BE ON THE TABLE

In a big empty room, that can only be comparable to a stadium if not bigger. The whole room was fully painted with the color white and enlightened by the hundred percent functioning White bulbs on the ceiling.

The only thing tainting this immaculate room was the sea of humans sprawled on the ground. On a closer look, it seems the sea of humans is only composed of children.

It looked like a massacre must have taken place, but there was no blood on the ground and if one can observe closely, the children on the ground seem to only be sleeping.

No one can tell how much must have passed before someone started making some movement among the sleeping children.

This movement came from a young boy of at least 8 years old, with black hair. He had a little cut on the right side of his temple but it seemed the wound was already scabbing over. The injury though did not diminish his cute look.

At long last he opened his brown eyes and was immediately blinded by the white rays of the bulbs embedded in the ceiling and was forced to shut them again.

Being wiser, he took his time to open his eyes again and gradually got them accustomed to the light.

The murmurs coming around him alerted him that he wasn't the only living being around. Turning his head around, that was when he noticed the multiple people around him, who were also waking up just like him.

He had no idea where he was, then gradually it all started coming back to him. The lady who saved him and the strange statement she made inside the car.

(FLASHBACk)

A car could be seen driving off from one of the rough areas of Detroit across the busy roads, inside the tinted black car were three individuals, a middle-aged man who was the driver, a pretty lady with blonde hair and perfect skin and a young boy with jet black hair and a bleeding temple.

The boy and the lady were sitting in the back with the lady wiping off the blood on the boy's temple with a handkerchief.

"What's your name?". She asked.

"..."

"I think the little you can do for me after saving your life is to tell me your name". She scoffed.

"...Jordan, my name's Jordan", the boy finally spoke with a small voice.

Silence once again descended in the car, the lady finally finished cleaning up the wound and pocketed the handkerchief inside her coat pocket instead of disposing of the bloodied handkerchief properly.

"What's your name?". Feeling uncomfortable with the silence and not knowing who she was and where she was taking him he asked back.

"Sixteen, my name's sixteen'. She answered immediately.

Jordan was seriously confused about how someone would be answering a number, but he didn't dwell on it much, what was his main concern was where he was being taken to.

The thought of being taken to the cops crossed his mind, but that didn't seem plausible cause he saw the way the lady easily killed four men without any hesitation. It dawned on him then that the lady sitting beside him was a very dangerous entity, even the driver who was fully focused on driving and hadn't said a thing was permeating a dangerous aura.

"Where are we going". Finally throwing all hesitation to the window he asked.

"Don't you think is much better to do good in a way that no one knows anything about it ?'. She answered with a question of hers. "I will need you to consider that when you wake up ."

And that was when his eyes suddenly became heavy and he lost consciousness and woke up here with this multitude of other kids.

"END OF FLASHBACK"

Being confused about where they were, the murmurs intensified.

"Where are we?"

"Where's this place?"

"Did you see my sister?"

"Helen!!!"

"This is creepy man.."

Different questions kept bouncing around the room, but no one among the group of children could provide an answer.

"Welcome to PAX!"

A female robotic voice which seemed to come from all four corners of the room suddenly rang out and immediately as if on cue everyone became quiet.

"Do not panic 'cause you are in absolutely safe hands". After saying that, one of the walls suddenly caved in revealing something like a door.

"Please walk through the door, to complete your assimilation into PAX", With that said everywhere became quiet again with everyone waiting for the first person who would take a step towards the door.

It didn't take long for someone to finally summon the courage to walk through the door, then the next, and the next.

Jordan also followed suit until, finally, the big white room became empty.

What entered his view once he passed through the door, was another big white room except for this one there were massive chairs well arranged and facing forward. The chairs were well-spaced with few meters separating them from one another.

In front of the well-arranged chairs was a raised platform and a glass wall. On the surface of the glass wall. Two green words in capital letters were going on and off (BE SEATED).

Jordan slowly located a seat and sat down, he had finally let go of making sense of everything going on, till an explanation was given which seemed to be coming soon with all the seating arrangements, he had no home and no one waiting for him.

After everyone was seated, the BE SEATED sign went off, replacing it was an image of a black man, clouded in black military camouflage and black military boot, finishing it off with a black beret.

He looked like your typical no-nonsense Soldier and his voice sounded very deep and clear when he started speaking.

"You must be wondering where you are... But fret not you are in safe hands for now!!. You are presently in the USA's highest secret defense institution PAX founded after the great war to protect the country and the world interests and stop any future war. You have been carefully chosen to join PAX, but I must warn you if you decide to join PAX, you lose whatever identity you have and become a shadow for the rest of your life, but what difference does it make, you all here are already a shadow of the society, rejected and refused to be seen".

The whole room was in silence, with everyone gradually digesting what had been said if they even understood it. The words being said were too cryptic for some bunch of kids.

"If you think you are unable to join PAX, you have 60 seconds to walk back through that door and you will be brought back to where you were taken from."

"Ok that's it, I'm out of here."

"I don't understand anything going on here"

Some people quickly stood up and left, but those who remained seated were still far more than those leaving.

As the seconds kept counting down, the lady's question kept repeating itself in Jordan's mind:

("Don't you think is much better to do good in a way that no one knows anything about it ?')

The more he thought about it, it looked like this was a hint to stay behind and he finally made up his mind to stay behind.

Immediately the time elapsed the door closed back and the man continued with his monologue.

" For those of you still here, if you survive, I welcome you to PAX, now quietly lie down on the table"

At the last statement, metal clamps immediately came out from the chairs they were sitting down. It clamped down on their arm, wrist, waist, and head. After that, the chairs reclined back till it was completely flat almost resembling a table now.

The wall of glass on the platform suddenly slid to the left, and behind it some men came out, they were all in white lab coats and being led by a man who looked like a present-day Albert Einstein with a dark glint of delight in his eyes.