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Walking into your teachers office, you just wanted to visit, maybe get some advice. He's probably a nice man...
Well, not exactly.
Before long you've been shown to a small room with a small table, and a single chair.
It's then that you found out that your teacher works for a mysterious and powerful person who doesn't like people.
You are told to sit down and given a cup, which you fill with a bubbly bright blue liquid.
And without further hesitation you sip the liquid that whips around in your cup.
You feel yourself being infused with a sudden sense of calm.
Slowly you feel your body being lifted from the chair. The light around you seems more dim, and it's hardly a struggle to lift your hands from your lap.
You feel yourself beginning to move upward through the door, and it takes little effort to lift yourself through it.
You begin to rise higher and higher, floating through the night sky. You begin to fall, faster and faster. You feel almost as if you're gliding, like a cat in flight.
You come to a slow stop some time later. You've been set down gently, on a soft patch of grass beneath a tree.
You sit gently, and look around you. You have been transported to somewhere new.
It isn't long until you see a flash, then another, and another. You look up at a tall, metal tower with a beacon at the top. You see people, some of them holding flashlights, running around the tower, holding red flags and placing reflectors.
They look like ants from your distance, but you know that everything around you is happening in real time.
You can't help but watch them, the men and women with their bright white coveralls and shiny helmets, and their helmets all have names on them.
You decide then, that you're going to sneak into their base and find out why they're making all these flash signals with the red flags.
You'll certainly be able to get more information there than you did from your teacher. But then your teacher speaks to you again.
"The flash signals," he says, "Is just the beginning. This is what they do at the end of their tests."
You turn around to see that everyone in the village is dressed in those coveralls. You look around the village and notice that people are carrying signs that have numbers on them.
The numbers on the signs are around 100, 200, 300. You look away, displeased.
You have heard stories from your mother, your aunt, and maybe even your grandmother. But you never really thought you'd see this.
You watch the people around you with you, carrying various tools. They leave them along the dirt pathways leading up to the base. You see the people clamber over one another, fleeing to get the best position in front of the keys.
Some people move slowly, carrying extra large concrete blocks and chunks of wood, others run with their boards, sheets and blocks.
You don't know what all the different things are, but it's pretty clear to you that this town has gone completely insane.
Maybe Timmy the Timid did something wrong way back when and have to be raised from the dead.
Maybe the spirits' village was over run by beasts, and this is some sort of punishment for their evil deeds.
Maybe this is a test to see if you can escape and live on in the wilds of the forest you never knew.
There are so many different possible conclusions.
But none of them really seem like anything you want to run into.
You just decide to start making your way through the crowd. You go from person to person, asking questions, and trying to get answers.
Finally you come to a person with a crimson cape. You see that his stomach is ripped, and he has a head full of gashes. He looks ready to fight, but it doesn't seem like he's participating in the race.
But what happens is something you don't expect.
He beckons you to come closer, and his face becomes angry.
He speaks to you through gritted teeth, "Do you think this is a joke? Do you think this is some sort of game?
"This is the yearly Excrement Test every one has to go through. It's a way to make sure that we do our best for the city. Of course, it's really for their own good.
"We get to go in the tower and see the people inside. You know, the scientists, and their families.
"They don't fancy testing us as we are, but if we fail, we don't get another Excrement Test."
He's practically shouting now.
"They don't really like to be suspicious, but when you have to do whatever they want, you do.
"So... Will you come with me?"
You look at him, then your eyes move over to the exact place of where he is the closest to. You stare at the lights.
You see that the scientist base is very large, lights flashing in the distance. You look over at the man, and he is smiling. You look back at the tower. You see that there are multiple levels, that there are various spaces between the levels that have lights on.
You feel kind of weak, but thank the man for telling you about all this. You decide to make your way through the crowd as fast as possible.
You run, and you push yourself and other people out of the way. You eventually make it to the third level. You see that there are a couple of scientists in hazmat suits. And you can hear noises, coming from where they're standing.
It sounds like a baby crying.
You start to climb up the ladder, hoping to get a better look. And that's when the security guards on the bottom of the tower see you.
They reach out and pull you up with them.
Then they push you onto your knees, and speak to you.
"Oi! What do you think you're doing? Get out of here!"
You begin to speak, but they kick you out of their way. They pick a small man, and beckon him over to them.
He seems a little more short, and lets them lift him onto the ladder.
The three of you stare at one another as the small man begins to climb. The scientist seems scared of falling, but doesn't move one inch. He just looks around.