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“Hey, I’m number one,” Gio called from the scale. “And by the way, I examined every inch of this scale. It seems to be in working order and correctly measured my weight. But like the others, I got a number instead of my weight on this paper.” He held up the same-size slip of paper Clarissa and Mia had received between his fingers.

I had a sudden inspiration. I stood up and dug into my pocket, pulling out the slip of paper I’d received from the scale. I tried to slide the paper into the slot on the first chair. It was precisely the right size, but it wouldn’t go in. I tried all the other chairs with the same results.

No go.

Frustrated by my lack of progress, I plopped into one of the chairs. I felt the chair sink slightly. On a whim, I leaned over and tried to slip the paper into the slot again. This time there was a slight whirring sound before the chair sucked the paper from my fingers. There was a pause, but instead of the game starting, the paper was rejected.

“I think I’m on to something,” I said.

I moved to the chair on my right and tried again. This time, when the paper got sucked in, a small blue light on the side of the gun and the shooting gallery panel lit up.

“Look at that,” Gio shouted. “It worked!”

A digital message appeared on the rectangular bar beneath the panel—Shoot Here to Start Game.An arrow pointed to a small button at the end of the light bar. Elated, I pointed the gun and pulled the trigger. A second later, a message appeared stating the game would start in three, two, one.

“Game on,” I murmured. “Bring it.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Slash

I readied myself for a target. When the first door popped open, I shot and was rewarded with flashing lights around the door, indicating a hit.

Easy. Too easy.

I quickly got into a rhythm of shooting at the targets. However, as the game went on, the doors opened for less time and were widely separated. It became much harder for me to hit all the targets.

Suddenly two doors opened at once, and I could only hit one target at a time no matter how fast I pivoted. The pace continued to pick up until three and four doors were opening simultaneously, making it impossible to hit everything.

The game abruptly ended, with the light bar displaying a simple message.

NO WINNER.

I looked around, realizing everyone had gathered behind me, watching. Winston looked especially stunned. “That was incredibly accurate shooting. Aren’t you a computer guy?”

“I am,” I confirmed. “But, as you know, I’ve had some training in other areas as well.” It was a huge understatement, but now wasn’t the time or place to go into that. Still, if I wasn’t mistaken, he looked slightly impressed. It wasn’t much, but I’d take it.

“That was incredibly intense, Slash,” Alessa said. “What do you have to do to win?”

“Hit all the targets, I guess,” I said. “Which is technically impossible for me to do alone.”

“I’ll help,” Gio said. “Remember, marksman is my profession.”

He sat down in the chair next to me and inserted his ticket. It was sucked in by the chair but rapidly ejected. “Hey, why can’t I play?”

“I had to try a different chair before I found one that worked,” I said.

Gio tried another chair with the same results. “It’s still not working.”

“What if the number we got from the scale corresponds to the seat you have to use in order to play?” Clarissa suggested.

I looked down at my seat and realized she was right. The chair sank when you sat in it, which meant it could be recording our weight. The chair that had worked for me was the farthest away from the scale. I was number six, so Seat Six was mine.

“That’s exactly it,” I said, impressed with her observation skills. “The seat sinks down when you sit in it, so it must be activating a hidden scale that weighs the individual to make sure the right person is in the right chair. I suspect that means we’reallgoing to have to play the game to win.”

“I’ve never played a shooting game before,” Mia said, throwing up her hands. “What if I can’t hit anything?”

“Just aim, fire, and do your best,” Gio said. “You’ll get the hang of it after a few shots.”