Rats In The Walls
By: Hexxus



Elizabeth re-read the ad in the paper once more.

"Male and Female test subjects between 19-27 wanted for extended sleep experiments. Applicants should apply at 145 Elk Lane, Redbear, Alberta. Perks: High pay, free room and board, completely safe. Cons: Requires a 5 month contract. 8 spots available, first come first serve."

It was a ways from her home in Kalbary, but she was desperate enough to seriously consider it. Her "home" was the backseat of her Ford Temple, parked in an alley near downtown. She was making just enough money through her temp work to get her food, but with the sudden housing shortage, she didn't make nearly enough to afford a room somewhere, let alone a house. A job with free room and board, as well as high pay and a 5 month contract? It sounded almost too good to be true.

Elizabeth set down her paper and finished the last sip of coffee in the paper cup. Crumpling it in her hand, she dropped it out of the door as she opened it and stepped out. She shut and locked the door, not that anyone would steal the rust bucket. It was a short 10 minute walk into the downtown core, and a 5 minute train ride put her right where she wanted to be. She took one last look around at all the skyscrapers before stepping into the giant one before her.

....

The day was long, and being a office temp wasn't the most fulfilling job in the world. Elizabeth's  10 minute morning walk dragged out to a 20 minute walk as she slowly shuffled down the street in her slightly too small heels. 

"I'm tired of this shit!" She said as she finally sank into the drivers seat. She spied the ad in the paper.

"But what if they already have all the people they need? What if I'm not what they are looking for? I might have enough for gas to get out there, but I doubt I have enough for a round trip.." She mused aloud.

Just then a quiet beep sounded from behind her. Elizabeth snaked her arm around behind her and grabbed the cell phone from her purse.

"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Elizabeth Rio, owner of a gray Form Temple, serial plate T7K-6T4?"
"Yes, who is asking?"
"I'm the guy who's house your parked behind. Move your car, the cops are on their way to arrest you if your still here in.. oh, I'd say they are about 5 minutes away."
"Fuck you." She said calmly before she slammed the phone shut and tossed it to the back seat.
"And Fuck you Kalbary, I don't need this shit." And with that, she started her car and dug out her road map from the glove box.


It was just getting dark when Elizabeth pulled over to the side of the small neighborhood street. She checked the ad again, then the house numbers till she found it. 145 was a small, white bungalow with big windows in the front. The blinds were closed, but she could see light behind them. Mustering her courage, she turned off her car and took a deep breath to steady herself.

Before she could second guess herself, she willed her body to move and exited the car. She found it easier once she was walking towards the house, and as she bounded up the three concrete steps, she was all smiles. She gave the doorbell a ring, and listened for movement. She heard a voice say a single word, too low for her to hear, then footsteps approaching the door. The lock clicked back, and Elizabeth took a small step back as the door began to open.

Standing inside the doorway was the strangest looking man that she had ever seen. Thin, medium length white hair was sticking straight up from most of his head, giving him a very sparse afro. His eyebrows and chin seemed to be making up for the lack of hair on his head, as hair seemed to grow in abundance their. His deep set eyes gave his eyes a deep shadow, below which a prominent nose sat. He was dressed in gray sweat pants and a black tea shirt, and over both a long white lab coat. Tall and skinny, he loomed over Elizabeth. He stuck his head out the door and peered down on her.

"And who, are, you?" He spoke strangely, like he was trying to remember each individual word.
"My name is Elizabeth Rio, you had an add in the Kalbary Hun newspaper?" His eyes glazed over momentarily, then snapped back to focus, bringing with them a smile to his face.

"Ah, I see, I see. Well, please. Come in." He said as he backed out of the doorway and into his house. Elizabeth experienced a sudden shiver, but chalked it up to nerves about the job.

The house was sparsely furnished, the living room consisted of a single couch and a small TV. The man lead her through the living room and into the kitchen.

"Before we start the interview, is there anything you require?" His speech seemed to get smoother the more he spoke.

"Yes, I just had a long car ride, could I use your bathroom?" He nodded.

"It's back through the living room, first door on your left." He said, pointing off towards the other side of the house. Elizabeth turned and walked back through the nearly empty room and down the hallway. There were four doors down it, one a closet and three others at the end of the hallway. She took the first door on the left, as instructed, and stopped as she opened the door. Her first thought was that she had somehow got the wrong room, but on a second glance, the odd machinery in the washroom looked somewhat reminiscent of a toilet and sink, except the toilet was a giant metal monstrosity that took up half the bathroom, and the sink was suspended from the ceiling with no visible connections except for the single chain running from the center of the bowl to the roof and a single spout in the side. She shut the door and examined the toilet. There was a simple paper sign tacked below a large handle. The sign read "Flush first." Elizabeth peered down into the large metal basin and noticed the lack of water. With a shrug, she pulled the handle. 

