The blind fold veil lifted and the two people stared at each other for the first time. It was a cold empty room sparse with no descirnable features. It was quite normal to be blind folded and tide up and not know why naked It wads away of discovering who we really are as a person beyond the trappings of status money class

“Remember when we swapped the bathroom signs and Fred got yelled at by Marge?” Gibson laughs as I finish my taco. “Yeah, that was pretty epic. But karma might still want a say, you know,” I frown, glancing at my watch. “Hey, we’re gonna be late for the standup.”

“Oh, you’re right—let’s go!” Gibson throws some game tokens on the table, then adds, “Actually, Bill… let’s take the tube.”

I grimace. “The three tacos I just ate voted unanimously: it’s a ‘no.’ We walk.”

“It’s really quick. Plus, we’ll be late if we hoof it,” he insists. I let out a breath, eyeing our sprawling campus here at Baked Apple Games.

While the taco place is here on campus, it is still a hike back to our team’s space. So, Gibson had a point; this place is massive, and aside from our legs, there’s only one other way to move.

“Fiiiine,” I grumble, instantly regretting that I just overruled my tacos. “It’s just around the corner, Bill,” he explains as he leads me toward the silver sleeping giant: the Holdon Tube Drop, a.k.a. the “Holdon.

Imagine if you will a giant bank tube that sends humans rocketing across campus for pure, twisted entertainment purposes… and transport, where the latter is really an afterthought. But I glance at my watch and realize there’s no time to argue. Gibson laughs as we approach. “Never thought I’d convince ya, Bill.” I roll my eyes, masking my nerves. “Let’s just do this thing.”

We step inside and scan our badges at the entry panel, causing the inner door to seal with a soft hiss. Gibson then punches in our destination. “Two minutes, tops,” he informs, then frowns, squinting at the controls. “Weird… that’s interesting!”

“What? Is it busted?” I ask, a flicker of hope in my voice that fate has come to its senses.

He shakes his head. “Nah, probably nothing. Just looked odd… never mind.” Et tu, fate, I think, picturing my fist in the air.

The tube jolts into motion, accelerating straight up, then rockets forward, up, down, left, and right in a rapid, stomach-churning sequence. It feels like a kid with a remote control is entering the classic Konami code on the keypad (up, up, down, down, left right, left right…), and my tacos are not happy.

“Ya see why they call it the ‘Hold…on,’” Gibson laughs, as I grip the handrail with ghost-white knuckles. I shoot him a death glare at max power!

Finally, we slow down as the pod comes to a halt. The doors slide open, and Gibson steps out—followed by remnants of my lunch. He quickly hits a cleanup button on the wall, then helps me out of the pod.

Bill’s nuggets of wisdom #107: Never trust a transportation system with a dedicated cleanup crew call button.

“Hmm, I wonder where we are?” Gibson asks, looking around.

“You don’t know where we are?” I ask, sarcasm dripping from my voice like slime from a dungeon creatuse. You ever have one of those moments where words fail, and all that’s left is simmering unbridled rage? Here’s what it might look like:

_T-minus 10… 9… 8… choice words loaded! 7… profanity unlocked! 6… fists clenched! 5… abort! Abort! 4… gonna hurl again! 3… 2… must… not… _

_Failure to launch! _Gibson presses the cleanup button—again—and helps me up, again.

I take a breath, steadying myself, and look around. We’re in a stark white, empty 10x10 room with no indication of where we are. It’s smells like a Baked Apple Games prank, and I’m betting Fred is out there gloating, waiting to see how long we last. I sink to the floor in resignation, adding to my mental log:

Nugget #108—When the story title says you should have done something, you probably should have done what it says.

In other words, we should have walked!

“Well… this is awkward,” the woman said sitting across from me. Instead of answering, I started trying to figure out where I was. Tan walls that were in desperate need of some kind of decoration, a concrete floor begging to skin some knees, but no door. Or windows. “Hey, dude! Can you give me some acknowledgment?” She prodded, bringing my eyes back to her. Hair the color of honey, baggy shirt and jeans, dark, navy eyes like the deepest water that I felt like I knew… “Ah, man. Again?” I sighed. It all came rushing back, “Jeez, sorry Alyssa. It took me longer this time.” “Nah, it’s okay. What place is this? Lucky number 12?” Alyssa groaned, standing up. I rose too. “No… 12 was the cool room that had a skylight. I think this is 13.” “Oh, even better. Well, let’s get to work,” my girlfriend said as she pulled out her sword and swung at my head. Because when you’re locked in an inescapable room every time you reincarnate and can’t leave until someone dies, life gets a little more messy.

