Jason has been down on his luck since he was forcibly removed from his parent’s home some three years ago. “Down on his luck” is a phrase he has heard ad nauseum since, as if that day had just been a random act of unluck.
WIth few options at his disposal and a growing desire to live with a roof over his head, he sets out each day in search of small jobs. Cleaning houses. Delivering parcels. Any job that will earn him enough money to eat that day.
At his local corner store is a bulletin board placed just inside the entrance. His daily routine includes checking for any odd jobs that could earn him some money. On this particular day he grabs an address off the last tear off looking for someone to deliver some packages. Having completed numerous delivery jobs he was no stranger to the process. He would ride out to the address listed, knock on an old door in some back alley that smells like piss and cat food, and take a nondescript parcel to whatever location is written on the box.
As he entered the usual back alley he noticed an absence of the usual smells and lingering garbage. This alley was almost clean. As if it had been new. He came to a large metal door painted a deep blue. A logo was affixed to it, a bright red globe with a yellow circle in the middle.
He knocked on the door. A beeping started as a camera spun to look at him, its motors whirring behind its enclosed glass orb. His eyes were met with a bright red flash, temporarily causing his vision to blur. At this moment the door opens, revealing a well-lit hallway with a mid-century modern decor, wood paneling and green patterned wallpaper. The hall stretched for as long as he could see -- much longer than he remembered the block to be.
Jason peers into the doorway, still unsure whether entering is the best idea. A crackling voice comes from a nearby speaker, “Third door on your left.”
Jason stands up straight, his eyes darting side to side. “What?” he asks.
“I said the third door on your left,” the voice responds with an impatient tone. “Come on, dude. Just go through the door. And shut it behind you, if it stays open too long an alarm goes off and it’s fucking annoying.”
As Jason passes through the opening he feels a warm blast of air, from the well-heated hall. He closes the door behind him and makes his way forward. As he passes the first set of doors he can hear the distant sound of chatting and printers spitting out page after page. This must be an office, he thinks as he sees a middle-aged man dressed in a tie and white shirt pass from one doorway to the other ahead of him.
He reaches the third door on his left. It’s a plain wooden door, with no remarkable accents. Nothing about this place is remarkable, actually. Just an office in an alley with a security camera and an impatient security guard.
Jason, feeling better about his location now that he’s confident he’s not in danger or could easily run away, opens the door and enters the third room on his left.
The room smells like antiques. Wood paneling covers the wall and a large red persian rug lays on the floor. The only furniture is a wooden table and a chair situated in the center of the room. On the table is a box decorated with brass latches and a floral inlay design.
Again, the crackling voice tears through the air, “Please, sit down.”
Jason slowly makes his way to the chair, inspecting every inch of the table and box as he does.
“The chair isn’t going to bite you,” says the voice. “Just sit down.”
Once sat in the chair, Jason can get a better look at the box. Besides its floral design, it too is unremarkable. It’s a box anyone could have purchased from the home goods store uptown. They probably have a case of mediocre wine somewhere around here too.
“Open the box.” the voice says.
Jason, without hesitation, opens the box to reveal a timer and a single 20-sided dice.
Lazily, as if reading from an instruction booklet, the voice begins, “Inside the box you will find a 20-sided die and a timer. As the ‘player,’ it is your job to roll the die until either you decide to stop or can no longer roll the die. The timer will keep track of your progress and will begin the moment you roll the die for the first time.”
The voice stops as Jason inspects the die -- a deep red with yellow numbers. He had seen a set just like it at the nearby gaming shop. The voice returns with an abrupt popping sound, “Also there is a reward of $100,000 for each hour you continue rolling the die.”
Jason is dumbfounded. In shock and unable to speak, he looks around him, expecting to see cameras and the obvious signs of a TV prank show. He remains alone in the room, no sounds but his own breathing, and the sound of midday traffic on the other side of the wall.
“For fuck’s sake, just roll the die, dude,” the impatient voice says.
Jason picks up the die, shakes it in his hand, and releases it into the box -- it ricochets off the walls of the box and rests near the center.
As the number 16 stares up at him, he waits. Maybe something is supposed to happen after rolling the die, he thinks to himself. This can’t be all he has to do. What’s the money for? Why is he rolling the die? How many hours will they let him do this?
Suddenly, he hears the screeching of tires outside. A cacophony of twisting metal and blood curdling screams tears through the air, startling Jasona and causing him to bolt out of the chair. Police and fire sirens cut through the sounds as the crackling voice returns, “Please sit back down and continue rolling the die.”
Jason looks down at the timer: 5 minutes. He is nowhere near the first hour and very certain they don’t do partial credit.
“We do not do partial credit,” the voice says, answering the question he never actually asked.
As the sounds of a car accident play out in the background, he sits down in the chair and picks up the dice. He rolls the dice around in his hand, feeling it bounce off his fingers and palm. Releasing the die, it rolls across the table, landing near the center.
