Experiment: Apocalypse (Reddit Crew AU)

chapter 2

Ani glanced around the room, biting her lip. She'd been here for about 20 minutes, and so far there were 7 people in this room with her. She noticed the boy across from her, the one with long hair and a beat up backpack, had plugged in earplugs. Ani could've kicked herself for not bringing some herself. Possibly the most important thing for the trip, she had forgotten.

Another boy stumbled in, stopping at the entrance and scanning over everybody, before putting his head down and sliding into a seat next to the long haired boy. He was short, wearing a green hoodie.

The next person to enter was dressed in a white lab coat. Everyone tilted their heads towards him and Henry pulled out his headphones, wrapping them around his phone and tucking it away.

The man did a quick head count, making sure all eight of them were here.

"Thank you all for being so patient and waiting here. We are now ready for you, please follow me." The man said, smiling at them. Ani felt uncomfortable already. He spoke too upright, almost fake. Still, she grabbed her bag and fell into step with the rest of them. It was deadly silent throughout the hallways, the only noise being the group's footsteps. The halls were like mazes, the same white walls and marble floors, the only difference were the numbered doors. Most were single doors, opened. Ani glanced in on most of them and it seemed like typical science stuff. A couple people bustling around over test tubes, microscopes and the likes.

After walking down countless corridors, the man finally came to a stop. He pushed open double doors, to reveal a large room. He held the door and the group of eight walked in. Ani gulped a bit. This shit looked straight out of a horror movie.

In a row down the middle of the room, there were 8, 7 foot tall, glass tubes. They were filled with some sort of blue liquid, which sloshed around due to some sort of machine moving the tube. Beside each chamber was a monitor, hooked up to a bunch of other electrical devices that Ani could only assume were for them.

The whole group stood in shock for a minute. This was definitely not what they had expected when they signed up for this.

"So, this is where you will live for the next month. These chambers will essentially be your 'rooms'. You will be hooked up to our machines, and our technology will out you into a virtual reality situation. Anything that happens to you while in there takes a real toll on your body out here." He took a break, glancing around. "If you die in there, you die out here."

"Before we begin this test, we have to run some tests. The experiment will officially start tomorrow morning. If you could come over here to these seats, we can get started." He led them over to some seats. They were placed next to rolling metal desks, and a couple of nurses waited there.

Ani had read through the terms, she knew there was a risk of doing this. 'If you die in there, you die out here.' What was 'in there'?

She mulled over the sentence, shuffling along with the group to the metal desks. A nurse wearing green scrubs gently grabbed her arm, making Ani jump slightly. She was a bit in her head at the moment, and once she snapped out of it she noticed everyone had sat down and were speaking to their nurses.

"Sorry." Ani breathed out. She sat down on the chair, the nurse offering her a small smile as she took out some paperwork.

"It's okay. Anï Tilki, is it?" Ani cringed at the pronunciation.

"Yeah, it's pronounced An-uh." The nurse nodded, looking back down at the paper.

"It says you've had surgery done in the last 6 months for your leg." Ani nodded along. "Is it completely healed?"

"Not completely. It works fine and doesn't hurt but it's still not completely the same." She answered.

"Well, should be interesting to see how you perform." The nurse hummed, writing something down on the paper. Ani furrowed her eyebrows but stayed quiet.

"Any other medical conditions?" She asked, Ani shook her head. The nurse flicked over the page. "Okay then, we need to take some measurements. How are you with needles?"

"Uh..." She stuttered, offering a nervous smile at the nurse. The nurse picked up a band, wrapping it around her arm before piercing her skin with the needle and connecting it to a tube. Ani's breathing hitched as she looked down at the needle, and then her vision went dark as she blacked out.

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Brandon looked around the room, everyone else was either talking to their nurse or having a blood test done, like himself. I should probably get to know them, he thought, I will be spending the next month with them. The only issue with that mentality, is that Brandon wasn't the most social. And some of the other people here didn't seem the type to strike up a conversation.

His eyes drifted off to the only girl in their group. He supposed he would have to learn their names at some point. She was waking up now, the needle removed from her arm and the nurse waiting patiently. Her face turned a bit red and she apologized.

Brandon looked back at his nurse once he started talking to him. He didn't pay much attention, hearing his words but not really listening. He noticed everyone standing up and he joined them, grabbing his bag from the pile and following the guy out of the room. He led them to a large room, filled with 8 beds set out similar to a shared ward. Brandon raised his eyebrows. So, I really am gonna have to be close with these guys.

The man noticed their shocked looks and reassured them.

"Don't worry, this is only for one night. You begin the experiment tomorrow, first thing. We need all of our information to be as exact as possible." He smiled around at the group of unsmiling young adults. "I'll see you all bright and early!" The door clicked shut behind them, leaving the 8 of them to stare around the room.