The Adaptive Game

"DENY OR APPROVE"

- Shaun

Okay, I'm out. And now I'm in the lobby.

Square Guard comes out with a remote in one hand and an M1911A1 in the other.

"Out of 690 players, 423 were eliminated. 267 players remain."

Square Guard raises his remote and presses a button, it drops stacks and stacks of cash into the prize pool.

"There is a total of $4,230,000 US dollars in this prize pool. At the end of the game there will be $6.9 million."

People begin stepping out of their big crowd circle.

"I would like to vote to leave!"

"Me too!"

Many people start to ask to leave.

"Contestants, remember. The voting booth is active. You may step forward to CAST a vote, the green button to approve the continuation of the game - or deny it to go home."

"Why are they letting us go home? We're literally playing an illegal death game." says a guy behind me.

I look behind and I tell him:"It doesn't matter if you tell the police. They'll believe you if you told them your abductors LET YOU go home?"

"Oh, man that's true. We're all here to get money and dying here is better than going back to hell, huh. Well I'm staying. I'm gonna win."

"What's your name, by the way?"

"Conner."

Conner. Huh. Conner.

"I'm Shaun. Shaun Alexis."

"Nice. Now, Let's go vote."

Conner goes and hits the button for it to continue. I hit the button to continue as well.

"Man, a lot of people wanna go home, huh..." Conner stares at the jumbotron revealing the number of votes.

"We're not gonna have enough. They'll send us all home."

Round after round we get more and more votes on each side. Now we have 133 votes on each.

Except for one person left. A short brown haired girl steps up to the stands and puts her hands on the red button.

But doesn't press it.

"I know a lot of you want to go home, and I don't wanna die here."

Conner manically slams his hands on his forehead.

"NOOO! WHAT IS SHE DOING?!"

"You know her?"

"I was shopping and she was my cashier. She got a hold of my card somehow."

"Got a hold? She stole it from you?"

"It's a long story. Let me hear what she's saying."

She raises her voice and continues talking.

"It's better to give you guys a choice to come back or not, so you guys can go home."

"Oh my god, she's gonna do it." Conner says.

"Sike."

She hits the green button.

134 votes to continue. 133 votes to go home.

"NOOO!"

Everyone either screams in relief or pain while the girl smugly walks back to the crowd.

Conner shakes his head. "Well, that was a move to pull off."

"Maybe that's her kind of way to deny or approve."