"So, what now?" Robert said as he turned and started walking back towards the dorm building.

"Right now, I’m freaking out. Ask me again in a minute or two." Leslie said, catching up to him. It was strange that even in such a cavernous room, there was no echo.

Strolling around for a while, it didn't take long to get back to the doors to the buildings. There was still no sign of anybody else waking up inside the building.

"I think we're going to have wake everyone up. You wake up the girl side. I'll handle get guys. Then let's meet here. I don't think there is anything else we can do."

"Rob, seriously. I'm still freaking out. I can’t imagine what everyone else will be like. I’m still hoping this is all a bad dream. Maybe, if we take long enough, all of this will go away. Or I wake up and this is all just a bizarre dream. Maybe Neil put a couple of tabs of acid in our beer again.“

"You think we really will wake up?” Robert said.

"I hope so, how else do you explain all this. Do you think we can do anything to make everyone less nervous? I can bring down some cookies, maybe if we set up a table.” Leslie said.

“I don’t think putting out milk and cookies will stop the freak-outs Leslie.”

Luckily since it was the summer semester, there weren't as many people in the dorm. Usually, there would be around 260 living here. In the summer, that number went down to about 100 people. Though it was odd that nobody else was up. There wasn't school at the moment, and Robert knew that some of the residents tended to be night owls.

Robert knocked on the first door.

"What!" said the voice.

"Ahmed, I need your help getting everyone up. Something is happening." Robert said.

There was some swearing and stumbling noises from inside the room. Then Ahmed opened the door wearing a pair of Batman boxers. His hair was messy, unlike his usual well-coifed look. "Damn Rob, I'm still buzzed. And I think I had a dream about 72 incredibly kinky ‘virgins.’ This had better be important."

"It is. Wake everyone on the floor up and then have them meet out by the flag between the building. Oh, and do you have a flashlight?"

"Only the one on my phone," Ahmed said.

"Good enough. I'm going to wake up the R.A.'s on the other floors and have them wake up the people their floor. Remember out by the flag pole. If anybody wants to stay in bed, don't let them. If anybody wants to fix their hair, don't let them. This is an emergency," said Robert.

The system in the dorm was that each floor had around 15-30 people living on it, and every floor had a Residential Advisor. The advisors were there to help the students on their floor. They provided advice. They also kept a master key to all the rooms except the administration offices in both buildings just in case somebody was was locked out. Kept snacks in case anybody wanted to hang out.

Robert was the Residential advisor for the Loft, the floor that he, Ahmed, and Neil lived on. But he was also the Senior R.A. which was the position which all the other Residential Advisors deferred too. It wasn't a position of much power. He was someone that most people got along with well enough and had lived in the dorm for enough time that he knew what was going on. The position came with a key that opened extra rooms that the other R.A.'s couldn't get access to, like the Chapel, the Kitchen, and the classrooms.

In a blackness darker than night, Rob moved from floor to floor, waking the other Resident Advisors and telling them to get their floor up. The usual signs of light were gone. The glowing exit signs above the doors were all off. There was no dim flickering glow from under doors. The night occasional night lights plugged into the walls were missing.

Every time he woke up a Residential Advisor, it was difficult not to get bogged down in questions. Why are you waking me up? What's this emergency? Why are the lights off? He fended off the questions for now. It was more important to get everyone moving, so he just said, "Get everyone on your floor up. It is an emergency. We'll meet by the flag between the building."

Lastly, he went to the Moose Room to wake up Neil.

"Neil, wake up."

"Go away."

"Neil, it's important."

"Rob, unless you have dusky skin and boobs I don't want to see you right now."

"This is an emergency, Neil."

"Fuck off. My head hurts, my stomach hurts, I want to hurl, so unless the building is burning down, let me try to sleep."

It might have been a mistake, but Rob decided to let him sleep.

There was already a crowd waiting out by the flagpole — a loud and frightened crowd. Robert saw a vague silhouette bathed in the light from a flashlight headed out towards Westmount road towards where he remembered seeing the street cut off. A few of the girls were sitting in the grass crying. A few of the boys were in the grass crying too.

Ahmed came over to him and said, "I couldn't get Fiorello to get up. Asshole was too drunk to move."

