The automatic door opens on screen as Mason walks into the gas station with his head down. Buddie should be in control right now. I wonder what Mason is thinking right now? Ed watches as Mason stumbles up to the counter. When will he realise that something is off, does he not feel the wax on his back at all?

“Keep your hands where I can see them. I have a bomb under this jacket, and if you try and call for help, I won’t hesitate to blow this whole place sky high.” What a blatant threat, what would he do if he got caught. He just doesn’t seem to care about living a better life at all.

Ed watches as one of the customers walks up to the counter, preparing to buy some things.

“Please don’t hurt me. What do you want? I can give you all the money in the register, please just don’t blow us up.” Seeing the can fall to the floor, he knows that everything is about to truly begin. Ed watches as the customers run around like headless chickens, trying to break down the door, trashing the place in their attempts to stay far away from Mason.

“Hello Mason. You have threatened many people’s lives, but somehow you have managed to get away with very little consequences... This time you will follow through with your threats. There is a bomb currently stuck to your back with wax, and this one will explode and kill you. Don’t think of running away like last time, that won’t work. Your only choice is to cut through the wax and remove the bomb from yourself. I hope you know where you can find a knife. Good luck.”

Smack! A crisp slapping sound comes from the screen, Ed turns his attention to Mason and sees that his face is now visible. Ed notices a red handprint on his cheek, contrasting with his paling skin. He should have just realised that this is all real, he doesn’t have much time. I wonder if he will waste it?

Ed sighs as he watches Mason slam himself into the glass door for a fifth time. Yep, he’s wasting what precious little time he has.

“You’ve gotta help me! I’ve got a bomb. Please just help me get it off!” Ed watches as everyone continues to flee while Mason desperately chases after them. Well, it’s safe to say that the store is completely trashed now.

“Sir, calm down. Just stay where you are, we don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“It’s all the same. I thought this was a dream. Why do I have a bomb? This can’t be real...” Ed slumps in his chair as Mason starts muttering to himself. I can already tell that this won’t end well. It seems like this has completely broken him. Ed tries to think about what makes this one different from the previous traps. The others were still able to maintain their survival instincts even while in despair. No matter what they had to do, they latched onto it, knowing that it was their only chance to survive. But Mason here seems to have completely lost it. Is it because it matches up to the criminal event too closely? All of the others where just traps based off of what they did wrong, but his is a near perfect recreation of the event, the only differences being that the door is stuck, and the bomb is real.

Is it because it's realistically impossible for it to be identical, so he thinks that it has to be a dream? That would make sense... But if it’s just about it being impossible, then Samuel’s trap is far more unrealistic than this one, and he was still able to control himself.

“Help is on the way. We only have to wait a few minutes, then we’ll be safe.” The voice from the screen pulls Ed from his train of thought. He should only have a few minutes now. Ed turns his attention to Mason, only to see that he’s still wandering aimlessly.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“There it is.” Seeing him finally picking up a knife, Ed hopes that he’s still rational enough to know what to do with it.

The camera changes to focus on Mason’s back. The knife sinks into the fabric, pushing through until a little bit of blood starts dripping out, Ed watches tensely as Mason continues to carve around the bomb, blood starting to drip onto the tiled floor. He could do it. Ed thinks as Mason stops halfway, swapping hands to continue.

Hearing the sirens, the camera zooms out to see flashing red and blue lights through the glass. Mason screams out in pain as his hand slips, pushing the knife in deeper. The camera splits, one side showing the knife in his back, and the other focused on the door. Mason tries to reach for the knife, hoping to continue what he was doing, but is distracted by the banging at the door. Ed watches as the glass starts to crack. It’s over.

BOOM!

“It looks like you have failed to remove the bomb in time Mason... Your entire life, ended in an instant. I hope you have learned that hurting others can come at a cost, and that sometimes that cost is more than you are willing to pay. Enjoy Hell, Mason. Goodbye.”

The footage fades to black as the screen goes back to normal. Sighing, Ed gets up and heads to the door. I wonder if the actors are okay. Ed walks through the door into the gas station. Smelling a foul stench, he blocks his nose while looking over to wear the actors were all gathered. Instead, all he sees is a large puddle of blood and flesh undulating. Looks like they were all caught in the blast. I should give them some time to sort themselves out. Turning around, he walks to where Mason blew himself up. On the wall is the noticeable outline of a person, but other than that, nothing remains of him. The explosion must have completely wiped him out from that distance. He continues to study the area as he hears a series of sloshing noises.

He turns back around after the noises stop, to see all of the actors standing there, double checking that they have everything. “Sorry that you all had to go through that. Have you pieced yourselves together?”

They all confirm that everything’s in place. Hearing this, Ed continues on by thanking all of them for the help and spending some time getting to know them all better. He turns to the one he was talking to before Mason appeared. “Where are you thinking of going on your holiday to?”

“Well, Earth has just been opened up to us, so I’m thinking of exploring it for a little while, I just haven’t decided where to go.”

“I could list off a few spots for you. It might help in narrowing it down for you.” Seeing him nod, Ed continues. “If you’re interested in man-made objects, you have the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Great Wall of China which are some pretty notable landmarks. There are also some places of great natural beauty, like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Grand Canyon in the United States, and the Amazon rainforest in South America. All of these are some pretty good options, of course, there are countless other places you can go, but I think you can take your time to explore the world.” Ed says, while checking to see if he’s still paying attention.

“Thanks, I’ll consider what you’ve told me.” the man smiles, thankful for the information.

After chatting with the others for a while more, Ed heads back to his room, while they all get back to work.

~

The cloaked figures meet again around the antique wooden table. This time all of the side seats are filled well before the meeting starts. Everyone waits patiently for the person in HR to arrive, discussing about who will be selected.

At the head of the table, the cloak starts to rise, forming the shape of a person. The room falls silent as an invisible pressure floods out from the cloak, suffocating everyone as they struggle to adjust.

“The meeting will now begin.” He turns to face the person in the last seat. “Has your candidate met the requirements?”

Feeling the pressure focus in on him, he swallows heavily before nodding. “Yes. Here is his most recent trap.” The document in his hands floats over to the head of the table.

Quickly glossing through it, the figure nods. “I hereby confirm that the two candidates to be hired are Zara Morgan and Edward Armitage. This information will be provided to Buddie, and they will be introduced to the company properly. Meeting adjourned.”