Room 01 - Ordeal 2-

Room 01 -ordeal 2-


It was soft. Very soft. I almost lost myself in the comfort of the enormous bed, when a bright yellow lemon phone rang in the middle of the room. I got up and sleepily picked up the phone.

"Hello?" I said, half-yawning.

Then I heard that voice again. The voice I heard the last time I answered a phone. That seductive woman's voice "Hello, occupant of room zero one. You have earned your first two rewards, you are in the right direction."

I was still confused, but then I remembered the situation I was in. I was trapped in some kind of room... but then the room was different. The room I was locked in had no glass statues, nor did it have any bookshelves made of crisp oak. Did something happen while I was sleeping on that bed?

Wait, that humongous wasn't there before either. I was pretty sure the bed in its place before was a light blue, medium-sized bed, not a gigantic red bed.

I tried asking the voice on the phone "What happened?"

She answered back "Room zero one changed. If you are doing the right thing, it will continue to change. Change is what you would want."

Before I could say another word, she hung up. I put the phone down.

I checked out the rest of the room, to see if anything else changed. The bathroom was gone. The door which led into it had become a window, covered in a mess of wires. The television remained the same.

I looked at the bookshelves, and decided to look through the titles. All of them were books I have never heard of before, and a few weren't even written in any language I have ever seen. I continued to browse, until I finally settled on the book entitled "God Is Not Your Friend." I admit, normally I wouldn't care much about books that discuss spiritual or metaphysical topics, but for some reason that book just stood out to me. I removed it from the shelf, sat down in front of the television, and opened the book.

The first page read: "Author: You will know soon enough."

It was unsettling, but I continued to read:


Chapter One: Boss

As the title says, God, The Entity wielding all true power in all existence, is not your friend. God is your boss, your master, and a master-and-servant relationship is very different than that between friends.

To think that God would always be on your side, like a true friend should, would be a grave mistake, as the fate of an entire universe with countless forms of life weighs heavier than the interests of any singular creature, be it person, beast or bacteria.

Every action that has taken place anywhere in the universe bears consequences near the end of time and space. Mortals seldom comprehend this, as they cannot witness what will occur trillions of years from now, nor are they able to keep track of the constant changes happening everywhere at once.

As lives are born and taken, as every atom moves, as every wave of energy travels, all of it creates minute changes which eventually shape the ultimate end.






...?

That's all it says?


I expected more from the book, but that really was it. It was blank, from page three to page... er, hundred fifty-three. What a disappointment.

I put the book back on the shelf, and as I did so, another book fell out. The title on the front cover read: "Xenon". I decided to read it, as a part of myself hoped it would be meatier reading.

Like the previous book, the first page mentioned its author, written only as "You will know when the time comes."

Was there a pattern here? Was I being trapped in the room by whoever wrote all the books inside? Maybe they were referring to two different anonymous people, but speculation could wait. I read the rest of the book:


The First Act: Nonex

Nonex Mos was a warrior. He was born 153 years after the Dawn of Reason, and his mother passed away as she brought him to life.

Nonex's father possessed a weak body, but everyone knew him as a man strong in conviction and spirit. He would never break a promise, not on purpose, and when he did break a promise he would do all he could to earn forgiveness.

Nonex loved his father, and became a warrior so that he could protect him and his many cousins. Having great physical strength did not seem to be a common trait among his relatives, and Nonex believed there would be many people who would take advantage of them if he were not there to protect them.

Unfortunately, Nonex had a weakness for women, and would often waste countless hours and immeasurable amounts of wealth to serve his urges. It ultimately led to his downfall, as a female assassin managed to approach him close enough to deliver a fatal blow.

A poisoned needle, hidden in the assassin's hair, pierced through Nonex's hide, and a single drop proved to be enough to send him to the afterlife.

You know.

The one you're in right now.




!?

I dropped the book. I... I must admit, it somewhat surprised me to suddenly read that last couple of sentences.

I wanted to calm myself down, and I took out the photo of my son given to me earlier. I was afraid something horrible might have happened to it, but thankfully he was still as handsome as ever.

I put the picture back in my pocket, and I looked at "Xenon" again, harmlessly lying on the floor. I decided to read more of it:



One. Five. Three.

Don't you ever forget about that, it's very important. On their own, each number means nothing, but together they are priceless.

You could read on and lose yourself in the story of Xenon, but it's better not to right now.




At that point, I returned "Xenon" to the shelf, and decided to think about what it meant by one-five-three. I recalled that the previous book had 153 pages, and so I decided to read more books in the room, all chosen at random.

"Ferns of the Valley": The main character is 153 years old.

"Ghosts Are Liars": The book mentioned there were fifteen types of ghosts, and only three methods to defeat them.

"Mind": The book claimed the human brain can process 153 thoughts at once.


After examining "Mind", I concluded that I was indeed on the right track, and looked for something with numbers. I tried changing the channels on the television in the numerical order 1,5,3, but yielded nothing except static.

I then tried the telephone. 1. 5. 3. Done.

Without a single ring tone, I heard a voice.

My son's voice.

He spoke to me, sobbing "Dad...I know you can hear me, dad... how much longer are you going to sleep? I don't want you to die, dad, and nobody else does, but... but... we can't afford to keep you here..."

And then the phone went silent.

I couldn't find anything to say to my son as he cried. I suppose he wouldn't be able to hear me from here anyway.

I put down the phone, and as I did so I realized 15th of March was my son's birthday... the day I was driving him to...

The day I... crashed?

As the memories returned, the room started to shift, and the wallpaper started to peel.

Are those arms coming out of the ceiling?




--- To be answered ---