“Tokigawa-san, you’re a medical student. You should be the smartest of everyone here,” snaps Maeda. “Why can’t you solve this?”
Tokigawa scratches his head in frustration. “Look, I’m studying to be a doctor, not a logician. This is not my area of expertise.”
“If all else fails, we can always write out the numbers from 1 to 1600 and simulate it manually,” says Taketatsu. “After all, we have plenty of time.”
Even if he is right, there is no need to waste it, you think. Timidly, you straighten the frame of your glasses. “1153,” you say. It is almost a whisper, your lack of confidence drowning out your voice. You think you can manage talking to one person – or even two – if you have to, but speaking to a gathering of people never fails to makes your heart go wild with anxiety.
Uehara looks up, away from where she is engaged in discussion with the others. “Adachi-san?”
You raise your voice, trying to let it carry more clearly. “The answer. It’s 1153.”
As expected, they answer you with looks of disbelief.
“Hey, are you sure? You’re not messing with us like Amanozaki-san, are you?” laughs Sakimura.
Uehara lets out a small giggle. “Well, if any spirits have descended upon you to bestow answers, I thank you for letting us know, Adachi-san.” You can tell that the mockery is not intended for you, but it causes you to feel slightly uncomfortable nonetheless.
A strangled noise comes from the back of the room; Amanozaki is sitting there, with only Mitsuki for company. Her nose is slightly red and her head is lowered. Amanozaki sniffles once. This time she does not say anything – even if she does, you have a feeling that no one in the cafeteria would side with her. The self-proclaimed psychic turns her head away from the group, looking at the dimly lit garden that lies outside the building.
“N-no, no spirits,” you mutter, shaking your head.
“How did you come to this answer, Shinoseki-san?” asks Tokigawa. You get the feeling that his attitude towards you has changed slightly ever since Okuyama claimed that she saw you in the basement. You cannot underpin exactly why you feel that way, but his friendly smile makes you uneasy.
“Well…” You begin recalling the steps you used to solve the riddle. It had seemed apparent to you after reading the question. It’s just simple mathematics, after all. “T-to start with, the logic holds that in a group of people with… uh… a number equal to a power of two, the first person and the last person standing will be the same, if you gouge the heart of the subsequent number and spare the one after… s-sorry, can I have a pen?”
“Alright, one pen coming right up, Rabbit-chan!” Even Sawada is using that nickname now. You wonder if he means to mock you or if he is just being friendly. You take the offered pen… or at least, you try to. It slips through your nervous fingers and you fumble trying to catch it.
“S-sorry!” Apologizing profusely, you get down on your knees and retrieve the pen. Blushing at your embarrassment – the others are looking down on you with a mix of pity and amusement – you sketch out your reasoning with examples using groups of four, eight and sixteen people. The pen slides across the surface of the paper, scratching out every even number with black ink.
“Oh, it’s true!” Maeda exclaims after looking at your proof. “It does work like that!”
“But wait, this doesn’t solve the problem yet, Shinoseki-san,” says Kayano puzzledly. “It’s no different from writing down every number and crossing it out manually, right?”
“Y-yes… sorry, I’m getting to that…” You nervously adjust your spectacles again. “Next, we need to find out the… if the total population of the village is 1600, we need to get the power of two closest to that amount… that’s two to the power of ten. 1024.”
“Wow. He’s right.” Okuyama lets out an admiring chuckle, holding up her phone for all to see. It looks like she’s used a calculator app to get to the same answer. Tapping on the screen, she then says, “Two to the power of eleven would be… 2048, so that’s way over 1600.”
You nod twitchily. “Um… yeah. So. 1024. It works this way. When… when the village is reduced to this population, the first person to gouge the heart of the number next to him will also be the last one remaining. We need to find out w-who is the one before him. So…” Your pen dances across the paper again, leaving behind the workings of your mind. “If we start with 1600 people, and are left with 1024 people at this point, 576 people have been killed… since every round halves the population of the village, we need to multiply that by two… and we will find that the 576th villager to be killed would have been numbered 1152, and thus the one after him would be number 1153, and the final survivor.” As the tip of the pen skids to a triumphant stop, everyone looks at the numbers in silence.
“This seems to check out. Halfway through your explanation I came to the same conclusion, but through a different method. Of course, I couldn’t manage to do it all in my head,” Taketatsu breaks the silence, glancing at the screen of his phone where he had been calculating the answer. “It should be correct, although evidently the proof can only be tested when we are at the lock itself.”
“Hm, sounds like it. The kid managed to reach an answer faster than we did,” Sakaki mutters – he had been poring over the riddle together with Mori.
“Are you, like, a genius or something?” Uehara blurts out, leaping up from her seat and running over to you with shining eyes. “You’re actually really smart aren’t you?”
