Killing System: First Draft

The sound of an EKG monitor echoed repeatedly in Devon's ears. For a moment he wondered if he were sitting in a hospital, but shook that though away when he recalled what exactly had happen the night before.
"They wouldn't be that thoughtful," he muttered.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and sat up on the bed. To his surprise, it did appear he was in a hospital. Attached to his right arm were a few cables that were hooked up to the EKG monitor he had heard. Upon yanking the cables off, the machine shut off.
The room he was in looked to be a hospital patient room. However, there was something unsettling about the atmosphere of the room. It felt tense, as if something were about to occour.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
Hopping off the bed, Devon began looking around the room. Above the exit door, he could see a flashing red light that appeared to be focused on him.
“Is that a camera?”
Keeping his eyes on the light, he walked from one end of the room to the other slowly. As expected, the light followed his movement, keeping itself centered on him.
“So I’m being watched also. Great.”
He gave one glare at the camera before walking towards the door and grabbing the door handle.
“?!”
As his hand made contact with the handle, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. At that moment, he realized the stupid decision he made, and how it was too late to stop himself.
“AAAAAAAAAAAH!”
His vision went white as the pain of the electric shock traveled up his spine and ripped through his body. In that moment, all he knew was that burning sensation reaching into his very being and tearing him apart. By the time the sensation of his body and vision returned to him, he found himself looking up at the ceiling of the room.
“W-What the fuck just happened?!”
He sat up and looked at the door. At first glance, there appeared to be nothing unique about the door, but upon closer inspection Devon could see the outlines of a few wires that appeared to end at the door’s handle. A trap hidden in plain sight.
Still trembling, Devon lifted himself off the ground and backed away from the door. Whoever had set that trap had made sure that the person they lock in here would remain here. Defeated, he began to make his way back to the bed, when he noticed something in the corner of his eye.
“Hm?”
Lying atop a small desk was a box with the words “Open Me” written in front of it. His interests piqued, Devon walked over and flipped the top open. Inside the box was a brand new wrist PDA. However, this one seemed much different than those he had seen in stores before, and appeared to have been modified.
“Wow, I wonder whose this is?”
He picked the object up and placed it on his left wrist, curious to see how the real object felt. Unfortunately, this action would prove to be a huge mistake.
“E-Eh?!”
Once it made contact with his skin, the brace immediately clamped itself down and sealed itself. Any attempt to remove it proved to be futile, as the brace held tightly to his arm. At that instance, the PDA turned on and displayed a single line of text.
“Player 12 has been registered and confirmed active. Connection to system network.”

“P-Player 12?”
Devon began to feel uneasy; what was going on? Numerous scenarios ran through his head, but one scenario seemed to match the situation at hand. It was one he was told about several years ago as the reason why his mother and uncle were dead. He silently prayed that it wasn’t the case and instead tried to make himself think of this as some sort of elaborate ruse. A joke by his friends.
“Please God; don’t let it be that…”
Unfortunately for Devon, the world promptly decided to stomp out any hope he had about the situation.
When the text cleared itself from the screen, newer lines of text appeared on screen, further solidifying his theory.
Player Name: Devon Kyle Worth
Player Number: 12
DOB: May 21, 2004 (Age 17)
Blood Type: A+
Death Rule: - - -
He felt the blood from his face drain when he saw the last line. At that instance he recalled reading the same line of text years ago on a similar screen.
“Death Rule: Player 9 must be killed by your own hands…”
That very line had been written in a PDA they had found on his uncle’s body. To see something so similar in such a situation made Devon tremble in fear. If this truly was that ‘Game’ his uncle had talked about with his dad—
“No, don’t think that!”
He shook the grim thoughts from his mind as they began to rise up. If he is truly in that situation as his uncle, he knew he couldn’t let himself surrender to the fear within him.
What awaited him on the other side was something he didn't expect. Of the two who stood there, one of them was familiar to him. After all, it was because of her that he had stayed late the day before.
"Y-Yuuki?"
The red-headed girl's face went from a look of astonishment to one of joy. She immediately went up and embraced him.
"Devon, you're alright!" she exclaimed
The boy's face reddened as he returned the hug.
