Groupthink, Part I

Silence.

The announcement has left everyone incredulous. A voice speaking from within their minds, a mission to find and kill criminals, and no place to go but a forest drenched in pitch darkness. As the white door opens, the temperature drops as quickly as the heartbeats rise. Observing from afar, Xess has no words to share with Eva, who has just expressed a cryptic message to him.

Confused, Xess notices Eva resume her walk away from him. He tries to calm himself.

(("There is no telling how everyone would react if they saw me smiling; they'd think I'm in on all of this."))

"Hey, wait just a second..." Xess calls out to her, quickly getting up to follow her. As he trots towards her, he feels a vibration coming from his right wrist. Irritated, he mutters, "What now...?" when he looks at his wrist, images and letters start popping up.

"Wha-... Is this thing... projecting onto my eyes?" reacts Xess as he moves his eyes away to confirm his theory. (("It only works when I am looking straight at it."))

He then glances silently at the group. Just as he has thought, everyone felt it.

(("It seems I was right... the images only show when my eyes look straight at it. This means that only I can see what this thing is showing... and that must be true for everyone.")) As he scans the projection, he examines the information presented to him, "Let's see what this is..."

The information on the digital panel displays the following.

"Hunt #1, Cluster 10 out of 17 - Remaining time 07 hours 59 minutes 13 seconds." The number '13' turns to '12' as he continues to read the message.

"Number of Prey available... 3," he reads surprised by the low number.

(("Three? Just three...?")) He continues.

"Important: Prey are those individuals who have this same device but on their left wrist. Left wrist, huh...? How do I even know who are on the same Cluster as me? Do I have to yell "TEN!" like a maniac? There has to be some-" Suddenly, the message scrolls down within its own virtual surface.

(("How did I...? Wait... What if...")) He begins to test, as the message scrolls back up. A faint smile appears.

((“Damn ... I can control how this thing moves with my own thinking. So, let's try...”))

Although Xess has not taken his eyes off the device, the image disappears.

((“And that's how you hide it. Not bad. Whatever this is, it has a lot of resources behind it... I'm not sure if that's a good thing.”))

Xess turns the image back on and scrolls down to read the complete message, "Below, the faces and names of those with the same Cluster number as you...", he reads out loud.

((“Alright, let's see what we have to work with...”))

With a uneasy feeling, he proceeds to read the names of his partners in Cluster 10.

((“Alexandra... Kane... Timo... Vanessa.”)) Once he feels he memorizes some aspects of the pictures next to their names, he hides the projection and walks around the facility in search of them. The environment is not optimal for this situation, however, as, unlike Xess, others are not taking the recent turn of events with any sort of calm whatsoever.

"This is some kind of sick joke!"

"We should just escape through the forest. There has to be a way out!"

"This shit is crazy, how are they even talking to us like this?"

"Get me the hell out of here now!"

((“As expected, this place is an emotional mess. I hope my group is more stable”)), thinks Xess before noticing someone familiar.

((“Hmm...? Is that...?”)) he reacts having spotted someone sitting down with their knees touching their chest. ((“That's... Timo!! Great let- !!!”)) however, Xess abruptly stops on a closer look, noticing Timo's very grim and hollow expression. He hesitates to approach him.

"Damn..." Xess mutter. Somewhat annoyed, h turns around in search for the rest of the team. This becomes increasingly difficult with the number of people around. Several groups have already formed, as there are some who have yet to even figure out how the device on the wrist works.

((“This is worse than I thought,”)) he thinks with a worrying tone, ((“if we do not move this along, the risk of being on the losing end increases.”))

His search takes him to the newly opened white door, leading to the forest, as he continues his sentence, ((“If even one team manages to get it together and take the lives of those three...”)) worried, the inner voice from earlier echoes within him.

"In this scenario, the clusters with the lowest number of prey hunted would have to choose one member amongst themselves... and kill them as a penalty."

As he recalls these words, Xess spots someone he also recognizes standing alone outside the door at the edge of the forest. He wastes no time approaching as h closes in on the person. H proceeds to ask, "Kane... right?"

The person does not react while starring at the forest seemingly deep in thought. The person replies back with an odd question.

