The Box

DAY FOUR

Hallways. Endless hallways with countless locked rooms was all I could make of this new hell. It seemed like I was in an endless maze of long halls and doors, as I continued onward, unaware of what I was even looking for in this place. There was no sound in the errie silence of the halls, except for the echoing of my footsteps and my shallow breathing, not wanting to attract any attention, if any existed beyond the numerous doors I passed.

The errie silence was suddenly interrupted with the sound of an intercom, following an all to familiar voice that made my blood boil at the sound of it.

"Awake already, I see," spoke the same robotic voice from before.

The cold voice made my anger rise, wondering if this was even real or just some demented nightmare. Here I was, wandering down endless halls, unknowing of where I was even supposed to go from here. What was I searching for in this new place? Was I just being played with, like a chess piece on a gameboard, or was I just falling even further into insanity? One thing was sure, I was tired of being watched and taunted by who or whatever was behind the intercom. They had put me here, had caused me to break to the point of where I confessed everything, and even pushed me to dying in the box. Yet, here I was, alive and well.

"Why didn't you just let me die?!" I questioned angrily. "Isn't that what you've wanted from the start?!"

"Foolish human, did you really believe that you'd escape that easily?" taunted the voice. "You still have yet to learn why you are REALLY here, and only when you realize the truth of why you've been spared once more, will you be set free from this place.

I was surprised, not expecting the voice to respond with an answer like that. What did this unknown person or creature mean by that I still had yet to learn why I was really here? I was here for a reason? If so, then what was that reason?

"I don't understand!" I yelled with confusion. "I thought I was here for passing the survey! What the fuck is going on?!"

"Allow me to shed some light on the situation," stated the voice from behind the intercom. "Walk down the hall, and you'll come to an stop, with two choices; left or right. Take the the right hall, and walk to the end of that hall. You'll come a double-door entrance to where you'll find your answer."

I wasn't sure whether or not to believe the voice that had stuck me here in the first place, but at the same time, I didn't have any better ideas on where to go in this endless maze of halls. I had a choice, believe my worst enemy or continue to wander for eternity through this maze with no guidance or any sort of clue of what I was searching for in the first place.

"How do I know you aren't just leading me into some sort of trap?!" I barked.

"Have I lied to you yet?" replied the voice. "Think about it. I haven't lied to you about one thing. Everything in the box was a hallucination and a safe haven, just like I said on the day of your importation. I even alerted you that you wouldn't survive the four days without taking bold measures, drinking your own blood. I have been nothing but a guide to you, my friend, never once an enemy. Another thing that you must remember is that I didn't kill Cheryl, YOU did with your desperation and selfishness to escape the survey. You've just blamed me, because you are blinded by your anger, and refuse to blame yourself for yet another ungrateful act."

Reality hit me like a ton of bricks. The voice was correct. They had never once lied to me about anything, and had been honest since the day I had arrived here. Had I been blinded so much by anger that I had begun to blame others than myself? It had become clear to me. My jaw dropped, knowing that my greatest enemy all along had been my greatest ally in this unknown place. I collapsed to my knees, feeling like an asshole, which I clearly was. I had no changed since I arrived here on day one. I was still the same asshole, blinded by my own hate.

"I see that you've finally caught onto the truth, my friend," spoke the voice. "All along, you've been blinded by anger and hate. As a result, you've pushed others away, and have blamed others for your own faults. Do you truly believe that I'm lying to you now?"

I was unable to talk, as I slowly rose back up to my feet and remembered the directions given to me by the unknown voice.

"I understand now," I spoke. "It's time to find out why I'm really here, and the answers behind where I am."

With no other word, I proceeded down the hall, just as the voice instructed, until I came to a dead end and had to choose left or right. Just as the voice instructed, I took the right hall, and quickly made my way to the end of the hall, until just like the voice said, a pair of double-doors were before me. I inhaled a deep breath, as I cautiously made my way through the entrance into the room where I'd find answers.

The room was large and open, much like the box, only much more different. It was dark inside, so I browsed the wall, hoping to find some sort of switch. It didn't take long before I found one, and quickly illuminated the room with a large number of lights connected to the rafters high above my head. Once my sight was clear, I was shocked at the contents within the room, causing my jaw to drop once more.

