Marin was unusually quiet since the bracelets had been put on. She didn’t say a word to me or anyone else since Levi left the stage. She must be taking this pretty hard. Seeing Carmen get assaulted and having these deadly bracelets put on our wrists is definitely enough to make someone less talkative. I’m silently freaking out myself. Every time I started to feel scared since I’ve been here though, she’s always brought me back to solid ground. Maybe I should try to return the favor.
“Hey, Marin,” I said, scooting over next to her as we walked. “You doing okay?”
“O-oh, yeah. This is just a lot, and I’m trying to process it all,” she said. “This is such a nightmare…”
“Yeah, I know…” I said. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to overcome this though. No one’s died yet.”
“Yeah…” Marin said, looking away from me.
“Just let me know if I can help with anything,” I said. She nodded.
She seemed like she wanted to be left alone, so I decided to just let her be for now.
We arrived at the cafeteria and all took our seats. At the table was Keon, Carmen, Mia, Emma, Amber, Marin, Conrad, and myself. It sucks how there are sixteen of us total yet when discussing important things, we are only able to gather half of that. After we had arrived, Carmen went and grabbed some tissues from the cafeteria counter and put them in her nose to stop the bleeding.
“Looks like Alex isn’t in the kitchen,” she said once she returned. “We shouldn’t need to be extra quiet then.”
“Good,” Keon said. “How is your nose, Carmen?”
“I can’t tell if it’s broken or not,” she said. “That bitch hits hard. If only there was an ultimate doctor or nurse here. You’ve all got useless talents.”
“I don’t see anyone speaking Chinese that we need a translator for,” Conrad said.
“My time will come where my talents will be invaluable, I promise you that,” Carmen responded.
“Here,” Keon said, getting his face close to Carmen’s. “Let me see it.”
“H-hey! You can’t just come on to me like that!” Carmen yelled, her face was red.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Keon responded. “I’m checking to see if it’s broken.” Carmen nodded, and Keon lightly touched her nose examining the bridge. “Good news. It’s not broken,” he said. “Once it stops bleeding, you should be fine.”
“Wonderful! Then you can get out of my face!” Carmen said.
She looked flustered for the first time since she’s been here. Keon sat back down in his seat.
“Alright, now let’s discuss the situation and our next move,” he said.
“We can’t let Levi get what he wants,” Amber said.
“Agreed,” Keon said. “That’s why we need to create a third option.”
“What do you mean by that?” Conrad asked.
“Levi gave us the options of having someone die by one of our hands, or by the bracelets that are now on our wrists. We need to create a third option where none of those two things can take place,” Keon said.
“And how would you propose we accomplish this?” Emma asked.
“It’s actually very simple, maybe too simple,” he said. “We need to scour the area looking for a way to somehow get onto the next floor.”
“What good would that do us?” Conrad asked.
“If we learn how to get onto the next floor, and then we see if we can use that strategy to get to the top floor, then we can plan our escape,” Keon said.
“That would only work if all the staircases to the next floors were the same, and if we could perfectly replicate it five times,” Emma said.
“That’s just going to have to be a risk that we take. We don’t have any other options,” Keon said. “We’re stuck underground, and they’ll only let us go up a floor if someone dies, so the only thing we can do is get up there on our own somehow.”
“How would we not be seen?” Amber asked.
“We’d have to go up all the floors at once,” Keon said. “There’s no way to go up just one floor because they would just catch us. We have to inspect the type of lock they have on the door to the staircase and find a way to open it without actually doing it until we’re ready to climb all the way to the top and escape.”
“We’d need the code for the elevator too then, right?” Amber asked.
“Yes,” Keon responded. “We’d have to incapacitate Levi and get the key as well as his weapon, so we can defend ourselves on our way out.”
“It’s a solid plan in theory, but it requires everything to work out perfectly to even have a chance of success,” Emma said. “There are so many things that we wouldn’t be able to accurately prepare for, and I find it hard to believe that it would go off without a setback of some kind.”
“You’re right,” Keon said. “It’s risky and the chances of it working will be slim, but I think it’s the best plan we’ve got right now.”
“Is this really something we can accomplish before the 24-hour deadline?” Carmen asked.
