Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry it's been over two months since posting the first chapter. As of today on 21 April 2017, though, there are 14 completed chapters sitting in my Google Drive. When we left off, Robin had just escaped the classroom he woke up in. Get ready to meet our cast!

Nonary Game: Resonance

"What the hell is going on?" Robin asked, nervously wrapping his right hand over the face of his watch. He should have figured there'd be others around, given that he'd been numbered, but he admittedly had not expected to run into anyone immediately after opening his door.

"Beats the shit out of me," said one of the men farther back from Robin. He stood tall with his arms crossed, looking somewhat imposing. His sturdy figure was only thrown off by the thin purple scarf that was tossed repeatedly around his shoulders, contrasting his dark skin quite stylishly. Robin figured from his accent that he must have been from somewhere near the Caribbean, or perhaps northern South America. "I'm hoping once we're all out here that someone will tell us."

"Uh…" Robin glanced around quickly, counting seven people including himself. "How many of us are there supposed to be?"

"Nine, I'd say," said another man, with noticeably orange hair and a focused look under his glasses. He scratched the side of his face then, drawing Robin's attention to the cross of black athletic tape around his bicep. He lowered his arm, looking at the face of his watch, which seemed to be identical to Robin's in every way.

"What makes you say that?" Robin asked.

The man looked ever so slightly amused. "Well, for starters, my watch has a [9] on it," he answered, turning his arm to reveal its face. Robin was caught off-guard by how unnatural the position looked, then wondering if a similar motion on the man's part had required him getting that athletic tape. His face remained calm, however, and after a few seconds he returned his arm to his side. "Not to mention that there are nine classrooms that open into this part of the hallway."

For the first time, Robin let his eyes drift away from the six others and instead examined the area surrounding him. Indeed, it could best be described as a hallway, although he didn't see anything that resembled a window whatsoever. Beside the room that he'd woken up in was a square on the wall, clearly a room number. It read "008." Fitting, he thought. "Looks like this is my new favorite number."

"I know, right?" answered a larger man, offering a sort of chuckle afterwards. "It's on the watch, all over the inside of my room…" He adjusted the hat on his head, a tallish black cap that Robin could only assume was part of the marching band-looking regalia the man was decked out in. He wore a black jacket with a rather fancy trim that matched the rest of his outfit in brick red and gold. His sleeves were pushed back, showing that he too had been given a watch. The gold of the casing didn't quite match the rest of the gold he wore, something that Robin found to be quite tragic.

"So it looks like we're waiting for two more people, eh," Robin mused.

"Yes. Assuming their puzzles were about the same as ours, we should not have to wait too long," another man replied. Is everyone here male? Robin wondered. It was a slight shame to him that his kidnappers seemed to have no interest in women, but he figured there were more pressing issues. This man was wearing a predominantly tan suit that seemed to be some sort of explorer's outfit. Accents of scarlet served him well as focal points and gave him a bit of a more commanding figure, although his bearded face was rather relaxed. His voice had a distinctively European color to it, and Robin figured it was either Spanish or Portuguese.

"Hey, we've got another one!" one of the men who hadn't spoken yet called. Indeed, a door across the way slowly creaked open, and out popped another man, this one definitively more buff than any of the others. His hoodie, which could only have been designed for working out, was completely sleeveless, and Robin thought he could see weightlifting straps around his wrists. I don't believe he'll be needing those here…

"What's going on?" the man asked, clearly Italian. The question almost sounded like a casual greeting, but with just enough of an edge of discomfort to remind Robin that this was indeed an unnerving situation to be in.

"We don't know yet," the man with the scarf answered. "There's an intercom speaker on the wall up there, so maybe whoever's trapped us here is gonna tell us."

"What the hell are we waiting for?" The muscular man seemed more confused than angry. "Why don't we see where this hallway goes?"

"No," a man in a blue suit coat with impressive gold decor quickly replied. "I mean, there's still one person missing. Number [3], that is." He folded his arms before him as well, showing that he wasn't far behind the Italian. Damn, I need to work out more… Or at all… Robin lamented.