With a loud WHOOSH the bottom of the basin vanished and two long metal snakes sprung out of the hole. At least that's what Elizabeth thought they were, as a second after appearing, both snakes opened their "mouths" and out popped two white gloved hands. The hands gave themselves a shake, then dived at Elizabeth. She turned to run to the door, but had only taken a single step when the first hand hit her. She felt it ram into the back of her knee, and her leg crumpled, dragging her to the ground. She felt the second hand grab her opposite shoulder, and with a head spinning wrench, Elizabeth was lifted from the ground. She had a quick view of the monstrous toilet looming before her, when the hands turned her around and upside down. The hand on her shoulder let go, and move up to grab her foot. The first hand moved to her opposite foot, and the two gently guided her into the metal basin. Elizabeth tried to bend herself up to avoid being dropped down the hole, but a third hand sped out and grabbed her by the back of the neck, forcing her straight and dragging her into the hole.

She was led a short distance when she was suddenly dropped, and began to slide. The smooth metal beneath her sped her down, and the chute narrowed in so that she couldn't turn around and was stuck going down head first. She managed to roll over onto her belly when she saw something hanging from the ceiling in front of her. In the dim light she wasn't able to clearly see what it was till it was just about above her. It looked like a security camera, but as she passed beneath it, a brilliant red light shot out and Elizabeth snapped her eyes shut, but not before the bright light temporary blinded her.

A few seconds after the light blinded her, a cold blast of air was shot at her, and to her surprise and dismay, took her clothes off her. They spun off in millions of small pieces. A second loud WHOOSH and she saw the pieces of her clothes sucked into something. The slide was getting steeper now, and she was just about falling vertically, still gaining speed. As she went deeper and deeper, there were less and less lights, till eventually she was falling in total darkness. Elizabeth had been too shocked to scream before, but now that things were letting her catch up, it started to sink in. She had just opened her mouth to let out a loud scream when she hit something. It wrapped around her, like a giant sock. It trailed off past her feet, and with her head first in the bag, she began to really freak out. She opened her mouth once again to let out a scream when something caught the bag.

Elizabeth continued to shoot forward and into the bag. It stretched with her, and she felt the slide disappear from around her. She sunk down slowly, till she felt something beneath her. As soon as her weight settled, the thing rose up around her like a flower petal closing and snipped the bag. It fell down around Elizabeth, and a dim red glow surrounded her. She was sitting inside of a cushioned egg. It was just large enough for her to sit cross legged inside of it. She had just assumed said position when the egg began to rock, and fell over onto it's side. A moment later, Elizabeth heard something attach itself to the egg. She had just began to wonder what would happen next when she was hurled against the bottom of the egg as it was lifted and shot into the air.


The sudden burst of speed had shook her up, but Elizabeth soon regained her senses. She was still plastered to the bottom of the egg, and she could hear the air outside whistling. It was getting warmer and warmer inside the egg, to the point where Elizabeth was beginning to get sick from the heat. All of a sudden the whistling was gone, the heat dissipated and Elizabeth felt the force holding her to the egg release. She sat up, and with a start noticed that she was now floating in the egg. With a gasp she realized that she must have been shot into space, and was now floating in the void.

This was all too much for Elizabeth and she began to cry. Deep, racking sobs issued from her for a good ten minutes before they finally turned into small hiccups.
"What the hell is going on?" She said aloud.
"You are currently in transit to The Ship Of The Mighty Mass." A voice spoke from around her. Instantly the tears stopped.
"To where?"
"The Ship Of The Mighty Mass, located 21.5 light years from celestial body 8874299114, Terran name Mars."
"Holy shit. Why am I going to.. the ship near Mars?"
"You have enlisted yourself in man kinds biggest test. Details will be given once you have been collected." There was a short beep, and the dim red light around her faded. Elizabeth was once again stuck in darkness.





I made a change in Chapter 1. I said that there were 7 job spots available. I lied, there was 8.


Chapter 2

Elizabeth had fallen asleep while drifting in space, and a quiet beep and the return of the red glow woke her up.

"You are now approaching The Ship Of The Mighty Mass. Preparing for retrieval and sterilization." The egg around Elizabeth suddenly went clear around her, making her feel like she was sitting in empty space. She turned and finally got a look at The Ship Of The Mighty Mass.

"Mighty Mass is a good description.." Elizabeth said quietly as she marveled at the huge thing before her. The first thing it made her think of was the giant space ship from the movie Independence Day, but upon inspection was likely much larger. She couldn't even guess at it's total size, or how many people could fit in it. She seemed to be heading right for it though, guided by something. It was either moving itself to intercept her, or moving her to itself, which was more likely.

