As soon as the door closes behind him, Chishiya can hear the artificial voice announcing that the registration is closed. Just like back with the Jack of Clubs, he and his stubborn are the last two players needed for the game to begin, and Chishiya can't tell for sure if it's a happy chance or ill luck.
The woman next to him has slumped down against the door, with trembling breath and tears still streaming down her face. She will need a few moments to recover, but at least she's alive. Hopefully that condition will last for the entire duration of this game.
The King of Hearts.
Bringing her to the King of Diamonds has never been an option for Chishiya. Those games are about intelligence, and not about the kind needed to solve crosswords or puzzles. She wouldn't stand a chance, and while the King of Hearts is not easier, it is a different kind of challenge. One she could be capable of surviving if she gives her everything.
Unless this will be one of those games where only one player is allowed to win… But Chishiya doesn't waste too many thoughts about this as long as it isn't verified.
With them, ten players have gathered inside this room. It doesn't look special like the old mansion or the Queen's casino, and quite a few doors adorn the opposite wall. Four of them, carrying the playing card symbols, next to each other and a plain fifth one to the left.
The white walls and tiles covering the floor stand in high contrast against a small table in the middle of the room, decorated with all kinds of colorful fruits. Obviously a trap – even if this wasn't a Hearts game, Chishiya wouldn't have touched them.
Scanning the other eight players, Chishiya quickly tries to get a feeling of who they will be trapped with during that game. None of them looks trustworthy, from a schoolgirl with a scarred face who reminds him of Hibiki to a Punk wearing a bloody suit showing clear distrust, and then… there's Michael. The sturdy brute wouldn't have been someone Chishiya would expect in a Hearts game, but then again, the Borderlands never stop to surprise. Even though this is a surprise Chishiya would have gladly given a miss.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
A woman is coming closer, obviously talking about his stubborn's upset behavior. She is still recovering from the recent shock, and finding herself in the King of Hearts game might be just another shock to replace the sniper.
With another shaky breath, his stubborn gets back on her feet and wipes her face dry with the sleeve of her new jacket. It is already dirty from their chase, as is the hand now reaching out for his to take. "We… tried to escape the King of Spades. This was the only way."
"Oh great", comes the spiteful answer from their opposite, "the last two missing are players who didn't even want to attend this game in the first place."
She is right: Chishiya never planned to participate in a Hearts game during this stage. All he wanted was to clear the Diamonds ones, and then either die or return to his hollow life. Many things have changed from the original plan, and there's no use to complain. None of them can get out of this without playing it through, no matter if they wanted it or not.
Still holding on to Chishiya's hand, his stubborn seems to be clever enough to ignore it and instead examines the room. The game's start has been announced, but nothing happened so far. Which most likely means that there has to be some kind of trigger to get the game running.
Of course, Michael recognizes them as well, and Chishiya can feel delicate fingers clench around his own. He's not delighted to see this man, and his stubborn has even less reason to feel joy.
"What do you say, it's Crybaby and their useless bodyguard! I didn't think I'd ever see you two in a Hearts game, hehe."
It is hard to tell what annoys Chishiya more: the fact that Michael calls him useless while he did nothing to move the game forward, or the stupid nicknames. When Michael moves forward to scare his stubborn, Chishiya is quick to intervene. Such childish behaviors are the least thing needed in their current situation.
"Don't tell me you're here to befriend the enemy again", Michael laughs while showing his bad teeth, and of course the meaning behind his words is enough to start a discussion about the Jack of Clubs. Letting go of his stubborn's hand, Chishiya takes a closer look at the doors. He wouldn't be surprised to find them all locked, and like the mansion, something will be required to open them. Just how is that connected to Hearts? Where is the betrayal in that, the emotional challenge?
Other than that heads are already rolling before the real game has even begun, of course.
The fighting is only interrupted by the one who spoke up to them first, and she seems to have calmed down from her initial rage. "Wait a moment. With you guys, we have our ten players and the announcement said that the game would now commence. Shouldn't something happen now?"
"Maybe the game has already begun?" his stubborn muses while closely examining the fruit table, causing Chishiya to snort. What – find out who manages to resist the poisoned food the longest, and the last one living will be allowed to exit? Cruel, but that idea would definitely lack the usual sharpness of Hearts games.
No. There must be a hint to something else, and Chishiya is sure to have found it between the fruits when the schoolgirl heads to the exact same spot and pulls out the item that didn't fit into the rest of the decoration, which turns out to be a small tablet that she shows around. Something is written on its lit-up display, but Chishiya can't read it from his position. "It has been dark all the time, but I had a feeling it would become important once the game starts. Uhh… there's something written on here. It says… "With the might to control everything, would you create or destroy? What would you choose to become – a god or a demon?"
The way she talks is suspicious as well as the fact that she knew about the tablet and didn't mention it until now. The evidence is far from enough to make her the King, but Chishiya has become extra cautious when it comes to children. Hopefully his stubborn has become, too. He leans over to inspect the tablet while the girl scrolls down, quite fast to read all of it, but she's telling the truth.
"We have to choose one person to enter what they call the surveillance room", she mutters with a frown, "only then will the game continue."
Michael seems to have similar distrust issues and turns around the tablet to read it himself, but for now he won't find anything other than the truth as he grunts that all the doors have been closed the last time they checked, which must have been before Chishiya and his stubborn entered. Idiot. Why would any of these doors be open before the game has even started?
One of the others, a player wearing stained sweatpants and shirt, walks around to test all of the handles again. He starts with the four symbol doors, barely putting much effort into it, as if he already knows they won't open. The fifth door on the left side however opens to what must be the surveillance room. This player would have entered the door just like that if the girl hadn't held him back, clinging to both the tablet and his greasy shirt now.
"What do you think you're doing? If only one person can enter, we should talk about this first."
And like always, most of the players immediately begin to argue. Since this is a Hearts game, Chishiya is not surprised to find out that a handful of them are actually interested in being the "Chosen One", since it promises to get out of this alive while being able to decide over the fate of the others. Because of that and the fact that the King is most likely here in this room together with them, he'd prefer someone to enter who is definitely not a citizen. Only that he can name no more than three including him… and one is Michael, who obviously shouldn't be the one to choose for the rest of them.
Someone tucks at Chishiya's sleeve, and his stubborn looks up to him, partly worried and partly curious. "What do you think will be in this room?"
It is a good question and hard to answer without actually seeing it. Most likely, there will be a connection between the One and the symbol doors. Probably only one of them will lead to safety at a time?
