Task 1

It was showing a blank box, I tapped on it and...

As soon as I clicked on the screen our names appeared on it.

But how did it know it was us?

I looked around to see if there were any cameras around but I couldn't find anything.

"CONGRATULATIONS ALLEN AND SELENE, YOU HAVE ACQUIRED A HOTSPOT." a mechanical voice came out.

"So now we only have to wait here for 8 hours for points to get awarded."

"That looks like it," I replied.

...

After spending a while one day without water I drank the water flowing the stream and surprisingly it was not salty.

It felt like this is not an actual island but artificially made.

Normally on an island, the water in the stream is salty but the water here is drinkable.

"Allen, what s-should we do a-about food?"

"I don't know. Do you know how to fish?" earlier I saw a few fishes in the stream.

"I know b-but I need an f-fishing rod."

"So we can't catch fish either..."

...

I don't remember how many hours have passed, we haven't eaten anything. But our hunger is not that much so we should be fine for a few more hours.

"Beep-Beep!" Suddenly the machine made a similar sound.

"What now?" I stood up and walked towards the machine.

"YOU HAVE A NEW MESSAGE. YOU HAVE A NEW MESSAGE."

"Message?" on the bottom right it was showing a small yellow box blinking so naturally, I clicked on it.

"ADDITIONAL TASK ADDED!" what?

"SPECIAL CONDITION 1- GATHER MORE THAN 150 POINTS BEFORE EIGHT HOURS. REWARD- ANY FOOD YOU WANT BUT FOR ONLY ONE PERSON AND LIMITED ONLY/ A TENT FOR ONE.(OPTIONAL)"

"..."

"SPECIAL CONDITION 2- GATHER MORE THAN 200 POINTS BEFORE EIGHT HOURS. REWARDS- ARMS AND AMMUNITION BUT FOR ONLY ONE PERSON/ WILD ANIMAL REPELLENT SPRAY. ( OPTIONAL)"

"..."

"IN CASE BOTH THE TASKS ARE COMPLETED BEFORE THE TIME LIMIT A SPECIAL AWARD WILL BE GIVEN."

As I read those lines one thing came to my mind... how would a single person acquire more than 100 points if for every eight hours only 100 points are given?

"Hey, how w-will someone g-gather more t-than 100 points?" It looks like Selene had the same idea as me.

"I also don't know."

Something related to this should also be mentioned here.

I looked in the machine and found a black box labeled as INFORMATION, RANKING, LOCATION.

I clicked on INFORMATION. I thought that it might give us some hints relating to those special condition tasks.

"YOU HAVE OPENED INFORMATION. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ANSWERED?"

"Can I ask any question?" no response came.

"Can I ask a question?" I asked again but still, no response came.

"Look at that m-mic shaped b-button." Selene pointed out.

I clicked on it. The machine vibrated. I assumed that this button allows asking questions to machines.

"Can I ask a question?"

"YES," it replied.

"Umm... Where are we?" I asked.

"FOR THE QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED 1,000,000 POINTS ARE REQUIRED. WILL YOU USE POINTS?" what? For one answer I have to pay one million pints that's absurd.

"How in the world can I collect this much point?"

"T-try asking s-something else."

"..."

"Is there any question which is for 0 points?" I said but... I forgot to click on the mic button again so it didn't respond.

"Is there any question which is for 0 points?" this time I clicked the button.

"ZERO POINT QUESTIONS- HOW TO COLLECT POINTS? HOW TO USE POINTS? CAN TEAMS BE MADE? CAN POINTS BE DISTRIBUTED? IS THERE ANY OTHER TASK TO GAIN MORE POINTS? HOW TO SHARE POINTS? WHAT ARE THE POINTS? WHAT IF A PERSON REACHES ZERO POINTS?... THESE ARE THE FEW QUESTIONS FOR ZERO POINTS BUT ONLY ONE OF THE ABOVE QUESTIONS CAN BE ANSWERED. AFTER EVERY EIGHT HOURS ONE MORE ZERO-POINT QUESTION WILL BE OPENED."

"What's the use if after eight hours only two questions can be answered? We need to find the answer before eight hours so that we can complete those special conditioned tasks..." I exclaimed.

"Try asking h-how to collect m-more points." She has a point.

"How to earn more points?"

"IT'S A ZERO POINTS QUESTION SO NO POINTS WILL BE DEDUCTED. ANSWER- TO EARN MORE POINTS ONE PERSON CAN CAPTURE MORE HOTSPOTS. ANOTHER METHOD IS TO SHARE POINTS TO ANOTHER PERSON OR TO ADD POINTS OF TWO OR MORE PERSONS."

"So we can earn points by just capturing other spots that's easy."

"B-but what if we l-leave our previous s-spot empty and another person t-takes over that area?"

"Why don't we just use this machine?" she nodded in agreement.

"How can a person capture multiple spots without getting it stolen by others?"

"IT'S A 100 POINT QUESTION. WILL YOU USE POINTS?"

"It looks like points are the most important thing if we want to know the answer..."

*sigh*

I was about to call out to Selene but she seemed to be thinking something so I didn't disturb her.

About an hour has passed and we have not a single clue.

...

We couldn't think of anything to earn more points and we also didn't want to leave this hotspot.

Time passed by and something just clicked on me.

"Selene, why don't we check the ranking? Maybe someone we know might be there." I said to which she agreed.

"Here we go." I reached the machine and clicked on RANKING.

"RANKING- ONLY THE TOP 3 PLACES WILL BE DISCLOSED."

1ST PLACE- ALICE AND JIMITHY

2ND PLACE- WILLIAM

3RD PLACE- LUCAS.

"Nope. I don't know any of them. Selene, do you recognize any of them?"

"No..."

It's almost noon so I decided to make a tent or something like that so that we can at least sleep or rest safely at night.

"Selene, gather some dry wood, I will try to find something to make a tent."

"Okay."

We both looked around and thankfully the trees are so tall that the leaves are blocking most of the sunlight and it's comparatively cool. If there would have been no trees then the temperature would have risen above 30°C at least easily.

As I stripped further in the forest...

I saw something sparkling so I stepped forward to see what it was.

"What? A chips rapper?"

Only a small part was out, the rest was inside the soil. I had to dig it out completely.

At that moment something clicked on me.

When we were inside the room earlier I am certain that no one was holding onto a chips packet, and that means that someone, other than the school student was here or used to be here.

This island... is giving me creeps since earlier. Either this place is being used for something strange or I have or used to have a connection to this place because I keep on the feeling I know this place but at the same time I don't have any memory of this.

TO BE CONTINUED...