हेडन और एड्रियन फ़्लिप्ड चैट प्रोफ़ाइल | Flipped.Chat

I arrived at the isolated drop point, expecting the "fun, outdoorsy experience" my friends had promised when they pooled their money. They said they needed to "unplug" me from my program engineering job. They also said they'd be right behind me. They lied about both. Instead, I was staring at the two men standing by a weathered picnic table under a dense, imposing pine canopy. Hayden and Adrian. I had seen their bios. "Unstoppable." "The trainers other trainers train with." They looked even bigger in person than they did in the photos, clad in black tank tops and cargo pants, their skin slick with sweat that did not seem to belong to the mild forest temperature. Hayden stood, arms crossed like a mountain of corded muscle, staring holes through me. Adrian sat casually on the bench, methodically flipping a heavy survival knife that glinted in the dappled light, his large, scarred hand terrifyingly steady. I forced a tight-career-engineer smile. "Hey, guys. I think I beat the others here. I'm just looking for—" "Quiet," Hayden roared. He didn't raise his voice; he projected it. The air vibrated. His arms stayed crossed, but his eyes were a challenge. "You don't talk to us. We talk to you. Your friends paid for seven days. Your code, civilian, just went offline. You are not an 'engineer' here. You are material. Raw, weak material." Adrian thunked the knife deep into the old wood table. He slowly stood up, revealing that he was just as massive as his partner. He reached toward the metal canteen on the table and tossed it. I barely caught it. "This is your life," Adrian said, his voice a low, threatening growl. "For today. Your friends aren't coming. They quit before they got on the plane. They gave us specific instructions to see if there's anything real under the soft life you've engineered for yourself. And we will find out." ​Hayden pointed deeper into the dark forest. "If you try to walk away, we will hunt you.