Elimination Program // 失格プログラム

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"I ask that all teachers and members of staff meet in Staff Meeting Room 3 immediately. Do this, and I promise no harm will come to the students."

Students and staff members across the school listened in confusion, unaware of what was going on. The unfamiliar voice that was heard through the PA system sent chills down everyone's spine. The fear of the unknown had settled in as they anxiously waited for some type of clue as to what was happening.

However, class W2.1 was in a far more intense state of panic. What they had witnessed played through their minds like a video on repeat. Tears rolled down the students' cheeks while their breaths were ragged and shallow. The teacher wasn't much better as she tried to keep herself together, for the sake of her students, but it was clear that she was struggling to stop herself from breaking down.

"No, don't listen to them! Stay right where you are!" their principal struggled to call out through the announcement system.

The next thing that was heard through the microphone was a loud 'BANG', one that was all too similar to what was heard in the hallway outside of room W2.1. For the next few moments that passed, the silence felt deafening. A feeling of immense dread settled itself in the pits of the students' stomachs as they waited for any kind of sign that what they heard wasn't real.

"Now that you know we aren't playing around, please make your way to Staff Meeting Room 3. Immediately. Unless you want every student in this school to share the fate of their principal."

Teachers all over Warwick High School hesitated. Their duty in these situations was to keep the students safe, but they were unaware of the best way to do so. They knew that they were supposed to keep watch on the kids, but - with the lives of the students at risk - they were at a crossroads.

As most teachers were hesitating, the PA system sounded with a loud gunshot and an impatient voice yell, "Hurry the fuck up!"

"Please don't go anywhere and lock the door after me. Stay safe," teachers told their students.

Meeting others in the corridors, the teachers apprehensively made their way to the room they were told to meet in. The rapid beating of their hearts rivalled the volume of the tremendous storm that raged on outside. A blanket of anxiousness encased the staff of the school as they reluctantly walked to the staff meeting room. Nobody knew what to expect when they entered the room.

Cowering against the walls of the classroom in fear, students held their breath as they waited for something to happen. Not a single teenager throughout the whole school was able to utter a word. The nervousness took over their body as they sat in complete shock. Silent tears fell and hearts dropped further and further every second. Thoughts were racing through the kids' minds as they tried to rationalise the situation they were in, but that only threw them into an even deeper pit of trepidation.

A deafening sound caught the attention of students from every end of the school. A long series of gunshots could be heard from the direction of Staff Meeting Room 3 along with desperate cries for help. Those sounds forced some of the students to cover their ears and screw their eyes shut to block out the horrific noises. Holding onto each other, the students clung for dear life to whatever bit of mental stability they had left.

"Please stay seated while we get things organised for you. If we catch you even trying to stand up, we will not hesitate to punish you."

The pupils watched as men dressed entirely in black stalked through the corridors. Some of the intruders were dragging black cases of different sizes behind them and leaving them in random locations around the school. Other intruders could be seen installing and turning on video cameras in different nooks and crannies of the campus. They would completely avoid eye contact with the students, despite feeling their eyes tracing their every move, and would only scan over the classrooms to make sure the kids were still seated.

The class of W2.1 watched as one of the unknown men stopped by their classroom. Holding their breath, the group of teenagers looked nervously at the man as they tried to gauge his every move. There was an alarming uncertainty surrounding what was going on and the students were fearing for their lives. Wide, frightful eyes were locked onto the figure before them as they witnessed the man lift up the limp, dead body of the police officer. The intruder flung the body over his right shoulder carelessly, as though throwing on the strap of a backpack, before walking away with the body.

Some students almost threw up at the sight of a dead body. The confronting sight of the corpse was almost as terrifying as witnessing the murder. Their young, impressionable minds were nowhere near ready to behold such a travesty. Their innocent hearts were far too fragile to handle the confronting reinforcement of the mortality of man. It was as though the youth held onto the idea that the police officer could have survived, but seeing his lifeless body only shattered their hopes and made them realise just how perilous their current circumstances were.

With robotic synchronicity, the intruders made their way back to the administration area of the school. It was as though they all had a timer that signalled for them to go back to where they first congregated. They walked at the same pace, putting the same foot forward, and they all looked straight ahead. Barely moving their arms from their sides, the men's mechanical movements were eerily inhuman.

A minute or two had passed since the students saw the intruders walk past them before they heard anything. The same, unknown voice from earlier came through the speakers, "Now, we can get down to business."

Trying to keep themselves from completely freaking out, the kids listened carefully. Although some were still sceptical about whether what was going on was real or not, they were still scared to step a foot out of line in fear of falling into the intruders' trap. The students had little to no idea what these people were capable of, besides those in room W2.1. The last thing they wanted to do was to end up like how they presumed their principal did.

"Listen carefully. We have locked you all in this school. Nobody can enter and nobody can exit. However, if we catch you trying to leave, there will be consequences."

"You may be wondering how you can escape. Well, you have two options. Kill someone, or be one of the last people standing. Once you kill someone, you must reach the exit of the main hall without being killed in the process. Conversely, if you are amongst the last 50 people alive, then you will also be free to go."

"You are free to kill anyone you want, however you want. We're not fussy. Dead is dead, my friends. You will find chests all around the school, filled with a variety of weapons and survival kits. It's a ballistomaniac's wet dream. Just remember, first come first served. If someone takes what you need, you'll just have to kill them for it."

"If you think you can get away with nobody dying, then you are gravely mistaken. We aren't the most patient of people. If three hours pass and nobody has died, we will help give you guys some motivation. Think of it as a kill or be killed situation."

"You also better act quickly. The only food available to you is whatever is left in your bags. You could be stuck in here for days on end with absolutely no food. The choice to starve to death is all yours."

"Don't even try contacting your parents or the cops. We've made sure your phones aren't able to contact people on the outside. You can only message and call people that are connected to the school's internal phone lines. If your number is recorded in your school documents, then you are connected. If not, then it sucks to be you. Find a buddy with a connected phone."

"There will be many rooms that are locked or that are completely off-limits with no way to get in. If you try to put your Skyrim lockpicking skills to the test, you may find yourself in one of three situations. Best case scenario, you find a room with a bunch of loot. You may find that you wasted your time and realise you unlocked a room with absolutely nothing in it. Or, worst case scenario, you find yourself in a room that's been littered with traps of varying degrees of fatality. You'll need to rely on your own luck when you open a door you've unlocked."

"Don't worry about not knowing any of the rules. We'll have them all up on the projectors for you."

"We will give you ten minutes to find your friends and find a classroom to bunker in. The chests are locked, but they will automatically unlock when the time runs out. We'll also ring the bell to let you know when your ten minutes are up."

"Now, let the Elimination Program begin."