Once inВ the grooves, the liquids begin toВ slowly flow towards the table legs. This is aВ mesmerizing sight. The Antakarana sign is being painted with all colors ofВ the rainbow and seems toВ become filled with life. Alex pours the rest ofВ the red substance into the seventh groove and neatly adds toВ it what is left ofВ the blue bottle. While doing this the perspiration from exertion appears on his forehead.
For several seconds, the blue liquid spreads over the red one and penetrates into it, forming aВ bright purple color.
Purple – 7th chakra – Element Thought – feelings, higher consciousness, planetary mind.
After that, we quickly run away from the table and wait, holding our breath, what will happen next. Finally, all seven grooves are completely filled and bright liquids flow down the legs into the ground or a reservoir under the table – we can only guess about this. At first, nothing happens, then a faint hiss appears – a proof that the elements have entered into a reaction. A few seconds pass, and a loud clink of metal is heard. Then everything subsides. Runner is the first to dare to budge:
There is aВ hatch under the table, and it seems toВ have opened.
We are mindfully examining the mechanism. The hatch is acuratelly camouflaged with grass, or rather, the grass grows unhindered on it and, judging byВ the height and density, for aВ long time. Outside, it was fixed on aВ heavy bolt, which melted as aВ result ofВ aВ chemical reaction caused byВ the elements.
Alex and Runner open the cover toВ reveal steps leading into the ground. From there it blows terribly cold. At first, the players stand inВ indecision: no one wants toВ go down into aВ gloomy ice dungeon. Alex volunteers toВ go first. However, as soon as he touches the top step, aВ small underground room is illuminated byВ halogen light.
It immediately becomes clear where the cold is coming from: this is a huge refrigerator with walls, floor and ceiling laid out with modern materials, and furnished with separate refrigeration chambers. On one of them the title «Meat» can be seen, on the second – «Vegetables», on the third – «Groats», on the fourth – «Seafood» and so on. All dishes are packed in tubes and jars, similar to those that astronauts or military men receive in their diet. At the entrance you can see a wardrobe with shelves. There are trays, napkins, cutlery, plates, various spices and other necessary little things.
В«The organizers continue toВ surprice with their unprecedented generosity,В» Alex notes sarcastically.
«There is even a chamber with the the title «Dessert’,» Blonda sighs, «probably some kind of liquid tasteless substance with added sugar. I prefer to refuse such a dessert.»
«I bet the same substance is listed as Soups when salt is added. I don’t know about you, but I am terribly hungry after an exciting expedition through the friendly jungle,» Alex collects a few tubes and jars on a tray. We follow his example.
Suddenly my attention is drawn toВ the back ofВ the hatch. AВ small rounded stone is inserted into it, on the surface ofВ which there is an inscription, more precisely, the fraction В«1/4В».
В«What is it?В» IВ point inВ the direction ofВ my find.
We have been looking at the stone for some time, but cannot find any use forВ it.
«I have a thought,» Planck announces, «when formulating the task, Maestro said:“ You will become a little clever». Perhaps this is the first step to the final puzzle. Anyway, it’s a good idea to save the pebble for later play.»
With these words, he deftly picks out the trophy from the hatch.
Once on the surface with trays full of food (I took food for myself and for Leeloo, deciding to visit her before bed and discuss the events of the day), I check the time: 20:00. There is only one hour left to dine, shower and go to bed if I don’t want to re-experience the coordinator.
All evening we were so carried away with deciphering the keys toВ the riddle that no one raised the topic ofВ the coordinators built into the shoulders. IВ wonder if the other players have found out anything or is this just our discovery with Alex? Now IВ am experiencing only aВ wild feeling ofВ hunger and cannot wait toВ swallow these unappetizing tubes inВ one gulp. Therefore, we wish each other good night and go toВ our cells.
In my cell, I pounce on food. Expectations are confirmed – it is absolutely bland, nevertheless, never before had lasagna in the form of cold tube paste and tomato soup yellow for some reason seemed so appetizing to me.
