Four College freshmen

"Hey guys!" Jack said, looking at each of us excitedly as he walked into the living room. He was a pretty scrawny guy. He was a little on the short side with really short brown hair that was definitely still cut the way his parents had told him to cut it and scruff on his face that barely filled in. "Check out this weird game I found."

"A game?" I asked, turning around in my seat on the couch. I was more average build, a few inches above Jack, and with a little muscle from running regularly. My hair was a bit longer, and I was lucky enough that it tended to naturally fall into a decent style without much work on my part.

"Yes, Sam, a game," Jack said. "It doesn't really have anything to it. No name, nothing. Just a wooden board with some blank spaces and a big black piece of glass or something, and a couple of black dice."

"Sounds like a great game," Alex said. "Now toss it and quiet down." Alex was a huge guy, in contrast to me and Jack. He was 6'2" and covered in muscle. His red hair was buzzed so short it was just barely there. He had been a sports star in high school, according to him. Football, soccer, baseball, track, whatever he could manage to sign up for, he did. He was on track to be a star in college, too. Football, most likely, but he had options.

He was also kind of a dick.

"You wanna just toss it?" Jack asked. "That'd be a waste."

"Yeah," Luke said. He was almost as tall as Alex, but without any of the muscle. Gangly was a good descriptor for him. He had never gotten into any kind of sports, and mostly stayed skinny from a good metabolism than anything else. He was also very relaxed, in stark contrast to Alex. He kept his blonde hair a bit longer, about halfway down his neck, and wore a goatee. "It could be worth some cash. Tossing it would be a shame."

"I was thinking we could play it," Jack said, opening the wooden board. True to his word, it was just a plain board. No writing, other than start on a large blue spot and end on a large red spot. A flat, shiny stone or piece of glass sat in the center.

"There are no instructions," I said. "How the hell would we play? We don't even know what the goal is."

"I dunno..." Jack said. "I just thought it might be neat. Maybe there's something to it, or..."

"No, you didn't think," Alex said. "It's just some piece of junk that the old owners of this place left behind. It wouldn't be the only thing they left."

That had been true. Granted, most of what had been left had been furniture, but there was a precedent.

Jack put the game down on the table in front of us, and looked down at the floor. "I... it was just a thought," he said, his hand still on the board.

Alex leaned forward and took hold of the edge of the board, pulling it. Jack held on, his face shifting to fear.

Both Luke and I leaned forward as well, reaching for the board to try and prevent the situation from escalating. Alex had an angry streak, and I didn't want him tossing the board and damaging something. As we all gripped the board, I saw words appear in the black glass at the center.

"4 players entered?" I asked, pointing with my free hand to the glass.

"What the hell?" Luke asked, pulling his hand back as he looked at it.

"Is it electronic?" I asked.

"There's no place for batteries," Jack said.

"What the fuck is this?" Alex asked, looking at the board. He let go of it as the words started to shift.

"Choose game type, free for all or teams," Jack said.

"How the fuck is this happening?" I asked.

"Fuck this," Alex said, standing up. "I'm going to the gym, and that fucking shit had better be gone when I get back," he said as he crossed the room. He was about to say something as he reached for the doorknob, then stopped. He tugged on the knob a few times, then stopped. "What the fuck is this? The door won't open."

"Stop fucking around," Luke said.

"I'm fucking not!" Alex yelled.

"Players have failed to choose. The decision has been made for you," Jack said. I looked down and saw that the words had shifted, and were changing again.