Time froze at that very moment.
"Who are you? Answer me! Open the door! Release us!" Alpha Maxwell demanded furiously, kicking the wall out of anger.
Naomi covers her ears with her hands in utter despair. Being trapped in a doorless and windowless room is scary already and the worst thing is, she is trapped in the room with an enraged Alpha. Not a good combination.
She felt like she was going to die because of her extreme nervousness. Her eyes widened in horror when the enraged Alpha started punching down the wall with his fist in fury. She rushed to his side. "Stop punching the wall. Your knuckles will bleed. You will only get hurt! How can we escape later if you are injured?" she asked, pleading into his eyes, trying to put some sense into his chaotic mind.
Alpha Maxwell calmed down. He stared at her face and saw raw fear and worry etched into her eyes. He inspected his knuckles, which had already turned red, feeling the pain. If he continues punching the wall, he will have severely injured hands soon. "You are right. I will save my strength for our escape later," he finally said and sat on the edge of the bed. He stared at the wall, trying to analyze who was the mastermind of this sick joke.
Naomi caresses her grumbling stomach, craving food. "I'm hungry," she said.
"Me too," Alpha Maxwell replied. "But where is the food?"
They looked into each other's eyes, hunger plastered on their faces.
The beeping sound started again. "The food is coming, but you can't get it unless you do one specific thing for me," the robotic voice said.
"Dammit, what is it? Are you going to starve us?" Alpha Maxwell yelled into the ceiling.
"You have to kiss each other's cheeks. Do it now, or I won't release the food," the robotic voice ordered.
They looked at each other in shock and horror.
"No way! I have a girlfriend back home, and we are going to marry soon!" Alpha Maxwell protested vehemently.
Naomi was seething in anger. "I also had a boyfriend outside. I don't want to betray him!" she shouted indignantly.
"What's the matter, guys? It's just a kiss, come on. Kiss each other or else you will have no food in the next 24 hours," the robotic voice said.
Naomi's eyes welled up. Her stomach was already hurting and only food could stop the pain. This is the first time she has craved food so much. It hurts that she can't eat right away. She broke down in tears.
Alpha Maxwell looked at his depressed companion. "Why are you crying?" he asked.
"My stomach hurts. I'm starving! I need to eat!" she responded between sobs.
Alpha Maxwell sighed. Imprisoned in a room, powerless and starving, with a sobbing lady beside him is making him edgy. This is fucking insane! Let us out now!" He demanded, standing up, eager to punch the face of the robotic guy if he could reach him.
"You had better kiss each other now. The moment I stop talking, you will have no food to eat for the next 24 hours. Please do the task now, or you will starve," the robotic voice said.
"Just fucking ask ransom from our families and shut up!" Alpha Maxwell snarled.
"I will start counting from 1 to 10. If you are still not kissing each other, then bye bye food." The robotic voice ignored his threats.
"We should kiss now, or we will die of hunger," Alpha Maxwell finally said. "I have a bad feeling about this..." he said, shaking his head.
"But I could not betray my boyfriend!" she protested.
"But we will die. We need to survive another day!" he said in desperation, trying to convince her that kissing each other is not as bad as dying of starvation.
"I will start counting now!" the robotic voice said. "1...2...3...4..."
Alpha Maxwell quickly planted a kiss on Naomi's cheeks. It happened so fast. "Now kiss me back!" he ordered urgently.
Naomi has no choice but to obey his command. She quickly planted a kiss on his cheeks as she could no longer bear the pain of hunger.
"See, that's easy, right?" Alpha Maxwell was pleased with her cooperation.
Naomi's face turned red. She bit her lip in humiliation.
"Congratulations, guys! You passed the first challenge! Because of that, you will have your meal. Bon Appetit!" the robotic voice said.
A rectangular opening suddenly appeared on the wall and two food trays could be seen on it.
The couple quickly jumped to their feet and removed the tray from the opening. They took the tray to the bed and began eating in silence. Surprisingly, the food was delicious, consisting of beef stir fry mixed with vegetables, pumpkin soup, rice and a pitcher of orange juice and bottled drinking water.