"I couldn't get Neil up either."

"This is worse than I thought it would be. Seriously. What the friggin hell, Man? Should I go get them?" Ahmed said.

Leslie came over and said, "I couldn't find Fatima, and the other Leslie didn't want to get out of bed. Do you want to wait?"

Huang came over to where Leslie and Robert were standing and said: "When you told me to get everyone up, I thought there was a gas leak or something." Huang gestured to cave around them, and said, "This is a lot worse than a gas leak.”

Rob nodded to Huang and then looking around and saw that most people were there, and even the person who'd been headed towards Westmont Road was headed back.

"Everyone. Everyone. EVERYONE." Robert said, raising his voice over the frightened murmuring of the crowd. "Listen up. First of all, I want to say that I don't have a clue about what is going on. On the off chance that someone here does, could you please speak up?"

"Aliens have abducted us."

"Is this heaven?"

"It's the Rapture."

"No dumb fuck, this is obviously hell."

"Aliens."

"The hollow earth people were right; we've fallen through to the center of the earth."

"Fairies have kidnapped us."

"Aliens. I don't want to be anal probed."

"Am I dead? Is this what dead feels like."

Robert let the talk for a minute longer, then he yelled, "Okay, so nobody has anything except guesses? Right…? If all we got is speculation, then we might as well try to figure out just exactly is going on here. The best I can think of is this. Let's divide into groups of say 10 or so people. Make sure that every group has at least two flashlights or cell phones. Then let's divide up and see if there is a way out of here or really anything excerpt cave walls?"

Huang said, "Look, man, who died and made you boss?"

The people who'd been crying were teared out, but as soon as Huang spoke, a bunch of them broke into fresh loud tears.

“I don’t think we should talk about dying right now," Leslie whispered to Huang and Robert. Then Leslie pointed to a small group of people who were crying on the ground and the bigger group who were terrified. "Robert and I are Senior Resident Advisors, of course, we should be leaders, though we’ll value your input. But the stuff Robert is saying makes sense. We need to find a way out.“

Huang nodded and held up a hand, “I doubt a system set up by a bunch of far off admin’s counts for a lot right now. If you hadn't noticed people are freaking. I’m not saying we will go all Lord of the Flies if we’re not careful. I think we’re all beyond that kind of silliness. But I do think that we need an authority that is derived from the people who are right here.”

Robert thought about it for a second. "Huang you’ve got a point. But not right now. Right now, we need to get a better idea of what is going on. For example, there is no electricity, no water pressure, and I assume no gas. How much food do we have? Does anybody have a key to the Kitchen? What do we do with the perishables? Are there any animals in this cave? Is there a way out? I've been watching people dial their cell phones, has anybody gotten a signal or even a GPS location. Wi-fi?"

"Robert, you’re not wrong. Those are important considerations. But maybe some people need to stay here. And I think any group that goes out should carry weapons. There could be wild animals. Snakes, lizards, spiders, and bats. For all we know anybody alone in the dark might get eaten by a grue." said Huang.

Looking around, Robert saw that people were gathered into little groups. The talk was hushed. The only light was from the scattered people carrying flashlights or cellphones, and standing on the lawn, the randomly directed flittering beams of light made the dorm look ominous.

He was tempted to hold the light from his own flashlight under his chin and speak to the crowd like he was telling a ghost story at summer camp. But Robert spoke again. "Okay, everyone. I know it is scary right now. But we can't panic. Nobody is going to force you to go out into the dark if you don't want to. And if you want, Leslie can help you with some calming exercises she usually puts me through before an exam to help you relax.” He looked at Leslie, and she nodded. "But first, I have to ask, does anybody have any weapons? Or know where we can get some?"

"I have a Swiss army knife."

"There is a crowbar in the trunk of my car."

"The athletic room has a few baseball bats."

"I have some foam nunchuck's."

"The kitchen has some knives for cooking."

"I have a couple of kendo shinai in my car."

"If my dad didn't take my camping gear out of my trunk, I might have an ax and a Bowie knife."

Robert listened for a while. When people's voices died down, he said, "Okay, in groups of three or four, some of us will go and get all those weapons. Except for the nunchucks and the cooking knives, that is. I think there are also some axes with the fire extinguishers at the main intersections. Bring those. If you can, everyone else, well I guess, you can just wait here. Leslie, do you want to stay here and help people relax."

