Persona: ShadowNet.

[AtlannianSpy]

<p>


</p>


<div style="text-align:center;">


<p>


<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><span style="color:#6495ED;">Persona: ShadowNet </span><em><font color="#6495ed">prologue: Unexpected Guests</font></em><span style="color:#6495ED;"> </span></strong></span>


</p>


</div>


<p>


<span style="color:#6495ED;">"Welcome, to the velvet room," Your vision clears and the room around you comes into focus, allowing you to take in it's features. It is roughly cylindrical, with small, bevelled windows and is dominated by several sleek, luxurious recliners. Underneath your feet, the softly carpeted floor rumbles softly. It seems you are in some kind of private jet, notably, almost everything is a deep, rich shade of blue. The man who spoke clears his throat, drawing your attention back to where he sits in one of the recliners. </span>


</p>


<p>


<span style="color:#6495ED;">He is rather old and somewhat round in both face and figure, but his handsome grey suit is well tailored to him and between his unruly mop of silver hair and a rough beard the same color his dark eyes twinkle with curiosity and mischief. "This is... rather unexpected," says the man, smiling disarmingly and settling his hands in his laps. "Ordinarily only those who have formed a contract of some sort can enter this room." He pauses and looks around at you and the unfamiliar figures around you. "And it's extremely rare for us to have more than one guest at the same time. I confess I'm somewhat unsure of how to proceed, I'm not really the true master of this place you see, I'm merely borrowing it from... hmm, an acquaintance let's say." </span>


</p>


<p>


<span style="color:#6495ED;">A soft voice sighs in exasperation from somewhere behind the man and you start, realising you are unsure of how long she's been standing there. She is a tall, elegant blonde woman wearing a stern expression, she seems to be dressed in an old fashioned flight attendants' uniform, down to the little scarf and her clothes are the same shade of blue as most everything else in the room which may go some way towards explaining why you didn't notice her before. </span>


</p>


<p>


<span style="color:#6495ED;">"Of course," says the man, wincing slightly and looking chastened. "I haven't even made any introductions yet, how rude of me. My name is Kurtis, as I said I'm making use of this room for a short time, this-" He makes a sweeping gesture with his hand to indicate the stern woman standing behind him. "-Is Amanda, a more permanent resident of the velvet room, she has kindly agreed to remain behind and assist me during my stay here." Amanda looks like she might be regretting having agreed to that now but she says nothing, instead nodding curtly in your direction while Kurtis continues. "All in all our meeting here is extremely unlikely. However nothing happens in this room by accident, it may be that fate has brought all of us here together for a specific purpose, hmm." </span>


</p>


<p>


<span style="color:#6495ED;">Kurtis brightens and one hand dives into his jacket, retrieving something rectangular and blue, an ornate deck of cards. "Are you familiar with these?" He asks, shuffling the cards with practised ease. "The tarot, cards which illuminate the threads of the future supposedly. Perhaps they simply reflect the destiny lying dormant within each of us. Either way they might shed some light on our meeting and what awaits you." Kurtis smiles and deals out a card, placing it on the folding table in front of him, revealing a frowning face embedded in a soft yellow crescent. "The moon, representing deceit and illusion. A mystery will present itself to you and an illusion will envelop you. Pierce the veil of illusion and solve the mystery or you will not be able to move forwards. Interesting," Kurtis's fingers swiftly pluck out another card from the deck and place it next to the moon card, revealing a silhouetted figure carrying a bindle, chased by a yapping dog. "The fool, the embarking traveller full of potential. The mystery presented to you will be the catalyst for great journey you must undertake, by it's end none of you will be the same people you were at it's outset. One more card is plucked from the deck and placed next to the fool, showing a dark, looming tower split by a jagged bolt of lightning. Kurtis frowns. "The tower, herald of disaster. Should you fail to solve the mystery thrust upon you there will be dire consequences. Of course it may also signal that you will undergo hardships regardless of how well you do."</span>


</p>


<p>


<span style="color:#6495ED;">Behind Kurtis, Amanda raises one gloved hand to her mouth and coughs softly. "Ah, it seems we are out of time," Kurtis says, gathering up the cards on the table and replacing them in his jacket with a smile. "This room exists somewhere between dreams and reality, today you visited it in your sleep but after you have formed a contract you will be able to come here more tangibly. Let me see, if I had to advise you at this stage I would say this: Always seek the truth, within and with without and rely on each other, you've been brought together for a reason I think. Now then, until next time." </span>


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


 And with that, you wake up...


