[ MINHO ]
❧
Forty-seven minutes after Electra tried to force her way through an invisible wall, the Gladers were all sitting patiently on the floor looking expectantly at Rat Man to speak. Minho sat with Thomas to his left and Newt on the other side of Thomas. He'd expected Electra to come and sit beside him but, instead, she was stubbornly perched against the back wall, arms crossed and her usual sour gaze glued to her face.
Rat Man slid his chair back, his feet dropping to the floor as he placed his book on the desk. Without casting even a single glance at the Gladers, he opened a drawer and rummaged through its contents.
He pulled out an overflowing manilla folder. "Ah, here it is. Thank you for gathering in an orderly manner" –Rat Man sent Electra a quick glare– "so I can tell you what I've been... instructed to tell you. Please listen carefully."
Electra looked beyond furious but remained standing at the back of the room. Her anger rubbed onto Minho.
"Why do you need that wall!" Minho shouted.
Newt reached around Thomas and swiftly punched Minho in the shoulder. "Shut it!"
Rat Man was unfazed by Minho's comment. "You're all still here because of an uncanny will to survive despite the odds, among... other reasons. About sixty people were sent to live in the Glade. Well, your Glade anyways. Another sixty in Group B, but for now we'll forget them.
"First off, I just want to congratulate you all for exceeding expectations. Your attempted escape from our facility was Part One of Phase Two, and we almost believed it was about to be a trashed concept. The collected killzone patterns from your realizations were fascinating and exceptional. Almost as exceptional as your killzone patterns when you discovered the Cranks trying to get into your rooms, or when you found the dead bodies hanging from the ceiling."
Minho's face scrunched. He couldn't keep up with what Rat Man was trying to say. Killzone patterns? That's what they were measuring? What even were they?
Minho was even more confused at Rat Man's tone. The man had a hint of anger and annoyance as he spoke, as if he hadn't wanted the Gladers to try to escape at all. But, according to him, they were supposed to try to escape. Why would Rat Man be angry if the Gladers had done what they were supposed to do?
Rat Man didn't wait for the Gladers' understanding. "Out of all the Subjects, only a fraction survived to be here today. I'm assuming you've figured this out by now, but many of the things that happen to you are solely for the purpose of judging and analyzing your responses. And yet it's not really an experiment as much as it is... constructing a blueprint. Stimulating the killzone and collecting resultant patterns. Putting them all together to achieve the greatest breakthrough in science and medicine.
"These situations inflicted upon you are called the Variables, and each one has been meticulously thought out."
Minho remembered Electra's tattoo. A*: The Variable. He looked back at her, and she was already casting him a worried glance. If she was a Variable, did that mean her role in all of this was just as thought out? And if so, what exactly was her role?
"I'll explain more soon," Rat Man continued. "And though I can't tell you everything at this time, it's vital that you know this much: these Trials you're going through are for a very important cause. Continue to respond well to these Variables, continue to survive, and you'll be rewarded with the knowledge that you've played a part in saving the human race. And yourselves, of course."
"If you're so passionate about saving the human race why don't you subject yourselves to these Trials?" Electra asked, her tone flooding with spite. "Instead of, you know, killing children."
Rat Man was amused at her comment, and a taunting smile formed on his lips. He considered his words for a few moments, and Minho noticed Electra slinking backward uncomfortably. At first, Minho couldn't understand why.
"You should consider yourself lucky, young lady." Rat Man's smile grew. "We let you keep that little knife of yours even after you destroyed some very expensive property to get it."
Electra's silence instead of a reply was unusual. Minho still couldn't piece it together, until he considered the way Rat Man had uttered the words young lady. It had been mocking, as if he was holding a secret over her that only the two of them could recognize. Then, Minho understood.
WICKED knew everything about them. They'd been studying them for years. If Rat Man was from WICKED then he knew everything about Electra, including something she'd kept from the rest of the Gladers for three years. Something that was a symbol of who she used to be. Who she had to leave behind in order to survive in the Maze. He knew her old name...
Minho wondered why Rat Man hadn't just announced it in front of everyone, but he seemed to enjoy how uncomfortable it made Electra as he wavered it over her head like a threatening flag. Minho wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure if anything he could say could rectify the situation. So, he let Rat Man continue.
"Anyways, everything you have gone through has been part of the Trials, you understand? Phase One was the Maze, and as I've mentioned you've already completed Part One of Phase Two through your attempted escape. However, we are still dangerously short of what we need. So we've had to up the ante, and now it's time for Part Two of Phase Two. It's time for things to get difficult.
"You may think, or it may seem, that we're merely testing your abilities to survive. On the surface, the Maze Trial could be mistakenly classified that way, But I assure you, this is not merely about survival and the will to live. That's only part of the experiment. The bigger picture is something you won't understand until the very end.