Leslie said, "We can do some Yoga on the lawn, or I can go through some Buddhist meditations. Does anybody know what time it is? For all, we know it might be morning. We seem to be in a cave cut off from all light."

"Actually, it is 3:30 am. I can't get a signal, but the clock on my phone still works." Rose said.

"Well, at least that is something. We should also consider building a fire here by the flag pole. We are bound to run out of batteries on our phones and flashlights some time or other. So we might as well consider other light sources."

"That's a bad idea, Rob," Huang said. "We're in a cave. There is no ventilation. Sooner or later, the cave will fill up with carbon dioxide if we light a fire. And if any insects or spiders are living on the ceiling of this cave, they’ll probably die from the smoke inhalation and come raining down on our heads."

"Then what do you suggest Huang?" Robert said.

"I don't know. I just know that fire over the long term is a bad idea."

“Maybe we can find some sort of phosphorescent solution. Or we could hook up a stationary bike based generator and take turns? Sort of like on Gilligan’s Island.” Leslie said.

“Maybe.” Robert said, “For all, we know there is probably an exit to this cave. We just need to find it. We don’t know enough.”

Robert then addressed the crowd. "Everyone who thinks they can find a weapon get with a couple of other people and then go get it. Make sure you go with someone with a flashlight or cell phone. I want a buddy system in place. We are going to have to start thinking about conserving batteries, but not yet. When you are done, everyone meets up again back here."

With an enormous amount of trepidation groups of students began to peel away from the crowd and head in different directions in small groups.

Robert joined the group that was headed toward the parking lot. Claudia, Sarah, Darnell and him. The walk was eerily quiet. There were no sounds of insects or the night calls of birds — no owls or nightjars or crickets.

The first car they got to was Sarah's. She was still tipsy from drinking at the Bombshelter. She opened the trunk of her car and quickly unzipped a bag that turned out to be full of kendo gear.

"Do you think I should get my armor?"

Robert thought about it for only a second. "Right now, I don't think any of us can be too careful."

"Okay. All the boys turn around. I want some privacy to put this on." Sarah had been wearing a t-shirt pajama with a picture of Marvin the Martian.

The boys turned their back and listened to the sounds of Sarah changing into her Kendo Uniform. "Do you promise not to tell on me?" She said to their backs, "if the director of the residence finds out about this, I might get kicked out."

"I think we have bigger things to worry about right now," Robert said.

The sound of things being moved around and shuffled in the trunk happened, and when Sarah said: "Okay, you can turn around." Robert saw that she was wearing an actual samurai sword.

"Is that real?" Robert said.

"Yup. I have one with no edge that I use for Iaido practice. That I keep in my dorm room. But this one is the real deal. Razor-sharp and everything. I have a spare bokken and shinai if anybody wants to use one." Sarah said while pulling out a wooden and a bamboo practice sword.

"What the hell, I'll take the wooden stick," Robert said.

Claudia remaining bamboo sword, and then they walked over to the car. She popped the trunk and pulled out her crowbar. In the dim light from the flashlight, it seemed that she had a sudden inspiration, and she closed the log and then walked over and opened the passenger seat door. Digging around in her glove compartment for a bit, Claudia pulled out two cans of pepper spray.

"I have another in my purse," Claudia said as she handed one to Robert and kept the other can in her hand.

The last car they went too, was Darnell's. When Darnell opened the trunk, Robert saw that it was filled with camping gear and hiking backpacks. Sure enough, after Darnell rummaged around for a bit had pulled out a small hatchet for cutting firewood and a Bowie knife.

"I don't suppose we need a fly fishing rod?" Darnell said.

"Not yet, at least," Robert said.

"Hey wow, I thought I'd left this at home," Darnell said as he pulled out a large plastic case and opened it to show off a compound bow and a dozen arrows. He closed the case again and pulled it out of the trunk.

"I've got a lot of other stuff here for roughing it. Is there anything else you think we might need? Tents, drop cloths, tarps, portable chairs, water filters, solar power, a camping stove, sleeping bag, down jacket?"