</p>

 

[Scrubnoppon]

"...crazy noisy bizar-"


Warren slapped at his phone trying to shut off his alarm. After a few attempts he finally got it off. Warren sat up in his bed to notice his dog, missile, sleeping soundly on his lap.


Warren tried his best to sneak out of the covers without waking him up, but ended up jolting him for a second, then letting him go back to sleep.


Warren did his usual morning routine.


Wake up, get dressed, eat, and brush teeth.


Now here is the hard part.


"What now?"


Warren sat there, thinking of what to do.


After a good minute Warren noticed missile sleeping on his feet.


"Oh man, I haven't taken you for a walk at all this week. I'm sorry buddy! Let's change that."


Warren grabbed his backpack and made sure he had everything.


Wallet, notebook, stuff for missile, the works.


Right before he headed out, Warren grabbed his phone off of the charger and tucked it safely into his pocket.


"C'mon boy, why don't we hit up the arcade?"

 

[Upton O Goode]

Theresa awoke groggily, as she usually did. Mornings did not favor her, and she did not favor mornings. She took a moment to ruminate on the bizarre dream she just had. She did recall briefly staring at the horoscopes on one of those news sites. Perhaps that was the inspiration for the dream? Though it baffled her that she could produce such an elaborate fantasy from one moment's consideration of an insignificant subject, she knew the world of dreams was beyond her understanding. Putting it out of her mind, she dragged herself around her room attending to her morning rituals. Today was a Saturday, so there were no classes to attend. Theresa for one saw that as a mercy as she could barely stand being in lessons as it was. While she could find a few people to talk to from time to time, many of her peers were sublimely obnoxious. They were often fixated on a variety of things that Theresa found trivial, and worse, they seemed to share an agenda towards making her more "normal".


Of course, she couldn't escape such attitudes even on a Saturday, as the banging on her door reminded her. "Hey Terry! Wakey wakey, rise and shine!" It was the voice of her cousin Jared she could hear. She had been made his responsibility during her stay in Sunrise Heights, and he appeared to take his "responsibility" to mean he needed to make her in his image. He lived in Sunset Gate Apartments just like her, so he could easily come and invade her personal space with his overbearing personality. She unlocked her front door and let him in. As much as she would like not to, if she attempted to ignore him, he would just make a louder noise, as she had learned on one of her first days. He immediately drew her into a hug upon being let in. "Here's your daily dose of vitamin positivity, courtesy of your ol' cousin Jared!" He declared. Theresa hated every minute of this patronizing act. As if she needed to be hugged every day. She had tried telling him to stop, but he told her she needed it so she would stop being so "mopey". She would have told him the only reason she tended to be "mopey" was because of his obnoxious behavior if she had the heart to do so.





"All right..." Jared began, taking a seat on her bed. "What's today's itinerary?" He had taken an active interest in planning her free time ever since she had arrived. "I was hoping that, for once, I might relax here." She told him flatly. She received a look from him that she discerned was a mix of concern and disappointment. "That's not good enough, Terry. I've already checked in on your progress; they tell me you're being a total recluse in class. I keep telling you, you need to be MORE social, not less!"





Theresa didn't know what rankled her more; that he was snooping around to find out she was preforming at school, or that he was still trying to force feed her nonsense about socialising. "I have made friends since coming here. I'm fine." She was embellishing the truth a bit, as she wouldn't call the people she had talked to friends. She was mostly grasping to whatever she could to get Jared off her back, but it was all in vain. Jared waved a dismissive hand and continued, "You need real friends, not whatever weirdos hang out at the back of the rooms. Tell you what, you're coming with me to a little group tonight. I'll pay for your meal, you can have some drinks, and you can talk to some real people for a change. I won't take no for an answer. Got that?"





Theresa just nodded. He would just get more pushy if she said no. "Good. I'll come get you at 4, so keep your schedule clear. See ya later, Terry." With that, he was gone. Sighing, Theresa locked the door behind him. She wondered how difficult it would be to find a good excuse to stay clear of this gathering. She imagined that unless she was dying, Jared would probably haul her over there anyway. She decided to take her mind off of things by gluing herself to her computer screen. Perhaps fate would be kind today, and give her a way to escape.