Finally, I can calmly reflect on all the oddities happening to us in this place. But I don’t come to it, as there is a soft knock at the door. To my great joy, Leeloo’s curious face appears at the invitation to enter the doorway. We sit down on the floor opposite each other, and I briefly talk about our adventures in the jungle, while simultaneously devouring a humble supper. During all story, Leeloo has been looking at me with serious eyes, which I think are full of reproach:
В«IВ was worried about you and afraid that you would not return. Then IВ would be left all alone.В»
«Leeloo, I think you should get to know other players better. They make a good impression on me. Today we worked as one team. Alone, it’s unlikely that we would have been able to solve the riddle and enjoy these delicious dishes,» I assure her and amazed at the enthusiasm in my own voice.
IВ make aВ grimace at the word В«delicious,В» but Leeloo remains serious. She leans closer toВ me and whispers:
«I don’t trust anyone here but you. They can be good people in life. But when the stakes are so high, you never know who to expect a knife in the back from.»
«For example, Alex, BeBe and Planck seem to be quite sincere. I’m sure we could…»
«No!» Leeloo abruptly cuts me off. «We don’t know anything about them yet. It wasn’t for nothing that we were gathered at this place. I feel danger from each of them. We aren’t friends here, Lavina, and this game is not fun at all. There is something sinister behind it all.»
IВ feel uncomfortable with her words. Leeloo is not joking, as evidenced byВ her worried look and anxious forehead crease. What did the baby go through inВ this life that made her so incredulous and even hostile toВ people?
«Leeloo, hasn’t anyone tried to talk to you and get to know you better?» I wonder.
«Everyone tried on the plane. I ignored them, and even now I prefer to stay away. I don’t care what they think of me and if they think at all. As long as no one pays attention to me, I feel safe.»
Suddenly she moves closer toВ me and gently rests her head on my shoulder.
В«IВ always wanted toВ have aВ sister like you.В»
This innocent childish gesture after such frightening words touches me toВ the core.
«I’ll take care of you, Leeloo, don’t worry. Both now and after the game.»
В«IВ have no doubt,В» she gives me aВ warm smile, В«and now IВ have toВ go before the coordinator knocks me out somewhere inВ the corridor.В»
«Do you know about the coordinator?» I exclaim in amazement. Did she really have to go through the same unbearable pain that I myself experienced in the jungle today?! But how could this happen if she doesn’t communicate with anyone? What rule did Leeloo break?
She winks slyly atВ me:
В«IВ hinted toВ you that IВ am much smarter than many here.В»
В«Where are you from? What is your native language?В»
«It doesn’t matter if I can’t speak it.»
В«But how did you know about the coordinator?В» IВ still wonder.
В«Look what happens toВ us: how quickly we fall asleep and wake up, how terribly the head hurts inВ the morning and the fact that no one dares toВ speak their native language. Even you and Alex speak exclusively English toВ each other.В»
I cannot believe. It sounds that simple…
В«Do you think others already know about this?В» IВ ask.
«Maybe the athlete still has no idea. But between us, he’s not very smart.»
We laugh softly, she blows me aВ kiss and leaves the cell.
IВ quickly kick off my dirt and sweat-soiled clothes, take aВ cold shower, and check my watch.
A white overall hangs from the back of the chair. It looks like a wetsuit. It is solid and ends with lightweight boots with a thick rubber sole. Hmm. A strange choice for pajamas. However, I pull on tight clothing – not without difficulties, which turns out to be very light and quite comfortable. Even the rubber outsole weighs almost nothing.
IВ still have twelve minutes before the coordinator turns off consciousness. Okay.
IВ will spend precious time analyzing this day. But instead, all my thoughts are spinning around aВ strange girl. IВ need toВ find out her secret. What is hidden behind those sad eyes that causes inВ her such fear and distrust ofВ people?
At exactly 9:00В pm, IВ fall into aВ deep, empty sleep.
DayВ Two
The first thing I feel when I wake up in the morning is a terrible pain in all the muscles in my back and neck. So intense that an unpleasant metallic taste on the tongue fades against its background. Opening my eyes, I understand the reason for this ailment: we are lying on a stone floor, surrounded by bare rocky walls that go high up. There they end in a wide opening through which you can observe the blue cloudless sky and the scorching sun. Despite its generous warmth, it’s pretty chilly here, and I’m genuinely happy about my warm-keeping wetsuit.