“We have no choice,” Keon said. “The first thing we need to do is split up and look around the floor for useful items and information that can help us get to the top. We’ll need someone to examine the staircase door looking for weaknesses, I think Conrad should go with his knowledge of buildings and their structure.”
“Understood,” Conrad said, putting his fist to his chest. “Leave it to me.”
“We’ll need someone to go with him as well. Amber, how about you join him?” Keon said.
“You got it,” Amber said.
“We’ll be in groups of two since there are eight of us here,” Keon said. “Another group will go and find Jane and try to get some valuable information, while the other two groups look for useful items around the floor.”
“I’ll go talk to Jane,” Marin said, her voice still a bit flat. “I think she trusts me.”
“That works,” Keon said. “I’ll join you. I’d like to see for myself how cooperative she is going to be.”
“Sure,” she said.
“Wow, you’re gonna separate Mr. Lucky and Marin? They’re always together since we’ve been here,” Carmen joked. Marin didn’t react.
“We can’t have any distractions,” Keon said. “This needs to be perfect. I also need to gauge how beneficial this partnership is going to be. Okay, the last two groups will be Mia and Carmen, and Ryder and Emma. Does that work for everyone?” Everyone nodded. “Okay, then let’s not waste any more time.”
The groups of Marin and Keon, and Conrad and Amber split up and went their separate ways while the rest of us stayed behind to discuss strategy. Marin didn’t shoot me a single glance during the movement. It makes me feel like I did something wrong, but it’s probably selfish to believe that I did something rather than it just being the situation bumming her out. I need to stop acting like I’m the most important person in the world and let her be for now. I can’t help but silently take this personally though with all the kind words she had given me about our partnership since we’ve been here. That’s a problem with me though, not her.
“Okay, so let’s take a look at the floor and allocate our search parties to not waste any time searching the same places twice,” Emma said.
“I agree,” Carmen said. “We should split it up down the middle the best we can.”
“According to the map on our student handbooks, rooms of note on the first floor are the cafeteria/kitchen, public restroom, library, gym, our dorms, and the housekeeping quarters,” Emma said.
“It’s strange that there doesn’t seem to be any places for Levi and Andrea to be staying listed on the map,” Carmen said. “I wonder why that is.”
“Most likely it’s because those rooms are hidden on this floor, or they have a way to easily move from floor to floor at will…” Mia said in her usual quiet voice.
“I suspect the same,” Emma said. “Option two would be most beneficial to us, but it’s going to be difficult to find which one is actually the right one without seeing them exit the staircase or finding a hidden room of some sort.”
Being surrounded by three very intelligent people is a lot for me to handle. I always have problems with thinking I’m lesser than those I see as more intelligent than myself, so it is going to be very difficult to get a word in without feeling like I’m making a fool of myself. The human mind is so cruel. Even in a life-or-death situation, I cannot add my input.
“That does give us the option of forcing them to reveal which one it is for ourselves though,” Emma said. “We’d just need to be near the staircase when we bait out Andrea by breaking one of the rules in our handbook”
“That could work,” Carmen said. “We should probably hold off until the group gets back together though. Also, if we break a rule, then someone would have to pay the price presumably, so we’d need a volunteer, which will be difficult.”
“We could trick someone into it…” Mia said.
“We can’t betray someone. At least not this early,” Carmen said.
“We shouldn’t betray someone at all!” Emma said passionately.
“If it comes to the point where someone needs to sacrifice something to get the majority of us out, I think we’ll have to do it,” Carmen said. “We’d be stupid not to.”
“Don’t talk like that!” Emma said. “What if Keon heard what you were saying?”
“I’d hope he’d make the right decision in the end,” Carmen said. “Let’s stop wasting time and divide up the effort. Mia and I will take the gym and the public restrooms, and the hallways connected to them, while you two look through the library and cafeteria as well as the hallways connecting them. We already looked through the dorms, and we’ll have to trust Keon and Marin to tell us anything of note about the housekeeping quarters while they talk to Jane in there. Now, let’s go.”
