Psychological Control

Chapter 45

Late at night after the tribal meeting, back in camp, everyone was as silent as if they had made a date. Finally, after a dreary night, the next day saw the third bonus match for all, as well as Mario's return from Exile Island.

"Hey, Mario! How was your night in exile?" Austin greeted me as he always did. I naturally walked over to him and exchanged pleasantries.

The third bonus round with bread and coke as the prize. Mario, who had just returned from Exile Island, took a break from this round. The event was for a member of the tribe to act as a conductor, standing on a command tower and directing the other members of the tribe, who were blindfolded, to carry and complete a large jigsaw puzzle.

Perhaps the best choice as a conductor Mario rested and with both the Wisdom and Power tribes' conductors Red and Dillon being considerably better than Austin, we lost the bonus round this time. Luckily there was nothing to lose except not getting a reward.

In the fourth tribal immunity contest, the Wisdom tribe again lost. Hansen, the poker master who couldn't fit in with the tribe because of his arrogance and lack of vision, was voted out.

In the fifth tribal immunity competition, the Wisdom Tribe overpowered the pack in the event that suited them, with the Power Tribe coming in at the bottom, eliminating Old Man Dave, who had run out of energy after days of lack of food.

At the same time, as I continued to bring a steady source of food to the tribe, my title of Siren became known to the other two tribes. Siren seemed to become my nickname, and few people called me Brian anymore. Carmelita became more and more downtrodden because of the isolation in the tribe.

In the sixth tribal immunity tournament, Anna and I did not play in this immunity tournament as the Wisdom tribe was down to three people, so we took turns to rest. Carmelita fought hard and still lost because the other two men were not doing their best.

This time Tribal Council, Carmelita was eliminated without incident.

For the seventh tribal immunity contest, the Tribe of Beauty once again reclaimed the top spot, followed by the Tribe of Wisdom with all three men on the field. The Power Tribe was forced to eliminate that young and fit man Paul as Jane, who was originally with Old Man Dave, defected to the seemingly more committed duo of Dillon and policewoman Sandra.

What makes it so funny is that perhaps it's because of the many days of lack of food and water, or perhaps it's because of psychological fragility. Tina, who has flowery arms in dirty dreadlocks, filed for voluntary withdrawal after the second night of the bonus round after Paul was pitched.

In the end, the field was down eight out of eight eighteen, leaving only ten. The tournament moved ahead to the merge stage.

Re-looking at the post-merger faction assignments, the Beauty tribe, including myself, had four people with no stray votes. Three from the Power tribe, Sandra and Dillon allied, and Jane could be considered a stray vote. The three Wisdom Tribe members, Reed, Casey the lawyer and Selena the journalist, ostensibly have no stray votes.

For the Tribe of Beauty, it looks like a dominant four against two trios. But if the Tribe of Wisdom and the Tribe of Strength were to combine, it would be six against four.

In other words, the Beauty tribe, which actually seems to have the most advantage, is in trouble in the early stages of the merger.

And Mario? That's what setting up a target is all about, and it should be time for him to make it happen. The merger phase was an opportunity for me to reshuffle the deck, but at the beginning Ryder and I still acted as if we had only just met.