The Absconsion

The Mystery

When the round finally ended, the teams which have crossed the end line have successfully completed round 2. They won over death for the second time and they realized how lucky they were compared to the ones who lost their lives. The organizer then instructed the winning teams to follow the officers back to the hall. As they were leaving, the teams looked at the water below them which was blue in the beginning but now turned red by the blood of the players that had lost the round. They just wanted to see it one last time before they lift the place. They wanted to register that picture in their minds to remind themselves that they escaped from this. People's lives are being dropped like flies. That is when they realized that humans are so fragile. As they were looking at the b****y pool, they could see some moment in the water. At first, they thought it was a shark, but soon realized it was a person who was floating around.

' Hey, there. There is a person alive in the water. Please help him, ' shouted a player. Now, this was something that had not happened before. A player had lost the round but was not dead. It was like a loophole in the rules created by the organizer or the madman behind all this..

Many players started to yell at the organizer to save the person but came no reply from the organizer. After a few minutes, the organizer said, ' Please follow the officers. '

The Organizer was so out of sync. He was not replying to the questions asked. He was only telling what he wanted to. It was weird, but the players did not have any option other than to follow the instructions of the organizer. They were not in a position to demand, but request, and the voice of the organizer showed no kind of sympathy which made the players understand that requesting has no impact on him. The tone of the organizer was always neutral. No inch of excitement or any kind of feelings, just like a robot, which sees everything as black and white.

As they were leaving, H8 gave a very little smile. The kind of smile that you give when what you say turns out to be true.

On their way back, the buzzers and the shirts that were given to them were collected. All the winning teams came back to the hall, their dresses all soaked with sweat. Previously, the players who made a team in the first round sat together, but now, the players who belonged to one team were sitting together. Even though they were sitting together, they did not talk to each other. The screams of the players who were going down were still reverberating in their ears. Horrors were happening in front of their eyes, but no one could do anything. They were helpless and that is a situation where no one usually wants to be. Because when you become the victim, no one is going to come to save you.

P4 was glad that D4's team also made it past the second round. Unknowingly, she was developing some feelings towards him but did not want to admit it. As all the teams were lying on their beds aloof and silent, a player came from the main door. Everyone's eyes directed to the main door when it was opening and it was A15.

That is true. the person who went down into a shiver of sharks was now standing in front of them. His clothes were soaked with blood but he was alive and appeared unharmed. H8's smile reappeared and his team looked at him with great hysteria. D18 ran and hugged his one and only friend in that wretched place. Even though it had been only a few days since they had met, they really formed a bond. When we look at the bonds like this, it feels like time really does not matter to form a strong bond. If the person is right, then everything accelerates.

Everyone was happy with A15's return. Not that everyone knew him, but since the beginning of this horrendous event, everyone kept on witnessing death and m*********r. Seeing a person alive and that too after escaping from the face of death felt peaceful. It gave people the hope that is required to keep going and the change of pace was soothing. His returned proved that no matter how bad the situation is, there is always a slightest possibility for the occurrence of a miracle

The happiness has soon followed the mystery of how did he survive? Is he the only one or there are others? Does this mean, he has qualified for the round or still lost? A number of questions stormed everyone's mind, but they knew that it was not the right time to be asking him the answers to their questions. He must have been through hell and these questions would only stress him out further. While everyone's eyes were fixed on A15, E3 saw the look on H8's face and from his expressions, she felt like he already knew that A15 was going to come back. If her assumption is true, then how is it possible? What does he know, that the rest do not? What is he hiding? 

H8 and his team sat a bit away from all other teams. Now that something unexplainable happened, all the teams were keen on their team and H8's team became the center of attraction. Maybe that is the reason why they sat away from the others, to avoid the stares.

A15: I did not really like you, H8. Since the beginning when you came to join our team, I thought that you were an opportunist and a manipulator. That you will abandon the team when it would benefit you. I became pissed at you when you chose number 1 for me because of which I was one step close to death. And when you gave the wrong answer, my heart ached. I was not afraid of death, but I was afraid of abandoning my little brother who matters to me the most. The thought of leaving him in a world, where people like the organizer live was scary. I wanted to curse you, but I thought it would be a waste of time. But then the thing that you said after that helped me survive. I am in debt to you till I save your life. I do not know who you really are, but I am thankful and grateful to you.

H8: I promised that I will help the team in making out of this round alive without any loss and I stood on my word. I am glad that you could follow the things that I have instructed. I just guided you on the path, it is you that traveled through it alone and made it out. You are the hero.

D18: I still do not understand how you know that the sharks are not real?

