She lay on the coverlets, her body exposed and bare, waiting for me. I took one long, look, before I erupted into fury, stripping off my shirt like a madman, practically tearing off my tie, kicking off my pants, until he, too, was completely naked. Without a hint of hesitation I leapt forward and dived down next to her. Immediately I was surrounded by her warmth, the softness of her skin, and also, the pure, sweet scent of her body on mine.

'Fuck,' I whispered. 'Lady, your body's worth a damn.'

'All the better,' she breathed, her hot words tickling his neck. 'I just want...to let you have a good time.'

I grasped the side of her hips - my palms slotting perfectly with her gentle curves - and pressed closer against her, until we had established a complete connection. Then it began. The intercourse. The next few minutes dissolved into an epiphany of lust and satisfaction, as I lost myself in the endless softness of her skin.

'I'm gonna pay you double,' I heard myself saying, at some point. 'Screw that - fucking triple. I haven't had a workout like this since...ever...'

'All for your pleasure, Carter Dunce...' The words floated around my ears, bounced up and down and all around the room. 'All...for your..pleasure...'

It was coming. The climax. My body tensed, grew rigid, as the entire force of the night's passion began forcing its way through. Hold it in, I thought, it has to last longer. I want it to last. I want to stay here forever in this bed, with this woman by my side, just hugging, cuddling each other close, for as long as -

And then, my entire lower body seemed to explode -

And I flew off the bed, eyes wide open.

For a while, I lay on the floor, panting like some dog, while my brain ran through the series of events that had entertained me so much back in dreamland. Truth be told, it had been a while since I had such a...stimulating dream as that. I could even still feel her skin touching my chest. And, even now, after waking up after being asleep for at least four hours, I felt like I'd just run a fucking marathon. What an acid trip.

In any case, I didn't think I would get any more sleep tonight. I pushed myself off the floor and -

Found myself staring at an unfamaliar ceiling.

This ceiling, so strange, so utterly unknown to me, astounded me to such an extent that I found myself collapsing back onto the floor. It wasn't possible. I had clearly fallen asleep in a dingy motel room, with bottles and cigerettes strewn around me, and the last thing I saw before I entered the dreamworld was a ratty, moth eaten ceiling with all the paint peeling off.

What I saw now was pure white, clean and unblemished.

My hand touched the edge of the bed, and I seized up again. My bed at the motel had wooden stilts. What I was feeling now was the cold touch of hardened steel.

A mirror at the corner of the room. An emotionless steel desk at the other corner. A tiny, almost miniscule bathroom behind me. And, most horrifying of all - the single clear window at the side was gone.

All the light I had was the artificial glare from the electric light above. It illuminated the final absurdity - the fact that my clothes were gone. My white blazer, my black vest, my tie, my jeans, my shoes, all of it had been replaced by some sort of green long sleeved uniform, with a single golden arrow imprinted on my left shoulder. My pants were the same sickly green colour, and my feet were encased in some sort of black leathery boots. A black digital watch curled around my arm, wrapping it in an uncomfortable vice - and I couldn't see any buckle to pull it off. The screen was blank.

At once I became aware of the starchiness pressing down on my skin, wrapping me in an uncomfortable stuffiness, and the sweat was already beginning to pour in.

It was as if, in the space of one single night, someone had taken off my clothes, dressed my in this bizarre military getup, and transported me to this strange bedroom. No - it wasn't a bedroom. It's smallness, it's bland decour - it almost seemed like a prison cell. Did...the police come and arrest me in the middle of the night? Certainly, I'm sure they would have wanted to have a word with me eventually, but for them to have gone to this extent, so abduct me so secretly...? Or else...no, it couldn't be...

I wanted out of this square room.

The one lone exit I could see was a blank steel door, as bland as the rest of the surroundings. I sure as well didn't want to wait around just sitting here...so I got up and turned the doorknob. It opened, and I found myself at the middle of a long corridor.

I could hear voices. Human voices. Why was I so relieved by such a mundane thing? I didn't care. I practically jogged towards the end of the corridor, towards the voices, towards whatever could have possibly explained what the fuck was going on. I turned a corner, found a sign that said COOKHOUSE in emotionless font, right smack into some double doors, and I opened them.

