Chapter 1: Your lives are no longer your own

He was too weak to open his eyes, but all his other senses had slowly come to life; smell, hearing, taste and touch.  

He slide his right hand across the hard surface on which he was lying. He couldn't feel any wind or hear any traffic, so he assumed he was inside, but there was only a neutral smell, so he had no idea of where he could be.  

However, there was a minor problem. He was thirsty; his tongue was as dry as a chalkboard eraser. He needed water. If only he could open his eyes, but his head felt so heavy. He was tired, but if he didn't get any water now he feared that he might die. When had he last had any water to drink?

He rolled onto his back and huffed uncomfortably; his body felt so weak. Had he been beaten? He didn't feel like he was hurt in any way though.

Suddenly, someone moaned faintly to his left and it made him open his eyes in surprise with much less difficulty than he originally had expected.

He wanted to look directly at the owner of the voice, but he was instantly blinded by a sharp light from a lamp, that hung right above him.

His hands flew up to protect his eyes and he rolled to lie on his side, rubbing his closed eyes to get his sight back faster.

"Hey..." a voice whispered from somewhere in front of him. He opened his eyes once again, more cautiously than before. Lying before him was another young man, staring at him in confusion. "Where are we?" he asked quietly and Kyuhyun frowned as he questioned the same.

How was he supposed to know?

Kyuhyun sat up slowly to look around. He realized that there were several other people in the room - all seemed to be male and wearing the same clothes. They were unconscious though, in a similar state as he'd just been only a minute ago. Kyuhyun looked down at his own body. He was dressed just like the others: in loose, black clothing - a v-cut, short sleeves top and baggy trousers. Also there was a sign on the left side of his chest with the current year: 2013. The other was wearing the same number on his shirt.

The guy sat up as well, but kept looking at him in anticipation. It made him nervous to know that neither seemed to know what was going on.

"I don't know," he answered the other warily.

They were in a dim room that looked as if it was located in a basement. It was very clean; almost as if no one had ever been in the room before. The walls were metal, and there was no furniture, except for the intense lamps hanging from the black ceiling.

It was as if they were prisoners.

He counted how many of them there were; twenty three. Only he and the other guy were awake. He noticed that all of them had some kind of collar around their necks. His hand rose automatically to his own, and felt the hard ring tightly secured around him. He could barely stick the tip of his finger through. "What in the world..."

"This is absurd; I can't get it off of me!" the other guy whimpered as he too desperately tried to inspect the collar.

"Stop! It's no use," he told the other, who let his arms fall down in defeat.    

He noticed that there was a door at the other side of the square room and instantly felt the need to run out of it right away to claim his freedom.

"Who are you?" the unexpected question startled him, and he looked back at the other guy, frowning at him. It shouldn't matter who he was. They were trapped for crying out loud. They should worry about how to get out, not make introductions.  

"Kyuhyun," he answered hesitantly, and went back to staring at the door, collecting some courage to go and inspect it.

"I'm Key."

I wish you were, Kyuhyun thought sarcastically, and rose to his legs. To be honest he wasn't really in a talkative mood right now.  

Key looked rather perplexed as he watched Kyuhyun walk on shaking legs, moving around the other unconscious people that lay sporadically around on the floor. "What are you doing?"

He understood though, as Kyuhyun soon reached the door and attempted to open it. Unfortunately, it was in vain; the door wouldn't budge.  

Kyuhyun was on the verge to yelling out of frustration, but he was too low on energy and too thirsty. What was happening?

Defeated, he went back to his previous spot, next to Key.

"What are we going to do?" Key asked, as if Kyuhyun had all answers. He moved closer to Kyuhyun, who had absolutely no idea what course of action they should take at that moment.

Should they wake up the others? But that wouldn't change anything; it looked impossible to get out.

"I don't know." He felt like a robot, who could only repeat the same sentence over and over again. "I'm wondering how we got here."

Key thought for a moment. "All I remember is running down the street in the dark - and something about a river. Then it all becomes black."

Kyuhyun nodded and thought as well of what he last remembered. "A train... That's all I can remember."

"Then it's all just black?"

"Yes." He wasn't quite aware of his last events. The fact that he only remembered a train passing by at high speed left him no clue at all.  

They sat in silence thinking of what to do now. However, only a few minutes passed before they heard the door being unlocked and it swung open.

The two boys' eyes went wide as both crawled back on instinct, until they were pressed against the wall.

"W-who?" Key began bewildered, but kept silent as two large men walked into the room and locked the door behind them.

