Phantoms 99th Percentile Round 2: Writers Debate

Chapter 3: The test."No, I won't do it!" I shout angered at the thought of killing another human being.Suit yourself. The mechanical voice that's always present in my head whispers back non-chalantly.I stare at the man in bewilderment. Unlike me, this man not clothed. He simply has a single rubber elastic surrounding his groin area, wrapping around neatly, and tight. He scratches his head in confusion. "Are.. you okay?" I ask him in a low and cautious voice.He looks at me as if he doesn't understand what I am saying. "What's your name?" I ask him.No response. He just gazes into my eyes. What is he thinking? I start to reach towards him. Suddenly he reacts like a wild animal, and growls at me crouching as he makes a fist, feeling threatened. "I won't hurt you. I want to help you." I say calmly.Instantly, the man turns toward his tank, and starts pounding on the glass. He it's it once. Then twice. On the third time, the glass on the front lobe shatters into hundreds of pieces. I am utterly confused.The man reaches down and grips a large piece of glass with a jagged point. He is wielding point down, like a knife. Suddenly I understand. He starts edging slowly towards me, his eyes suddenly wild, and viscous. I am un-armed, and completely helpless. I literally know nothing about fighting, or anything else for that matter."Relax, buddy, I am not going to hurt you! I am your friend! See?" I Hold up my hands to show him I have no weapons. He looks at me confused, but his expression doesn't change. "See? I am not here to fight with you friend. Put the knife down please, and let's figure out how to get away from this place together." I beckon to the ground, implying for him to put the weapon down. He looks at the spot I mentioned, then quickly back up at me. I nod in approval, hoping luck will be on my side to persuade him I am not his enemy. No such luck.The man swoops his "dagger" in a long arc towards me, and misses me by a hairsbreadth. I take a hop skip backwards completely frightened. My body starts to tremble in fear, and I feel helpless. There is a glass tube next to me containing another human being, a female. She is naked also except for a rubber elastic covering both her lower areas, and her breasts. I punch the glass container as hard as I can, hoping to break the glass as the man before me did. Instantly I regret ever having the idea, as I pull back my hand in pain. The glass is un scathed.The man before me forms a smile at watching my attempt. I bet now you are wishing you didn't feed those pills to the Dyrkite. Oh well, I guess you will have to figure this one out yourself, since you are so clever.The mechanical voice is snide in it's remark, however I don't have time to retort as I duck just in time to miss the swoop of a dagger in my face. He is relentless now, charging at me with the full force of an angry bull. I duck, dodge, and weave, barely dodging his attacks, as I back away from the deadly shard of glass. As I am backing away from my attacker, I accidentally fall into another one of the tube's behind me, which causes me to fall flat on my butt, hard. This definitely isn't the ideal place for a fight. The barbaric man is on me in an instant. He lifts the dagger upward high, and then brings it down hard aiming for my throat. I catch his arm just a few centimeters away from the shard piercing my neck, and struggle to keep the glass away from my neck. I manage to push the knife away from my neck, down towards my shoulder, but can't muster enough strength to push him entirely away from me. The man is twice as strong as I am. Slowly, centimeter, by centimeter, the shard inches towards me. I struggle to push it away, but to no avail. Then the shard makes contact with my shoulder. I scream aloud as it starts to dig deep into my shoulder. Blood instantly rushes out of my new wound, and I am writhing in pain. This is it. I am done for. Pure pain is stretching through my body. I feel as if I am on my fire, and all I can do is lay there helpless as I am slain by my opponent. My arms start to get weak. I let go of the man's arms. He pulls the bloody shard out once more, and raised it high again ready to finish me off. I await my fate. Then, somewhere within me. I get a sudden urge of resistance. No. I will not let my life be controlled by some machine. I will escape this place, and make myself a home. A family. This is not how it will end. With all the strength I can muster, I send both of my legs right into the man's mid-section, catching him totally off guard. The kick is hard enough, that it pushes him off of me, crashing into his empty broken glassed cell behind him. He let's out a scream of wild pain. I look up to see that his back has fallen right onto his jagged and broken tube. I force myself up. The man falls to the ground, with wild and deep cuts all over his back. There are large pieces of glass protruding from his back. The jagged shard he carried, now falls out of his limp hands, and shatters on the floor. Blood starts to fill in a pool around him. I realize there is no saving this man. The cuts on him are way too deep the ever heal. The man is screaming in pain, and I know I need to finish him. But how can I? I have never killed anyone... At least not that I could remember. I pick up the man's Shard and held it un-willingly, The man's screams are dying out, and fading into a slow gurgle. He is suffering. I need to do this. I poise the shard above of the back of his head. Then I realize, no matter how much I urge myself to do it, I cannot. As I listen to the man's cries, I feel more pained then in the wound on my shoulder. The screaming goes on for what seems like hours, but could only really have been no more than ten minutes. I am sobbing uncontrollably, covered in the man's blood. "It's okay brother. Relax, you are in god's hands now. Feel the peace wash over you..." I say trying to sound calm. Surprisingly it works. The man's cries start to lessen as he listens to my voice. " You are in a safe place now, friend." I say as I turn the man over and cradle his head in my lap. I wipe away the blood filled tears on his eyes with the cuff of my jump suit. His eyes seem to be at peace. Finally he stops shuddering, and his eyes become dull. I know that he is dead. I close his eye lids, and rest him on the ground. I get up and with my good arm, start slamming the wall in rage. "Look at what you've done! You sick, evil, freak!" I throw one last final punch at the wall, before I decide my wound can't take any more. I collapse to the ground in agony.Evil? I do not comprehend. You will learn soon enough that I am only helping you. You are destined for greatness, Subject #319. All the other subjects were weak. But you... I sense some... Abnormal brain activity from you. You are far more clever than the rest. Surely you won't suffer the same fate as the others.I am too pained and angered to care about trying to process the horrible voice's words. Suddenly a small compartment opens in the wall next to me. Inside, is a small little tub of a white looking ointment. Why is everything white in this forsaken place? Taped to the tub, is a lone word that says: "Apply." Please don't throw this one away, or try to feed it to something. I'm afraid this, I am in short supply of.I don't attempt to question what it is, but I rub it in my wound quickly. Instantly my skin starts to heal abstractly. I watch in wonder as within seconds, I look as if I had never been stabbed.I'm afraid that won't take away the pain, but at least it will stop you from bleeding all over my floors. I ignore the voice in anger.You are giving me the silent treatment now, are you? After all I have done for you? Very well then, let's proceed to the next test. You will forgive me eventually.Then, the wall in front of me opens to the next test, though I have no idea what it means, as I stare into the huge colloseum.PROBLEM: The protagonist is injured, and faced with a new deadly test.