February 23th, 2014 (7:49 pm)
The drills just ended and Zack, Adam and Harry were sitting together on a public seat inside the headquarters. Zack was scrolling on his smart-phone while Adam, who was sitting on his right, was also seeking inside. Harry, who was at the right of Adam, was become desperate. His legs were shaking intentionally and he was rubbing his hands. “Don’t be nervous, Harry, it’s just a competition,” Adam told him, still seeking inside the phone.
“But, it’s an achievement in itself for me if I participate in it,” Harry nervously replied.
“Stop it, guys! I’ve not checked the mail for over three years and then ya both come outta nowhere to say that I’m the head here and the mail will be sent to me! Now at least lemme search for it in peace,” Zack scolded.
Adam had a seek-peek again, this time more clearly. He saw the screen full of mails from Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. Adam commented, “You even have an account on Twitter, Facebook and all that?”
Still focusing on the mail, Zack replied, “Yeah, I used to use all of them- Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, literally all of them out there. But, I’ve never touched my accounts since years.”
“Oh, that’s a good thing. Too bad I ain’t like ya,” Adam sarcastically replied.
“Ya, that’s a bad thing that we ain’t same,” Zack taunted back.
“What?” Harry muttered in between. After looking shocked for a few seconds, his mind interpreted the sarcasm and he also taunted, “Yeah, it’d be good if ya both would be same.”
“What, really?!” Adam shockingly asked. “Oh man, my own attack broke my defense!”
“Nah, your own dog bit you!” Zack replied with a smile, still looking on his smart-phone.
“No, this is better. Your own sentence broke ya!” Harry laughingly said.
“What?!” Adam and Zack disgustingly yelled in unison.
“What?” Harry nervously replied.
“Well, d’ya yourself understand what ya just said?” Adam asked.
“Uh, what I wanted to say was…” Harry stopped in between as he looked skywards to find an answer to this question. “Well, what did I want to say?” Harry said.
Adam shockingly turned his face towards at Zack, who also did the same. Looking at each other’s eyes, they both broke into laughter. “Gimme a five!” Zack said, moving his hand towards Adam. Adam, in return, gave one.
Harry turned his head towards his left, away from the two and grunted. “Humph!”
“D’ya get it?” Adam asked.
“Hmm… I’m searching,” Zack replied, rubbing his chin. Suddenly, he saw a mail from the name ‘Trainee of SAI’ and he clicked on it. There was a long message under the heading ‘Trainee of SAI’ and ‘From: No Information’. Zack announced to the two, “Hey guys, I got it! Listen carefully.” Harry turned his head back towards Zack and both had their ears on.
“Dear All Trainees,
Hope y’all are good and ready for the Second Test. Unlike the First Test, failure in this will mean disqualification from the third and last exam. The Second Exam, named as SAI’s Mini-Olympics, is all about Competition as the name suggests. The eight pools are made up of sixteen teams, as you may know, and a total of four games will be played against the other seven teams and the top two teams from each pool will be selected for the Final Exam. The Competition will run starting from 1st March to 28th March. The schedule is given as an attachment below.
Good luck, fellas!
SAI’s Director
Johnny Johnson”
“Well, that’s insane! Top two to be selected! It means we needa be one of those sixteen from the other sixty-two teams!” Harry commented.
“Um… Let’s see the ratio to be selected. Sixteen and sixty-two to be cut be two, then eight and thirty-two—” Adam started to calculated.
“It’s one-four, that is, twenty five percent chances of us to be selected,” Zack said. “Sixty two comes in the table of sixteen, plus ya can directly cut two and eight, because every team is divided into pools,” Zack explained him, looking at the schedule for the competition.
“Whoa! Y’are fast at mathematics!” Adam shockingly replied.
“Thanks, and by the way, our first match is on first of March against Rolan’s team in cycling and shooting,” Zack replied.
“Oh, really? It’d be fun to play,” Adam commented.
Zack turned his eyes (not the whole face) towards Adam and sarcastically said, “Fun? Really? How can ya just think of fun and jokes literally everywhere?”
“Well, that’s my expertise,” Adam joked.
“So, congrats! Y’are ineligible to be a spy!” Zack sarcastically congratulated him.
March 1st, 2014 (9:29 am)
Zack had a pistol in his hand and was pointing it at the chart with scores with circles ranging from one to ten. Four other lanes were filled with players and it was the tournaments’ first game. It was against four other teams and every member was silent, eagerly watching who’s gonna get the first point. Behind them were the commentators, who also worked as the referees. “So, Mr. Willey, whaddya think ‘bout the game today?” One of them with a brown beard said.
“Well, the crowd is packed with eager audience waiting for us to give a go to the teams. Between us is the Director, Mr. Johnny Johnson, watching it with great interest. So, Mr. Johnson, passing the question to you, whaddya think ‘bout today’s game?”
