FSE

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Ch.3

Worse then it was before.

We kept walking until the last evidence of the light had dissolved into black nothingness. It felt cold and unforgiving. I could hear water dripping from the ceiling. I couldn't see anything in front of me, the only evidence that Titania and Tsume is that I could hear their claws tapping on the ground every step they took. Titania was walking right behind me and Tsume ran far ahead. We continued to walk in near silence for what felt like hours. No it couldn't have been that long, we had our tests in an hour. We're we too far to hear the speaker? How would his automated assistant know where to get us?

"Hey I found something that you guys might want to see." I jumped as Tsume broke the silence.

Titania bumped into me as she tried to get past.

"Sorry I-"

"It's okay." I interrupted her. "You can't see where your going."

"I have a huge idea and if I do it right then we'll be able to see, for a little bit of time." My eyes grew wide as she said that.

"What is it!" I half yelled

"The wire just stops here!" Tsume shouted back. I guess he thinks I was talking to him.

"What do you mean?" Titania asked worriedly. I guess her idea doesn't matter any more.

"It just stopped, it doesn't go into the ground because I can pick it up."

"I have an idea." Titania said proudly. "I'm a dragon, they can breath fire right? So then why do I do that?"

"Try it!" I yelled at her. Why didn't she bring this up earlier?

"I wouldn't-" Tsume started but he was cut off by a loud scream... No it wasn't a scream, it was a roar. Was that Titania.

"Why didn't it work?" I heard her fall to the ground.

"Titania are you okay?!"

"Yah I'm fine, I just tripped over the wire." It sounded really heavy for a girl of her size. Maybe it was the part about her being a dragon.

"Don't scare me like that." I tied to sound angry but I felt more scared then anything else.

"I'll try not to." She stopped for a second. She sounded like she was going to cry.

"It's okay, we won't have to stay here forever." I tried to reassure her. I could tell it wasn't working. I didn't even believe myself.

"Do you really think so?" She asked. I reached out to her. She was warm, it was comforting.

"I know so." I pulled her closer to comfort her. She just moved in and rest her head on my shoulder.

We sat in silence for a short while. Even Tsume was quiet. I guess he didn't want to ruin the moment. If he was even still here.

A beep echoed through the lab.

"Hello? If you can hear me it means you three are alive. It is a pleasure to announce that this experiment is a success. All four of you have lived so far." A voice came on, on that pronounced every syllable individually instead of putting the words together. This was not the person from before it was different. It must have been the automated assistant. There was no doubt in my mind. Then that means.

"Our tests start now." I said aloud.

"That's right my friend. It starts now!" The voice responded. It made Titania jump out of my embrace and left me speechless.

"How did you just respond to what he just said?" Tsume shouted. He was closer then I thought.

"That's easy, there are microphones hooked up all over this place. I can hear what ever your doing, oh and good idea Titania. Shouting to create light. Wonderful." That's it I hated this sarcastic robot.

"But? What? How? You can't be sarcastic! Your a robot!" Tsume shouted back.

"Oh but I can do so much more." It made sounds of someone clearing there throat. "How does this sound?" It spoke perfectly. Pronouncing everything so fluently. "I was a creation designed to have emotions but I was created without a few, sympathy being one of them."

"Tsume is this even possible? Can a robot even have feelings?" I asked concerned about what this thing really is. It could be anything. It sounded like a grown man. It was deep and frightening.

"Of course it's possible. You may not know this but evolution takes time. Do you three know how long it took for you to be completely turned into this? It took many years... 100 to be exact. Every human that didn't evolve has been infected by this Disease. There were only four other completed experiments with evolution. The most remaining number of people with at least some of their humanity left is about 20. That's world wide. Do you get it yet? You've been frozen in time. You didn't age, you didn't weaken, and most importantly, you didn't die. I have been given orders 100 years ago today that you will be released once you test against your greatest fear. It's a good thing two of you have passed already. Elena the deer, you have passed your fear of being alone. You may now join Titania, who has completed her fear of the dark. Well done to the both of you."

The lights came on and I was surprised at what I saw. We weren't in the same lab we were in before this was way more advanced. Books covered in dust lay untouched in the shelves of book cases lining the walls, computers with screens that were at least 62" long sit on tables in rows of four. The floor was spotless. There were countless other things in the room but one thing got my attention, there was a line that went around the far side of the room. It looked like it had a bunch of lights behind a glass panel. The lights were flashing and they kept flashing for about a minute before they all turned off. A small section turned back on in the shape of an arrow. Dozens more came on just like it. They started moving to the direction they pointed into a hall in the centre of the wall.

"That thing didn't answer any of our questions and now it expects us to follow its flashing lights? It's crazy!" Tsume said in a very angry tone.

"Crazy yes, but I'm not insane. You want to get out to the surface, don't you? All you need to do is follow the line and you'll be free. Pretty good deal right?"