With a yellow number 5 resting face up, the floor beneath Jason begins to rumble -- low at first but builds rhythmically as the sound of screeching meets his ears. The hideous noise is like nothing he has ever heard, save the monster movies he watches through his fingers. No earthly creature could have possibly produced that shriek.
The building shakes, tiles fall from the office’s drop ceiling. Jason looks around as walls begin crumbling. He grabs the die and makes for the door.
The voice cracks through the shrieks and screams as Jason takes off down the hall, “Please, sit back in the chair,” it says. “The events outside have nothing to do with you and you are not helping by going outside.”
Jason breaks through the outside door as the voice continues to follow him, “Please, sit back down and continue rolling the die,” the voice says as Jason makes his way out of the alley.
As Jason enters the street he can see people running and screaming, a giant, flying, whale-like creature streiks through the sky. It dives at the crowd below and slams into the buildings, causing debris to fall onto the people below.
The creature raises up into the sky and turns 180 degrees, almost as if it has picked Jason out of the crowd. It shrieks and bears down straight for him. Seeing no way to escape Jason runs for his life. As fast as he can, pushing people out of the way, he does everything he can to avoid being crushed by this flying creature.
Just as the creature hits the ground behind him, Jason leaps forward to avoid being crushed. The die flies from his hand, knocking between panicked runners and debris. It lands unceremoniously in front of him, a number 1 stares up at him.
Just then a shockwave runs through the ground. Cracks appear in the pavement around Jason and steam is released from them as if from an exploding boiler. An intense heat overcomes him and grabs the die and leaps to his feet. Red hot lava begins oozing from the newly formed cracks, bubbling and spewing into the air.
Jason runs as hard as he can toward nothing in particular except for the idea of not dying. Step by step he dodges falling lava and ever-expanding crevices. His feet float above the ground as he sprints away from danger.
Suddenly the ground beneath him breaks at just the wrong moment, sending him flying through the air. Landing hard on his side and shoulder, he crumples into a fetal position. Desperately, he jumps to his hands and knees, opening his hands to find the die is missing.
From the street, Jason searches for the die. Looking around where he landed and underneath him until the glint of red catches his eye from across the street. At that moment, a cracking sound rings out through the air and a new set of shrieks echoes off the nearby buildings. Looking into the sky, he can see a second gigantic winged beast swooping down at the helpless crowds below.
A stampede of people blocks most of his view but he knows if he runs fast enough he can reach it. Like a sprinter at the starting line, he makes his way to the die. Running through a panicked crowd slows him down, but he is able to break through to the other side. Looking from side to side he catches a glimpse of the red die, sitting at the edge of the road.
Diving for the die, he lands with a hard thud on the sidewalk as the ground shakes once again. A crevice appears between him and the die, slowly adding space between him and it. He watches as the die teeters, teasing him each time it leans closer to the edge of the chasm.
Jason picks himself up from the ground as the die defies his every wish and tumbles down through the earth, stopping every few feet before falling further.
The sound of a cracking whip and popping signals the arrival of a new group of horrors each time the die pauses. Screeching, winged beasts call out from the skies. The howling of demonic beasts erupt from around the corner as they make their way toward Jason. The sky goes dark as thick green clouds cover the sun and acid begins raining down on the people below.
Jason stands in the middle of a torn up street. Lava spewing into the air. Huge crevices break apart the ground. Acid rains from the sky. Bodies litter the ground. A pack of hell beasts bear down on him.
Jason looks around panicked, trying to find any way to escape. He braces for the worst and closes his eyes tightly.
The die tumbles and falls through sewer systems and dirt. Past fossils and creatures that haven’t seen the sun since the dawn of man. Its silent journey down through the earth occurs with no knowledge from anyone on the surface. An important mission no one knows exists.
As it careens through geological formations, it is suddenly stopped by the hard bedrock below. Causing the die to spin in place like a top that will never fall. It spins and spins as it hits each of its sides a dozen times before slowing -- selecting a singular point to teeter upon before rocking back and forth in its final place. A dirt covered, scratched and mangled number 20 sits upright, as if attempting to shine a beacon to the world above. A shock wave erupts from the critical roll.
Jason opens his eyes to find the street empty. The ground is without crevices and no lava is spewing into the air. Giant flying creatures no longer terrorize those fleeing on the ground. As he looks around, it’s as if none of the recent events happened.
Pedestrians cross the road in front of him, drivers curse at him as they pass. His phone vibrates in his pocket. He lifts the phone to his ear.
“Hello,” he says.
A crackling sound and then a pop comes through the phone. “Well done,” says the voice on the other end. “You’ve successfully rolled the die. If you check your bank account, you will find the appropriate amount of money has been deposited. If you have any further questions, please refrain from asking us or any other person you come in contact with. We do not exist. This never happened. Have a good day. Try not to die.”