Chapter 31 - The First Question
The countdown echoed softly through the white chamber.
09:31...
09:30...
No one spoke.
Margaret kept her eyes fixed on the mirrored ceiling while Eleanor's last sentence lingered in her mind.
"The only place I hoped you would never have to enter."
Daniel slowly approached the wooden chair positioned beneath the mirror.
"It's too obvious."
Arthur agreed.
"They expect someone to sit there."
Rebecca examined the polished floor.
"There aren't any footprints."
Helen crouched beside one of the narrow slots hidden beneath the chair.
"It's connected to something mechanical."
Margaret took another look around the room.
No decorations.
No doors except the one that had sealed behind them.
Nothing but smooth white walls and silence.
Then the mirror brightened.
The countdown disappeared.
A new sentence slowly formed across its surface.
WHO SHOULD REMEMBER THE WHOLE TRUTH?
Four names appeared beneath it.
Margaret Ellis.
Daniel Ellis.
Rebecca Brooks.
Arthur Hale.
One name was missing.
Helen noticed it first.
"My name isn't there."
Arthur frowned.
"Neither is Clara's."
Rebecca looked toward the mirror.
"What happens if nobody answers?"
As though responding, another message appeared.
NO DECISION IS ALSO A DECISION.
Suddenly the wooden chair rotated by itself.
Hidden inside its backrest rested a small brass box.
Margaret carefully opened it.
Inside were four identical white cards.
Each card contained a single word.
TRUST.
Nothing else.
No instructions.
Arthur looked toward the mirror.
"They're measuring how we decide, not what we decide."
Before anyone could test his theory, the room darkened.
A hidden doorway silently opened in the far wall.
Beyond it waited another corridor.
May you like
This one had not existed a moment earlier.
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