The golden light consumed me entirely, and then, just as my fingers grazed the strange, black crystal, the world pulled. It wasn't a fall, not really. More like a super-speed fast-forward-then-reversal, sucking all the blinding light back into the Memory Core with a distinct, unsettling whoosh sound. When the last glimmer of light vanished into the rock, it emitted a soft pop, and suddenly, I wasn't in the ruined lobby anymore.
I was standing, firmly, in a lush, vibrant garden. Exotic flowers bloomed in riotous colors I'd never seen, their petals shimmering with unnatural luminescence. The air was soft, carrying a gentle, almost imperceptible rhythm, like a distant, sophisticated melody playing just below the threshold of hearing. And towering before me, where the ruined dome had been, was the structure from my Memory Core prompt – not a ruin, but pristine, majestic, showcasing every intricate, impossible design detail in gleaming, perfect condition. It was breathtaking.
Then, an invisible force tugged at me, pulling me inexorably towards its majestic, colossal doors. They were solid metal, shining brilliantly under a sun that felt too bright, too perfect. Engraved vine-like roots snaked across their surface, intertwining into the image of a gigantic tree with the sun radiating from its crown. The movement itself felt smooth, a glide rather than a drag, synchronized with that subtle, underlying beat. Rather than a gentle creak, the doors roared open with the grinding clang of massive gears, revealing a grand, impossibly vast lobby beyond. And there, waiting for me as if on cue, was a man-giant. He smiled, a perfect, corporate-approved smile, and stood from a ridiculously oversized chair.
He walked with a grace that was uncanny for his bulk, like a model on a catwalk. He looked exactly like one of those giant dwarves from Warcraft, but somehow impeccably dressed in a tuxedo. His face was square, but his jawline couldn't be seen because of his perfectly braided black beard. His hair was braided to the side, with one unruly strand standing up on his head, above to the right. He had a pointy nose and very sharp blue-green eyes. Now this dude looked like a real RPG game character. As he reached the edge of the desk, he crossed his leg with grace, leaning casually against the polished surface, a smooth, unhurried motion that spoke of supreme confidence.
"Welcome to Research Corps," he boomed, his voice resonating through the vast space without being overwhelmingly loud, yet perfectly clear, like a perfectly tuned instrument. "I am Love34Nov at your service, welcome to the world of science!" He raised his bulky hand, adorned with five distinct rings, waving me closer with a flourish that seemed almost choreographed. "Giant Corps," he clarified, "the bioengineering marvel of the Labyrinth, come on in."
It all went down like an episode of 'Cribs' on MTV, but for giants, set to the background of a cool, smooth jazz number. Love34Nov, with exaggerated gestures and a never-fading grin, began showing me the amenities of the colossal structure. "Welcome to the entryway," he announced with a sweep of his hand, "where every journey into scientific discovery begins!" He then gestured towards a shimmering, translucent wall. "And this," he declared, already moving, "is our primary containment suite. State-of-the-art, darling." We whisked through impossibly dreamy rooms: vast labs filled with humming, alien machinery ("Here we innovate, here we create!"), opulent living quarters that made my old call center dorm look like a sardine can ("Who says genius can't live in luxury?"), and massive bio-engineering chambers ("Where life finds a way... a new way!"). The air throughout was conditioned, subtly fragrant, and that underlying, sophisticated rhythm seemed to pulse with the very architecture. As we zipped through, I caught glimpses of what looked like mash-up animals in various stages of creation or containment. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots: this was the facility that made all the bizarre creatures I'd been running from.
Love34Nov, I thought, is he a player as well? 'Coz nobody in their sane mind would name themselves that. Which meant I wasn't the only one here. However, he was just a memory in the core of a cutscene, a pre-recorded orientation video.
He typed a few more commands on an oversized, futuristic computer, the keys clacking like ancient dinosaur bones, before turning back to me, a grin splitting his face. "Every adventurer that ventures into the Giant's Labyrinth," he announced, his voice taking on a strangely theatrical, almost game-show host quality, "will naturally face... resistance. Think of it as a quality assurance program! The higher your 'level' of progression, the more robust, shall we say, the 'customer feedback' you'll receive. And trust me," he leaned in conspiratorially, his blue-green eyes glinting, "our feedback forms are legendary."
My gut clenched. If this place was built for Giants and their creations, then what was I, a mere 5'8" call center agent, doing here? The mash-up monsters. The absurdity of it all. This wasn't some natural evolution of bizarre fauna. This was deliberate. Engineered. A grand, horrifying experiment by the Giants. This whole Labyrinth, teeming with abominations, was a giant, living laboratory. A test of resistance.
The golden light and vivid vision abruptly dissolved. The subtle rhythm, the soft air, the perfect clarity – all ripped away.
Then I was back in front of the ruined door. I heard a clacking sound like metal and boulder moving. I looked to my right and the withered statue was moving. I never noticed before that it had machines on its left hand resembling a motorized hand. It growled at me, showed me its noseless face with both hands clenched to the side—if it had a right hand, that's what it would look like. Weirdly enough, I drew my sword, blocking the mechanical arm of the machine-stone monster of a statue. I felt my muscles resisting its strength, but I was on the defensive and obviously weaker. Whoa, I can do that? My mind trying to keep up, I shoved the attack to my right where it crashed and did a summersault in my controlled state, landing in a very cool pose, perfect fight stance, my weapon horizontal above my head.
General Awareness: Mechanized Giant Golem. Weapon: mechanical left hand. Description: What the actual quack!
The cutscene wore off, leaving me the old Kiko. "Uh, cutscene, where'd you go?"
And then the crushing realization hit me, colder and harder than any fall. Love34Nov's words, the "resistance" this labyrinth offered, the sheer scale of everything around me, my involuntary movements, that dodge...
I wasn't just in a survival game anymore. I wasn't just an adventurer. I was part of the experiment. A lab rat.