"I am Unnamed. My title is dead."
In the World, the Planet, and the Base, it's either be number one or die.
The alternative to dying, however, is to become an Unnamed. Turning eighteen means that you will compete for your name. Come out on top, you...
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"This?" the Runner asks, a little disappointed. He imagined more... life. More people. More... anything.
Three laughs and shakes his head, taking two steps back. He leans down and brushes something off, a plank of wood—a door. It's a hatch made of boards of wood tied side-by-side.
He sticks his fingers in one of the crevices and pulls upward, the door responding automatically. Three lets it fall to the other side at the Runner's feet, dirt and dust rising up from the ground as its hinges creak and moan. The Runner looks into the opening and sees nothing but darkness.
"What's down there?" He asks as Three stands up.
"Paradise," Three says and walks over to the Runner. "Or at least the kind of paradise I'd want to live in if I were you. Newbies first."
The Runner looks at Three, who eagerly awaits for him to approach the hole in the ground. He takes a few steps to where he stands just on the edge, toes dangling over. The Runner can still see nothing but black as he peers down into it, a long rope dangling from the wooden door.
Three shoves him and he tumbles into the darkness.
There's a bizarre second of free-fall before the ground meets him, roughly smacking into his back and forcing the air from his lungs. Three lands upright beside him after the door above them slams shut. The Runner looks over at him and sees he's holding the thick rope once his eyes adjust. Three smiles at him and shrugs, and then walks over to the right and ties the rope to something heavy; loose enough so that if anyone tugs at the door, it'll open.
The Runner is in a small room with tunnels to his left and his right, and another one rests in front of him. All three of them are dark, and a dim, flickering light illuminates the back wall as it turns another corner.
"That tunnel," Three starts to explain, pointing to the tunnel to their left as the Runner stands up. "Goes to the World."
"Where does it come out?" The Runner asks.
"At the Runner's building and the Builder's building."
"Why didn't we just come here from there instead of going through the gates?"
"Because then I wouldn't have been able to see if you could pull off the lie," Three says simply. "Okay, and the one to your right goes to the Base, and the one in front goes to the Planet."
"Why do you need these tunnels?" The Runner asks.
"Easy transportation. We only meet down here at night and we have to be back by morning so they don't know we're missing. They already have enough suspicion that we're inside of the cities."
"Well, they have good reasons too, considering what happened last year at the Competitions."
"Yeah, well, that's what happens. We needed to kick it up a notch and Rachel gave us her consent that if she received any less than first place to shoot her."
