Sincere's Game: Chapter 4

Christopher

The private conversations have ended.

Even though the group discussions have started, people are still hesitant. 

Once again, the names on the board, in sequence:

Daisy, Christopher, Omar, Patricia, Arthur, Kaitlyn, Amy, Leonel, Gabriella, Sincere

The students start to look amongst each other, showing their acts of friendliness and acts of innocence. Nobody moves from where they are.

After about ten seconds, someone breaks the ice. Number #6, a short black-haired fellow with hair slicked to the side, raises his voice, "So... what do you guys think of this game?" 

Gabriella immediately responded, "I honestly have no idea as to what thi3s is." 

"Yeah... like... do we just tell each other our names now?" Number #1 joins in.

"It's actually not so simple." Number #6 counters. 

"The goal of this game is to have everyone win the scholarship prize. And for that to happen, we need everyone to say their names so that we can write it down during the test."

"Yeah, that's my point." Number #1 reaffirms.

"We need everyone to say their real names."

"So, we just need everyone to say the truth?"

"Exactly."

"So as long as everyone says the truth, we win?" Gabriella speaks with an act of curiosity.

"Hold on just a minute. Let's look at it this way, imagine that everyone has shared their names to each other, and it is finally time to guess. Everyone has already decided beforehand who is who. But it turns out, two people out of the ten people, lied about their names."

Number #1 is confused, "Why two people? Can't it just be one as well?" 

Number #6 clarifies, "Well, you need at least two people lying about their names. For example, if I say my name is 'Sincere' and didn't talk to Sincere beforehand about switching, then he can just call it out, and expose me on the spot."

"Think of it like this."

"Also, I can't just say my name is Bob, then it would be too obvious that I am lying because you can see the board and realize that Bob is not a name on the list."

"Now think about it like this."

"On top of that, I can't just deny a name when everyone else already has one. For example, if everyone already identifies with a name, then the last one remaining must be mine."

It's starting to make a little more sense to Gabriella.

"Therefore, if you want to lie about your name, you will have to switch it with someone else. This is the best way of concealing your names."

Those who haven't realized this are slowly starting to understand the real premise of this game. 

"If just two people are lying and our votes are for when they have lied, our votes will be eliminated from the score and only those two people will win."

As long as everyone is telling the truth, we all win, but if just two people lie, everyone loses.

Gabriella looks at number #4, the girl she has talked to before. She sees that she has her head down, most likely because of the realization that they might lose. If someone says that they are this person, there is a chance that that person is lying.

Atratus, the game master giggles to himself, hohohohoho... So they've just figured it out.

After what number 6 has just said, it seemed like the group's morale plummeted. Gabriella became even more wary: What am I supposed to do now? Is it even possible to get the scholarship? Are my dreams that far away? There's no way to win.

That's when number #6, the guy with the black slicked hair to the side made an offer. "I think it's best if we share our names as of now."

"Why now?" Number #1 counters.

"It's best to share our names now before anyone else decides to switch names. Because we will know if they switched if we already took note of their names in the first place."

"Does everyone agree with this idea? Number #6 looks around the room and sees everyone, standing with their heads down. 

"I agree!" 

"Who said that?" Number #6 shouts in question.

It was Number #7, a tall, African American guy with a somewhat of a bulky build and chest. No response still, until...

"I agree too!" Gabriella decided she wanted to reveal to her name to everyone.

And after Gabriella, everyone started to slowly agree. It was number #4 that went next, "I... I agree."

Then to number #3, "Okay, I'll do it."

And then to number #10, "Count me in."

After that, everyone ultimately agreed, because if someone does not agree, then that person will be automatically suspected of switching names with someone else. "I'm in!" "Let's do it." "That's a good idea." "I'm ready to share with you guys." "OK."

All the players grouped up into one small circle, they sat in a circle with number #6, as the recorder. "I will write down the names of everyone here, just in case we need it later." 

Gabriella is shocked to how thoughtful Number #6 really is: Holy crap, this guy is smart! He not only stopped people from switching names, but he made it to where the group can work together and ultimately win!

Player number #1 speaks in a low tone, "Looks like we have no choice."

"Now that we are in a circle, I'll start. My name is Christopher."

After a short minute, people's names were written down.

No one tried to express themselves, only names were heard. Nobody wants to act out. They are afraid they'll be excluded from the group.

This is what we've got so far:

1. Patricia

2. Kaitlyn

3. Daisy

4. Amy

5. Gabriella

6. Christopher

7. Leonel

8. Arthur

9. Omar

10. Sincere

"Hmmm... It seems like everyone's name was called out. That's unfortunate." Christopher, or, self-proclaimed Christopher, with the slicked hair pronounced.

"Why is that?" Gabriella (#5) responded.

"Well, if anybody lied without telling someone, that someone will just say that their name was taken. We would suspect that person then. But nobody did it."

"Then what do we do now?" Kaitlyn (#1) acted in fear.

For not even a split second after Kaitlyn responded, Number #8, the man with the curl, raised his voice.

"I'm going to need everyone's help."

The man that Gabriella took an interest for, went over towards the desk with the supplies, catching everyone's attention. What is he doing? She thought.

The man wrote something down with a pen he quickly snatched from the table, he was writing in neat and luxurious strokes. The man with the curl to his right, the man with a semi-muscular physique, the man who seemed to be Gabriella's ideal person, had a sweet and gentle aura around him. He looked like a caring individual with a touch of deviance. After he finished, he put the black ink pen, still in a clicked position, down on to the table, elegantly. He carefully but swiftly held the paper he wrote in, high enough so everyone else could see. The words read: AGREEMENT FORM TO WORK TOGETHER; SIGN HERE.

What exactly is this guy doing?