The inside of the warehouse was one of the most crowded and sweltering places you'd ever been in. There were dozens and dozens of people, all vying to push past each other and see what was going on. It didn't help that parts of the place were literally curtained off-- you assumed that was what the ad had meant by 'privacy ensured'.
It was a diverse group of people, too-- all sizes shapes and colors. There was an 80-year old black woman standing next to a 12-year old Asian boy. You guess money crossed all boundaries. It was certainly why you were here.
"This is cool!" Marcie exclaimed, her ginger hair swinging back and forth across her shoulders. She'd always been the more excitable one of the two of you. As far as you were concerned, this was just a quick paycheck. And maybe you were kind of curious to find out what this whole deal was about. But only kind of.
"Let's just get this over with. I want that money in my pocket ASAP!" you answered. You practically had to shout over the sound of the crowd. But they all fell silent when he stepped out.
He was a finely dressed man with an incredibly neat haircut. Clearly, this guy was from money. You took an immediate dislike to him. He was escorted by a thin, black-haired woman clutching a bundle of folders to the hastily-erected stage at the center of the room. It took a while, and he clearly wasn't the happiest with the situation.
Finally, he took the stage. Producing a microphone from within his coat, he began to speak.
"Hello everyone! My name is Theodore Blue. I bet you're all wondering why you're here today?"
There was a murmur of agreement within the crowd that you quickly joined in on.
"Well, allow me to introduce Doctor Emma Strauss!" He indicated the curtain he'd entered from with a wide sweep of his arm. A wild-looking blonde woman stormed up to stage quickly, her lab-coat trailing behind her. She didn't look all that put together, and the crowd parted for her almost instantly. This only made Theodore's face even more sour.
Doctor Strauss didn't looked thrilled, on the other hand. She grinned in a way that indicated she wasn't very used to it. Theodore handed her the mic.
"Yes, hello! I am the doctor! I'm very glad to see you all here today! I've been working on the things in the back for a very, very long time! They are my masterworks. Truly things of beauty." At a look from Theodore, she coughed. "Ahem. So, you will be participating in the very first human trials of some of my finest inventions. In a few minutes, we will start taking people back. Please do not attempt to run. That would be very...unkind."
There was something off about the way she spoke, but you pushed it aside. The nervous-looking woman from earlier took the mic from the doctor and smiled wanly. The doctor, on the other hand, slipped back behind the curtain. "Y-yes. My name is Violet-- I will be handing your assignment sheets out to you all-- oh, no, don't worry, it's not work-- we just need to see what everyone is interested in! If you're interested in more than one, wait until your first test is complete to check your second box-- please!"
Theodore snatched the mic from her before she could go any further. Violet hurried down the stairs and began handing out sheets to the first round of people. Poor girl was sweating even harder than you, and you hadn't even thought that possible.
"Thank you, Violet. Now, you have to engage in three experiments to be eligible for the full 10k. If you don't, you get a third of the money."
The crowd groaned.
"Remember though, in the interest of time, you are only allowed to engage in three different experiments! After you do, your time is up and you will be asked to leave the tent. Thank you for your time. Make sure ours is worth it," he finished somewhat menacingly.
You were starting to get second thoughts about this whole thing. Human experimentation was illegal or something, wasn't it? But maybe the rules were different if you volunteered. You were just curious to find out what these machines were that had Doctor Strauss so excited.
Marcie latched onto your wrist and dragged you over to where Violet was.
"Come on! Let's get a hop on this! We don't wanna spoil the surprise for ourselves with a wait!"
You just shook your head and went along with it. Marcie reached over a middle-aged woman's shoulder to grab two sheets from Violet. Almost absentmindedly, she handed one to you, and the both of you began to read.
You raised your eyebrows.
Mindswap Contraption?
DNA Infuser?
Object Transmogrifier?
Timeline Manipulator?
And there were a lot more, even stranger ones that you had no desire to read at the moment. You had no idea what any of these meant, but they all sounded weird. Did you still even want to do this? But you had a pencil in your hands and ten thousand dollars in your heart, so...
Yeah, probably.
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