"Well, I guess it happened again." "I guess it did." The room was empty, besides the two people inside, but neither of them seemed concerned. Gia sat down on the floor, while Kieran paced around the room. It was their 8th time being in a room like this in the last month. Gia spoke, "I wonder where we are this time." Kieran glanced over, then sat down as well. "I don't know. I am getting a little sick of these tests though." "You signed us up for this!! You don't get to be sick of it!" Kieran rolled his eyes, or at least attempted to, given that his right one was a machine, "Fine, your right, but it wasn't me that wanted to, it was my mother." "I'm well aware."

The two were supposed to break out of the room, although after the third of these tests, neither of them was motivated to move as quickly as they once did. It had all started in the first grade, when the two became friends. Neither came from the best of homes, and Gia, whose father was prone to drinking and fighting started staying with Kieran and his mother. This worked until high school, when Kieran's mother ran out of money. So, she signed up for a lab test that would, "make anyone who participated wealthier than they can imagine". The two went to the lab together and found that they were now human experiments.

Kieran had become a sort of cyborg, with one eye being replaced (he couldn't see much out of it anyway, after The Fight with Gia's dad), and a few more "advancements" to himself that were supposed to make him a sort of superhuman. He had almost all the knowledge about anything you could think of, and an IQ of 259. Although sometimes his schemes needed someone to execute them. And that was where Gia came in.

She had been given wings and strength, which was a horrifying procedure that took her almost two years to recover from, and made Kieran cry, (he will deny this fact with all his might, but Gia still knows the truth.). She didn't know half the facts he did, but she could fly, and was much stronger, and she thought that was infinitely cooler than his abilities. And also, she thought her wings kind of made her look like an angel, which she did use to her advantage, one time sneaking into one of the nurse's offices, claiming to be an angelic prophet, and telling the poor nurse that she was the "chosen one". After that a meeting had to be held about the two-adolescent creature-humans and scaring people.

"Well, I guess we should break out of here. God these tests are so stupid." Gia stood up, "Got a plan Kie?" Kieran looked around. "There's a slight crack in the middle of the wall across from us, about 5 feet and 6.48 inches off the ground, and I can't break it, but you can. It appears to be weak in that area. Maybe then we'll find a way out?" Gia shrugged, "Sure, my hands can take another beating."

She went up to the wall, tied up her long, dark hair, stared at the crack, sighed, and roundhouse kicked the wall. A foot sized hole was now in the wall. She smirked, and quickly got to work ripping the concrete apart as if it were cotton candy. Soon enough the two were able to climb through the hole only to find another room. Gia groaned and Kieran laughed, looking around. "At least this one has a door?" He smiled as he opened it. Gia stood up, "What's there?" She curiously peeked outside. "Oh." A long hallway greeted the two, and Gia excited ran out, doing an ariel before stopping and waiting for Kieran. "You think we did it?" She asked excitedly. "Maybe! Wait. Do you hear tha-"

A man jumped out and tried to put Gia in a headlock, but she judo flipped him, sat on him, whipped out a knife and put it to his throat. "That was really good Barnaby, but I still beat you!" She smiled and got back up, helping the man up as well. Kieran grinned, "Now we've completed it."

The three walked back to the lab, Kieran and Gia talking excitedly about something that made sense to only the two of him, her saying "What? Explain." frequently and him telling her about some equation or historical figure. She got him back later though when she went into an in-depth explanation of her favorite show, complete with a messy PowerPoint and pictures of the characters.

Again We befriend Stranger In a place No trace Of being here Before What a bore Zap And there we go To and fro Into a different room And the leave so soon Before you know it Shifting worlds And universes Every day Just our way Of Living

