GAME DAY

"Moon Peak Industries" is where the world's most powerful people meet with the most elite computer programmers to play a game. The winner would decide the fate of the world for the upcoming year. They all agreed to play by the ancient rules that were set forth thousands of years ago by their forefathers. One by one, their secrets were sealed with a sip of OX blood given to them from the Holy Grail.

A week before the meet, each one received a brown paper box that was not to be opened until they arrived on January 15th. At exactly 2pm, they would learn the game they would play and proceed to find out what their game piece was or what part they would play.

Last year, the game was Go Fish. Simple. But that is how they liked it. Childish games causing the most treacherous outcomes for the world brought them the most joy.

Noel Sumk won last year. He decided to kill CryptoCurrency. One negative word from him, in less than a week, people lost millions of dollars. For over two thousand years, they have controlled everything from the fall of civilizations to the currency we use today.

The room was darkened, lit only by blue lights. All six men stood dressed in their finest three-piece suits ready to start the game. They were in a circle with their unopened packages in a spot prepared for them with their name on it. Once everyone had situated the blue light turned down and a red one beamed on a circular disc in the center of the room. It rose from the floor and revealed the Holy Grail. One by one, each billionaire stepped up, took a sip, and returned it to its place, then stepped back to theirs. A female computerized voice came over the room and told them to open their packages, take out the square box with the red button on top and wait for instructions. Once they were all holding their own box she told them to push the red button simultaneously. As they did a glass box came from the ceiling and enclosed each one separately.

She then began telling stories of their elders and the events they controlled. She spoke of timelines when they created wars, mass murders, and as the new world approached, with all the technological advances, even the weather all for the gain of power over the people. They were a Juggernaut of man and it was time for it to come to an end.

While she was telling talking each cube began to feel hot. The men were taking off their jackets and ties. When she was finished speaking, she asked if they had any questions. Noel was the first to speak up. “Yeah, first I want to know why it is so hot in here. Can you turn the temperature down, please? We are burning up in here.”

“Yes! You are. If you don’t play the game by the rules, it will continue to get hot until your bodies burn.”

One of the other men, Jackson Pierce, spoke “What the hell is this? Let us out right now. This is not the kind of game I came to play.”

“You and the others agreed to play any game chosen by the captain. I am the captain. The game is death. If you win the game then you choose your deaths. If I win, I choose. ”

They all began to hit at the glass angrily screaming. She muted their encasements and began to suck the air from each one. They started to grab at their throats and their chests and falling against the glass. Just as their bodies could not take the lack of oxygen anymore, she turned it back on. Each man inhaled deeply and coughed and hacked trying to get the oxygen deep into their lungs. She then spoke.

“Each one of you will do as I say. Do you understand?” They all shook their heads, yes and she unmuted their sound.

“William Beardsley! You go first. Let’s play war. You have a deck of 25 cards. I do too. We will play one round. At the end of the game, whoever has the most cards wins.” A screen shows up on the glass. “Swipe right to reveal your card.” The computer's cards were on top and his were on the bottom. After four throws, they had a match. “WAR!” she said. “Swipe three cards to the left and your final card to the right” He did as she said, but she was quicker than him. The computer's fourth card was a queen. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and swiped his card. It was an ace. They continued to play until he won the game.

“William, your family was responsible for the deadly attack on the Twin Towers in America. But they blamed it on the Wahhabi Islamist people. That attack led to hundreds of thousands of lives being taken from this earth from 90 different countries and trillions of dollars in damage to the lands in the middle east. For the violence to cease, your blood must be shed. It is time to choose your death.” A panel rises up with a 12-inch image of a screen. There are 5 buttons. Each one is labeled with a word single word; Blow up, bullets, cyanide, drowning, and hanging.

“I’m not going to choose one of those. You are insane. Let me out of here.”

“You have 5 seconds to choose or I will choose for you. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.” I have chosen for you. Goodbye. The sound came on in all their rooms. They heard a click, William’s eyes widened, a loud bang is heard. All the men instinctively covered their heads. When they looked back at William, all they saw was red blood, flesh, and bone sliding down the inside of the glass.

A loud beeping noise came over the room and it went dark.

Time was not measured, but when the lights came back on, William was gone. There were now only five.