"Do you think this is all our responsibility?"

"... What is?" Xess asks.

"The fact we're all here... isolated... disconnected from the rest of the world."

Xess pondered for a few seconds and answers, "That depends. Do you remember how you got here?"

With a cynical smile, the person replies, "It seems I am not the only one..."

"You too, huh?" Xess replies as he carefully approaches.

"How many of us have it to participate in this madness, huh? I simply cannot believe what is happening right now, nothing makes any sense” says the person as he turns to Xess.

Xess does not reply as he can identify a sudden faint smile. The person continues to speak, "I know... at this point it's a rhetorical question."

Xess remains silent.

"Kane... nice to meet you, Xess.", the person says finally turning his face to Xess.

"All things considered... you seem to be somehow stable considering the situation," says Xess identifying Kane is in much better shape than Timo.

Kane replies, "Yeah, well, unlike what we were told, it is not like we have much choice. It is much easier to cope when you are not given any choices, you know? Although I do think they are overestimating our resolve... Who the fuck do they think we are?"

Kane glances inside the facility. Some fighting has broken out while other groups look like they are trying to support one another. Fear, sadness, hopelessness, sorrow, and rage are all palpable among the crowd inside. Only a few seem to be able to keep it together. Kane continues as he stares at the harrowing environment, "Who would even do such a thing? To what end?"

"Survive." Xess answers his question, although it is clear it is not meant for him.

Kane glances back at Xess noticing his very determined expression. "If you really want to know... Like I do... then survive."

Kane stays silent.

"Whoever placed us in here, they must believe that somehow... someway... we can survive this. Think about it; this is clearly well thought out. I am not saying all of us will make it... but you and I... we've got as good a chance as any of them. And you said it yourself" Xess continues.

Kane listens closely as Xess approaches him, Kane edges Xess by a few inches in height.

"You said we did not have choice, right? Well... you can decide to not do anything about it and die right here," says Xess with a somewhat more intense look to his eyes, "so I ask you, Kane. How about we choose to do something about it... and survive?"

Before Kane could respond, an unrecognizable female voice is heard coming from the door.

"I guess I won't have to worry about you two, then" the female says.

Xess and Kane both turn to see three people standing. Among them is Timo, who still has the same hollow look. The other two are females.

"Don't you think you should wait for the rest of the team before you hold inspirational speeches, 'boss'?", she speaks again with an ironic tone.

Xess recognizes the speaking female immediately, "Alexandra, I take it?" he asks.

Alexandra replies, "I brought the luggage, too," referencing Timo and the other female who seems very timid, "you should all know by now, but for the sake of some formality, this one here is Vanessa. She's shy, but she'll manage for now. This other one on the other hand..." Alexandra refers to Timo, who is holding her hand and staring at the floor with no motion whatsoever.

"It's not like this is only our problem. Almost all the groups have someone in the same situation, so it's not like we can complain" Alexandra concludes.

Vanessa then speaks in a low tone, "I-I saw someone getting beat up by their own cluster. I'm guessing... because they wouldn't cooperate."

Xess quickly assesses their situation, "At this rate, we're going to have to leave Timo. This is everyone's first so the risk of running into something we cannot predict is the highest. Things can get very ugly very fast for someone in his state... and for all of us if we do not even get a single kill".

As soon as Xess mentions the word 'kill' Timo gets on his knees and vomits uncontrollably. Alexandra kneels to comfort him somewhat, "That's not a bad idea," she replies to Xess, “I can see others doing that as well. Right now, the only thing that matters is to make sure you get at least one."

Kane interjects, "Can you do it?"

"Do what?" Alexandra asks.

"Take someone's life” Kane clarifies.

Alexandra glances back at Kane, who returns the glance. She waits for a few seconds before turning her attention back to Timo, "Are you serious?" she asks with faint smile.

Kane remains calm as Alexandra continues, "There is no way I can answer that question, you moron."

Immediately, Kane responds loudly, "WELL I CAN'T!!!"

