Second Life: A Second Chance

They Follow Only Apollo (III)

Now inside the dimly lit fifth booth, I place my entire body in a forward sitting position atop an uncolored metal chair as instructed by the low pitched and mysterious sounding female voice.

Seated comfortably atop the metal chair, I wait patiently for the voice to recommence from its abrupt pause. Seconds into the wait, the lighting of the room placed on the wall parallel to me, dims, from a neutral yellow light to a dark brown light. As the room darkens, the chair seat below me releases a set of gray metal wires that extend outward from its grounded center, with each individual wire rising up to the height of my forehead, before coming down to the height of my waist and surrounding me, tying my body down to the seat, much like the action done to me while on a chair inside the flying box.

Seated semi-comfortably now, I feel my body begin to drag alongside the chair beneath me, slowly sinking downwards, underneath the floor level, with the slow pull leading me into the unknown abyss. While sinking, I feel the darkness from below beginning to rise and surround me from all around, encapsulating me in its entirety.

As I reach the rock bottom level of the abyss, my eyes, now well accustomed to the overall darkness, become re-sensitized to light as I witness the explosion of light appearing only feet ahead of me, growing gradually brighter and brighter to a bearable dim. Over the time of the dim lit area, I watch the room around me begin to hold shape and brighten, with the same low female voice once heard now speaking again to me from throughout the room, in a more serious tone no less.

The voice speaks:

Welcome. Please choose one of the three entries provided to you once you step off the chair.

Note: you must choose a tunnel entrance. If you do not choose a tunnel or complete the entire challenge come sundown, your brain and body will suffer irreplaceable neural damage due to the sensations created in your mind from this challenge. Furthermore, each of the three tunnels is randomly assigned with a mental challenge. As expected, you have been using your two days' time wisely in preparation for this exercise. Whether you have in fact, truly prepared or not for this challenge, success must be achieved through your own doing. Do not fail or betray the Nation. You may now commence.

Also note: Shifting reality will take place seamlessly during your exit of the chair.

Following the end of the voice's instructions, all ropes of metal wire tying me down are released immediately. With its tangling grip on me absent, I regain the freedom to stand up, where I look ahead to the brown painted wall in front of me. Looking forward at the wall again, I find that I am given three choices in the form of three dimly lit tunnels, all equally spread apart on the wall. Cautiously observant of my options, I notice that all three tunnels carry a black colored number above each respective opening, all labeled from left to right, with one as the first number and three as the last number.

Without hesitation, I decide to make way toward the first tunnel on the left, the tunnel with a black on white sign labeled "one" at the center of its curved ceiling. As I enter through the tunnel, a slight wariness creeps inside my thoughts. This wariness only intensifies as I walk deeper and deeper inside the darkening tunnel, where I quickly find myself pulled in toward the pitch black dark by an unexplained powerful force. Now inside the darkness of the tunnel, a mysterious bright white light appears from thin air and overtakes my complete attention, rising in intensity of light every second.

As the amount of light begins to diminish from all around, a picture clears up before me. What appears slightly startles me. The wall standing before him is gray, with the entire room also colored a lighter shade of gray. A dark skinned man wearing white facial paint in a colorful striped jumpsuit stands in front of me, staring at me with an intense look in his eyes. As he stares, I take note of his odd appearance, where I observe a shiny red circular ball attached to the man's nose, alongside a puffy, red, and curly hairstyle that adorns him, with green lips and blue eye balls to match. I soon notice the man's facial appearance change from an empty stare to a joyful grin, accompanied with a heavily relaxed stance. However, within a short matter of time, the man begins to frown, and as he does so, his eyes quickly well up with water, before releasing them for all I to see.