Four
Of course the safeties are off.
Julian looked at the holosuite's control panel. He realised he should've expected that the safeties would be disengaged; the whole point of this program seemed to be to cause him harm. He punched in his override codes, yet they only returned an error message. "Is there anyway we can engage the safety protocols? I don't feel comfortable going into an unfamiliar program without them."
"Quark would've known how, I'm sure," Odo sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm not a holosuite expert."
"What about O'Brien?" Julian suggested. "S-surely we could fetch him from-"
"Doctor," Garak interrupted hastily. "I believe we should be on our way." He raised his hand, gesturing towards the holosuite doors.
Julian opened his mouth to snap at Garak when he noticed their new companion. A tall humanoid emerged from the holosuite, draped in dark and concealing clothing. It was impossible to determine what species they were, though they appeared to possess A pair of scowling eyes met Julian's gaze, sending an uncomfortable shiver through his body.
"I assume you are the mysterious P?" Odo took a step forward, hands clasped on the phaser behind his back. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
The humanoid possessed incredible speed, though no one realised what was happening until a phaser was produced from the creature's clothing and pointed at Garak's throat. The tailor was seized by his assailant, arms pinned firmly to his sides.
"Garak!" Julian cried. He had raised his arm to attack when he was flung violently against the holosuite doors, toppling to the floor as they opened.
The creature stared down at the winded doctor, Garak struggling in its grasp. What only be described as a growl emerged from its throat: "Follow, or he dies."
For a split second, Julian was convinced the humanoid was going to step on his stomach, but instead found himself being dragged by the collar into the holosuite and dumped head-first on a hardened surface. Stars instantly appeared across his vision.
"Computer, engage program." The growl of the creature's voice rang out.
He vaguely heard Odo calling his name and the holosuite doors activating before succumbing to unconsciousness.
Never mind, this is the worst headache.
Julian's eyes fluttered open, his vision still slightly fuzzy. Once he was certain nausea and dizziness would not overwhelm him, he slowly manoeuvred himself upright.
He seemed to be in an empty alleyway, the only source of light radiating from a lamp post about thirty metres away. Where the holosuite doors were before was now nothing but a darkened brick wall, with suspicious stains serving as its graffiti. The floor had assumed the form of a concrete path, with small groups of ugly green weeds poking out from the cracks. A faint scream vaguely rang in his ears.
He immediately pieced together two things: that if Odo could've rescued him, he would've done so by now, and that therefore he was on his own.
It took him a moment to register that he was bleeding somewhere. He blindly felt around his face and head, pulling away to find all of his fingers sparkling with blood. Is it my eye or my skull? Or both? I can't tell. He gently wiped his hand on his suit before placing it on the wall, using it as leverage to hoist himself off of the ground.
Julian brushed down his trousers. "This is not the dignified start I was expecting."
Deciding not to remain in the one spot for too long, he made his way forward through the darkness. His hands buried themselves in his pockets as he became lost in thought. What had this 'P' done with Garak? Was he supposed to rescue him and 'prove' himself as a hero?
His thoughts were rudely interrupted by a gun being shoved under his chin.
