Writing Challenge: Day 4

Title: Final Beginning

Genre: Dystopian/futuristic vague thriller

"Black."

"White."

"Alive."

"Dead."

"Admit."

"Deny."

"Question."

"Answer."

"Abundant."

"Scarce."

"Better."

"Worse."

"Beautiful."

"Ugly."

"Arrive."

"Depart."

"Final."

"Beginning."

The green light switches on.

"You may proceed to the next post."

I stand and leave the small and empty room and enter into a slightly bigger one. It is almost identical to the previous confinement's design. The brown wooden chair is the only colored object in the room. There is only a white table and one sided window in front of that. It is my judgement day, but I cannot see the people that judge me.

"Poetry."

I stutter- "Prose."

There is a pause and I hear someone scratching a note down on paper. I can feel sweat dripping down my face.

"Straight."

"Crooked."

"Some."

"None."

"Voluntary."

Thirty seconds on the clock.

"I…"

"No unnecessary talking please. Just speak."

"It's…compulsory."

The green light flashes and I sigh under my breath.

"You may proceed to the next post."

I stand and enter the next room. It is similar in color and architecture to the previous ones, but it is incredibly lengthy and wide. Large white columns line the hall and lead to a final chair. I sit and look at the judge in front of me. It is hidden behind a black veil, and I am unsure of its gender. I cannot see its face. It appears human, but I am unsure.

"Under."

"Over."

"Risky."

"Safe."

"Scatter."

"Collect."

"Nonsensical."

"Clear."

This continues for thirty minutes on the dot. There are hundreds of thousands of rooms just like mine. Hundreds of thousands of the same simulation.

The red light flashes and my heart races.

The veil turns its head at the light. "Isn't that strange?"

I nod. "Yes, I believe it is."

It turns its head back in my direction and tilts it cryptically.

"Do you not agree with our policies or something of the sort?"

"No. I am obedient. I do not care about the terms of androids."

There is a pause.

"Are you certain? Not many like you are going to be there. There are so few humans left. They usually cling on to their ignorance and fear of the unknown instead of looking into the new beginning with intrigue."

I tremble under its gaze. It is an android.

"Yes, I understand. I am not like them. I am open to new beginnings."

It nods.

"Yes…and I see that you have passed the majority of the tests we have presented to you in the duration of the past week. It is impressive you haven't collapsed from fatigue yet, either. However, some of your family members presented a problem in our system and cannot continue."

…

"What?"

"Perhaps you are undergoing a stage of denial? The Final Beginning is going will commence after 24 hours when we press the button. And when it does…well, we cannot have any flaws in our new world, can we? And I'm afraid you're one of the last people to take the test. You won't have much time to find anyone I'm afraid."

It lies. It does not feel fear. They were programmed to speak as if they had feelings to make humans more comfortable.

"…No sir-"

"Exactly. You have not proved to be emotionally unstable and it seems you will be able to fit into the new world with ease. Take a turn to the right and ignore the light."

I stand for the last time and exit the room. My family is dead. I know that now. But I keep moving like a zombie into the new room as the robots push me there. I'm surrounded by people. Thousands of swarming people. Some have collapsed, some have passed out. Some are desperately searching for their families and some are left to be alone. It's crowded and disgusting. Humans are now that of a plague. I can't stand the smell of their flesh. I can't stand the smell of their sweat.

The hundreds of screens in the room light up and the countdown starts.

"The countdown has now commenced."

The screen flashes red. "24 Hours"

We have one day and night until the androids set the bombs off and destroy everything outside. Then we will live in this compound until they build specific cities for the remaining humans. Us few who have been deemed "appropriate" or "not troublesome" by them will be quartered off like animals while they live like humans. But not really human at all.

A girl nearby begins to scream but she is immediately silenced by someone. Or something.

23 hours.

My apartment with Ann.

22 hours.

My brother Arthur.

17 hours.

Burnsburrow Street.

3 hours.

2 hours.

1 hour.

They make sure we don't hear anything. We don't hear the sound of the explosions but we know that they exist because we can see it happening. The giant windows are blurred so the details aren't visible, but I can see the flames erupting and engulfing everything outside. This goes on for another day.

When it is over we are shuffled out of the room and into filing stations.

"14 year old girls here."

"26 year old men here."

"86 year old women here."

We're pushed and shoved and pushed and shoved until there's no room to be pushed and shoved anymore. It is the Final Beginning.