"Hello and welcome to your next test. I hope you are all prepared to learn the important lesson of sacrifice. In the next room you will be introduced to two individuals that all of you know personally. Just as you decide who lives and who dies by virtue of the nature of your work, you will do the same with two of your 'friends'. Who will you choose and will you all agree?"
As the door buzzed, it swung open violently, causing her boss to jump back before looking through it. Strewn throughout the room was the ominous glow of bombs in every corner before two lights buzzed on in the middle of the room, illuminating a young woman and an older man.
"Oh god. Cassidy." she spoke softly, but clearly the girl in the middle of the room heard her, turning her head to look over at her. The two were restrained to a pole in the middle of the room and in front of each of them was a large blade. She peered at the ceiling as the others rushed in to get a feel for what she was dealing with, having not been involved in setting this trap up. Each one had a release that was attached to a pulley that would require someone to take hold of it before it released. This was clearly a game of time and trust in each other. Every player needed to agree on which life to save otherwise they would all die in an explosion in the room. When she passed through the door it slammed shut behind her and she heard a clicking sound. The others had figured it out as well and Dylan rushed to grab the cord on Cassidy's pulley to stop it from engaging while Lisa and Richard grabbed the cord on Bob Rushman's pulley.
"Michelle fucking help me!" Cassidy screamed her name, snapping her back to reality as she ran over to help Dylan who was losing his footing. Grabbing hold of the cord with him, she realized the tension on the cord was intense, the flashing of the lights on the bombs causing her to tense. "You two have to fucking me kidding me! He told us why we were here for supporting rich fuckers like that bastard and you're going to save him?!"
"He's the fucking CEO of the company Dylan! Cassidy is just a fucking cashier." Richard snapped back, Lisa looking over at him and then to Dylan, groaning as she tried to keep the cord from slipping from her grip.
"Just a fucking cashier?! For christ's sake you selfish asshole she's a human being just like Mr. Rushman is!!! You care THAT little for the life of another person?" Michelle snapped viciously at her boss who glared daggers at her before the clicking sound heard caused all of them to lurch forward, the cords tightening and lowering the blades a little more - there were gears controlling their decision if they didn't make one quick.
"Lisa what the fuck are you doing supporting that crook?!" Dylan snapped at the blonde who was hysterically trying to figure out which side she should really be on.
"I don't want to lose my job you dick, okay?! Richard is my fucking boss just like he's yours!"
"We're all about to lose our fucking lives if we don't make a goddamn decision! I don't know about you Lisa but do you want to die with the realization that you let an innocent person die for the sake of that worthless, money laundering asshole!?" She was snapping as she looked over at the bombs again. If they didn't make a decision they would all leave here in tiny pieces.
"What the fuck are you talking about Michelle?!" Richard was grunting with the force he was putting behind the cord to try and stop it's movement entirely even though that wasn't going to happen.
"Will you all fucking shut up and get me the fuck out of here!!!"
"Fuck you asshole!! You can be spared, there's more then one of you fucking snakes working for the company! Pull harder you two!!"
"Pulling isn't going to change a fucking thing, shut up! All of you just shut up and listen to me!!!!" She had had enough as the clicking was heard again, pulling them all closer and bringing the blades closer to the bodies of the two victims. "Richard, Rushman has stolen so much money from the fucking company that it's billions of dollars in the fucking hole!!! The illusion of 'good business' has been the fucking game we've been playing! This asshole is the one who cuts the fucking salaries so he can pad his goddamn pockets with ease! He thinks all of us are a fucking number while he sits up in his plush office and watches us do his dirty work!"
"How do you know this?"
"I know a lot of things, now get the fuck over here so we don't all go up because of this stupid disagreement! One 'worthless' life to you is worth a lot more to many other people!" As she screamed over the screaming over Cassidy and Rushman, Lisa suddenly rushed over, grabbing the cord and they started to have a steadier hold on it, the clicking sounding again as Richard lurched forward and the three of them remained fairly stationary.
"No! I can't decide the fate of another person!"
"Then you just killed all of us!" Her words struck something in the man as he looked up at the 'innocent man' before him before letting go of the pulley and stepping back. The blade released and as Rushman cursed them all, it slammed into his body. The hideous amount of blood that splattered across Cassidy and everyone else was a grim reminder of just how serious this situation was. Dylan, Lisa, and Michelle stumbled backwards as the restraint around the middle of Cassidy's body released and she crumpled to the ground, the blade slamming into the metal pole where her body would have been.
Cassidy was hyperventilating, shivering on the floor and wheezing between her hysterical screams. The lights on the bombs ceased flashing, the timer on the wall stopped and for a moment Richard was soaked in the blood squirting from the lifeless body of the man before him that paid his salary. He was breathing hard and finally fell to his knees before him, soaked in his blood.
Soon enough they were all back on their feet, escorting each other out of the room. They made the most gruesome choice of their lives by simple statistics about a man's ill-gotten gain and careless behavior - it wasn't right, it wasn't fair, but this was Jigsaw's world.