Playing With Fire

Chapter 1

He woke up to the sound of clanging and laughter. His back curled up through the searing pain of extended stillness and his eyes adapted to his new surroundings. In front of him was a stale bench hunched next to a grey brick wall holding a physically impressive young man. Maybe young wasn't the right word. He had the build of a generously bulked man though his face held the eyes of someone barely out of their teens. He was sporting a spookily clean white coat and a pair of orange trousers. The individual gave a light chuckle as he helped Michael to his feet. His feet, that was, were shaky.

"First time always hurts the most," he said. Michael gave a nervous grin before his legs gave away once more only to be caught by the man's arms. He settled back to the floor.

"Thanks," Michael said. That's all he could say. It was just all too much. Never in his life would he think of being locked up. And not just locked up. He turned his head to face the steel bars of his cell. There were other cells as well but they were empty. What was this place? Why was he here? 

"You're ok, bud," said the man. Michael turned his face with nothing more than a confused look.

"I'm locked in a prison," he stated.

"True, I probably should have chosen my words better".

There was an ample amount of silence between the two leaving Michael some quality time to soak everything in.

"Sorry, didn't catch your name," said the man, breaking the silence. 

"My name's Mike and thanks again for helping me back there".

"My name's Dylan and no problems, we have to look out for each other". Dylan gave a beseeched smirk though if Michael knew any better, he was hiding a tinge of pain between his lips. 

"What do we do now?" asked Michael as he got up to his feet, this time around, gaining balance. 

"We just wait 'til they call us". They. Who was they?

"Is that what happened to the others?"

"Yeah".

Yet again another eerie pause filled the air. Michael had noticed Dylan's change of tone. What was once a welcoming and friendly face had been washed by a wave of doubt and insecurity. It made sense. If anything, he too did not know why they were brought here. 

"Cell 1249, please commence to the Reskilling Room 35," said a voice from nowhere. The sound of a door opening startled Michael as two heavily armoured soldiers walked up to the cell. Red. It was the same red from which he remembered. Michael heard a grunt as he turned to see Dylan now standing with his fists brought into balls. The soldiers unlocked and opened the cell calmly.

"Mr. Ryker, Mr. Khan, please step out of the cell and follow us," said the soldier to the left. Dylan stepped out first with Michael following suit. The soldiers escorted the two out of the hall of cells into one of the more general halls. Scientists, researchers and bustling individuals pushing trolleys of what seemed to be rare equipment were chattering in their own self caught-up tongue. Michael was just surprised at the change of volume. Back where even the metal seemed to talk, he was instantly flooded with an overwhelming number of sounds. It felt good to him to hear these sounds once more yet the pace of his heartbeat kept him fearing for the worse. 

Dylan looked unfazed by all of it. By no means was it his second rodeo, this was his first, yet he felt unimpressed. It was as if he was expecting... more. This organisation, whatever it was that took him, seemed too normal. Normal people in normal suits doing normal things. It felt wrong. Where was the obliviously defined weaponisation of illegal material manipulated by an all-controlling deep-cover government agency branch. Or was this all it was? Was this the truth under their noses all along? Though he had to admit it was nice to get out of that hellhole of a cell, he had no idea what to make of it all. Only that deeper within the organisation's root was a burrowed evil just waiting to emerge. He could feel it, he didn't like it. 

The two soldiers took several turns making it hard for Dylan to keep track of where they came from. The place seemed like a maze with doors blending in with walls and those walls blending in with other walls. One could easily get lost here, he found it hard to comprehend how anyone could find their way around here. Finally, they entered a room. It was like a classroom for adults. A simple plain background with a whiteboard up front with the words "Welcome" written in an eerily welcoming font. Several tables were littered all over the place in groups with others like them already sitting at said table. Dylan and Michael sat near the back. The only other individual there was a boy around Dylan's age. He looked unamused, bored even, with his chin cupped in his hand and his elbow knelt against the desk. He took little notice of the two new individuals that had arrived, only adjusting his eyes ever so slightly to show the slightest ability that he was aware of his presence. 

"You new here?" he asked, still in his posture.

"Kind of," replied Dylan, "been here maybe a day. Hard to tell". The boy scoffed, a first emotion.

"Been here a month," he responded almost smugly. As if that was a thing to be proud of. He readjusted his position into a more formal posture.

"What are your names?" he questioned.

"I'm Dylan and this here is Mike," answered Dylan.

"Last names?"

"You're asking an awful lot for someone we don't even know the name of".

"Sorry, it's William, William Wilson".

"Still don't know why you're asking for last names though".

"You might have family here. I know a lot of people who've been taken into the Dory." Dylan hesitated.

"Khan, my last name is Khan," answered Dylan, a worried expression on his face.

"Doesn't come into mind. What about you?" He gave a glance at Michael.

"Michael Ryker," he responded, trying to display a tinge of confidence. William's eyes perked up as he leaned in closer.

"Ryker?" he asked in an almost analytical tone, shifting his eyes all over Michael's body.

"Is... there another Ryker?" Michael asked.

"Yea, do you know a Lemmie Ryker?"

"No, never heard of him".

"Well, he's heard of you".