[ WP ] Pain is discovered to be the most efficient form of energy . It is ruled illegal , but secret human pain factories have already begun . You are the owner of one of these factories .

Pain was n't the key—oh, it was a good start, of course, but it was never the key. That was trauma—physical or mental. The more extreme the trauma, the more power it generated. Of course it was ruled illegal, inhumane, and other, nastier things besides. But I had a plan to exploit that—in fact, people had had a similar plan some two thousand years prior. And the key was n't to keep the power source alive, either—fatal trauma, especially of the massive variety, served as a sort of supercharger to the pain banks. 
 
 So that was the start of my idea. Next, I needed isolation. And sand. Lots of sand. Predators, goaded and dangerous. Weapons. Armour. Somewhere, hidden in the depths of the Sahara the arena lies. I will not tell you any more about the location, for the authorities may catch this message. 
 
 The entire arena floor is a massive charge grid, and pain banks line the elliptical wall. We cater to all tastes of violence here—we started with death row inmates, and recruitment from suicide hotlines. These people either had to die, or wanted to die. It was win-win. We gave them swords and armour, and sent them at each other like gladiators of old. The sand stained red like you would not believe. 
 
 We sent in the predators after the victor—and that sheer terror always gave us a boost in power. Then… then we got creative. We let them make friends, and we chained them up while a gladiator executed those friends. I ca n't remember whose idea it was, but it was pure, unadulterated genius. Power went off the charts—so did subscriber numbers, after someone figured our security system should be hackable… just see what's there on the darknet. 
 
 We—I—got greedy. We had enough money to hire PMCs. Raids and kidnappings from third world locations. Entire families. Massacred or forced to fight to the death in order to satisfy the world's demand for energy. For power. More and more, and so we became brazen, hidden behind fronts and shell companies. We blackmailed and extorted. I got rich—richer than any man alive. 
 
 What we do never bothered me. Not until today—because today we're running the ultimate experiment. I'm caged and safe in the arena. My brother… is not. He helped me set this up, and we drew straws as to who would fight and who would watch. 
 
 I cheated.
