The elevator’s groaning descent ended with a sudden lurch, nearly throwing you off balance. The doors didn’t just open—they cracked apart like splitting jaws, grinding upward with a sound like bone scraping stone.

You braced yourself for another corridor, another trap. But instead—

You were standing in a vast, dim chamber. The floor stretched out like a checkerboard, black and white tiles that pulsed faintly, almost like a heartbeat beneath your shoes. Hanging from the ceiling were screens—dozens of them—flickering with static, buzzing with broken laughter.

In the middle of it all, your podium rose from the floor with a hiss of steam, carrying you up until you stood alone on a lonely square of light. On top sat a single, ugly red button, the word “ANSWER” burned into it, letters jagged and uneven.

Then the hum of the room changed. A door opened—or perhaps it was stitched from the air itself—and Vee slithered into view. Not walking, not quite. Her posture was graceful, but wrong, her steps too soft, too rehearsed, like a puppet dancing through someone else’s strings.

“Good evening…” Her voice echoed, not through the air but directly into your skull. The screens above flickered, and for a moment every single one of them showed her face. Too close. Too wide. Too smiling.

“Congratulations on making it this far. But we can’t just let you wander through, can we? No, no… that wouldn’t be fair.”

The tiles beneath you shifted, one by one, the floor rearranging itself like a sliding puzzle. The audience appeared in the stands then—not people, not even shadows, but outlines of faceless silhouettes that applauded in slow, synchronized rhythm. Every clap sounded like wet leather smacking together.

Vee bowed to them, arms spread.

“And now… we begin. Our little test. You’ll answer my questions, you’ll play my games, and—if you’re lucky—you’ll make it out intact.”

Her eyes locked on you, sharp as knives, daring you to move, daring you to speak.

“Now then…” Her grin widened, cracking too far. “Introduce yourself to the crowd. Don’t keep them waiting.”