H8: In the first round, the predator had been assigned the task of ending the life of a puppy. Unluckily, I was the prey and I had to convince my teammate to end that puppy's life. Unfortunately, the puppy reminded my teammate of her own dog and she refused to kill it. I understood that no amount of persuasion would be enough to make her kill it, so I had to think of some other way. It is during that attempt, I suspected that the dog was not real. Do not ask me how, but I know it.

D18: How?

H8 sighed and then said, ' I observed the behavior of the puppy and after scrutinizing it thoroughly, I found a pattern. No creature would act in a similar pattern. They might have similar behavior but the actions that they would do will be erratic. To make you all understand better I will give an example. Usually, a human can perform actions like eating, dancing, walking, laughing, jumping, and many others like that. Now, these are the actions that everyone can do, but the difference is they may all do it at a different time for different durations under different circumstances. You do not plan these actions like I will smile for three seconds and then I will eat for two seconds. You just do them when you want to. But in the puppy's case, its actions were timed. It was repeating its behavior like a loop like it is being programmed. I was able to convince my teammate that it was fake, it was just a programmed electronic robot. When my teammate squeezed it, it showed no pain. When she finally killed it, there was blood which made me doubt myself for a second, but I have touched the blood, and when I smelled it, I realized that it was not blood. It was just some liquid to make us believe that it was a real dog. Only I and my teammate knew the truth back then. After she left, I was the only one who knew it and now my team knows it.

D18: So this means, I did not kill that puppy. I just damaged a toy. All this time, I felt like I am a murderer and that label is always going to be a part of me. I was devastated as I have to carry that guilt for the rest of my life. But now I feel free. Like I am proven innocent in a crime in which I was falsely accused.

A15: I am happy for you. But, I still have some doubts regarding this. So, based on what you discovered in the first round, you came to the conclusion that the sharks in round 2 are also electronic. But how come knowing this, you helped me save my life?

H8: The things that I have instructed you to do are not at all related to the discovery that I made earlier. I told you it was fake because a person is likely to be less afraid in presence of a robotic shark rather than a real shark. I informed you that so you can be less afraid which would in turn help you in controlling your emotions in a better way as your life depends on it. First, let me tell you how sharks attack their prey. There are three steps involved which are sensing the prey, stalking the prey, and then attacking the prey. So before a shark can hunt, they need to locate their prey. Sharks' highly developed senses allow them to detect even the most minuscule hints that the prey might be near. It is said that a shark's sense of smell is so acute that it can detect a single drop of blood in an Olympic-size swimming pool. They can tell which nostril picks up the odor first, allowing them to turn in the direction of the potential prey. Lateral lines that run down each side of the shark's body allow them to detect vibrations or pulses in the water, and small pores in the shark's snout, called ampullae of Lorenzini, let them detect electrical impulses emitted by other creatures.

Now comes stalking. Once a shark has tracked down their prey, they stalk it before going in for the kill. Bottom-dwelling sharks are usually colored in such a way that they blend in with the ocean floor. Active hunters sometimes circle a distance away from their prey to size up the situation before moving in for the kill. After they understand the perimeter and the surroundings, then they proceed to the next step that is, catching the prey. But since our sharks here are probably programmed, they only act based on erratic movements and in the presence of blood.

Sharks have a variety of ways of catching prey. A great white will strike quickly, attempting to weaken its prey with a single bite. The hammerhead has the smallest mouth of any shark species, and this shark is primarily a bottom feeder.

The good thing in our case is that the entire pool is filled with the blood of the players who fell down earlier, so it will be difficult for the sharks to identify the location of the next falling player. So now they rely on the vibrations or the ripples generated in the water when a person swims rapidly or creates a mess in the water by vigorously shaking their hands and legs in fear. Now this will help sharks in pinpointing the location of their prey. That is the reason, I asked you to be calm and not to make any sudden movements as sharks are experts in detecting abrupt movements. I asked you to close your eyes, so you would not see them and therefore do not panic. I am glad that you remembered everything that I said and followed it step by step. '

A15: If it isn't for you, I'd already been dead.

H8: If it isn't for me, you would never be in that position in the first place. I am glad that I got a chance to undo my mistake. And I am happy that my entire team is alive and kicking.

C15: This is great. In the beginning, I thought I was on a sad team. But things changed when H8 started to answer most of the questions in the technology that helped us cross the end line. Now, I am eager to see how much I have earned.

N19: Yeah. I believe that our reward would have been doubled by now. I am really excited to know about it.

H8: Well, I think we deserve to be happy for a moment. We do not need to worry till the next round starts. Until then, we need to clear our minds and become focused till the next round starts.