"He is insane. But we have no choice right now. What else can we do but move forward?" Tsume said in defeat.

"I'll tell you what we'll do! We're gonna-" Titania was cut off by the speaker.

"Oh Titania, you do know Elena is waiting for you. Just follow the pink lights. You two boys follow the yellow ones. And don't try anything stupid. I will be watching." Half the lights changed colour to pink and went past the hall to a smaller passage.

"I'm sorry guys, I don't trust this thing. I'm going to do what it says for now. Plus when you think about it Elena is still facing her fear now. She's alone. I'm going to her."

Titania ran off. I already missed her. Oh god, I missed her. I've got feelings for her. Great, it's the end of the world and all I can think about is a girl.

"We'd better go to, I want to get everyone together as quickly as possible." Tsume said to me as he started walking.

"Hey Tsume, what's your biggest fear?" I asked as we walking into the short hallway. The walls were white with nothing but the yellow arrows on the wall.

"You'll think it's dumb but my biggest fear is that everything in my life is just a dream, that one day I'll wake up. Just a child with a very strange imagination. Who was just dreaming about their life. That all of this, it's just not real." His voice drifted off at the last part. He made me think but I knew this isn't a dream, it was too real. The fear I'm feeling. It's all to real.

"That's... deep." Is all I could say after that small speech about what a real fear is. Compared to his, mine is like a fly being crushed on by a giant.

"Well Akuma, what's your biggest fear?"

"I'm afraid of nothing. I know, you think I'm crazy, you have to be afraid of something but nothing does make me feel fear." I didn't really know what it was like to fear something. I got scared and frightened from time to time but I never feared anything.

We reached the end of the hall quickly. Two doors awaited us. They looked like solid steel with a line cut diagonally across. Each door had a print on the wall that looked like our paws. There were also arrows pointing at the print. It could be some sort of scanner.

"It's worth a shot" I said as I placed my hand on the wall. A green line moved up and back down several times before stopping and making a dinging noise. The door slid open.

"I'll see you later." Tsume said as he placed his paw on the scanner. My door closed and that was the last I saw of him.

The room I was in was empty other then a speaker on the floor next to the door, a chair and there was a table next to the chair with something on it.

"Welcome Akuma. You are here to test against your biggest fear. Are you ready?" It was a robotic voice. But it was female. "When you want to start just sit in the chair."

I slowly walked over to the chair and sat down. "I'm ready" I said aloud.

"So it seems." The assistants voice came from a door on the other side of the room. I never heard it open but I heard it shut. The assistant looked so life like. He looked like a normal guy. He was wearing a red shirt with jeans. He wore black shoes and had brown hair. The only way you could tell he wasn't human was in his eyes. They glowed and he never blinked.

"So your the one testing me?" I asked gritting my teeth "how fun."

"Yes, I'm here to test you against you fear of fear itself." Fear of fear? He wasn't wrong when he said he was crazy.

"Now hold still as I give you this injection." He walked over to me picked up the thing on the table and put it up to my neck.

"This may hurt just a bit." He said as the sound of pressurized air releasing filled the room only to be drowned out by me screams of pain.

"In a moment you're going to fear everything you see. If you last an hour then you'll be able to go to the surface. Try to to kill your self, okay?" He smiled and walked towards to door.

"Your going to hell for this!" I screamed at him.

"But how can I? I'm not alive." With that the door closed and locked behind him. I was alone.

My head pounded like someone was using a jackhammer on my skull. The shadows started moving and changing.

"We're going to have fun." His voice whispered.

"No you're not real, that beastly robot left the room." I said as calmly as I could.

"I assure you I am very real." My heart sunk. I felt afraid, I was scared of something so irrational. It didn't make sense. Is this what fear is.

"Now that's what I wanted to see." Apparently my face mimics how I feel, alone and frightened to death. His laughter filled the room. "I told you we would have fun."

"Maybe fun for you." I said trying to gather my courage but it was like trying to put out a fire with air. Completely useless.

The dark hand came out of the wall and it looked as if it destroyed any light that touched it. It's body continued to come off the wall and take form. It looked... Like me. Only entirely pitch black. No colour at all. He turned and grinned at me.

"How do I look?" He laughed as he said that. "I haven't had this much fun sense... That other fox. You kind of remind me of him. Well at least the fox part." He laughed again. "Oh well, time to say good bye."

My vision blurred for a moment. I felt like I was gonna puke. I stumbled back a few feet and he followed right behind walking casually which just made it all the more frightful.

"Goodnight my friend, I hope you get to see my handy work when you wake up. If you wake up that is." He grabbed me by the arm and threw me to the ground.

My ears were ringing, my head pounding, my vision blurred again this time it didn't fix. The last thing I can remember is the creepy smile on his face as he came close to me and whispered "if I'm you, does this count as murder or suicide?" He chuckled as he kicked me in the gut. He came closer and then everything went dark.

I blacked out..