"Nice to see you too Yuuki."
"Ah, so you're the boy she's been going on about all this time."
The two jumped apart when they heard the voice. Devon looked up at the man who Yuuki had been accompanied by. He was at least a head taller than him, and he had a pair of dark, sapphire blue eyes that pierced like daggers.
"And who might you be?" he asked.
"Oh, sorry," the man let out a small chuckle of embarrassment, "My name's Dwight, Dwight Hatcher." He held out his hand, which Devon shook.
"Pleasure to meet you Dwight."
"Same. After hearing this girl talk a bit about you, I wanted to meet this 'Devon' she was talking about. Mind if I ask you something though?"
"Shoot." Devon said.
"Are you two, you know…" he made a gesture with his hands which made Devon's ears burn up.
"No!" the two teen shouted. The man looked at them with a shocked expression, having been startled by their sudden outburst. Surprisingly, Yuuki was the first to break the silence.
"Umm, Mr. Hatcher, Devon and I…we aren't..."
"Together." Devon finished
"Oh is that right? Sorry about that, it's just the way you two…"
"Yeah," Yuuki spoke, "We get that a lot."
Once the air between the three settled down, Devon asked,
"Do you know what's going on Mr. Hatcher?"
The man rubbed the back of his neck, and had a troubled look on his face.
"Well, I have some idea…though it's been at least a decade since I last was forced into the Game."
"Wait, what Game?" Devon asked
"The one you're a part of right now. Don't tell me you thought this was all some joke or something?"
He didn't answer
"So you've been through this before Mr. Hatcher?" Yuuki interjected
"Yes. Though personally, I still wonder how I made it through back then."
Dwight looked into the room Devon had come out from and motioned towards it.
"Let's sit down for a moment in here. I'll tell you what I know."
The information that has come from Dwight's explanation had both intrigued and unnerved Devon. From what the man could remember, the participants were each given an objective to complete as well as a special Rule which they had to abide to until they had cleared their objective. But at the time when Dwight competed, the braces had not been as large or as useful as they were now.
"It seems they decided to combine their PDA system with the brace. I guess this makes sure that the people would take better care of the tech they gave the Players." He mused.
"So, is there anything else you remember about the Game?"
"There's a lot I remember about those horrid 3 days Devon," Dwight growled, "But as in key things? The only thing that comes to mind would be the Hunters, but who knows if they decided to keep them after my Game."
"What happened?" Yuuki asked; her interest in the Game had been piqued with the chat, and wanted to know more.
"The Hunters broke out of their regular programming; they went rampant and killed everything that they ran in to. When that happened, the Committee had sent a squad of soldiers to take them down, but it ended in tragedy for them. It was only through sheer luck that 5 of us had made it through that hellish day."
The look in Dwight's eyes had silenced the conversation amongst the three; neither Devon nor Yuuki could build up the courage to break the man from his memories.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes before a sound garnered the group's attention.
"Mr. Hatcher, your brace." Yuuki pointed to the flashing light coming from the top of the man's brace. The man looked down and booted up his screen.
"Oh, it's a message."
"From whom?" Devon asked
"Another one of our companions. C'mon, let's get going."
Dwight was the first to step out into the hallway. With a quick glance down both sides, the man led his two allies through the hospital. At some point during the walk, Yuuki had moved close to Devon, their shoulders pressing against each other as the followed silently.
"Alright, we're here."
The trio had stopped in front of a doctor's office. The door's lock laid on the ground shattered, and the sounds of chatter could be heard coming from the room. Dwight grabbed the door open and motioned to his companions to enter.
"Well, it was about time you showed up."
The first thing to greet them was a refined looking woman who looked to be around her late twenties whose amethyst-colored eyes looked at the newcomers with a kind of amusement. And she was not alone. In a small corner of the room sat a very familiar man.
"I can't believe it."
Devon looked at the other man in the room with disbelief, a slight smile spreading on his lips.
"Sean!"
The man turned and looked at him. The grim look he had moments ago quickly disappeared, and was replaced with a lopsided grin.
"Devon!"