Mia and Carmen left us in the cafeteria and went to start their search. It was strange to hear that Mia and Carmen were so open to the idea of sacrificing one of us to help get the majority out. I can’t tell whether or not I agree with them or not. I’d love a future where we all get out unscathed, but the longer this goes on the more I think that’s a fleeting dream unattainable without the luck of million heads-up pennies working in unison. Emma sighed and motioned to me to follow her to the kitchen in the back of the cafeteria. I followed her.
“So, this is where you and Marin were fooling around in?” Emma asked. “You guys are lucky that Conrad was there, or you would have never been allowed back here. He’s such a softie regardless of his musclehead looks.”
“Y-yeah…” I said. I wasn’t sure how to respond. I am terrible at thinking on my feet.
“Let’s start the search, and let’s be thorough,” she said.
We started looking through the various cabinets, drawers, the fridge, the freezer, and all the other nooks and crannies. There wasn’t much of note. Just your average baking items like flour, food coloring, olive oil, seasonings, vinegar, spoons, etc. Just things you’d expect in a proper kitchen. Emma was looking through the fridge and she pulled out a tray of brownies.
“Jeez. You two kept the evidence of our criminal activity out in the open like this?” Emma said. “I’m complicit in your crimes of being in the kitchen later than you’re supposed to be, and you leave the motive for my crimes in such an easily accessible place?”
“My bad,” I said. “We weren’t sure what to do with it since the nightly headcount was about to happen.”
“I guess that’s understandable,” Emma said. “Next time we’ll just have to eat all the evidence. If we weren’t so low on time, then maybe we could’ve. Marin is some cook, huh?”
“Yeah, she is,” I said.
“She’s also very cheery even in a situation like this,” Emma said. “You’ve spent a lot of time with her, so what do you think about her?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “She’s been great at keeping me calm and is always trying to keep a smile on, but since we’ve had these bracelets on, she’s been a bit more distant.”
“I’ve noticed that too,” Emma said. “It’s hard to keep a smile on all the time especially when stress levels rise dramatically in a small amount of time. Once someone goes through a stressful situation, you start to learn much more about the real person inside. Maybe she’s not actually a super positive person and is just putting up a facade.”
“I couldn’t say. I think it would be hard for even Santa Claus to keep a smile on in this place.”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Yeah, maybe I’m just reading too much into things. It’s just hard for me to not analyze everything I see in people, especially when telling the truth and knowing someone’s intentions has never been more important.”
“Through your analyzing, have you seen anything of note?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. Plenty,” Emma responded. “Everyone likes to put on a mask, but here in a life and death scenario, it’s much easier to see some cracks in people’s fake personalities.”
“Is there anyone you think we should watch out for?” I asked.
“You mean to ask if I think anyone would go so far as to kill someone to get out of here?” she asked. I nodded.
“I think everyone has the capabilities to do it in the right situation. You heard what Mia and Carmen were saying right? This is definitely becoming a more hostile situation by the second, especially with these bracelets. Currently, everyone thinks that they are either going to get killed by the bracelet or by someone trying to escape that same fate. Even if the percentage chance of each bracelet going off is one out of sixteen or roughly a little over six percent, everyone sees that small chance and thinks their death is inevitable and that they will be unlucky enough to succumb to the game of probability. If you want to know who I think would actually go through with a murder, I think it could be anyone truly.”
“Even yourself?” I asked.
“Would you believe me if I said no?” she responded. I was silent. “Thought so. Trying to point out the most dangerous people is a good way to not see something else coming, so that’s why I just keep silent tabs on everyone. Facts and logic trump all at the end of the day, so information gathering is crucial. That’s just my point of view though. I’ve always been an analytical person.”
Emma made a lot of great points, and I caught myself back in the familiar internal struggle of whether or not I could bring myself to kill someone. As of now, I don’t think I could, and never in my life have I thought about hurting anyone. I’ve always been a pacifist and whenever I got bullied in high school, I always just used to take it without ever defending myself. This situation is definitely much different though. I guess the hope of Keon’s plan working is what is keeping me from flipping that violent switch in my head. I’m no saint after all.
We finished searching through the cafeteria and didn’t find anything of note other than the various potential weapons we already assumed existed. Nothing looked like it was missing from the time Marin and I were in here last night, so we decided to move on to the library. While walking down the hallway Emma was pressing on various parts on the wall.
“Why are you doing that?” I asked.