It took nearly a half an hour from the notice from the egg till Elizabeth was finally pulled into a small space sized exactly for her egg. The egg slid down a shaft, and fell a few feet from it's entry into a small room. Elizabeth tumbled forward in the egg, and was surprised when it split open and expelled her from it. 

She landed in a big pile of cushions, and it took her a minute to catch her breath and dig herself out. Once she struggled free of the pile, a quick glance around the room showed that there wasn't much to see. Well lit, but barren save for the pile of cushions and the egg halves sitting on the white tile floor. There didn't appear to be any entrances, and she couldn't see where she had fallen. She walked around the room and rapped on the walls.

"Hello? What's going on? Why am I here?"

"We require some answers from you." A mans voice said from behind her. Elizabeth spun around and was shocked to see a very tall man, easily 7 feet tall, wearing nothing but a long white robe open in the front, showing his bare chest and drooping genitalia. His black hair was cut in an odd fashion, long in the front and shaved from the ears back in intricate patterns, with the remainder braided in a simple rope. He looked to be of Asian heritage, but bright blue eyes twinkled out from his sockets. He took a single long stride towards Elizabeth and placed his hand on her shoulder. She noticed that he had long arms, like a orangutan, and an extra finger wedged between his ring and middle fingers.

"I hope you can help us. Please come meet the others." He said quietly as he turned and walked across the room. He approached one of the walls and places his hand on it, causing a ripple to spread out from his hand, as if the wall were made of water. The ripples stopped after a second, and the wall faded away, revealing a well light hallway lined with doors. He started down the hallway without looking back, and Elizabeth followed. 

They walked to the far end and took the last door on the left, which led into a spacious room. Built in a large Octagon, it was filled with more cushions and a random assortment of lazy boys, couches and stools. The room was a lined with a thick, dark green carpet. Floors, walls and ceiling were covered in it, and most of the cushions were of dark browns or lighter greens. 

There were 5 people sprawled amongst the cushions and seats, each nude and "normal" like Elizabeth. The guide stepped into the room after her placed his hand on her shoulder.

"This is the 8th. We will begin tomorrow." He said in his quiet voice, then turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

One of the men stood up from his pile of cushions and approached her.

"Hi. I'm Shinkei Onwa, friends call me Wa. I was the first one here." He said as he stuck out his hand. Standing at 5'10 and 156 pounds, his Japanese body bare to the world, and a small smile on his face as Elizabeth took his hand.

"Hi. Elizabeth Rio. Ummm.. Where are..."
"Don't know. No one does. We all had the same introduction which I'm pretty sure you went through. Job interview, weird toilet, hurtling through space?"

Elizabeth nodded and opened her mouth to ask another question.

"Before you ask any more questions, no one here knows much of anything regarding our current situation. There's 8 beds, 4 bedrooms, a bathroom and this room. The only other people we have seen was the guy who escorted you here. Never says anything other then what I'm sure he said to you. One of the other guys tried to clock him and nearly got his arm ripped off by something. Didn't see anything, he just started screaming and tugging at his arm, so we figure to not try that route again."

"You lied Wa. He never said that bit about beginning, just said, "This is the 4th. This is the 5th. This is the 6th. Now that we have 8, something gonna happen." One of the girls said from the couch. A small black woman, her long black hair covered her breasts and fell half way down her stomach. She had a book in her hands, which she carefully tucked a bookmark into and closed.

"I'm Cathy. I was number 2." She spoke, then turned to Wa."Get the lady a chair, Wa." She barked. He sighed and walked towards one of the walls.
"What kind of seat would you like?"
"Uhh.. A lazy boy?" Elizabeth said uncertainly. Wa turned to the wall.
"A black lazy boy recliner." The wall shimmered in response to his words, and low and behold the chair slowly slid out of the wall. Literally slid out of the wall, as if it were coming up from under water. It continued to glide forward of it's own accord until it was completely out of the wall, the stopped short. Wa grabbed it and tugged it into the circle of other seats. Once it was positioned, Wa moved back to his seat and Elizabeth took hers.

One of the other women in the room was sitting beside Elizabeth, and the woman turned to her as soon as she was settled.

"Hi, I'm Katie. I was number 6." She was a white woman with long red hair and deep green eyes. She sat cross legged with a big book in her lap which covered her body up to her chin.

"And I'm Jeff. Number 4." A big black man said from across the circle. Elizabeth couldn't accurately say how tall he was because he was sitting down, but he was obviously well muscled and in good shape. She couldn't help but glance down at his crotch. He must have caught her, because he let out a small laugh and uncrossed he legs. Elizabeth felt a blush rising to her cheeks as she looked away.

