Acid

I spent the past month not knowing where I am. My eyes have well adjusted to the dark setting of the room. The walls are slick with grime. An I.V. runs into my arm dripping a burning blue acid like substance. The drops are painful but not as much as to the pain I felt when I first awoke in this hell hole. My eyes will not shed tears for the blue acid must have altered my system. Ive tried very hard to take out the I.V. but it is held in place by a big bulky metal armband that seems to be grey. But for all I know it could be any colour, the darkness makes everything look grey. My I.V. runs into the ceiling giving me the feeling that I am in some sort of basement. My eyes start to flutter as I fall asleep for what feels like an eternity. Throughout the night or day for that matter I would awaken to serious pain in every inch of my body before my eyes closed yet again. As I awaken for the final time I look at my arm to find instead of an intense blue I have a searing green acid flowing smoothly into my arm. For gods sake its glowing!! The acid is making my whole body glow. I spent what seemed to be three days longer with the burning acid in my body, when finally as I awake on the third day I realize the I.V. is gone, yet I am still glowing. This came as terrific yet terrible news. For the searing pain from whatever was being put into my system is gone. With that Im left with what seems to be no tears, no emotions and to be honest I cant find my heartbeat. What has happened to me? I lie down and pray that when I awaken in the morning Ill return to where ever I came from. Although thats not a place within my memory. Instead I now wake to the sound of a turning knob I back myself up against the wall and as I try to scream I realize the acid took my voice with everything else. As the door slides open three hooded and masked figures walk in to the room. I am bound and gagged yet with the loss of my voice I am unable to tell them that the gag is not needed. I am also blindfolded and towed out of the room. As I enter another room the rope gag and blind fold are removed and the door is shut as the hooded figures leave.
In this new room the lights are almost ten times brighter compared to my last room and it takes my eyes almost a full hour to readjust. Once my eyesight is back to normal I look around and try to figure out my location as well as what weird tools accompany me in the room. All of a sudden a small voice comes on through a secret sound system and it tells me to test my knowledge on the instruments on the table. Without thinking at all my glowing legs move me to what seems to be a table full of ancient weaponry. All of the weapons are covered with a thin layer of dust and each has various combinations of the same six symbols. My brain could only register five. They read fire, water, oxygen, gas and soil. Each symbol on the weapon represents which element is used to better the instrument. The first weapon I laid eyes on was what seemed to be a small metal catapult with the engravings or soil, gas and fire. It pieced together quickly. The pouch is to be filled with soil and gasoline, and set on the catapult, before being let go the bag is lit on fire. The gas allows the flame to be lit for the longest time possible. The next weapon is the bow and arrow with the engraving of water and the engraving I dont know. Beside the arrow there sits a small cup with the unknown engraving, inside it has a few drops of a green liquid my brain piecing it together as acid, it is the same stuff that was pumped into my system the second time around.. With this weapon you are to soak the arrowhead in the water and place a drop of acid on the tip the weapon is able to burn through human flesh and pretty much melt it off the bone. Now my question is how did I survive it...?? Next on the table I found a plain old axe with the oxygen symbol engraved onto its blade. To me it seems worthless. Just before I reach the next weapon the voice comes on again to tell me to test out the weapons ive observed so far. My first instinct was to try the bow and arrow yet my hands picked up the axe and before I have a chance to think I've swung around, thrown the axe and sliced the dummies head in half. Within seconds all the weapons make sense I know exactly how to use every single one of them. I quickly pick up the bow and arrow and am able to launch four arrows piercing all four limbs (two arms and two legs) within four seconds. As I reach for the catapult the table disappears into the wall. I turn just in time to see the dummy vanish as well. My eye lids start to droop and it seems as though I am forced into sleep.
My eyes open now to flickering lights; Im in yet another room. This one is lighter then my first but it is spotless with one door, I try the handle but it seems to be locked from the outside. My eyes are able to scan the entire room within two seconds. My sense of sight has become a lot more sensitive... at least thats how it seems. This has increased the speed at which my eyes move. Analyzing the room I am able to see there is only one exit and none of these walls seem weak. Within the room the smell of metal is over whelming giving me the feeling that each wall is reinforced with a ton of titanium, one the sturdiest metals out there. The room is equipped with seven surveillance cameras, leaving no blind spots. The hours pass by when finally the door swings open. As I enter the hallway there is no one to be seen meaning the doors are computerized meaning there is eyes trained on me at this very moment. Within the corridor all the doors are white and numbered the last door would be the exception. Its red with no number although there is a sign written in a different language one that even I couldnt figure out. I have a strong feeling this is the room I am to be entering.
As I gently open the door I am overwhelmed by the smell of rotting corpses. My eyes quickly shut for I definatly dont want to know what the smell belongs to. I am able to stand like this for a full five minutes before my curiosity takes over and my eyes slowly open. Im in another hallway although this one is shorter and wider. Either side is lined with cages. Along the right side there are females of all different ages across from each female is a male of the same age. All of them are rotting; they must have been here a long time. The room is extremely noisy although none of them are speaking actual words. As a walk down the line peering into the cages I come across a set of the creatures missing, a girl and a boy of about seventeen at least thats what there clipboards say. On each clip board there is a graph on the girls graph the colours are blue and green. The boys chart appears the exact same although instead of green the colour used is red. I set the clipboards back and continue to the end of the corridor as I reach the end of the hall I come across a large dark window. As I peer inside I see a boy hooked up to an I.V just like I was but now his drips red. I judge that he is almost done for he is sleeping restlessly as someone in a white suit examines him. As I am about to leave the white figure removes the I.V and the boy awakens to two masked men who drag him into the next room. To my right there is another window as I shift over to it I see the boy being thrust into the same weaponry room in which I was thrown. He is then given the same instructions that were given to me. He studies the weapons and as they start to click hes given the instructions to try them out. The dummy appears in the corner and the boy picks up the catapult and launches a flaming bag of soil at the dummies head. Now he grabs the sword which has replaced the bow and arrows that I used when I was in that room. A new dummy drops from the ceiling about five feet away, within a minimal amount of time this boy is able to slice off each limb. Feeling the rush of adrenaline he reaches for the axe the table has as well as the dummies. A robotic arm from the floor and sedates the boy.
