Arena
You are Phoenix Stalker. You awaken to sweltering heat and utter darkness. You're dizzy and you realize that they had drugged you before setting you down to rest wherever it is that you find yourself now.
Then a voice booms from overhead like the gods of old. You are too wise to mistake this artificial voice for a god, but it is creepy nonetheless.
"Welcome to the Arena, friends. The contest will officially begin when I am finished speaking. Around you are your starting items: a pack, a kerosene lighter, a compass, an army knife, two canteens of water, and a day's rationing of food. There are two hundred contestants in here; we will update you on how the contest is progressing through the loudspeakers. Feel free to explore anywhere you like; as the contest progresses, we will begin pushing all of you toward the center. No more than four of you may claim the prize at the end. Every inch of this place is on camera and is being sent to a massive viewing office back on Earth, so bear that in mind. Remember, the prize is waiting for you at the end of the road. I wish all of you luck."
Silence. You look around, but everything is still shrouded in darkness. "Let there be light!" the voice resounds overhead.
And suddenly there is light.
You are in a desert. It is not the hard-packed earth of the deserts you know from the American lands, but a soft, shifting sand like a child's sandbox that sifts through your toes. Wasting no time, you quickly put your belongings into your pack after a brief sip of water from one of the canteens. You leave the knife in your hand (inverted, Desert Eagle style), just in case.
Looking around, you see nothing for miles except sand... and more sand. You remember your days in the deserts on Earth - they are the most hostile of environments, but you have survived them before.
The artificial sun is hot overhead, yet it pales in comparison to the Arizona heat you grew up in. Oddly enough, the lack of humidity is about the same. You take a deap breath, realizing that you cannot stay in one place forever. You glance at the white man's compass long enough to find your red "brother" North.
What do you do?
Then a voice booms from overhead like the gods of old. You are too wise to mistake this artificial voice for a god, but it is creepy nonetheless.
"Welcome to the Arena, friends. The contest will officially begin when I am finished speaking. Around you are your starting items: a pack, a kerosene lighter, a compass, an army knife, two canteens of water, and a day's rationing of food. There are two hundred contestants in here; we will update you on how the contest is progressing through the loudspeakers. Feel free to explore anywhere you like; as the contest progresses, we will begin pushing all of you toward the center. No more than four of you may claim the prize at the end. Every inch of this place is on camera and is being sent to a massive viewing office back on Earth, so bear that in mind. Remember, the prize is waiting for you at the end of the road. I wish all of you luck."
Silence. You look around, but everything is still shrouded in darkness. "Let there be light!" the voice resounds overhead.
And suddenly there is light.
You are in a desert. It is not the hard-packed earth of the deserts you know from the American lands, but a soft, shifting sand like a child's sandbox that sifts through your toes. Wasting no time, you quickly put your belongings into your pack after a brief sip of water from one of the canteens. You leave the knife in your hand (inverted, Desert Eagle style), just in case.
Looking around, you see nothing for miles except sand... and more sand. You remember your days in the deserts on Earth - they are the most hostile of environments, but you have survived them before.
The artificial sun is hot overhead, yet it pales in comparison to the Arizona heat you grew up in. Oddly enough, the lack of humidity is about the same. You take a deap breath, realizing that you cannot stay in one place forever. You glance at the white man's compass long enough to find your red "brother" North.
What do you do?