 

[ThatGuyWithSouvlaki]

Eleni opened her eyes wide to the blurry image of her studio, as the strange dream was fresh in her mind but rapidly fading. Old man with weirdly long nose, purple.. Velvet room... Tarots cards predicting disaster and hardship. She couldn't help let out a sad smirk, that prediction was a tad to late for her considering her situation. Than again she seemed to remember the dream mention others with her though she didn't remember seeing anyone along with her. If anything the man seemed confused by her presence like he didnt expect her either.


Her alarm suddenly stopping her attempt to recollect the dream making her sigh and groan. She reached out and slammed the snooze bottom before getting up from her bed and put on her glasses. She decided to think of the dream as a just her tired mind playing tricks on her. She groaned at the thought of another day at school followed by a couple of part time jobs and late night of homework like last night. Like the past few months since she separated from her parents. She thought at first it would be something easy to manage and temporary but the numbers of day she had to live on her own increased from day to weeks to months with no word from her parents. If it werent for her grandparents she wouldn't have survived.


She sighed before going for a quick shower and than changed to a uniform before just rushing out of her studio. She didnt have time for breakfast now, though she hoped she had a change to grab a bite from the school cafe if she got to school in time. Otherwise she was in for a long day.

 

[Kencen]

Ray McAllister woke up slowly, the morning sunlight slipping in through his window. Try as he might, it was just too bright to get back to sleep. He stood up and began his morning stretches. He was about halfway done, when he started to think about the dream he’d had. Most of it was already fading away, but the words ‘seek the truth’ stood out to him. Seek the truth? What truth? He shook his head, finished his stretches, then made himself some breakfast.


His little brother, Ryan, was a total morning person. Little monster that he is, the freshman had been up playing video games for a couple of hours. After he ate, Ray joined his brother, and the two shot some aliens together for about an hour. Ryan was supposed to meet some of his friends over at the arcade around noon, so they stopped just before 11:30 and Ryan headed out.


Ray felt so out of place out here in California, having lived on the East coast his entire life. He hadn’t met anyone out here he really clicked with- nobody else seriously aiming for the NHL. Back home, everyone wanted to play! But here, it was a miracle if the whole team even showed up for a game, let alone practice!


Ray just sighed and shook his head, then stood up. He decided to go on a jog. However, just as he made it out the door, his phone buzzed. Just an e-mail, but he decided to read it then anyway; he’d probably be out for a few hours.


“What the hell is ShadowNet?” He wondered, but he tapped the link anyway.

 

[Nonagon]

Azumi hung her head under the warm spray of the shower, fingers running through her hair to coax out the last of the shampoo. Minutes earlier, she had stumbled from bed, still half in a bizarre dream: A jet with a blue velvet interior, three tarot cards, and an upcoming contract. Nothing about it had made any sense, and she chalked it up to a series of random neural firings in the night. It was easier to explain dreams that way than pick apart their details. Grasping at the shower knob, she twisted it until the flow of water ceased.


Her plane had landed on Tuesday, marking her first day in America. She had met her aunt and uncle once before, but that had been when she was very young. They were just as warm as Azumi recalled them being, and when her aunt smiled, she could see a little bit of her mother in the way her eyes crinkled. It was equal parts dreadful and reassuring. The couple had invited her into their station wagon and subsequently, their home. Her uncle had lugged her suitcase up the four flights of stairs with obvious straining, but he declined the hands she reached out with, offering to help. The elevator, apparently, was out of service and had been for weeks. After dropping off the bag in the spare bedroom (a cozy space mostly taken up by the double bed), they had explained that they were still in the process of enrolling her in the local high school; her citizenship documents, medical records, class placement, and uniform acquisition were still in the works. She would be beginning school that coming Monday. Azumi had privately and confidently deduced that the delay was partly of their doing as well.


She pulled a towel from the rack and wrapped it around herself, still shivering from the chill of the air against wet skin. Noticing the fogged up mirror above the sink to her left, she reached over to clear it off. Swiping her palm against the dewy glass revealed a disheveled girl peering back at her. The girl's hair clung to the sides of her face, and below each of her eyes laid a dark crescent. The last few days had been long, and Azumi was not the type to cry in front of others. She held her composure each evening through dinner, through the pleasant family chatter, until she could burrow under the covers and break properly. By morning light, Azumi was whole again and ready to rinse and repeat.


