The Cage
By Alison

Comments: This fic is based on the movie The Cell...ok, so it is REALLY
like the movie. Hope you still like it ^^; It will eventually have some
weird scifi/fantasy stuff in it. I hope it doesn't get too strange and
stuff. And it might even have a lemon in it later O_o Hot dang! Well,
that is if I can force myself to writing it ^^;;;; Ok, enough comments.
Hope you like it!! And please tell me what you think!!
-A
***********

The Cage is a virtual reality program designed to allow a person to go
into the mind of another. It was designed by a man know as Kyo. He
created the program because he was fascinated by the minds of the
disturbed, and he want to see what was actually going on in their heads
that the outside world couldn't see or understand.

Eventually, the program gained some popularity and it was begun being
used by psychologists to get a deep and more powerful understanding of
their patients, which was supposed to make helping them easier.

It was also used to go into the minds of people who had fallen into
comas to see what kept there mind shut down and made their body
inactive. After that information was gathered then the
psychologists/doctor could begin to try to "talk" the person out of
their coma.

While the program was very useful and successful many times, but it
could also be very dangerous. That is why only extremely skilled people
who understood how the program worked, and had a strong mind, could use
it. Unfortunately, some of the people who used the program got lost in
the minds of the people they entered. It is all virtual reality and
nothing is real, but when a person gets lost, their mind starts telling
them that what is happening is real.

That is how Kyo eventually met his end. He feel in love with one of the
people he went into, a man named Shinya. He went so far deep into the
other man's mind that soon it became reality, and when Shinya's jealous
girlfriend-of-his-mind shot him, it killed him, since Kyo's mind told
his body that it was real: he had been shot and he would die.

Such is the danger of the Cage. It has the power to heal or the power to
kill. It all depends on the mind of the users, if they can handle being
in another's mind and facing the other person's deepest and darkest
secrets without getting pulled in to deep, getting lost.


*

The shrill repetitive ringing of the alarm clock shattered the pervious
silence of the bedroom. Toshiya groaned and lifted up the blanket he was
buried under just enough to allow his arm out. His hand flopped along
the length of the nightstand next to the bed until it hit the alarm
clock. He lifted his hand to shut the annoyance off, but only succeeded
in knocking it to the ground.

Another groan escaped Toshiya's lips as he realized his would have to
get up now. He slowly opened his one eye and then the other, he decided
that if he had to get up, he could at least take his time. Just as he
was rolling towards the edge of the bed, a growl came from next to him,
followed by a rough shove that sent him tumbling out of the bed.

"Shut that damn thing off already, Toshiya!"

Toshiya pouted and rubbed his now sore butt but did as told. "Jeez Die,
that hurt!"

A head that sported a mop of blood red hair popped out from under the
blanket. "Well you should have got up and turned the thing off right
away."

Toshiya rolled his eyes and stood up. He noticed the way Die was looking
at his naked body and did a little pose. "No Die. I'm not getting back
into bed. I guess you should have thought about your eternal horniness
*before* you kicked me out of bed. Besides, we both have to get to work.
You know we have a new patient today."

Die lifted himself a little only to collapse back onto the bed. He
spread his arms and legs out so that his body covered the whole bed.
"Maaaaannnn, I don't want to go! It is so nice and warm and comfy here."
And to prove his point he rolled over and pulled the blanket tightly
around him, stubbornly closing his eyes.

Toshiya stuck his tongue out at his lover. "Grow up Die. We have to go
to work. Tomorrow is Sunday so you can sleep in then."

The corners of Die's mouth curved up into a grin yet he kept his eyes
shut. "And sticking your tongue out at people is grown up? But…" He
cracked one eye open to look at Toshiya who was getting dressed. "I will
get up if you promise to spend all day in bed with me tomorrow."

Toshiya looked at Die in mock horror. "I don't think I have that kind of
sex drive Die! I'm not you!"

Die laughed. "I will take that as a compliment! But you know what I
mean! Just the two of us, all cuddled up and close…just enjoying the
company of the other…"

Toshiya smiled. When he wanted to be, Die could be the sweetest man in
the world. "Of course I know what you mean. And it sounds like a plan."

*

Toshiya shivered in the cold and pulled his coat tighter around him as
he leaned against Die's car in the parking garage of their apartment
building. He should have known to wait until he saw with his own eyes
that Die was actually ready, instead of trusting the other man when he
had said 'I will be down in a minute.'

Frowning, he glanced down at his watch. They were going to be late.
Again. It was a wonder that their boss didn't fire them both. But then
again, Toshiya thought with a proud smile, that wouldn't be a smart move
on their employer's part, since Toshiya was one of the most skilled
people in the Cage program in Japan. And Die was equally as good when it
came to the technical and control of the system.

When Toshiya glanced back up he noticed a man who hadn't been there
before. The man had spiky purple hair and was leaning against the wall
directly across from Die's car. He was calmly smoking as he stared at
Toshiya, never blinking.

