Saturday, October 10, 2015

[Before Dawn]

The eight men stood wondering what this door could be, or rather, who is behind it, and why is it asking them to come in. The Spy looks at the Soldier with a complete scared face -a rare thing that these men do while at work-. "What are you looking at me like that?! You go first!" The Soldier exclaimed, then gives a huge push to the spy that he fell on the door's ledge. The door swings open upon impact, and reveals a square blue room, with eight chairs neatly lined side-by-side which faces a small round table and a couch behind it. And on the couch sitting was an old looking man in a tuxedo, and beside him was a young looking lady that is around the age of Miss Pauling. "Ain't anything bad 'round there?" The Engineer says, still standing outside the door. "The Velvet Room holds no means of danger, so you are free to enter." The young girl says. Being a man, the Heavy proceeds through the door, which he struggles with, and encounters no danger. "Big room you got here." Heavy says. After a long time, the group of men were persuaded to enter the room. After all were seated, the old man begins, "Now where were we."

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, this place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." The old man continues. "Wait, 'dream and reality, mind and matter'? What is this, a joke?" The Scout rudely says. "No, this isn't a joke. And for that matter, in this situation you have come into, is a real serious one." The young girl says. The Scout just treats it like a big joke and slouches at his seat. "I presume you all work for a company named 'Mann Co.'?" The old man says. "Yes, we do." The Spy answers. Satisfied with the answer, the old man begins to introduce himself. "My name is Igor, and it's a pleasure to be an acquaintance. And this is my assistant, Margaret." Igor Begins. "We are the residents of the Velvet Room, but me and Igor are not the only ones inhabiting this room." Margaret says. "In the coming days, you will meet my little sister and brother, Elizabeth and Theodore." Margaret continues. "Does this Elizabeth look pretty?" The Scout says. "But at this moment, my two siblings are tending to the other two Velvet Rooms we own." Margaret says, ignoring Scout's question. "Wait, you have TWO of these Velvet Rooms?!" The Medic exclaims. "Yes, but we created this version of the Velvet Room out of urgency." Margaret replies. "Which leads me to my point." Igor interrupts.

"So, do you all believe in fortune telling?" Igor asks the men. "I don't. Since Merasmus used his dark magic to try kill us all." The Soldier says. "Then maybe… May I read all your futures?" Igor asks once again. "If it does not involve us going to die, then you may." The Sniper says. Igor then proceeds to magically summon his blue signature Tarot cards and waved his over the table to spread it. He flipped the bottom right card, and to his surprise, what was on the face of the card was unexpected, or rather, unwanted. It was the Arcana number XIII, The Death Arcana. "I don't know how to say this, but…" Igor stammers. "But what?" The Heavy says. "It seems that some people who you cherish dearly, are going to be dead soon…" Igor says. "Dead? And who are these people you're talking about, Igor?" The Spy asks reluctantly. "I don't know, but you must hope that the next card holds the power to revert it." Igor encourages. He then proceeds to flip the bottom left card, which reveals the Moon Arcana. "This card represents hesitation and mystery." Igor explains. And before anyone can question, Igor does something he doesn't do normally in his fortune telling.

Igor flips open the middle card and reveals the rarely used Arcana number 0, The Fool Arcana. "Now let me fully explain your future." Igor says. "Likewise I said earlier, some people who you cherish dearly, are going to die. But nevertheless, you can save them if you are willing to do self-sacrifice at one point of your journey. But during the course of time, a mystery will be imposed upon you all, and your duty is to solve it. The company you currently work for, will slowly crumble into the hands of a man who plans to bring it down." Igor states. "But how can we divert that?" The Engineer asks. "You can only divert such a tragedy, only if you are willing to resist against it." Igor says. Igor pauses or a long time and closes his eyes. "It seems that the sun is about to rise in the Dustbowl, that means we shouldn't keep you all here any longer." Igor announces. "In the coming night, we shall discuss further the troubling future you shall partake in and how you can avoid it." Margaret says. "Before you all leave, do you have any questions?" Margaret asks. Scout raises his hand. "Who is playing the Piano and singing around us?" Scout asks. Igor chuckles. "You will meet them, but for now, we must part." Igor says. Igor stands up and bows, and sits again. "Until we meet again."

[Early Morning]

The RED Engineer, Heavy, Sniper and Pyro were completely restless. The visit to the Velvet Room were too much for them to handle, the same goes for the BLU Medic, Spy, Scout and Soldier. The RED Medic notices that his teammates are not touching the breakfast he made. He bangs his fist on the table which captures the restless teammates' consciousness. "I made that meal specially for our team and you are NOT EATING IT?!" The RED Medic shouts out. And at that instant the sleepless men started gobbling up their breakfast.

[Afternoon]

During a break, the sleepless men ofthe RED and BLU team gathered in an abandoned house, where none of their team mates can see or overhear them. "What do you think about what Igor said in our dream?" The Spy started. "I don't know. We don't even know if he was actually real." The Engineer said. "Maybe he is real, but I don't really know. It all felt so real." The Scout says. "Ok, tonight, we all must return to that Velvet Room and find more answers about our future." The Sniper declares. And with no objections, they all agreed to try return to the Velvet Room and find out what's going on. But never did they notice that the man in the shadows has everything on line already.

All he has to do is to execute it.

Arcana 2: "Unwanted"