"If it's a surveillance room", he concludes after a moment, "whoever goes inside might be able to watch the rest of us." Something in the upper corners of this room looks quite similar to a camera, which would confirm his theory here. "And it could be that they will be supposed to decide who of us is allowed to live and who should die."
But that's not all of it. There has to be a twist, because otherwise the One could simply let everyone die and exit the game in less than a minute. More rules that will most likely be explained once the One has entered the next room.
His stubborn sighs and shakes her head, apparently not too comfortable with the thought. Compared to the beginning of her day, she has been unusually silent and not complaining although Chishiya dragged her into the least game she would have chosen herself. She might not be happy about being here, but she's aware that she would not be alive at all otherwise.
"What about… what about drawing straws?" she then mutters to the rest of them, who are still trying to debate whether they're the right ones or not.
"Let face decide? I like that." It's the guy in sweatpants who agrees first. "You don't have a dozen of straws with you, by any chance?"
Assuming that would have been ridiculous, and there's no need to at all. The girl wearing her school uniform finally places down the tablet and instead picks up a couple of skewers from the fruit table. Chishiya knows she can't possibly be the King the very moment she eats some of the pieces of food while preparing the skewers, sealing her fate before the real game has even begun. No one here, not even Michael, has been stupid enough to touch the food. It is more than obvious to anyone that something can't be right with it, but the girl doesn't even notice the weird looks from the others while she continues to clear them and eat some of the fruit. "We can use these! Would anyone be against deciding by chance?"
Drawing straws most certainly isn't the best idea someone could have chosen; however in their current situation, there doesn't seem to be a better way to decide. "This leaves a one in ten chance of the King of Hearts being the one to enter the room", he explains to the others, which is an acceptable outcome. If the King ends up chosen, they're all dead. But if one of the other nine is the one, they do have a chance. Which still varies depending on who is to enter the room, but a chance nonetheless.
His stubborn seems to be a bit absent while inspecting the other players, and she flinches when the younger girl puts the now empty skewers into her hands, telling her that she should be the one to hold them since it has been her idea. This way, Chishiya at least can be sure that no one tries to cheat.
One of the skewers is broken into half, and whoever draws the short piece will be the One. It is simple and quick, and the players show a quite wide variety of reactions. Some, like Michael, are clearly upset that they can't have the main role in this one, while others sigh in relief. The schoolgirl can't seem to decide if she wants to be chosen or not, and in the end, it's better for all of them that she picks a long straw since no one can tell when the poison will finally kick in. A dead person inside the surveillance room will be just as bad as the King.
More straws are pulled out of the stubborn's shaking hands, and not a single one of them is broken. It is almost comical that one of the last two straws seems to be the short, and of course, it's not the guy in sweatpants to take it.
After everyone steps aside, his stubborn opens her hands and stares at the broken skewer resting in her palms. She is obviously scared for what will await her, but Chishiya has mixed feelings about it. A tiny part of him doesn't want her to go, because he knows that something bad might happen and he won't be able to get her out of it. A much bigger part however is glad that she is the One, because she is the only person inside these walls that Chishiya can trust. If there is one person trying to end this game without too many unnecessary deaths, it's her.
And while she has the undeniable trait to get herself into trouble, she still manages to survive one way or another. Both of them can handle some wounds that need to be treated after this… she just needs to survive one more game.
The broken skewer falls to the ground with a noise far too loud compared to the silence around them, but his stubborn hasn't moved yet. Chishiya watches how her eyes stare into her palms and then slowly move up towards the door. She doesn't want this, but it will be for the best. All she has to do is to be strong, for both of them.
Then she slowly turns around to him. She doesn't cry. Chishiya has seen this expression so many times now, and he knows that what she wants most now is to throw herself into his arms and cry like a child. But she doesn't do it.
A sudden pain shoots through his own hand and Chishiya realizes that the skewer he has still been holding has snapped into two now. Did he hold it that tightly?
His stubborn nods, and Chishiya does the same. It is all he can do while some other players shove her towards the room, impatient now for the real game to begin. There are many things he could have told her, but nothing sounds right in this moment. Only one short sentence, and it is unnecessary to tell her since she already knows.
Stay alive.
As soon as she disappears in the darkness, the door falls shut on its own, and nothing happens. The remaining nine players wait in silence for a minute or two, but most of them are getting restless. Two of the guys immediately begin to argue that it wasn't the right idea to let his stubborn go inside, as if talking about it would change anything now. They had their chance to refuse drawing skewers, and no one had said a word then. It's their own fault.
The schoolgirl picks up the tablet, hoping to find any new instructions there, although it remains blank. Eyeing the fruits, Chishiya wonders how the poison works. Will it be similar to the one used in the Queen of Hearts, kicking in when the game is about to end? But they were not given a timer for this. So far it doesn't look like the girl is experiencing any effects – no fatigue, no grimaced face, no-
A loud scream suddenly echoes through the room, too distorted to come from any of them. Chishiya immediately recognizes his stubborn's voice and his eyes jolt up to the camera where the sound is coming from. Whatever happens in that room, it doesn't sound good.
"Look at this!" exclaims the sweatpants guy, "seems we're really the ones being monitored. Can you hear us as well?"
"I do." Her voice sounds a bit pressed, but the origin of the pain seems to have gone. Michael asks what they all are thinking: what she's experiencing in the other room. The deep breath she takes is partly swallowed by the speakers, and her voice is trembling. Chishiya is sure that this is not just a side effect of the low-quality transmission material. "Right now, it just looks like a surveillance room with an electric chair in it. There are-"
"Hey!"
While the schoolgirl interrupts her and draws the attention back to tablet that is now showing new instructions, Chishiya frowns at the news he has just heard. An electric chair? Did she cry out because of that a moment ago? He leans over to inspect the tablet, which finally indicates that the game is moving on.
ONLY ONE DOOR WILL LEAD TO FREEDOM – CHOOSE WISELY TO SURVIVE.
THE GAME WILL BE CLEARED IF FIVE OR MORE PLAYERS ARE STILL ALIVE ONCE THE ENTRANCE HALL IS EMPTIED.
Once again the new message leads to new discussions, although Chishiya doesn't know how the mechanic behind the game couldn't be obvious. One of the four doors will allow a player to survive, and the correct door obviously changes, either in certain intervals or after someone has gone through. Choosing the wrong door will lead to death, and to make it a Hearts game, the observer will most likely have insight on what door is the right one. While giving away this knowledge is needed in at least four cases (or five, if the One doesn't count), it will lead to punishment. There wouldn't be any other way for the game masters to add an electric chair otherwise. His stubborn is expected to calculate which players she wants to allow living and which ones she will doom to escape another punishment.