She’s… too close. The distance is too close. As she is bending over to look you in the eye, her shirt is hanging loose, granting you a good look down its front. You catch a glimpse of baby blue fabric covering smooth, pale curves before tearing your eyes away from the tantalizing view as quickly as you can. “I… no, I don’t know… I was just able to s-solve it, that’s all,” you mumble, feeling extremely pressured by her presence.
“Once we get out of here, I’m going to push for you to come on a variety show, Mister Adachi. You’d do great!” Sawada offers. The very thought of going on television makes you go pale and you shake your head.
“Huh. The rabbit is pretty smart after all. I’m slightly impressed,” Maeda says in a haughty tone that matches her elegant looks.
“Good job, Rabbit-chan.” Mori grins. “You should use your brains more often, if that’s what you are capable of. Or maybe it is because you already knew the puzzle beforehand?”
“Well, if Shinoseki-san is an avid reader, it would not be surprising that he has come across similar riddles before,” says Kayano gently.
“No… I haven’t seen it before.” It is your first time seeing the puzzle… well, at least, it is the first time that you remember seeing it. You have no idea yourself if the solution surfaced in your mind thanks to any innate intelligence of yours rather than hidden memories coming to light. It is slightly concerning, to say the least.
“Oh, and here I thought you were secretly the director of the hospital,” Mori jokes.
“Uh, isn’t Shinoseki-san a bit too… young for that?” Okuyama raises her hand.
Tokigawa frowns – he does not believe you are the director, clearly, but he seems to be thinking of something else. “I haven’t met our director personally before, but I do know he’s a man in his sixties. Shinohara Juuzo-sensei… he’s a pretty well-known and respected figure in the field of medicine.”
Shinohara. Your heart stops for a moment. You catch Mori glancing at you intensely, with the intent of catching every single nuance of your expression. He’s noticed your reaction to that name. Somehow, you know that... and you cannot help but wonder if he was the only one that did.
“It was just a joke, Tokigawa-kun,” laughs Mori good-naturedly. “I know of Professor Juuzo. Anyone who reads the newspapers would, though of course that’s probably not all too common amongst youngsters nowadays.” Even if it is just a joke, you cannot help but feel that by revealing your knowledge of the answer, you have sowed more seeds of suspicion against you in certain members of the group.
“Well, if that’s done with, I do motion that we take a break,” pipes up Sawada, raising his hand cheerfully. “I think everyone could do with forgetting all this gloomy business about gouging out hearts for a while!”
“I’ll take a look in the back and see if I can whip up anything hot,” offers Kayano.
“There’s a couple of microwaves behind the counter. I’ll help out, Kayano-san,” nods Okuyama, rising from her seat.
Tokigawa shakes his head. “Don’t run off anywhere alone, Midori.”
“You worry too much, Kou,” laughs the girl cheerfully.
“Before that, I have a suggestion.” Maeda speaks up, twirling her expensive-looking phone around a finger by its strap. “Our cellphones might be working if we try to call each other. I think it would be better if we exchanged numbers via infrared. Just in case we need it.”
“I agree with that,” Taketatsu nods. “It is a good idea.”
“Sounds right,” Mori agrees.
Your fingers drift towards the phone lying in your pocket. You still do not remember the password – all that it is good for right now is as a flashlight, and the hospital is rather brightly lit. As the group begins exchanging numbers, Uehara and Sakimura approach, the former grinning widely as she points her phone towards you, “So, Adachi-san… number? Gimme your number.”
***
A. You pretend that you do not have a phone – that it went missing when you woke up.
B. You confess that you do have a phone, but you forgot the password to it.
C. You say that you have a phone that you picked up in the ward but claim that it isn’t yours.
***
In the end, Kayano and Okuyama decide to prepare some quick cup noodles for everyone – apparently there are more ingredients in the kitchens, but they are not keen on venturing down there again at the moment.
After the meal, you notice that everyone has drifted apart into smaller groups to talk and relax.
***
03:15
A. Uehara, Sakimura, Sawada, Maeda and Taketatsu are having a lively discussion. At least, four of them are; Taketatsu appears to be just sitting by and listening to them talk. You decide to join in.
B. Tokigawa and Okuyama are talking by themselves in private. You decide to approach them. Perhaps you can try asking more about why Okuyama thought she saw you.
C. Kayano and Mitsuki are talking to Amanozaki. They appear to be trying to comfort her. You decide to help them out if you can.
D. Mori and Sakaki are engaged in serious discussion at the nearby bar, cigarettes and wine in hand. You do not really want to talk to Mori again, but you attempt to approach them regardless, to find out what they are talking about.
E. You are feeling tired; social interaction drains you of energy. Perhaps you should take this time to rest instead of forcing yourself to engage with other people.