Two steel doors wait for them at the end of the hallway. On the wall between them is a monitor screen, right above a tray containing a set of five identical smartwatches.

Curious, Gon touches the screen. Immediately, the screen reconfigures.

0/5 participant(s) found. Please return with five participants.

Killua examines the smartwatches. She exchanges a shrug with Gon, before fastening one of them around her wrist. The screen bling'ed.

1/5 participant(s) found. Please return with five participants.

The screen bling'ed three more times as Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio follow her example. Leorio jumps in surprise when there is a fifth and final bling. She has forgotten about their additional companion.

While Leorio eyes Tonpa suspiciously, the other merely waves in an effort to appear as genial and harmless as possible. As soon as Leorio's gaze leaves her, Tonpa grins darkly, rubbing her hands. What a perfect luck, to end up on this team of rookies. It's time to do what she failed to do earlier - crush them! Crush their hearts! Crush their souls! Leave them in such despair that they will feel ill at the mere touch of technology, hohoho!

Leorio's gaze snaps back to her, and Tonpa is waving mildly again.

All five participants identified and registered: #16, #99, #403, #404, #405. Welcome to "High or Low". To proceed, please select a door: 0 for High, 1 for Low.

Everyone looks at their smartwatch and presses one of the two buttons.

When all the responses are in, the same mechanical voice speaks. You have chosen Low. Please proceed.

There is a metallic noise behind one of the two doors, like the springing of a heavy bolt. Gon is ready to test the handle again when Leorio speaks up.

"Wait, before we continue, we should say what each of us voted for. I put in one."

"I chose zero," Gon says.

Killua folds her arms behind her head. "Zero for me."

Kurapika closes her eyes. "Zero."

"Also zero."

"Wait, all of you chose zero?" Leorio says, incredulous. "But we're trying to get out. Why would you choose to go higher in that case? You'd want to go low."

Kurapika coughs. "Somehow, I doubt High and Low represent whether we go up or down the tower."

"Why not?"

"Because we're on the top floor," Gon says.

Leorio closes her mouth.

"And you can't go higher," Gon explains as if that is not clear, genuinely trying to be helpful.

While Leorio scratches her head, embarrassed but still clearly confused, Tonpa is practically dancing in glee. Oh wow, is this gold! Not only did this rookie believe High or Low literally meant going higher or going lower, she also seems puzzled as to how the voting system even works, something that should be intuitive to anyone with a CS mindset.

Indeed, the other three have understood immediately. In the absence of information, the proper mode of action is to default to zero, which all three have done. None of them are surprised by the result of the vote either.

Only Leorio remains clueless, as she squints hard at the screen, unable to grasp how four zero votes resulted in an outcome of one. This is perfect; Tonpa will start at the weakest link and cripple her first.

Beyond the steel door is a continuation of the hallway. After countless twists and turns, a new room opens up for them. Gon spins around, in clear awe at the wall to wall of metal shelves and electronics. The machinery around them is alive, blinking and flickering with lights of all colors.

In the center of the room is a table, where a figure is waiting. Judging by her clothes, she is one of the prisoners of the island, a shaven woman watching them with amusement. Prominent scars crown her scalp, a strong and defined jaw complementing the rest of her well-built figure. Her muscles are not superficially sculpted like those of bodybuilders, but optimized for combat and survival, to endure the harshest winters.

Killua immediately recognizes her as an ex-military member, most likely of TNI-AU.

"Welcome," the prisoner greets calmly, "to round one of High or Low. I see you have chosen Low."

"Excuse me, but are you allowed to tell us what that means?" Kurapika asks.

"Sure," the prisoner says. "In the Alcatraces Tower, you must complete five rounds against us. Each round is to assess your technological proficiency in some area of expertise. However, the Hacker Association is aware different individuals have different talents and specializations. As such, it asks for teams of five, of which you may delegate amongst yourselves who completes which round. Furthermore, you need only beat us in three of the five rounds to reach ground level. As a final bonus, you, as a team, may choose high-level or low-level.

"High-level requires higher levels of abstraction and are closer to human thought and action, whereas low-level requires lower levels of abstraction and are closer to machine logic and execution. As computer scientists, I am sure you are all aware of the trade-off between these two and both their constraints on time." The prisoner grins. "The main exit locks at noon tomorrow, giving you a little under twenty-four hours to complete all challenges."

The group exchanges looks with each other.

"You mentioned 'us'," Kurapika says. "Are the rest…?"

"Pardon my manners. My name is Bendot. Yes, I am an inmate here, as are the other challengers. We are also participants in the Hacker Exam, just like you."

"Participants?"

Here, Bendot's smile sharpens, her eyes gleaming. "Yes. The rules for us are a little different, of course. But, if we defeat enough contestants, then we are allowed to claim a spot in the exam and advance to the next stage."

Leorio pales. Prisoners of Alcatraces are some of the most heinous criminals, sentenced on the island for life. But official Hackers operate outside the law, both domestic and international. If any of them gets their hand on a license, they are set free, and possible for good. The amount of destruction they could do…

As if catching onto Leorio's train of thought, Bendot says, "If you dislike the idea, then your best chance is to defeat us here. Now, who will it be?"

Tonpa volunteers.

She is about to approach the table when there comes an objection, as expected.

"Hold up, am I the only who thinks letting her go first is a bad idea?" Leorio points a finger at Tonpa. "No matter how I look at it, she's suspicious!"

Tonpa sneers when only silence follows. No one disagrees with Leorio. Then again, no one agrees with her either.

"Now, now, that's a bit mean, isn't it," Tonpa says, faking hurt. Before Leorio can interject, she adds, "But I can't blame you for being cautious. Still, even if you distrust me, aren't I doing you a favor by going first? That's much better than if I were to go last, when my victory might be a deciding factor?"

Kurapika unwittingly rubs salt on the wound. "I'm fine with her going if that is what she wishes. Besides, all five of us must individually complete one round anyway, correct?" she asks Bendot, who nods. "In that case, I prefer she goes first. It gives the rest of us an opportunity to assess the types of challenges ahead."

Cold, calculating, calm. Kurapika's observation is on-point, and everything in her voice betrays her scientific upbringing. Which, unbeknownst to her, is only widening the rift between her and Leorio.

And as Tonpa predicts, Leorio has her arms crossed, a physical sign of the wall placed between her and the rest of the group.

Tonpa can tell the type of person Leorio is by her clothes alone, how she primarily comes from the business industry, not technology. Leorio is raised in a culture that emphasizes people and soft skills. For her, it is all about communication and teamwork. As such, she keeps asking questions. She wants to be on the same page as everyone else. She is also looking for validation, so when her opinions and concerns - which are meant to be in the best interest of the team - are repeatedly unacknowledged or shut down, she feels personally attacked.

Unfortunately for her, her teammates are unaware of any of this. They are clearly used to working solo and figuring things out on their own. They also assume everyone else has automatically figured out the same things they have, and keep their eyes on the objective, not on the people surrounding them. They are unlikely to take things personally, and don't see disagreement with an idea as rejection or disapproval of the person expressing them.

If this gap in culture and personality is not mended, not only will they fail this stage of the exam, their friendship will dissolve as well. And that would make Tonpa very, very happy, as she saunters to the center of the room.

Her smartwatch sounds, as she is registered into the system. Once seated, she waves pleasantly at Bendot.

"So, what am I facing?"

Bendot looks down at the plump little woman. The machinery around them continues to whirl and flicker.

"Big data," Bendot says. All 100 petabytes of it.