Chapter 4

The third round began.

An old living room seemed to seep out of the walls, splitting the space in two.

Faded floral wallpaper.

A wooden coffee table with chipped paint.

Empty beer bottles scattered everywhere.

Zane went rigid.

He recognized this place.

A humanoid robot stood in the middle of the room, dressed in ordinary clothes and gripping half of a broken beer bottle.

It paced around aimlessly.

Every few steps, it raised its arm and brought the jagged bottle down.

Then raised it again.

Sophie screamed.

"I thought you said this wasn’t a death game!"

The system offered no explanation.

[Vote for the person who will enter the room.]

Just like the trial round.

Sophie visibly relaxed.

She opened her mouth, about to say something to Zane, but then stopped and glanced at me.

"Cecilia," she said, "Zane was just angry earlier. I believe you. I don’t think you really teamed up with the system."

She paused.

"But I’m kind of curious. That reward box earlier... did you really get nothing?"

Before I could answer, she turned toward the system.

"System, what did Cecilia get?"

Then she caught herself.

"Oh, wait. If you really are working with Cecilia, you wouldn’t tell me anyway."

"Unless you actually gave her something useful—"

[Cecilia received a reward.]

Sophie froze.

So did I.

I had assumed the system would keep it secret.

[Sophie received nothing.]

[Zane received nothing.]

[Cecilia received a reward.]

[The details of the reward cannot be disclosed.]

The system gave everything else away without hesitation.

Sophie blinked.

She lowered her head, the faintest smile touching her lips.

But when she looked up again, she was back to looking hurt.

"Why would you lie to us?"

"Was Zane right after all? Did you really make some kind of deal with the system?"

Her voice wavered.

"Does your reward let you avoid punishment or something?"

Then she turned to Zane.

"Zane, she already has a reward. Let her go in this round."

"I already told you."

I looked straight at Sophie.

"If we all vote for ourselves, no one has to go in."

"Cecilia... would you really vote for yourself?"

She shook her head as if the very idea frightened her.

"I can’t take that chance."

She wasn’t really talking to me.

She was saying it for Zane to hear.

I knew exactly what she was doing.

Zane stood there staring into the room.

The robot moved again.

The jagged edge of the bottle cut through the air and scraped a thin strip of paint from the wall.

His shoulders twitched.

"What if someone really got hurt..."

His voice was barely audible.

"Your hand is already like this, and you’re still worried about someone else?"

"She didn’t even care when you got hurt!"

Sophie raised her voice, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

Zane looked back at me.

Then at the robot.

[Voting begins now.]

Inside my pocket, I crushed the silver shard.

[Reward activated: View and alter the outcome of one vote.]

A cold sensation slid across my eyes.

Two lines of text appeared in front of me.

Sophie: Cecilia.

Zane: No selection.

He hadn’t chosen yet.

I watched his profile.

His eyes stayed fixed on the robot, his lips pressed into a thin line.

His good hand rose toward the screen.

His finger hovered over my name.

Then pulled back.

The robot turned.

The jagged edge of the broken bottle caught the cold light.

Zane closed his eyes for a second.

Then he made his choice.

Himself.

I suddenly smiled.

He hadn’t voted for himself because he was worried I might get hurt.

He did it because he knew Sophie would vote for me.

He simply didn’t want to carry the guilt of helping her do it.

If I voted for myself, then going into that room would be my own choice.

If I voted for Sophie, the vote would end in a tie.

If I voted for him...

No.

He didn’t think I would.

He still believed I loved him.

How ridiculous.

I spoke silently to the system.

[Can I invalidate one vote?]

[Yes.]

[Then invalidate his vote for himself.]

This room had been built for us from the start.

I pressed my choice.

Zane Jefferson.