The Interviewer then, after a couple of seconds, asked Urien: “That glass of water in front of you. Describe it, would you?”

  “Half empty.” – The Urien in the video replied.

  “Interesting...”

  “For your first TEST, and this is just to make sure you are mentally sane... Please write out the alphabet in order. Make sure to include every uppercase and lowercase letter, along with a dot, an exclamation mark, you get the point!”

  The camera switched over to a piece of paper The Interviewer slid to Urien, along with a pen. Urien wrote out everything he was asked to. This interview was then followed by a couple of off-topic questions.

  “Now, tell me a little about yourself Urien. What is your family like, where do you come from? I mean, in the forum you filled up you gave us your address, so we know where you’re actually “from”, but you know what I mean!” – said The Interviewer, followed by a little chuckle she let out.

  “I come from a little apartment a couple of kilometers from here. I was raised by my stepmom. My dad was never there in my life, to be honest. He and my stepmom got divorced, because to be honest, he wasn’t the best dad ever. Now I live with her. I just turned eighteen not too long ago, and I really needed the money for us, so I guess this was the best option I had.”

  “Interesting, interesting. Now, Urien. I must inform you of one last part of these TESTs. You are to wear a mask throughout all your stay here. This is to prevent a few things. We value your privacy here, and it would be awkward if someone you knew saw you here or if you saw them. Also, its a good thing to note that the mask you will be wearing is something we use as to prevent you from recognizing someone you know or anything of the sorts. Imagine this situation: you see someone you know, and you start working with them throughout your testing. This would make an unfair advantage, as teamwork is not encouraged here: we value solo work. After all, the whole point of this testing it to see what “you” would do uninfluenced by other people. After a worker shows you this interview video, they make sure to put the mask onto you so you cannot remove it, as a passcode is put onto a lock that holds it in place. Do not worry, though, you can breathe perfectly fine wearing the masks. You are given the code to take off the mask at the end of every day and you have a ten-minute window in the morning where you can do everything you need to do before a worker puts your mask back on with a new code in place. There is just enough space in between your face and your mask so you can drink through a straw and eat the food provided here, so do not worry. You can survive perfectly fine. Does this sound good to you?”

  “Well, I had my concerns about the food and all, but you seem to have explained it well.”

  “Of course! Bring the masks here!” – said The Interviewer, to someone who wasn’t in the cameras field of vision.

  Five masks were brought in front of Urien. He was then told to choose one of his liking. They all varied in looks and aesthetics. He chose one, seemingly at random.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Good choice!” After all these questions, The Interviewer asked:

  “Great!... So, Urien. I think we got to know each other a little bit more through these questions. Now is the time to ask you: do you consent to getting your memories erased for a while? Before you answer, I must tell you: if you do then you consent to being a Tester here for an, if needed, extended period. We do not know how much it will take you to complete a single LOOP, so we cannot give you an estimate. Taking into consideration that the building for TEST #101, “The Silent” TEST has been destroyed and not yet repaired, you are to start in the building TEST #202 with the building’s leader instead. Your first TEST will have had happened moments before seeing this video of yourself, but of course, you won’t know that. Do not worry, you will have all the food you need provided for you, along with your own room. Here at PROJECT: M. O. we are NOT responsible in the case of your death participating here. We should also note that, after starting your first LOOP, you cannot leave until you complete a hundred LOOPs.”

  “Wait… I can’t leave?”

  “It’s all in the legal paper, here” – said The Interviewer as she gave Urien a paper of some sorts.

  For the next couple of minutes, the video sped up as Urien was reading through all the terms and conditions of the PROJECT. It seemed as if he wasn’t trying to deny the job at all. All of this was so weird to him. He was looking at a video where he is willingly agreeing to, essentially, get trapped in this building for an undisclosed period while he was asked to do God knows what “TESTs”. Looks like he was in it for the money, or so the video made it seem that way. Another interesting thing was noted by Urien: he wasn’t wearing a mask, and he hadn’t seen anyone else besides John at this point, so it was clear to him that the other Testers were somewhere else (or he was completely alone as the only Tester in the building. He was planning to ask John about this later.).

  The video returned to normal speed.

  “So, what do you think Urien?” This was the final question asked by The Interviewer.

  “I’m in.” – said Video Urien as he signed the paper with his name.

  John turned the video off. “Do you understand now, Urien? You chose this path.”

  “I don’t understand any off this.”

  “Well, you better do soon, because I’m going to grab your mask now.”

  John walked up to a cabinet of some sorts and low and behold, he took out the exact same mask Urien had chosen as the one in the video. On the back of the mask, there was a padlock. It was to be used as a mask lock.

  “Wait… Do I seriously have to wear that?” – Urien asked.

  “Well, you’re the one who chose this mask! Not me! Come here and let me put it on you.” – John replied. The mask in question had an interesting design, for sure: one of the eye holes on the mask was normal while the other one was a little higher than intended. It had a cross over the eye hole and it was surely enough to annoy you while blocking the vision of your right eye. It was to be put on your whole face, with only your hair, ears, eyes and neck being visible. The mask had a lock on its back side, just like it was described in the video. Urien came in closer and let John put on the mask on him. After a couple of seconds of getting it right, he heard it get locked. His head was trapped inside this mask until John’s mercy took it off him.

  “Please, sit now Urien. I take it you won’t try killing me again?”

  Urien didn’t reply. Instead, he just sat in his designated seat.

  “Welcome back to TEST, Urien.”

  “Your LOOP number: 12 out of 100.”

  "TEST Building :#202. TEST Leader: John."

  The game between Urien and this place had started (once again).