Getting to Know You

"Yo, dude. Dude. Pal. Maaaaannnnnn."

Ulrich was taken out of slumber by an equally sleepy Timothy. He sat up, looking at him standing next to his bed.

"Smilers need ya."

"The hell is a smiler?" Ulrich asked, not even opening his eyes.

"The things at the door. Go talk to them."

Ulrich put his clothes on and answered the door, still groggy. Two of those people in masks with poorly drawn smiley faces on them. One held a blank white sheet of paper; one held a small black container holding some kind of black substance.

"han-prin." One said in a raspy voice.

"han-prin." The other added, in a slightly more feminine raspy voice.

Ulrich dipped his index finger in the black substance and applied it to the page.

"Sleeee-well." The feminine one replied, making its way down the hall, stumbling slightly a few times as it went.

Ulrich took a few steps back, closing the door and going back to bed. He tried drifting back to sleep, and just as he felt his brain slip into unconsciousness, an alarm was heard from the ceiling.

"Hello, contestants! Leonie here, telling you to get over to the elevator for breakfast. Hurry up, don't keep your friends waiting."

He heard Timothy groan something.

"Seven in the morning? Come on, lady."

"That's what time it is?"

"Yep." Timothy groaned. "Whatever, I need breakfast."

Ulrich headed out while Timothy got dressed, and there were already a couple people at the elevator. Two Indian looking people casually talking, a man in a green baseball cap standing next to the elevator with his hands behind his back, and a black punk kid with a blue mohawk. Ulrich stood next to the elevator, and the punk kid shot him a look.

"Any reason you're standing there, Devil?"

"I'm…waiting for breakfast."

"Okay…but why are you standing so close to Wendy's room?"

Ulrich looked at the door he was standing next to, and the electronic plate next to it did say Wendy Moon and Yun-Yeong Yi. He silently moved over to the other end of the room, and the punk kid nodded at him. Ulrich gave a thumbs-up and focused on a particularly interesting piece of ceiling.

Eventually, the elevator opened, and he went in, alongside the other nineteen people. There was casual chatter among a couple people, and no music this time. After what felt longer than the first time, a ding was heard, and the contestants poured out into the food hall.

It was a pretty standard food hall. Looked like the one at Ulrich's old high school, except the walls were the same plastic-y white material as his bedroom. He saw a small station to his left, staffed by more of those masked weirdos. He stood in line behind some goth girl and a man with sharpened fingernails, until he was in front of the line.

"Food?" The smiler asked, still having the raspy voice.

"Oh, right. I'll have…toast."

"Flav?"

"Um, strawberry?"

A couple noises were heard from the back, and his toast with strawberry jam was provided. He took the plate and moved towards an empty table. He took a bite of toast, and it tasted…toasty, with a hint of strawberry. After a minute, Timothy sat next to him, alongside a girl. She had a plaster over her nose, and a hat that looked like someone from an animated show he couldn't remember.

"This your roommate, Tim?"

"Yep. Yo, Ulrich, this is my girl, Silvia."

"Nice to meet you." Ulrich nodded.

"Ditto." She replied, sitting down and eating what looked to be puffy pink cereal, while Timothy ate the same stuff. The two of them started talking, and an item exchanged hands at some point. Ulrich waited for a point he could start talking, but before that could happen, he felt a voice behind him.

"Sup, Ulrich?"

He turned around, and there was that guy with the blue checked shirt, eating from a bowl of something.

"Oh hey…Lloyd." Ulrich responded, checking his watch

"So, you getting used to Nova?" He asked, his voice smooth as the walls.

"Uh, not really?"

"Yeah, that's fair." He chuckled. "But hey, it's the first challenge. That means we get to enter the district building."

"The what?"

"Yeah, I expected that. Basically, the builders tried to shove an entire city district into a skyscraper on level five to see how many people could live in it. It failed in terms of living, but some showbiz guys noticed a perfectly stable building to host reality shows."

"So it's a studio?" Ulrich asked.

"More or less, yeah." Lloyd replied coolly, taking a bite of the granola-looking substance. "Either way, you'll probably be fine on day one, anyway. I'll help ya with whatever you need, you know?"

