Now, I’m locked in helicopter. I’m in a small space that barely has enough room for myself. There are two doors in here, one to go to the main area, and the other is unknown to me.

I hear the noises of the inside starting to quiet down, and it feels like we are coming to a stop. I look out my tiny window and see a grey blimp. The mysterious door opens, and I walk through it. My handcuffs fade as I step out of the helicopters and into the blimp.

I see flashing arrows on the floor and I follow them. They lead me to a small little platform on the floor. I can see light shining from above. I walk further up, and step onto the circle.

A clear shield suddenly comes up on the side and I feel a vibration beneath me. The platform starts to push up. As I rise up, I hear the ominous sound of chatter. The higher I go, the more I get blinded by light.

I begin to see stadium type of stands full of crowds. Everyone gasps when I finally make it to the top. I step off the small round platform, and onto the main stage. I turn myself into a full 360 and see everyone else staring at me. No one else is to be found on stage from where I’m looking.

Suddenly, someone begins rising from the side, appearing to glide up a set of stairs. Here comes another crazy man in a suit, but this one is complete with a shiny name tag that I’m unable to read from the blinding light. I look up at his face, no need for the name tag. I know exactly who it is, John.

“Welcome.” He states.

“Hi?” I say, confused.

“You’re here today for us to decide the plan for your future. No one has ever beaten the 8th floor before, until now.”

A chill runs down my spine. How could I have done this?

“The way you questioned me at the door led me to believe you could beat the 7th floor, that’s why you were assigned there. How you completed the 8th is beyond me. No one makes it out of there alive.”

“How could you create something like this?” I yell.

“Trust. I got the trust of the people. For the past fifteen years I’ve been relied on for a matter no one really knew about. I wanted to find something that people would praise me for. If I found a way to stop this virus, what I have done wouldn’t matter. The entire world would worship me.”

“Worship you? Never. You’re evil and anyone could see that.”

“You remind me of my mother. She never thought I could do anything good, always downplaying my ideas. Both of you are wrong.”

Gasping comes from the crowd and chatter starts again. Everyone is looking at each other left and right to whisper something to each other.

“Hey!” John yells. “Settle down everyone, we must continue.”

“Get to your point, John.”

“You will be asked a series of questions. Our council members and followers from the crowd will take place in a voting process. Most likely, you will be executed. Of course, there is always a small chance that you could be redeemed.”

“And what if I am redeemed?”

“We aren’t sure what comes after that yet.”

“I guess this is it, huh? I’ve made it to the boss level.”

“What?”

“I will win.”

A sly grin spreads across John’s face, denying my very words. He truly thinks he has all the power in the world. I know for sure that he doesn’t. I know there is something in me too. It has been proven to me that I very well have more control than he does. John designed a place that no one could get out of, and I broke through.

“You’re only fourteen years old, yet you have proved to be the biggest security threat to our government. You are the type to leak information without even knowing it.”

“You’ll pay for this. I’ll find a way.”

“I believe it’s too late for that, Samantha.”

I look into the crowds and see them walk out of their spots. Various people start bringing stuff onto the stage. It is very randomized, much like the box on the elevator. Everyone is talking and pointing at what is being brought up. I watch everything move around me and let the fire inside of me rage.

This may be a bad place to me, but I’m impressed. If I die at least I die confident. I’ve gotten where I am because of how much I trusted myself. I let go of everything so I could gain it back. I’ve proven that I am unlike the rest of the world, and it fills me with peace. I am still angered with the system in place, but at least I took it somewhere. Had anyone else been like this, they would’ve been killed sooner. With the state of the rest of the world I guess you could say one thing about me. I’m lucky.