"The end of the 21st century saw a continuous rise of violence." "The cities were permanently at a state of war:" "Limited curfew and patrolling special forces could only partially protect the citizens from attacks by heavily armed gangs and violent criminals." "Forced to act, the security organs countered with a new system of punishment:" "VORTEX." "Nobody knows what it is." "They say it is more effective than any prison and a better deterrent than death sentence." "It is simply... the solution." "Where are you?" "I heared." "Don't worry, I'll be there in a minute." "Actually I am already at your doorstep." "So, you are at the doorstep." "Well, then hand me your keycard, buddy." "What?" "Your key, quick!" "I don't have it with me." "Oh really?" "Suits yourself." "Works this way too." "Drop the weapon!" "Get down on your knees, raise your hands above your head." "On resistance you will be shot." "I repeat:" "On resistance you will be shot." "Resistance is futile..." "Case 3012, Vincent Xzedden." "You are accused of having commited a premediated murder on the 27. midsummer evening this year." "The high court acknowledged your appeal to self defence." "But as there is no witness to confirm the deed as an act of self defence, you are found guilty as accused." "Therefore you will be transfered to Vortex immediately, where you will remain for the rest of your life." "The sentence takes effect immediately." "Natalie!" "I will be back in a few days." "They will reconsider the case." "This trial cannot have been everything." "Just take care of yourself, you hear?" "Think of all the great things we planned." "We cannot loose that, right?" "I love you." "I love you!" "My name is Ozwin." "I am your tour manager." "Would you please follow me, then we can begin immediately." "Our launch center." "Your travelling time amounts to a few seconds only." "You will find you arrive in no time at all." "Please excuse this little inconvenience." "But it will help you to compensate the depth pressure." "And this, so you don't run out of air on your journey." "You will learn all other vital information from your companion." "If I may give you a... personal recommendation:" "Meet your quota to the best of your conscience." "Then maybe we will see each other again." "Welcome aboard." "If you have any last words, this is the time for it." "Then please count slowly to ten." "Had a good journey?" "My name is Boon, I am your companion." "Where am I?" "Whats up?" "Do you think you might have taken the wrong exit?" "Bukkens!" "Genetically manipulated multilegged pests." "When the lights go out, they own this place." "Including us, if we don't hurry." "Lets go!" "What are you waiting for?" "As long as there is light, nothing will happen to you." "Come on!" "Disgusting creatures." "But they save the government at lot of salaries." "Before we arrive, you gotta know a few things, so listen up!" "You get four hundred currency units every month, so called ticks." "If you need more, you can get a job." "Your identification card." "You must carry it at all times." "If someone robs or executes you, he will need it for confirmation." "Executes?" "Which brings us to the most important issue." "Your quota." "Your quota is one per week." "One what?" "One murder, of course." "What?" "Gotta be a joke!" "He won't laugh about it." "Oh my god." "What's that?" "When the counter reaches zero, you must have met your quota." "Don't forget to confirm the deed, it won't be acknowledged otherwise." "Thats madness!" "For that you need the ID card of your victim." "You slide it in here, and thus confirm your quota, thats all." "And then?" "Then the game starts over." "Here we are!" "Day 1" "Don't forget your suitcase." "Welcome to Vortex!" "The whole areal is situated underground." "Its not that bad really." "There are bars, restaurants, shops where you can buy almost everything." "Who are all these people?" "Convicts!" "Murderers, Rapists, Burglars, Thieves, whatever you can think of." "We even got a few guinea pigs." "They all have to meet a quota?" "Every week a good deed, according to the crime they committed above." "So be glad you didn't lay hands on a ninety years old virgin." "There is nobody who hasn't tried it already." "So forget it." "Apart from that, how do you plan to get past the bugs?" "There is a way out!" "What