Infinity: A Jenlisa AU

Chapter 24

It's a classic setup, pure game theory.

A terrifying spin on the Prisoner's Dilemma that asks, Is it possible to out-think yourself?

Jennie's not safe.

Lisa isn't safe.

But what can she do?

If every possible move she think of is doomed to be anticipated or made before she even get a chance, where does that leave Jennie?

Jennie feels like crawling out of her skin.

The worst days in the box—volcanic ash raining down on her face, almost freezing to death, seeing Lisa in a world where she had never said her name—none of it compares to the storm that's roiling inside of Jennie in this moment.

She have never felt farther from home.

The phone rings, snapping her back into the present.

Jennie walks over to the table, lift the receiver on the third ring.

"Hello?"

No response, only soft breathing.

Jennie hangs up the phone.

Move to the window.

Part the curtains.

Four floors below, the street is empty, the snow still pouring down.

The phone rings again, but only once this time.

Weird.

As Jennie eases back down onto the bed, the phone call keeps needling her.

What if another version of me is trying to confirm that I'm in my room?

First, how the hell would she find me at this hotel?

The answer comes fast, and it's terrifying.

At this very moment, there must be numerous versions of Jennie in Seoul doing exactly what she's doing—calling every motel and hotel in her neighborhood to find other Jennies. It isn't luck that she found Jennie. It's a statistical probability. Even a handful of Jennies, making a dozen phone calls each, could cover all the hotels within a few miles of her house.

But would the clerk give out my room number?

Maybe not intentionally, but it's possible the man downstairs watching variety shows and stuffing his face with Shin Ramyun could be duped.

How would a Jennie dupe him?

If it were anyone other than Jennie looking for her, the name she checked in under would probably keep her undetected. But all these other versions know Lisa's other name. Jennie screwed that up. If using that name was her first impulse, it would have also been another Jennie's first impulse. So assuming  she knew the name Jennie might have checked in under, what would she do next?

The front desk wouldn't just give out Jennie's room number.

The other Jennie would have to pretend to know that she was staying here.

Jennie would call the hotel and ask to be connected to Pranpriya Manoban's room.

When the other Jennie heard her voice pick up on the other end of the line, she would know Jennie was here and hang up right away.

Then she would call back thirty seconds later and say to the clerk, "Sorry to bother you again, but I just called a second ago and was accidentally disconnected. Could you please reconnect me to...Oh shit, what room number was that?"