Interlude 1: Arrival
Published: 12/08/23
Red emerged from the door that he passed through after leaving the Sudoku room. It slammed shut behind him, disappearing in the process. He looked around a small courtyard, everything looking... Off, somehow. Too symmetrical. There were a couple of other people, one dressed like 15th century pirate, another in a weirdly form fitting lycra outfit. They were quietly conversing. Eating... Real food. Solid food. Not the gruel Red had been subsisting on for the past few months.
The person in the lycra approached him. "Hey. Congrats on escaping the testing room. I think they do that for folk who get in via one of the automated ways to make sure your thinking is... Ordered... enough. I'm Tex. Don't trust me with anything you don't want to risk getting out. I'm the only one of us who counts as a caught Pokémon, so our captors have a lot more control of me than they have of you. The pirate over there?" He gestured with his head. "Is Mikey. He's been here longer than anyone. Witnessed their original arrival in Sandy. We're based in Cell Circle if you need us. I think they were preparing a bed for you in Compartment Cube. No difference in accomodation aside its shape. Hope your roommate doesn't smell too bad. Escape attempt that they made sure wouldn't happen again. Hope you don't mind moaning. He's... Alive, poor bastard. He's a scientist, not that it matters too much now."
Red was bewildered by the... Greeting? Quick primer? He wasn't sure. "Is there a shower? You were eating a sandwich when I arrived. I've had nothing but gruel for the past few months, real food would be great. I'm Red, by the way. Why are you..." His voice trailed off, not wanting to be rude about the outfit Tex was in.
"They needed me as a pilot. This nonsense is what they consider a pilot outfit. The pirate's in his own clothes. Unfortunately you arrived just at the end of our alloted courtyard time so you'll need to wait until the next one to grab a snack. Sorry." An klaxon sounded, interrupting the conversation. "That's the signal for us to get back to our circle and you your cube. Again, if you start planning anything, don't let me know, if they ask me I won't physically be able to lie to them due to low level mind control."
Red followed behind the Mikey and Tex out of the courtyard and headed through the featureless, grey, coridoor towards a cube shaped compartment opposite of a circular cell. He entered the compartment. Almost medieval in construction, although the bed that had been provided was at least an actual bed rather than the floor he'd been sleeping on in the Sudoku chamber. Weirdly there was a smell of raw meat in the cell, and he couldn't see anyone else - Hadn't Tex told him a scientist was in here? He sat on the only bed, and looked around the room. That's when he saw them. On the wall he came in via there were an array of organs attatched to it. Human looking ones. Arranged in a weird order. Adrenal glands at one end of the wall, vestigial organ at the other. The mouth, about halfway along the wall, despite the teeth and tongue being further to the right rather than inside it, somehow managed to moan out what sounded almost like "Hi."
Red vomited.