Moments earlier...
In Controller's room...
"I officially call the Opening done," Controller spoke. "Coaches, you may now satisfy all wagers."
The Coaches did so, but then...
"Actually..." Red Phoenix spoke up. "I have won our bet, Green Serpent. There is a winner for Opening."
"Are you talking about a survivor?" Green Serpent spoke up. "And are you referring to the delivery woman?"
"I am," Red Phoenix replied. "She is still alive."
"She isn't a contestant and all the contestants are dead, so there was no survivor, and I win our wager."
"Controller, can we have a ruling on this," Red Phoenix requested. "Who won the wager?"
"Let me see... The rules state that anyone who is on a level when the contest begins becomes a contestant, so this delivery woman is now a contestant. Red Phoenix wins the wager. We have our first survivor in five years to make it past Opening."
Green Serpent grumbled, and then he said, "You will have your money within the hour."
Controller spoke, "Now that we have someone to survive Opening, we should talk about the next wagers."
Yellow Dragon stated, "This was my first Opening, so I'm still quite new to all of this. Can you explain the next step in the Mortem? Does this contestant become a Resident?"
"I almost forgot," Controller said. "You took over the coaching position of Yellow Fox after his untimely demise, so I should explain things in depth." Controller cleared his throat and then said, "The contestant doesn't become a Resident right away. The contestant must survive seven days with the other Residents, and then they become a Resident or they could kill one of the Residents, and then they automatically become one of the Residents." Controller paused, and then he said, "You see as Coaches, you each have one of the Residents as your player. You inherited Yellow Fox's Resident, and now it is your job to guide them through the Mortem. You can even give them gifts and equipment as you see fit, all so that your Resident may ascend to the next level, and by doing so, you are also taken to the next level."
"And each level we attain, we gain one of our wishes," Yellow Dragon spoke.
"Correct," Controller replied. "One of your minor wishes will be fulfilled, but you have to win the Mortem to gain your ultimate wish."
Purple Rose questioned, "How was a human not part of the Opening allowed onto the Basement Level to begin with?"
"I am still looking into that," Controller replied. "She was delivering packages, and Mrs. Peacock called the high-ups and gained permission to send the delivery woman through."
"The high-ups? You mean one of the Mortem Masters gave her permission to send the delivery woman through. Now that is interesting," Purple Rose spoke.
Blue Wolf added, "If one or all the Mortem Masters allowed the delivery woman to go on through, they must be up to something. I believe I'm a little more interested in this delivery woman now."
"Back to what you were telling me about the wishes," Yellow Dragon stated.
"I am not allowed to divulge wishes of Coaches, but I can tell you the first three wishes of Yellow Fox since he is no longer with us. His first wish was that he would have sole ownership of his family's company. His second wish was that we could find a way for him to marry his mistress without losing half his fortune to his current wife. His third wish was that we could find a way to create a male offspring. Yellow Fox was sterile, so I believe we were thinking of cloning him if he ever made it to the third level."
Blue Wolf spoke up, "I believe that was more information than any of us needed to know."
"My other question is," Yellow Dragon began. "If this contestant becomes a Resident without killing one of the other Residents, who will be her Coach? Will you bring in a sixth Coach?"
"Only five Coaches are permitted for the Basement Level," Controller replied. "One of you will acquire her and have two Residents, doubling your chances of making it to the next level."
"It also increases our chances at losing money," Green Serpent spoke up.
"He is correct. Any failure by a Resident costs their Coach," Controller stated. "We can decide on a way to determine which Coach she will belong to if and when this Kein... I believe she said her name was, survives. There are seven days... I doubt she will make it past two, and speaking of which, let us make dead pool wagers."
"Before we get into that," Red Phoenix interrupted. "I would like to get to know our contestant since she was not part of the Draft. I would like to ask her a few questions."
Green Serpent spoke up, "I think we all would like to ask her a few questions since she wasn't part of the Draft."
"None of you are permitted to speak to a contestant," Controller told them.
"I might have an idea to get around that rule," Red Phoenix said. "We can all ask her questions through you."
The present...
Basement Level, lobby's elevator...
Kein removed her ID badge and started to swipe it across the scanner when Controller spoke over the intercom.
"I should tell you that if you leave now, you will not be able to return."
"Why would I want to return?" Kein questioned him. "This is a horrible place."
"You can make a lot of money playing the Mortem."
"I'm not interested in money," she told him. "I can't be here. I want to leave."
"Do you understand the position you are in?" Controller questioned her. "I'm not sure how you stumbled across the Mortem, but you are here now, and I can't let you leave. I should also add that you can't threaten us with people finding out that you are here. You're far below ground on a level that isn't in the building's blueprints and all video recordings of you on the premises have already been wiped. No one will find you here."
"I can't be here," Kein repeated. "You have to let me go. I can't be here."
"As I said before, I can't let you go unless..."
"Unless what?" Kein questioned.
"Unless you win. If you win the Mortem, I'll allow you to leave."
"Whoever created this contest is mad," she stated.
"I know," Controller replied. "This place is madness, but the only way you are going to escape is if you win."
"How do I win?" she asked, not wanting to know, but buying her some time to think.
"It is simple–" Controller began, "–to keep going you have to survive seven days, but I should warn you, no one has ever won the Mortem."
"I understand why... It's impossible. I can't survive down here with all those creatures for seven days. I can't unless I kill them, and..."
"Now you are getting the idea," he spoke.
"No... I won't kill. I won't pick up a weapon. There has to be another way. I can't stay down here seven days. Those creatures... fear will..." She tried to calm herself, but her anxiety made all her words flow incoherently as she said, "The monster will want to destroy... I'm afraid... and..."
"So is the nature of monsters," Controller stated. "They want to kill and destroy, and that is why this Mortem is so much fun. Who can predict what anyone will do? Everyone, the Coaches, the Residents, even myself, we all have our own agendas, and we have to survive to make them come true."
"I don't understand what you're saying, and I can't be here," Kein insisted. "It's not safe... You have to let me go."
"Now I am the one who is afraid. I am afraid I can't let you go," Controller replied. "Think of it as you have no other choice but to survive, and it will make everything more... What is the word I am looking for?"
"Clearer?" Kein said as she moved to the center of the cab to see if she could spot a camera, but she didn't see one.
"No, fun was the word I was looking for or maybe entertaining. Now you can either survive or die, that is up to you."
"And the creatures," Kein mumbled. "How do I stay down here and not..?"
"Die?" Controller interrupted. "You will have to use whatever skills you possess. Now... enough chit-chat. You need to run if you are going to survive."
&n
bsp; "Run?"
"Correct, run," Controller spoke. "I am opening the elevator, and our guard dog is waiting outside. He hasn't been fed in a few days, and he's very upset he wasn't able to snag a contestant for himself."
The cab doors opened before Kein could object, and the creature that had chased her turned at the sound. The creature was slightly smaller than her and completely covered in brown fur. He looked at her as he licked his chops.
"If you haven't figured it out yet," Controller said. "That is a werewolf pup. He is much smaller than an adult but still strong, and he is very very hungry."
The End-Next Click Here Part Two Mortem's Contestant
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Monster Of Monsters #1 Part One: Mortem's Opening Page 6