“Just looking for some secret doors or passages,” she said. “I imagine if there are any secret rooms on this floor, they are most likely not in the hallways though. These walls are too solid to properly hide an entire secret door. Any sort of gaps would be very obvious. Still doesn't hurt to look though.”
We quickly arrived at the door to the library. It was a pretty short walk away from the cafeteria which was right next door. There was no door connecting the two though. Once we walked in the door, we saw several large bookshelves filled to the brim with books of all shapes and sizes. There was no desk where you might see a librarian sit to check out your books. There was one hallway that went straight to the back of the room with the other adjacent paths branching in between the various bookshelves. Overall, it looked like a normal library, but the feeling in the room was claustrophobic and slightly oppressive with the towering bookshelves and the small amount of total floor space that could be used for walking. It felt like if one bookshelf fell, a domino effect would bring an end to us. As we walked down the main path, I peeked into the aisles and saw that the books were organized by subject.
“Wow! Look at all this!” Emma said, excitedly. “This will definitely keep me from being bored. I was worried about the severe lack of entertainment here. Do you read much, Ryder?”
“A little,” I said. “I never know what to read though.”
“I see. I love to read, myself. I’d gladly give you some recommendations depending on what we have in stock here.”
“Thank you. I guess having these books is definitely something that can help keep everyone from going stir crazy cooped up in this place.”
“Yes, I think this is a win for us. Hopefully, we can turn everyone into some avid readers. There are definitely enough books to last us a while.”
As we continued walking towards the back wall, I started to notice a pattern which it seemed Emma was picking up on too.
“These subjects…” I said.
“You noticed it too? Yes, I believe these are all separated depending on our individual talents,” Emma said. “Guess we can find out Cyrus’s talent after all. We just have to attach each subject to someone and narrow it down.”
“He’s not gonna like that…”
“True but distancing himself from the rest of us is not going to lead to anything good. Also, he’s a hard person to get a read on so this might help us get to know him better,” she said. “Not like I really want to get to know him better, but in this situation, we need all the information we can gather.”
Emma and I went through each section of the library with most being about what we expected to see based on the people we were trapped here with. We found a shelf full of blueprints, contracting guides, architecture history books and similar texts that were clearly there for Conrad. We saw guides on the world’s languages and various translation dictionaries that were for Carmen. There was a section about caring for trees, the history of arboriculture, and related books about flora around the world for Amber. There was a section full of various math history and computation books relating to everything from basic algebra to expert level calculus.
“That must be my section,” Emma said. “There’s definitely a good variety here. I’m sure these will help me study while I’m here, but I just hope they have some scratch paper or a whiteboard somewhere for me to use.”
We saw sections related to game programming seemingly for Mia, and the next bookshelf had guides on story writing, music and digital art most likely for her sister Maya.
“I wonder if we’ll get them to make up,” I said.
“The bond between sisters is very strong, especially twin sisters. Y’know, I actually have a twin myself, but he’s a boy,” Emma said.
“Oh, I didn’t know,” I said.
“We’re very close. His name is Evan,” she said. “He’s a very talented mathematician as well, but not nearly as good as me!” She gave a rare sign of emotion with a genuine smile that quickly changed to an expression of sadness.
“You okay?” I asked.
“It’s just hard to imagine how much my brother will be worrying if I don’t contact him soon…”
“We just have to work hard to get out of here. We all have people waiting for us out there, so we can’t lose hope.” I felt awkward after my little pep talk, but Emma’s expression seemed to lighten a bit.
“You’re right. I can’t be feeling sorry for myself. That’s unlike me,” she said, bringing back her usual straight-faced expression. I gave her a smile and we went back to checking the sections.
The next section had a seemingly endless supply of cookbooks as well as some food related history books (Marin). The one after that was full of books related to baseball and softball hitting mechanics, guides to softball pitch grips, MLB history books, and college softball player spotlights (Sabrina).
“So, what do you think of Sabrina?” I asked.
“She’s a hard person to get a read on,” she responded. “The only thing I know for sure is that she never stops looking in your general direction when we’re all grouped up.”
“I’ve noticed that too,” I said. “It makes me nervous, like I did something wrong.”
“Have you ever talked to her?” Emma asked.
