House of Stairs. 5 teen orphans around 16 awake to find themselves in a hostile environment, a building made up of stairs in all directions. They become part of an experiment (unknowingly) in which they are rewarded with food if they do certain tasks and punished if they don’t obey. They are gradually trained to become cruel and duplicitous. The 5 are: a popular, athletic boy; a pretty, shy girl who is a follower; a spoiled narcissistic princess; a juvenile delinquent girl; a boy who has a learning disability. Eventually the delinquent and the one with the learning disability rebel and refuse to engage, preferring to starve themselves. When the other 3 attack them, the experiment is ended. They discover they are being trained to be spies. The hostile environment is to train them to adjust to any situation and disregard human comfort. The training to be cruel is providing them with the right mindset to be spies and assassins. The two who refused are rejected but the rest go on to further training.