I woke up with a start, my body immediately shooting up sharp feelings of pain. My memory is normally exceptional, so I quickly realized that I was abducted, however… I really didn't freak out. It wasn't… Scary, it was just a galactic game show, there's nothing to worry about, if they were telling the truth. And my life on Earth wasn't shit anyway. Sure, I have a friend, but I'm sure he was tired of me, like my family.
I first glanced down at my clothing. It was all gray, however, it was comfortable. There was a number I couldn't read too well, #718...9 probably a member code, or something. The pockets were big, so that's nice. There was also something in them, a bag. It had some clinking to it, so it was some form of currency, probably. I reluctantly put it back in my pocket, but I was interested in what they were.
Next, I looked around my room, there wasn't much. A door, the bed I'm sitting on, a sink, a mirror, and a wall that hides a shower and toilet, along with a full roll of toilet paper, so, that's nice… But what's with the cell? If this was just for a game show, wouldn't there be nicer.. Well, accommodations for the members?
Or, I guess participants. But, this feels quite uncomfortable, the lighting being slightly dim usually shows a clear setting that is to give a bad feeling, and the silent, gloomy atmosphere is also used in horror, or thrillers to make the viewers understand when a place is clearly not good.
Wait… Oh shit, wait, what the fuck? If… If what I think is really true, then this isn't okay, this place could be fucked up, what would aliens be needing a game show for? Why would they kidnap people anyway? It's an intergalactic game show, I'm sure people would come willingly for the prize. Unless… The prize is something not everyone deserves?
Everything coming to me caused me to completely forget the severity of the situation, what would actually be done here? It looked like a prison facility, but is it really needed? If people would want to escape, then where I am is not a good place. Which makes sense, aliens would not want to do good things with people, usually, right?
Before I could continue my train of thought, a beeping sound came from directly above me, followed by speech. It seems I missed something, and that something was a T.V. which showed information regarding where I was. A voice came out stating, "Hello participants! My name, for translation's sake, is Jim! Because of the large variety of languages here, the name is simple and can be pronounced by everyone here! Although, the spelling differs for every language. Anyway, you've all been selected for this gameshow! All 1,200 of you will be fighting for a special prize that the Coalition of the Galactic has sorted out themselves, it's different for everyone, so no-one will be upset! That number is divided equally among four groups here, to make the games pass faster."
I stared at the screen, which had nothing much going for it, but when the prize was mentioned, a question mark appeared on it. "Well, anyway, this first event is a simple trivia game! However, getting questions wrong is exactly what you SHOULDN'T do, since the punishment is severe! When the countdown on the screen ends, your door will be opened and you can explore the facilities! Get food, or water, or whatever you need, before the games start in about 2 hours!" As that was said, a waving hand appeared on the screen, soon, the voice began counting down from 10. I took a look around the gloomy room. It was all just… Too jarring, and sudden, why the hell was I sent here?
However, this wasn't what I was focusing on, I have better things to do. A game show, huh? Trivia about earth? That seems way too perfect for me, considering how I spent a big portion of my life. In the last five seconds, I quickly thought about what had to be done in this situation. If it's a case where these are, or at least, would be death games, then I need to build up sympathy, to not get voted out, either-way, it's good to get some friends to help each other out. I at least have the looks to get sympathy. Looking as skinny as I do.
Soon, the door to his cell opened up, and like him, many others were situated at the doorway. One by one, people began to leave. The… room they were all told to enter looked fabulous. It was similar to the interior of Maxion in Wallie. It was refurbished, modern, though something about it, was… Solitary, and lonely. I swallowed my saliva and took a step into this new area. This was, of course, the cafeteria. It was lined with various vending machines. Which was really weird. However, the stranger part was that it took coins. Yes. Coins.
Not, like cents, yen, pesos, pounds, or whatever you would use. They were closer in design inspiration of Chuck-E-Cheese's coins, but, well, not that. The design of the coins was labeled over the coin slot. That's how I knew that this was something abnormal that would probably be gained as some sort of monetary prize for the games. The design had a spherical-looking animal, with two beady eyes, two round ears, and a onesie-looking thing that had two buttons on it.
The design did look childish. That's for certain. Soon, I heard quiet conversations, I could hear quite a bit of it, my sense of hearing was greater than most. "Why are we here?" "I don't know… because..." Alas, that person had gotten a bit coy, it seems. I looked around. The vending machines had lots of brands of food. Surely, these companies weren't actually allowing this, that would be some form of business espionage. Although, they were all here. A few from all major countries, at the very least. I walked over to one that had Bendys written on it. The logo is quite familiar to me. I reached into my left pocket and pulled out the coin bag, some had done the same. After doing so, I checked the prices of the items. A fore four fore was as its name implied, 4 coins. I pulled out the required coins, placing them in the machine. I then selected that option, and only three seconds later, my food was ready. However, there was no option for burger, or beverage type.
That was fine, however. It's enough to have just some water and a normal burger. I then sat down at the closest seat, so, across from the machine. Some light music began playing in the background. How odd, so, they're trying to make this place seem comfortable now? It'd take a fool to not realize this place could easily be a death trap. It'd be a horrible wake-up call to those in this giant room when they realize this place isn't very good. The food and water? I'm not buying it, they want the best alive, but the worst dead.
However, my thoughts were cut off when two people stood by my left and right. I noticed them because of, not only their steps, but their looming shadows. (Their scent may have also been quite perceivable.) Alas, I continued eating and drinking. Then, one of them slammed their hand on the table, and I look up to them. They had really short hair, some scruff on their lip, and seemed to be, well, quite big, which may be fat, muscle, or both.
"Hey. Squirt. Give us your coins."
Pardon?
"Yeah, we know you got them, these fucking aliens gave a few people coins, and they're sharing, why aren't you?"
Oh. That's mean. But, why didn't I think of that? Causing conflict can make people show a side that isn't favorable. Like these two gentleman. I shrugged, taking out the coin bag, and I gave them the fries and coins that I had left. I needed to keep the sympathy.
"I am quite skinny as you can see, so I would like to ask that you let me eat what I got, you can have the fries, the starch helps you stay full for longer."
The man on my right chuckled. "Ah, so you're a smartass, huh?" he then tossed my head to the side, a bit rough, but it didn't hurt. "Whatever, man, we got the coins to eat for today. That's all we need." I continued eating the burger, but while I did so, I glanced at the two. They were spending five coins on each food item. Now, I'm not sure how much I had to begin with, but at this rate, they'd run out of coins before the two get a 'full meal'. I smiled, looking away as I quickly lowered my face muscles and ate the nuggets I had left. Those fucking idiots won't last a day in here if they want full meals. The system is the same as America's, seemingly. Which means, you want as many coins to go back into circulation, to help only those who are the highest. Luckily, the fore four fore is only 4 coins, and it is quite filling, so even if I don't feel full all day, at least I won't starve.
I noticed other people were getting robbed. They must be the important people. Sometimes, things are rigged. And, it looks that way here, too. But not everyone can be scoffed at, these 1,200 people must have some skills that the aliens thought were justifiable to have us all fight each other.
I soon finished eating and drank all my water. This first day was going to be quite slow, and nobody was being entertaining.
CLANG CLANG
Or, so I had thought.