An interesting mechanism.
The schoolgirl drops the tablet and points a concerned look at the camera. "How are we supposed to choose the right door?"
"I can help with that." With a crackle, the speakers come to live, and her breathing sounds like metal scratching against stone. "If I understood right, I'll be able to see which door is the right one."
A god or a demon. That was what the tablet said at the very beginning, and it makes sense now. His stubborn is the one in control over their lives – the exact reason why Chishiya prefers her on this chair over anyone else, even though it means she has to suffer.
Someone behind Chishiya snorts loud enough to be heard on the other side. "That sounds too easy for me."
"There will be punishment. I think it will be some kind of electric shock whenever I give someone a hint."
This statement doesn't fuel the trust of the others of course, and the schoolgirl immediately demands that Chishiya goes last to give the others better chances of surviving. Chishiya can't see any sense behind that – his stubborn cares for his safety most, but him going first or last has not the slightest impact on how many people are required to survive. He doesn't complain though, because he in fact has no intentions at all to go through the doors first.
This might not be a Diamonds game, but Chishiya can make it one. The right door might be chosen randomly, however there is a high chance that this choice is based on something else. A sequence maybe, a repetition that he could figure out if he analyzes it long enough. He could be able to prevent his stubborn from suffering too many shocks.
And for that, he needs to gather as much information about this as possible in the shortest amount of time. He does listen to the discussions around him, although it's not the useful information he is looking for. Just stupid people being stupid to each other.
Only when his stubborn states that she "can handle some pain", Chishiya is not able to hold back a smirk. This is an obvious lie that she's telling to the others and herself, because she'd be the first to cry whenever she bumps her toe or cuts her finger.
Electric shocks, however… Yes, he definitely needs to look behind the system. It will make the whole game lots more interesting.
"Whoever wants to begin", his stubborn throws in after some moments of silence, "the first room is Spades."
Chishiya has not a single doubt that she's speaking the truth, and he's already beginning to take mental notes. Spades is the first door to the left, which makes a quite obvious one to start with. And there has been no electrocution yet; his stubborn would have complained about that. Sounds of her breathing or the rattling of the chair still can be heard now and then, indicating that the speakers still work and she has had no reason to scream again yet.
„I'm not sure if we can trust them." The concern is voiced by one of the women, and a freckled youngster immediately jumps in. "But didn't they successfully clear a game before?"
"Yeah. A game where they cared only about the Jack. And maybe Romeo here."
Chishiya snorts at Michael's choice of words, not at all caring about what others think of him. The three of them have been in the same game, and he couldn't say that Michael did more to clear it than his stubborn. Sure, trusting the Jack that much was a clear mishap, but she has learned from her mistakes and didn't bond with anyone inside this room who might be the King this time.
"That's exactly what has bothering me for a while now", mutters the sweatpants one. He barely pays attention to the doors and instead has his eyes fixed on the camera, as if he doesn't even think about going through the Spades door. "I have a feeling that they might actually be the King of this game. And that they willingly chose to enter this room despite their behavior."
It is in this moment that Chishiya is almost sure of who the King is. His stubborn breathes in sharply, clearly surprised by the sudden accusation. She knows that it'd be hilarious to assume her being such a great actor in a situation like that, and Chishiya knows it too. But the others don't, and they're in a fragile situation where their life depends on someone they don't know.
This man wanted to enter the surveillance room right from the start, and he would have almost managed to do so. He was dangerously close to drawing the broken skewer, and he did not hide the disappointment when he wasn't the one to go. But on the other side, he didn't express too much anger because of it – he adapted to the situation quite quickly and now fuels the distrust and doubt inside the room.
It doesn't have to be him. Maybe he's just behaving as suspicious as the girl did before she ate those fruits, and yet it would suit him. The way he talks, the way he behaves. He doesn't seem to be foreign to this building, and he's not intimidated in any way. On top of that, he obviously likes to talk. There is a possibility that he might give away valuable information if he's allowed to talk long enough.
The schoolgirl presses the tablet against her chest, and Chishiya notices that she's still holding her skewer. "But… how? We have drawn sticks. The one person was supposed to be chosen by coincidence!"
"Who exactly held the sticks, hm? And who came up with the idea in the first place?" He stares into the camera provokingly, much to Chishiya's amusement. Implying that his stubborn deliberately manipulated the skewer game… That would have been an easy task to do, really. The faces around him show that the others share his thought, and they don't know the nature of the woman in the other room. They don't know that she'd be way too kind to cheat, and much too frightened to get busted.
Would he, the sweatpants wearing guy, have done that, if he had been the one holding the skewers?
"…it was them", answers the girl, just like she was intended to. The players know neither his stubborn nor this guy, and yet they choose to trust the one they can see, who's in the same room and knows how to manipulate with words on top of that. Truly an interesting character. And he states that there's more to why the stubborn woman would be the King, only making Chishiya more curious of what else he has in mind to pull people on his side.
His stubborn, however, doesn't find all this very amusing. Chishiya can hear her pant in dismay at the accusation, and the canny sound her voice is turned into by the speakers seems to separate her even more from the rest of the group despite her being already trapped in another room.
"No! No, that's not true. How could I be the King? I already participated in another game! I-"
She must have been focusing on the monitor because she stops talking the very moment Chishiya raises his hand. He smirks into the camera, almost sure that she won't approve of his tactic but this is not the time for discussions. They do not have a time limit, and he wants to make this game easier for her to endure by revealing the sequence. And for that… he needs all the information he can get.
"Let him talk."
While most seem to be surprised about his reaction – and his stubborn is losing faith in him, judging by her sharp inhale -, Michael is nothing but amused. "So you meant it when you said that everyone could be the enemy!" It is a hint only for those who had attended the Jack of Clubs, but this idiot clearly has gotten it wrong. Not that Chishiya would bother to explain.
Of course he knows that his stubborn is not the King. There is a chance, yes, but it's too marginal to consider. If anything, this woman is the only person he'd trust at all, but that is not the point here. This is about something different this time.
And the one Chishiya supposes to be King immediately takes the bait. "Anyways. Wouldn't it make sense for the King to try their best to get into this room, so they can lead us all to death easily?"
Yes, Chishiya muses in his thoughts, that's what you would have preferred. A quick and clean way to win this your way.
"The game would end very quickly. And what easier way is there to get into the room other than something like the method of drawing skewers? It seems to be by chance, but all of you should know that it is easy to manipulate things. By holding the skewers AND being the last one to draw, it is not such a big deal at all to keep the broken skewer for yourself."
