Day 58 - Darwin's Game - Chapter 7 (1934 words)

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DARWIN'S GAME

By Wayne Webb

CHAPTER 7

Darwin's Game.

Episode 2

“Natural Selection almost inevitably causes much Extinction of the less improved forms of life” ~ Charles Darwin

The expected form of the title screen and the quote slowly fades away and the warehouse scene has been replaced by a simple room with no windows and a long table at which the eleven remaining players are sat around. Once again there is no audio and the eleven men are sat there in various stages of discomfort, anger and fear.

In front of each of the people is a small wooden object, long and thin not very high at all, with an odd bevelled edge. Sticking out of this is a rectangle of glass, with some kind of light source underneath it as the blueish edge of that light can be seen at various angles, suggesting that light and power are below it. In front of that small glass display unit, only about 6 or seven inches long is a series of buttons, eleven of them arranged in a pattern that looks exactly like the seating of the eleven men at the table, but with a gap where the person is actually sitting.

The gong sound rings out and the people around the table start and a few appear to be swearing or abusing someone or something unseen. No sound is heard from the players though despite the soundtrack of the gong and the movements of the men.

A number of the men look upwards and around as if searching for something, but nothing is heard as the various heads turn and search the room. It is now obvious that each of the men is prevented from moving out of the chair. Something stops them from turning to far and more than once a few try the limits of their unseen bonds but all the strain and effort does not move them upwards at all.

One of the blank walls blinks and becomes a screen, on it are the eleven names of the men seated around the table. The two other walls blink and follow suit so that every including the viewer looking from the fourth wall angle, the one at the head of the table looking straight down to the other end of the rectangle where no one is seated, has an unobstructed view of the end wall.

Next to the list of names which are in a column moving down the left of the screen wall, is a second column and in this there is a number, the number of victims that was previously displayed in the role call of the first episode. Then next to that a third column appeared.

Above the third column a new word faded into view “votes” and then the column remained blank. One by one for the viewers in the room and the ones watching the video feed there was a recap of each individual and their crimes. A picture of the persons name, the number of victims they had inflicted their crimes on and what they had done.

It took a little while and then once again the people there looked up again and listened to a voice that only they could hear, some nodding and some shaking their heads and arguing against whatever it was.

The third column filled with lights, each person had a “1” next to their name. This threw some of the players into a panic and they struggled and yelled until the cords in their neck strained in silent protest, but to no avail.

One final message appeared on screen, “I have voted for each of you once, the only way to move the vote off of yourself is to vote for someone else. Once a majority of ten votes for one person has been reached, that person will lose. ~ Darwin”

Panic set in and eleven hands all hit the buttons and hurriedly shifted the votes off themselves and onto others. There was protests and screaming abuse at each other as the votes quickly resettled and the numbers on the board flickered a few times until everyone eventually stopped and took stock of what the fear and panic had wrought.

There were two obvious leaders on the board, Thomas Somerset and Jackson Jones as they accounted for 4 votes each, the other 3 were one apiece to random people around the table. Jackson started talking very rapidly and looking scared and put upon was begging to everyone and anyone to change their vote. Thomas was looking at the board and then looking at the buttons while Jackson was almost foaming at the mouth trying to convince people.

Thomas was sitting next to someone who had not voted for either of them, but had randomly assigned his vote instead. Somerset turned as much as he could in his chair and leaned forward, talking directly to the man next to him, the man was nodding and looking over at Jackson his face darkening and frowning. He raised his hand and went for the button and pressed it firmly, changing his vote to Jackson Jones III.

Jackson was still frantically talking and he did not at first realise that the numbers had changed, and Thomas spoke across the table to someone near Jackson himself and started talking directly to him instead. This is when Jones saw what had happened and like a mime acting out a scene you could follow his reaction to the speech that Thomas was making to his near neighbour, and then that the balance on the board had altered and the vote was 5 to 4 against him the two remaining votes were on Wilson Smith and Evan Simpson with 1 apiece.