"It's not like we're gonna leave them behind," another person, wearing a black ballcap and vest, retorted. "The hallway doesn't go far before we hit another door with a number."

"Why would there be another door with a number on it?" the explorer asked. "Which number?"

"I don't know why," the person in the vest replied. "I just saw it when I was running around before anyone else got out here. And it's numbered [5]."

"No way, man," the muscular guy said in disbelief. No longer waiting for further explanation, he jogged ahead and turned down a hall out of sight. Presumably out of curiosity, the explorer and athletic tape guy followed after him.

"They'll be back soon," the vest-wearing person continued, rather self-confidently.

"Hey, are you okay?" The voice came from behind Robin, who spun around to see the man in the blue suit coat talking to someone else, still partially obscured by the door of his room. From what Robin could tell, he was not nearly as at-ease as some of the people who'd been talking recently. Deciding to leave the other man to handle the situation, Robin turned back to the hallway, hearing the slower trods of the three who'd left returning.

"Maybe this would be a good time for whoever the hell put us in here to start explaining," the muscular man grunted.

"I don't hear anything. I doubt we'll have that luxury." The man with the athletic tape smirked, shrugging after several seconds of silence. Not knowing what to say, Robin remained quiet, cupping his elbows in his hands.

Alas, all of a sudden, there came a sound, a sort of fuzzy crinkling. "The intercom!" called out the marching band guy.

"Naturally," the man in the scarf mumbled.

"Hello," came a distorted voice, sending a series of tingles across Robin's back. Without a doubt, that was the voice of the gasmasked individual who'd kidnapped him. "You may have noticed that you are participating in a game. As there are nine of you, I refer to this as the [Nonary Game]. The goal of this game is for you to escape this complex. However, more immediately, your individual goal is to survive."

"What?" the man with athletic tape whispered.

"I do not mean to alarm you, but there are two ways that you may find yourself being killed in the near future. I will inform you of the second later, but the first is that this complex contains several items that may be hidden on the person in order to facilitate murder. It is wise to be cautious of who among your fellow participants you may trust." The voice paused for a moment, met with a surprising level of silence from those in the hallway.

"Ah, but I'm sure your main question is this: "How do I escape from this facility?" Indeed, the path to salvation is hidden behind a door… a door labeled with a [9]. If you can pass through a door labeled [9], you will surely discover your freedom. I will be holding no time limit over your heads, but this facility lacks adequate sustenance to maintain several people for any extended period of time. It is best you be on your way now. Good luck." The crackling sound returned for a second, and then the hallway was cast back into silence.

It hovered about everyone's faces, clouding the air that felt thick and immobile around Robin's head and condensing in his mind. The tingles that had happened upon him hadn't left during the entirety of the kidnapper's speech, and afterwards they had evolved into a shuddering that localized to his shoulder blades. He didn't seem to be alone in his terror. While the others may have been internalizing all of their dread, the last person to come out from his room more clearly showed the anxiety Robin felt creeping at the edges of his vision.

Doing the best he could to ground himself, he made himself focus on the last person's appearance. His blond hair was casually spiked up in the front, and he wore a sort of thin, jade-colored jacket with lapels that ran its entire height, thus leaving it entirely open. Robin figured it was purely aesthetic, but with such a nice green, he couldn't blame him. In any case, he was clearly slipping back into an anxiety attack, assuming that had been the reason the man in the blue suit coat had asked if he was okay earlier. The rest of the participants, as the kidnapper had called them, stood in a loose group nearby, mostly looking to the ground at their feet or mumbling to each other.

"He never did say what the second way we could get killed was," the guy with the purple scarf muttered, finally piercing the wall that preserved the silence.

"Where the hell are we supposed to find a door [9]?" "Why does he think we're gonna murder each other?" "This is fucked up." "What's a [Nonary Game]?" Several voices rose then, spilling all sorts of concerns that carried one major tone - from what everyone had already shared, there was very little understanding.

"Actually…" the jade jacket spoke, presumably for the first time since he'd come out of his room. "I-I found a p-piece of paper. I-in the room I searched. It's… here." He held out a singly-folded page, roughly A4 size, and Robin could see why he hadn't just read it aloud himself. The nearest man to him, the one in the blue suit coat, took it and unfolded it gently, breathing deeply before preparing to read.