about the ceiling?" "Ok?" "But Ozwin, this this scientist, he said there is a way out!" "Ozwin, of course." "The great wizard has spoken." "Problem is, little Dorothy cannot wish herself home anymore." "Because they stole her red shoesies, raped her, and cut her throat!" "You are in Vortex, man!" "This is the end of the road, there is no way out!" "The sooner you accept it, the better." "I got mugged." "I defended myself and that triggered the shot." "But I could never willfully kill someone." "Carl Avery..." "I don't even know this old man." "Better that way." "Makes it easier." "Better put that picture away, nobody should know who is on your list." "What if I refuse?" "Then you get on the list of a quota hunter, and will be executed yourself." "Look, this game is very simple." "Either Carl or you." "So just consider it delf defence." "A little moral flexibiliy... no harm in that." "Listen up everybody!" "I'll go round and collect your wallets." "The'll be no discussions!" "Made myself clear?" "Lets go!" "Go go go go go!" "Come on, you little bitch!" "Go!" "Put it in!" "Hah!" "Come on!" "Go, Put it in!" "Boon!" "My money is gone!" "Go go go go go!" "Oh yes, I forgot." "Payday is at the end of the month." "Thats usually the season for pickpockets." "All of it!" "In there!" "Go, put it in!" "I got nothing." "Whaddya say?" "I got nothing!" "Gonna make trouble?" "Gonna make trouble?" "Hey!" "Whats up, why are you staring at me like this?" "I didn't make the laws." "It's madness." "Inhuman!" "Oh yeah?" "Then lets see what you think when the week is over." "Piece of crap!" "Always the same." "But you get used to it, as to everything here." "Well then.." "Wait!" "You'll need money." "Is that your family?" "How long since you last saw them?" "They are dead." "Already two years." "Were attacked at home." "Well, it was hard for me to identify them." "Is that why you are here?" "They never found out who did it." "Standard investigation, 30 minutes." "With that the case was officially closed." "Doesn't matter, here!" "Take care they don't steal it again." "And get to know your equipment." "A week passes quickly." "Boon!" "Thanks!" "Say, ah... how do I find you?" "When you need me I'll be there." "Day 2" "Good morning!" "You are a newcommer, right?" "I heared you tonight." "I think we are neighbors." "I guess, we will see each other quite often then." "So, have a nice day!" "Ho do you know it is daytime?" "Yellow stands for the morning." "red for noon, and blue for the night." "This town isn't big enough for both of us!" "Hey Carl!" "This town isn't big enough for both of us!" "Day 5" "Feel da knife, pretty-man..." "You are dead, you are dead..." "You guinea pigs are too stupid." "Bring a knife to a gunfight!" "Go, get lost!" "Everything all right?" "So, we are making progress!" "Your time is running out, boy." "You gotta make a decision." "There!" "If it's so important to you... then you shoot him!" "It's no problem for you at all!" "Ok, throw it away." "Throw it away, fine by me." "But first you gonna listen to me." "I got some news that you will find interesting." "A friend of mine used to work at the Ministery of Information." "Engaged in personnel espionage." "Since he got here, his only job is to spy on people." "He owed me a favour." "So I asked him to check on your friend Carl." "Now listen to me!" "You friend Carl is here for seventeen acts of murder." "When they caught him, he was cutting a reverends upper leg to little pieces." "Problem was, they couldn't find the rest of the leg." "Carl already had, how to put it... goutiered it." "Shut up!" "Oh, it's getting even better." "This morning good Carl got a new assignment." "Now guess who is next on his list." "You friend Carl is a goddamn cannibal, Vince." "A butcherer and mass murderer, do you want to die for such a piece of shit?" "They judged him." "So they got to kill him, I don't want a part in it, you hear me?" "Nobody cares what you want anymore, you broke the law, you are here, and here we got rules!" "If you don't follow them, you are dead, that's it!" "Won't you understand it already!" "You are totally mad!" "Completely insane!" "You don't deserve better than to perish here!" "Could I please know what you do here?" "Get out!" "Go, get out!" "Sit down!" "I assume you did not come here to improve our