“No! No! No!” he mouthed, the words and the import obvious and he changed his tactic to focus not on the group anymore but on the individual and to Thomas Somerset himself. Realising that he was at a late tactical advantage he raised his hands and tried to get everyone to slow down, but Thomas was moving his mouth relentlessly, obviously ignoring the pleas and working on convincing the man he was talking to directly.

Jackson Jones III made the only equalising move he could make when he came to the realisation that he himself had not voted strategically and his vote was for the other man that had also not voted strategically. He changed it immediately to be for Thomas, equalising the vote at 5 to 5 in no one's favour, but that one of the men the one that was remaining in play was the one that his vote had been registered against until that point and Thomas had been focussing on him for the last couple of minutes while Jackson was obviously catching up.

Jackson's demeanour changed, like a switch had been thrown and his fear was replaced by a smile and a friendly look as he beamed at the person he was trying to convince the same as Thomas.

Everybody jumped suddenly and the table moved slightly as the large man from the first video slammed both his fists down on the table repeatedly to get everyone's attention. Both Thomas and Jackson stopped talking and it was the large man that was issuing some kind of angry command to everyone at the table. At the end of it Jackson complained about something but again the violent thumping of the table shut him up and he retreated with his mouth closed.

Thomas spoke and gestured at the people around the table, pointed at Jackson Jones III and was making some kind of case as to why Jackson deserved to die more than Thomas did. He went on for about two minutes before stopping and conceding the floor to Jackson, who angrily pointed back at Thomas and made his case. Before the two minutes that his opponent had used were up though the two of them were arguing and pointing at each other with stabbing fingers of accusation and argument, meant for each other but also for the people around the table.

Thomas disengaged from the argument first and went back to the individual targeting of the man that they had both been targeting before the large man started thumping the table. Again the logic had disappeared and they both were talking to the man, each making their case be it for themselves or against the other person, it was impossible without the audio track or an experienced lip reader to know what was being said exactly.

The large man thumped the table repeatedly again, but this time it had no effect on the petitioners and they continued on ignoring the outburst. The man that they were trying to convince was smiling, the power resting with him now. The large man, the man who had thrown his weight around the first time, the man who now had to have control again was seething at being ignored by the people around the table. He looked ready to explode and his dangerous and murderous rage was visible rising his flushed face and reddening eyes.

He stabbed at the button array in front of him and changed his vote from Jackson to the man who was the lynch-pin for the petitioners, the only two horses in the race. Now Wilson Smith had one vote against him again and it was 5 on Thomas, 4 on Jackson 1 on Evan and 1 on Wilson.

Jackson, who had lost strategic ground in the first round by not thinking and not planning for a better way to convince people or to defend himself decided that this was only going to end if he took a big risk and put himself on the line, taking his vote from Thomas, who was leading for now and in the danger seat, and moving back it to Wilson. The vote for Evan Simpson disappeared and added itself to the Wilson total.

Thomas Somerset changed his vote to Wilson and it was all over after that point.

The confused look on Wilson Smiths face said it all as everyone around the table except Wilson, who left his vote on Jackson Jones III, one by one changed their vote to Wilson Smith.

The number on the board rose to ten against his name then as he went a pale and bloodless shade in the face he lost his ability to say anything and just shook as the inevitable happened, the board reordered on the screen walls and his name went to the very top and transition from black text on the white wall to the red of the final decision.

He was starting to cry, pale uncontrolled fear heaving his shoulders as he mouthed something that no one would ever be able to read or hear through his sobs and tremors. Then he shockingly jerked about in his seat.

Like a rag doll he was thrown about limbs and head moving in ways obviously not voluntary and the men around him all leaned away from the flailing body as he was electrocuted in the chair sitting at the table with them all.

The body stopped dancing as the current was eventually turned off, and the head slumped forward, burned and charred by the process to smack the surface of the desk that made everyone sit in sober silence, no audio necessary for the shock they all felt as they put two and two together.

They were all sitting in chairs capable of dealing the death blow, just like Wilson had just been given.

The screen faded to black and the episode ended.