Three meetings, all but one are guilty

After i had cooled my head off from the initial shock by strolling around the island, i found myself on a bench in a small park uphill. From there i could see most of the island, including the 16 houses sitting in the center of the whole place. I went through the text again and again, trying to understand the meaning of it, and if any of it was true. Being as i was, caught in the train of thought, i didn't even hear the footsteps of someone approaching.

I looked up and my gaze met by a pair brown eyes staring intently at me. A beautiful girl was standing in front of me. I was thinking i talked with her and several other people in the morning, but this was the first time i'd taken a good look at her. She had medium, straight brown hair, caught up in a pony tail and a casual white t-shirt and shorts, just like me and everybody else who woke up on this island, a beautiful face lit up by her smile, and gorgeous -

"Hey, how long are you going to stare? Hmph, so rude! You didn't even greet me or offer me a seat on the bench. What kind of man are you?"

"I - uhm ... Sorry!" What's wrong with her?

"Ahahah, just kidding! I really got you there, didn't i? You should've seen your face! Well, anyways, sorry about that. My name's Samantha!"

"Jeez, talk about a troublesome introduction. Why did you say that? You almost made me think i was in the wrong here. You come up to me and disturb my thoughts and then expect a warm welcome? I don't even know you. But whatever, we'll call it quits. My name's Michael by the way, or so it says in that text the robot sent us. Nice to meet you, i guess."

"Nice to meet you too, Michael Bideaway. So what important phylosophical thinking did i interrupt you from?"

Was she messing with me? I brushed off the lame joke she tried to pull and responded.

"Actually, i was thinking about this whole situation we're in right now if you haven't noticed yet. What happened to us and what is up with that text, saying that we will take part in a killing game, that's what i was racking my brains out for."

"And what's there to think so much about? Do you think you can escape or change anything? Whoever put us here is clearly far above us in terms of power. I just took everything at face value: we woke up with no memories on a foreign island, and a fully autonomous one if we're at that, with only robots to take care of everything. I think it's safe to assume that the game is no lie either."

"Well then, why do you seem so calm? Aren't you scared?"

"Of course i am, but i made my peace with it. Afterall, as i said, it looks like we will definitely participate in the game sooner or later."

"I guess you do have a point. Well, whatever, why did you come up to me? Couldn't you find a better conversation buddy than me? I mean, i don't mind being somebody's first choice at all, but still."

"Haha, you think so highly of yourself that i would want to talk with you specifically. Not at all actually, i was just looking for a peaceful place to think about a course of action, but you were here instead. There goes my peaceful morning." she sighs.

Wow, she didn't have to be so honest.

"Well then, miss I'm-too-good-to-talk-with-others, what course of action were you considering? Surely it must be something incredible, right?"

"Yeah, it is actually. Since i probably can't do anything about the game itself, maybe i should look at it from another point of view. If everyone on the island agrees, we could work up a strategy together to save everyone, or as many as possible."

"Sorry to break it to you, but you said it yourself, you can't do anything about the game itself, so if assuming the best possible outcome based on the game rules, 4 people will have to die. Those are 4 out of 5 evil roles since one of them can be saved by the partner rule, and i'm repeating it, this would only happen in the best case scenario. Do you think you can save everyone? And what if you are one of the evil roles? Most people probably won't even listen to you, since they won't wish to be sitting ducks waiting to be shot."

"I know all of that, i really do, but for now i was just thinking to get everyone on the same page and not start off with something as bad as a murder, and we'll work from there after that."

"Alright, i get it, but why are you willing to make such an effort for people you don't even know, in a game we're not sure it's real?"

"Well, i'll tell this just to you, but i am very, very passionate about ..... not dying." she said with a bland look on her face, almost whispering the last part.

Having looked at her, i bursted out laughing. She might not be a bad person after all. After i caught my breath, i replied.

"Very well, you got me there good. I think i'll actually help you with this little plan of yours."

"I didn't ask for you help though. But beggars can't be choosers. Oh and i forgot to ask, but where are you from? I'm from London."

"No way! I'm from London as well! Or so it said on my text. It would've been funny if we knew each other before, right?"

"Yeah, right... Well, would you look at the time, it's already noon! We should head to the shopping centre to find something to eat."

"What? There's a shopping centre here? No way! Oh, nevermind that, did you just ask me on a date?" i said, smirking at her.

"Hmph, i already told you, stop thinking so highly of yourself. I'm just hungry, and there is a high chance that other people could be there. Come on, let's get going."

"Alright, if you say so..."

And so we went down the alley that lead back to the houses, place which i didn't notice before, but was marked with a sign that ironically said "The square", then continued our way towards the beach, stopping at the shopping centre somewhere on the right. She probably explored the whole island in the morning, unlike me who just walked around with no aim.

We got into the shopping centre, and i was a little shocked to see that all the shopkeepers and employees there were robots, simillar to the one that greeted us when we woke up.

We wandered around for a bit, finally choosing a restaurant called Pizza Shack. As we went inside, Samantha mumbled something to herself along the lines of "rip-off", while slightly smiling, but i paid no heed to it.

Surprisingly, there was another person in the restaurant who was just finishing up eating.

Samantha approached the man and tried starting up a conversation.