                                                                        ----*----

E3 came closer to make sure that no one else could hear what she was about to say and whispered, ' I am having doubts about H8. '

' Did you notice him too, when A15 returned? ' Queried E7.

The discussion they were having was not audible to the rest of the team who were in their own trance.

' Yeah. That smile he flashed is unsettling. I think he knows something. '

' Looks like it. But for now, I am happy that A15 is alive. Keep your guard up and we will think about him later. '

While all the teams were relaxing on their beds, the Organizer came live.

' Welcome back, players. It is good to see many teams have successfully cleared round 2. I would like to congratulate all the winning teams and my sympathies to all the lost teams. Firstly, I am going to state the numbers of the teams that have cleared the round.

The teams that have cleared round 2, " The Shark Attack" are

Team 4(B2, F6, G11, I19, J6),

Team 7(A12, B16, I17, M8, O3),

Team 16(M5, M17, L8, K3, K20),

Team 25(A3, C1, D4, H16, K10),

Team 26( E3, E7, I1, P4, P9),

Team 27( A15, C15, D18, H8, N19),

Team 33( E10, F14, J1, J12, P2),

Team 48( C3, G1, H20, J16, J18),

Team 49( N17, O7, O11, P13, Q4),

Team 50( A1, C20, D2, Q3, Q6).

Now, I am going to state the players that have lost. The players who have lost the round are

A: 2,4,,7,8,9,10,11,13,16,17

B: 1,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,14,18.

C: 4,5,6,7,10,13,14,17,18,19

D: 3,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,15,16,19,20

E: 4,6,8,9,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19

F: 2,4,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,16,20

G: 3,4,5,6,9,10,12,13,14,16,18,19,20

H: 1,3,4,6,9,10,12,13,14,15,17,18,19,20

I: 2,3,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18

J: 2,5,8,9,10,13,14,15,17,19,20

K: 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,12,13,14,16,17,19

L: 2,3,4,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18,20

M: 1,2,6,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,18,19,20

N:2,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,18

O: 1,4,5,6,8,9,10,14,17,18,19,20

P: 1,3,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,14,15,16,17,18,19,20

Q: 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,16,19,20

These are the players who did not clear the second round. I once again congratulate every team who cleared the second round. The revised rewards would soon be displayed on the screen. Until then, all the players are requested to form lines and collect their dinner.

The players were so lost in their thoughts that they did not realize how hungry they were. As soon as they heard the word dinner, they realized that they were starving. They immediately formed lines and were now waiting. They hoped for a delicious dinner and by the smell, they could tell that it was noodles. Everyone collected their cups along with a water bottle and resumed their places. The noodles were well cooked and since they were already starving, they found it very delicious. Each one of them completed the food very quickly.

After the long day they had, despite being tired, no one could sleep. They cannot help but think about what they had experienced earlier today. People were being killed for giving a wrong answer. The people who are conducting this game, don't they have any kind of guilt? Why did they even choose death as the punishment? They can simply induce the d**g that was meant for forgetting the memories of a day and then send the players back home if they wish to keep this event a secret. All this setup and all this killing might not be just for entertainment. There would definitely be some reason behind all this madness. But what is it?

I1: If I am alive now, it is because of my team. No one in my life helped me the way you guys helped me today. And I never trusted anyone more than the trust I have put in you all today. I don't know if I would get out of this madhouse, but I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

P4: You do not need to thank us. We won because of teamwork.

E3: True. As long as we stick together and help each other out, no one would be able to stop us from going back to our loved ones. We will make it out of here, there should be no other option in our minds.

E7: Positive thinking will result in positive outcomes. If you believe it enough, it will become the reality. The best example is A15. He stared at the face of death and came back alive. His will to survive is very strong and it is something that we all need to adopt if we wish to survive.

P9: But, how is that even possible? How did he even come back?

E3: I think they knew how to evade a shark. Once when I did deep-sea diving, we were taught about various predators that we might encounter and how to evade them.

E7: It is possible, but the chances are very slim. One wrong move and you are dead.

P9: I cannot even imagine being in a water body along with a group of sharks. The mere thought scares the hell out of me. I can't imagine what he must have gone through. I do not know how I am going to be when I get out of here after witnessing all the horrors.

E3: This s**t show is similar to a reality show. When we get out of here, I also wonder how we all will be. Would we change or would we be the same way that we were before we came here?

E7: We would definitely change. It can be positive or negative, but a change is evident.

When the lights were finally off, everyone lied on their beds with their eyes open staring at the blackness around them.