His gaze flickered from the heavy, reinforced stainless steel door to the glowing red numbers above it.

49… 48… 47… 46…

He eyed the decreasing numbers dispassionately.

43… 42… 41…

“You will now enter isolation training. The countdown will commence once the doors seal. The statistics picked up by the sensors in the room will be reviewed once every two to three hour time period with the exception of a five hour time period for sleep. Are we clear?"

Absentmindedly, he glanced to the stats panel to the right, not really taking the numbers in.

35… 34… 33…

The three saluted and bowed in silence.

“Don’t forget what you are training for.”

28… 27… 26… 25…

They moved towards each of the three large, circular openings in the long stretch of hallway.

17… 16… 15… 14…

He glanced towards the identical doors on either side of the one before him, each with their synchronized red numbers blinking down... down... down...

“Enter.”

They each stepped over the thick metal rim of the opening and turned back to face the outside again.

10… 9… 8…

He turned away from the doors and strode down the hallway.

“Isolation will now begin.”

The large metal doors groaned as they began grinding across their hinges.

A last glimpse of the three men… three boys.

With a hiss of air, the chambers sealed shut. The wheels on the doors spun with a mechanic whirring and clicking. Bolts slid into place one by one with deafening clangs that echoed through the area. As the last reverberations of sound ricocheted down the hall into the distance, the timers above the doors began ticking.

27:23:59:59… 58… 57...

The echo of his retreating footsteps came in time with the flickering numbers.

3… 2… 1

01:00:00:00