“It has begun Ed.” Buddie’s voice jolted Ed, waking him up. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked at the screen. On it he saw camera footage showing John unconscious and chained to the floor. In the dingy lighting, he could just barely make out the set of scales, and a faint reflection of light that bounced off the ground on the other side. It all looks just like the model... Oh, he’s waking up. Ed watched as John slowly started to rouse. Seeing the restraints stop John from moving he knew that Buddie didn’t leave John much room to move. Watching him flail his arms around, he cringed, worrying that John would accidentally knock the scales away. He needs to calm down.

“Good morning, John. Your life has been a great success, you are wealthy and have a successful career... you don’t have long. In 3 minutes, the key will be lost forever. Your time starts now John.”

Listening to the voice coming from the screen, it took Ed a second to realise that it’s not directed at him. I forgot to leave him a message. Let’s hope that he is smart enough to get through this. Watching the timer start to tick down, he saw John try to free himself from the restraints. Ed shook his head as John unsuccessfully tried to squeeze his hands free. Stop wasting time. Johns' torso heaved up and down on the camera as the timer hits the two-minute mark. Beads of sweat were visible on his forehead. Eventually, John calmed down and grabbed the scalpel. Good. He cheered John on in his mind as he watched him rip off his shirt.

Ed turned his head away as he heard John’s pained groans. Through the silence he could hear John’s laboured breathing and the blade slicing through flesh.

“You should be watching, Ed.” Buddie voiced out. Ed’s head forcefully turned to the screen, and he resisted the urge to vomit as he saw what was on the screen. Blood gushed out from long open cuts, Pooling on the ground. John’s stomach and hands were coated in a scarlet red, as the scalpel bounced up and down in his stomach. Ed tried to close his eyes, but even that small action was robbed from him. This is disgusting. I’m going to be sick. He watched as the clock hit the final minute. You can do this John. Trying to hold his lunch in, he watched as John sliced through the meat, separating it from the rest of his body.

“Why are you making me watch this?”

“You need to better understand your job so that you can improve in the future.”

Why? Like John, Ed stared at the scales, watching as the fat slipped off the side.

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“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt them. I was foolish and lonely. I wasn’t thinking right. I’ll turn myself in, just please let me go. Find it in your heart to forgive me for what I’ve done.” John’s voice came through from the screen. His desperation reminded Ed of his own struggles.

“He said that he’s going to turn himself in, you can release him now. He needs medical attention.”

“Let me remind you that you have no control over me. John failed Ed, and this is his punishment. If you continue to plead for him, you will face the same punishment as him.”

Memories of his own pain still fresh in his mind, Ed chose to shut up. Staring at the broken man, Ed’s eyes reddened. Holding back his tears he watched John attempt to drive the blade to his neck. With a clink his hands were stopped. The screen faded to black as Johns frustrated wailing echoed through the room.

“Congratulations Ed for successfully completing your first quota. Your next task will be given to you in the morning, so you now have some free time to use as you see fit.”

Listening to Buddie, Ed closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. I should have been more lenient. I don’t know if Buddie would have changed it, but at least I should have tried. I’m sorry John. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten, I have learned from this, and I will try not to hurt anyone else.

Opening his eyes, he stared blankly at the screen, not knowing what to do to fill his time. “Buddie what can I do to pass the time?”

“Currently you have a few options. You can study John’s footage to better improve your future traps, or you can design some more traps for fun. You can also read through the documents that you have previously read. More options will be available to you in the future.”

I won’t do those first two. I can’t possibly watch that again. I guess the last one is my only option. Besides, I might be able to get some information on the outside world. He says that the next task will come in the morning, but I don’t know how much I can trust him. Opening the files, he spots three options; Larry, Susie and John. Now where should I start?

~

“Your free time is up now Ed. Get some rest so that you can perform better tomorrow.”

I wasn’t able to gather much from these files, after all, 3 peoples’ lives don’t contain too much information when compared to the entire world, especially when one of those people is a child. However, I can at least be somewhat certain that I’m still on Earth, since the lives of John and Larry pretty well match up to a normal life on Earth. The time period I’m in is something I’m less certain on. It seems to be the same as before I was taken, but I can’t be certain on just how much time has passed since then. The level of technology seems to be about the same, but Buddie could be hiding something from me. That seems to be all I can get for now, at least its a good start. Feeling tired, he leaned his head back on the chair. “Goodnight Buddie.” He fell asleep as the screen went dark.