The party had moved on to the second room which was currently empty except for a pedestal in the middle of the room.
"Place your chosen item on the pedestal, you shall now be judged"
They each placed their chosen item on the pedestal and waited for judgement.
"Congratulation, you have succeeded in the trial of the mind" all 5 of them had passed the first challenge. They had shown that they held wisdom when it came to understanding their own minds.
"The next trial will start now. You must hold onto on pedestal until directed. Those that let go of the pedestal will be returned to their ship and forfeit their rights to partake in the trial Pythia ever."
Each member of the party was taking the test in a different location and at different times but they didn't have access to this information.
When Chris took hold of the pedestal all he could hear was an agonising scream coming from the room next door. He couldn't see anything, but the sound of the scream sounded real.
Chris was believed this was just a test and had decided to hold on to the pedestal no matter what happened. The screams intensified until finally, they stopped. The screaming had put Chris on edge.
"Congratulations you have completed stage 1 of the trial, move to the next room." A door appeared in the direction from which the screams had been coming from. Chris was unprepared for what he witnessed. The room was identical to the room he had just left except for the naked body of his Mum was on the floor.
"No, this isn't real! Mum awake up" Chris ran to his mother body, he had to touch it. This couldn't be real. He touched the corpse and it felt real, it still had some warmth to it. He inspected the body and it even had his mother scars and it smelled like her. Before he could process his grief the voice of the trial spoke.
"Knowledge of the future is sacred. There can only be one. Please prepare for stage two. Place your hands on the pedestal to start stage two"
"Screw you!, I want out" Chris was crying, no knowledge was worth the price he just paid.
"The payment to leave is a life. You may choose yours, or one of your companions"
"What?! Before we could leave only forfeiting our right to the trial" Chris was angry he just wanted to leave and take his mother body with him.
"That was before a life was taken, now the cost of leaving, is a life"
Chris didn't know what to do. He had analysed the situation and knew he couldn't escape from the trial forcibly. He couldn't sacrifice Null or Infy as he knew they would be important to humanity. He didn't think he could live with himself if he sacrificed Jania.
"If I give up my life, can my companions leave?" he asked the voice.
"No, they must make their own decisions. Place your hands on the pedestal or make a decision"
Chris finally made his decision.
"I will offer up my life"
Earlier Lisa had undertaken the same trial, but as soon as she heard the screams she release her grip on the pedestal. She had decided that no amount of knowledge was worth hurting someone. She wasn't sure if it was a test or not but wasn't willing to find out.
"You have chosen to forfeit your right to the trial of Pythia." Lisa then collapsed unconscious where she was standing. She had been drugged.
It was Jania turn to undertake the trial. Once she heard the screaming she had asked a question.
"Who is that?"
"Does it matter?" asked the voice in return.
"Yes it does"
"Than it is a criminal"
Jania then held on the pedestal until the screaming stopped, and she was directed to the next room. In the room, Jania was confronted with the dead bodies of both Chris and Lisa.
"You said it was a criminal!" she was beside herself with guilt. She had run to check both bodies and couldn't find anything out of place.
"He had killed his mother, so he was a criminal".
Jania had tried to leave just like Chris and was offered the same choice. When it came time to make the choice, she just couldn't choose to sacrifice herself. She instead decided to sacrifice Null to save herself. After her choice was made she also collapsed unconscious.
Null and Infy had taken the longest time to finish the first trial so were attempting the second trial after everyone had already done so.
They placed their hands on the pedestal until the screaming stopped. When they went into the next room they found Lisa on the floor. They couldn't believe what they were seeing and were beside themselves with guilt that they tried to cast one of their experimental healing spells.
"Any use of the field technology during the trial will lead to the death of the whole party, choose wisely"
They quickly cancel the attempt of spell casting and had decided to leave but were presented with the same choice as the others. When it came time to choose, they decided to let fate decide and held onto the pedestal again. They did this two more times and in the end, they were the ones left alive.
The boys' were numb, nothing about this experience suggested it was fake. They couldn't imagine any knowledge worth the payment they had just made. They just couldn't make a choice. They couldn't choose to kill someone.
They walked into the judgement room and was met with the very much awake, alive and awkwardly naked party members.
Null and Infy were confused, how had they been tricked? They believed themselves to be extremely preceptive.
"Congratulations you have completed the second trial. Please prepare to receive your judgement"