♠ ♦ Alice in Borderland ♣ ♥

37 - ♥8

'Good for you,' Reo says triumphantly. The screen shows how a kind of gas is being spread in Kyo's cabin, to which he quickly raises his hand to his nose and makes a gagging sound. He switches to breathing through his mouth, but it can be clearly seen that the smell he inhales doesn't make him feel good. It's no longer possible to pretend to be tough. 'That's what you get,' Reo adds, looking at his own screen with a big grin on his face.

Ten minutes is a long time. Not only for the person it happens to, but also for everyone who has to wait. The players use this time differently. Yuki deliberately averts his gaze from the screen so he doesn't have to see it. Reo and Yoshua seem to enjoy it. Chichiro stares at the wall and tries to control his trembling body. Soran tries not to look at the screen, but his gaze is drawn to it again and again. Ringo has a concentrated expression on his face. It's clear that he's thinking and making calculations. I decide to take the time to do the same.

It's clear that each round we will have a statement that represents something unpleasant. We all need to pick someone we want it to happen to. It also lets us see who voted for whom. The more votes you get, the more often your name will be entered in the lottery and the greater the chance that you will be the chosen one. Does this assignment happen to take up ten minutes, or will they all take that long? I think we will find out.

"Choose a player who will remain in complete darkness for ten minutes."

Kyo, who is still coughing and making a dirty face, is scolding again. The smoke seems to be leaving his capsule, after which he's looking at the screen with increasing concentration. 'Wait,' he says as Reo and Yoshua bring their hand to the tablet again. 'Remember our mission.' Reo angrily looks at the screen. 'You should've thought of that before you pushed us in!'

'Yosh, come on,' Kyo tries to talk him into it, 'you know I didn't have a choice. We had to play this game anyway! Would you rather it were just the two of us?' Yoshua takes his hand away from his tablet and then looks at it doubtfully. 'Yosh, don't listen to him,' Reo replies. 'He's trying to save himself here, because he knows everyone's going to vote for him!'

'Do you think Aguni and Niragi will be happy if we don't do what they ask of us?' Kyo says. 'Let's vote together.' Yoshua nods. Reo can't hide his anger, but nods. 'Let's vote for Chich, he's trembling like crazy.'

'W-what?' Chichiro mumbles, startled. The three boys press something on the tablet. The last few seconds pass, so I raise my hand and press Kyo's photo again. In addition to the trio Ringo also voted for Chichiro, much to the boys' delight. Soran and I went for Kyo and Yuki and Chichiro for Reo. The latter eventually receives the illuminated photo, after which his image turns completely black.

Despite his choice not being the chosen one, Kyo still starts to grin. 'Karma,' he says. Reo doesn't respond. 'You were friends, weren't you?' Kyo says. He doesn't mention any names and we only see him looking straight ahead at the screen, but of course I know who he's talking to. 'He treated you terribly, didn't he?' I see Yuki looking down, as if he's thinking of the moment when Reo tried to grab him and force him to drink poison. 'Perhaps you should use this moment as revenge. You can all vote for him for every assignment. Then all you have to do is just lie there and wait until the time is up.'

'You can't do that,' Yoshua mumbles. 'We have to form a front against them. You know what happens when Niragi finds out we failed.' Something flashes through Kyo's eyes that makes it look like he's going to take it all back. 'And who's to say Niragi thinks you're still useful after it's done?' Ringo quietly meddles. 'He was able to discard us easily. Who says he won't discard you when your mission is accomplished?'

Not only Kyo, but also Yoshua clearly looks wary. They already doubt the motives of the militant and the executive members. Ringo makes good use of this to increase that uncertainty. 'You're only saying this because you're trying to save yourself,' Kyo says. 'I've been an executive member of the Beach,' Ringo replies. 'I know better than anyone how that goes. You can now turn on us and take us out, but don't you think it's not your turn next.'