All participants gradually come toВ their senses, sit down and examine their surroundings.
В«Where are we?В» Yu looks around and her already pale face becomes even whiter. The girl is struggling toВ hide aВ growing excitement. She constantly bites her lower lip, squints the eyes and nervously rubs alternately between her elbows and knees.
«This is a grotto or cave of natural origin. I’m more worried about how we got here and what to do next,» Joleo walks thoughtfully along the grotto and feels the walls.
«Those bastards touched me in my sleep! How dare they touch me?!» Blonda is shaking all over with indignation. She doesn’t speak but hisses through her teeth. I would not like to be in the place of the organizers at this moment.
«Maybe you came here on your one? We don’t remember anything at all about what happens at night. How we behave, whether we sleep or do something…» Angel’s intonation is rather interrogative. He looks timidly at Blonda. Probably, in this way the guy is trying to calm her down, which immediately enrages Runner:
В«Perhaps you know more than we?! If you know something about this damn place, it is better toВ tell here and now!В»
В«Runner, shut up,В» Blonda hisses warningly at the athlete.
Surprised by her reaction, Runner falls silent. We look dejectedly around our new place of imprisonment. Apart from the wet rocks around the perimeter and uneven stone floors, there is absolutely nothing in our grotto that resembles a hint. Except for the wall-mounted monitor, of course. This means that we have no choice but wait for the Maestro’s instructions. The air is cool and damp and smells like rotten seaweed. The silence is interrupted by BeBe:
«It seems to me that these people have some kind of influence on our actions. Yesterday I decided to ignore the cloth prepared by the organizers and go to bed… mmm… naked…»
В«Oh, spare us these details!В»
«Runner, shut up!» This time Blonda’s tone sounds more tired than threat. If Runner tries to touch the delicate strings of the soul of this beauty, then extremely inefficiently.
Ignoring their swearing, BeBe continues inВ aВ plaintive voice:
«Five minutes before bedtime, I suddenly felt this… As if thousands of ants climbed under my skin and began to run over the bones and muscles. I wanted to fall and wallow, to tear my skin to somehow relieve this maddening itch. An unbearable test! I thought I was going to lose my mind in pain. Probably, it would have happened, but somewhere through a blurred consciousness I remembered about a wetsuit and pulled it on with all my strength. After that, my torture stopped instantly,» tears appear in BeBe’s eyes. She adds in a whisper, «perhaps it has something to do with the coordinators implanted in us».
I’m really sorry for BeBe. The woman is about to burst into tears.
The players react differently to her story. Most of them have already guessed about the manipulation of our sleep. But Angel, Joleo and Martha seem genuinely surprised by this turn of events. I, in turn, look at Alex with a silent question in my eyes. Our gazes meet, and he shakes his head slightly. I understand. Telling others about our own experience of the coordinator’s disastrous function in the jungle for violating the rules of the Game will make us look bad and emphasize that we are allies. This can be interpreted as a kind of opposition in relation to the rest of the participants. Moreover, we initially concealed this important information, and could have prevented the suffering of BeBe.
«We didn’t tell them right away, we are silent until the end,» I read in the eyes of Alex. I am a little uncomfortable with such deception, but in this situation, I cannot but agree with him.
At this moment, the screen built into the wall lights up. Maestro appears on the monitor. He is still neutral friendly. Deathly silence reigns in the grotto. The sound of waves is heard in the distance. It means that we are not so far from the ocean coast, – I notice to myself.
«Greetings, Players, and congratulations on the second day in the Game of the Century! Let me express the organizers’ admiration for the excellent work yesterday! It was like a balm to our souls to observe how harmoniously and accurately you completed the first task and rightfully received your reward. – Maestro pauses and nods his head respectfully. – The bets are growing, and our trust in the Players is also increasing. The organizers have no doubt that you are ready for today’s challenge, which will require not only ingenuity, but also physical endurance. For only the strongest can become the winner and fulfill the great mission of the Corporation. The task for today is to get out of the branched system of caves in which you are now.
