by Bryan Young
Ashley and Tye moved out of the way just as Dallas let out a booming war cry and jumped forward fist first, colliding with the wall. The impact was so powerful that it sent out a massive wave of energy, forcing back everything it came in contact with, a blinding white light accompanying it.
Tye was the first to shake off the impact. He looked around to see everyone else still recovering, struggling to get to their feet. Dallas stood in front of the wall, using his arms to shield his face, steam from the impact rising from his back. Tye wondered if that was it. Had they finally broken through? Was he really about to go home and put this place behind him? He took one tentative step forward, eager yet reluctant to see the results.
As he walked forward, he looked up at Dallas, trying to read his emotions but failed to make sense of the blank stare on the face of the creature standing next to him.
He nearly gasped when he saw that the dome was completely unscathed, having returned to the same bluish tint of the rest of the structure.
“No,” Tye whispered to himself. He reached out to touch it and noticed that it no longer rippled. He pushed with as much force as possible, but the wall remained strong, not reacting in the slightest to all the strength he could muster. His pushes slowly turned into bangs and his bangs into punches. As he howled in frustration, his fists grew sharper and more powerful but despite his fury-filled barrage, the dome would not relent.
Everyone watched as Tye continued to desperately fight his way out of the alien prison to no avail. Dallas, who had transformed back to his human form, scowled. “So what now, great leader?” he taunted.
“Do you ever shut up, Dallas?” Ashley retorted.
“No. He said he was getting us out of here. And look where it got us? The same fucking place. Great leadership there, man.”
Tye remained silent as Dallas continued to criticize him. “And you all fell for it too,” he shouted, pointing at Ashley, Carmelita, and Kato. “Who is this kid even? Why did we think he’s some savior? Now that we’ve WASTED a whole day doing this shit, we’re probably going to have to stay here at least until morning, and guess what? The longer we stay, the more likely it is that we die.” He rolled his eyes and turned back to Tye, yelling at him sarcastically, “Great. Fucking. Job!”
“What was the alternative?” Kato asked. “Literally no one else had a plan, right? And it’s not like it wasn’t worth a shot. We kind of have to explore all options, and we explored one.”
“That’s not good enough,” Dallas scoffed. “We need plans that work. This one didn’t.”
“Dallas, I'm gonna—” Ashley began before being cut off by Carmelita.
“Enough!” she said forcefully. “Tye’s plan didn’t work out, sure. Dallas, he didn’t know what would and what wouldn’t work. He’s not an expert on this place and never claimed to be. You can’t hold him accountable. We needed to try something. But you do have a point. We need results. We can’t afford to spend a million days here trying out plans that don’t work. Next thing we do, we need to make sure it’ll work.” Carmelita then looked at Tye before turning to Dallas with an annoyed look. “And the last thing we need to do is play divide and conquer. We need to stick together. Not tear the group apart by attempting to turn everyone on each other.”
Tye somberly rejoined the group and just as he was about to speak, a voice echoed from behind them. “You know, if you understood how this place worked, you might’ve realized how pointless your plan was.” Everyone’s head snapped back to see a tall slim figure wearing futuristic, glossy black armor standing calmly.
Though the figure was humanoid, it held two sets of arms folded behind its back. It had a slight hunch and slinked forward on long legs with knees that bent backwards. Its feet were large but only had two discernable toes that pointed forward. And though the mask it wore hid most of its face, it seemed to have four mandibles with large fangs on the ends. Its face also had four red lenses and the area where its nose should’ve been flat, instead containing four holes with small tubes running out to its back.
However, the one feature that struck all of them was the ghostly aura about it. It seemed to glide along the ground, moving through objects rather than over them. Tye pointed this out and softly asked, “You’re not really here are you?”
“No. I’m just a projection,” the figure replied calmly in a voice that seemed to be digitally modified. “No offense, but I’m much more comfortable here than I would be in there. And since you’re replying I take it that means my universal translator is working.”
“Who are you? Do you have something to do with this? You seem to know something about the dome,” Tye asked.
“That depends on what you mean. Did I select this planet? No. Did I engineer this environmental projection chamber? No. But I am an administrator of sorts, so I suppose I am involved.”
“Administrator?” Ashley asked.
“Yes, administrator. To watch over your progress.” It inspected them and then muttered to itself, “Hmm. Interesting. There should be six of you.”
“Can we cut to the chase, here? What the hell is happening?” Tye asked impatiently.
The figure sighed and said, “Yes, I do feel it’s time you knew. None of you are here by accident. You were brought here, or rather, beckoned here. Have none of you found it odd that you want to leave this place despite the fact that you all chose to come here?”
“You have a point,” Kato admitted. “The second this place showed up I made my way over from San Diego. Which, by the way, worst decision of my life. Because this place really sucks. And I mean, really sucks.”
“You all did,” it responded. “You’ve all become acutely aware of your abilities, correct? Those abilities aren’t random and they weren’t gifted to you. They’re products of your specific genetic codes, most of which remains unexpressed until a de-inhibitor is present. You all came in contact with a de-inhibitor via our pods.” At this point, he looked directly at Tye. “Some more directly than others.”
