The Adaptive Game

"BLIND EYE"

- Conner

The dial is turned, and the electricity is spiked as it runs right through the flesh and bones of Emilia.

It had better not kill her. She won't die from this.

Should I hold her hand?

I takes me a moment to realize how stupid that would be.

Goddammit Conner, she's being shocked! Do I want to pick up that current too? NO!

Emilia is still and calm at first, but when the electric current gets more intense she starts to convulse, almost out of her chair.

She didn't choose to do that to me, so I should be grateful.

Emilia's hair starts standing up in strands. It keeps getting worse and worse. But, the electricity dies down and runs out.

"Player 420, pass. Now, Player 690, Truth or Dare?"

This is the round winning dare.

"Dare."

"Cut your eye out. It can be either."

Sorry, what?

"I don't understand, sir."

The guard places a sharp razor blade on the table and gestures to open my left eye. Then he puts the blade in my hand.

I have to do this.

I have to.

"Do I just..."

"You need to terminate the pupil and all of the white on the front."

I don't get any of that. But I think he wants me to cut out every bit of the front facing part.

So I bring it really close to my eye and start to cut.

It's so much harder than it might seem. Eyes are really sensitive.

"Let me help you."

Emilia takes both her hands and keeps me grounded to the chair. I begin pressing the blade deeper into the eyeball. I flinch a few times, however I'm definitely not going deep enough.

"Push it in! Ignore the pain!" Emilia actually hits my hand and it hurts a ton. I can't feel any blood dripping but I can't seem to feel any sort of vision in my left eye.

Well, no shit.

Soon after, everyone is cheering on.

"COME ON, CONNER! YOU CAN DO IT!"

It hurts a lot more than that screwdriver in my leg, that's for sure. When I'm done I throw the razor blade on the ground and close my right eye.

Wait. Did I seriously just.

Cut out my dominant eye by accident?

The frustration right now just spiked from 50 to 100.

I put my head on the table and bang it with my fist.

How do I even get them confused?! I could have chosen my non-dominant one!

"Players. the game is over. Go back to the living quarters."

It goes without saying. I just wanna go back to bed and cry my other eye out.

And bandage it, of course.

The stairs are boring now. It doesn't feel like anything now. This whole place is hell.

I really want to leave. I can't go onto the next one.

Or I die.

I have to go home to what I love.

I WILL be going home to something better than this. But my best friend Buck is dead. My debt collector is dead.

What AM I going back to?

I really don't know now.

As soon as we get back to the living quarters, I go to my bed and lie down.

Strangely, Emilia tends to me first.

"Conner. Hey."

"What."

"I don't know how to fix your eye."

"Go get David."

"I already asked him to help. He won't come."

"Why?"

"I don't know!"

It is odd that the only doctor in this room refuses to even provide his knowledge.

"Okay, tie a little eyepatch and put something in front of my eye. It's gonna be covered from germs and stuff at least."

"What else do you need?"

"I don't know. There's no water around here. Just dress my eye and that's enough."

"Okay, I'll be fast."

She rips up some of her own shirt, and some of her bedsheets to make an eyepatch for me.

"Thank you..."

She throws it over my head and even tries to secure it a little bit.

"Is that okay?"

"Yeah, now I just want to eat something."

"Woah, what?"

"Sorry. I'm waiting for dinner, don't take it the wrong way."

"Ah. Ahahaha."

"It's alright, Emilia. You can do your own thing. I need some time to think on my own."

"Alright, just yell out if you need anything."

Emilia walks away with her arms crossed. She gives me a little wave as she leaves.

Only over a few days, she's grown close to me. What's even the deal?

Actually, what's the deal with Shaun and David?

They won't help us like before. We worked as a TEAM in Relay, and Tug of War.

Now why'd he stab me in the thigh?

As I look at the screwdriver lodged inside my leg, I slowly pull it out and look at it.

This could come in useful.

I tuck it into my pocket and go back to thinking.

Emilia is on FansOnly?

Where can I find her account? I've gotta do that when I get home.

God, Conner, get your mind outta the gutter. I need to think about more important stuff.

Shaun asked her for pictures - even worse, pictures of.. self harm? Is this a kink I'm not aware of?

That goes way over the line now.

And David is a corrupt surgeon? I really didn't wanna know that.

I don't want him to do MY heart transplant.

Neither did I want my worst secret to be revealed.

But it's only half true!

Nobody wants their worst secret to be revealed. It's better to turn a blind eye to not embarrass myself or anyone else.