Discovering this world (2): Unspoken Friendship

61 2 2
                                    

Soon, the hours went by. Luc​as left the mall after making sure Peter was alright, while Teineji cooked something for the both of them. Peter was sitting on the bed, heavily breathing.

"The visa days you mentioned." Peter told Teinejī. "Visa usually is related to the time we have left to spend in a country. If you stay in a country without a visa, you are considered a criminal, and therefore don't respect the laws of this country. This might mean death for us. The number 5 on the card seems related to the number of visa days we got. It seems that, the more we play, the more we can stay in this world."
- "So... You just... Guessed that? That's quite impressive. I think the others will be there as well, so I will join them. However, I strictly forbid you to play. I absolutely won't allow you to risk your life, especially with how you are right now."
- "I have a feeling, Teinejī. If the game number is high, be careful, ok?"

Teinejī nodded, before leaving to get to the next venue. It was an office building, fully lit up. There, he met familiar faces. There Lucas and Charlie were both there, ready to play. Beans then arrived, with another person. Their name was apparently Pier, a French man, and he had met Beans in the borderlands a few minutes ago. As Charlie started spinning on the office chairs, a TV lit up, announcing the start of the game. An ace of clubs appeared on the screen as the voice started to talk:

"Difficulty: Ace of clubs. Game: Telepathy"
"How the heck are we supposed to be telepaths?" Pier shouted, anxious.  "The rules are simple. You will all be given a card with a random number from 1 to 100. To win, you must each place your card facing up in the center one after the other, from lowest to highest. Any form of communication is forbidden. Please stop communicating right now, and each get your card. If anyone places their card in the wrong order, or if someone still alive hasn't revealed their card by the end of the 5 minutes timer, it's GAME OVER for everyone."

The voice spoke in a cold, almost peaceful voice. Teinejī stayed quiet, afraid of what might be happening if he decided to break the rules. He suddenly read his name on one of the walls, and a card was attached next to it. He secretly looked at it, reading the number "97". It was a good sign, as he knew he should be the last one to place their card. But would everyone manage to think this through? Everyone had gotten their cards, as he saw Pier raising his card in the air, and, as the timer indicated 36 seconds on the clock, he placed a card with a "12" on it. 1 down, only 4 to go.

Everyone kept looking at each other, as the timer continued to tick. One mistake, and it would be over for everyone. No one placed any card until 2 minutes and 33 seconds had passed, and it was Charlie, placing a 51. Teinejī hold his breath. There was a difference of 39 between those 2 cards. How could he place a 55 right after a 10? He closed his eyes, but nothing happened. Charlie got it right, but how? 2 down, 3 to go.
More than half of the time had passed, and there were still 3 cards requiring to be placed. Time continued ticking.  Soon, 4 minutes had passed. There were only 60 seconds left. Suddenly, Beans stood up, and opened his mouth:

"I have the 86. My number is the number 86! Good luck everyone, I couldn't bring myself to risk everyone's life, it was nice to know you all, my frie-"

He was stopped in his speech. A gun had gotten out of the wall, right behind him. Of course, everyone except him had seen it, but communication was not allowed after all. This time, unlike Peter, the bullet was fatal. Lucas, shaking, placed his card on the table, with only 15 seconds left on the timer. It was an 84. After that, Teinejī placed the 97 on the table, with only 12 seconds to spare.

"Congratulations! To all surviving players, it is GAME CLEAR! Communication is allowed again." The voice announced.
"No! Beans!" Lucas screamed, getting next to his corpse. Unfortunately, it was no use. The bullet went right through his skull. "Charlie! Can't you reanimate him as well?"
- "I have limits, Lucas." Charlie said. "But it's only because of Pier and him that we're still alive."
- "What did Pier even do?" Teinejī asked
- "Wait. You didn't even figure out the 3 seconds strategy? We had a 5-minute timer, that is equal to 300 seconds, or 3 times 100. Therefore, you multiply your number by 3, and you know after how many seconds you need to place your card. That's what Charlie understood. Ça me paraît clair." Pier told everyone.
"That... Did you really do something like that? That's clever!" Teinejī told Pier.
"And because none of you understood that; Beans had to kill himself to allow us to survive." Charlie said. "His life could have been spared if only you had been cleverer."
"Are you... Are you that heartless, Charlie? How? How are you even blaming his death on us? How are you not sorry for him?" Lucas shouted at Charlie.

Without answering, Charlie grabbed an ace of clubs card, and one more day of visa, before walking off. Peter seemed to be right about the visa. Teinejī was trying not to try, as he returned to the mall to bring the bad news to Peter. This was a very sad night, and as Teinejī looked at the Ace of clubs card in his hand, he cursed everyone that created the game, that was responsible for this world, for his friend's death, for Peter being crippled, for everything bad that was happening. His tries were useless, and he went to sleep in sadness and grief.

Alice in Borderland: New YorkWhere stories live. Discover now