Gabriel's parents and his two young siblings sat in the dining room, having their morning breakfast. While the couple chatted casually, the children were busy teasing each other, taking advantage of the fact that their older brother wasn't at the table to discipline them—and the parents had completely forgotten to keep an eye on them.
"¿Qué le está tomando tanto tiempo a Gabriel? Ya debería estar aquí para desayunar. También se perdió la cena anoche. ¿Qué le pasa?" ("What is taking Gabriel so long? He should be out here having breakfast by now. He also missed dinner last night. What's going on with him?") Gabriel's mother asked anxiously.
"Luca, be a ver a tu hermano. Y Dile que debería bajarse aquí ya. (Luca, go check on your brother. And tell him he should get his ass down here." she instructed. The boy sprinted upstairs to follow her orders.
"Ten cuidado con El lenguaje, mi amor (Language, sweetheart. Language." The husband reminded.
"Anotado, cariño." ("Noted, honey.") she replied, smiling with effortless charm. Luca rolled his eyes at his parents' mushy exchange.
Luca raced to Gabriel's room and pushed open the door—something Gabriel had warned him against multiple times. He saw his brother still lying in bed, apparently asleep, and grinned mischievously before tiptoeing closer. The headphones over Gabriel's ears likely blocked out the sound of his dramatic entrance.
"He's sleeping all day with music plugged in. Lazy boy." He muttered climbing the bed. A stream of playful ideas ran through his mind on how to rouse his brother in the most annoying way possible.
Maybe if I yank off the headphones, it will get him really mad from sleep. Risky, but worth it. It's suicide I wish to take.He thought and without reconsidering he goes with the plan by removing the headphones, but nothing happen.
Gabriel doesn't move an inch from the position he was. Luca shook him—once, twice—more firmly each time. Still nothing. He chuckled nervously, thinking Gabriel was pulling a prank, playing dead to scare him. But panic set in quickly when it became clear this wasn't a joke.
Luca stared at his brother with widening, tearful eyes. Gabriel seemed… lifeless.
"¡Mamá! ¡Papá! ¡Gabriel está muerto!" ("Mom! Dad! Gabriel is dead!") he screamed, his voice rising with fear. Footsteps thundered up the stairs. Gabriel's mother gasped at the sight. at what she saw and her husband quickly rushed to hold her. Also both the children have flooded the room with tear, their faces streaked with sadness.
MEANWHILE…
I don't know how time works here or how many days have passed since I got stuck here. A day? A week? Or a month? I really don't know.
After the completion of the first game, each player was given a bed. A way to make their captives feel comfortable. After one of the players violated the rules, he was vaporized by a laser from nowhere. Since then we do as we were told in order not to suffer the same fate as the unfortunate fellow.
Lying on my back, staring upward, a tidal wave of thoughts flooded my brain. My mind was clouded by unsettling possibilities:
Where was my real body or is this my real self? If this is my real body, have I been declared missing in the real world? I bet that would be good news for Mr White. Or maybe it wasn't my body to begin with. Maybe I don't even have one anymore. I think I'm stuck in the matrix.
"Hey man. What's on your mind?" Pashina asked, standing next to me. His bed was next to mine.
"Nothing," I know I don't sound convincing, which made him push the question. "Fine! Fine!" I exclaimed surrendering, "I just have so much on mind that's all. So many things I can't wipe my head around."
Pashina proceeded to sit on my bed. I tried to push him away– worried his ridiculous ambiguous weight would damage my bed–but he wouldn't budge.
"You're the first actual Earthling I've ever met," he said. I raised an eyebrow, intrigued of what he was trying to get at. "I've admired your planet, your people, and your culture since I was a kid," he added with a chuckle.
I sat up beside him. "Can't say the same about you. Honestly, I never believed aliens existed. Sure, there are theories back home—tons of them—but seeing is believing. Especially when it comes to Martians of Mars. And guess what?"
"What?" Pashina asks.
"I was right!" I said smugly. But Pashina gave me a 'are you sure about that' look that wiped the grin off my face.
"You do know Martians are real, right?" he said, cutting through my laughter. My eyes widened.
"Just because you don't believe something doesn't mean it's not true. Besides, after seeing the weird species around here, you should be changing your mindset already."
Before I could reply, the twins barged in.
"What are you two planning? Escaping this mind-prisoned virtual reality? Joke's on you, because you're about to get—"
"LASER!" the twins chimed together, mocking.
"I wouldn't dream of it," I mumbled, turning back to Pashina to proceed with whatever he was talking about earlier. "So, you were saying…"
"What was I saying again?" he asked, scratching his head and chuckled awkwardly.
"The Martians," I reminded him, facepalming and sighed.
"Oh yeah, right. Martians exist. They once lived on MARZ but had to evacuate due to war or extinction-level threats," Pashina explained.
"That's… insane," I replied, overwhelmed. "Where are they now? Gone? Wiped out?" I asked.
"They're a unique species—at least some of them were. One of their traits is shapeshifting. You could be in a room with a Martian and never know—unless you've got a really sharp sixth sense," Pashina said, just as a spooky robotic voice echoed around us.
"ATTENTION ALL PLAYERS, THE NEW MISSION COMMENCES IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES." It's announced.
"I… we don't know what's waiting in the next mission, but whatever we face out there, please try not to die," I said with sincerity to Pashina and the siblings. They were the only people I have in this place even if the siblings were totally a pain in the ass. It was really nice having people around in this unknown, at least I still have something to hold on to.
"You too, Steven. Don't die out there friend," Pashina's response wormed my heart. A little smile crept onto my face as the gears arrived and we began suiting up.