The men looked as if they were bikers with black helmets and leathers, but Kyuhyun assumed they were guards of some kind. They had guns on their hips and looked completely similar in their clothes.  

"Wake up!" one of the tall men commanded harshly and shook one of the unconscious ones. The other guard used his foot to shake others with, as if he was too lazy to bend down.

Or they were of no worth.    

Once everybody was awake, the two guards positioned themselves in each their corner. "Stand up!" the other guard demanded impatiently.

"Come on," Kyuhyun whispered to Key, who seemed to be in shock by the direct commands. He helped him up by lifting his arm, and Key followed, though uncertainly. 

Those who'd been shaken awake looked around confused and worried. One was almost crying and a few others looked like they were sick; most of them were pale in their faces, which created a surreal contrast between the black clothes and the white skin.

No one dared to say a thing however, except for one guy, who angrily  walked up to one of the men in black.

"What is this?" he asked furiously motioning around the room with his arms. They all wished to know what was going on, however Kyuhyun bit his lip. This could only be a stupid move, seeing that the guards were forceful and perhaps even corporal. 

"Quiet!" the angry guard yelled, pushing him back with great force. The guy almost fell from the hard push, as he went stumbling back to his place.  

"Listen carefully to the information," the other guard informed warningly.

A speaker appeared out from the wall and a voice started speaking.

>>Welcome, souls from 2013, to New Urbe of STB.<<

Kyuhyun felt like gulping, but it was impossible with his dry throat. He couldn't comprehend what was said in that one sentence. He already had so many questions formed in his head, but it seemed like he would have to wait to ask anything. That is, if he would ever be allowed to.  

>>You've been moved from your former home and brought here to participate in the upcoming combat against the Dardanises. 

>>The collars around your necks are a way for us to assure that you won't disobey. Do that and you'll pay with your lives.

>>Tomorrow, you'll be analyzed and handed out. It means that you'll be categorized into at least one of following occupations: work and invention, serving and assisting and last and most crucial, skills and training. 

>>I shall remind you that you have a purpose here, and you will be willing to fulfil your mission. If you go against the rules, you'll be eliminated. However, follow every order you'll be given, and your time here should be quite tolerable. Do not question the orders and do not think you'll be given any second chances.

>>Your lives are no longer your own.<<

After the voice had spoken its final words, one of the two guards stepped in front of them, holding up an object that looked like a thick pencil.

"It's very simple. I'll point at you with this -" he pointed the pencil towards the guy, who had tried to be confronting. The guy immediately looked like he held his breath as if a single blow would end his life. "- click on the button at the tip," the man in black made a cruel motion to the button, pretending to click on it, "and you'll be pierced through your throat by the collars." He then laughed evilly behind the dark helmet, and it made everyone look at each other in sheer fear and uncertainty.  

As he lowered the deathly object, the guy breathed out in relief.

Kyuhyun still didn't understand what was going on. The former message was unclear and had been more of a threat than informative. His mind wouldn't accept something it didn't fully understand.

However, he was determined that it would be best to stay as calm as possible. He had to, no matter how much his body was ready to flee at any given moment. He was on an enemy's territory - it would be thoughtless to assume that he could get out from a place he knew nothing about.  

He noticed that Key looked at him with a shocked face. "That was horrible!" he whispered.

Kyuhyun agreed mentally, but shook his head slightly, regardless. He didn't want Key to be upset and do something reckless. He didn't know the guy yet and wouldn't risk anything.

They had to stay calm. Even if they were treated as if they were mere toys.  

The two guards ordered them into a line in pairs, with a guard in each end, resembling badly behaved children from a kindergarten; preventing them from running away.

The guards led them through a long, dark corridor, that were only lightened by a blue glow from the sides of the floor. They could just fit walking in pairs; at least it felt so - or perhaps it was because Key clung to Kyuhyun's arm the whole way, whimpering something about that he disliked dark, narrow places. Obviously, the other assumed that they were already close friends. Kyuhyun was usually very reserved, but didn't want to push Key away. Clearly, the guy was just terrified and what person would he be, if he couldn't even provide the other with at least a little kindness.    

Soon he could see the end of the corridor, which had a door to it. As he got closer and closer the voice from before constantly repeated itself in his head.

No matter what he was forced to walk through that door. No matter what awaited him. No matter what he would say against it. The guards could tell him to do whatever they wanted and he couldn't do anything about it. He certainly didn't want to die, which he would if he disobeyed. It was problematic, because Kyuhyun highly disliked to be controlled by others. He needed his freedom, yet there was something inside of him that told him to just be adaptable.

His life was no longer his own.