The girl, appearing to be no more than thirteen years of age, rushed down the sidewalk of Tokyo, her bleached-blonde hair flying behind her. With one hand, she clutched at her backpack strap, holding it tightly against her brand-new school uniform. With the other, she pushed those in her path out of the way gently, an impossibly wide grin plastered on her youthful face. To those she passed, she was a happy middle-schooler; she was nothing special at all.
To the men stalking her, it was another matter entirely.
The one nearest her raised his hand to tap the microphone clipped onto his earlobe, turning it on.
"Pachira Target 00139 spotted. Moving towards the Edogawa ward. Closing in."
He quickened his pace as he stalked the girl, wearing everyday clothing: a t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. As he neared her, a grim smile graced his thin lips. It was like taking candy from a baby. Her run slowed until it was easy to approach her. The reedy voice of his employer proceeded a fuzzy crackling sound in his ear. "Sato Noe, one hundred and thirty-two centimeters, correct? I do not tolerate mistakes, Junichi."
Goosebumps raced up and down his flesh; not with fear, but with anticipation of the objective's execution. He picked up his pace, closing in on the girl. He plastered a winning smile on his face as he approached her, his expression a mask of kindness.
"Hey, cutie." Sato stopped in her tracks, glancing up at the stranger. A blush coated her face as she registered that a cute sixteen-year-old boy had called her 'cutie'. He tousled her hair affectionately, proud of himself and his acting skills. "Wanna get something to eat?"
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At first, I didn't even register the pain. I was focusing solely on bringing myself out of the fog that was my sleep. Or… had I been sleeping? Some tiny part of my mind told me that I wasn't, but what else could it be? I could not see. It sure seemed like I was dreaming.
I was dreaming about a yummy high-schooler paying attention to me, sitting across a small café table from me. We weren't talking; we weren't doing much of anything. It was as if I had walked in on my own dream just as we were having an awkward silence. I stared at him, marveling at what my subconscious had created. Normally, I wasn't nearly this creative. The longer I stared at him, I noticed him changing, little by little into a… a monster?
This must have been a dream from when I was younger-- no way did I believe in monsters now. He reached out for me, and I couldn't move, couldn't do anything, as he came closer, multiple eyes all ablaze and skin coated in blood. I wanted to scream, ached to scream, but my throat refused to operate as it would in real life.
His long, sinewy fingers grabbed a hold of my wrist, twisting them painfully-- it felt as though someone were wrapping thick ropes around them. All at once, he got closer and closer, my terror mounting even though I knew that it was only a dream, that it was just a terrible, terrible nightmare. He grinned, such an awful grin, with his mouth full of teeth, and…
… I woke up.
This was when I noticed the pain. A burning fire stormed and raged within me, centered at my parched and raw throat. I could think of nothing but the pain that filled me so. I opened my eyes and sat straight up, to find something to fix the pain, to get rid of it.
Food, my mind screamed at me, FOOD!
I stood shakily, driven by the need to find any form of sustenance. Surprisingly enough, I didn't have to look very far. There was a small clicking noise behind me, and I whipped my head around. From the brick walls sprouted a tiny tray. On top of the little mechanism sat a bundle of graps, and a small glass of water.
Needless to say, they didn't last long.
They didn't satisfy me, but it gave me enough energy to regain my logical thinking and assess my surroundings. I was standing in a long brick passageway, which split into three branches on both ends. The bricks, held together by a garishly pink mortar, extended upwards as far as I could see, disappearing into a black voice some fifty feet above my head.
"Good evening, Sato-chan." a monotone voice droned. I jumped, startled, and turned to find the source of the noise. A small flat screen had appeared in the wall above where the metal tray had been moments before. A kind-looking older man smiled at me from inside of it, his glasses placed precariously at the tip of his nose.
"My company and I do apologize for your wrists," he said in the same monotone cadence, "But you put up quite a resistence against our little Junichi. He almost couldn't get you in the van." My eyes snapped down to my wrists, which I now saw were raw and blistered all the way around, although whatever pain there might have been when the damage was caused had long faded.
"You, Sato Noe, have been chosen as a participant in the Pachira Mandate."
"What is that?"
"A law, passed twenty years ago. You may not have heard about it," he continued, "Because the only who do know about it are the government, myself and my assistants, and it's pariticpants. In order to keep the population from becoming too weak, it was decided that fifty people from each capital city, each month, would be randomly selected and placed in a maze with four highly-trained assassins." He grinned wickedly at me through the glass-like screen.
Ignoring the dull rawness of my throat, is began to scream at him. "You put me in here to die?!" I screeched. "I'm only thirteen! I have a life to live, and a family, and- and- and… You, you can't just DO this to people! How does no one know about this?!"
He laughed, a sound that, under different circumstances, might have soothed me. "My dear girl, this is for the good of the world! The strong survive and go on to produce strong children, don't you see? And, well, you can certainly tell the world about it if you like, once you get out."
Tears wet my eyes. "Then why doesn't the world know about this yet?" I mumbled. I had used up most of my energy screaming.
"My dear Noe, do you really think that anyone has ever gotten out?"
He leaned back in his leather chair as I stumbled backwards, leaning against the pink wall opposite the screen. When he spoke, his tone was formal and stiff, as though he were reciting the lines to a memorized document.
"We have injected a formula into your bloodstream that increases your metabolism dramatically. You will be hungry for all of the duration of the maze. When I have finished giving you the instructions, trays will rise from the ground, each with a small, chewable pill on it. The pills are stamina-enhancers, and actually alter the DNA so that your increased strength would be passed onto your offspring, should you complete the maze. Eat each pill, and you will be released. At each corner of the maze, there is a weapon. Use these to defend yourself. The assassins will be released five minutes after the trays rise. Good Luck." The screen clicked off and retreated into the wall, bricks moving mechanically to cover it up.
Clicks erupted all around me as the trays rose from underneath the pitch-black floor. I stayed where I was, stunned into paralysis, as a glowing neon sign lowered itself to be directly in front of me.
PACHIRA MANDATE