Among the walls was a plethora of monitors, currently switched off, along with six stage setups, with green screens as the background of each. A camera was positioned in front of each stage, currently on standby mode, and hooked up to some sort of device that connected to six separate laptops, aligned on a single table. Lastly, in the far corner of the room, a number of familiar props I had seen before were stacked. Mechanical props of Fluttershy's animals, along with lingerie, ropes, mattresses, and many other props seen in the show "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic."

It took me a minute to connect the dots, but it wasn't long before I came to realization of what this place was. It was the room where the survey Skype calls are called and projected from. Six stages. Six laptops. Six ponies. Without a doubt, this was it. This was the place where it all took place. The demented survey projection room. I wanted to scream and destroy everything, but I just felt that this wasn't the only obvious answer that the voice was referring to. Something else was here, and I had to find it.

"So, this is it," I said. "This is where it all happens. The demented Skype calls, the survey, and the murders."

"Looks like you are more smarter than I thought," the voice replied. "However, how do you suppose those who run the survey know how to contact the unfortunate victims? It can't just be by luck or random guesses."

I thought hard about what the voice told me, still unsure of what they meant. It was true. Just HOW did whoever ran the survey get Skype contacts? Could it be some imported code in the survey itself, able to import a Skype contact into a draft whenever the survey link is clicked, or was it something less complicated? I decided to search around for anything specific that may relate to the situation.

I carefully navigated the area, keeping a sharp eye out for anything specific, and didn't find anything, until I came to the area of the laptops. In a small drawer below the laptops was what looked like some sort of notebook with a large number of pages. This peaked my interest, so I grabbed one and quickly opened it, only to find what seemed like a well organized log of Skype contacts. The strange thing about the contacts, was a red "X" next most of the names, which I quickly figured out was the victims who been killed already.

I fluttered through the pages, not seeing anything different except the massive numbers of Skype contacts with the red X next to those who had already met their fates. I was about to give up, until I came the very last page of the log, and found something familiar; my Skype contact. However, the last Skype contact was not mine. It was Cheryl's. No red X placed next to it. It hit me almost instantly, as I dropped the book from the impact. Cheryl wasn't dead.

"What?! Cheryl isn't dead?!" I questioned.

"Correct," the voice replied.

"B-but how?! I saw her die before my own eyes!?

"As you've seen, your eyes can deceive you, my friend," stated the voice. "Not everything you see is necessarily real."

"I-I don't understand," I replied calmly. "If Cheryl isn't dead, then where is she?"

"She's closer than you think, but if you wish to find her again, you'll have to watch the moment you regret the most, again. The camera in front of the second stage is paused just before that moment. Watch it again, and you'll be able to find her."

I shuddered at the statement of watching Cheryl's punishment in the survey again. Could I? It was something that I regretted severely. Something I never wished to see again, but the voice had not lied once about anything, and if this was the only way to find Cheryl and save her from this place, I had to put aside one of my greatest fears to save someone I cared for dearly.

"Alright, I'll do it," I stated with my bravest voice, as I made my way to the camera, and prepared for the worst, pushing the "play" button on the side of the camera.

The footage started out with the sight I had seen over the Skype call, where Fluttershy was staring blankly into the camera, holding a paper in her hooves. The questions she asked me.

"Final question; did you take this survey by your own choice?" asked Fluttershy through the webcam.

There was a long pause before I answered over the Skype call. The one answer I regretted the most.

"No! It wasn't me! It was my stuck-up bitch of a girlfriend! She put me up to this bullshit, so if you are going to punish anybody for anything, choose her not me! HER!"

I lip-synced the entire answer I gave, feeling tears build up in my eyes. How could I give such a fucking ungrateful answer?! Cheryl was the kindest person you could know, and was far from a stuck-up bitch that I so-selfishly called her. I wanted to hit myself so hard that I bled profusely right there, but the worst was yet to come.

"Is that really how you feel?", questioned Fluttershy.

"Yes!" I selfishly replied.

"As you wish," Fluttershy replied, before the beginning of Cheryl's torture begun.