After they finished eating, they put the tray back in the opening and the wall closed again.
They stared at the wall for a long time.
"So the food came out of that opening that mysteriously appears every time we are given food, right?" she asked the obvious.
"Yup, that's right," Alpha Maxwell responded, his eyes fixed on the wall.
"Now where's the bathroom? I need to pee!" she asked urgently.
"That's our next problem. Where is the fucking bathroom?" he asked, annoyed. A sick feeling gnawing in his stomach.
Naomi raised her head and looked up at the ceiling. "Where is the bathroom? I need to pee! Please tell us!" she demanded hurriedly, desperately trying to stop herself from peeing in her underwear.
"Dammit, where is the toilet?" Alpha Maxwell shouted.
The beeping sound came on again. "To gain access to the toilet, the girl needs to sit on your lap willingly. If the girl refuses to do so, she can pee and defecate on the floor. Choose wisely," the robotic voice answered.
Alpha Maxwell groaned in displeasure. Whoever designed this horrible game has a sick and twisted mind. He would love to kill him a hundred times for making him suffer this way.
"I badly need to pee now!" Naomi said between tears. What a torture!
"Then do it now, sit on my lap! We need the bathroom or else we will die with the smell of our waste," he said dejectedly.
Naomi could no longer bear the pain of prolonging her need to pee. She stood up and sat quickly on his lap.
"Very good! Another reward has been unlocked! The bathroom door will appear now," the robotic voice said.
All of a sudden, the wall to their right parted and the door to the bathroom finally emerged.
Naomi rushed to the bathroom, closed the door and immediately sat down on the toilet bowl. She emptied her bladder with great relief. She scanned the bathroom. It was equipped with a shower, a sink and a mirror. She saw a bottle of shampoo and conditioner, soap, toothpaste, two toothbrushes and towels hanging from the bathroom rack.
After she emerged from the bathroom door, Alpha Maxwell stood up. "It's my turn," he said, and entered the bathroom in a hurry.
Naomi looked up at the ceiling and asked, "Hello, what is your name?"
"My name is Zero, yeah, that's my name," the robot replied, chuckling.
"Are you a human or a robot?" Naomi continues to ask him.
"I'm a robot programmed to talk to you guys," Zero replied.
"Can you tell us who is the mastermind of this sick game?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't know the mastermind. I'm just a robot," Zero answered.
Alpha Maxwell emerged from the door and said, "This is a kidnapping! Do you already send a ransom to our families?" he asked.
"I was told this was not a kidnapping, this was an experiment. You are part of an experiment, guys. You can only get out of this facility alive if you complete a certain task that they give you. Don't blame me. I'm just a messenger," Zero explained defensively.
"Task?" Naomi gushed in surprise, her brows knitted in confusion.
"You mean we were not kidnapped for ransom? But for an experiment? How long will the experiment last?" Alpha Maxwell asked.
"You will undergo a series of experiments, guys. And if you cooperate well you will be released sooner or later," Zero replied.
Naomi shook her head in astonishment. These people are sick. How could they play with other people's lives like they are pets that can be ordered around catering to their whims?
"Fucking experiment! Release us or once I get out I will kill you all!" Alpha Maxwell kicked the bedpost hard.
"Be careful with the bed. Once you break it, you will sleep on the floor," Zero warned.
Alpha Maxwell needed to vent his anger and continued kicking the bed five times out of anger and frustration.
"What is this experiment being called?" Naomi asked between gritted teeth, hating the sound of the bed being kicked repeatedly.
"This experiment is called the Love Game. We picked two people from warring families to teach them about love and compassion. If you can convince us that you will fall in love with each other and form a deep connection, we will release you. That's how easy it is to regain back your freedom," Zero gave a lengthy explanation.
"Fucking love game!" Alpha Maxwell retorted, kicking the bed one more time and glaring murderously at the ceiling. "We can't fall in love! Our families forbid us!" he says vehemently.