I found myself staring back at ten pairs of eyes, which had all swung to me as soon as the door opened. They were all dressed in the same style of uniform as me, right down to the golden arrow on the shoulder and the tightened watched on their hands, but what immediately struck me was their youth. They were all just kids. High schoolers. They couldn't have been barely over seventeen. Why would they be in such a sombre place such as this...?

One of the ten detached himself from the group and walked over to me. My eyes immediately zoned in on his purple hair, the piercings on his left ear, the tatoos wrapped around his neck. He lifted his hand.

'Morning, Carter,' he said. 'Mind if I ask who the hell you are?'

'How'd you know my name?'

In answer, the purple haired boy tapped the left side of his breast. On it was a name tag, which was printed in dull letters the name NIETZSCHE. I looked down, and saw what I hadn't noticed before - my own name tag, which said CARTER.

'Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, er - sorry about this, but how do you pronounce your name?'

'I don't bloody know.'

'You don't...know how to pronounce your name?'

'That's cause it's not my name. This is some random famous philosopher's name that was on the uniform I was wearing, but it's not my name,' he shrugged.

A tiny little girl from the sidelines piped up. Her nametag read COLETTE. 'It's a cool name!'

'It's a horrible name,' Nietzche said. 'Sounds like porridge.'

'Porridge...' This came from a boy with well groomed hair, who was ICE. 'A suitable breakfast for such a surreal occasion. If only there was some ingredients here, I could prepare it...'

'What are you, some sort of chef?' A girl, her hair weaved in two strands of expensive looking make, who was QUEEN.

Ice simply smiled at her. 'To be more precise, a butler. The Super High School Level Butler, as a matter of fact.'

'Hmph,' Queen said. 'Is that why you were chosen? Sorry to disappoint you, but a Super High School Level Billionaire is who's standing in front of you.'

'Hey, hey, hey!' another boy with the face and hair that the girls would fall for, with the name JOHN. 'If you're billionaire, then - if I'm not mistaken you're the billionaire? Rin Tomoya? The one who owns tons of castles in Germany or something?'

She gave him a dazzling smile. 'And if I'm not mistaken, you're the one who won the Wimbledon, the Super Bowl, and the MLB all in the same year, am I correct?'

'T-that's me!' he grinned. 'The Super High School Level Sportsman. Well...I didn't really know I was that famous...'

'It's always the duty of those on top to know what exactly goes down below.' She gave a sharp flick of her hair. 'Perhaps, one day, you would like consider joining my own personal soccer team...?'

'Oi! You can talk about this later?' A girl with her white hair tucked into a ponytail, whose given name was, quite conveniently, WHITE. 'We're in a serious situation here!'

'Ah,' Queen said. 'As always, the Super High School Level Lawyer comes in to save the day. How predictably.'

'Oh, wow, man,' A boy with his hair so long it was a wonder he could see straight, pushed himself forward. His nametag read ROCK. 'Are you like a fortune teller or something? Hey, hey then do you know me as well?' he struck a pose. 'Strumming his way through forty nine states, putting all those hip hop losers to shame, number one in the N - Y - C. It's me, the Super High School Level Rapper!'

It took a millisecond for Queen to reply. 'Never heard of you.'

Rock clutched his heart in an exaggerated gesture. 'Aw - man, that's mean. Lady - you ain't got - you ain't got soul, man!'

One of the girls giggled. She had a mousy frame and glasses, and her name was LION.

'What's so funny?' White demanded.

'Oh, I'm sorry...it's just that...Rock doesn't take things too seriously, does he?'

'Aw man, lady!' Rock did another series of complicated poses. 'I'm may be, like, carefree and all, but when it comes to rapping I'm as cold as a fish, ya better believe that!'

'Alright, then,' Lion giggled. 'I'll believe that, at least.'

A loud sigh broke into their banter. Nietzsche, who was idly twiddling a strand of his purple hair in his fingers, didn't even bother to look up when he spoke. 'As I was saying, before you idiots went and derailed everything, what I'm really hell worried about - ' he lifted a finger adorned with silver spikes, and stabbed directly at me, 'is why the hell he's here.'

'What's wrong, Niets?' Colette said, cocking her head in puzzlement.