“Not since the introductions when we first got here. She seemed almost as nervous as me, which is quite the accomplishment.”
“Yeah, that was a little hard to watch,” she said. “My hypothesis is that she either took a liking to you, thinks you’re really ugly, or wants to target you. It is truly hard to say though.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about any of those options…”
“Just make sure to watch your back,” Emma said. “Maybe you could also just go up to her and ask her what her deal is.”
“Maybe…I’m no good at striking up conversation though, so it’s probably not gonna go well.”
“I’m sure there will be an opportunity sometime. I’d say the easiest thing to do would be to ask her roommate, but they hardly exchange any words, and with it being Cyrus, I doubt he’d be easy to get information out of.”
“Yeah, asking him is probably a no-go.”
“From bad to worse, huh?” Emma said.
“Seems to be the theme here.” We went back to checking sections.
The next section was related to persuasion techniques, business etiquette, and housed many negotiation textbooks (Keon). The one after that was filled with books on lockpicking, criminal law, forensics, the history of greatest criminals (seems like an oxymoron), and how-to books on making clean getaways (Robbie).
“Crime is not something really worth nurturing,” Emma said.
“I agree.”
“I’d be lying if I said I don’t think his skills won’t come in handy while we’re here though,” she said. “I still want to steer clear of the guy though…for more reasons than one.”
“That guy needs a shower bad,” I said. “Makes me think his last escape was reminiscent of the Shawshank Redemption.”
“I surely hope not…” Emma said with a nauseous look on her face.
The next bookshelf was full of books on game show quizzes, fun facts, and large amounts of various encyclopedias on many different subjects most likely for Atticus. The one after that was full of books on electricity throughout history, guides on commercial and home wiring, and many guides on the set up and use of various electronic fixtures of all shapes and sizes. This section was certainly for Louis. The next section had many different exercise guides with books on proper nutrition and a few romance guides which caught my eye.
“I really don’t think romance is one of Miles’ talents,” Emma said. “He’s been hitting on virtually everyone since we got into this place, well, at least until the groups split up.”
“Yeah, he seems a little down in the dumps lately,” I said.
“I don’t think he’s a bad guy, but even with his good looks, he doesn’t seem to have much confidence in himself,” Emma said.
“I just hope we can get him to join us soon.”
“I’m sure he’ll come around eventually,” Emma said. “Especially since a good number of the most attractive people here are working with us. That man seems to always follow his barbarian instincts in the end.”
“A Genghis Khan in the making.”
“Just a poser, I hope,” Emma said. “Genghis Khan often didn’t find mates willingly. If that’s what he strives to be, then the first murder will happen before we know it.”
Emma definitely didn’t seem to appreciate my Genghis Khan comparative. I always forget that guy was basically the most notorious rapist in history. I have no filter when it comes to jokes which isn’t good considering how hard it is for me to explain myself when I say something.
We were finally to the final two bookcases, and it seems that the only two people who we weren’t able to match to a section were me and Cyrus. I have no idea what my own bookcase will have, especially since I’m just a normal college student without a lot of extensive knowledge on subjects other than baseball and video games and I was definitely not brought here for either of those. The first of the two bookcases was filled with various beginner college-level textbooks. There were textbooks on math, history, English, art, business, it seemed like there was a little bit of everything.
“How disappointing,” Emma said. “I was hoping you were lying about being the lucky student.”
“Why’s that?”
“It would have just been more interesting that way. I was hoping there would be a hidden talent you had in there somewhere that could help us,” she said.
“Sorry to disappoint,” I said. “Just got lucky with a drawing. That's it.”
“Luck is a preposterous idea,” Emma said. “This so-called ‘luck’ revolves around nothing more than outside variables that are easily calculable.”
“You think so?”
“I know so. Luck is merely when preparation meets opportunity. This concept is made through intentional choices and behaviors; it's never something that happens out of nowhere.”
“Even if we do make choices to get us there though, isn’t there a bit of luck that comes to make that preparation worth it?”