Is it necessary to reconsider the King's intentions? The way he talks, he would have been able to find out what the broken skewer is without being the one to hold it. Is it possible that he chose the other one on purpose? To make this game a bit more interesting for himself?
As a King, he sure will want his game to be a challenge both for him and the players. And it seems so much more fun to manipulate and playing up people against each other than to simply kill one by one from a different room. Like this, it won't be an easy win, but one doesn't choose to become the King of Hearts if they want an easy game.
The good thing is that his stubborn seems to have realized it too. Her voice, despite sounding distorted through the speakers, is now cold and lacking any sympathy. She really has learned from her mistake with Hibiki. "You were the first one to try and get into this room."
But the King wouldn't be the King if he wasn't ready for a smooth counter. "Yes, because I am a curious person. If someone offers me the chance to become a god, how could I not try and take it?"
The best way to lie is not to lie at all. Put whatever you want to say in a way that it contains the truth and people will believe you, even if the meaning of the final sentence is twisted. Even as the King, he has no need to hide his curiosity. As someone who voluntarily entered this game, it shouldn't be an uncommon trait to be curious or adventurous.
Not everyone falls for his words so easily, though. "That's not really much evidence, if you ask me", mutters one of the women with a quiet voice.
"That was just one part. In case our friend here told the truth by mentioning that they befriended the Jack – and I see no reason to doubt that because they confirmed it already – couldn't there be a possibility that they entered the game to support the Jack, to help him win?"
That possibility would include the allowance to leave one's game area so to attend another game. Chishiya doesn't see a way so far how that'd be possible since the games are not bound to fix times when they begin. It usually depends on the correct number of players, which can hardly be predicted.
"How should the King be able to leave their game only to take part in another one?" Michael seems to have the same thought, which is surprising since it means that he actually carries anything around in his head that might resemble the shadow of a brain. "All face-card games appeared at the same time. On top of that, they didn't do much to prevent us from winning."
The King hums while scratching his neck, and he eyes the poisoned food as if he's hungry. What a coincidence it would be – the second person Chishiya highly trusts to be the King falling for the trap. But he doesn't take them. "I can only guess about that. You see, those blimps have been up for five days now. I just can't imagine that our enemies will sit in there, waiting for us to come without even a break. They are still human, aren't they? Thus they need to sleep and eat as well, maybe even stretch their legs once in a while."
So you're hungry.
Lurking around in this room with fresh fruits right next to one that can't be touched must be quite the challenge when hunger is growing. And this is when things finally get even more interesting.
It is the oldest of them stepping forward, a woman dressed like a 90-year old, shaking in both her movements and voice. "There was no reason for the King to bother about their own game. The game was shut down for a certain amount of time after the first group failed."
And in that moment, everything snaps into place.
With games as hard as those in the second stage, it only makes sense that not all of them are completed on the first try. Chishiya remembers that during the first stage, people have failed as well, either by not completing the game's task or losing against the Dealers.
Now, the second stage can only be mastered once all twelve games are cleared, and things would be over too soon of there was only one chance. But preparing the area again takes some time, and that time can easily be used by the Citizen to explore the rest of the Borderlands… or witness another game.
The old woman cannot have been part of the first group, though. The rules don't allow a single survivor to get out of this unless it's the King, so she must have known the players and somehow witnessed their failure.
Was the King the One during the first try? Did he send them all to doom within minutes and got bored because it was too easy?
"There already has been another group", explains the old woman at his stubborn's questioning, "trying to clear the game. I waited for them to come out, but… no one came out. There was just a sign saying that the game was being prepared for a retry." She must have been the eleventh player, then. One too many for the game. And who would be more suited to wait outside than an old woman, already doomed to death by her age?
Chishiya nods in understanding. "How interesting. When was that?"
"It was… two days ago."
"And when did you attend the Jack-game?" the King asks, chin pointed towards the black device in the upper corner. He really knows how to twist things, Chishiya has to give him that.
His stubborn hesitates a second, knowing that whatever she answers, it won't help her gain trust. "Two days ago."
This only feeds the chaos once more. The annoying discussions and senseless arguments about who can be trusted in a room where not a single one should follow someone else's word without thinking three times about it. Since it remains a Hearts game, people should expect lies and corruption. But somehow, humans always seek for one person they can look up to, as if they don't want to think for themselves.
And again, the King does what he seems to be best at: being more than obvious while blaming someone else, which, together with his choice of words, makes him credible again to the rest of his audience. "Never underestimate the power of manipulation. Think about it – they could have brought both of them into this area where the sniper would chase them, right next to this game area and when only two more people are missing for the game to start. Just saying."
"Lies, all of them!" His stubborn is clearly losing patience, and Chishiya can easily understand why. It must be hard for her, having close to no way of defending herself while her own life is on stake as well. "It is so obvious he's trying to put the blame on me, how can you join his side without even blinking? I never wanted to be part of a Hearts game at all!"
Chishiya must admit that he's getting bored of this by now. And just in time, one of the female players seems to have lost patience as well, because she's crying out and acting like a maniac. "Stop it. Stop it, all of you! This isn't getting us anywhere. Someone has to make a start. I want to trust you, I really do. You said it was Spades, right?"
Everyone watches expectantly how she heads to the Spades door and opens it. She doesn't even ask for any further confirmation, which turns out to be her death. Because just in the moment the door closes behind her, the stubborn gasps in terror and Chishiya can even hear her struggles in the chair. "Wait. No, no, something's wrong! Wait! It's not-"
Then there's just silence. A rattled, tinny breath sounds through the speakers, a desperate sound that tells Chishiya all he has to know. The right door was not Spades any longer. For some reason, it has changed, and the brave woman who tried to make a start and wanted to trust the One is obviously dead.
How inconvenient.
"What happened?!" one of the others stutters, and it is a question that lingers on most of the people's tongues. All except Chishiya and the King, who is barely hiding a grin that no one else notices.
"The room, it…" his stubborn sounds devastated, because she knows exactly what that is going to mean for the already fragile trust situation, "it changed. It wasn't Spades anymore. I don't know why, it…"
"So you killed her."
"I didn't want to! It all went so fast, I didn't even have a chance to warn her, I-"
She could have checked her monitor during their conversation though, but it's too late to bring that on now. Fact is that the sequence has moved on, and she didn't suffer any punishment. Because she didn't save a life. So even if she gives away the right door, her punishment only comes as soon as someone actually enters it. Which is clever because that way, it is impossible to tell if the One is announcing the right door until someone goes through.
"It seems the right room doesn't only switch as soon as someone walks through a door", which has not been stated officially but is just logical to assume, "but the whole system is time-gated as well."
