Missing Personalities

Chapter 1: Base Discussion

The dingy gray walls ran high above the height of a normal person, the only window tucked out of the field of vision, only granting entrance to limited lighting. The patter of feet grows more desperate with each passing second. A lone figure paces back and forth on the ground below near the only entrances within the cramped compartment. This is Edward.

Edward gripped his temples in anxiety as the door to the right of the room silently creaked open, revealing another body. Phil emerged from the narrow crack, pushing his sunglasses back into place. His leather jacket swung with his jolty entrance.

Edward turned toward Phil and jumped, yelping slightly. Phil smirked. "Please don't do that!" yelled Edward.

"Hey, there isn't much walking space here." Phil sarcastically stretched out his arms in gesture to his surroundings before sitting at the bench by the door.

Edward paused, placing his hands together. "Look, Phil, three guys were kidnapped and placed in a dark room with no exit for more than two days already, what does that sound like to you?"

Phil leaned his head against his palm, smiling. "Honestly, that sounds like you're giving exposition, what do you think?"

Edward threw his hands down in frustration. "It means we're being held here for a reason!" He turned around. "Where's Ben? Ben!" Edward jumped as Ben emerged from the door on his left. Ben slowly looked up at him. "Yes?" he asked nonchalantly.

Edward turned away. "I'm a naturally composed person." he whispered to himself.

Ben cocked his head in confusion. "Ok." He started towards the door.

"No!" Edward turned back toward Ben, waving him back. He stepped to his left, away from Phil who hadn't stopped smiling. "Look, guys. It looks like we're going to be here a while. None of us can even seem to remember anything from before we got here, and that's cause enough for alarm."

Phil straightened himself. "Are you talking to us or some imaginary audience? We know what's going on."

Edward swallowed a comeback. "It's already been two days since we arrived here and we haven't really spoken at all." he said through his teeth.

Phil swung his palm upwards. "Oh, I've been talking, you guys just haven't been listening."

"Once you say something worth listening to, that will begin to change." Edward spoke in frustration. He paused, collecting himself. "Sorry. It's just, whoever put us here has made no attempt to make their presence noted, so it's up to us to figure out how to escape."

Ben squinted in thought. "Of course they did provide us with food."

"And water," Phil added.

"And air conditioning."

Edward widened his eyes. "I know it's odd, but that's not the point."

Phil shot up off of the bench. Edward lightly bumped his fist in celebration for not having been startled. "Now it's all coming together!" Phil exclaimed.

"What?" Edward asked.

Phil hunched down and scanned his surroundings with his index finger. "It's one of those psychological experiments! I read books about these."

Edward stepped closer. "Really?"

Phil stood up. "Well, I read the back covers. But think about it. The dark room, the isolated containment, the..." Phil glanced towards Ben. Ben stared back, bug-eyed. "...Questionable test subjects."