Chapter 7
Duo and Quatre reached the glowing light and is surprised that it was floating. Both of them looked at each other. Duo held out his right hand to touch it. He is surprised to find it is cold to the touch. He looked again at Quatre with a surprised expression in his face. Quatre noticed this, also held out his right hand and touch the glowing light.
"This is strange Duo." Quatre said. "We should feel heat emitting from this light..Ouch!" He hastily removed his hand from the light, as if he was singed from the heat. "When I thought of heat, suddenly it felt hot to the touch." He explained to Duo.
"Touch it again Q." Duo encouraged. "Don't think it's hot or anything." He told him.
Quatre listened to his friend. He extended his hand once again to the glowing light letting his mind think its cold. And to his surprise it is cold to the touch. "Do you think this place follow our thoughts?"
Duo looked at him intently. "Do you think so?" He asked. "We have to try it."
"Please don't." A voice halted their action. "Please follow me." The voice coaxed them.
"Who are you!" Duo shouted. "Show yourself!" He and Quatre were alerted in an instant.
Suddenly, a male figure appeared at about their age. He cautiously approached them. "Just call me Amanuet." He stopped in front of the two of them.
"What kind of a name is that?" Duo asked him.
"It's not a name Duo." Quatre told him. "Are you lost just like us?" He asked Amanuet.
"No." Amanuet replied. "I'm here to guide you to where you should go."
"Are we dead?" Duo asked. He looked worried and glanced at Quatre.
"No." Amanuet told him. "Your friends are waiting. Please come with me." He turned and walked away.
Duo and Quatre just looked at each other. They stood at their spot for a moment then followed Amanuet.
"They will not listen to me." Amanuet told them. "They told me to find you two first before they will listen to what I say." He kept on walking without looking at them. "Here we are." He stopped at a door and held it opened for his two companions.
Duo and Quatre stepped inside the room. Their eyes could not believe what they are seeing. Both of them felt elated, they did not stop to hesitate what they are doing. They hugged each of their friends with joy.
"Guys!" Duo exclaimed with happiness. "Quatre and I were worried."
"True." Quatre agreed with Duo smiling happily. "We were wondering what happened to all of you."
"Heero and I were grabbed by this worm-like thing and we ended up in a dimly lit corridor." Trowa told them. "A glowing light appeared out of nowhere and he appeared." He inclined his head at Amanuet who is still standing near the door.
"It was the same for me." Wufei told them. "The white room, the worm thing, this place and him." His gaze flew towards Amanuet.
Duo, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and Heero looked at Amanuet for quite a while. Heero moved and approached Amanuet.
"We will listen to what you have to say now." Heero declared. The others, interested walked closer and stood side by side with each other.
"Very well." Amanuet paused for a moment to gather some strength. "If you wish to know me, I'm so sorry. My identity will be compromised. The identity that I have given you must suffice. You are all wondering what this place is. It is a virtual program. The white room is where they execute the virtual simulations."
"How about this place?" Trowa asked. "Is it still part of a virtual simulation?"
"Yes." Amanuet replied. "This is where they test the programs." He looked at each of them. "This is where you have to start so that you all can go back to each of your consciousness."
"Consciousness…" Quatre became thoughtful and suddenly stared hard at Amanuet. "Are we in an unconscious state?" He asked.
"Yes." Amanuet replied. "If the five of you stayed much longer in the white room. You will never wake up."
"What happens if we totally lost our consciousness?" Wufei asked.
"Please we must hurry!" Amanuet told them in an urgent tone. "All of you have been here for quiet a long time. If all of you stay much longer, it will be much more dangerous."
"What will happen to us?" Duo asked.
"Please hurry!" Amanuet implored.
"Answer our questions first." Wufei demanded.
"If I do that, all of you will never wake up." Amanuet replied; annoyed. "Which will it be?"
"Very well." Heero declared. "We will do as you requested." He looked around. "How do we do this?"