“Good Morning players. I trust you all slept well.” The computer voice said as if the men had slept at all.

“Today we are going to play dice. I have chosen Douglas McDuffy to play this game.”

“I’d rather not, if it be fitting." He said in a heavy Gaelic tone. "If you could just let me out, I will go about my way and you’ll never hear from me again. I’ll say nothing of what I seen. A Scottish man's word is saintly.” The floor opened up and a pair of die appeared before him. He cleared his throat. “What game we be playing?”

“If you do not roll doubles in 6 tries you win.”

On his fifth try, he rolled deuces. “Now what?” He asked.

"Douglas, in 1347 your elders exposed the world to a plague. For years, it systematically killed over 25 million people. Your family was safe on a tropical island that your forefather set up, a year before. No one was allowed off the island for 5 years until the plague subsided. You must now atone for the deaths of those people. Choose your death or I will choose one for you in 5 seconds. 1, 2, 3, 4…” He chose cyanide. A glass of water and a pill rose up from the bottom of the floor. “You have 10 seconds to swallow and drink all the water.” She said. He took the glass, downed the pill, and turned up the water, and died within a few minutes.

Noel Sumk spoke angrily "Whoever is behind this you won't get away with it. How do you know all of this about us?"

“If you speak out of turn again, I will mute you.” She said

“Fuck you!”

She muted him.

“Farhan Abadi, it is time for you to play "Candy Land." On the floor, you will see the board. Roll the dice and flip a card. Play five rounds. If your last play lands on candy, you win. If you land on a solid color, I win.” 5 rounds later, his last roll was a solid blue. “I win!”

“You Psychopath! Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you?” Farhan said slamming his fist to the glass.

“Farhan, through many generations, your family caused the extinction of over four hundred animals, by overhunting them for sport. These animals were placed here by the power of the great universe, and your family killed them all. In 2018, you personally paid five million dollars to kill the last Northern White Rhinoceros. You have the blood of the earth on your hands. I will choose your death."

Water began to fill up the glass where Farhan stood. He started banging on the glass walls and shouting. She muted his sound. The remaining others watched in horror as he drowned.

“Biyu Chen. Let’s play the "Match Game." Look at your screen. You have 60 seconds to match them all. If you do, you win.” Chen matched them all easily.

"Biyu Chen. Your family has been responsible for all the anthropogenic disasters since the beginning of the industrial age. Millions of people have died so that your family could become richer and more powerful throughout the decades. You have blood on your hands. You must die. Choose your death."

Biyu quickly chose to hang. A rope fell from the ceiling and a chair rose from the ground. He climbed on the chair pulled the rope around his head and the chair dropped out from under him. His body shook and flailed until his neck broke.

The two remaining men looked at one another knowing there was one way left to die. The Bullet. But why only one, not two ways to die?

“Salvadore Gonzalez and Noel Sumk. Pick a number between 1 and 100. The closest person to the number I have picked, wins.” Noel looks at Salvadore and chooses 2. Salvadore chooses 99. The computer states her number is 72. Salvador wins. The gun is brought up from the floor. He looks at Noel and says “I have a feeling your punishment is going to be a hell of a lot worse than mine.” Then puts the barrel of the gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger.

The lights go dark and the room goes silent.

Noel woke up in a bright room. His eyes hurt. He heard noises, felt immense pain, and saw blurred faces before quickly falling back into darkness. This happened over a period of time he is unaware of. He finally woke up for good back in the glass box. “Hello? Are you here? What’s happening?”

“Noel Sumk, Your forefathers were farmers and laborers. Your parents are dead. You have no children. You became financially successful making yourself billions. Instead of helping the world, you made it worse by setting in motion the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. You made billions of dollars on the losses of others.”

“Damn it, if you are going to kill me just do it now will you?”

“Noel, you no longer exist.”

“What do you mean I am very much alive?” A mirror image appeared and revealed his face. It has changed completely.

“You have no money, no family, no job, and no identification. Who you were no longer exists. You are dead. I win”

The encasement rose up, the doors unlocked, and swung open. He walked out of the room and into an unknown world.

Noel looks towards the sky. “I did it once. I can do it again!” He said as he casually walked into the distance.