It would not be a labyrinth without feeling like something is studying, watching you, the lab rat. There is a sensory deprivation to it. Winding… winding… nothing but winding paths, twisting and turning for all of eternity. It is easy to lose yourself in the loss of direction and reason. Your only purpose, the frivolous task of finding the sole needle- an exit- in the haystack of false trails. What a waste of the valuable resource of time. Here, there is nothing but The Maze. You know what else appears maze-like? A brain. I suppose it’s symbolic. Symbolic of the inner workings of our minds and the madness such a life devoid of meaning evokes. Occasionally, you encounter another wanderer. I will admit, the psychology of it fascinates me. In this vast network of forks that snake every which way, the likelihood of meeting another is slim at best. And yet, it still happens. How? Well, I suppose there is a pattern to our brains. If a few people have similar strategies, concepts of pattern, they are much more likely to meet. What a way to find a friend. This happened to be one such occasion. Aimless meandering led me to a room of the maze, a place that would serve me well for sleep. Not that rooms differed much, except slightly in terms of shape. As for sleep, each individual has their own schedule. Time is arbitrary in a world so lacking in structure and stability. So, in the middle of my chosen nighttime rest, I awoke to footsteps. I had gotten so used to the quiet solitude that even this soft of a noise could rouse me. My eyes shot open. I almost forgot how to speak to anyone but myself. “Hello?” I croaked, my voice trembling like the legs of a newborn deer. The stranger seemed just as flummoxed. So there we were, two wanderers, similar in nature, conquering chance with luck, with nothing else around but the walls of the maze. Now, we can be alone together. We can be each others’ reason to keep putting one foot in front of the other in a futile hope to escape.

“Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh! SHIT!” she shouted.

Lily paced back and forth along the empty wall. She was jittery, chewing at her nail beds. Her eyes darted around the room.

Ronan was sprawled out on the floor, as if sunbathing on a beautiful morning. “Are you always like this?” He rolled his head to look over at Lily, now squatting against the far wall.

“How long do you think we have?” Her nerves were starting to get the better of her quickly.

Ronan sat up. “I don’t know. Could be hours, could be minutes. They are going to wait for us to be offguard.”

She crossed the room to where Ronan was sitting. “I’m Lily, by the way.” She stretched out a hand and Ronan took it replying in turn.

Time passed slowly, at least that’s how it felt. The fluorescent light overhead was steady.

Lily eventually took a seat in the corner. An attempt at some sort of rest may be useful.

Ronan shifted on the floor, his back becoming stiff. He stood and stretched against the wall.

Lily watched. He was strong and that would serve them well. This is a team game after all.

“Where do you think the door is?” She crossed the room to Ronan. “How did we get in here?”

Ronan thought hard for a moment, then pushed against the wall. He glanced around and not a single seem was visible on the walls. He examined the floor and was perplexed.

“You don’t think it’s possible the lowered us in through the ceiling, do you?” He pointed towards the single fixture on the ceiling.

An alarm began to sound, loud and piercing. Then a robotic voice came over a speaker. __ “Attention contestants. Welcome. You have been selected from a large pool of applicants and will now be competing live for a shared prize of one million dollars. The teams have been randomly assigned. Good luck and let the game begin.”

A short pause flustered them both. Lily‘s excitement skyrocketed. “Here we go!,” she whispered to herself.

“Task one: exit the room.”

Bright numbered cards trembled on the tabletop. Bobby looked out of the train window. The observation car was empty except for himself and his big sister Roxie. Mom’s new husband was a railway man, but Allen didn’t do something cool like drive the trains or stoke the coal. Allen was an accountant or something boring like that. Roxie who knew nearly everything also told Bobby they don’t even throw shovelfuls of coal into trains anymore. No coal stoking, no train whistling, no cool conductor uniforms, no nothing, Bobby thought, this trip is so boring.

Lowering his hand, Bobby watched the endless smear of green fields. He’d asked Roxie where they were and she said it didn’t matter, who cared, hell, and Just Shut Up, North Dakota. Mommy and Allen had planned this family vacation a three day cross country train trip to Florida as what they called a “bonding experience.” Roxie called it a “death march,” before she slammed her bedroom door. Mommy got mad and told Roxie what she was not gonna do. Allen just stood in the family room opening and closing his hands. Bobby remembered feeling bad for Mr. Allen.

Roxie stayed in her room whenever Allen was around and told Bobby she was staying with Dad and not going on this stupid trip. Mommy told her good luck with that and slammed her bedroom door. Bobby glanced over the table at his sister. With that don’t start face, Roxie was sorting her cards in her hand. Quickly he looked away. He could feel the heat of her eyes on his cheeks. Making a show of admiring the boring landscape, Bobby studied the fields of maybe corn. He thought of all the people in their houses watching this train go by thinking of him. Roxie had called Dad and he promised to try and pick her up. His sister waited for him in the driveway on her red suitcase. Bobby remembered she waited pass dinner. Roxie waited till it was dark. They are not allowed to eat in their rooms at their mom’s house but Bobby snuck some Hydrox cookies and left a stack on her pillow.

Most of the other passengers were old, real old. In the dining car the old people liked to ask lots of questions and eat with their mouths open. His sister would give one word answers and Mommy would be mad and Allen would laugh and look embarrassed. Bobby was just tired of bonding. Today he and Roxie got turkey on white bread and ate in the empty observation car.

