of it; now, he chose the same answers every time, confirming his sanity to his higher ups. Leonidas stood up from his desk, mildly irritated at taking the test again, and called over the proctor. The proctor walked over and lightly shaked his head, saying, “That was quick, Leonidas. Maybe you should slow down and be honest on the test.” Leonidas began glaring at the proctor, replying with a tinge of spite, “I’m fine, sir. Can I get to work now?” The proctor sighed disappointingly, but nodded and allowed Leonidas to leave. He quickly walked towards the double doors and exited the testing chamber, sighing with relief upon leaving.
Leonidas turned after leaving and began to walk down the hallway next to the door, again coated in a pure white paint. Each step slightly echoed in the dead quiet hallway as he walked through the strangely bright corridor. He turned the corner and saw an elevator at the end of the hall; however, a symbol above the door was glowing, signaling that the elevator was in use. Leonidas sighed and continued walking, but soon heard the elevator arrive on his floor. The door opened and out came two doctors carrying a researcher on a stretcher. Leonidas’ eyes opened wide in surprise at the state of the researcher; his arm was torn completely off, with blood oozing onto the floor every second. His shoulder had several teeth marks in it, and his breathing was slow, hinting at his approaching death.