Amanuet sighed with relief. "Follow me." He motioned for them to follow him.
"This is quite amazing." Quatre remarked. "All we see, feel and taste felt real." He observed his surroundings with interest.
"Virtual technology is not that advanced." Heero stated. "It seemed this group have enhanced its capabilities." He stopped at a floating object in front of him. "Look at the detail of this object. It's refined and almost real." He inspected the floating object closely.
"If this is a virtual program, then we can bend it to what we want." Wufei stated.
"Yes you can." Amanuet told him. "But, this program is controlled."
"Not all are bendable to our own thoughts." Trowa replied.
"You got it." Amanuet looked at him and nodded.
"Hence, you are here." Quatre stated. He glanced at Amanuet to confirm what he feared.
Amanuet nodded and they all understood. "How do we get out?"
"I'll direct you to where you should go." Amanuet told them. "You must trust me. Come, follow me."
They all followed him and they stopped facing a blank wall. In a blink of an eye a door opened. Amanuet turned and looked at them. "You all have to enter." He gestured towards the door. "Once inside you will find five doors. Each door will bear your name. Open it and step inside."
"How did you know our names!" Duo asked indignantly.
"This is a controlled program Maxwell." Wufei told him grimly.
"We will know once we wake up." Heero told them. "Why there are names in the door?"
"To prevent switching." Amanuet told them.
"It figures." Heero replied.
"I don't want to inhabit your body Maxwell." Wufei declared. "I shudder when I think about it."
"My body is fit than yours Wu-man!" Duo replied, peeved.
"Oh yeah!" Wufei faced him with clenched fists. "I'll challenge you to a fight once we get out of here Maxwell!" He shouted.
"You're on!" Duo shouted his reply. "WU-MAN!" He added to annoy his comrade.
"Why you!" Wufei angrily extended his arm to grab Duo's braid. Trowa prevented his action by holding onto his clothes.
"Please!" Quatre implored. "We have to get out of here." He reminded his friends.
"One question." Trowa asked Amanuet. "Once we get out of here, this will not affect our memories? We will remember everything, even this place?"
"Yes." Amanuet exasperatingly replied. "Now go!" He added with urgency.
They all went in the door and found the five doors Amanuet told them about. They looked for their own doors and opened it.
"See you soon guys!" Duo called and stepped in. A bright light enveloped him and he felt light as if floating.
"I cannot believe it, that we were here for three months." Duo observed the empty tubes where they were placed.
"Sally told us that the tubes were already lying down, opened, with us inside." Wufei remarked. He leaned closer to the tubes and scanned it one by one.
"In the report, it stated that there is a camera recording the whole experiment." Quatre said.
"They only found an empty spot where it was mounted." Trowa replied. "The recorded videos from this room were not found."
"They are good at what they do." Heero remarked tonelessly. "According to the report, blood is found splattered in the walls but no bodies were found." He walked to touch the wall as if looking for something. "We are the ones they only found. No other individuals. This Amanuet we've met may be the one who killed and disposed the corpse or corpses."
"Now what?" Duo asked his friends. "We retraced the events that led us here, we still haven't found a clue."
"Not quite." Quatre told Duo. He leaned sideways and went under a table. He removed a covered object. Intrigued, his friends leaned closer to him. He lifted the object and placed it in a table. "I suppose they left a clue for us?"
"We'll find out." Heero said. He watched as Quatre removed the cloth that covered it. It revealed a tightly sealed steel box. "It seems it has to be opened by cracking the correct combination manually." He observed.
"Let's bring it to my apartment." Duo suggested. "I can take a crack at it." He rubbed his hands in anticipation.
"For once, I agree with you Maxwell." Wufei grinned.
"Let's get out of here." Trowa said.
"Let's go." Quatre urged.
They all hurried outside, each felt a sense of elation. They do not want to hope too much for fear of getting disappointed. But experience taught them that they could not give up. Not if the truth is at stake.