Orientation

Miyako groggily opened her eyes to find herself in a small room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all a dull grey with no furniture in sight. Save for what appeared to be a door before her, there looked to be no other way in or out of this room.

"Ah, ah, are you up?" a voice crackled.

Miyako darted her head round the room, yet not another soul was present. "That voice, it sounded like that guy from the party... ...!"

"What a nice look you have on your face, 44," the voice rang out once more.

"Where are you!?"

"Watching from afar. Come on, did the sound of the speakers crackling really not cue you in to the fact? 44, you'll need better smarts than that to survive here."

"Survive?"

Clack!

Miyako's attention shifted towards the door as it opened and a masked man in full combat attire entered.

"Orientation will be up ahead. But first, you'll need to change," the voice stated as the guard placed a navy blue tracksuit and pair of white athletic sneakers on the ground before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

"We'll give you 5 minutes max of privacy to change. Fail to change in time, and the guard will enter and dress you himself. Would a lady like you want that?"

Miyako cautiously approached clothes and examined them. They appeared to be sized up just right to fit her, making her feel a tad uncomfortable. Worse, further inspection revealed undergarments folded up inside along with a pair of white socks and a plain white t-shirt, implying that she'd be required to change undergarments as well.

"Um, are you watching... on camera?" she asked aloud.

Not a sound permeated from any corner of the room.

Miyako began to tremble as she darted her head around, looking for any place a camera might be hidden. "He can see me. There's no place to change in privacy here, so if I undress, he'll see it all. But if I don't change, I'll face greater humiliation... I can't see any cameras, but they are definitely here. Though if I find them, could I even block them off successfully? Would that cause the guard to come rushing in?" she thought.

The more she worried, the more time she slowly began to waste away. Beginning to realize she had no way to keep track of time, Miyako began to panic. Her eyes darted to the door, but to her dismay, there was no handle or latch, meaning there was no way to prevent the guard from coming in.

"I can't change! There's undergarments included, so if I try and just change into the tracksuit, they'll know and then... Then... I don't want to think about it! If only I had something to cover me up so at least he couldn't see... ...!"

Miyako quickly grabbed the tracksuit jacket and began taking off her own jacket, tying them together around her waist to make a make-shift dress. "Not perfect, but at least it covers everything up. Now I can at least change without being exposed," she thought as she began to slide off her pants and shoes.

"Two minutes left!"

Miyako bit her lip as she finished changing into the lower half of the tracksuit. "Just two minutes left!? Ngh, and I can't cover up my upper half with the jackets. If I'm not fast enough, I could get walked in on as I'm changing. Hmm, what if I pressed my front against the wall? Then he wouldn't be able to see me... Let's try it," she thought.

Grabbing the t-shirt and bra, Miyako ran up to a corner of the room and began to take off her shirt. Just as she finished changing into the bra, Miyako's eyes bulged as a shock suddenly went through her body. Terror spread itself on her face as she found herself unable to move.

"Time is up. Hmm, looks like you got the pants and bra on. But everything else? Seems Boris will have to finish dressing you," the voice crackled through the loudspeaker.

Sweat poured down Miyako's face as the creaking sound of the door opening permeated her ears. Unable to turn, she could only dread as the heavy footsteps drew closer and closer. Then, a large hand clamped down on her shoulder. Slowly, she was turned around to face the masked guard from before.

The guard muttered something in Russian before out stretching Miyako's arms and putting the jacket on her. He then grabbed her by the waist and laid her down on the ground, putting on her socks and shoes. When he was done, Miyako found herself able to move again.

"Do try and be a bit wittier on your feet. You'll need it to get out of the forest," the voice crackled.

"'Forest'!? Where are we!?" Miyako cried.

"Come through the door. Orientation will begin when everyone's assembled."

The guard glared down silently at Miyako, as if he wanted to say, "Get your ass moving". Getting up as quickly as she could, she ran out the open door to find herself in a large open room with a balcony high above. Five other women, each garbed in identical tracksuits, were present, with some being familiar faces to Miyako.

"You, weren't you from the party?" a blonde-haired girl scoffed.