"Hello sir, would you mind if we -"

The man suddenly stood up and left, bumping pretty hard into her before heading for the exit.

"Hey, man, what's your problem? She was just asking you -"

He turned back to me, and i only then noticed his imposing stature, with his height, being easily a head above mine, a slender but strong build, and a fully black outfit, probably picked up from one of the shops around.

"You want something?" he said with a heavy accent, which i couldn't quite place.

I stayed silent as i watched his menacing glare inspect me for a little while, before turning once more and leaving.

"Don't trouble me again for nothing. Got it?" he said as he got out of our line of sight.

After a few moments, Sam bursted out:

"What a douchebag!"

"Right! Looks like not everyone is as open-minded as me towards cooperating with others."

We continued to talk about that man for a bit longer, calling him names and such, before ordering and eating our lunch. Altough it wasn't mentioned in the text we recieved, i half-expected that eating out and shopping would be free, since we weren't given any money, but it was a nice touch and i appreciated it.

"Hey, i need to go pick up some things from around here, so do you mind waiting for me? You can go outside or look around or whatever."

"Sure. You must need some intriguing items if you have to hide them from me."

"Always the gentleman i see. You can leave if you don't want to wait for me."

"Nah, i'll stick around."

While she went towards the other side of the building, i remained relatively close to the restaurant, going through random shops and picking up things, mostly clothes, since the ones i had at "home" were only blank white t-shirts, shorts and black tracksuits.

I met up with Sam and we decided to go back to the houses to leave our "spoils of war" there, before heading to the only place we haven't checked yet, the beach, to see if we could find anyone.

On the way there we also passed by a tennis court and a football field, but unfortunately nobody was there. Because of that, we were happy to see that we were not alone on the beach. The only two children i've seen at the morning meeting were there, the boy and the girl, playing in the sand.

Sam imediatelly went on the offensive:

"Hello guys! What are you doing there? Having fun?"

"....."

"Oh, we got two little chatterboxes here, don't we? Maybe i didn't start this in a good way. Let me try again. Hello guys! My name's Samantha, what about you?"

"....."

Her overly-energetic attempt at getting to talk to the two was shut down instantly.

"Hey, don't get bummed down, maybe the kids just don't like you."

"Was that supposed to help me? Let me see you try then."

"Fine. Hey kids! Do you speak English?" I said as clearly and slowly as i could so they could at least understand the meaning if they didn't know English.

"Net, tol'ko russkiy." replied the boy.

"Great! They don't even speak English. There goes our second attempt at talking with someone. Maybe we should give up, Sam?"

"Ohh, you're calling me Sam now?" she said, slightly blushing. "Maybe-"

"Uh. Hello." Sam was interrupted by the girl.

"Oh, hello there! Do you understand us?" Sam quickly replied, moving her gaze from me to the girl in just a split-second.

"Da... I mean... YES! Sorry, i can't speak good!"

"That's fine, don't worry. At least you can understand us, right?"

The girl nodded.

"Good. So what are your names?"

"I am Anya." she then points to the boy "Him, Kirill."

"Great. So, do you know each other? Do you remember anything? Where are you from?"

The girl stood there for a bit, thinking, before replying:

"We don't remember. We met on island. Nobody else spoke russian. Phone said we from Russia. Phone also said strange things, English words, can't understand all."

Sam quickly turns back to me and whispers:

"Maybe we were lucky after all. We can get these kids to help us. I don't think they're even aware of what is going to happen."

"Yeah, you're right."i ended our little chat, while Sam turned back to Anya.

"Hey, want to be friends?"

She stopped to think for a bit, and then said:

"Friends. Yes. Friends! Wait, i will ask Kirill. He does not speak English. "

"Kirill, oni khotyat druzhit'." she said to the boy.

"Khorosho, eto budet khorosho dlya nas." he replied.

"Yes! We want friends!" she said once again.

"Good! So if we will be friends, let me introduce this guy here, he's also a friend of mine. His name is Michael." she said, pointing to me.

"Nice to meet you Anya, Kirill!"

"Yes! New friend, Mikhail! Nice to meet you!"

"Great! So now that we are friends, do you want us to help you with anything? I see that you are building quite a sandcastle here."

"No! No help! Our sandcastle!"

"Well okay, i get it. You can build your sandcastle by yourselves."

"Well then guys, do you want to come to my house later? We can play some games if you'd like." said Sam.

"...Maybe. Yes. Games! Tomorrow, we play games!"

"Alright then, see you tomorrow! My house number is 1, and Michael's house number is 2, if you need us for anything."

"Oh right, we're neighbours, i didn't even notice."

"Man, you're so scatterbrained. Didn't you see me literally walk in the house next to yours when we went to leave our purchases there?"

"I saw you alright, it just didn't register that you went in the house next to mine."

"Well, whatever."

And with that, we finished our second encounter of the day, this time on a positive note. While walking back, we also noticed some strange holes in the sand. Upon further inspection, they turned out to be turtle nests. There were also lines in the sand from the holes leading to the sea, as well as footprints going back and forth between the lines and the place where Anya and Kirill were playing. We assumed that they also noticed the holes or that maybe they caught the moment the turtle hatchlings got out of their eggs and headed towards the sea. I wish i could also see it in person,but looks like the timing wasn't right for me. After that, we headed back to our houses.