My hand scratches at the wood above me.
In maybe 2 hours, I’ve made little progress.
Melissa
Melissa
Help!
I yell, but my voice goes unheard.
I’ve already screamed my vocal cords out.
Plus, it’s hard to hear someone who’s been buried alive.
I try to keep my wits about me.
I survey my prison with my hands.
At my feet, I feel a lighter.
I cup my right hand around it.
Is there a way to use it without setting my world on fire?
I call out.
Melissa
Melissa
If anyone can hear me, please get me out of here!
I try to think back to where I was…
Before I woke up in this box.
How I got here.
But it’s all a blank.
How is that possible?
I can’t remember a thing.
Melissa
Melissa
Please, somebody!
I punch at the wood above me—
Quick jabs as I can’t manage a full swing.
My hand aches, but I keep going.
Punch after punch, I hammer away until finally…
A tiny, minuscule crack appears.
I spark the lighter and investigate.
It’s a hairline crack, but I can work with it.
I run my fingers over it until…
A small black mark starts to form, just above the lighter.
Melissa
Melissa
No, no, no, please no.
The fire catches almost immediately.
I fan and wave at it, but it only gets worse.
Finally, I smack it over and over with my hand.
It burns and goes out…
Leaving me in cold darkness.
The acrid smell is overwhelming.
My head aches.
I can tell my oxygen is running out quickly.
I lift my head a bit, but it thuds back onto the wood…
And I pass out.
Sometime later, I wake up again.
I try not to let hopelessness take over.
But I know the oxygen can’t last forever.
I focus on the hairline crack.
It’s my only way out.
With the back of the lighter, I go to work…
Hammering and scraping until dirt starts to fall through.
It lands in my mouth—
Dry and chalky.
I turn and cough it out.
And that’s when I see it:
A small black dot.
It’s just to the right of my head.
I get closer and see a small lens.
A camera lens.
Melissa
Melissa
Are you kidding me?
I frantically search for more.
There are 4 camera lenses that I can see.
Melissa
Melissa
Who are you?!
Melissa
Melissa
Why are you doing this?
Melissa
Melissa
Let me out of here!!
I fight back tears—
But I am not weak, and I refuse to cry.
With newfound aggression, I get to work…
Methodically hitting the cracked wood.
As the split widens, more dirt falls on me.
I close my eyes and keep going.
It’s heavy on my face.
Soon, I’ll be covered and will have to dig my way out.
I keep going until I faintly hear…
Announcer
Announcer
Clear Room 2.
Announcer
Announcer
Reset for the next test.
I freeze.
A memory comes back in flashes:
I’m sitting in a room, tied to a chair.
Electrodes are attached to my head.
Then there’s a shock of pain.
But as quickly as it has appeared, the memory fades away.
My fist connects with the wood twice more.
Hard.
That’s when the wood fully splinters.
Dirt pours in.
I can’t breathe.
It takes a second before instinct kicks in.
I start clawing and fighting upward.
The wood scratches my arms and back.
But I dig with everything I’ve got.
Finally, my hand breaks through.
My heart and lungs pound.
I go faster and faster until I see sunlight.
And then my lungs fill with oxygen.
I breathe deeply, my head half out of the dirt.
I’m too exhausted at first to realize that I’m not outside at all.
But then I see stark white walls…
And notice that my wooden box sits within a dirt-filled glass cube…
In the middle of a surgical room.
I call out.
Melissa
Melissa
Hello?
Someone has to be watching.
It’s easy to climb out the rest of the way.
I step out of the cube and onto the floor.
Only then do I realize that I’m in a tight-fitting body suit.
The number 762 is embroidered on the right breast.
Melissa
Melissa
Is anybody here?
I walk to a wall with a large mirror on it.
My face looks foreign to me.
Have I ever seen it before?
Of course I have, but why can’t I remember?
Inches from the mirror, I touch my nose, cheeks, and eyes.
These can’t be mine, can they?
And yet they must be.
Behind the glass sit 2 geneticists.
They watch Melissa through the 2-way mirror…
With notepads on their laps.
They take notes on her every movement.
They nod at their accomplishment.
Their Genetic Enhancement Initiative is going well.
Especially in these early stages.
But Melissa doesn’t know they’re there.
All she can see is herself in the mirror….
Scared, confused, and streaked with dirt.
Melissa
Melissa
Please! Is anyone here?
As I look around, trying to figure out what is happening…
I hear a voice over a loudspeaker.
Announcer
Announcer
We need a reset in Room 17.
Announcer
Announcer
It’s time for Round 2.
Announcer
Announcer
And let’s remove the lighter this time.
The wall opposite the mirror opens.
I didn’t realize there was a door there.
Before I can say anything, 2 orderlies overpower me.
They inject my arm with a needle, and I pass out.
Orderly #1
Orderly #1
She’s the first to make it.
Orderly #2
Orderly #2
Twenty bucks she can’t do it again.
Orderly #1
Orderly #1
You’re on!
1 hour later
My hand scratches at the wood above me.
I yell, but my voice goes unheard.
Melissa
Melissa