"Definitely bring the water filter," Robert said. "With the pipes not pressurized we'll have to use whatever we find. Leslie and I found stalactites earlier. Where there are stalactites, there must be water. As for solar power, if we can find a light source maybe, but for now, we probably don't need it. The stove is probably too small to help. There are over a hundred people here."

"Sure, Robert, I have a Sawyer Squeeze and some Iodine tablets. I don't know how useful those will be for this big of a group though." Darnell said.

"Bring them anyway. Hopefully, the custodian has some bleach somewhere that we can use."

On that not the way back, Robert decided that they should stop off at the custodian's shed. Using Claudia's pry bar to break the padlock, they pulled open the shed that was more like a garage than a small tool shed.

Inside they found a riding lawn mower, oil, weed killer, fertilizer, cleaning chemicals, a bag of pot, a snowblower, a chain saw, shovels, a variety of tools like a saw, hammer, sledgehammer, pitchfork, pruning sheers, some screwdrivers, and wrenches. Lastly, there was a gas-powered generator and a bunch of extension cords.

Robert handed the sledgehammer to Ross and the pitchfork to Katie. He ignored Sarah, Darnell, and Claudia quickly dividing the pot between them. Instead, he opened the gas tank on the generator and looked in. The tank was empty. There were some three red plastic gas cans around the room, but they were abandoned as well.

"Damn. So close. No gas." Robert said.

Sarah said, "We could siphon gas from the cars."

Robert nodded, "Good idea. Let's get back to the flag and see what everyone else found."

People were again gathering around the flag pole. People were now carrying baseball bats, and fire axes. A group of six first-years stood in a little group holding hockey sticks. Robert knew the names of two of them Allan and Lars. One girl — Robert couldn't remember her name — held a croquet mallet and post. Ahmed had brought his foam nunchucks. The Star Wars Sound effects were coming from two girls who had plastic lightsabers out — one girl was dressed as Darth Maul the other as Rey — as they did battle in the grass. Huang had a shotgun and a chainsaw.

“Holy shit, Huang!” Leslie said.

“Sure, my father might own a Chinese restaurant, but I’ve always seen myself more as a modern-day Canadian Redneck, than a second-generation son of immigrants. Plus you know, Zombie apocalypse,” Huang said.

Robert said, “I’m just glad at least one of us is prepared for this. Army of Darkness get up or not. Actually, I’m surprised nobody else has a zombie apocalypse go-bag tucked away somewhere.”

"Damn, look at Sarah in all that samurai gear.”

“I should have put on my goalie equipment.”

“Check out Huang.”

People seemed to be adapting, but that looked like a fragile thing.

"Okay. I think everyone's back. Good news. We found a generator in the custodian's shed. The bad news is that it has no gasoline. Sarah suggested we siphon gas from the cars, so we need one group working on that." Robert said.

Huang said, "It probably won't work. Generators give off carbon dioxide exhaust too. Maybe not as much as the smoke from a bonfire, but enough to kill us. And I checked the air earlier. There is no breeze at all. That’s why I’m not going to use the chainsaw except in an emergency.“

"Damn. I didn't think of that." Robert said. "Still, it is good to know we have it for an emergency."

Rob continued, "I still think we should go out and search this cave that we seem to be in. Form small groups. At least one person with a weapon — sorry Ahmed, but your foam nunchucks won't cut it — and at least one person with a flashlight, phone or lightsaber.

"Our priorities are a way out. If you find any kind of hole or path through the cave wall, don't go rushing in, come back here. Safety first.

"Our second priority is water. With the plumbing in the building not working we need any water source we can find. If you find water, don't drink it. Who knows what kind of bacteria and viruses are in it. Darnell has a purifier, and we found some bleach in the custodian's shed. So remember where the water is, and come back here.

"Lastly, keep an eye out for anything bioluminescent. Remember where it is and come back. We need an alternate source of light. Just remember, the glowing mushrooms, insects, or rocks might be poisonous. Just remember where they are, and well send someone later to see if we can use it. Sorry, I forget most of your majors. Is anybody here in Biology?"

The girl with the croquet mallet raised her hand. "I am."

"Do you know anything about poison?” Robert said.

"Sorry, no, I don't."

