The place was a pandemonium, to say the least. Only hell could afford such a brutal penalty. The room had a glass cylinder, which was filled with water and rose petals. Upon close scrutinizing, they realized that the cylinder had a metal base at regular intervals and a thick base at the bottom, along with groves on the side. The entire apparatus was as tall as a three storey building, each level being one storey.
'What in the world is this?' Kuurou wondered.
"Are you sure we can do this?" He leaned on one of the railings. His voice showed suspicion.
"I think so, only if we cooperate with each other."
At that moment, there was an announcement on the P. A system. The speakers were loud and the bass made their hearts beat faster.
"Students please head to the bottom of the set up." The voice was robotic.
The lights focused on a corner of the room, and both of them walked towards it. They noticed a small trap door on the floor and opened it, to reveal a flight of stairs descending towards the set up. Kuurou's eyes began to twitch and his hazel eyes showed fear in them, similar to a cattle that is sent for being slaughtered.
"I have a bad feeling about it." He whispered as he got inside the small passage. It sent shivers down Yu Han's spine.
Brushing off any second thoughts, he followed behind Kuurou, reaching somewhere that looked like the entrance. They had failed to notice the diving board near the entrance.
There was another announcement.
"We will refer the students by their respective body suit color. Pertaining to that, the Black can head to the diving board, while the Mauve can head near the entrance." This time, the announcement was more human-like.
Both of them headed towards the instructed place and awaited another announcement.
"The students should follow the following instructions: The Black has to dive into the first level of the pool and wait there till the Mauve climbs up the level and finds the right key attached near one of the groves. Each metal base is locked and can only be opened with the appropriate keys. However, you have only 20 minutes to do so otherwise, Black may lose his chances of survival as the water is highly concentrated with carbon dioxide. With that in mind, your time begins now.
Kuurou looked up and noticed Yu Han staring at him. He noticed his brown eyes which showed hope and belief. The next thing he saw was a huge splash of water and Yu Han was inside, trying to float on top of the water. Right then, the flap door shut tight and a giant digital clock came down from the ceiling.
"Kuurou! Help me!" Yu Han's voice was muffled but audible.
The clock was set to twenty, implying the time limit. Things were visibly getting insane by the minute. Below the digits, there were three switched off light bulbs.
Kuurou rubbed his hands and prepared for climbing. He put his feet in a grove and his hands a little above his feet. Exerting all his force, he climbed up the set up and reached the first level, where his key hunt began. He had to be quick so as to ensure Yu Han's safety. Upon glancing at the clock, he noticed that the clock now displayed 15, which meant he had to hurry up. He scrambled his hand around the first level and his feet fixated in the lower level to maintain his balance.
He looked at Yu Han, who seemed out of breath. He was doing his best to keep up but it was evident that his energy was reducing at a rapid rate. After a search of four minutes, he found a key in one of the groves near his feet.
"I found it Yu Han!" He screamed with happiness.
The lock was located near the metal base and he put his key inside, hearing a satisfactory click. One of the bulbs flashed green. The door flap opened and Yu Han fell to the bottom of the second level, hurting himself. Kuurou seemed triggered, but there was no time to react. They had only ten minutes remaining now.
"Kuurou, I can't... Do this anymore." Yu Han's voice seemed like he was getting water in his chords.
"Please stay put for our sake. We will be out of this in no time."
Kuurou frantically searched for the key as the time passed by. He found it in thr grove next to the lock and pulled it out, unlocking the door successfully. The second bulb now flashed green. Yu Han fell down into the third level like a lifeless puppet. Kuurou carefully descended down the levels and reached the third level, the clock now ticking down to three minutes. Kuurou looked around for the key and found it near the edge of the level.
'This looks suspicious.'
Meanwhile at the SEC, the students were very confused as to what was going on. Their awkwardness was pretty visible a day before and students were unable to understand how they would cooperate with each other. The entire game was shown on the screen and every move of theirs was recorded.
"What is all this?" Spence questioned.
"Don't know." Bond gave a casual reply, but deep inside he was curious to know.
Back at the training center, Kuurou searched for the lock and noticed the difference. This lock had two keyholes, which meant there was another key somewhere. He tried his best to find but couldn't find one. At that moment, he got a hunch.
'Maybe the key is inside the chamber.'
He looked inside the chamber but couldn't see Yu Han anywhere. He had floated to the top of the set up. Kuurou hastily climbed up but kept losing balance as his hands were sweaty. He reached the top and knocked on the door, grabbing Yu Han's attention. He signaled Yu Han to dive deep and search for the key. Yu Han obliged and tried to swim downward. Kuurou stared at him in amazement. He plugged his nose tight as he had lost the stamina to hold his breath. Reaching the bottom, he ran his hand around the pool base, searching for the key. He found it stuck on one of the tiles. Struggling to come back to the surface, he managed to throw the key to Kuurou, who then unlocked it. The last green bulb approved them.
"We did it, Yu Han!" He gave a victory cry.
At last, all the water drained gradually and the glass door opened, where Kuurou could see Yu Han's brown hair covering his face. He was gasping for air.
"Yu Han, are you fine?"
However, he did not get an assuring reply.