The Isles

THE PROGRAM

Known as the Isles Program to the Union of North America Continental Government, the program is applicable to the upkeep of prisoners, the entertainment of the Union people, and the experimentation on humans. It takes a daily upkeep of nearly 2.5 million dollars, and earns up to 20 million per stream (note that streams are separated into parts for maximum entertainment and advertising value), and has lead to the creation of what is known as the 'Monster' weapons category, thanks to it's biological experimentation located on the Isle.

To prisoners, the Isle is a free ticket out of federal prison, and right into a new one, with a chance to escape. Hundreds of thousands fight for the chance to apply (with some being turned away due to their charges), but most especially because of the rewards that could come with victory.

It is to be noted, though, that charges that are excessively violent (namely homicide, arson+homicide, manslaughter, etc) are not allowed to join the Isles program, nor are those who have had military or police training in the past decade.

However, every Isle has different challenges to be faced each time it's renewed, and no Isle is the same as the last, with challenges interchanging difficulties, and the goal never being explicitly said until near the end.

The organization of the Isles is fairly straightforward:

Gamemakers: The creators and manipulators of the game, and have the ultimate power over it. They can manipulate weather, land mass (to a certain degree), wildlife, and events. However, they do have constraints (having to go through avenues of power to be able to do so), and if the event fails in popularity, can often find that Gamemaker being fired from their position.

Contestants: The 'lucky' chosen who have been chosen to ascend to the pearly beaches of the Isle. After the first few iterations of allowing the contestants to do what they want in way of organization, the Gamemakers changed it to force the contestants into teams, four specifically, each one with a specific 'talent':

Team Phoenix, known as Team Lucky, having the most members find their way to victory (out of the 23 iterations, 12 of them have been from Team Phoenix). Some speculate that it's because Gamemakers and/or the audience seem to prefer the team, hence their victories, but nothing has been confirmed, but it does seem that the more charismatic people wind up in the team, and often have shown to be ambitious and, occasionally, devious.

Team Minotaur, known affectionately as Team Strength, or to those who despise it, Team Brawn, always seems to find the harder of the bunch, often having the stronger or more violent charges placed in the team, and come in second place regarding the number of victories in it (5).

Team Hyrda, known to many as the Team of Many, seems to always have a lasting presence on the Isles (out of the 23 iterations, nearly all runnerups were from Team Hyrda), especially thanks to the loyalty displayed by the members of the team. Whether intentional or not, people placed in the Team are often found to be loyal to each other, (unlike Team Phoenix, who's ambitious side often includes many backstabs), and those who do not adapt to this loyalty often finds themselves being exiled. (2 known winners of the Isles are from Team Hyrda)

Team Basilisk, known as the Team of Villians, seems to always have the more antagonistically characters, and have always seemed to drop in popularity whenever they seem to be winning. However, many do root for them, thanks to their underdog nature, and whenever discussion of them arise from the Gamemakers, there is emphasis on the creativity of the team (charges placed in this team often find to have some related offenses and/or capture, with many seemingly having avoided police for years, a feat that not many accomplish). There is only one known Team Basilisk winner, as most from this Team find themselves being forced out of the competition extremely quick.

Total, there are 40 criminals transported to the Isles, to be separated into these teams, and face challenges together. Most challenges range from physical challenges (like parkour) to mental challenges, like escape rooms and puzzles, with the creativity being only limited to the Gamemaker's imaginations. Challenges can only be won by one team, who is then granted a special permission (namely food), but the team that comes in last is forced to rid themselves of one player, known as exile.

Exile is often said to be a death sentence, as the exiled contestant is forced to go to the Maze, a structure that no one has made out of, yet, but many winners say, upon the subject, that they could see death practically radiating off the location, but can give no further detail about the structure.

Upon the numbers of contestants dropping to 16, the teams are dropped, known as the Free-For-All, and while the event that dissolves them ranges from a Hunger Games-esque games, to a particular difficult challenge to be accomplished by only a few, the numbers are cut down until there are only 5 remaining.

The Final Five Event is the most anticipated of all events, (and the most random), and the only event that is announced beforehand, to give the contestants preparation for 24 hours, along with a 2 hour interviews to explain their story and hopes for victory.

Upon the end of the event, which has only one person standing, the Isle is officially ended, and the victor is transported out of the Isle, in time for the next iteration.