After the 11th week of being total isolation and being alone with his thoughts, which wouldn't stop drifting to the worse and his nightmares, which only seemed to get worse every night, Austin began to really lose his mind.
He was sure of it. The situation itself was enough to drive anyone insane, but the nightmares and racing thoughts and worries and the loneliness – the loneliness was something that came with his forced and unwilling isolationism - it was way too extra.
His routine?: He'd wake up screaming multiple times a night, not exactly even able to sleep most of the time because of the nightmares he'd receive. He'd work out via doing pushups, planks, situps and other allowable exercises given his small cell, and try to do mind exercises to help his wandering thoughts in total vain. The food that came down the slot of that small tunnel on the far side of the cell always came on a plastic tray that mysteriously disappeared during the night somehow - It was only enough to keep him alive and, frankly, had no taste at all, the food. He'd spent hours writing down his emotions in his journal and found it surprisingly helpful to write down his feelings, though he couldn't bring himself to read the entrees - They were so depressing. He spend even more time trying to pry the containers open that lined one side of his cell to no avail and the rest of his days consisting of deep-diving thoughts that worried himself, actually, and then, right before the 2nd and final meal is served to him during what he guessed was evening time, his thoughts always trailed back to guessing why he was there and what whoever put him there had in mind for doing so.
That should have been enough to drive him mad. It should have, but the cosmos hated Austin so much that the sink started acting out: It wouldn't turn on all the way, so he'd have to spend longer than he'd like to drink water, and even longer just to feel clean. And the stench of his cleaning adolescent male body to the best of his limited-resourced abilities with only water to do so was causing him to lose his mind faster.
So, of course on the 6th day of the 4th week in his predicament, he wasn't surprised when his mind started playing tricks on him. Thinking he saw his eyes glow an unnatural luminant hazel blue when he quickly glanced at the mirror, he quickly looked again in the mirror to be sure he was seeing things said, otherwise, that they were their normal green-blue-grey-hazel hue.
'You're losing it, Austin,' the boy splashed his cup of water on his face. 'Get it together.'
It was the second day of the 12th week that food stopped coming down, and the water from the sink was such a sprinkle it was practically nothing at all. And the following day the tube itself that had dispensed his food and one canteen of water had completely vanished.
Austin guessed someone must have made it disappear, but he didn't know how he hadn't realized someone else's presence had been near him. Literally, he hadn't slept in days at this point, so how had anyone snuck past him in the first place? And how had he been so blinded by their presence and the absenting of a complex tubing system? But, of course, the mystery only got deeper, as, in the place of where the tunnel should have been was the envelope with a seal's crest that looked like it was a shield with 6 illustrations on it, one illustration surrounding a letter each, all six parts of the seal around one word: New Gaia.
The six illustrations with the letters behind them were of a lion, a raven, an owl, a deer, a scorpion, and a big tree, each surrounding a corresponding letter. L for lion, R for raven, an O for the owl and a G for the deer, the scorpion had a D and the big tree had an N as a letter background. He had no idea what the crested seal symbolize, but he was growing more and more confused as he read the letter:
From: Executive Chairwoman, Tetia Evermore, President & Director of RAIDAR Research Devision
Time: 19:56 hour of the 11th year's 3rd month post-global incident
Subject: The Labrinth Trials, Phase One, Operation: "Liberation" - A Go
To all remaining cell-tenets with which it concerns,
We, of RAIDRA[pronounced "RAIDAR"], and all our associates, are proud to inform you that the Labyrinth Trials Phase One have officially reached its final steps of initialization, and, in approximately 6 hours and 4 minutes post the arrival of this letter, we will begin the official phases of the Labyrinth Trials. In that time, those of you who are in the cells at the arrival of this letter, your cell doors will open, and it is our highest advice to be attentive and vigilant for the environment outside these cell doors are not for the careless.
To aid in defending yourselves, the containment crates in your cells will contain food and supply packs as well armory and weaponry based on the characteristics of your Traits. Our advice? Trust no one outside your cell; treat everyone as though they are out to get you. Find the Meadows. Find safety. And, again, be warned: Nothing is at all how it appear.
Some of you will not make it past this trial. Carry on with vigilance and with care, yours truly,
RAIDRA & Associates