“That’s the argument,” Emma said. “Luck is something that was made artificially in order to give people who are less off hope or make them resent the world. The lottery is created as a means of sucking funds from those who are worse off financially by promising them a virtually non-existent chance at gaining a large sum of money. This false hope is what helps the idea of luck and makes people believe in it. When bad things happen to people, they often blame their luck rather than the outside sources contributing to it. The things that happen to them are always caused by something, but rather than thinking about it critically, many just brush it off as bad luck and start to believe that they themselves are ‘unlucky’ which can bring dangerous mindsets to the forefront and in turn makes people lose all hope and hate the world. Luck is a social construct that is created to keep people down.”
“I didn’t know you felt so strongly about luck. I definitely see what you’re saying though.”
“Luck is the bane of mathematicians everywhere,” Emma said. “Everything can be calculated, and luck is something that many believe can’t be, that’s why I feel so strongly.”
“I’ll make sure not to bring it up again…”
“You don’t have to go that far, just be prepared for my thoughts on the matter,” Emma said. “I love a good debate.”
“I’m really bad at debating,” I said. “I’ll leave that to Carmen and Keon.”
“Moving on, I think we can assume that this is your section, so let’s see what Cyrus is good at, if anything.”
We walked to the last bookcase and saw that the section name was scratched out and was unreadable.
“I wonder if Cyrus did this,” I said.
“Most likely,” Emma said. “He can’t get rid of all of these books though, so let’s see what we have.”
Looking through the bookshelf it was an identical version of the last bookshelf with the only difference being that the subjects were senior-level rather than the last section which was full of beginner freshman-level college textbooks.
“Things are certainly more interesting now,” Emma said. “Without the section name it’s very difficult to tell what these books allude to when it comes to Cyrus’s talent. You’d think with these books; he’d just be a superior version of you.”
“Harsh,” I said. “At least I’m a team player.”
“I definitely like you a lot more than him,” Emma said, giving me a slight smile.
“Why thank you,” I said. “So, what do you think this tells us?”
“It’s really hard to say, but we can at least tell that Cyrus’ talent doesn't revolve around any one subject, which is valuable in itself. It could have easily been about how to create distrust, silently assassinate people, or how to be a mastermind in a killing game.”
“Yeah, I suppose it could’ve been worse.”
“Definitely,” Emma said. She then walked away from the bookshelf to the back of the room where I followed.
“Look at this,” she said. “This wall is just one large bookshelf going from wall to wall.”
“And it’s full of random fiction books it seems,” I said.
“Yes…Catcher in the Rye, Moby Dick, The Trial, Misery…this is definitely the fiction section. This is where the real entertainment is.”
“Seems so,” I said. “That’s good because I know I wouldn’t be very entertained looking through Conrad’s blueprints or your trigonometry books.”
“Trigonometry is very entertaining!” Emma said passionately. “That aside, yes, it seems that we’ve got a little bit of everything here.”
Emma was then looking at the bookshelf closely, touching and pulling on various books.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“This seems like the perfect place for a secret door, don’t you think?” Emma asked while looking back at me with a mischievous smile.
“I think you’ve been watching a bit too much tv,” I said. “I’ll help you look though. I’ll start on the left side.”
We started pulling on books in a uniform order from each side hoping to find some sort of Men in Black-esque hidden bookshelf room. I hope it’s full of similar weapons, then we could easily usurp Levi. That’s just wishful thinking on my part though. After about what felt like an eternity of pulling books, I heard a click from the book I pulled which felt like a lever of some sort.
“Great Scott!” I heard Emma yell from my right side. “You’ve done it! This just got really exciting.”
Emma seemed more excited now than I’ve ever seen her. She always appeared aloof, but since we’ve started searching, I’ve seen her break that mold multiple times. Maybe she’s wearing a mask too.
After fully pulling down the book, the section to the right of it started rumbling. It then started to push itself out of the wall and then slowly swung upwards. Emma had to take a few steps back to not get taken airborne. After the bookshelf was locked into place, there was a staircase lit by small lamps on the wall.
“Damn, I was hoping this would lead us to the above floor, but it leads down it seems,” Emma said.
“Hopefully, there’s something useful down there,” I said. “Should we grab the others before we head down?”
“No. Everyone else is doing their part, so let’s do ours.”
I couldn’t help but feel nervous about what might be down there, but I steeled myself and followed Emma as she took the lead and went down the staircase.