"This document contains several instructions for the progression of the [Nonary Game]. While I am only offering this to you, I strongly urge you to share it with the fellow participants you are about to meet, since it is imperative to your own potential escape." He took a short break then to breathe, letting his exhalation hold the group's attention before he continued.

"As you have noticed, I have placed a bracelet about your left wrist with a single digit on it. This [numbered bracelet] serves as your personal key to move forward through the doors that present the major barriers for this game. These doors are known as [numbered doors], for reasons which I hope are obvious to someone as clever as you. The door you find in the room you've awoken in is no such door, but it is certain that you will find your first set in very little time.

"To achieve access into one of these numbered doors, you will have to verify your identity by scanning your left hand on the large panel that can be found beside the door. The machine that houses this panel is called the Recognition Device, or [RED]. However, it is not sufficient for one person to scan into any door and be allowed through. You must not go alone. A group of three to five participants is needed to pass through any numbered door, and they cannot be any random combination. The digital root of the numbers on their bracelets must match the number on the door for it to open."

The man in the blue suit coat took in another deep breath, blowing it out audibly to express his growing exhaustion from reading. Had Robin been feeling friendlier, he may have offered to take over, but he couldn't bring himself to redirect the attention towards himself. Thus, the other man continued soon after. "All players who scanned in at the RED must pass through the numbered door to obey the rules of the game, and they must follow up their entry by scanning in at an analogous device inside the door. This machine is known as the Deactivation Device, or [DEAD]. You may be wondering what this device intends to deactivate, and I suggest you wait to continue reading this document until the passing of an announcement I will be giving once everyone is outside." He stopped then, glancing up to the group and then shrugging.

"The second way that you may die would be from being punished for disobeying the rules of the game. One rule that is vital to understand is that all players who scanned in at the RED must also scan in at the DEAD within 90 seconds of passing through the numbered door. If this rule, or any other rule expressed before, is disobeyed, the punishment will be administered through your bracelet. A signal will lead two needles in the back to emerge, which will inject you with a chemical known as propofol. The first dose will act as an anaesthetic, and, 90 seconds later, a much greater second dose will lead to the failures of certain bodily functions. Its effects are painless but indeed rapidly fatal." The color in his face was drained at this point, and Robin could feel tension solidifying around him like cast metal.

"Passing through the numbered door triggers the 90 second countdown to the injection, and only verification at the DEAD will abort it. Thus, it is wise to be ever mindful of your numbered bracelet. There are two ways one might remove the bracelet. The first is to reduce the wearer's heart rate to zero. The second is to escape this complex. If you use these rules wisely and carefully, you may be able to achieve the second outcome. I wish you the best of luck."

"...Sort of a mood whiplash there at the end," the man with the athletic tape mused.

"He's gotta be fucking with us," the muscular man replied. He reached a finger underneath the band of his bracelet, trying futilely to tug it off.

"You really think that's gonna work?" The marching band guy chided the other man, but Robin could tell he too wished it would. The slight draping of his eyelids around his wavering eyes clearly showed he felt sick to his stomach.

After letting several seconds of silence pass, the man in the purple scarf spoke. "So, the only way we can move forward and get the hell out of here is to go through these numbered doors?"

"Oh, no way," the explorer replied. "Did you hear what he said? Passing through those doors starts the injection!"

"Only if everyone doesn't scan in at the DEAD again," the man in the blue suit coat responded, having only marginally regained his composure.

"This is sickening…" the guy in the jade jacket whispered, crossing his arms.

"Maybe we need to get ourselves off that topic for a bit," the muscular dude said. "We should, like… exchange information."

"Like what?" The vest-wearing person followed with crossed arms as well. "We all got kidnapped for this likely violent game. What more do you need to know?" Their ability to easily say such words made Robin shudder.

"I don't know, maybe your names? So I can talk to you?" the muscular guy snapped back, making to appear larger than before. Alas, the vest refused to be intimidated.

