The Priceless Variable

The Lab

Teresa pushed on the door and it slowly opened. Everyone who survived the fight walked out. There was a long hallway with pipes. Then, lights started to turn on and went down the hallway. The group decided to go in the direction that the lights came in. They eventually reached a door that said "EXIT" above it.

"Seriously?" Frypan said.

Very cautiously, Thomas grabbed the handle and turned it. The door opened and revealed a horrible sight. It looked like a massacre happened in a science lab. No one said a word as they were walking through and looked around.

Mallory looked into a window on her right. There were two covered bodies on bed and bullet holes in the window. Mallory put her hand over her mouth. Newt noticed the horror expressed on her face, so he placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her away.

"What happened here?" Winston asked.

No one was sure how to answer his question.

Thomas led the group into another room. It looked like the main room. There were computers, big screens, office chairs, and dead people on the floor. Everyone went off in different directions to look around. Newt found a computer screen with a view of the Glade.

"So, they were watching us? This whole time?" he said out loud.

Thomas took off his Runner harness and looked up at Teresa, who was on the other side of the room. It reminded him of how he looked at her in his dreams. Thomas stared down at a keyboard and touched a red button. Then, a video of a woman dressed in white started playing on a big screen and everyone watched.

"Hello. My name is Dr. Ava Paige. I'm the director of the World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department. If you're watching this, that means you've successfully completed the Maze Trials. I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you, but circumstances seemed to have prevented it. I hear by now, you must all be very confused, angry, frightened. I can only assure you that's happened to you, everything we've done to you, it was all done for a reason." the woman explained.

She paused. When she did, devastating images appeared on the screen as she continued to talk.

"You won't remember, but the sun has scorched our world. Billions of lives lost to fire, famine. Suffering on global scale, the fallout was unimaginable. What came after was worse, we call it "The Flare." A deadly virus that attacks the brain. It is violent, unpredictable, incurable. Or so we thought. In time, a new generation emerged that could survive the virus. Suddenly, there was a reason to hope for a cure, but finding it would not be easy. The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed inside harsh environments, where their brain activity could be studied. All in an effort to understand what makes them different. What makes you different." the woman explained.

Some of the Gladers were exchanging looks with each other as the video continued.

"You may not realize it, but you're very important. Unfortunately, your trials have only just begun. As you'll no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods."

In the background, there were people wearing black suits coming in shoot the place up.

"Progress is slow, people are scared. It may be too late for us, for me, but not for you. The outside world awaits. Remember...WICKED is good." the woman finished, then shot herself in the head.

Everyone turned away because they didn't want to see someone kill themselves, even if it is on video. After it ended, Mallory looked over to her left. On the other side of a window, there laid a body.

Mallory stepped out of the group and walked over to that window. The others followed her. They looked at the dead woman who was in the video. Then, another door opened on its own. It was another tunnel that led to another door at the end.