I stood up. My body felt powerful. Strong, tough, durable. I felt like I could run a marathon with ease, crush a tin can in my bare hand, catch an arrow out of the air.

I was the first up. We were in the house. Brick floor, brick walls, windows with a little light coming through, boarded up. All were absurdly durable. He had laced this place with steel. It was a fortress.

At the centre of the room was a big solid metal safe, and from the vents, the deadly nerve gas. As I took a deep breath of poison and went to access my inventory, many notifications popped up.

New mechanic introduced! Imprisonment. When imprisoned, you lose access to your inventory. Escape your bonds, and you can once more access your inventory.

Not completely unexpected. This game would be a lot easier if I could bring a breaching kit everywhere. Still, fuck you game. I feel I didn't say that enough.

Social anxiety gained! Negated due to upgraded Gamer's mind.

Anxiety gained! Negated due to Gamer's mind.

Fragile gained! Negated due to upgraded Gamer's mind.

Yay for not being mentally ill again.

Deadly nerve gas. Poison is seeping into the house, slowly killing you. Lose 1/10th of your health and stamina per 12 minutes, adjusted by your constitution, poison resistance and any relevant perks. 23 minutes in your case. Physical exertion will speed this up.

Looks like Glados had finished warming up the deadly neurotoxin emitters. I checked my status screen, trying to work out my modifiers.

Name: Laura Hunter

Job: Receptionist

Level: 1

Level: 1 (0/100)

Title. Zombieslayer.

HP: 10

Stamina: 15

Strength: 20

Constitution: 10

Dexterity: 12

Intelligence: 16

Wisdom: 15

Luck: 1

So with my perk and one level of poison resistance- maybe +5 for the perk, and 1 for the level, and nothing from con because my con was lame.

Laura would have been pretty fucked. With her below average con she would have been disabled earlier than everyone else.

She had some nasty mental debuffs as well. Poor woman. She was not fit for a Saw trap. They weren't always on of course, but this situation would be triggering as hell.

So, we had Daniel Marks, the corrupt detective's kid, there in the corner. Amanda, the creepy apprentice was napping on the floor. Faking bitch. Xavier, the violent gang guy. Gus, the red shirt who got killed early on to show this was serious. Jonas, the friendly black guy. Addison, the hooker with a heart of gold who got razor trapped. Me, a large muscular white man. And- Obi you motherfucker. You abducted me. He got burnt.

I checked the quest list.

50 perk points for curing each of them, minus Amanda. 100 perk points for defeating Amanda. Another 100 for escaping in under an hour. 500. I could almost double my previous haul, just from this one mission. Nice.

Obi was the first one up. He looked around, and looked surprised to see me.

"You abducted me you asshole." I said.

"No I didn't." He said, looking around, really confused.

"Yes you did! You chloroformed me."

I paused. "You were working for Saw, weren't you? Kramer."

He looked nervous, and laughed nervously. "Yeah..." Looking for a weapon.

I held up my hand. "We're both in this together now. You work with me, we get out, we have no problem. You didn't expect to be here, did you?"

He shook his head. "No, I didn't. But I didn't abduct you."

I paused. "Wait, were you after Laura? The blonde chick?"

He nodded. "I took her."

I shook my head and laughed a sad laugh. "She was our cleric! We were playing a game of dnd, I got sent out for doritos. I was wearing a blonde wig, since I was playing an elf." I smiled and shook my head. "You got the wrong guild member. Don't worry- you're not the first person to mistake an elf for a girl."

"But I took a short blonde woman- not a tall muscular brown bearded man..." He said, like he was losing his grip.

I patted his shoulder. "Lay off the ganja mate. I think you had too much. I need you to do something for me. Will you do something for me?"

He slowly nodded. "Ok..." Like he wanted to bolt. "Check the windows, they might have left a lose bolt."

Looking back at me, confused, he nodded and got to work.

Daniel Marks woke up next.

I knelled down next to him. "Hey. You were abducted too?"

He nodded, and rubbed his head. "I feel sick."

