The moment the voice stopped, the silence shattered like glass. "Wha-wait…who was that?"a woman said out loud in a shaky voice. "What the h*ll, who the f*ck was that, STOP BEING A COWARD AND SHOW YOURSELF ASSH*LE! Someone shouted, clearly frustrated and angry about this whole situation. "This has got to be some sick prank, I swear these wanna be influencers these days, always using people for content, I bet we are being filmed right now, where are the cameras huh?" A man in a suit holding a briefcase murmured, "I've got places to be, if I lose this deal, I SWEAR IM GONNA SUE!" A woman in sharp designer clothes shouted.
But not everyone was like that, a man to Linus's left shouted in a foreign language, eyes wide and wild, spinning in place like he was searching for an exit that that was clearly not in sight. Another person collapsed onto the cold floor and began to sob, curling into themselves like a child.
A man who was near one of the walls started pounding on it with both fists, screaming, "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" until his knuckles split and streaks of blood smeared the smooth metal. He screamed in agony and rage. Someone shouted about all this being a punishment for their sins, rapture, judgement day and a bunch of nonsense.
Others ran, but there was nowhere to go, just causing more chaos and panic by bumping and shoving people aside. A woman was shoved and someone stepped on her hand without looking back. A teenager screamed for his mother, even though it was clear she wasn't there.
And in the middle of it all, Linus stood frozen, eyes wide, heart pounding.
That voice…it hadn't sounded human, at least not in tone, not in rhythm. Calm, clinical, like they were being tested, watched, judged, like rats in a maze.
And those last words-"Only those who adapt will survive."- kept echoing in his head.
What did that even mean? What kind of trials? Are we going to fight? To kill? To compete? Were we supposed to work together or turn on each other? Each though making his stomach twist in unease and fear.
Linus looked around, and he saw the desperation, the hunger in some people's eyes. The ones that had grouped were whispering, sizing each other up. Others backed away, pressing themselves against the walls like the floor might swallow them next.
Fear does strange things to people. He could feel it wrapping around them like a rope, tightening, invisible but undeniable.
And yet… Linus stood there, locked in his thoughts, drowning in them.
Why me? Why us? What did they see in me that made them bring me here? Was I strong enough to adapt? To survive?
And worst of all, how many of us weren't going to make it?
As he was drowning in his thoughts, he suddenly realized something.
The people, some spoke different languages, but, the voice spoke in English, he was sure of it.
But everyone understood it. Even the non-English people, though they were reacting in their own way, but they didn't look confused, like they understood what was said.
As if they heard it in their own voice, in their own language. For some reason, that was terrifying and interesting at the same time. Linus's mind raced, did some new invention come out that he wasn't aware of? But in this situation, it didn't matter, whatever spoke to us, it didn't matter where we were from, what language we knew, what we believed, it put the same fear in all of us.
This place, this voice…it wasn't interested in our names or our lives, at least that's what he thought.