The Beige Room

Chapter 9

She slipped through the door and took in the small room. Kalum and Archer were behind her. The room was made of concrete, with a concrete floor and ceiling. On the wall were six monitors. Nala looked at her own. Each person had one. It showed their vital signs, heart rate, and a lot of things she didn't recognize.

"They're monitoring us," Kalum hissed.

Osiris entered the room and stared at his own monitor. Greyson approached the room, still clutching his bowl.

"Yuno is starting to wake up now," he said slowly.

Yuno's eyes fluttered open and she got up and looked around taking in her surroundings.

"What happened?" "Where am I?"

"There's not much time to explain." Said Kallum.

"Basically the poison sort of wore off and now we are in the next trap." Archer exclaimed

In the center of the room was a table and on that table was a computer, it was open. The screen was asking for a password. Then the intercom sparked to life.

~Hello everyone. I have some bad news for you. I have imbedded small microchips inside the base of your skull. They will send very painful impulses straight into your brain. If you do not find a way to stop the chips in time, it will heat up and fry your brain. Once this transmission ends you will have 2 hours to find a way to stop the chips. Proceed with caution~

Nala felt a draw to the computer, she went over and sat in front of it. She elegantly stretched her hands out over the keys in a mannerly fashion as if she knew exactly what to do. Her hands began typing and clicking and pressing buttons like a piano player elegantly performing a most delicate piece. She relished in the sound of the typing keys, it comforted her. She eventually spun around in her chair and faced the group that was staring at her.

"I have some good news and some bad news," she said.

"Well what is it?" Greyson demanded.

"The good news is that I can probably hack into the system and shut down the chips without too much of a problem. However the bad news is that I don't think I will be able to do it in the allotted time given."

"Well what do you mean?" Osiris said worriedly.

"Well with all of the obstacles that were put in this computer it would be difficult to find

shortcuts so now I kind of have to find ways around them and it might take awhile, but I can definitely do it."

"Well what are you waiting for? Get on with it." Archer quivered.

The next half hour proceeded in complete silence, except for Nala's quick and elegant typing. Tension filled the room as everyone eagerly watched Nala type away trying to hack into the system. The whole time everyone was very nervous and on edge that Nala wouldn't be able to finish in time.

"We need a backup plan in case Nala can't finish hacking into the system." Kalum said blatantly.

"What other option is there?" asked Archer.

"I guess the only other solution is to cut the chips out of everyone." Osiris replied. Everyone in the room grew silent they began to get frightened.

"How would we do that?" Kallum said. "We don't have anything to cut with."

"We could use some of the broken glass from the other room," Osiris suggested, his mind working on overdrive from the stress.

Yuno paced the room, stifling a whimper as she clutched the back of her head. She trembled with a tidal wave of anxiety at the insidious idea of having a chip cut out of her head. She wasn't even comfortable getting needles! How could she possibly suffer through the agony of having this thing removed? 

Greyson was just as nervous as Yuno was. His nerves made his stomach feel even worse, and he groaned as a result of the churning discomfort.

Meanwhile, Osiris ran back to the food room, cringing at the permeating smell of vomit. He picked up one of the shards of glass and wiped it clean on the tablecloth. Perfect, he grinned. Running back to the computer room, he shouted, "Okay, who's first?"

Nala emitted a crisp sigh before tumbling out of the desk chair. Archer rushed over and cradled her head while taking her pulse. "She's okay," he concluded, "But she's not responsive. So we're all going to have to cut out our trackers since she can't deactivate them."

Yuno shrieked, her hopefulness audibly snapping in half.

"Cut it out of Nala," Kalum offered. "She's not going to feel it."

Archer hesitated. He looked down at her, noticing her tranquility was as fresh and taut as plastic wrap over her visage. He couldn't bring himself to saw into the poor girl's head with a jagged shard of glass. "No, don't," he protested.

"Why not? It makes sense. She won't even feel it!"

"What about when she wakes up? Huh?" he barked, his voice throaty as a wolf's.

"Well what do you think we should do?" Osiris prompted, obviously frustrated.

Archer sighed: "Just cut mine out."

Osiris took a step forward, using sweeping gestures as he talked. "Look. We will all have to get our chips cut out, so we might as well just cut out her's while she's still unconscious."

"Alright," he muttered in defeat. Archer eased her head on the floor and stepped away from her, turning so he wouldn't have to see her delicacy being trespassed in a way as crude as this.

Osiris turned her on her stomach and parted her hair so the base of her skull was revealed, soft and fleshy. He gulped in attempt to dissipate the lump in his throat. Sighing tenderly, he probed his fingers on Nala's head, feeling for the chip. His fingers almost ran over it, but he stopped when he felt the bulging prism. He closed his eyes for a moment to steel himself for the gory moment approaching.

Yuno cringed.

Greyson heaved again.

Archer averted his eyes.

Kalum forced himself to watch despite the heavy dread fogging up his stomach.

Osiris wedged the glass shard into Nala's head, worming it under the chip. His lip turned up instinctively as a reaction to the searing blood but he dictated himself to keep cutting. Once he was sure that the skin was peeled, he swiftly put a few fingers into the wound and tugged the chip out. Breathing heavily, he swung it on the floor and watched it skid across the room.

"Does she need stitches?" Archer asked, his voice wispy.

"No," Osiris said. "It was pretty shallow."

"Hey," Yuno spoke, "Look at her chip. I think it's a USB."

The victims turned towards her as she held up the bloody thing for everyone to see.

"She's right," Greyson confirmed. "Stick it in the computer."

Yuno scurried over the the computer, gingerly stepping over Nala's body in the process. She inserted the USB into it and everyone crowded around as a message popped up.

~Well done. As a reward, all the other trackers will be deactivated. Right after the next door opens you will find a podium right outside the door. On this podium lie six vials of antidote for the first trap. Consider this a reward. ~

Before anyone had the time to celebrate, there was the squeal of a new door opening.