"No worries hun, you'll get lots of opportunities to check things out. Most of us have gotten used to it all ready." Another woman said as she exited from a room on the side.

"Hi, my names June. I was number 7." She was a young girl with blonde hair tied up in a pony tail. She obviously had no problem being naked, and calmly walked around the circle to her chair beside the final person in the room, who seemed to be asleep.

"This is George." June said as she sat down. Elizabeth shot June a weird look.
"He wasn't always like this, they did it to him. He attacked one of them, and he was nearly killed by something we couldn't even see. After that, they left him with us, but the next morning he woke up like this."

George stirred, and her breast slowly slid off the couch. Jane calmly reached over and lifted it back onto the couch.

"He hasn't been awake a lot. Sleeps most of the day, then gets up once we have all gone to bed and cries."

If Elizabeth hadn't known that the woman in front of her was a man, she would have called her beautiful. Possessing a models body, the only feature that remained was the small penis between her legs.

"If I ever do anything that might piss these guys off, kick me." Elizabeth said, and the group quieted into an awkward silence.



Chapter 3

The silence was broken by a loud yelp, followed by an even louder crash. One of the doors that Elizabeth hadn't seen inside of yet opened, and a small woman with the longest black hair Elizabeth had ever seen rushed over to another door and quickly entered and slammed the door behind her.

"And that was Jess." Wa said. "She has a rather weak bladder, so it's not  uncommon to see her running to the bathroom."

Elizabeth nodded, thankful that she didn't have that particular complication. When Jess finally exited, Wa called her over to make introductions. The group sat and discussed trivial things, avoiding the topics of where they were, and what would happen.

Elizabeth guessed she had been here for about two hours when her stomach began to notify her of it's emptiness.

"Oh, I'll show you how to use The Wall." Jeff said with a grin as he stood up and approached the wall that Wa had pulled her chair from. Elizabeth stood and followed, standing slightly behind Jeff, and shooting quick peeks at his rear end.

"This is The Wall. It'll give you just about anything you want, so long as it doesn't require power of any kind or is alive. All you have to do is ask it." Elizabeth smiled and approached the wall.

"I'd like a AAA steak, cooked rare, with mashed potatoes and green beans. Please." She added as an after thought. The food began to slowly phase through the wall, and Elizabeth realized she forgot something very important.

"And a dinner plate large enough to fit all this!" She said hurriedly. The food stopped moving, and a white porcelain plate appeared under it. Once the plate was three quarters of the way out of the wall it stopped, and the food resumed movement, falling onto the plate gently. Once it was loaded, the plate began to sink down to the ground. Jeff grabbed it and gave it a small tug and it popped out of the wall.

"Knife and fork." Was all he said, and they too slid from the wall. He turned and presented the plate to Elizabeth, who took it with a smile and returned to her seat. She couldn't recall the last time she had "real food", as opposed to the sandwiches and instant soup she had been living off of for the last few months. Jeff returned to The Wall and ordered for himself, coming back with a big plate of pork ribs and fries.

"So, what did you do back on Earth Elizabeth?" June asked her.

"Well, I was working as a office temp, but I hated it. I used to work out on a farm when I was younger, and I always wished I could go back. But the couple who owned it passed on, and their son sold the land to a development company. What about you?"

"I'm an artist, actually. I worked for a house painting company. The hours were long, and the job wasn't the greatest, but I got almost all the free paint I could want."

"I was in colleague, taking advanced mechanical engineering." Wa said with a grin. "It's very interesting stuff, but I have a feeling that most of what I learned is just kid stuff to the guys were with now."

Jeff stretched and flexed his arms. "Professional athlete. Basketball. My contract for the next season fell through, and I didn't feel like signing on to another team quiet yet. I figured 5 months would be enough to get over it and get back into the game."

Katie looked up from the giant book she was reading. "Librarian." Was all she said before returning to the words printed in front of her.

"And what about you Jess?" Elizabeth asked. Jess's eyes fell to the floor and she seemed to be embarrassed about something.

"I uh.... actually didn't work. I was something of a stay at home mom." Elizabeth nodded.

"How old are your kids?" Jess was actually blushing now.

"I... don't have any of my own..."

"Oh." Was all Elizabeth could think to say. The awkward silence returned, and to escape it, Elizabeth asked Wa where she would be sleeping.

"Oh, yea, I guess I haven't given you the grand tour yet."  He said as he hoisted himself out of his chair. Elizabeth stood and followed him to one of the doors. He opened it and walked in, standing between two