"Ummm…" Robert said. "Huang do you have any other ideas?" Robert asked.

"Just that Darnell should probably stay here with the group. A bow is useless hunting around in the dark. But to defend against things coming long range in the night.

"I also think that all the groups should have passcodes. Say a different color. Group Red, Group blue, that kind of thing. If a group hears something moving around in the dark, they can call out their color, and if the thing in the dark also calls out a different color, you know that whatever is making the noise is one of us." Huang said.

Robert said, "Those are great ideas. I'm going to go out exploring. Do you want to stay behind and organize things here?"

"Sure." Said Huang.

"Can anybody else think of something?"

"If we're not going out exploring, do you mind if we stay inside?" One girl said.

"It would probably be best if everyone who isn't out hunting gathered in the Cafeteria. Maybe have someone inventory the food. Leslie do you want to organize that? Make sure nobody eats anything. Who knows how long we will be here or if we can find any other food. And would someone go and wake up…" Rob was about to finish talking when suddenly an agony filled his body.

Rob fell to the ground, and he saw that everyone around him fell to the ground too. He was filled with a feeling of blind worship and devotion. A sense of awe, like he, would imagine it would feel like to be confronted by a diety coursed through his body. He became aware of himself contorting into a kind of prostration, his face plastered into the ground. This movement was entirely against his will. Every thought in Robert's brain was one of servile worship.

From the corner of his eye, Robert saw buildings, lawn, and landscaping start to reflect an eery white light. The light grew brighter and brighter until the darkness was utterly banished by a blinding illumination.

Acting against the overwhelming pressure on his body, Rob began to push himself up again, forcing himself to block out the feeling of adoration. He managed to get to his knees, and everyone else was kowtowing the brightness.

A voice without sound rang out inside Robert's brain and only in Robert's mind. It blasted him to the ground again, "YOU MAY LOOK UP."

This time forced not to look at the people around him, Robert looked into the light. Floating in the air a giant crystal which glowed with the brightness of a little sun.

"WELCOME NEWEST CREATURES. WELCOME TO MY DUNGEON. I AM THE CORE. MY REPRESENTATIVE WILL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY. YOU SERVE ME NOW. KNOW THAT AS THE CORE, MY WORD IS LAW. I SEE ALL. I KNOW ALL. WORSHIP ME, GROW STRONG, AND BE REWARDED. BE WEAK AND DIE OVER AND OVER AGAIN.”

A different color light flashed, and a flaming hole in the fabric of the universe appeared. Out of this burning portal a being walked through. This creature was vaguely human-shaped. It was completely naked and had two penises and a body builder's physique. From the creature's mouth hung six tentacles that look vaguely like those of a squid or octopus, except they were transparent and hollow. Underneath these proboscides was a beak-like the kind, you see on birds like finches that feed by breaking open nuts.

The portal of fire disappeared, and the glowing crystal floating in the air spoke once more. "THIS IS KNAXIS. HIS WORDS ARE MY OWN. HIS LAW IS MY LAW. OBEY HIM." Then to the blinding light and the floating crystal blinked out and disappeared.

The feeling of worship and reverence evaporated. And yet Robert could still barely move his body. He strained and struggled and began once again pushing himself up onto his knees. Then a light once again filled the blackness.

Robert saw the creature that the crystal had claimed was its representative casually walk over to the group of first-year students with the hockey sticks. This was the group that had been closest to the monster. A ball of grayish light floated over its head.

The creature bent over and then lifting the first freshman's head to its beak, it broke open the student' skull. With horror, Robert watched as the monster's tentacles slid inside the boy's brain, and the grey cerebral tissue oozed through the transparent tentacle skin like a Slurpee through a straw.

All around him, Robert could hear the sounds of whimpering and crying. He pushed himself up off of his knees until he almost was standing. The monster looked over at him, and a fresh wave of terror entered his body. Robert felt his bladder void itself. The front of his own bathrobe became wet with urine. His legs trembled underneath him, and he fell back to the ground.

The monster then moved to the next hockey player and bent over, bringing that boy's head to its beak. Once again, the boy's beak broke open the boy's skull and once again, the poor guy’s brains rushed through the being's six tentacle-like proboscises.

