Rudolph, SunnySide, 2067
Rudolph, who is jumping in and out of consciousness, lies still on the cold, snowy dirt road while blood drips out from the side of his head. His right shoulder's bone is sticking out, showing signs of dislocation.
In his condition, Rudolph lies there for several minutes, until he sees someone walking up vaguely as he jumps in and out of consciousness. Rudolph recognizes who it is by their hair; it's Julius.
Julius walks up to Rudolph and bends down.
"Your friend met his time, now you will soon meet yours."
Julius then picks up Rudolph with one arm and carries him on his shoulder back to William Frances' vacation home.
On the way back, Rudolph is rendered useless. He can't escape Julius no matter what. He will be forced to go to the vacation home and forced to see William Frances.
Arriving in front of the vacation home, Julius drops Rudolph onto the ground, feeling no remorse for him. Julius then just sits there, as if waiting for someone.
A few seconds later, a door creaks slowly open.
William Frances walks through and stands before Rudolph and Julius.
"This is a fine job, you even brought me a gift this time." William Frances applauds.
Julius, with his hands behind his back, stands stern.
"Thank you, sir."
William Frances turns back towards the door, but before entering, he stops at the entrance.
"Put him with the others."
William Frances walks through the door. Julius picks up Rudolph and brings him inside.
Rudolph, who is not fully conscious, manages to make out what's happening. Julius is carrying him through a long wooden hallway with arches. Candles are lighting up the hallway. Finally, they come to a stop in front of a staircase that descends downwards.
Julius carries Rudolph down what seems to be a never-ending staircase of wooden stairs.
Julius reaches the end of the staircase when his feet land on solid gravel ground.
At the bottom of the staircase lies a steel-bar gate surrounded by gravel walls. Julius pushes the gate forward and walks through.
While walking through what seems to be the house's basement, water drips from ceiling crevices.
Rudolph, who is finally regaining full consciousness, looks around the basement. The basement has walls everywhere, almost seemingly making it look like a maze. Rudolph tries to remember the direction they're coming from.
Julius continues walking straight for a little while, then turns one way, then another, until he stops in front of a square room.
The square room has gaps on the outside allowing for walking room. Inside the square room, there are barred windows with a barred entrance.
Julius pushed open the barred door and threw Rudolph inside.
"You'll be staying here for the time being."
Julius closes the barred door and walks away.
Rudolph props himself up against a wall and just sits there staring into the abyss.
'Just where am I? Did A-3 really lose? Is he dead?'
These thoughts flood Rudolph's mind until someone speaks up, bringing him back from the abyss.
"Welcome."
A voice came out like a whisper from across Rudolph.
Rudolph glances up. His eyes widen at the realization.
"You're—You're just a kid."
The kid across from Rudolph stands up from the little darkness he was hiding in and reveals himself.
The kid is a young boy wearing ragged, dirty clothes. He has blonde hair and brown eyes. Looks to be no older than fifteen.
"What's your name and how old are you?" Rudolph asks.
"My—my name is Clark, and as for my age, I don't know."
Clark begins to look around the room, then back towards Rudolph.
"Actually, I haven't been able to remember anything but my name."
Rudolph gives a concerning look.
"You can't remember anything but your name?"
Clark points to the furthest corner of the room.
"Yeah, and neither can they."
Rudolph looks into the corner and sees five kids sitting there, with one noticeably larger than the others.
Rudolph clears his throat.
"What are their names?"
Clark takes a breath.
"The larger one is Robert, he has brown hair and green eyes, the other kids think of him like a protector. The one to the left of Robert is Cynthia; she is the smallest and probably the youngest. Cynthia has long white hair going just past her shoulders. The one to the left of Robert is Claire, with long brown hair about shoulder-length. Next is Harris, who sits in front of Robert. He has short brown hair and is maybe the second-oldest. Last is Willow, who is sitting by herself in another corner. She has short curly black hair and red eyes."
After Clark finishes introducing them, he goes back across from Rudolph and sits down.
"What's your name?" Clark asks.
"I'm Rudolph."
"Nice name," Clark says as he lies down. "You should get some rest, because once William comes down, it will probably start now."
Rudolph looks at him with a weird look.
"What will start now?"
"Who knows, but William said once there were seven people, we would be ready to start. And if you haven't noticed, you make seven."
Rudolph begins to look around the room, panicking. He wants to move to see if there is a way out, but his body won't allow him.
'I can't just let William Frances do whatever he wants to these kids! There must be a way out!' Rudolph thought.
"Just what did that robot do to me!" Rudolph says, startling the kids.
Clark sits up and coughs a little bit.
"Have you met him? I mean, Julius?"
Rudolph looks at him, confused, then he starts to understand.
"If it's that long green-haired guy, then yeah."
Clark clenches his fist together and takes a breath in and out.
"Yeah, he's Julius. But he's not the only one; there's another. He goes by the Clown."
Just hearing the word clown sent shivers down Rudolph's back.
"So two robots?"
"No, one's a robot, and one is a half-robot."
To Rudolph, a half-robot was someone who replaced some of their actual body parts with robot parts.
Rudolph looks over to the other kids in the corner who have now lain down.
Beginning to lie down as well, Rudolph hears the sound of someone walking towards the door.
"He's here." Clark's voice was faint.
The barred door creaks open, and William Frances enters.
William Frances begins to clack his teeth together.
"I think it's time to test the powers of these kids."
All the kids stand up in the room and form a single-file line in front of William Frances.
Rudolph, struggling to stand up, follows their lead and follows them as they exit the room.
William Frances grabs Cynthia's hand as they walk into the open space between the room and the maze.