I nodded. "Me too. We'll get out of here. You're safe with me. I need you to help me though." Jonas was waking up as well.

"Hey there." I said. "We've been locked in a room with a psycho." I glanced at Amanda. "I mean by a psycho." I glanced at Obi. "I want to check the corner. Could you help Daniel reach the camera in the corner? Maybe it will have some clues." He nodded. "Ok..." Clearly still dazed from his knockout.

Addison woke up next, to my smiling face. She spoke, her voice hazy. "You need to pay extra for that..."

"I never pay. We've been abducted." I explained what was up to her, and set her a task as well- I told her that we needed to find a way out, and that there might be a loose wall panel.

Gus was up next. I explained what was up, and asked him to check the safe over. There might be some loot in it.

Xavier was second to last.

"Where the fuck am I?" He said, sitting up fast, raising his fists.

"Woah" I said. "Easy. We've been grabbed. Abducted and stuck in this room."

"We need a way out." He said. I nodded.

"I figure that. But I'm worried that whoever did this is gonna come back. You look strong. Could you beat the crap out of them? You'll need a weapon." He went to the corner and picked up a sharpened stick. "Yeah." He went to the door out, grabbed it, shook it, and stood, nervous. He was a man of action, not used to not having a solution.

Addison spoke, as she felt up the walls. "What is this, house arrest? Are we in jail?"

Jonas replied, working in the corner. I had been tossing him up more solid pieces of wood- thank you scavenge which gave me a 99% chance of getting a trait on an item- and Daniel was working on the screws on his shoulder.

"Nah, this ain't Jail man."

Addison got closer to the brick wall. "Yeah, you done a lot of time?"

I interjected. "It's America. Prison system is corrupt as well. We've all done time, I'd bet." I got several nods of agreement.

Addison found the hidden wall bar. She ripped into it, some way out, and found a key and a tape player.

You have gained +1 wis for noticing a valuable item!

Gus wasn't finding anything useful at the safe, and swore and tossed his top at the floor.

"They can't do this. This is kidnapping. How do you just wake up like this."

"I guess you've never been drunk before-" I and Xavier said at the same time. I grinned at him.

Gus continued on oblivious. "I saw this movie and-" I interrupted, shutting him down hard before he told some spooky ghost story.

+1 wisdom for avoiding spooking the group!

"I've read Adam's book." It was one of the things I had found when online. I had more skimmed the wikipedia entry. " He was stuck in a box, just like this one. Saw, the serial killer, does this. He likes traps like this. Adam was a survivor, just like we will be. So long as we don't get too emotional, just like Gordan, his loyal companion, said. We can break out of this box. Pass the tape, Addison?" I held my hand out.

She stopped. "Who made you boss?"

I thumbed myself. "I did. I know more about Saw and his ways than any of you, I'd bet. Follow my ideas, and I promise you, we can get out of here alive. Jigsaw always does fair traps." I tapped my forehead. "You just gotta think ahead, and you live. Adam did, Gordan did." I played the tape.

"Greetings and welcome. I trust that you are all wondering where you are. I can assure you that while your location is not important, what these walls offer you is important: salvation, if you earn it. Three hours from now, the door to this house will open. Unfortunately, you only have two hours to live. Right now, you are breathing in a deadly nerve agent. You've been breathing it since you arrived here. Those of you familiar with the Tokyo subway attacks" Sarin. "Will know its devastating effects on the human body. The only way to overcome it and walk out that door is to find an antidote. Several are hidden around this house. One is inside the safe in front of you. You all possess the combination to the safe. Think hard. The numbers are in the back of your mind. The clue to their order can be found over the rainbow. Once you realize what you all have in common, you will gain a better understanding of why you're here. X marks the spot for that clue, so look carefully. Let the game begin"

"Easy puzzle. Everyone here. If I find the solution to the safe, will you follow me?" I hopped up onto the safe. Damn, it felt good to be strong.

I got several nervous yeses.

"I wasn't meant to be here. I was out getting food for my group when, surprise surprise, I got abducted. None of us are really meant to be here.

