AI GAMES

2

I found myself on a train hurtling through an endless snowy landscape, the inside warm, the outside bleak.

i'd been sitting near the window, watching the snow and occasional pylons pass by, waiting for instructions.

But three days passed with no word.

Everything seemed too real - the bustling passengers, the busy staff, the station announcements.

On the fourth day, the announcement came: "Dear passengers, we have arrived at Jupiter Station. Please take your belongings and exit to the right. Watch the gap."

I shivered, not because of the cold, but because of the eerie familiarity of the announcement.

I scribbled down "Mercury" on a napkin.

The route was a loop, taking three days to complete, with thirteen stops named Venus, Earth, and others.

Mercury → Venus → Earth → Mars → Jupiter → Saturn → Uranus → Neptune → Lunar → Hubble → Phobos → Pluto → Cosmos Circle

On the twelfth day, the third loop, I had explored the train to no avail. It was all too normal.

As I walked through the carriages, a young girl, Emily Turner, stopped me

"You playing the game too?" Emily asked.

I, wary, saw Emily raise his hands in a peaceful gesture.

"I've seen you walking back and forth. Only staff and players do that," Emily said.

Over a glass of whiskey, Emily shared she'd been on the train for twenty-five days, longer than I.

Emily remembered her name thanks to the game's initial prompt, but everything else was a blur.

At the next stop, Emily mentioned she'd ventured outside - a desolate platform with nowhere to go, just snow.

She warned I against the meat served by the attendants.

As the attendant brought their meals, labeled steak and potatoes, I hesitated but then ate, determined to maintain his strength.

Emily, surprised, eventually followed suit.

"This isn't real, so why worry?" I said, urging her to find clues and escape the surreal train ride.

I hinted, "My name is Jack Harper. Forming an alliance. Two's not safe enough. There are still quite a few adult men."

Emily casually responded, "Not that many. Across the entire train, 347 passengers, only 51 are adult men. Our carriage has three: you, Ponytail, and that corporate guy with the briefcase. At night, the passageways between carriages lock, so we're quite safe."

I ask "What's the longest you've stayed at a station?"

Emily looked thoughtful and then said, "Five minutes. If you're not back on the train in five minutes, it leaves."

With only five minutes at each stop, there was little I could do, barely enough time to explore a complete path.

As they approached the next station, Emily grabbed I's arm, her face suddenly serious.

"Don't linger too long out there searching," she warned gravely. "I knew another player once who was killed at a station right after the train pulled away."

I's eyes widened in surprise. That confirmed this was truly a dangerous game rather than just an unsettling train ride.

"There's no way off the train then?" I asked. "We've already searched it pretty thoroughly..."

Emily shook her head. "Believe me, I've tried for 25 days. It's designed to keep us trapped in an endless loop."

I scratched my chin, deep in thought as I watched the snowy landscape through the frosted window.

"In a closed mystery game with few clues like this, there's usually only one path that lets you progress. My guess is choosing the correct station to get off at - out of 13 chances, only 1 allows you to survive and proceed."

I met Emily's anxious eyes. "If that player was killed right after the train departed, maybe there is a temporary way out, but only if you pick correctly."