В«Let the light guideВ you
ToВ your cherished goal,
Leave doubts inВ the shadows
Bury them into oblivion.
Only courageous decisions
OfВ coherent minds and bodies
Make it possible toВ leave this captivity
And find aВ way out ofВ the dungeon.В»
Think carefully about each step, as your time is extremely limited: in six hours all the caves will be completely flooded by the beginning tide. Don’t waste a minute, Players. Good luck to you!
The screen goes out, and a woman’s metallic voice echoes through the caves:
В«Until the flooding ofВ the cave system remains: six hours zero minutes.В»
InВ aВ daze, as if not believing their ears, the players exchange questioning glances. We heard right, this is about saving our own lives? InВ the light ofВ the screen, two lanterns appeared, which all this time were inВ the niches ofВ the rock on either side ofВ the monitor.
«They are b-b-bluffing!» Joleo exclaims. Obviously, he starts to stutter when unable to cope with inner excitement. «If we had not completed yesterday’s task, we would still not have died of s-s-starvation: there are a lot of bananas, coconuts and living creatures on the island. The organizers cannot kill everyone, it will no longer be a game, but a c-c-crime! If we don’t get out of the grottoes and die here, how will they explain our disappearance to the public? Couldn’t all the players just disappear into thin air?»
«Yes, they don’t give a damn about the public, haven’t you figured out yet?» Yu is close to a nervous breakdown.
I feel very uncomfortable. Until this moment, I almost did not pay attention to Leeloo. She sits against the wall of the grotto and sways slightly from side to side, looking into the distance, as if piercing with her eyes a wet stone wall – where the exit to freedom is. At least her expression is calm. I will help her. Later. When I understand how…
Planck intervenes inВ the conversation. It happens so unexpectedly that IВ jump aВ little inВ my place.
«This doesn’t sound like a bluff,» he objects thoughtfully. «Look here. We are in an erosional grotto. The walls are smooth, polished with water, which seems to regularly affect them. It is impossible to say exactly at what latitude we are, therefore, it is difficult to predict the time and strength of the ebb and flow. But I assure you that there was water here. And it was quite recently.»
«Anyway, I want to get out of here as soon as possible.» Alex rises to his feet. «Where do we start, «coherent minds and bodies’? Any thoughts?»
He never gives up. It is aВ shame toВ sit next toВ such aВ person with folded arms and whine about your unhappy fate. Therefore, IВ stand on wadded feet, outwardly full ofВ determination and trembling with fear inside.
В«This system ofВ caves and grottoes is aВ communicating vessel. Accordingly, the water will go up under the pressure ofВ the tide. Thus, we are either at the beginning ofВ the entire system, or most likely somewhere inВ the middle. InВ this case, the caves below the coastline are already fully or half flooded. We need toВ go up,В» Planck says firmly.
I catch myself looking at this elderly man with admiration. I am amazed at his imperturbable calmness and ability to formulate thoughts so competently and clearly. Years of teaching at the university take their toll. And his outstanding extraordinary mindset, of course. If anyone here deserves the victory… What am I thinking about? The only thing that still matters now is to get out of this dark and foul-smelling tomb as soon as possible!
«And how do we know where this «up’ is?!» Joleo asks busily. He seems to have calmed down. Even his voice sounds different now:
В«IВ examined the walls, there are three exits: one dark tunnel and two light grottoes like ours.В»
В«IВ have an idea,В» Planck takes the flashlight and puts it inВ the middle ofВ the mainsail. At first nothing happens, then the lantern rolls aВ few centimeters toВ the right side inВ the direction ofВ two light exits.
В«ToВ our left, into aВ dark tunnel,В» Planck says.
«Sounds good,» Angel sounds worried, «but what if you’re wrong and this road leads to the rocks? Are we going to get lost and just waste our time? What if the road down takes us faster to the sea?»
В«Indeed, how can you be so sure that you are right, Planck?В» IВ ask warily.
В«Intuition plus common sense. And they rarely let me down,В» the elderly man replies calmly.