"As you've been told, our world has been ravaged by a disease called the Flare. WICKED was created to fight the problems of this newly infected world. You are a big part of that fight. And you'll have every incentive to work with us, because, sad to say, each one of you has already caught the virus."
The Gladers immediately burst into worried rumblings. Minho sat there silently, allowing anger to consume him. Rat Man lifted his hand to try and shush the Gladers, but when they wouldn't quiet down he simply spoke over them.
"Now, now! No need to worry, the Flare takes a while to set in and show symptoms. But at the end of the Trials, the cure will be your reward, and you'll never see the... debilitating effects. Not many can afford the cure, you know."
"But Claudia said there was no cure!" One of the Gladers yelled out.
Rat Man found the Glader in the crowd. "As far as she knows, there isn't one."
"Claudia told us we were Immune!" Another Glader cried out.
"Don't believe anything Claudia told you," Rat Man chuckled. "But enough wasting time. We know you now. All of you. It doesn't matter what I say or what's behind the mission of WICKED. You'll all do whatever it takes. Of this, we have no doubt. And by doing what we ask, you'll save yourselves by getting the very cure so many people desperately want."
Minho groaned, unable to properly form cohesive thoughts about anything Rat Man was saying. He was about to pipe up with a smart-aleck remark when Thomas shushed him. Minho reluctantly complied.
Rat Man paused for a few moments, as if for effect, before clearing his throat and continuing. "Now. The real essence of Phase Two. The Scorch Trials. It officially begins tomorrow morning at six o'clock. You'll enter this room, and in the wall behind me, you will find a Flat Trans. To your eyes, the Flat Trans will appear as a shimmering wall of gray. Each of you must step through it by five minutes after the hour. So again, it opens at six o'clock and closes five minutes after that. Do you understand?"
Minho could understand. Well, he could understand most of what Rat Man was saying. He had no idea what a Flat Trans was, nor what the man meant by the essence of Phase Two.
"I'm quite certain you can all hear," Rat Man said. "Do... you... under... stand?"
A few Gladers nodded their heads, and a couple of the Gladers mumbled an unsure yes.
"Good." Rat Man read off one of the papers from the folder. "At that point, the Scorch Trials will have begun. The rules are very simple. Find your way to open air, then head due north for one hundred miles. Make it to the safe haven within two weeks' time and you'll have completed the Trial. At that point, and only at that point, you'll be cured from the Flare. That's exactly two weeks, starting the second you step through the Trans. If you don't make it, eventually you'll end up dead."
The anxious chatter from before had completely dissipated, and all the Gladers stared at Rat Man in silent shock. Rat Man slammed the folder shut before shoving it back in the drawer. He stood from the desk, pushing his chair in, before walking around to the front of the desk and leaning on it.
"It's simple really." His tone was light and casual, very matter-of-fact. It only enraged Minho further. "There are no rules. There are no guidelines. You have a few supplies, and there's nothing to help you along the way. Go through the Flat Trans at the time indicated. Find open air. Go one hundred miles, directly north, to the safe haven. Make it or die."
The finality of the word die shocked the Gladers out of their silence. All at once, they started screaming questions on top of one another.
"What's a Flat Trans?"
"How'd we catch the Flare?"
"How long till we see symptoms?"
"What's at the end of the hundred miles?"
"What happened to the dead bodies?"
Rat Man's eyes darted back and forth between the Gladers, simply waiting patiently for them to quiet down.
Minho groaned before raising his voice. "You shanks shut up! He's obviously not gonna answer us, so quit wasting your time!"
Rat Man nodded thankfully toward Minho, and Minho wanted to punch him in the face.
"One hundred miles. North. Hope you make it. Remember, you all have the Flare now. We gave it to you to provide any incentive you may be lacking. And reaching the safe haven means receiving a cure."
He started walking away from the desk, making his way toward the wall away from the Gladers as if there was an invisible door there. Just before he reached the wall, he turned back and cast one more look at the Gladers.
"Ah, one last thing. Don't think you'll avoid the Scorch Trials if you decide not to enter the Flat Trans between six and six-oh-five tomorrow morning. Those who stay behind will be executed immediately in a most... unpleasant manner. Better off taking your chances in the outside world. Good luck."
Then, the space behind the invisible wall began to fog up, until the scene was opaque. And, just as quickly as the fog was fabricated, it disappeared. Any trace of Rat Man or his desk disappeared along with it, leaving that side of the room empty and dark as if the man had never been there in the first place.
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A/N: hiya! just a btw a lot of the dialogue was taken from the scorch trials novel! :) anyways yaya hope ur all having a good day