'Isn't it obvious? All ten of us here have something in common - we all were going to attend Hope's Peak. And yet, out of nowhere, this old geezer shows up.' He eyed me closely. 'Unless you plan on telling me thirty year old men can enrol as well?'

He had questions, but I had plenty more. 'What's Hope's Peak? And all this Super High School Level stuff?'

Queen snorted. 'Geez, have you been living under a rock or something?'

Ice coughed delicately. 'If I may put it more politely - Hope's Peak is, in simple terms, a high school for the msot talented individuals from all across the nation. Everything ranging from sports to studies to any other obscure skill, as long as the individual is especially talented in his or her area, he or she would be invited to join Hope's Peak.'

'Yeah, I remember being psyched when I first got the invite,' John said. 'I was tingling all over, you know, when I was standing in front of the gates. And then what did I get? Some sort of dizzy spell that made me black out..'

Ice nodded. 'It appears the same thing happened to all of us,' he looked at me, smiled politely. 'Perhaps you could tell us your story?'

I had a story alright, but it wasn't exactly something kids had to hear. After smoking a few grams of something that definitely wasn't allowed in this region with some of my buddies, a police car had chosen that exact moment to come passing by. Chaos soon followed, with all of us running helter skelter with our bongs and sticks spilling out in our wake. We had each split up, to each his own abode, and I had found myself at a motel. The owner at the counter, a lonely looking middle-aged woman, told me she was full up. I told her I would show her the best night of her life if she put up a room for me. She complied; and after a reasonably uncomfortable session, I managed to detach myself from her and collapse on my bed in my own room. That scraggy ceiling was the last thing I remembered.

'I was in a motel,' I said. 'Then I woke up here. More or less the same as you guys?'

'Hey, Mister,' Colette said. 'What's your talent?'

'T..talent?'

'You know, you know! Everyone here has a talent. What's yours?!' Her voice bounced up and down like a hyperactive kid. 'I'm the Super High School Level Artist. What's yours?'

'Unless you consider counting the hairs on my bellybutton as a talent, I'm afraid I'll pass.'

She did a cute little pout and screwed up her face. 'Yucky yuck! Why are men so disgusting?'

'Oh, for God's sake!' White growled. She seemed to have quite the short fuse - I'd seen that in many women. 'Stop getting off track and concentrate on getting the hell out of here.' She started pacing around, as if the energy in her words still wasn't enough to satisfy her. 'In case none you have realised we have been kidnapped against our will and imprisoned! In some countries, this would mean the death penalty.' She wheeled round to face them. 'It's a very serious crime. No one has the right to do this to us, especially in Japan.'

Queen rolled her eyes. 'Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.'

John held up a pair of placating hands. 'Hey, relax a little. White's got a point. This isn't...exactly a normal first day at school here.'

'We need to investigate this place, first of all,' White went on. 'Find out whether there's any means of escape, or, failing that, any clues to the extent of our situation. I don't know exactly what our abductor wants with us, but given the speed and efficiency in which he transported here...he has something in mind.'

Lion picked at the sleeves of her uniform. 'This uniform...and the corridors and bunks...it almost seems like...some sort of military boot camp..?'

'No way!' Rock yelled. He jiggled his arm up and down frantically, as if it would dislodge the watch clinging to his arm. 'This is, like, some serious 1984 shit, man! Handcuffs are bad for style, yo!'

White nodded. 'I don't know what any of this means yet, but we're not going accomplish anything but just sitting around here and arguing.' She swept her eyes around us. 'Right! Here's the plan. We split up into teams and search the area. You!'

She was looking at me. I gulped. The ferocity of her gaze was not unlike the last teenaged aged girl I had spent the night with - that encounter hadn't ended well, either. 'Who, me?'

'Who else! You, Nietzshe, and Colette. You all are Team 1. Next is - '

'I'm not going with this geezer.' Nietzshe said. 'He's so fishy, I could plop him on a plate and serve up some fried tempura.'

This kid really had attitude, and, unfortunately for him, I wasn't the kind of guy going to take things lying down either. 'Look, pal,' I said, 'I know you're going through your teenage angst at all, but seriously. This isn't the fucking time.'