Once she had dried off and dressed, she made a point of covering up those circles with some powdery make-up she found in the cabinet. It didn't exactly match her skin tone, but the make-up did a better job of it than the covered marks. She wandered around the living room for a few minutes after that, pulling out her phone at one point to check for messages. There weren't any, though she didn't know who she expected to be texting her in the first place. None of her classmates had seen her off, and no one her age had seemed too upset about her departure. At the time, Azumi had told herself that it didn't matter, but a feeling in her gut was beginning to question that now.


Taking a deep breath, she banished the thought from her head. She needed to focus on the present now. She needed to...go outside. Yes, go outside. Walk around. Get some fresh air. Her uncle and aunt were probably at the diner now, and perhaps she could help them out somehow. Perhaps she could find a place where she could be around people her own age and socialize. She had been learning English for years and was considered fluent, but getting a chance to practice it on the fly before school started might do her a couple favors. Azumi dropped her phone into her purse, beside the spare key she'd been given, and dropped the bag across her shoulder. Once the front door clicked shut behind her, she started down the hall, toward the stairs. At least it was a nice enough day.

 

[AtlannianSpy]

<p style="text-align:center;">


<strong>Sunrise Heights, San Francisco...</strong>


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


It's tempting but not really accurate to say that unsolicited invitations are the ones that can potentially alter the fate of their recipients more than others. Most people find the idea of something appearing out of nowhere and sweeping you off on a grand adventure rather romantic. In reality the opportunities that are sought out, ripped from the miserly grasp of life with sweat, suffering and grim determination are usually the ones that are most significant. That terrifying job interview, that entrance exam you crammed entire textbooks into your skull for, the audition you rehearsed for nonstop, the invitations that shape lives are almost always sought out. And of course when something does come out of nowhere and dramatically alter your life it is rarely to your benefit, it's normally an inconvenience or even an unpleasant ordeal. Every once in a while however something totally unforeseen can appear from out of nowhere and, for better or for worse, forever alter the lives of those who come into contact with it. On a certain Saturday, in a certain neighbourhood of San Francisco five invitations were sent out that seemed on the face of it completely unremarkable.


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


<em>One new message received...View?</em> 


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p style="text-align:center;">


<img class="ipsImage" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/imageproxy/imageproxy.php?img=http://i.imgur.com/DBL0qGU.png&key=624276640fcf6dd353c0dcd76ac4682333143925681b1181e08dbc66f54e4306" alt="DBL0qGU.png" /></p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


An email promising big things from an unknown source, spam. Not merely unremarkable but aggressively so, the white noise of modern day life. Some people's professional lives revolve almost entirely around devising systems and algorithms that ensure people don't have to look at the spam that targets them. Spam accounts for almost three quarters of all digital communications bu the vast, vast majority of all that noise is never heard. Email giant Genmail claims their neural network based spam filters successfully filter something like 99.9 percent of all spam messages sent to their users. Of that 0.1 percent the vast majority goes unread, either deleted or simply ignored. Statistics on read spam are rarer but one survey found that 48 percent of respondents had at one point read a spam email but even that 48 percent deleted the majority of spam emails they received, reading only one or two out of hundreds. In summary: The life of a spam email is a cold, lonely existence almost guaranteed to end in rejection. Of the five strangers who received the strange email on a particular Saturday statistically speaking, roughly zero of them should have actually seen it, roughly zero percent of that zero percent should have read it and of the literally impossible percentage of them who read it, roughly zero of them should have opened the rather suspicious link it contained. And yet, an instant later, five strangers found themselves somewhere totally unfamiliar... A new world.


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p style="text-align:center;">


<strong>ShadowNet, ???</strong>


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


... ... ..!? The age of of novelty ringtones is thankfully pretty much over, the days of business meetings, public transport and cafes being punctured by the aural hi-jinks of lunatic salamander or some equally repugnant mascot are a mercifully distant memory. These days ringtones are generally more understated, a simple, repeating jingle, the chorus of a pop song. Many people choose to have silent, vibrating alerts. Curiously, no matter how understated ring tones become they have never managed to be especially unpleasant to wake up. Particularly when you are in a very strange, completely unfamiliar location. Particularly when after a few rings, beeps or buzzes the phone somehow takes the call the for you and a high pitched, strangely synthetic voice starts jabbering at you from your pocket or your purse or wherever you had your phone. "Hello? Hellooooooo? You weren't answering so I went ahead and put through the call for you, you're gonna want to hear this. My name is ADAM and you totally need my help." This statement is punctuated by a brief, but forceful earthquake.


