1 year ago, at FACILITY #87, where some of the people we’ve come to know get ready for “The Incident of TEST#101”... five days remain until the infamous incident.

  This anecdote starts with Woodfield, whom we have come to know well, talking to a group of Testers. Its the year 1999, and PROJECT: M. O. was just in its starting phases...

  “You all! Congratulations on passing the TESTs given to you in the building TEST#101. This right here, is the second building of four, TEST#202. Here, instead of the silent Finn and Shan giving you the broadest of commands, you are to be monitored by me and my colleague, John.

  Each one of you has been assigned a room. Remember: talking between yourselves is not allowed, so in case you need help from either me or John, just come and find us so we can talk in private. Remember, after this building there are two more, and with that your LOOP will be concluded. For some of you this is already the fifth, the sixth, etc. time you are going through a LOOP, so, congratulations.

  As food goes completing a TEST successfully grants you some currency which you can use on the vending machines provided to you. The trash that is left over you must throw in your room’s trash can, for safety reasons. We check the trashcans every morning. Our cook can prepare for you the best of meals for the duration of your stay here. Breakfast and dinner have their designated hours, in which you will be allowed to eat inside of your rooms.

  If you find it useless to eat, head on over to the floor below and use the gym equipment to further your strengths. Don’t worry, during lunch and dinner hours, your mask will be taken off, just like in the previous building. The washroom, in which you can do your daily hygiene, is also close. Come, I’ll show you...”

  The atmosphere of the building, TEST#202, was completely different then. There were at least a dozen Testers in the building listening to Woodfield’s commands. It wasn’t dreadful at all, no, it was full of hopeful people who had signed up looking for some extra cash. It was awfully peaceful, nothing like it was currently. And the TEST#101 building, actually existed, working full force. It was the building which was crossed out by Dorothy on her cryptic paper.

  The Testers were also allowed to walk around freely on the outskirts of the building, having benches to sit and enjoy nature in. Compared to the state the TESTs were in current day... it seemed like a perfect (although a little dystopian) place to earn a little extra.

  Woodfield concluded his tour and made his way over to TEST#101. He wanted to talk to someone, a very special someone. If you travelled far enough, there was a security fence, only to be opened by the workers of these buildings, in times of need. After walking for a couple of minutes through the pine tree – filled path, he made it. In front of him stood the lost TEST, TEST#101.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  After he had made his way inside, he saw them, “The Silent Duo” as everyone called them: Finn and Shan. Each and every TEST building tested upon a different part of the human body and mind. TEST#202 tested your physical and mental strength, while TEST#101, often called the “Silent TEST”, tested your patience and courage. To talk anyhow was not allowed. The duo, Finn and Shan, never said a word to each other. Only using hand signals did they help the Testers with their tasks. Finn was a shorter – mid body weight man who had a mask which had eyes that could glow. In a lot of ways his and Woodfield’s look was similar: both wore black hoodies, covering up their whole self, head included, excluding their masks. Finn never talked though. Finn used to work alone on the TEST, but after a couple of months, Shan arrived as well.

  Shan was, as we will come to learn, a male, younger than everybody else there. This didn’t make him an outcast though, as he loved talking with the other workers, excluding Finn of course. Shan and Woodfield were very close, for reasons I will tell of soon enough...

  “Hey, Shan. Let’s go get lunch together. The day is long, you know. I hope you don’t plan on standing there forever. I would ask Finn to come with us, but he takes his role very seriously. I’ll wait for you outside.”

  Shan, who had a very specific mask, consisting of horns, a hat and a mask which covered his full face, nodded to Woodfield, and soon enough met him outside.

  “Hey... It’s been a bummer of a day. All the Testers just moved on to your building, but that doesn’t mean that they’ve succeeded in the final TEST of our building. I guess the mice scared them a little too much, huh?” – said Shan. It was clear in his voice that he was a positive, well educated and young man.

  “Cut me some slack... Maybe if you had to explain and say the same things repeatedly every few days, you would know how hard this is on my “I hate boredom” self. You and Finn got the easy way out.” – Woodfield said, jokingly.

  “Yeah, yeah. Let’s head to the Main Room in the main building. I bet you that Selena is there, experimenting with the molecules of the food and every one of its ingredients.”

  “Man... I’m dying for some chicken. Perhaps her plan to create a mutant of some sorts will allow us to have a mutant chicken which regenerates itself every few days, allowing infinite chicken breasts to be eaten.”

  “Yeah, you wish. It’s probably something to do with his orders. I’ll be honest with you, Woodfield, something is feeling off about all this... I mean, sure, we signed up for this job, but what purpose are we working for, exactly?”

  Woodfield was struck as the tone of their playful conversation suddenly shifted.

  “You... You have a point. But come to think of it... No, it couldn’t be true.”

  “What?” – Shan enquired Woodfield.

  “We remember starting to work here, but isn’t it weird how us workers must also get our memories wiped with that chip that’s used on the Testers? We keep on being told that we are to work here for an unknown period, but, what if we are being kept here...?”

  “I... Let’s not think about this now. Selena is probably waiting for us...”

  The doubts of the building’s workers started piling up, slowly but surely... Why couldn’t they remember almost anything from their life from before they started working? It is important to know that workers as well, as to keep them unknowing of the Testers identities, also went through regular memory wipes, every few or so weeks or months... Unlike the Testers, though, they had the advantage of remembering some things...