Back at the observatory, Alix had just finished her own performance and she was being ushered off the stage by the coordinator.
As soon as they got away from the eyes of the others, the female coordinator handed her a sealed medium sized brown envelope. She had no knowledge of what was inside but she accepted it anyway.
"Congratulations, you have made it to the final round." The woman told her.
"Eh!" She reacted in shock.
She looked around, wondering why the announcement had not come from the judges. All the players had been escorted in this direction after playing and all this while, Alix had assumed that there was a backdoor through which they were being escorted out.
Now she understood that rather than a backdoor, they were being informed privately about whether they had qualified or not in person and in private. It was probably to avoid emotional outbursts when another player had already started playing.