Gus waved his hands. "So you can take it for yourself?" Daniel finished unhooking the camera, and the pair came back to the spectacle.

"No, so I can give it to whoever is the most loyal follower. Follow me, and you will live. Who's with me?"

Xavier held up his sharpened stick. "Maybe we just stab you and then you tell us."

I shook my head. "Nah, I won't crack. You want to live, you follow me. You got it?" He slowly nodded, and spoke. "Prove it. No more talk. Do something."

"I'll show you."

I hoped off, and checked the neck of each person, one by one. Each had a number on their neck, coloured in a rainbow colour. Honestly, the group could have solved this. When you have a riddle, one common solid way to crack it is to to consider alternate word meanings. The numbers are in the back of your mind. Back of your mind literally.

"Camera?" I asked Daniel, and he handed it to me. I used the reflective surface to read my neck mark- oh, I was me. I glanced around the room. Fluid shapeshifting, I was pretty sure, let me be whoever they wanted most. It said companions, so I was pretty sure it applied to several people at once. If I bought this woman's avatar, then I could use her form and still see myself.

To give a better example… suppose I took Master Chief as a companion, and Ethan, and Doom guy. I buy Cortana the Smurf, Mia the Zombie, and… what did Doom love? BFG the gun. Then I can be a man, but to them I look like what they desire most. I look like a smurf, and a zombie, and a big fucking gun. I get the benefits of all of my forms combined.

But, I didn't really care enough to want Laura's form. 3 points could mean a lot if spent well.

I quickly ducked behind the safe, out of sight of all, turned back into Laura, and checked my neck. Ahh.

2-5-16-11-9-8-8. Amanda didn't have a number, of course.

I unlocked it, took the syringe out- +1 int! and hoped back onto the safe, keeping an eye on Xavier.

"Give it to me." He growled, holding the spiked stick.

"No. I'm not giving it if you're gonna just murder. I'll smash it first."I twisted it in my hand, ready. Several of the group hissed.

Jonas stepped up. "Let's just calm d-" "Shut up!" We both said.

And we stood there, standing off. This was probably an uncommon diplomacy problem. Autosuccess mostly earlier, and now I was in a stand off with a gang lord.

Amanda woke up. She stood up, a little unsteady- artificial foot, haha. The trap I had put her in had worked! She grabbed at her neck. Skilled acting. Like she was back in the bear trap. She started to sway around. "No, no, no!"

I sighed. "On second thought, punch that annoying bitch in the face, and the first one is yours, Xavier."

I had rarely saw a man move so fast. He stepped up, and smacked her in the face, a blow that would leave a shiner. She stopped faking her panic then.

I hopped down, and handed him the syringe. He injected it into his neck. 50 points, woooow! "Trust me." I said.

I looked around the group, Jonas and Daniel helping the knocked down Amanda, the rest not caring that much. "Trust me, and we will get through this."

"Be emotional, and bitch, and you get the fist. Behave, and you get to be cured." I said, glaring at Amanda, bruised on the ground. That was for tying me to a pipe with a hacksaw and being a generally horrible person. Step one, at least.

I grinned. This was a great vacation.

The alpha male establishes dominance over his fellow primates, offering scarce resources in return for loyalty. But danger lurks around every corner. And perhaps, even, within his own pack!

I am doing some rewrites and edits of earlier chapters to fix issues, like scavenge giving uncommon traits not common traits, so, be forewarned, earlier chapters should have less spelling mistakes. I should find a beta sometime.

Dragonbornthesam. Obi is extremely confused, and Amanda will get her time of surprise next session.

Watermelonninja. He totally could advance surgery and first aid skills by cutting out people's kidneys. Like, he totally could have earned a lot of skills and perk points and attribute points by just murdering everyone in the room before they woke up. Named characters you fight with get serious exp bonuses.

DG2. The grind is life. Life is the grind.

Dr. Cookie Deleter. Saw 2 will cause some major changes that will be worthy of that. Is there anything you want to see Jigsaw react to specifically?

Revelash. It's explained more in this chapter.

Next chapter, onto the traps. Any suggestions for how our SI should best spend his vacation?