They sped past a yellow train crossing sign. He wondered if Mommy missed Dad too. If the four of them would ever be together again and happy. He thought Dad had a girlfriend and then there was Allen. But you never know, Bobby thought. What if Dad stopped by to talk to Mommy and their hands touched or something. What about when they all older and Allen was like gone and Bobby set Mommy and Dad up on a blind date. Would Roxie be less mad? But Mommy seems happier now. But what about later? Was that a scarecrow or a person? The train jostled through the flat answer less farmland.

“Roxie, what do you think we will be like when we are older?”

Without looking up from her hand, Roxie placed a card on the table.

“Draw four.”

(Set in the future)

The world had tricked us. Now it tricked us back. We used to roam the world in search for the one we were supposed to love. And then we would blame the world when we couldn’t find them. Now we just drop into a room at age 21 and the person with us is the one meant to love us. It is a perfect system. Until you believe the system got something wrong.

Rick hears a door close behind him and is greeted by a world unseen by man. There are two moons, one purple and one pink glowing in the distance. The night sky is as bright as the daylight, but shows a dappling of stars through the emerald sky. The air smelled sweet, almost like a fruity taffy, and he could see the scent trails as they traveled through the space. The night sky was broken up by huge canopies of mushroom trees, all different warm-colored shades blazing through the horizon. Rick looked down and was greeted by the sentient grass that lived beneath his feet. It was as if the sky and the ground had swapped palettes, where the grass was sky blue. The grass color started to change as his emotions did, like that mood ring he bought at a county fair when he was in middle school. The climate also changed by the minute, with some moments being incredibly cold, and others being intensely humid. Once he had taken that all in, he looked across from him and noticed a tall woman walking towards him. “Hey there!” she called out to him. “Hi” “Is this your first time?” “Here? Yes. Being pulled into another dimension? Not quite.” Ah, yes. Where Rick was from this was all too common. Do you have a dentist appointment at 4:30? I’ll give you one guess where you’ll be at 3. Rick looked down at his phone to check the time, and noticed that his display had turned into a picture of a dog peeing on an elderly woman’s leg. “The time’s broken for me too. See?” The woman’s phone showed a picture of a baby doing a backflip over a cat tower. “Why’s it all pets?” Rick shrugged. He couldn’t care less about all of this bric a brac, he just wanted to get on with it. He noticed movement in the grass, and saw rocks that moved like crabs do. He started to pick them up, looking under them as if they had any clues. “What are you doing that for?” “Last time I was caught in one of these, there was a key under the ashtray.” “Ashtray? What place did you go to where there was an ashtray?” “It teleported me to Vermont in the 80s.” “I see.” The woman also started to look under the rocks but, after finding nothing, she also realized that they were at an impasse. She reached in her purse to grab her wallet, and it grew wings and flapped away. “I guess I’ll have to cancel my cards again.” she huffed.  Now that they had realized that there was no easy way out for him this time, Rick decided to be a gentleman and extend his hand.  “Richard Thomas. Nice to meet you.” “Joan Jett.” “...Wait, you’re not serious are you?” “Of course I’m not serious, I was just wondering if you were old enough to know who Joan Jett was.” Rick nodded. “But it is Joan?” “Joan, yes.” “Well, Joan, what are you late for right now?” “Tennis practice. You?” “A Joan Jett concert.” “Now you’re really screwing with me.” “I am screwing with you, I’m going to a Rascal Flatts concert.” At this point, they had both decided to lay down on the ground and let the grass scan them. The light blue turned into dark red for Rick, and bright pink for Joan. “Are you angry, Rick?” “Furious.” “Why?” “I paid $100 for my ticket.” They both had a hearty laugh, the grass turning lime green. Just then a door opened just 100 feet away from them. They both stood up in a hurry, looking at each other, then looking at the door. They had the same thought: only one person can fit in. Rick and Joan bolted towards the door. Rick started out in the front with his burst of energy. However, Joan started to gain ground due to her longer strides. They both reach out and then-

BOOM!

A teenager bumps into both of them, knocking all three of them out of the doorway. The door closes abruptly. The teenager stands up and gasps, taking in all of the sights. It must be his first time. The grass around Rick and Joan turns a deep red, quivering in anger. They both lean on their elbows, looking up at the teenager, and looking back at each other.
“How long do you think we’re stuck now, Rick?”
“Hell, I don’t know.” Rick said, letting himself plop back onto the ground.