Instead of getting angry, like I'd expected him to, Nietzshe just sighed, stroked his hair. 'Alright, I get it. What a pain, honestly. I thought once I got to high school, things would be more bearable.'

'Next,' White said. 'Queen, Ice, and me. Team 2. John and JD, Team 3.'

'JD?' John frowned. 'Who's that?'

A small hand from behind went up. John turned, and nearly jumped out of his skin. 'What the hell!? You were standing there the entire time?!'

JD was a short petite girl who, from experience, should have had a cute face to go along with her delicate frame. The reason I couldn't directly tell was the fact that she was holding a large book in front of her face, as thick and big as a dictionary. The title was Ulysses...or something like that...? Sounded like some bigshot academic stuff.

'JD, huh...' John rubbed his head awkwardly. 'Well, it's nice to meet you. Lemme guess - Super High School Level Reader?'

It was impossible to see her answering expression, but her head did bob up and down, so I assumed that was a nod.

White was already plowing on. 'Team 4, the last one - Lion, Rock, and Ten.'

Ten was the last boy in the room that I hadn't properly had a look at. For good reason - like JD, he hadn't raised a word during the initial discussion, instead preferring to immerse himself in his own world. For him, his special talent appeared to be...clocks...? He had dozens of them - watches all over his body, at least five on each wrist, some strapped to his ankle, some wrapped around his shoulder, and a gigantic one set right in the center of his forehead. The funny thing was, they all showed different times, and, what's more...appeared to be moving at different speeds...? Watches were used to tell the time, but, looking at him, I don't think he even had any idea what day it was.

Ten didn't speak when his name was called, or even gave any sign or acknowledgement. All he did was stare at a watch on his hand - the third one from the top, to be precise.

'Now then,' White placed her hands on her hips, a leader assuming control. 'Let's get to it!'

'Excuse me,' Queen tittered. 'But who made you the boss?'

Ice smiled at her - whenever I looked, he was always smiling. 'Lawyers are born and bred to be the cream of society,' he said. 'Not too far off from billionaires, if I may be allowed to make my own judgement.'

Queen snorted. 'We'll see about that.'

If White was pleased with the compliment, she didn't show it. Instead she looked irritated at yet another random deviation. 'Don't you have somewhere to go, Ice?'

Ice raised his eyebrows. 'Oh my yes. The investigation. Forgive me, I had forgotten. May I suggest we take the very leftmost door at the corner, then?'

It was only now that I began to study the room we were in, after all the initial introductions had concluded. The eleven of us were inside some sort of mini canteen, with tables and chairs arranged in a traditional orderly manner. There was a couple of sinks and a counter at the front, but I didn't think there was going to be any food here for now. The only things unusual were the large tv screen, hanging down from a metal pole, and the pair of doors on each side that presumably led to other different areas of this facility.

White gave her orders. 'Ice, Queen and I will take the bottom left door. Team 4, the top left. Team 3, the top right.'

'Which leaves Team 1 with the bottom right door, the one we came from,' Nietzsche said. 'But what about the large double doors, the ones Mr Carter here came barging through?'

'There's nothing much,' I said. 'Just a corridor that leads to a bedroom.'

'A bedroom?' Nietzsche frowned. 'A single bedroom, all to yourself?'

I still didn't feel like accepting his hostility. 'What's it to you?'

'Oh, nothing much,' that purple brat began stroking his hair again. 'Just that its another strange fact atop more strange facts. You're getting fishier and fishier by the minute, Carter...anymore, and I'd have to slice you up and call you sashimi.'

'I don't think he'll taste nice,' Colette frowned. When I wasn't looking, she had already flounced over to the door in question, waiting for us. Nietzsche went over to join her.

'This door leads back to our bunks, we all woke up. Since you were all cozied up in your special master bedroom - ' he gave an irritated smirk. ' - I'll give you the guided tour of our own sleeping quarters.'

The two of them waited for me to come over. A hyperactive girl and a gloomy purple brat...these were my companions given to me for the investigation.

To be honest, I would have preferred someone else.

Nietzsche and Colette...and the rest of the eight other youths...they had at least displayed some form of urgency, but it was nothing compared to the fear currently pulsing through my chest. I had been hiding it all this time, Carter Dunce style, but...in truth, I was terrified.