"Or we can try to see what we all have in common," Robin chimed in. "Maybe we could figure out who's doing this to us." Everyone turned to look at him, and he uncomfortably rubbed his shoulder. It hadn't occurred to him until that point that he'd barely gotten a word out since meeting them, and rather like jade jacket, his words seemed to carry some kind of weight. They're already overestimating me. Pity, he thought.

"Oh, what the hell," said the explorer. "Let's see what we can do. Ah, my name is Basilio, and I am from-"

"Hey! Hold it!" the man in the purple scarf interjected. "We should be careful with what we're saying, in case the bastard is watching us, trying to get us to say something."

"You can't be serious," Basilio replied. "What could we be saying that he does not already know?"

"I don't know! But I'm not saying anything I don't have to. He said we could get murdered in here, didn't he? Can't be too trusting." Robin hadn't been worrying about what purple scarf was prophesying, but it seemed the feelings among the others were uncertain.

"Then what are we supposed to call you?" the vest asked.

The man in the purple scarf was silent for a few seconds, clenching his jaw in thought. He glanced down at his wrist as though forgetting his numbered bracelet wasn't actually a legitimate watch. "You can call me Delta."

"Fourth letter of the Greek Alphabet," the man with the athletic tape reasoned.

"Yes," Delta replied. "And my bracelet is number [4]." He fell silent then, true to his word so far.

"Basilio, what's your number?" the vest followed.

"Eh, oh, my bracelet…" He looked down at his wrist as well, as though the earlier trial hadn't burned it into his brain. "Number [2]. I guess I do not need to pick a nickname, then."

"This nickname business is kind of… nonsense, really," jade jacket spoke, exhaling deeply. "I don't think hiding your first name is going to protect you, and…" He frowned then, looking away from everyone's eyes. "...It's making it sort of difficult to trust you."

"I suppose I can live with that," Delta retorted, leading jade jacket to rub one of his eyes in a sort of dejected fashion.

"Right," vest person progressed. "My bracelet number is [7], so I think I'll be going with Lucky. Not super fitting for this situation, but it can kind of be like a middle finger to whoever kidnapped me. Uh, it'd be cool if you called me by "they" pronouns, also."

Jade jacket smirked again, a purely unreadable expression coloring his face. "Anyway, I'm Marcus. I'd still appreciate it if you all used your names as well. And, uh, since it's going to be important, I'm bracelet number [3]." Clearly still rather uncomfortable, he rubbed at the watch around his wrist, offering no further words.

The man with the athletic tape glanced briefly at his wrist as well, then looking back up at the group. "My name's Cody. I do parkour, sort of professionally. But, anyway, I've got number [9]." He showed off the face again, in that unnatural pose he'd shown back when Robin exited his room. I guess parkour explains that… I wonder what the hell else he does to his poor arms.

The hall dipped into silence again for a few seconds, but it seemed the man in the blue suit coat wasn't discomforted by it. "I'll go. Alright, I'm Ian. I'm a pilot, and a damn good one, I might add. And I've got bracelet number [1]." He started to shrug, expressing that there was little more he needed to say.

The guy in the marching band outfit spoke up next. "My bracelet's number [6], so… You all know dice? Right, well, I'm gonna be Boxcars. Bet you'd never guess what I do, huh?" He gave a light chuckle then, and it became quite clear to Robin that he was distinctively American, most likely New Yorker.

With a deep sigh, the muscular guy looked up from his bracelet as well. "I'm number [5], and my name is Leo. I'm on the weightlifting team." He offered no further indication of what kind of weightlifting team he might have meant, but the lack of sleeves on his hoodie directed Robin to the belief that he was likely telling the truth.

"So, what about you?" Ian asked Robin. In his thoughts on the others, it hadn't even occurred to him to introduce himself as well. He hesitated for a few seconds, trying to come up with a reasonable conclusion.

Basilio, Marcus, Cody, Ian, and Leo all gave real names… But Delta, Lucky, and Boxcars all gave nicknames… Would it be better to go for trust by telling them who I am? Or should I protect myself and give a nickname too?

"I'm…"