Chishiya doesn't care for the life of the dead woman. Nine of them are still left, which is more than enough to clear the game since they only need five. And now, his stubborn won't be that careless and will check twice which door is currently safe to enter. "What room is it now?"
His stubborn takes a deep breath, trying to calm down after the shock. "It is Clubs… But the right one for her would have been Diamonds."
Spades, the first door, has been the first room. Diamonds, door number two, followed next, and then Clubs, the fourth door. The sequence left out the third door, Hearts, but it is unlikely that it will just continue like this. Too predictable.
"Would have been too easy if there was a system, right?" laughs the King dryly, "the choice is random, that's what the chosen one is for. We need them to suffer so we can live."
"Maybe not", Chishiya throws in. The King wants his stubborn to suffer, just like he wants to see all of them dead. It is also possible that he truly believes the doors are chosen randomly. "Maybe there is a sequence to this. I just have to see through it."
In his head, he arranges the four doors in an infinite chain. Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs. Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs. The first skip moved on one door, the second as well. If the system followed the simplest of sequences, the next door should have been Hearts, but it is Clubs. Assuming that it always moves one door to the right, leaving out the Hearts door, would be too obvious. Chishiya could think of other sequences as well that would fit the scheme so far, but it's too early to tell for sure so early. He needs more information.
The freckled guy shakes his head in disbelief. "Is no one going to talk about the fact that they just murdered the first person to enter?! Right after we talked about them possibly being the King?"
It wasn't murder, and she is not the King, but Chishiya can see why this train of thought would be obvious.
"I told you, this was not supposed to happen…" she's desperately trying to defend herself, but no one except the freckled guy pays attention to her. Instead, the focus seems to have shifted towards the King and Chishiya.
"You're forgetting this is a Hearts game, blondie, not Diamonds. I don't think we should rely on mathematics to get out of here alive."
Of course not, because if we do, you won't get out of this as a living human being. "And I say mistakes such as the last one could be prevented if someone properly thinks this through." Which includes both his mind and his stubborn paying full attention to whatever she sees in the other room.
"With this someone, you're talking about yourself?" A sharp finger is poked against Chishiya's chest, but he doesn't bother too much. It is too amusing to see how the King clearly doesn't want someone with intellect within his rooms.
"Exactly."
"Your ridiculous cleverness will get you killed sooner or later, Romeo."
In fact, his ridiculous cleverness is what has kept Chishiya alive so far, and it will follow that purpose for quite some time longer.
The teasing would have probably gone on for a while if it wasn't for his stubborn interrupting them. "Guys…? Chishiya? The light changed again. It switched back to Spades now – ouch!"
Chishiya frowns for a Heartbeat at the pained sound suddenly coming through the speakers, but it only makes sense. Since she's about to give away the sequence, the game counts that as a hint and thus answers with punishment. Which is only indicating that there is, in fact, a sequence that can be discovered.
But who decides when to give the punishment? The King doesn't seem to have any influence in this, since his hands are both clearly visible and thus not holding any kind of device that could initiate the electric shock. Probably one of the supervisors.
It's not the time to think about that though, since his stubborn has given Chishiya valuable information. The next door is Spades, she said. So one of his ideas is already out of question, but what else could it be? The Fibunacci sequence? No, in that case, Hearts should have already been a door as well. It doesn't make much sense so far.
A sudden gust of sweat fills Chishiya's nostrils when Michael approaches him and the King. "I know Romeo wants us to sit here for hours until he figures out a possible sequence, but I have a feeling that this is not what the game masters want us to do. Don't you agree?" he adds, addressing the camera, and the answer comes immediately.
"If this is everything waiting for me, if it's not going to get worse, I'll handle the pain with ease. And if the game masters really become impatient, maybe we should work together until you are sure about the sequence."
Chishiya is positive that this is meant for him, and he nods as a sign that he's in. Although he doubts that the punishment will remain that soft – it will most likely increase with every time.
Another one of the females steps forward. "I want to get out of here, so tell me. Which door do you think will be the right one?"
For some reason, the women seem to be the wannabe heroes this time, since the men only use their brain for beefing around.
"We literally just talked about them being the King, they killed someone, and you are just going to trust them like this?" sputters the freckled guy, and Michael reacts immediately. "This is a Hearts game, buddy. You're supposed to trust nobody if you want to get out of this. Tell us then, Romeo. Are you clever enough to figure it out already? Eh?"
Not reacting to the stupid nickname, Chishiya watches the doors. One, two, five. No… There are still too many variants in this. "It's hard to make out a pattern so early. I'll need a few more rounds so I can tell for sure."
"Let's wait until the next switch", his stubborn eventually says, "to avoid any more… unwanted incidents." The anticipation is almost sensible in the air, and then, she inhales sharply. "There, the next one. Clubs."
"I'll find you in hell and beat you up if you're lying to me", swears the oh-so-heroic woman while she makes her way to the Clubs door.
Chishiya expects silence to follow, like the first time a player went through this. But whatever happens on the other side, it is impossible to tell, because loud screams burst through the speakers. Just like Chishiya predicted, the punishment this time is definitely not that easy to handle.
And for once he wishes that he hasn't been right.
His stubborn quickly recovers from the worst pain, but the shallow and shaky breathing remains for some time longer. Witnessing her state of discomfort makes it harder to focus, however Chishiya forces himself to visualize the infinite chain of doors once more. She has done her part, and he must take care of his.
Clubs.
Despite this not fitting his expectations, there is one way how it could all make sense. It's a wild guess, unlikely to be true. And yet it would work out.
Chishiya calls her name, trying to bring her back from whatever place she tries to hide. He's not the only one attempting to speak to her, and it makes him slightly angry to see how some of the others obviously find pleasure in her suffering.
"Listen to this", grins Michael with pure delight, "this is what punishment should sound like, eh? Honestly though… you sound more like the nightly visitors my brother used to have before he died."
In case enough people make it to the other side… this man will die within these walls. Chishiya will make sure of that. He let that opportunity pass during the Jack of Clubs, and now he will make up for it. His stubborn has suffered enough because of this idiot.
He focuses on the camera again, her name leaving his lips so easily. "Focus! I need to know when the light switches again."
A hoarse creak is the answer. "I'm sorry… what?"
"You need to tell me the room currently active before it switches again. Otherwise it will complicate figuring out the sequence." It might sound heartless, but she surely will understand that he needs this information to ease her pain and to get them out of this as fast as possible. Do your part. I'll do mine.