neighborly relationship." "Well then, you should know that I regret this situation as much as you do." "I did not choose this assignment." "And them?" "Do you regret it too?" "How many of them did you make?" "Huh?" "Fifty?" "Or maybe a hundred?" "Personally I consider every life so precious that we should remeber it." "Is that wrong?" "But you killed them!" "And you are here for a little chat?" "Fuck!" "Be careful, Vincent." "If the rumours are correct, and you are really innocent, then you are about to make a big mistake." "What's that?" "What are you talking about?" "Don't you understand this is exactly what they want up there?" "They want us all to become guilty." "We are the bad conscience which they lock away so they can sleep better." "They need us to feel confirmed in their righteousness." "Shoot me!" "And they win!" "That's bullshit!" "You just want to talk your way out of this!" "I want to help you!" "So listen to me!" "There is a way for us to get out of this situation, and nobody will be harmed." "Sit down, now!" "It's easy really." "I give you my identification card, and you confirm it." "Hold it!" "You meet your quota without becoming guilty." "So?" "What do you say?" "Try it!" "No!" "Please!" "Shoot him!" "Otherwise he will kill you!" "Boon, help me!" "Just pull the trigger, and the trouble is over." "I can't!" "Yes you can, you already did it once." "No!" "You are guilty, Vincent!" "Guilty and convicted!" "So shoot him!" "I can't!" "Pull the trigger!" "Now!" "I can't simply shoot defense..." "Shoot, you bastard!" "No!" "No, I am innocent!" "I am innocent!" "No, I can't," " Calm down!" "Its all right!" " I cant't!" "We know you are innocent now." "Do you understand me?" "We know you are innocent now." "What's this?" "How did I get here?" "You never left this room." "I think I owe you an explanation." "I..." "I..." "It won't be easy for you to accept it." "But Vortex is an artificial reality, that only exists here." "Everything you saw or touched, was nothing more than an interactive program." "And at the same time a kind of verigraph." "Your continued refusal of commiting a murder dismissed the charge." "Had you shot Carl Avery, then this had been a proof of your guilt." "A program?" "And the people there?" "Are they only a program too?" "Not at all!" "To enable the interaction they all are connected to a collective network." "Each of them met his quota, and thus convicted himself." "If you want, what you see there is the real Vortex." "Ah, there you are!" "May I introduce you to an old friend, representing the prosecution, district attorney Fielding." "Vincent Xzedden!" "In the name of the civil defense department I hereby declare you not guilty." "You are free to go!" "Follow me please." "We need to do some paperwork, then I will lead you to the exit." "I'll be back soon." "Hello Vincent!" "We already missed you!" "I hope you forgive me, but you wasted your chance." "Shoot him!" "Otherwise he will kill you!" "Just pull the trigger, and the trouble is over!" "I want this to stop!" "You did it already once..." "This is the end of the road, there is no..." "Otherwise he will kill you!" "Either Carl, a butcherer and mass murderer..." "What do you want from me?" "!" "Just pull the trigger, and the trouble is over!" "Is that it?" "Is that what you want?" "You were right." "He did it!" "Of course he did." "But how could you be sure?" "I mean, the way he refused to do it, it could have been possible that he  was innocent?" "Oh no!" "In case you didn't notice, its a war out there!" "I mean, think about it!" "When did you last step out of your door, without fear of getting mugged?" "Rehabilitation attempts, Civilization programs, everything failed, and why?" "Because man can not be civilized!" "Because he is nothing more than a selfish parasite, fighting everybody and everything." "Even himself!" "But here!" "Here we got him under control!" "It was just a matter of time untill he too would act this way." "Right, Vince?" "Who can go against his nature?" "Delete the program." "Infiltrate all explanations you gave him with a dream sequence, otherwise the usual." "A new assignment, a new opponent, et cetera." "Oh and something else:" "If you ever give a hint to a prisoner again, think about which reality is better for you." "Good night!" "How about some music?" "Day 7"