Sea stood up from his spot and went up to embrace Devon, crushing the poor teen against his chest.
"Glad to see you again."
"M-Me too…um, c-can you let me go Sean? Y-You're crushing me."
"Oops, Sorry."
He put Devon back down and tried not to look him in the eye. Just as he recovered, Dwight pulled Devon to the side.
"You know him as well?"
"Yeah," he looked back towards Sean, who had begun talking with Yuuki, "Seems like I'll be having a few friends to help me along the way, don't you agree?"
Dwight shook his head,
"Listen to me Devon; if the Committee finds out just how close you are to them they'll make sure to turn them against you. If there's anything the Committee loves more than shedding blood, it's making people shed their ally's blood."
Devon's eyes widened when he heard this, and a sense of dread began to overtake him.
"So what should I do?"
"I'm afraid I don't know…it really depends on the Game Master and the mood of the other Committee members. But just in case you are forced to kill them, just remember to make it quick. It'll be easier on both you and them."
He let Devon go and let him return to his two companions before going to speak with the woman.
"Say, what happened Dev? You look down." Sean asked worriedly
"Yeah, did Mr. Hatcher tell you something?"
The boy looked at the two of them; would he really be forced to kill them? He bit his lip as a sob threatened to escape his lips.
"It was…nothing. Nothing important."
Sean and Yuuki looked at Devon, worry for the teen spreading between the two of them. They didn't know what had been discussed and could only take their friend's word for it.
"Heh, the boy looks a lot like him, don't you think?" the woman stated
"Yes. He's certainly got quite a bit of Abraham in him, Arianne."
The two looked on as Sean and Yuuki attempted get their friend to talk.
"Did you really have to be blunt with the kid?"
"I didn't want him to have the same false hope I did back then. It'd be much worse when he finds himself in front of the barrel of a rifle with one his friends ready to pull the trigger."
Arianne shut her eyes as an old memory played in her head.
"Still, it would be bad if he gave up this early on."
"It's really up to him if he'll take what I said to heart. But to each their own. " Dwight stated
The clock that hung in the office read 7 AM. At that exact second, the lighting in the room dimmed and a hologram appeared in the center of the room. It took the form of a young woman with long, white flowing hair, and clear blue eyes. Covering her body was a pale-white sleeping gown.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Saint Mary's Memorial Hospital and to the OccidereScaena. I am Tzofiya, the Game Master designed for this version of the Committee's Game. Currently, I am uploading the Game's rules into your braces. And to assist those who have difficulty reading, I will explain the rules in a moment."
The five in the room surrounded the phantom-looking girl and waited on batted breath to continue speaking.
"For those who have competed before, know that over the last 40 years, the Committee has used constantly used unique Objectives for each Player, but for this special game you and all the other players will share just 1 clear condition: Survive for 96 hours. However, the other clauses, the Death Rules, will still be in effect alongside the global rules. Each player's unique Death Rule will be uploaded at the end of this breakdown."
"Implanted into each of you is a device known as the Gamepiece, which is capable of detonating the chemicals we have injected into your blood stream when you were taken. Breaking any of the rules that are to be listed will result in the Gamepiece's activation, and your demise. Now, for the rules themselves;
Rule 1- The brace must remain on at all times. Any attempt to remove it will make the Gamepiece detonate.
Rule 2- Combat is prohibited for the first 12 hours, and in locations know as Combat Prohibition Zones.
Rule 3- Players must not attempt to leave the hospital grounds or enter into restricted areas. The areas themselves have been marked on your maps.
Death Rule- Every player is given a unique Rule that they must obey. If the Rule is not adhered to or is broken by the player, the Gamepiece will activate."
The hologram paused for a moment, letting her information sink in.
"Also, certain players have been given special abilities to use as they wish. The abilities, however, will not be reveled in order to preserve the special nature of such abilities."
"This concludes the breakdown. A copy of these rules is available for reviewing from your braces, as well as your personal Death Rules. The Prohibition Stage has begun at 7:03 am, which will conclude at 7:03pm. The game will end in 4 days. I wish you all the best of luck and hope that I may see you at the conclusion."
And just as she had appeared, Tzofiya had vanished once more.