The schoolgirl drops in, and Chishiya notices the way she has hunched her back slightly and is clinging to her stomach. Feeling the effects of the poison already? "What he is trying to tell you is, make sure to remember what you see. Maybe if you wait for the next one and tell us both symbols at once, the punishment will be less hard?"
That's an option too, as long as she doesn't forget what she sees. Chishiya has two possible sequences that could fit, and if he's right, the next door should either be Diamonds or Hearts. In case she misses one step, it will ruin the whole image, throwing them back to the very beginning.
"Where's the fun behind that? The mouse should scream for us!"
Now that Chishiya has decided that Michael will die when it won't affect them, his words don't bother him that much any longer. And he barely cares for the smirk on the King's face, knowing that it will vanish once his heart stops beating. Which it will do, at the end of this.
"It might still be too early to tell for sure", his stubborn explains once she has regained her senses, "but I think the shocks are not that heavy when I tell you the right door without someone passing through. Only when it actually saves someone, the punishment gets hard."
A new voice chimes in this time, belonging to the one wearing the bloodied suit. "Where's the point in finding out the sequence if we still rely on their help to find out when another room is activated? It doesn't seem like anyone here has some kind of inner clock."
How can you tell without even asking?
Chishiya can't tell for sure if his 'inner clock' can be relied on, but if that's the case, then the room should have switched by now.
"You're right, except…" it's the schoolgirl chiming in again, "assumed the shocks really are not that hard when the tip doesn't actually save someone. Couldn't they just tell us that xy is not the door anymore as soon as it switches? I'm pretty sure it'd still count as a minor tip."
"That could actually work, yes. It was Diamonds and is Spades now."
Bingo.
While Chishiya doesn't feel the pain himself, listening to her voice makes him clench his teeth. It is just the minor shock, he tells himself. That she can handle with ease – and probably with lots of complains afterwards.
"Hope you don't mind?"
Before he or one of the others can react, the man wearing the bloodstained suit rushes through the Spades door, as if he is tired of discussing with them in the main room. This leads them nowhere! All his stubborn wanted to do was to give them a minor tip to figure out the next door themselves, and now that another player has safely made it to the other side, another major shock follows. Three more to go, but according to the groans and pants banging through the speaker, it will be more than hard to endure three more of these.
She won't have to. Enough hints have been given now.
"What door is it now?" shouts the girl into the camera, but his stubborn is still too dazed to answer. Realizing this as well, she looks to Chishiya instead. "You've figured it out, haven't you?" she steps closer to him, speaking low enough so the two sadists on the other side of the room won't hear too much. "It's twice Diamonds, right?"
He stares at the girl with actual surprise. Has she actually managed to find out the same sequence he did? In such a short time as well? For someone stupid enough to eat the poisoned food – which shows more and more now with her pale, slightly green skin and mourns that escape her mouth now and then – this is quite an achievement. He nods. "After Spades comes twice Diamonds…"
"…and then Clubs?"
"And then Clubs."
The excitement on her face is almost catching, and she turns to the camera in the corner again. "Listen to me! Is it Diamonds?"
But his stubborn doesn't answer. It takes her much longer to recover from the shock this time, and this alone is enough reason for Chishiya to worry. He doesn't even deny it himself… he's worried about that woman. Not because her death would affect the game; no. Right now, they could manage to solve this without her help. He's worried for her wellbeing, because… he wants her to be fine.
"Arrgh, this is no use…" the youngster runs to the doors and points at them, first at the Diamonds door, then at Clubs, then back to Diamonds. It admittedly looks quite foolish, but Chishiya realizes what she's up to. There's a chance that his stubborn can see them but either isn't able to hear or to answer, but like this, they can make clear that they figured it out. "Please! Answer us! For God's sake, please! We need to know if it's right!"
And then, suddenly, there is an answer. It is low, hoarse, fragile, but it's an answer. "Wait… for the next change."
Chishiya releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding, while the King and someone else muse if the other player made it through. He must have survived; otherwise the shock wouldn't have been that heavy.
The words around him blur as he focuses on the camera. He doesn't care for the other people's doubts. He's not interested in their talk about trust, since this topic is already getting boring. All Chishiya is interested right now is the heavy breathing coming through the speakers, and everything is fine as long as he can hear it.
Three more people. The King will die, and the schoolgirl as well. But two have already made it through, and his stubborn will live too, making it three. Even if Michael dies, three more people remain, including Chishiya. It is more than enough to live.
"I think you guys actually did it!" Most of the pain has left his stubborn's voice now and is replaced by excitement as she confirms their theory. "It has changed again, just the way you predicted."
He can barely hear the change in her voice this time when the shock comes. She must have told the truth stating that she could handle the minor ones, and there's barely anything that could go wrong now. Even when the girl next to him raises her first for a high-five, Chishiya repeats the stupid gesture, knowing that it will make his stubborn smile to witness it.
"How did you figure it out?" she asks, back to her old curious self.
"It was a bit tricky", answers Chishiya with a hum as he eyes the doors, "but only because there was one piece that would not fit into the puzzle at first. Didn't you have a feeling that Diamonds has a longer time of being activated than the other doors?" He glimpses over to the King and Michael, who both stare at him with disbelief. Michael because he doesn't understand a thing, and the King because he has not expected anyone to achieve this. Most of all if he didn't know about a sequence at all and really believed the choice was random.
"I can't tell for sure, but… I've seen the lamp over Diamonds flicker already twice now. No other lamp has done that. Maybe it is broken or something?"
If she had given him this information earlier, things would have been easier. All the same now. "No, that's not it. I'd even go as far as to say that Diamonds is active precisely twice as long as the others, because it is always chosen twice in a row."
This is a detail Chishiya hadn't considered at first, and it did confuse his calculations. But he wouldn't be the cleverest head in all the Borderlands if he wouldn't be able to figure that out, and once he had considered the option of Diamonds being chosen twice, it all made sense.
Both to him and the schoolgirl. "Yes! It's pretty easy once you see it. Diamonds twice, then Clubs, Spades, Clubs, twice Diamonds again, Spades. And then repeat. Your boyfriend is a genius!"
It is almost sad that this girl seems to be so clever, and yet she hasn't understood the correlation between her stomachache and the food she has eaten. Or maybe she did get it but doesn't want to realize the fact that she killed herself before it all even started. Such a pity. It is interesting though that they seem to have different approaches for this – the girl is paying attention to the repetition of the symbols, while Chishiya has found out the algorithm behind it all.
"I am, indeed", Chishiya returns with a chuckle, and it makes him smirk that his stubborn seems capable of joking again.
"What, my boyfriend or a genius?"