My eyes cannot register what has happened for I cannot take my eyes of the limp body of the boy. As soon as my eyes are able to look away I walk to the next window. Here I see what looks to be a conference room, everyone sitting at this table is wearing the same thing; their little costumes each include a mask making it impossible to tell who is female and who is male. The glass now parts and I am swept into the room. I am blinded by a blazing light, the glass slides open once again and the boy is tossed in beside me. Although his hands are bound while mine are free. He keeps his eyes tightly shut and takes his time with opening them. His rustic hair brushes slightly over his deep brown eyes and by the look on his face hes worried and he thinks I should be too. He nonchalantly studies me with great efficiency. An eternity passes before we are spoken to but the language used to speak to us is unfamiliar. The boy seems to be trying to speak but the acid must have taken his voice as well, his face drops. The man (I presume) starts to speak to us again in English. He tells us that we are safe and that there is nothing for us to worry about or to be scared of anyone within the building. We are then escorted to our new and permanent rooms.
The hall is lined with plain white doors. The first stop we make is to a white door labelled Todlich meaning deadly; I presume this is his name. It made me question what my door would be labelled. After Todlich is let into his room the man escorted me down the long stretch of hallway. It seems like the rest of the doors have not been labelled. The man abruptly stops in the centre of the hallway and punches a code into that security panel. I was so immersed in memorizing the numbers I didnt realize that one of the doors had become red. The man unlocks the door and gestures for me to enter. The entire room is white; Im completely serious when I say everything is white. The white is so bright that I am temporarily blinded. While blind I am able to hear the soft click of a lock as I turn and check the door im not surprised to find it locked. I stand in place and examine the room. The room is small and square, to my left I have a kitchen and to my right I have a small uncomfortable looking bed and a fairly large bathroom compared to the rest of the room. I briskly walk over to the kitchen to examine it. Ive come to realize that the gas stove has gas but will not light, the refrigerator has nothing in it and there is no electrical socket for it to be plugged into. There are no dishes although I have a single fork and spoon, although no knife... I have a feeling that they fear something about me, but Im not yet sure of what it is. The bed across the room has a sheet and a blanket but yet no pillow. Folded at the end of the bed there is some sort of spandex outfit. As I pick it up it unravels to reveal a one piece suit. I have a feeling I am to change into it but instead I head to the bathroom and take a long hot shower. As I enter the bathroom I notice that the only window is barred off which doesnt surprise me much. When I finish with my shower I hop out and look for a towel but dont seem to find one so I slide myself into the uniform, and I head out to the main part of the room.
The main room has a large mirror, where I spend a few minutes looking over myself. My flowing blonde hair reaches my lower back. I run my fingers through my hair to make sure there arent any knots and weirdly there isnt a single one. A brisk knock on the door startles me and as I turn the door opens to reveal a petite woman who gestures for me to follow her. She flows down the hallway with ease and I follow behind trying to mock her elegance. On our way we pick up Todlich, who is now always wearing the same uniform as me. The women gestures for us to step onto a conveyor belt which sweeps us into the next room. This room is actually an indoor training field at least thats what it looks like. As we step off the conveyor belt it dissappears into the wall and our only exit is sealed off and locked. We slowly make our way to the center of the feild where a small platform stands. My eyes begin to wander the facility until they come across Todlich as his eyes meet mine I hear a voice say:
'What are we doing here?'
Although I cant say it Im thinking 'I dont know'
'You can hear me?'
'Todlich?'
'Is that my name?'
'Well thats what I call you'
'Well if Im deadly what are you?' He asks.
'I dont think Ive been given a name yet'
'Well well just have to wait and see'
Then silence we look at each other in amazement, our trance is broken as a voice comes on and tells us to begin. With that a table appears in front of us and almost two hundred dummies come out of the walls. We notice that the dummies are robotic and that the table is holding our weapons, mine being the bow and arrow his being the sword. With our weapons in hand we take to the field. Our time is being recorded on a timer on the wall, which currently reads ten seconds. Todlich takes off and I follow behind him at a rate thats a bit more cautious. As I jog my foot gets caught on something, I turn back to see a track as I look more carefully there are almost two hundred tracks leading to the center of the field where the platform lies. I guess they want us to take out all the dummies before they reach the platform.
'They want us to take out all the dummies before they reach the platform'
'I already figured that out, you better get started!'
Scanning the room I am able to tell that all the dummies are programmed to move at different speed. I start with taking out the faster ones while Todlich takes out the dummies following and we work together to take out the slower ones. By the time we are finished the timer reads just under five minutes, but it keeps on timer and underneath the time it says 2 vs. 2 when at the beginning I remember it said 2 vs. 200 meaning there are two dummies left.
'Get on the platform' I tell Todlich
'Why?!'
'I dont know yet.'
He jumps onto the platform and before I even know what Im doing my hands burst into flames not fake, but real flames although they dont burn me. I ignite the grass and as I jump onto the platform the flames wipe out the grass. Once the flames die down we are able to see the last two dummies lying side by side, now burnt to a crisp. The timer stops and it read 2 vs. 0 the conveyor belt now returns yet we have no escort. I walk Todlich to his room, as I continue down the hall to my room I spy a label on my door.
'Brennbar?'
'Flammable?'
'Well I guess that makes sense.'