The wind picks up speed, decorating the momentary silence with the fall of green leaves and the sound of moving trees. The temperature has dropped a few degrees, as Kane concludes, "Unless I have gone mad, you two seem to believe that we can just go around a fucking forest and start killing people! And I don't see how I would even start to consider doing it!"

Alexandra gets up and gets very close to Kane, looking straight into his eyes. She can feel his breath on as she examines him in detail. She responds with a very serious tone, "Then stay here with Timo, and place your life on a trio you just met."

Kane seems unable to answer back. Xess watches silently, analyzing Alexandra's personality, (("I like her. That's the fucking attitude we need right now)).

Xess steps in and asks out loud, "Kane...? What's it going to be?"

Kane and Alexandra's eyes are locked. After a moment of silence, Kane replies, "I'll go."

A faint smile appears on Alexandra's face before she says, "This is the first and last time you get to be this close to me without proper work, you hear me?" She steps away from Kane, with no intention of hiding that he is containing his emotions.

"It's settled then. We should come up with—", before Xess could finish, they all hear it.

Everyone in Cluster 10 turns and their eyes widening in shock. What they believe to be a cluster is seen running down towards the forest.

"Fuck!! I didn't expect one to be ready this fast!!", Xess says irritated and tightening his fists. The cluster quickly disappears into the forest. Shaking off the initial shock, Xess turns back to his group, but before he could even speak, Alexandra interjects, "I hope your plan is concise, 'boss'."

"Vanessa, you should stay here with Timo” Xess quickly replies.

Vanessa, Alexandra and Kane all react confused to Xess's suggestion. He approaches Vanessa and whispers something to her ear, causing her to look surprised. Xess grabs her shoulder in a supportive gesture before stepping back from her.

Vanessa does not say a word amid her surprise.

“Hey! What was that about?", Alexandra demands as Kane joins, "Vanessa, what did he say?"

Xess and Vanessa share a look, as if she is contemplating his words. Alexandra, growing impatient, asked again, "Uhm, hello?!"

Vanessa finally speaks in a very low tone, "I'll do it. I'll stay behind with Timo."

"Wait, no, what the hell? Vanessa, we need as many as we can. We are searching for three people in a giant forest here! Didn't you just see me provoke him?" Alexandra protests pointing to Kane.

Vanessa insists, "No. I'll stay. It would be best if it's just you three."

Alexandra, surprised, remarks, "Well... I'll be damned... Where was that resolve minutes ago, honey?"

A still confused Kane approaches Xess and says, "Xess, things like these don't generate trust among the group. We literally just met!"

Unshaken, Xess replied, "I am very aware of that. Believe me, I do. Still, things need to be fair for all of us. I am just making sure everything works out as best as they possibly can."

Kane, puzzled, looks at Xess who returns his gaze with determination. Kane decides to let it go, probably due to the urgency that just befell them. Alexandra, impressed with Vanessa's response, says, "I guess if you're staying, I can't say anything if the big man decides to stay as well."

Kane quickly states, "Like I said... I will go."

Xess turns to Vanessa, "Vanessa, you know how to use this thing, right?" as he points to his right wrist. Vanessa nods.

"Good. Make sure you pay attention to it. I'm sure they will update us on the situation as things progress. Stay focused and don’t lose sight of Timo" says Xess.

"Sure... you can count on it” she replies while picking the soulless-looking Timo up and taking him inside the facility. Meanwhile, Xess, Alexandra, and Kane prepare to leave.

"You are going to fill us in on all of this, you know that, right?" Alexandra asks.

"I won't have to. You two will most likely figure it out, anyway" Xess responds.

"Then why not tell us?" Kane questions.

"Well... let's just say I am also curious as to how you two think" Xess replies.

Alexandra and Kane are not convinced by Xess's explanation, but they seem to feel like other matters are more urgent, so they stop asking about it.

"Let's go!" Xess commands in a serious tone.

Following the route the first cluster used, Xess, Alexandra, and Kane start running towards the forest. Without any plan on how they would react when they find any of the targets, they run without hesitation knowing full well what they have to do to survive.

What awaits them inside the forest? They all ask themselves this simple question. Yet, the answer will only be obtained through experience alone.

Chapter 02 – Groupthink, Part I: END

to be continued...