He has to admit that he doesn't like that term at all. Boyfriend. It sounds so childish, so naïve, but… thinking about the definition of it, isn't that basically what he is? For the moment, it is not of any importance what will happen to them once they leave the Borderlands. Here and now, denying that their relationship is more than just a simple companionship would be ignorant. And that he's a genius should be out of question anyway. "Maybe both."
Michael lets out a grunt that sounds more than disgusted. "Jeez, I'm going to vomit! Can't you save those things for later? You can't tell me you want to save our lives by counting the few symbols we've had so far."
Those simple-minded idiots. "Oh, it is part of a mathematic algorithm that I already calculated much further in my head, but I will spare you the details because you won't understand it anyway." It is basically nothing more than a sequence that repeats itself over and over, but this man is not even intelligent enough to understand the sequence as such. "I should now be able to tell you with a hundred percent accuracy what symbol the next door will have, even the next hundred doors. The algorithm will cause the sequence to repeat at a certain point, no matter how far you calculate."
He doesn't mention that it will get a bit annoying to calculate this at some point, but they don't need to get that far.
The fourth man still in the main hall steps forward. "It never chooses the Hearts door."
"Subtle irony, isn't it." Chishiya agrees with the King here, and he already has a guess that this will be important for the very last door. One last obstacle, as to speak.
"Bless you, by friend", chimes the old woman in, "because of you, I'll be able to take revenge for the friends I've lost in here."
As if he has done any of this for her. "I am not your friend, and I don't care for your god's blessings. But you can have your revenge as soon as it swaps back to Diamonds."
"I will tell you."
Chishiya is sure that his stubborn will do that, and waiting for Diamonds is clever since this will give them the most time. The old woman has understood that, and now she's wasting her energy in trying to convince the others. If she's the third one to survive, Chishiya won't mind at all. She can sure be annoying with her talk about god and blessings, but she's easier to endure than Michael or the King.
"Now."
Slow and composed, the elder walks towards the Diamonds door, speaking another prayer towards the speaker that is now uttering clenched sounds of pain. It has been worse than that already, Chishiya tells himself. All he has to do is waiting for Spades to be active, and the rest of them can-
"…twice Diamonds, yes? So no time to lose!"
Until now, Chishiya has assumed that the freckled man is smarter than Michael and the King, but just like the schoolgirl, he proves him wrong. There's no way the old woman could have already made it to the other side and he's already rumbling through the door, where Chishiya can still see the woman's outdated clothes.
"No! You fool, you-" the schoolgirl screams with a high-pitched voice, and Chishiya can see flames engulf the room just as the door closes, and the screams of both are drowned out. All of them… idiots.
"We shouldn't do that again." The voice of his stubborn is tired, as if she just wants to get up and leave this place now.
The schoolgirl shakes her head and moves her hand through sweaty strands of hair, as if she can't grasp what she just witnessed. "What… what happened?"
"He nearly killed both of them. I don't know about the older woman, but Freckles is dead for sure."
Good for the idiot. Probably bad for the woman. Whatever made him believe that it's a smart idea to enter a room while another player is still inside, it has been the most foolish idea of this day.
"Freckles? Don't tell me you have such stupid nicknames for all of us?" snorts the King into the camera, both amused and annoyed by it, even though he should be the last one to complain, since he and Michael are not much better.
Said man bursts out laughing. "What am I then, eh? Goliath, Schwarzenegger? Tell me, little mouse!"
What you are? You're as good as dead.
"It was still on Diamonds when he entered", his stubborn concludes, "so I assume the Game Masters didn't want two people to be in there simultaneously."
"Of course they don't", says the King, "they want the one inside the chair to suffer for the others, and it would be against this idea if two people always went through the room at the same time."
As if he doesn't care about being subtle any longer. It is a miracle to Chishiya anyway how Michael and the girl don't seem to have figured out yet that he's the King, since the Citizen would never agree to leave the main hall before everyone else does. Which means that it has to be one of them, and everyone else obviously does not come into question.
But the schoolgirl seems not to care about the King at all. She's swaying now, and her voice has lost most of her strength. Chishiya would have sent her through the wrong door just to allow her a quicker death if she wasn't clever enough to look behind that lie.
"We still have enough people to make it. Can… can I go next? This game makes me feel sick. I… I want to get over with this as soon as possible."
Oh, the sheer irony in her own words. Of course the game makes her sick. The game is slowly killing her because she has not paid attention to what she did. Such cleverness; wasted. She proves her value one last time when she shakes her head, as if to interrupt any help coming from the surveillance room. "I know the way. Save your strength for him."
Chishiya watches how she enters the Diamonds door, and he knows she made it to the other side. Only that it won't count because she won't be alive when the rest of them leave the main hall.
Now there's just three of them left. Chishiya, Michael, and the King. Two of them will be dead in a couple of minutes.
"So it is you after all, you bastard! Eh!" Michael doesn't sound too surprised or bothered by that.
Neither does the King. "What makes you so sure of that?"
"If blonde Romeo here was one of the enemies, it'd be a Diamonds game. No one would waste such a brain for Hearts. And them?" Michael snorts with a nod towards the corner, "they remind me of my brother, you know. Wanted to be perfect, loved by everyone, bla bla. Cancer took him in at the end of the day, and I made sure that he'd make over all his money to me while the pain meds kept him inside a delirious state. He was too naïve to think people would actually abuse him or his wealth… Yet none of his friends attended his funeral. A corpse can't give them money, eh? And Crybaby here is just the same."
Ridiculous. What an unnecessary speech with unnecessary information. No one has asked about his history and no one wants to hear about it. This comparison lacks any substance, but it'd be a waste to tell him.
"You're the perfect Hearts player. Has anyone ever told you that?" the King compliments, and both of them start laughing.
"It's a shame no one asked me to be the King. This world is exactly geared to my needs!"
Chishiya doesn't even doubt that it would be true. Michael would certainly be capable of leading a Hearts game, if he tried not to be too obvious. Only that it requires being still alive at the end of stage two for making oneself suitable as a Citizen.
The noise coming from his stubborn makes it easy to imagine what her face must be looking like right now. "You two are disgusting."
"And look where it has brought me, eh! Guess I'm the next one, eh! Tell me, Romeo – which door is it?"
It is Spades. And once the time for Spades runs out, it will be Clubs. While it was impossible to lead the schoolgirl the wrong way, doing it with Michael will be pretty easy. "It's Clubs."
They don't need him to survive, and his stubborn should be glad to have him gone after this. Her silence tells Chishiya that she didn't expect him to lie, and he tries to tell her through the camera that she should play along. Both of them want Michael gone. Just one little lie, it doesn't matter much in a world like this.
