Operation: Down Below

Act 1: I want out, now!

"Ah, you're finally awake. 'Ou must be zhe new kid 'ere. Ben isn't it? I assume you speak English?" A voice croaks with a strong French accent.

A thin and tall teenager with fiery red hair and circular sliver-framed glasses walks up to the shivering out-of-fear Ben, getting up from one of the three other beds in the plain, light-grey room.

"It's alright, no one knows what's going on when zhey first arrive 'ere. Before I do explain what I know, I should introduce myself. My name is Raphael. I'm one of zhe first ones zhat was taken 'ere actually, so I've been 'ere for a solid five months." Raphael runs his hands through his hair before flicking it back.

"But zhat's what you get when your mozher dies during zhe war and zhen your fazher flees to 'ho knows where..." He lets out a soft sigh and closes his eyes before looking back at Ben.

"Ah ah, ztop freaking out zhere buddy, your dark 'airs will turn white sooner zhan you know it if you keep zhat up." He adds and stutters a little bit, letting out a bit of a nervous chuckle while attempting to pet Ben's shoulder.

Ben jerks back before Raphael can lay a hand on him and goes back to nervously shivering. "W...why am I in these clothes? What happened? How did I get here...?" He stutters out.

Raphael looks at Ben, and then down at himself.

"Oh, zhese orange jumpsuits are pretty much our uniform. We 'ave to wear zhem since we 'ave lost access to our actual clothes. Zhis place is almost akin to a prison, but zhe conditions are arguably better despite 'aving to fight each ozher for entertainment and rewards. Zhe rewards varies from person to person." Raphael tries to explain.

"As for what happened to you...if you don't remember it, people from zhis place likely found you asleep and wizhout family or zhey drugged you and zhen took you 'ere while you weren't awake. So, if you were orphaned by zhe war and don't find your way into an orphanage, you eventually end up 'ere."

Ben almost brings his shivering to a complete stop and takes a deep breath. "Can you get out?"

"I've tried...security is too tight." Raphael admits, closing his eyes as he presses his thumb against his chin. "But zhere might be a chance if you fight...'er."

"Who's...her?" Ben asks, tilting his head.

Raphael turns back around to stare at Ben. "Zhere's a young girl here called Melody. 'Er fazher works as a Scientist above zhis place solely because he needs income and so he knows his daughter is safe. Melody hasn't won a match yet, but if she does she gets to pick 'er own reward, and every time she's told me the reward she wants; she says it will be to see 'er fazher." Raphael pauses to take a deep breath before continuing to speak.

"Since you're in 'ere wizh me, I'm guessing you're at least sixteen. Melody is only four, she will need older boys like us to 'elp 'er take 'er to 'er father. From zhere, we can find zhe exit." He explains.

"And since you're new and it will be your first time fighting, you get to pick your opponent. Just ask for Melody and pretend to put up a fight by punching 'er arm occasionally. If you lose, all zhat will happen is you go wizhout food for zhree days. But you won't need to worry about zhat once we're out."

Ben almost recoils in disgust. "Our only way out is if I beat up a little girl?"

"Non, our only way out is if you get beaten up by a little girl." Raphael corrects Ben.

Ben still doesn't look too impressed with Raphael's idea, but after a grumble, he gives a reluctant nod. "Alright, but if this doesn't work I'm putting all the blame on you." Ben huffs as he folds his arms. He then leans back to lie down on the bed he is sitting on. After some awkward silence, Ben tilts his head to look at Raphael once more. "Um...when exactly do I fight?"

"Normally a day after you were put 'ere...so around 12 hours." Raphael answers the question rather quickly. "So try not to stress out too much. Just be glad we only use our body." Raphael then walks over to the drawn-on window right next to Ben's bed and begins stretching his arms.

Ben watches Raphael stretch for around 5 minutes before asking something else. "...why do they have us fight?"

Raphael stops his stretching and his head makes a sharp turn. All he can do for the first few seconds is stare at Ben. "I don't know why in all honesty. Maybe it makes a good gambling game every night. Either way zhere seems to be no real motive behind it from what I can figure out..."

With another sigh and a drop of the head, Raphael then perks up. "How about you stretch wizh me for a while, ami?"

Ben raises an eyebrow at Raphael, now having gotten pretty sick of all the French-ness Raphael's trying to throw in his face. Despite his lack of enthusiasm to do anything in his position, Ben takes the offer and stands up and takes a few steps so he's next to Raphael.