</p>

 

[Scrubnoppon]

"W-what? What just... M-MISSILE! WHERES MISSILE?"


Warren frantically looked around him for his dog. He would be shattered if he had gotten hurt, and wasn't in the mood. He was still half asleep.


Warren finally began to notice something...


"Wait... Where am I?" Warren took a second to take in the scenery.


A lot of... White...


"What... What is this?"


Warren walked over to a man in all white.


"Excuse me, umm, have you seen a small German Shepard anywhere?"


The man was unaffected by the boy's question. He kept walking... And walking...


"Hey, sir can you-"


Nothing. The man continued walking.


"H-hey! Listen to me! Why do-"


The man picked up the pace and walked away, and eventually out of view.


...


Warren stood in silence, his eyes almost straining from the bright white around him, untill... With a buzz, a song began to come out rather loudly from the speakers of Warren's phone.


"Mass... Destruction! Ohh yeah, da da da da da, Da da da da. Baby bab-"


Warren reluctantly picked up his phone.


"Hello?"


...


"ADAM? Oh thank god. I was so scared. I could use some help. Any help at all, really."

 

[Upton O Goode]

Theresa jumped up when she found herself somewhere most unexpected. She was now situated in a much larger room than her meager apartment. The floor was clearly a finely polished wood, while the walls were made of smooth stone. From the furniture, it seemed as though this was someone's bedroom. Whoever they were, they lived quite opulently, as every piece looked like it was made from the finest material. Approaching one of the windows, Theresa looked out to see she was clearly in some kind of tower. But that was the least curious part; the world around this location looked bizarre and distorted. It was as though she had been whisked away to another world. Theresa was still new to using a computer, and she had been told to be careful on the internet. Was it possible everyone was warning her she might get sucked into a bizarre new world? She rubbished such thoughts as absurd. But whatever the truth was, she had simply clicked on that strange e-mail and ended up here...


Suddenly her phone went off, giving her a fright. She was familiar with using a phone, since her parents had mandated she have one on her at all times. She had figured out they were tracking her with it, which was unsurprising to her. She briefly considered whether they could track her here, but then, she thought there was no way a phone could get a signal in some wacky dimension. Which is what made it doubly ridiculous that she was getting a call right now. In all her shock, she did not answer it, which gave her yet another fright when a voice came from her phone regardless. Some person called Adam claimed to be speaking. It was not long after this that the tower shook violently. It was just a brief moment, but it was enough to scare the daylights out of Theresa.


She clutched the phone tightly and started speaking, "You can help? Then please do. Please." The apprehension in her voice would be obvious to anyone listening. She couldn't care less right now, being stranded in a foreign world that seemed prone to earthquakes. All she wanted was to get somewhere safe.

 

[Nonagon]

<p>


Two steps across the faded lobby, Azumi heard a muffled buzz from her bag, the sound somewhat metallic against her key. Brow drawn together, she paused to fish out her phone and take a peek at the notification. An email had come in, somehow. She had created a new one just two days ago, something to fit in better here than her old one would have. Intrigued, she opened it up and read its single, vague line.


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


Something like this, it had to be some sort of promotion or spam mail. She'd sorted through enough of those in her seventeen years that she knew better than to click on the strange links they provided. Despite her better judgement, she did click. And in an instant, like someone flicking off the lights, everything went dark.


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


- - - -


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


Her phone was buzzing again, somewhere at her side, but when she reached out for it, the angle was all wrong. Instead of gravity pulling down on the top of her arm, it was pushing her down from the side. Azumi's eyes blinked open slowly to find herself on the ground, looking at the world from a ninety degree angle. The phone buzzed impatiently one more time as she realized that this wasn't the building's lobby at all. Propping out an elbow to support herself, she began to sit upright, trying to get her bearings. Her surroundings were entirely unfamiliar, alien.


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


The voice caught her ear, and she peered over at her phone. Something was wrong with that voice. It was clear and understandable, but it seemed...emulated. Coupled with the name- Adam, if she was listening closely enough- there was something off about whoever was calling. An idea of the caller's identity flowed out of her mind as easily as it drifted in. Nevermind- there were more important questions to be asked now. Picking up the device, Azumi slowly moved to her feet. "Explain," she demanded, tone a little more unsure than the confidence she usually reigned in, "Where is this? How did I get here?"