“Wait!” Tye interrupted. “Do you mean I’m the only person to get traumatically stabbed by one of those things?”
“Yes, you are. Most of the time, the de-inhibitor is introduced in one’s sleep or at a time of rest in a more inconspicuous fashion. We can even do it through targeted lasers. You were... unfortunate.”
“You guys are pricks,” Tye cursed.
It continued, “Point being, we were able to create a beacon of sorts that appealed to your specific genetic codes and lure you here. The same beacon initiated rather ghastly symptoms in those it wasn’t meant for, simply as a means of sifting through the people we didn’t want to make contact with.”
“So, the point is just observation?” Carmelita asked. “This whole thing is to just watch us? And what if we didn’t come in the first place?”
“Oh, you would have. These trials have existed for thousands of years and the technology has only gotten better. Everyone succumbs to the beacon. And no, it’s not just to observe you. It’s to test you.”
Tye raised his eyebrows at this last point and automatically asked the question now running through everyone’s minds. “Test? You’re testing us?”
“Ah. And now we’ve reached the crux of why we’re here.” Though they couldn’t tell through the mask, if the creature was capable of smiling, it surely was at that moment. “Yes. Test. You see, having abilities isn’t uncommon. In fact, many planets with life have special members who display extraordinary abilities. What we want to do is observe and test those who do in order to decide if your planet is worthy of its own survival. Your abilities go far beyond any army or weapon that a civilization could develop. You are in essence the greatest and most powerful assets your planet has to provide. That being said, if you can’t measure up to our tests then there’s no point. Your world and your people would be better served for other purposes. In essence, you must prove you’re worth your lives.”
“Worthy of its own survival?” Ashley asked. “And what happens if we�
��re deemed worthy?”
“Then, we begin ‘Phase 2’. However, that’s not really worth discussing at the moment.” It said coldly.
“And how do these tests work? Because I’m pretty sure I haven’t studied and even if I had, I’d probably get like a D+,” Kato piped up.
“Simple.” The figured started making its way towards the group, so it was standing right in front of them. This was when they noticed just how tall it was. Dallas and Tye were the tallest of the group and it still stood two or three feet above them, looking down with unmistakable contempt, like an insectophobe finding a dead roach in their kitchen. “There will be three trials, starting tomorrow morning. You will have them every other day. We wanted to wait until you were all together to begin them. Your goal is to survive. The trials end when—oh, if—all of you die. As long as there is even one person remaining, you will survive. But it’s more than just a fight. There are markers you must obtain from each trial to keep as a receipt of success.”
“And if we fail?” Tye asked. “Or refuse to participate?”
The figure casually walked over to Tye and bent down to look at him, face-to-face. “If you fail or refuse to participate, this dome will consume the earth and kill everything you hold dear. We will use this world as we see fit. Maybe if you get lucky, it’ll be a decent garbage dump.” It leaned into Tye’s ear and whispered, “Could you imagine that? The entire history of your planet. Everything you’ve worked to accomplish? Buried in our trash.”
The figure then backed up and scanned the downcast faces of the teens before him. “To put it simply: Fight or die. If you win, you can go home and your planet will be safe for the time being. Three trials. Failure is death. Feel free to continue trying to leave all night. It won’t work. Morning will come, and the trials will start.” It then turned towards the dome wall and continued speaking, “But if you want a chance at saving your planet, I suggest you try to succeed.”
With that, the image dissipated into millions of light particles and the group was left standing beside the wall in silence. No one knew what to say or how they should feel about what they had just been told. Everyone wanted to say something to make sense of what had just happened, but no one had the words for it.
Through the plethora of mixed emotions and thoughts bouncing within them, the common feeling they shared was a deep sense of dread as the chilling words of the mysterious being began to sink in. They now had to come to terms with the fact that the lives of their families and the fate of the planet now rested in their young hands.
They walked back in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, knowing they weren’t going to escape their captors any time soon and the reluctant comfort of the cave was something that they’d have to endure for a few nights more. Kato tried to make jokes and lighten the mood but in vain. Tye, in particular, had taken the new information the hardest, feeling as though his actions had put the entire planet in jeopardy and his resolve to keep the events that occurred at the hills a secret deepened greatly.
When they reached the cave in the dead of night, Ashley started a fire and called for a meeting. Everyone sat around, wholly disinterested in speaking. “C’mon guys, we have to talk about this,” Ashley began. “What do we do?”
“What can we do?” Carmelita asked. “We’re screwed.”
“Not die?” Kato added. “Not dying sounds like a good goal.”
“Tye?” Carmelita said.
“Yeah?” he responded with melancholy.
“What’s the plan?”
“I dunno. Why ask me?” he said with his head down.
“Because you’re kinda the leader here,” Carmelita responded.
“I’m not the leader of anything. I don’t want to be the leader. I don’t want the responsibility of making sure that the entire planet survives some crazy aliens that I had nothing to do with. We act as equals. No one has any more deciding power than anyone else.”
“So, we’re like a board of directors?” Kato asked.