"Why?"

"I like meeting new people. And you happen to be the newest person around, so things are just kind of aligning, you know?"

"So…do I have to do anything?"

"If you get the chance to kill me, Aurora, Amber, or Gemma…don't. And we won't kill you and your posse, you know?"

"Uh…sure?"

"Alright, an agreement." Lloyd nodded calmly. "Well, I'll try to keep in touch. Farewell."

With a dainty wave, he made his way back to his table.

"What a prick." Silvia whispered once he was out of earshot.

"You think?"

"Yes, you dumbass! Think about it. Three high level actors all end up in the same killing game? Sounds way too convenient to me."

"Also, the only movie I've seen that guy in was Music Murders, and that movie sucks." Timothy added, taking Silvia's bowl and returning to the food hut.

"That too." Silvia nodded.

"So, any guesses on why they're bad?"

"I dunno, they blew up a recording booth or something?"

Ulrich was about to ask another question but was stopped by an alarm blaring through the room.

"Alright, we all fed? If not, I don't care, now check your watches." Leonie again.

Ulrich and Silvia both checked their watches, and Ulrich was greeted by the small cartoon bunny, asking him to select one from a selection of items. Things like water bottles, food supplies, that sort of thing.

"Yo, if you pick water, I'll share my food with you."

Ulrich pressed the litre of water, and the green checkmark to the left.

"Would you like to spend twenty coins?" The green bunny asked in a purple speech bubble.

"How many coins do I have?" Ulrich turned to Silvia

"You start with a hundred, anyway." Silvia replied. "I'm getting forty coins worth of food, anyway."

Ulrich got another litre of water, and the bunny thanked him for his purchase. The forty coins were taken out of his account, and the bunny informed him that his products would be provided to him at the challenge site.

The door opposite where they all entered the room opened, and Leonie walked in with Kalea. Leonie was wearing a draped deep purple gown without sleeves, while Kalea wore a simple white leather jacket and skinny jeans.

"Hello contestants! Can I get a good morning?"

"Mornin'" Lloyd replied calmly.

"Good day." Huang said happily.

"Yes, hello!" Vanessa yelled out, looking around her.

"And a good day to all of you! You know what, you three all get twenty extra coins!"

Vanessa let out a weary sigh of happiness as Kalea started talking.

"Now, as I'm assuming you all guessed, the first challenge this year is the classic 'Get to know ya.' The twenty of you are getting locked in the shelter, and you can all talk among yourselves and…get to know each other. The challenge will end after either a day, or once somebody dies. If nobody dies, you'll all vote for who dies."

"And with all the boring junk out of the way, let's make our way to the bunker! Follow me, and we can finally get this killing game started!" Leonie yelled out, clapping to nobody in particular.

She led the twenty people outside, and Ulrich finally got a good look at the district building. Glass windows showing a cloudy grey sky, alongside apartment buildings squashed together. Ulrich squinted, and a few lights in the apartment buildings seemed to be on.

"Hey, what's with the lights on?" Ulrich whispered to Silvia.

"Pretty sure that's where the smilers live." She replied.

"The mask guys?"

"Yeah. What'd ya think it was?"

"I dunno, renting this place out to rich people?"

"Ooh. Kalea, write that down." Leonie yelled out.

"I'll remember it." Kalea sighed, before stopping and moving her arm in the direction of a table, where everyone's orders were. Ulrich took his water, and Silvia took a few bags of food. Timothy took a lighter, handing it to Silvia, who kissed him on the cheek. A few other people took a couple items, with most seeming to have the same ideas as them.

"You got a lighter?" Ulrich asked.

"I guessed that the police took hers." He shrugged.

"I mean, if you needed a lighter…I have fire powers."

"Shit man, ya could have told me." Timothy chuckled, putting a hand to his face. "Ah, whatever."

"Okay, everyone got their items? If so, then make your way to the shelter!" Leonie announced, standing on one leg as she pointed to the shelter. "Make your way in there, and we can let the challenge begin."

The twenty silently stepped through the door, some looking more scared than others.

"See the nineteen of you later." Leonie whispered with a wide smile on her face as she closed the door.