She was already tied up in the green screen projection of what I thought was originally Fluttershy's cottage. Struggling to get free from the restraints. Next came the torture, as Fluttershy proceeded to violently smacking Cheryl across the face, managing to fracture her teeth and causing her gums to bleed madly. Cheryl cried from the hits, but it only grew worse, as Fluttershy resorted to punching her across the face, hard. Cheryl couldn't scream due to the tape across her mouth preventing so, but she continued to cry and struggle from the torture.

I wanted to stop there, but it wasn't over yet, as Fluttershy resorted to her next method of torture, but not to Cheryl this time, to me. Fluttershy pointed at the screen, as she ripped the tape from Cheryl's mouth. She was crying and begging for mercy. Fluttershy's response to her pleas was only cruel and made a chill run down my spine.

"It's not me who has brought this torture upon you, dear, but only the one you care most about," Fluttershy answered in the most cruel voice she could muster. "I only do what he tells me to do, and he wanted you to be tortured, just so he could get away with lying over the truth."

"No! Cheryl! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!"

Oh my... what a liar you are. First, you say you want her to be tortured, because she's the one who got you into this mess? Looks like you've been caught in a dead lie, but despite your actions now, you already told me what you want, so I have no choice but to do what you say."

"Please... don't do this!"I pleaded.

Too late.

With those two cold words, Fluttershy proceeded to killing Cheryl.

"Oh, Harry, would you mind doing the honors?" Fluttershy asked. "You've been needing a boost in protein lately,
and I believe one human is enough to help ease your hunger."

The last of Cheryl's screams were silenced as Harry engulfed her, finishing her off. Strangely, I didn't remember much after that. Suddenly, it hit me, I DIDN'T remember anything after that. Had I... The video answered my question, as it continued onward.

"Oh dear, my victim has become unresponsive," Fluttershy spoke.

"Are you sure?" spoke another unknown voice from within the room.

Fluttershy nodded her head.

"Not to worry, his contact has been logged, and as we all know, once the survey is started, it is inescapable until it is complete."

"So, now what?" asked Fluttershy.

"Your job is complete, until the next victim that is. As for this one, we'll put him through the "box" test, where he will continue to take the survey in his mind, and shall remain in a coma until his quest is complete. His girlfriend will be put into the same state as well, and depending on how he copes in his mind, will decide the fate of them both. Only one will survive the ordeal. Put the subject in room B52, for a period of four days. As for the victim himself, his test begins now.
Start the mind test protocol, and put it on a four day time schedule. NOW!"

I was speechless, as the video came to an end. All along, this wasn't even in reality. I was in a coma in reality, and this whole thing was occurring in my mind. I had passed out, and was still taking the survey, just in my mind. This newfound information was almost too much to take in, but it was obvious now. This was still a test, and the only way to pass, was to save Cheryl from wherever she was hidden in this place. That's when I remembered that the location was given away in the video. She was in room B52, and was alive, but I feared that she wouldn't be for much longer.

"Now you understand," spoke the voice. "Why you are here, and where exactly you are. You were brought here for a reason, and you've figured it out. Cheryl is alive, but once the fourth day is complete, both you and Cheryl will die in your comas. Despite all that has happened, and what you have learned, even if you manage to save her, only one can survive. It's time for you to choose, my friend. Would you rather live and go on with your life, or are you willing to spare the one you love, and save her from a terrible fate, caused by you?"

The voice was very blunt, which meant that this was it, my final choice. It was clear what I wanted, and the only way I could escape the images that now plagued my mind. I had to do the right thing, even if it did cost me my life. I deserved it for what I did out of my own choice.

"I've done ungrateful things, and have no reasons to go back, while Cheryl has a full life ahead of her," I stated. "I've treated my friends and family as if they were garbage my whole life, even taking the life of an innocent person. This time, I will not choose wrong. This time, I will do the right thing."

My choice was clear, as I heard the voice speak again.

"Best find her before it's too late. You slept for almost two days, and only have thirty minutes before the test ends," the voice warned.

I didn't say anything, and quickly resorted to rushing out of the room, noticing that the rooms were now labeled with numbers, and knew I had a long way to go, due to the nearest room being labelled, "D1." I had a long way to go, and hoped that I could make it before I lost Cheryl again. I immediately shook my head of any sort of negative thoughts.

"No. No more doubt. I will save her. I will not fail again!"

With no further hesitation, I quickly scurried down the hall, my target being room B52.