Come on Down

Come on Down The students walked into the classroom. Nothing big, just your average midterm college test, right? Instead of the normal classroom setting, chairs that looked like they belonged in an auditorium and small attached trays were set up with testing papers on each one. Bright colorful lights flashed as if a party had been planned.The class sat down, confused, but compliant. Music started to play, a somewhat flashy and jazzy tune that some students recognized. A voice, big, bold, and echoing, cane from hidden speakers.

“And now…” the voice boomed, “Introducing your host and teacher, mr. Brown!”

Suddenly, as if popping up from some sort of rabbit hole, the instructor, Mr. Brown, appeared. Only, this look like his clone, or something. His normally untidy hair was combed, and had an oily shine to it. He wore a suit and a broad smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Okay students, come on down! It’s time for the test,” he said in a fake voice of excitement.

Mr. Brown stared at the students, not even blinking.

The test seemed normal enough, but then, every few questions were odd. Some required a code to be broken, in order to understand the question in the first place. Other questions seemed somewhat related to chemistry, but were rather untraditional.

One question asked, “Make a solution to uncover invisible ink, and further enhance the quality of the writing.” A different question asked, “Create an antidote for a poison composed of eucalyptus oil, large amounts of melatonin, a high concentration of an alcoholic beverage, and the blended juice from various nightshade plants.” Despite the oddity of such questions, the test went on.

One question simply inquired, “What was the music playing at the beginning of class?”

It wasn’t until one specific question, that things started taking a turn.

The question asked, “Analyze the situation: a man has died. The only evidence is a bucket filled with iced tea, a recorded temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit , and a large amount of salt where the man died. What happened?”

It’s hard to say who felt it first, but spontaneously, several students felt their chairs violently shake. Just like they were experiencing an earthquake. Then those few students vanished. It didn’t go unnoticed, but the remaining students decided to focus on this unusual test.

The test still went on. Some students noticed scribbled text on their pages, some of them used the answers it gave them. Those who did, sunk into the floor, like they were trapped in quick sand. But still, the test went on.

Another question asked, “If a crime has been committed, but the only evidence is a dead dog, what are the most likely chemicals that were used?”

Later, some other students felt a burning sensation coming from their chair. Just as abruptly as the times before, they disappeared, but this time in a burst of flames.

Incidents kept occurring, pit traps, students acting as if they were electrocuted, students simply falling over, like they fainted from the stress. Eventually, one student confronted Mr. Brown. This student was named Kyle.

“What

is happening here,” inquired Kyle.

Mr. Brown did not respond, he blankly looked at Kyle, as if his student was invisible.

The test went on, but less and less people were disappearing. With this change, the vanishing that did happen was even more mysterious. At one point all the lights simply went out, and when they came back on two students were missing.

The last question stated, ?I am not your teacher. Who/what am I, and how did you determine this?”

Finally the test came to an end. But the faces in the classroom were not relieved, or excited, as is normal for students done with a test. Those that had an expression on their face that wasn’t one of true and blank horror, seemed disgusted by the spectacle that was their midterm exam. Mr. Brown had his students follow him. once again, the students were compliant, but a lot of them were angry, some thought of attacking Mr. Brown, the way he had seemingly attacked their friends. Still, they followed him, unused to such violent, actions towards their teacher, someone they were supposed to respect. They reached a door, a mysterious door. This door, besides, never being in the location that it was in now, was metal. Not only was it metal, but it was a hard metal. It was unlikely that anybody would be able to break in, or out, if they did not have the code needed to open the door. That was the other thing, mysterious about the door, it needed a code, a key, and a specific knocking sequence for Mr. Brown to open it. Mr. Brown opened it, this room was like no other room on campus. On the walls were large monitor screens that clearly showed their chemistry classroom from different angles. On the far wall, instead of a monitor, there was a whiteboard with the names and faces of themselves, and their classmates on it. 35 of these pictures were crossed out leaving only five pictures left. On the table in the room, sat a platter with food. Not that this in itself was curious, but the quality of the food was of note. Not somewhat acceptable, cafeteria, food, or fast food. This plate held a choice, cut of steak, grilled salmon, green beans, mashed potatoes, and had a cup filled with a blue cocktail beside it. they saw a figure at the table.The real Mr. Brown, waiting for them as if nothing odd was happening. Mr. Brown, their actual teacher, got up, and approach his doppelgänger. He pressed the hidden button behind its ear, revealing the fake Mr. Brown as a robot. The robot, after being deactivated,drooped over as if the muscles in his body had given up. Mr. Brown looked at his remaining students.

“your classmates are fine,” he stated. “this was a test to see who could pass under more than the normal amount of pressure.” “Now that you five students have passed,” he continued, “You have joined the ranks of the CIA.” “yes,” he said, “This test was to see if you could become an agent of the central intelligence agency.” “You five have passed. Congratulations.” Kyle frustrated by this whole scheme once again went up to his teacher. He yelled, “ who the heck are you!” Mr. Brown looked unfazed by his student yelling at him. He understood their frustration, and chose to answer plainly and honestly.

Mr. Brown was in fact, a recruiter for several intelligence services, and was tasked with assessing the skills of this particular college chemistry class. this class was judged to have the most capable and intelligent young minds in the state, right for the picking. All semester long, he had embedded different challenges inside the coursework. From poison recognition, information absorption, to even some light combat skills. Now it was time for these five students, Kyle, Sam, Tracey, Logan, and Michael, to become spies, for not only did they pass, Mr. Brown’s exam, but there skills were far more than even they knew. Their intelligence, talents, and personal natures made them perfect for espionage. Mr. Brown had designed the test to draw out those that could keep calm, and do a task under pressure. The game show design was meant to throw the students off. His robot double was used to test the students recognition of a disguised agent. The several traps and questions were to see how well they could handle unknown pressure. The writing on the side of their paper was to see if they could pass without needing to cheat. All of this was a test to see who among this class made for the perfect agent.

The students, awed by this revelation, looked at their teacher, as if he were crazy. But he wasn’t, this was the gateway to the rest of their lives… as spies.