Red Rock

Chapter 6: Check to the Primate (Part 2)

Chapter 6 Check to the Primate (Part 2)

The game was over in five minutes and went as expected. Timothy won with ease, bouncing around the common room like a whimsical creature from a fairy tale. "I knew I was going to win!" he yelled, brushing by an irritated Sasha. "Who wants to do it again?"

The room was silent with tension. Being content with boredom and doing nothing seemed more appealing than doing anything with Timothy involved.

"Nobody does, Timothy," Neil tired. "That's it. You win. Congratulations."

Timothy's smile faded, darting his eyes around the room in hopes of support. "No one?" he asked still looking around. People were leaving the common room back to their bedrooms exhausted from Timothy's sheer presence. "Well if anyone wants to play I'll be waiting at the games table with everything set up! I'll even let you be white!"

Daire wandered towards Neil who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a look of disgust on his face. "You don't look like you had a good sleep," Daire said light heartedly.

"I don't like him," Neil immediately responded keeping his gaze at the gaming table.

"Who? Timothy?"

Neil looked at Daire like it was the stupidest question he had ever heard. "Yeah," he responded in a cautioning tone. "Just look at him." Daire turned around to see Timothy fondling the white Queen piece in between his fingers while turning away Ron and Hazel from the gaming table.

"None of you can play until someone beats me," Timothy said to a hunched over Ron.

"Can my wife and I just play one game, please?" Ron pleaded in his worn elderly voice.

"Hey!" Neil yelled from across the room. "You let'em play!"

"I don't have to do anything!" Timothy spat back showing the bottom row of his teeth.

"It's alright," interrupted a soft spoken Hazel, now shuffling away with Ron. "We can play another time."

Neil gritted his teeth and started to boil. Daire knew he had to distract him to prevent a brawl. "Do you mind if I ask a few questions about the three sectors?" he asked, trying to divert a distraught Neil.

"Sure," Neil responded still fuming.

"I've been getting kind of nervous about the sector three Surveyors."

"Why?"

"They all have death penalties or life sentences."

"So?"

"I'm a little bit worried for my safety."

"Well you shouldn't," Neil said more involved in the conversation. "They will all most likely die due to their sector's inhospitable conditions."

Daire gave a confused look. "Well if they're all going to die anyway, why not just kill them on Earth?"

"Because it's expensive to ethically kill a man or keep him in prison for the rest of his life. Akin set up a program where it would be cheaper for a country to pay a one-time fee and get rid of a prisoner for good. It's a win, win, for Akin, not only do they get the money for taking in the prisoners, it's also an easy way to get more guinea pigs for surveying," Neil let out a chuckle at its brilliance. "They truly have the smartest people in the world working for that company."

"What are our chances of survival then?" Daire asked, referring to the sector two surveyors. "I'm assuming we all have a much better chance of surviving than they do, right?"