"Oh yeah, we were with her when we got chloroed," a girl with short blue and red hair grinned.

"You were chloroed?" a girl with spray tanned skin and short dyed blonde hair scowled.

"Uh, weren't we all?"

"Lol, I got an invite, but they just told me to chug some sleepin' pills. Ah, we live by the way? Hey it's me, Imono, uh, e," a girl with a light orange bob and spikey teeth grinned.

"'E'?"

"Yeah, need to rhyme."

"No, rhyming's cringe."

Clap! Clap!

"All 6 of you have finally assembled!" a bearded man chuckled as he stepped out on the overhead balcony.

"You! Why did you bring us here!?" the blonde-haired girl fumed.

"For the sake of Mother Russia. You understand patriotism, nationalism, yes?"

"What are you talking about!?"

The man let loose a smirk as he tossed 6 passports into the air. "Congratulations! You're all proud Russian citizens as of this day!"

"What do you mean!? I've been Russian since birth!"

"Ah, but for this, we had to be equal you see, so you get a brand new passport. Now, the introductions... I'm Dr. Vasily Asimov, the head scientist here at Queenside Citadel. You all along with others have been chosen to take part in a national selection project to craft our next world chess champion."

"Um, the fuck? You kidnapped us just to have us play chess!?" the blue-haired girl fumed.

"Yes, and there's nothing you can do about it. You all are powerless."

"How?"

Miyako blinked in confusion, yet before she could get a word out, her body froze up just as it had before, though this time, her mouth was also unable to move. More horrifying was Vasily's gaze that centered in on her, accompanied by a brief grin.

"Do you see a way out? You're currently in the bowels of the citadel. Only the guards can come and go as they please, but fret not. Food is provided, bathrooms with showers are present, and of course, chess sets. You'll find them set up nicely by the side. Feel free to play, just talk to the guard on duty. When it's time to rest, you'll be brought to your cells. Sorry, but they're much more... cramped, than the rooms you awoke in. Well, that's all for the first day. Mingle all you want. I'll have more to say tomorrow, hopefully... a lot more."

And with that, Vasily retreated from the balcony into the connecting room, leaving everyone to their own devices. Able to move again, Miyako began to pant wildly as she collapsed to the ground on all fours.

"Uh, what's with you? You that freaked out? Don't worry, we can bust outta here with me here," the blue-haired girl grinned.

"I mean, isn't that the point? But I don't think it's possible now. The game master up there said he'd have more for us tomorrow, so that means stuff's locked to keep us from progressing. Gotta force us to cram into those cells somehow," Imono shrugged as she glanced over at three barred jail cells, each containing two bunks and a toilet.

"Um, I'm NOT setting foot in that filth! Someone call for the authorities!" the blonde-haired girl fumed.

"Uh, those ARE your authorities," the spray-tanned girl glared.

"As if. He's probably some foreign agent, American, by the likes of it."

"And what American would proudly declare us all Russian!? We all hail from different nations, yes?"

"And where are you from?"

"Merica. Virginia. Milady Shah."

"Oh, of course you'd deny involvement. You're the hired hand."

"Cat fight! Cat fight!" Imono cheered.

"I think we have our chaos agent here," a black-haired woman grumbled.

"Ah, not gonna do names? Lowri! I'm Lowri. Welsh n' proud," the blue-haired girl waved.

"If it's giving my name, everyone should know I'm Arina Drobysheva," the blonde-haired girl scoffed.

"... Miyako," Miyako trembled.

"And Imono already intro'd herself. That just leaves you," Lowri called out to the black-haired woman.

The black-haired woman, however, paid her no heed and headed to one of the cells, securing the top bunk for herself.

"Loner. All right, let's scout this shit out. There's gotta be some way to get out."

"Uh... Maybe we should play chess," Miyako trembled.

Everyone scowled her way.

"Nah, today's scouting day. Makes sense," Imono grumbled.

"We really shouldn't listen to that guy. Let's follow Lowri's lead and look for a way out," Milady nodded.

And thus, Miyako found herself an outcast as well.