Moebius freezes.
The pieces of bread and meat holding still in his mouth as he makes no move for the slow and cautious opening of his eyelids. As the the rays of light enter his eyes and reflect the outside world, he sees it. A blue flashing screen is hovering before him, the words '[WELCOME TO WORLD TAG]' written in fancy white font.
Now, most people would panic but Moebius-"WHAT THE FUCK!" Oh never mind Moebius is panicking but wait his body is perfectly still and frozen....Oh...he is panicking internally.
"OKAY...okay...ok-NOT OKAY! What the hell?" Moebius thinks, with the sandwich still held in his mouth. "Is this it? Have I finally lost my shit? Is my next stop the padded walls and safety cuffs?...Man...do I need to buy more meds for this shit as well, I cant keep-"
*SHALL WE PROCEED?*
"SHIT!"
Moebius exclaims as he jumps off the crate he was sitting on and lands on the dusty floor. Then without a moment of respite, the robotic yet weirdly humane voice rings out again in combination with a flashing prompt.
*SHALL WE PROCEED?*
[CONTINUE TO GAME]
"Huh?"
Moebius murmurs as his internal struggle is quickly finding a way to to display itself on the outside. His erratic and startled behavior catches the attention of some nearby workers. Moebius also notices their wariness but he is held up by his own 'voices in my head' situation.
The systemic voice takes Moebius's surprised 'Huh?' remark, as a genuine query and gets more detailed in its request as it changes the prompt a bit and asks:
*DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED TO THE GAME*
[CONTINUE TO GAME-Y/N]
"Chief! Is everything okay?"
A man asks in same time as the system voice rings out in Moebius's ears. Moebius, clearly stressed just waves off the worker in a frenzied tone saying:
"Yes, I'm good."
Suddenly the prompt lights up and disappears for an instant before returning with a new message, with system voice saying:
*RESPONSE ACKNOWLEDGED, WELCOME TO THE GAME*
[CONGRAGULATIONS]
"Wait...what?"
Moebius mumbles a bit louder this time and the workers glance at him with worried looks. They approach him in an attempt to calm him down but he dismisses them and leaves the scene saying:
"Excuse me guys, I need the restroom."
He locks himself in the restroom, slamming shut the rusty door behind him. He clutches the corners of the sink and glares into the mirror.
"What the hell? Did I not wake up from that shitshow of a dream? He thinks to himself as he recollects everything that has just happened. "What the fuck is going on....what is my mind doing...what is this 'game' anyway?"
*THE GAME REFERS TO EVENT OF WORLD TAG*
The system voice rang out again in its signature loud tone causing Moebius to recoil in shock, slamming himself against the restroom door.
"FUCK! STOP DOING THAT! YOU FUCK!"
He exclaims in a gruff and loud snarl as he decided to lash out on the 'voices in his head'
*DOING WHAT?*
"THAT! SHUT the fuck-Oh my God....I have officially gone insane, I'm speaking to voices inside my head"
Moebius's tone changes from anger to defeat, as he takes in the absurdity of the situation.
"Chief! You okay in there?"
Some of the guys ask from the outside, breaking his chain of seep self focused thoughts with the gentle knock on the door. Moebius calms himself down by practicing the breathing technique which he had learned in his tumultuous past. Once he finally evens out his breathing and mind, he responds:
"I'm fine...just an unruly stomach."
The guys outside chuckle and snicker at the unexpected situation and apologize for disturbing his privacy before dispersing quickly. Moebius sighs as he he clutches his coarse hair, breaking it loose form the pony tail and slumps to the floor. After aa few seconds a flare of determination sparks in his eyes as he decides to bargain with...himself...the voice?....whoever that's causing these world wind of delirium. He suddenly calls out in his signature calm demeanor:
"Excuse me, um....voice?" but the voice doesn't ring out, like he thought he would. "What the fuck was it again? Umm...Earth Tag?"
*WORLD TAG!*
Moebius is caught is caught off guard again but this time its just a flinch rather than a full blown recoil of fear.
"What....what are you?"
Moebius asks as he looks around for the source of the sound.
"Is this some reality TV prank or something?"
*I AM THE SYSTEM PROVIDED TO HELP YOU DURING WORLD TAG*
"Okay-" Moebius takes a deep breath as he decided to continue this delusional conversation. "What is World Tag?"
*LOADING THE FIVETY FIVE THOUSAND MANUAL ABOUT WORLD TAG.*
"HUH?! WAIT! Wait!"
Moebius says as he rubs the bridge of his nose in an exasperated state. He continues:
"What is 'World Tag' in short, basic terms."
There is an awkward pause for a moment and then the voice rings out again.
*IT IS AN EVENT DESIGNED FOR SPECIFIC INDIVIALS TO PARTICIPATE*
The description the system gave, seems more akin to a game show rather than a legendary battle comic heroes are chosen for, not that Moebius would know much about those stories either. Moebius stares blankly at the sink mirror, thinking how ridiculous the situation is and the possibility of this being another nightmare is still in the back of his head. He then suddenly claps his hands together and draws another deep breathe before responding:
"Alright, I'll indulge in this bullshit for a bit."
Moebius clears his throat and taps the sink in rhythm with his thought to formulate his words more decently. After a quick brain storm he says:
"So, this is an event where people are 'chosen' to participate, correct?"
*CORRECT*
"So is the participation to this 'event' up to the 'chosen participants'?
*YES*
"SO...if a participant wishes to opt out of the game, the system-or you....would disappear, correct?
*CORRECT*
"AHA ! THAT'S IT! I refuse to participate in your game of tag or whatever. BEGONE VOICES!"
*NOT POSSIBLE*
"Yes, that's what I thoug-HUH?! WHY NOT? You just told me that participation was an option!"
*YES, THAT WOULD BE CORRECT BUT AN AGRREMENT TO PARTICIPATE CANNOT BE BREACHED OR CANCELLED, ONCE YOU AGREE.*
"AND when the FUCK did I agree?"
*EXACTLY TWENTY FIVE MINUTES AGO.*
"Huh? The fuck you mean-"
Suddenly, the he has a flashback of the words he said to dismiss the workers.
"HEY, HEY, HEY! I Didn't-I wasn't talking to you, it was a-"
Suddenly the blue screen flashes into existence and a voice memo plays in radio static, It is the scene recording of the alleged moment where the agreement to participate was made. The recording gets stuck and loops around the 'Yes, I'm-' part, it keeps playing that part almost as if the system is taunting him with the repeated echo of 'Yes'.
"Okay okay okay! Shut that shit up."
Moebius grumbles with defeat and annoyance as he wafts his hand thought the holographic system screen as if he can blow it away like a smoke cloud. He grips his forehead and leans in front of the sink, accepting his utter defeat in the 'bargain'.