The lingering tension from the girl's scream still echoed in the minds of the seven strangers.
Each of them sat—or stood now—in cautious silence. The endless white stretched on in all directions, its blinding glow still offering no warmth. It was as if they had all been dropped into a sterilized dream, one that stripped away comfort and reason.
Then, He, who woke up first noticed something.
Despite their wildly different appearances—skin tones, accents, clothing styles—everyone seemed to understand one another perfectly. Not just with effort, not with broken grammar or strange pronunciations, but Perfectly.
It struck him like lightning.
How were they communicating so seamlessly?
The realization compelled him to speak. "Wait… What language is this?"
Everyone turned toward him. Confused expressions rippled through the group.
The calm man with the limp leg still crouched near the girl with the bronze skin tone, narrowed his eyes. "Now that you mention it… this isn't English. But I can understand you."
"Same here," said the woman in the white coat quietly, looking around. "This isn't Arabic. I don't recognize it at all."
The athletic man folded his arms. "This ain't Russian either. What the hell's going on?"
The Chinese man, who had so far remained silent, finally spoke, his voice soft but firm. "I work with international clients. I speak Mandarin and some English… but this language—this is neither."
The bronze skinned girl stood up, brushing imaginary dust from her leggings. "But we can all understand each other? That's just… weird."
A long silence followed.
It was one thing to be in a strange white void. It was another to speak fluently in a language no one had ever learned.
"This isn't a prank," the calm man said, his tone colder now. "No tech on Earth can do this."
The athletic man snorted. "Speak for yourself. Maybe this is some new government experiment."
The man gave him a measured look but didn't respond.
The tension thickened again. But now it was mixed with unease.
For the first time, the group collectively accepted that something unnatural was happening. The confusion, fear, and suspicion started to blend into a shared understanding: whatever had brought them here didn't belong to the world they knew.
"We should introduce ourselves," the girl in the white coat suggested gently, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "Just basic things. Maybe it'll help us understand what we're dealing with."
The calm man nodded. "Agreed. I'll start first. Name's David. I'm thirty-five. Used to be in the U.S. Army. Retired now due to a leg injury"
The broze skinned girl grinned. "I'm Camila. Twenty-eight. I'm a professional dancer from Brazil."
The woman in the white coat gave a small nod. "Nisrine. I'm twenty-six. A teacher from Morocco."
The athletic man crossed his arms. "Luis. Thirty-one. Boxer. From Russia."
A young woman with sharp features and tired eyes chimed in. "Amanda. Twenty-three. A medical student from England." her shoulder length black hair swayed as she talked.
The Chinese man adjusted his glasses. "My name is Wei. Thirty-two. I work in logistics for a medium-sized company. I'm from china"
All eyes turned to the last of them. The one who awoke first amongst them.
He opened his mouth, ready to speak.
And then—
Nothing.
His mind went blank. A cold dread began to seep into his bones.
I...who am I?
He tried to remember his name, something, anything about himself. A memory. A face. A voice. But it was like reaching into a void even deeper than the one around them.
Under the watchful gaze of the six strangers, his thoughts spun. His heart pounded in his chest, panic rising in his throat like bile.
Then—like a whisper in the dark—a name surfaced finally surfaced in his mind as if it just broke through the abyss.
#####
As soon as he thought it, something in him clicked. Like a puzzle piece falling into place. This was his name. He didn't know how he knew, but he just did. It felt real. Grounding.
He drew a breath, ready to say it aloud—
And his body rebelled.
Every nerve screamed in warning. His chest tightened. Goosebumps rippled across his skin. It was as if his very soul recoiled.
Don't say it!
He froze.
He didn't know why, but he felt it with absolute certainty: if he said his name aloud, something terrible would happen. The light around them, usually steady and strangely comforting, now seemed to burn brighter, harsher. Watching. Anticipating even.
Waiting.
"Well?" Luis, the Russian boxer, barked. "You gonna introduce yourself or what?"
He blinked, heart racing. The others were staring.
He forced a smile. "Sorry. Just… nerves.
I'm...Adam. Twenty-four. Freelance artist."
He just uttered the first name that came to mind trying his best not to show any abnormal signs.
No one seemed to notice the slight tremble in his voice, or the fact he didn't mention his country of origin. The moment passed.
A quiet moment followed the introductions. There was still some suspicion, especially from Luis, the Russian boxer, who kept side-eyeing David, the American former soldier. But for now, no one wanted to stir the pot.
Camila, the dancer from Brazil, broke the silence. "So… what now? We just sit here forever?"
Amanda, the medical student from England, looked up. "Maybe we should test the space. Walk in one direction. See if anything changes."
David nodded. "Worth a shot."
They started walking.
There was no landmark to aim for, no sun, no shadows, not even a floor—just a continuous, endless white. Yet somehow, their feet found traction, as if they were walking on invisible ground.
While walking they tried to check their phones hoping to find a clue about their current situation or even call for help, but as expected they wouldn't even turn on. Even their attempt to try and keep track of the time they spend in this space was unsuccessful.
For some reason Amanda's wrist watch as well as David's pocket watch stoped working, and what's even stranger is that both of them stoped at the same time.
For Amanda her watch stopped at exactly 10:00 pm while David's stopped at 17:00 pm. If you take into consideration the time difference between the US and the UK, you'll that they indeed stopped at the exact same time.
Minutes passed. Then what felt like hours. Maybe even more as there was no way to tell the time nor was there any day and night. Nothing aside from the unchanging white light.
The white light remained the same. No shift in hue, no sign of progress. Just more of the same empty expanse.
"This is pointless," Luis muttered. He had walked ahead of the group, pacing faster with every step. "We're walking in circles."
"You don't know that," David said calmly. "We picked a direction and stuck to it. Eventually, something will change."
"Like what, soldier boy? Another wall of light? Maybe a friendly alien?"
"Luis," Nisrine, the Moroccan teacher, said gently. "Please… there's no point in fighting. We're all scared."
"I'm not scared," Luis snapped. "I'm pissed."
Just then, Camila stumbled.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed. Her hands pressed against something.
An invisible wall.
David reached out and pressed his palm against it. A smooth, solid surface. It shimmered faintly as his fingers touched it.
"It's real," he confirmed. "There's something here."
Everyone gathered around, each testing the barrier.
It stretched as far as they could see to the left and right, and even above.
"So this place has limits," Amanda whispered.
Wei's eyes narrowed. "Or at least it wants us to believe it does."
They stood there in silence, each one of them staring at the invisible wall that had just shattered the illusion of endlessness.
For the first time, the void seemed smaller.
And for some reason, far more dangerous.