Let the Games Begin | Dream Smp

Chapter 31

"Looking fidgety, there, Rays," a voice teased. She looked to her right and saw Ponk leaned on a countertop against the wall. On the counter were two trays containing twelve syringes each—twenty four in all. Each contained a greenish liquid that, she recently learned, was the memory block.

"Do you blame me? It's my first Games," she replied, "Karl's still trying to teach me the parts of my job." She could tell that the man was grinning beneath the mask that covered his face.

"I bet you're the type of person to go queasy at the sight of blood," he said in a bubbly voice.

"Don't give her a hard time, Ponk," Karl sighed from the center of the room, "See, you've scared all the contestants now. Don't worry, we're just putting in a microchip so we can keep track of your whereabouts."

"Whereabouts, my ass," Ponk muttered beside her, too soft for the rest of the room to hear.

Kayla scanned the line of people. All of them were dead silent, and most looked deathly pale with fear. She felt a bit sad for them, but tried to focus on what the president had told her. All of them were criminals, and they had willingly decided to take part in the Games to try to win their freedom.

"Kayla, can you bring the microchips over? Put on your gloves, too," Karl said to her. She nodded and pulled a pair of blue surgical gloves over her hands before picking up the tray beside her that held twenty four tiny squares—the microchips.

- - - - - - - - -

It was a strange feeling that Kayla felt whenever she decided to watch bits of the Games. Either in the viewing room, a rectangle shaped room where one wall was made entirely of glass, or by using the cameras. The contestants had no sense of who they were, and much of the first three days were spent orienting themselves with each other and the arena.

One death had happened already, however. The scene was forever ingrained in Kayla's memory, as she had been watching the video footage at the exact time it happened. When she closed her eyes, she could see the blade enter the man's chest and exit again, deep red blood pouring out of the wound.

Then, soldiers would be dispatched into the arena under the effects of invisibility and drape a blanket over the body. They would carry it out of the arena where it would then be disposed of. What that meant, she didn't know.

Karl would often remind her that what they weren't told, she didn't need to know.

Kayla busied herself with her job, whether it be adjusting the weather or checking the audios of all the different mics within the arena. Or, she would use the tracking map to figure out where different contestants were, and then Karl would find them on a camera near that location.

Days passed in quick succession, and soon Kayla watched in awe as the two final contestants turned to one, and an expression of relief passed over their face. She looked over at Karl, who switched on the intercom and spoke to the contestant, congratulating them and informing them that they would be promptly removed from the arena.

"So what happens now?" Kayla asked after Karl turned away from the microphone, "Where will he go?"

"Out of the arena, I suppose," Karl replied, "This is only my second Game, and I think I heard Quackity once mention that the winner gets transported to another building to get prepped for returning to the outside world."

"He'll get his memory back, then?"

"Mhm. Then Ponk'll be the one to restart the system for the next round of contestants." Karl stood up from the chair and stretched his arms into the air. "I'm hungry right now. Want to go get a bite?"

"Sure," Kayla nodded, "Let's go."

- - - - - - - - -

"Hey, ready for number five?" Karl popped his head through the doorway of her dorm. Kayla looked up from her spot at the table, where she had been pouring over a book that Quackity brought her from a library.

"Already? That was fast," she commented, "I don't think the arena reset is even done yet."

"It'll be done by the time they're in there," he shrugged, "We have to head over to prep, but we've got to grab the microchips first."

Kayla nodded and followed him out of the room, down the hall, and into the computer room. She waited as he fetched a tray of microchips and then the two travelled down the hall and down two flights of stairs to the prep room, where the next round of contestants were waiting.

The door was pulled open by one of the soldiers and then closed again, and Kayla saw that Ponk was already there, twisting a syringe between his gloved fingers. She blankly scanned the line of contestants, when suddenly she paused and backtracked two people to focus on a man near the center of the line.

No. It couldn't be.

How could he be here?

He was unmistakable, though, and it didn't matter that the last time she saw him was when they were children. His hair was still the same shade of brown and although his eyes had lost some of their glow, they still shone under the bright fluorescent light.

"It's your turn to use the knife," Karl told her, motioning to the small dagger that laid on the tray. Kayla nodded and grabbed it, squeezing it tightly in her hand. They walked to the front of the line, and Kayla could almost feel his eyes on her. He hadn't noticed her before, but now he definitely had.

The first person in line looked no older than seventeen, a tall and lanky boy with short, blonde hair. Kayla took his right arm in her hands and placed the tip of the blade against his skin, pushing lightly to create a shallow cut. His arm tensed in her grip, and out of the corner of her eyes she watched him clench his teeth.

Karl slid the microchip inside the cut with a pair of forceps, and then Kayla used a needle to sew in two stitches to close the cut, sealing the microchip inside. She moved on to the next person and repeated the process.

When she reached him, however, she could feel her hands slightly shake as she cut into him, and she kept her eyes trained on either his arm or the floor the whole time. Kayla knew he would be staring at her, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to hold a blank face if she met his eyes.

He was going to lose his memory, though. She knew she would only have this chance to meet his gaze before he entered the arena and presumably died. That raised the question, however, of how he ended up here. Kayla knew that he wasn't one to go against the law.

So, as Ponk moved to stand behind him, she looked up from the floor and stared directly at him. After a moment, as if he sensed her gaze, he glanced up as well and the two met eyes. His mouth didn't move, but she could see the thoughts streaming through his mind.

The end of the needle entered the side of his neck, and Ponk pressed down on the end so that the green liquid disappeared from the syringe. A glossy layer seemed to cloud over his eyes and Kayla knew that the Wilbur she knew was gone.

What was he doing here?

She had to figure out what was going on.

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A/n - Happy New Year!! It's 2022 now :0
And thank you guys for 6k!! :D
Love y'all <3
~Echo