Be Patient in Tribulation.

Peik was spotted by a strict production assistant, and he was pulled back to the backstage area. He thought about just not following her, but there were some uniform-wearing, torpedo-looking big men who were standing by around the entrance and along the walls of the stage area, and Peik just let her take him there. The sun was out, and the filtered beams shone at all the stores and stands and merry people through the transparent ceiling of the Dome. A gigantic countdown was shown on all screens in the entire locale, and people were hurrying to get things to slurp down and to put in their bellies.

The contestants that had gotten to the second round had been gathered in the room that Peik had been sitting in previously, but all the screens had been shut off. He snuck past an old man who looked tired and shocked by the publicity he had been exposed to, and he clearly did not want to get on stage or even remain in the competition, as he was arguing and pleading audibly with another PA to let him be spared. "I just want to enjoy it here with my wife!", he yelled at the poor PA, who tried expressing she had no power to take him out of the competition.

Another woman was sitting on the couch, breastfeeding her infant. She, too, was looking extremely tired. She had baggy eyes and unruly hair, and Peik recognized her from the programme. She had been sitting on her bathroom floor at some point, simply bawling her eyes out, and this had activated the solution to the escape room.

He went to sit down on the couch himself and noticed a middle-aged woman sitting in the corner, with her head resting on her forearms and knees. She was obviously trying to have a nap. She was wearing a dress that would have looked sharp before the whole 'SuRuST'-thing had begun, but it just looked worn out at this point, he thought, as his stomach rumbled aggressively. "Hey, miss PA!", he blurted out, a bit surprised at how hangry he felt, but he kept going. "Are we getting any grub at some point? I am starving", he said. The others looked at him, even the woman in the corner raised her head, revealing a long, but kind face.

"Yes, what he said", the woman in the corner said. "And I need a change of clothes and ...", she stopped, a bit embarrassed. " ... a toilet trip to freshen up", she continued. The PA that was talking to the old man responded.

"Sorry, not at this point", she admitted. "You could get an opportunity to get something to eat at some point during the coming rounds", she hinted. But none of the contestants reacted well to these news.

"So, what... Do you mean you will not give us food? Miss, I have been trapped in my bathroom for over 12 hours without anything to eat", the woman erupted. "Are you serious? I could die from malnourishment!", she continued, flustered, now standing in front of the young, spectacle-wearing production assistant.

"Young miss, we need to eat! Surely you can give us food for exploiting us to make this sick, twisted form of entertainment for the masses here", the old man pleaded, joining the woman talking to the PA. She shook her head to confirm her position and left the backstage area, with the one woman lifting her dress up a bit to not trip in it as she was aggressively following the PA all the way out, standing at the entrance after she left, then turning back towards the other contestants with a demotivated demeanour. She sat back down and removed a stray eyelash from her cheek, staring blankly out into thin air.

The old man went to sit next to Peik on the couch and poked every individual piece of plastic fruit on the table - a bowl containing a fake banana, an apple, a pear and a cluster of grapes. Just to make sure they were still fake. "Hmpf, such mockery... Disgusting", he mumbled, visibly and audibly annoyed. Peik had wondered for a while why they would put fake food in the backstage area, as he had thought they were real that first time - and he had made all of the others, as they entered, try grabbing for it for his amusement.

The old man began working at his glasses with a silk rag and looked at Peik, and Peik could see in the corner of his eye that he was a bit surprised at something. "Son, I feel like I have seen you before somewhere...", he suddenly exclaimed, adjusting his glasses. "Where do you live?", he asked intently. "Are you perhaps one of those... Celebrities? Not that I pay attention to such things", he added, chuckling a bit, his stomach shaking along.

Peik met his examining gaze. "I am not from around here, no", he answered. "And no, I have not attracted any fame until just this past day", he added, chuckling along with the old man. Peik looked over at the formerly breastfeeding woman, who was now frantically speed-walking around the room, cuddling with her screaming baby, possibly trying to make it burp. She looked worn out completely, to the ends of her wits. "Sorry, ma'am... Where is the father?", he asked her softly. She looked back at Peik, holding his glance as she kept walking.

"It's 'miss', not 'ma'am' or 'mrs', thank you!", she replied angrily, possibly letting out some frustration. Peik decided to leave that bomb alive without attempting to dismantle it. Another guy walked into the backstage area, Peik assuming it was her boyfriend who was there to collect their child so she could prepare for the next stage of the competition. Yet he did not approach her and did not seem to know anyone there.

"Do we wait here?", he asked them all collectively. The woman in the dress just looked shortly at him, and rapidly closed her eyes to continue trying to get some sleep. No one answered him right away, and he just remained standing along the wall by the entrance.

"Yes, mister. Are you in the SoRuLP... I mean SuRu... SuRuST?", the old man asked him. Peik thought again about how stupid that acronym sounded. The newcomer nodded eagerly, happy to connect with someone in there.

"Ye... Yes!", he replied. "I am so hungry. Could I have some of that fruit?", he asked and pointed to the bowl in front of Peik and his somewhat older friend. Peik gave a micro-smirk.

"Yes, be our guest. We have all had some", he said and made the others chuckle. The new guy grabbed the banana for a second but let go of it immediately, probably confused from the feeling of its texture. The others laughed a bit. He was a tall guy and seemed like he packed some muscle. Not a lot, but he looked to be more than just a toothpick of a man. They had already understood he was insecure of himself, and cautious as well - probably a nice guy. He settled in quickly and began waiting with the others, as he sat down in the last couch seat, next to Peik.

"So... How did you get out of your bathroom?", he asked Peik silently, almost whispering.

Peik refocused himself and got ready for small talk. "I have a habit of talking to myself when in isolation. I made it out first, it seems", he recounted. "And yourself?", Peik asked, trying to seem sincere, but too tired to really care if he was perceived to be so.

"Well, I got the 'mercy card' as I did not find the proper way out", he replied, assuming Peik was a 'SuRuST' expert - but Peik just looked at him confused.

"You got the what?", Peik asked sincerely. A huge 'gong' sounded, and a PA stormed into the backstage area.

"Everyone - get ready for round two!", she yelled, and they all stood up. She asked to take the young mother's baby with her, and she let her - somewhat reluctantly.

They were all given blindfolds and then taken out in a single row. After some minutes of walking, they stopped and waited for a few seconds. Peik felt something cold, supposedly metal, was clamped on and locked tight around his upper arm. They heard someone shout "take us up!", and they all felt the ground they were standing on, began moving upwards. They were probably standing on a giant lift or in some sort of elevator - then it stopped. Peik noticed the scent of some wonderful flower. "Blindfolds off!", the PA shouted.

He was now stood in between two walls of... Sunflowers? He had also been cuffed to the young woman from before, and she began sobbing right away as soon as she understood some of what was happening.

"What is this? A maze?", Peik asked her, not expecting much of an answer. They heard a thumping, trampling sound that made vibrations in the ground. She stopped crying and gasped in surprise.

"Help! I do not want to do this! Please, just let me get out of here!", she screamed out. Peik did not think she was saying these things to him. "Please, I just want to be with my baby!", she sobbed.

They began walking along the path in the maze.