"I want to hear it from you too", Michael grins into the camera, completely oblivious to what's going on, suffer for me once more, little mousie!"
"Yes. It's Clubs."
She does not make this choice lightheartedly, it's obvious in her voice. But Michael steps through the Clubs door and his stubborn suffers no shock. He's gone – forever.
The King seems to be waiting for screams of agony, and he is already looking forward to it with such pure joy, although it falls off like a mask the moment he realizes what has actually happened. "Wait, there- there was no punishment. You lied to him!" He seems surprised, yes, but the amusement remains. Even more when he hears the next comment through the speakers, muttered in a voice of regret.
"We killed him."
"He hurt you." There should be no need for Chishiya to explain this. They have their five players. The game is as good as cleared.
And his stubborn agrees. "It doesn't matter. We have won. With you and me, there will be more than five survivors."
Just five, to be exact – the schoolgirl doesn't count. In the end, they managed to get rid of the most annoying players without much effort, and now there is no one left who could be seduced by the King's silver tongue. "No one really cared to reveal the King. Aren't you disappointed that you were not interesting enough?"
The King leans against the table, once again eyeing the fruit with temptation. "They didn't care much about the King because they would live no matter what, as long as enough people made it out of this. They trusted in you to guide them! And this is what you made of it. You were so clever! You even figured out the sequence. I didn't even know there was one, heh! And you would have won, you would have lived, if you didn't sacrifice this man for whatever he has done to you in the past. But now…"
He clearly can't count if he really assumes they can't win. "You're wrong", interrupts his stubborn with a pained, but determined voice, "we need five players to win. Maths might not be your strength, but four people already made it. There is no way we could lose now."
"Ahh, listen to yourself. So sure about victory, it almost touches my heart… But didn't you say yourself that it's not sure if the old woman survived? And there is something you should know about these lovelies here", the King grins while taking a bite from the skewer.
Now that it is obvious that he won't survive this game a second time, the King doesn't have to worry about the trap and can enjoy a last meal before he dies. What he is about to reveal is no secret to Chishiya though, so he doesn't wait for him to speak. "They're poisoned."
And in this moment, his stubborn finally realizes what has been wrong with the young girl. "Oh no."
"Oh yes! With the little girl gone, three of you remain on the other side. Assumed the old lady survived. If she died as well, it will be such a wonderful game over for you…"
The calculation has been risky, yes. It is unlikely that the old woman died; she might be severely injured due to the flames, but his stubborn has seen her leave the room, so she will live long enough for the game to end. What happens to her afterwards doesn't matter, as long as she still counts for the players.
"Assumed she survived, then we'll be five even with the girl gone. And since you ate those fruits, you are fully aware that you won't get out of this alive."
"My clever friend, this is a Hearts game. Not all things can be solved with mathematics in here. Oh, it's wonderful when people cherish the hope that they can win. I am glad that the first group failed, because I would have missed the twists and turns this time!" The King hovers above the fruit, not yet sure what he should take next. "I didn't sit on that chair during the first round either. It was someone just like you, honest and pure, but weak. She passed out after the fourth one made it through, and they were not clever enough to see through the sequence. They waited for her to regain consciousness, but in the end, they just chose a door and hoped one of them would make it. There was only one more needed to win, and five people left, so quite high chances, right?"
It's disgusting to watch how he stuffs more fruit into his mouth than actually fits, and he doesn't even swallow all of it down before he continues to talk. "They were just not lucky. Not a single one chose the right door, and all of them had to die. Imagine the despair of the four people on the other side when they realized that no one else was coming through those doors! Death in its finest beauty."
Interesting... So Chishiya's assumption has been wrong. He didn't lead the first round and was just a simple watcher, like he was here. And as the King, he doesn't count for the five players needed to end this game. He could still survive even if they died, and there would be no reason for him to eat the poison… unless he's lying. Cruel enough to enjoy other people's suffering, but calm enough to patiently wait for it.
His stubborn, on the other side, doesn't have any patience left. "I don't see what this has to do with us!" She wants to be done with this, and Chishiya wants her away from the chair. Time to end this.
"Let me tell you a secret, since I am impressed about how far you've come. Both of you have to survive, so either Romeo relies on his calculations – which won't help him any longer – or you tell him and take the last punishment willingly. Well… I don't have to remind you this is a Hearts game, which means there is always a twist."
Said twist being that the last door won't follow the sequence? Chishiya has already guessed that much, and the way the King mentions this confirms it. But this is not the twist he has been talking about.
"The last shock will kill you. So clever, and yet so foolish. So utterly foolish! Who could have ever foreseen a splendid outcome like this? I wish I could witness the end of you two, I really do."
The certainty of the King's death makes Chishiya wonder what would happen if all of them actually died. If that 'twist' was not only a lie to make them insecure but the truth, and both the Citizen and the players would die. What would happen to the game?
"One last thing before I leave." The King, still chewing on a bright red strawberry, has headed to the Hearts door, knowing that it won't be the one leading to freedom. "What name did you have for me?"
The answer through the speaker comes in an instant. "Sweatpants."
"Hah! I like that."
They witness in silence how the King ends his own life, and no one speaks for a moment. Chishiya doubts that the last shock will be enough to kill her, but it is a risk he doesn't want to take. One that he doesn't need to take, at all. The King wouldn't have killed himself if he knew the players would not make it. "I know which door it is. You don't have to take a risk."
But his stubborn has chosen this moment to live up her name. "I don't think you should do this on your own. Let's work together once more and leave this game behind."
"You don't trust me." They did work together after all, which lead them here. Now, Chishiya can take this last step on his own.
"I'm not questioning your intelligence, Chishiya. But I do not trust this game."
"So you want to risk it and put up with the shock?" Enough pain. Enough of this game. She doesn't need to be the hero now – she has proven already that she was capable of taking it.
"Maybe he was lying. No, I am sure he was lying." She doesn't sound sure, though. "This last punishment won't kill me. He just said that to irritate us. I told you before that I can handle the pain."
"You can't." Not this time. Not more of this. Chishiya is sure that the King has said it only to irritate them, but they don't need to find it out. He knows what the last door will be.
"Have faith in me, just for once. Okay?"
I have faith in you.
Chishiya turns away from the camera and sighs. They're both too stubborn for this now. But the truth is that the end is in sight, and he won't waste any more time. "You have ten seconds to decide if you want to stay sane."
He doesn't intend to wait ten seconds. Focusing on the right door, he already steps forward and reaches out his hand to open it, when he hears his stubborn take a deep breath through the speakers.
"It is Hearts."