The Wheel

27. Michael

As soon as I sat at the table, the mechanism instantly shackled my hands. Despite the fact I was expecting it, the feeling still was unpleasant.

"You love sports a lot, Mr. High," Ayama started talking about me, "it's extremely important for you. Of course, constant trainings don't exactly help improve your academic performance, but you don't care much about it. Tell me, why did you choose to study in Chicago? You were born in Boston – the city with quite decent universities."

Why does she keep asking questions she knows the answers for? Maybe she wants to see how often I lie?

"My achievements in sports helped me get into The University of Chicago with a scholarship: my parents couldn't afford to pay the tuition, they had enough loans from the bank. And I also wanted to move away from everyone else. There was an option to move to San Francisco, but it's difficult to live there even with a financial support from the government."

"You little brother also lives in Chicago now. Both of you got into the same university with a scholarship, but he chose a computer science field. It's good to have a little brother, isn't it?"

Photos of me and Jasper appeared on the screen: if you take a look at them, it might seem that we are typical brothers, nothing out of the ordinary, except I was a lot bigger. It can be seen almost in every photo how he demonstrates his cane that he uses to walk; and one more thing that stands out is his 'angelic' smile. It makes me sick, looking at this pretty boy with his light blonde hair.

I lose control and hit the damn table with my fist, but because I tied up by the mechanism, the hit wasn't that strong.

"You know what buttons to push!" I said discontentedly. "Maybe I shouldn't spin the wheel? I already know what I'll get."

"No, Mr. High," replied the female voice that sounded like a Cortana assistant for Windows 10 operating system, "you're going to have to spin the wheel like everyone else. Perhaps you'll get something else?"

I shook my head, showing my skepticism.

"I doubt it."

"Anyway, don't waste the time," Ayama said calmly. "And, please, don't break anything."

I decided not to wait and just follow her stupid direction.