</p>

 

[AtlannianSpy]

"Okay Calm down!" Yelled the synthetic voice on the other end of the phone rather shrilly. "You're all talking at once I can't- I CAN'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING WHEN YOU ALL YELL AT THE SAME!" Of course this wouldn't make much sense to the teenagers on the other end, who could only hear one person "Anyway," continued ADAM in a slightly more normal tone. "You guys are in a place called Shadownet, it's kind of like a maze. A maze designed just for you! Ah and by that I don't mean 'designed for your benefit' so much as 'designed specifically to trap you for all eternity'. Also I live here! but that's not important right now, I mean it is to me, it's my home and all but it's not important to you. Cause you wanna leave right?"


An ordinary person would have needed to take a breath by now but ADAM seemed undaunted, Like a high pitched verbal freight train. "Yeah you totally wanna leave cauuuuuse if you don't soon you won't ever be able to leave!" 


ADAM paused, letting the warning hang in the air for effect but when the voice started to speak again another rumbling earthquake cut them off. The floor underneath the teenagers and the walls of their individual rooms started to shake under a series of tremors that steadily increased in intensity instead of subsiding.


"WHO-AAHH -Actually-" ADAM cut off their own yell of panic with a tone resembling sudden intellectual curiosity, like a scientist discovering something unexpected in a petri dish. "This could work out for us, For the next few moments I'd like you all to stand well away from any nearby walls, if you'd like to you could also lie face down on the floor. No wait,you guys need your skin right? In that case  definitely do that, definitely lie face down, I'm gonna go own on three so be ready. You ready?"


"Three."


What happened next would be rather difficult to explain what happened, at least from the perspective of the people who were actually there.


They would have all heard  a deafening, sudden boom.


They would have felt a bizarre tingling sensation all over  their backs and down to their teeth rather like static electricity.


They would have seen... well not much being as they all had their heads down but even then they would have been  aware of a bright flash of light that faded quickly.


"You can look up now," ADAM said through the phone. ADAM's voice seemed to have picked up a strange echoey tone to it and it might have taken the disorientated teens a moment to realise that was because they could hear ADAM both through their phones and from somewhere in front of them. Where once there had been a series of separate rooms each containing  a single person there was now a series of rooms linked together by a series of rather spectacular holes. The effect was something like a row of apartments that a bulldozer had smashed its way through, curiously the edges of the holes where the walls had been smashed glowed with an eerie blue light and their jagged edges were oddly regular, as though made of many small cubes. 


This was all certainly strange enough but in edition, the cherry on top perhaps at one end of this makeshift tunnel stood an inhuman figure beckoning them over with one spindly arm.


"This way," said ADAM, its voice repeated through five cell phones. "Oh and welcome to ShadowNet by the way."

 

[Upton O Goode]

It seemed this stranger on the phone would mostly be the source of more bafflement. They started freaking out about multiple people yelling at once, yet Theresa couldn't hear any voice but that of ADAM. At the least, he explained where she was, though the explanation was a cold comfort. Theresa wanted to ask a thousand questions about why there was "maze" designed just for her, how clicking on an e-mail put her inside an inter dimensional maze and other perplexing concepts, but ADAM's alarming warning was of far greater importance. She was going to ask how to leave when the tower shook again. Everything was going at all too fast a pace for her.


But this Adam didn't seem fazed in the least. He kept rambling, and instructed her to take cover. Theresa was in no state to argue at this point, so she threw herself to the ground away from the walls, just as told. She didn't look up until told do so either. More than anything, the sight of a way out of this place took all of Theresa's attention. She began to rush over before she was even beckoned, desperate to escape this nightmare. Though it did not seem to be a total escape just yet, as she did not yet know where this ADAM intended to lead them. It also became apparent that Theresa was not alone in this experience. There were others, all seemingly normal human beings, just like her. She did not know whether to take comfort in this or worry further.


"Alright, now how do we get out of this place entirely?" Theresa inquired to the strange being known as ADAM. She wanted to hear that the exit was just a short walk away, but she had the most terrible sense of foreboding that she was about to be told they would be required to preform twelve grand labours to escape this place, or something equally aggravating.