Toshiya quickly looked away, not only because it was rude to stare, even
if the other man was staring at him, but because he didn't like the way
the man was looking at him. He began to fidget nervously when he felt
the other man's stare grow more intense.

He glanced up again and his breath caught in his throat as the other man
pushed himself from the wall and began to walk toward Toshiya, dropping
his cigarette butt as he moved. Just as Toshiya began to panic, the door
leading from the apartment building opened. Toshiya turned towards the
noise and let out a sigh of relief when he saw Die. Toshiya glanced over
his shoulder, but to his surprise the purple haired man was gone.

Shaking slightly, Toshiya jumped into the car as soon as Die unlocked
it, and as soon as the door was shut, Toshiya locked it again. Die gave
him a funny look but didn't say anything, he didn't notice Toshiya
trembling hands.

The whole car ride to work consisted of Toshiya calming himself down,
chiding himself for getting so worked up over nothing, and Die singing
along with whatever was on the radio. Toshiya gave a silent thanks that
even though Die wasn't the best singer, his singing could at least be
tolerated.

When they finally reached their work building, Toshiya had calmed
himself down and was composing himself for the work ahead. Even though
it was pretty much the same thing each day, one had to be prepared to
use the Cage.

Smiling at Die as the older man took his hand, they walked into the
building. The guards didn't bother stopping them as they were required
to do every other employ and guest since both were easily recognized and
trusted.

Toshiya let out a large yawn as the elevator doors slide shut after Die
and Toshiya stepped in.

"Ne Die, I am so tired. Why did you have to keep me up last night."

Die smirked and slid his arms around Toshiya's slim waist from behind.
Slowly his hands began inching up the front of Toshiya's white button up
shirt, delighting in the small gasp he received when he brushed his
thumb over one of the younger man's nipples.

Toshiya smacked Die's arm and pulled away, a mischievous grin lighting
up his face. "Naughty Die! Not in here! Someone could see us!"

"No one is in here! And we would know when the doors were going to open,
so we could stop. But…it is a shame they don't have security cameras in
here. That would be fun-OW!"

Die laughed and ducked away as much as he could in the small elevator as
Toshiya moved in to hit him again. Toshiya got in three more teasing
slaps before the elevator.

The people who had been waiting for the elevator looked at the two
curiously, and Die just winked at them before wrapping his arm around
Toshiya's waist. Toshiya gave a happy sigh and rested his head on Die's
shoulder.

Everything was perfect in life. Toshiya had a great job that would never
get boring, and it brought in a lot of money; his boyfriend was kind,
loving, funny, annoying all at the same time, which made him great; and
life was just generally enjoyable at that point of time.

Mr. Suzuki gave a slight smile and stood up when the two entered the
room. "Ah, you finally made it!"

Die pouted. "We aren't *that* late! Only twenty minutes. Besides, it was
better than yesterday!"

Mr. Suzuki shook his head. "Why do I put up with you two?" He muttered
to himself.

"Because we are good at what we do," Toshiya said with a smug grin.

Mr. Suzuki stared at the two young men in front of him for a moment
before nodded in agreement. "Yes, that is true. But! Enough
procrastinating! As you know, you have a new patient today. He is here
because of fits of violence that are becoming more and more frequent. We
are to see what is causing them and, of course, see if we can put an end
to them. He also is also having lapses, one second he will be heading to
work, the next thing he knows two hours have passed and he is fifteen
miles from where he works by a river. One time when he 'came to' he
found himself with a bloody knife. No murders were reported, and there
were no cuts on him, so we don’t know exactly what has happened, but
both he and us are afraid that these lapses and fits of violence could
soon occur at the same time…if they haven't already…and someone could
get hurt."

Toshiya nodded as he took in the information. He had dealt with stuff
like this before, but of course every mind was different, and had to be
approached with caution and carefulness. You also couldn't reply
entirely on your experiences that you had before since every mind worked
and reacted differently from the next. And although Toshiya was one of
the best with the Cage, he only really used it on more mild cases. He
was told that it was because he hadn't yet had enough experience with
others' mind, with or without the Cage. And that was true, considering
that Toshiya had only got his Psychology degree two years ago.

Mr. Suzuki smiled and handed Toshiya a folder with the basic information
on the man and all the forms that Toshiya would have to fill out during
the course of the treatment.

Walking around his large mahogany desk, Mr. Suzuki pressed the button on
his phone that connected to his secretary's phone. "You can send Kaoru
san in now."

"Hai," came the reply over the speaker, and a second later the office
door opened and the man stepped in.

Toshiya smiled and looked up from the folder. His smile, however,
quickly disappeared and he gasped in shock. It was the purple hired man
from that morning.

*********************

The end of part one ^_^ Soooo??? What did you think??? Please tell me if
you like it, or if it totally sucked ^^;

-Alison

...to be continued...

email Alison

Back to fics page.