“A board of directors?” Dallas questioned.
“Yeah. I mean, if we all have a stake in this thing and we make decisions as a group then we’re like a board of directors! Except our decisions determine our lives and the fate of the world instead of how many drugs we can sell.”
“What a capitalist way of looking at it,” Tye chuckled and then shrugged. “I dunno, man. Dictating what other people do isn’t my thing. But to answer your question, Carmelita. We fight. If the world really does depend on us fighting through these trials, then I don’t give a damn what we have to do. We have to complete them. Doesn’t take a leader to recognize that.”
Dallas sat with his arms folded and reluctantly agreed, conceding that since they weren’t getting out anyway, they might as well do what the aliens wanted. He stood up and grabbed his backpack and made his way to a secluded corner of the cave. “I'm going to bed,” he said coldly. “I'm done with today.”
The four other teens looked on, biting their tongues. Though they were annoyed by Dallas’s callous attitude, they understood it was driven by a strong desire to go home, a desire that they all shared and were willing to do anything to fulfill.
Kato followed Dallas’s lead by running outside to grab a pile of large leaves and making a makeshift bed in his own corner of the cave. Ashley too called it a day. She figured that she might as well get rest for the beginning of the trials.
Carmelita and Tye, however, hung around the fire in silence. While Tye refused to look at Carmelita, her eyes probed him as if she was digging through his soul. He sighed and threw a rock in the fire, watching it turn black and kick up ash.
Carmelita called out his name and received no response. She said it again, and he threw another rock in the fire. She frowned at his gloomy demeanor.
Tye heard her say his name again, but this time, it wasn’t her voice hitting his ears that caught his attention. It was the fact that he could hear it in his mind. His eyes popped up to see her smiling face. She stood up and walked over to hug him before walking back to her own corner of the cave and finding a spot to lie down in, using her sweater as a pillow.
Tye sat alone by the fire, watching it slowly burn out. He turned to look at the sleeping faces of the people he had not only promised to protect but the people he felt responsible for. He frowned but before anger, frustration, and guilt could take over, Carmelita’s calming and inspiring words echoed in his head as clearly as they had a few minutes ago: “It's going to be okay.” He smiled and walked out of the cave, looking up. Holding a rock in his hand, he threw it up towards the daunting black object and watched it get crushed against the shield, creating a beautiful, colorful ripple of energy that made his eyes grow wide in awe.
Exhaling, he went back inside to sleep and await the first trial that would begin in the morning.
Chapter 12: Trial 1—Might as Well Start with a Bang ¯_(ツ)_/¯
The teens awoke in the morning to what seemed like tiny consecutive earthquakes. The powerful vibrations were accompanied by the unmistakable sound of falling trees mixed with the distressed wails of animals. Everyone scrambled to gather their belongings and ran outside in a confused haze to figure out what was going on.
Tye was the last one out as it had taken him the longest to be stirred by the commotion. He ran to meet the others outside. He immediately noticed the cause of the ruckus. A few miles away, a massive, featureless humanoid towered over the trees and was slowly making its way towards them.
“Jesus Christ,” Tye whispered before his tone changed to a shout, pointing at the monster in front of him. “THAT’S our first trial?!”
Kato stood with his mouth agape. “Remember how I said all we had to do was not die and that it should be pretty easy? Yeah, I lied. We’re screwed. Anyone have ultrahard steel?”
“Ultrahard steel?” Dallas asked. “What’s that?”
“You don’t have to get every reference, Dallas,” Tye responded.
“It’s a reference?” Dallas questione
d.
Kato shook his head. “Seriously? Uncultured white people.”
Dallas disregarded the slight and looked ahead at the giant, unfazed by its massive lumbering physique. He puffed out his chest out and announced that not only was he not scared but that he would defeat the giant, ending the trials quicker than it had ever been done.
Ignoring what he deemed a desperate display of bravado and machismo, Tye tried to cobble together a plan to take the giant down. Without warning, he heard a thunderous roar from within the cave and turned to see a transformed Dallas charging full steam at the approaching giant. With one mighty leap, he sprung hundreds of meters into the air out of sight.
“Dallas, what the hell?! We need a plan!” Tye shouted.
“Well! I guess our plan is action!” Ashley responded, taking flight towards the creature.
Carmelita threw her hands up and said, “I guess we’re doing this.” With that, she followed Ashley’s lead.
Kato looked at Tye, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “So… We still doing that plan thing or?”
Tye waved his hand towards the monster. “Just go.” Kato screeched with glee and ran at lightning speed towards the creature. Tye shook his head. “God damn it,” he muttered under his breath before shooting into the sky to combat the giant.
As he rocketed forward, the meandering creature came into clearer view. It towered over everything else in the dome, it had shimmering transparent skin that looked to be molded over black bones making the beast appear as though it was made of clay. It was slightly hunched over and it had an elongated head with no defining features, save for a thin line running down and around what appeared to be flaps on its face. Its thin arms fell just below its knees but it had three fingers and a thumb that extended far further and it made periodic muffled screeches that made Tye’s blood run cold.