Anger overrode fear, and Robert used the bokken to push himself up onto his knees again. They weren't all going to die here. Not without even fighting. Nobody else was moving. He saw Huang twitching like he was trying to get up. Other people were trying to get into a fetal position.

Again a fresh wave of fear went through Robert's body, but he was ready for it. The stink of piss ammonia rose in the air all around him. More than one person was having trouble controlling themselves. But Robert pushed on. He was now standing, the wooden practice sword in front of him like a thin, feeble club.

The monster gestured, and wall of force struck him, nocking backward and to the ground again. His entire body hurt, and he landed on top of a girl who cried out in pain before continuing to cry. Robert managed to roll off the girl. It was Samantha. She was wearing a thin nighty; the stink of feces was all around her.

Once again, he began to push himself to his feet.

"I found you amusing, but don't try me again, Robert." The monster spoke in perfect English, as yet another wave of force pushed him to the ground.

"Welcome humans to the Night's Falsehood Dungeon. As the great and all mighty Core has told you, I am called Knaxis. I am the voice of the Core. You live and die by its whim, and so as its representative, you live and die by my whim."

"I know that you are frightened right now. I have seen many of the Dungeon's occupants who were in the same position as you are right now, come and go over the years. Some rose. Some species fell. Some were changed altogether. Just know that the future of your species in this labyrinth is now entirely in your hands.

"Here are the rules of the labyrinth.

Rule 1: The wishes of The Core and of its voice Knaxis are absolute.

Rule 2: If The Core is in danger all dungeon dwellers must protect it

Rule 3: Your relationship with the other denizens of the Dungeon is your own affair and are of no concern of The Core unless members of that species are trying to break Rule 1 or Rule 2.

Rule 4: Your cave is within a species-specific dimension in space. You may modify your area how your species sees fit.

Rule 5: Adventurers trying to leave the Dungeon are not to be harassed unless they attack first.

Rule 6: You are not to leave the Dungeon. Doing so will cause your permanent death.

Rule 7: Species stones must always be made available to all members of that species.

Rule 8: Neutral spaces shall remain neutral. Safe spaces shall remain safe.

Knaxis then made a gesture, and a basket filled with red gemstones appeared in front of it. "Your species is weak at the moment. The Core understands this. I understand this, and I choose to be merciful. Come forward one by one, each and every one of you. Take one of these gemstones. Your Species Stone is in that direction," the monster pointed at the residence chapel. "Simply place one of these gemstones against your Species Stone. You will absorb the power of the gemstones and become one with the Dungeon."

"What does being one with the dungeon means?" Leslie stammered out.

"It means that you may respawn; however, many times, an adventurer or another monster kills you. It means that you will only ever grow to what your species considers the age of young adulthood, and your children shall only grow this old. It means that if you choose to work hard, you can grow stronger, or choose to learn to use magic. It means that the Species Stone will let you know yourself like you have never known yourself before."

"Now come forward, one by one and take one gemstone." The monster said.

And one by one, each student got up, and in a jerky motion like puppets on strings, each student walked forward and took a gemstone out of the monster's basket.

When it was Robert's turn, he was forced to his feet. He wasn't in control of his body. When he neared the monster, the smell of long-dead meat hung around it. Fighting off the power and in rebellion, Robert managed to use a bit of sleight of hand and grabbed three gemstones rather than the one he had been commanded to take.

When the last person had been forced forward and had taken a gemstone, the monster said "Good good. Use your gemstone or don't. That is your choice. The gemstone will make so that death is never final unless The Core dies, and grant you access to powers you would not have imagined. Or do not. There are other creatures in this place. Your species is currently the weakest. The others will be coming for you as soon as they can find you. In here, killing is one of the ways to become stronger, and right now, you humans are ripe to be devoured."

“Wait? What about food and water? We won’t survive long without those things.” Robert yelled.

“The gemstone will give you the means to get those things. Grow it, summon it, steal it, kill for it, enslave for it, or trade for it. That is up to you. The Core does not care. Remember the rules, and you will persevere. Or not.”

Knaxis turned, and the flaming hole through all that was real reopened behind it. Turning, the beast said, "What is it that you say in your language… I wish you best wishes, or not. Until we meet again or don't. Your continued existence is of no concern to me."