I had served in the army two years, after I had reached twenty, as part of a long forgotten deal I had made with my patriotic loving father. As a result, I had endured two years of pure hell. The places I was sent to, the sights that were burned into my brain, the sounds that I still found myself recoiling from at night, the touch of hot metal on my fingertips...now, wearing this uniform, these boots, all the sensations came flooding back. Maybe it was just me, maybe it was because I had seen things no ordinary young man or woman wouldn't...but I couldn't shake the feeling that all eleven of us, every single one of us, were in deep and mortal danger.

'Oooh, ooh, I remember this!' Colette said. 'This is the female's bunk! Where we all woke up together!'

'Directly across her is the male's,' Nietzsche said dryly, unfazed by her random excitement. 'But they look exactly the same, from my view.'

I saw what he meant - the two room looked exactly identical. Each had five beds lined up against the wall, with a table set in the center, each piece of furniture of the same make as mine. The only thing that differentiated the two rooms were the two words MALE and FEMALE printed on each entrance - but, heck, they didn't even bother to color code it.

It seemed Colette was thinking the same thing. 'Huuhhh, but the girl's room needs a little color, don't you think? If only I had some markers, I could decorate this whole place up!'

'Drawing on walls with markers?' I couldn't help pulling a face. 'Sure that'll work?'

'Of course it will, Mister! Anything's possible if you have the willpower! As a famous guy whose name I think starts with a S said, all an artist needs is his mind!'

'O-okay...but you don't have any markers, don't you?'

Her face fell with such abruptness that I couldn't stop from feeling my heart sink. 'No...I had a handbag with me, but I guess someone took it away...'

How did you comfort someone that looked exactly like a sad young puppy? 'All your stuff's gone? That's a damn shame.'

'No it's not!' Suddenly she was jumping around again. 'All I need is my mind, remember?!' She beamed at me. 'Just you wait, Mister! Come back in ten minutes and I'll show what the Super High School Level Artist can do!'

Without further delay she whizzed into the girl's bunk and out of sight.

As I stood staring after her in disbelief, I heard a resigned sigh behind me. 'Artists,' Nietzsche shook his head, smiling his bitter smirk. 'Always with their head in the clouds.'

'Give her a break,' I said. 'She's still young.'

'So am I. I'm the same age. And I'm afraid I view the world quite differently from the rest of my peers.'

'So you're some bigshot, then?'

'Oh, no. Nothing like that. If anything, I think I'm one of the most useless and insignificant human beings on the planet. But at least I'm one of the few people who really knows what's going on.' At this point, he must have finally decided I was worth acknowledging, because it was only now did he tilt his head to look at me. 'I never really did tell you my talent, did I?'

'I'm sure it's fascinating,' I was dripping sarcasm.

'I'm the Super High School Level Nihilist,' he said. Already he was losing interest in looking at me, and instead started his way towards the men's bunk. 'If you don't understand the word, go look in a dictionary. Even then though, you won't understand...' I thought I caught a glimpse of a cracked smile. 'After all, who in the world can fathom what goes on in the head of a nihilist?'

Well, the brat certainly had the flair for the dramatic. Nevertheless, though I didn't know the exact meaning of the word, I had heard it once or twice, and the connations hadn't exactly advertised flowers and rainbows. Watching him more cautiously now, I entered the bunk with him.

'Do you see now?' he said.

'See what?'

'Us mere seventeen year olds have to sleep together with no privacy, while the adult gets a room all to himself. How convenient.'

The way he was talking to me, you'd think he was an adult himself. 'Look, brat,' I said. 'I don't know what's going on anymore than you do, so why don't you cut the crap already!'

He ignored me. 'Perhaps there's something you're hiding from us, Mr Carter? Something the rest of us should know?'

I told you, I don't know shit.'

'Hmm,' Nietzsche's eyes flickered back to his hair. 'Maybe there's something you missed out. Some small, minor detail. Anyone in your past who has a grudge against you? Any military organisations you previously worked for?'

'I served in the army for two years,' I said. 'Not Japan's - Singapore's.'

'Singapore?' Nietzsche frowned. 'So you're not from here?'

