𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 | Alice in Borderland

II

Ikari found himself in the middle of the road, far away from his original place near Shibuya crossing. Surprisingly, the only lights available were a sparse amount of street lights that seemed to work. His bag was no longer in hand as he'd dropped it off.

He knew this wasn't normal, but it wasn't a dream. Something was off, but he relished in the moment of silence and solidarity. He sighed heavily, no longer chained by his parents' words. He was free from responsibilities and pressure provided by his parents.

Unaware of his location, he walked and walked, the dimly lit street lights that were barely working, almost as if in use for many years. A large screen used to show off advertisements turned on, flashing a bright white light.

"This way to the Arena."

Ikari mumbled to himself, "Arena?" He followed the way the arrow pointed, which so led him towards a series of boards, signs, and big screens, all showing a message. Reluctantly, he followed. Where was he going? Was this a trick? Or is this a path towards safety?

Once at the end of the signs, he stood in front of the gates of a school. Ikari found himself back in his old neighborhood, shocked at the sight of the standing school. Its appearance was old and worn down from the years, the colors fading.

Unknowingly, Ikari crossed the barrier, the barely visible red lasers that marked entry into a game. He turned back towards the entrance, almost wanting to leave, deciding not to once he saw another sign in front of him pointing towards an open classroom. Class 3-B.

Ikari was hit with a wave of nostalgia, the pain and trauma from a young age. He entered the classroom, seeing nine other players all seated with cellphone in hand.

Only one cellphone remained, which was on top of the teacher's desk. His hand idly ran along the top of the desk. A thin layer of dust coated his finger. Ikari grabbed the phone, holding it up as to view the device it turned on, on its own.

"Face Recognition in progress." Ikari's mind was telling him to drop the phone and leave, that it wasn't safe. The phone screen turned white. He stood in front of the other players. The phone chimed and a lady's voice rang through the device. "Please wait for the game to commence. Currently, there are eight participants. One minute remaining until registration closes."

"Registration?" Ikari mumbled under his breath. He watched as the one minute timer ticked down. After a minute of wait time, the voice in the device talked again. "Registration is now closed. The game will now commence."

The doors of the classroom shut on their own, along with a barricade blocking off access to the door.

"Game, Trivia. Difficulty, Three of Diamonds. Game challenge, how many questions can you answer? Clear condition. Score the highest in the class."

A compartment in the desks they sat at opened along with a screen which emerged from the ceiling almost out of nowhere. The TV turned on, once again a white screen flashing across the room. A set of instructions written on the screen.

"Please secure your seat and place the collar provided around your neck."

Ikari wearily grabbed the sleek black metal collar, the technology far from its time. It was partly open, allowing easy access to place around one's neck. Ikari opened it and placed it around his neck, hearing it softly hiss as the neck snapped closed, locking it, not allowing removal by any means.

The device sat tightly around his neck, almost as if it was made to be uncomfortable. Ikari's mind was once again going wild, telling him to remove the collar, to get out of here. He was almost convinced as he raised his hand to loop his fingers under the device.

An explosion next to him was heard. The player who sat next to him attempted to remove the device once it attached, resulting in tampering which caused the collar to trigger the bomb built in.

The blood splattered across, hitting Ikari's face. He jumped, watching as the liquid slowly dripped down his cheek and down onto the table. He unhooked his fingers from under the collar and rested his hand against the desk.

The screen changed, a button emerging from the center of the desk. Fanfare played from the TV along with the words "Trivia!" written on it. As if playing this game was merely a fun joke between friends.

A thirty-second timer displayed before it moved to the corner. The question followed, showing in bold letters.

"This number is called the Hardy-Ramanujan and is the smallest positive integer expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways."

The gears in Ikari's brain clicked. The questions were about math. The classroom he's in was a room used to teach kids math. He knew the classroom too well from previous experiences. Too many times has he been humiliated by teachers and parents alike for his failures.

Ikari pressed the button, a small buzzer played after the button turned red.

"1729." A loud ding rang through the room.

The question changed,

"Irish mathematician William Hamilton first described this 4-dimensional noncommutative real division algebra in 1843."

Ikari was deep in thought. His brain was thinking of many answers as he was put under pressure by the ticking clock, worrying about the consequences of failing once more.

Before he could even think of pressing the button, another player hit the button.

"The Quaternions." she answered.

Ikari looked forward in disappointment. He knew the answer. The same process repeated over and over.

"The largest sporadic simple group, with order approximately.8x1053"

Ikari buzzed in, "Monster group."

"What is the precise mathematical value of the so-called 'Golden Ratio' indicated by the Greek letter Phi?"

The entire room was quiet, other than the ticking of the clock displayed on the screen. Once it reached ten seconds, it blinked red. No one had an answer, not even Ikari.

The screen flashed red, and a new counter was added onto the screen. One strike out of two were marked. A player stood up out of pure frustration after a strike was added, almost as if he knew what would happen if they lost.

The collar beeped, triggering the bomb. The man fell over, his blood covering the desk. No one was allowed to get out of their seat.

The screen chimed with fanfare, "Final Question!" was displayed on the screen, which now had a couple splatters of blood on the screen.

Ikari clenched his teeth, a coat of dry blood on the button. He hadn't faced the man who stood, Ikari too focused on attempting to survive, not wanting to meet the same fate as the other two players.

"If A=B and B=C, then A=C. What mathematical property does this demonstrate?" Three players, along with Ikari, hit the button. They all looked up at each other as the button flashed once more. Ikari noticed it before anyone else and hit it again.

"Transitive property of Equality."

The players who had failed to answer questions yelled out at Ikari, calling him a cheater for presumably knowing answers. Their collars exploded as they stood up in anger. The screen turned black, signaling the end of the game.

Then flashed on again, displaying the scores of the remaining players, Ikari having scored the highest. The final question seeming to count towards two points rather than one.

"4/5, 1/6, 0/6, 0/6"

The players' collars with the lower scores exploded, crowning Ikari as the winner of the game. His phone chimed, showing the "Game Clear." along with now being provided with a three-day visa.

Ikari walked out of the school, now coated in a thin layer of blood and sweat. His face showed no emotion, regardless of the turmoil inside of him. All he wanted was the blood off his suit.

"I could go for a drink right about now." He spoke to himself standing outside of the gates of the school.