'I was born here, but otherwise I don't feel any connection to this country,' I shrugged. 'I only came here on a holiday with some friends, and that's it. Otherwise, I'm nowhere near as Japanese as the rest of you.'

'A foreigner as well as an adult,' Nietzsche sighed. 'Well, Mr Carter, I'd advise you better start thinking on why you ended up here. Because, clearly, someone wanted you specifically to be here.'

'How can you be so sure about that? Whoever did all this crap could have picked me at random.'

'Picked someone who had served in the army before? Of course, it could be still coincidence, as always...nothing ever is certain in this world...' Nietzsche bent over, and tugged on the mattress. 'Anyway, there's something else I'd like to talk to you about. Look over here.'

The mattress he was pulling up looked as painfully ordinary as everything else in the building. I could see nothing wrong with it. It was simply a clean, white, mattress - nothing more.

'Still waiting for the big reveal,' I said.

''Enough of the mattress then,' Nietzsche let the mattress flop back down, and, not even bothering to readjust it, turned his back to face me. 'Now, if you'd be so kind, check the back of my collar.'

'Why?'

'I'll explain in a bit, you old geezer.'

'Much obliged, you brat.'

I turned his collar over. Again, there was nothing I could see wrong...and maybe that was the point

'There's no label,' I said.

'Yeah. There's no labels on the mattress either. And the last time I checked, the mirror and table were completely clean as well - no brand names, no nothing.'

'And that information's going to help us...how?'

'It's not going to help us. It's a useless bit of trivia. It just..interests me. Most armies around the world outsource their products, so it's a bit strange that none of the items here are branded goods...it's almost like they appeared out of thin air, wouldn't you think?'

'Or maybe whoever made this place made the stuff himself,' I said.

'Which would lead to even more interesting developments,' Nietzsche smiled. 'Who on earth would go to all the hassle of building this entire facility just exclusively for the eleven of us? What sort of insane goal do they have in mind? Makes you almost excited, don't you think?'

'Excited?!'

'Excited with curiosity,' Nietzsche said. He flicked his hair back. 'Anyway, I'm sure there's one other unusual thing you've noticed in your room, as I'm sure you've noticed in your's.'

I had, but I was afraid to voice it out, until now. 'There's no windows.'

'Exactly,' Nietzsche pressed a spiky fist against the wall, and rapped once. All he got was a dull thud. 'We're, in every sense of the word, trapped here. Sealed off from the outside world. Hell, we could even be a thousand leagues under the sea or floating in deep space for I know. Isn't it exciting?'

'It's terrifying.'

'No, it's beautiful,' Nietzsche said. His face was unreadable - I couldn't tell if he was yanking my chain or not. 'Eleven humans trapped in an otherwordly institute with no hope of ever returning to reality...it's almost romantic, don't you think?'

'Alllright,' I said. 'I think I'll start ignoring you from now on, thank you very much.'

Before he could reply, something beeped.

'Huh..?' It sounded like it was coming from my wrist. Of course, the watch - I had forgotten all about it. Previously the screen had been blank, but now, something was flashing on the screen in black letters. It wasn't numbers, or anything to do with the time. It was words...

Assemble in the Cookhouse for orientation.

That was it. The same message kept flashing over and over, without any end.

A bundle of energy came hurtling towards us, screaming excitedly. 'Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow, did you see that, Carter,? Did you see that, Niets? The watch spoke! It's alive!'

'Yes it is, and what's more,' Nietzsche put down his hand. 'It looks like the Puppetmaster of this whole affair finally wants to speak to us.'

'The...Puppetmaster?'

'Who else could it be?' He was already heading towards the door, Colette bouncing after him. 'I assume the others received the same message, and they'll be in the Cookhouse soon enough,' he emitted something that was almost like...a chuckle? 'The next act is about to begin, Mr Carter. I'd suggest you hurry up...'

Was I the only one who had any grasp on our situation? All the others were taking it as if it was just another stressful day at school, but as for me, I felt like iron chains were pressing down on my chest, making it hard to breathe. This entire setup, with the watch, the uniform, the bunks...it was all so, unreal. So dreamlike. And I was as scared as hell. If the masterminds could have done all this, then...what would they do to us?