“I don’t support anyone specific, and I won’t because I don’t wanna do partiality here. So, I think we needa give a go,” Mr. Johnson replied.
“Okay, so Mr. Fredrick, I wanna listen from you now.”
“Just give a go,” Mr. Fredrick coldly replied.
“Okay, SO THREE… TWO… ONE… SHOOT!”
Zack shot the gun and bullet went with a very fast speed and tattered the paper. The bullet hit ‘six’ and the score-board showed Zack on the third position out of four. “Oh, pretty bad start for some, but Rolan has scored a PERFECT TEN! It’s a BULLSEYE!” Mr. Willey commentated. Zack looked at his team-mates, who were looking at him dejectedly. “It missed, Zacky. Don’t worry; ya got three shoots in five rounds. We can do it!” Adam cheered him up. Zack nodded and aimed at the point-chart again.
“So, three, two, one… SHOOT!”
Everyone shot again, and Zack’s bullet hit ‘four’ this time. Zack sighed and tilted his head down. Then, Zack turned his head upwards towards the score-board, which showed that their team was last, and Rolan hit nine points this time. He dejectedly tilted his head towards Rolan, who looked back at him and frowned with a smile. “Oh, bad start for Zack’s team and Rolan has hit nine! It’d be a tough match between the two. Oh by the way, remember the last time they fought a match?”
“Ah, it was a fight to see! Both of them had equal chances of winning, and neither of them wanted to lose. I still remember that great fight!” Mr. Fredrick commented.
“But this time, the game is looking one-sided, isn’t it?” Mr. Johnson replied.
“So, THREE… TWO… ONE… SHOOT!” The third bullet of Zack hit eight, while making eighteen in total. Zack’s team was third on the points table now and Zack walked back towards his team. “Well, let’s see if the player-change can help these four teams,” Mr. Willey commented.
After half and our or so, the game was on its last bullet, with none of the four teams losing hope. Zack’s team somehow secured the second spot, with Rolan’s team still leading the board. Zack was on spot again, who was pointing his pistol at the aiming-chart with his left eye closed. None of the players was breathing and the crowd was silent, watching the game with great interest. Zack’s team was just one point behind Rolan’s team. The score was fifty-eight and fifty-seven. Mr. Willey yelled on his mike, “THREE… TWO… ONE… SHOOT!” Zack pulled the trigger and the bullet ran away at a fast pace. Rolan’s bullet hit an eight point-mark. But luckily, it hit a PERFECT TEN! The crowd stood up and started to scream. “THAT’ A BULLSEYE!” Mr. Willey shouted again on his mike. “THAT’S JUST FABULOUS! The way the team started and the way they ended, it was just… C’mon, I can’t find words now!”
“Yeah, no one thought that this team, which actually started last was gonna take the first three points of the tournament!” Mr. Fredrick commented.
“I think that this tells us that no team is small or big here, and everyone has equal chances of winning, however they start!” Mr. Johnson stated. “Okay so, I needa go for work now, y’all continue.”
“So, Mr. Johnson is leaving us for now, but the games continue and they’ve promised us to come back if they take time!” Mr. Willey said.
“Hey, that was just great!” Harry said, as he raised his hand for a hi-five.
“Ya just killed it dude!” Adam commented, also raising his hand. He gave a hi-five to both and continued advancing to the dugout, where the bottles and other essential products were kept. Sitting on the seat, he looked at Rolan, who was looking back at him angrily. He pointed at him and then moved his finger from left to right of his neck, indicating something like he’d cut his throat. Zack shook his head and turned towards the crowd, cheering “ZACK! ZACK!” Rolan also tilted his head towards the crowd just like Zack, and frowned. He tilted back at Zack, who was glaring him proudly, and silently said, “Gonna beat ya!”
March 1st, 2014 (4:30 pm)
“Hello guys!” Mr. Willey commentated. “After an hour’s break, the tournament continues again, with same teams competing against the same teams, but in a different game. Now, it’s the cycling races, with a total of five rounds in one-on-one sprinting, one-on-one race and then a group race to end. The one to win the most will win three more points for the pool-rankings!”
“So, who’re ya gonna support, Mr. Willey?” Mr. Fredrick asked.
“Uh… Last time, Zack’s team gave a strong match against Rolan’s team, and that’s the reason they’ve gained the top spot on the pool-rankings. But, we can’t say anything for sure even in this time. The other two teams are also good, but they didn’t get the spotlight due to some extremely great matchup.”
“Yeah, the other two teams are very under-rated here. Anyone can win this match and we should focus on those teams also,” Mr. Fredrick commentated.
Zack was on his cycle, wearing the necessary clothes and pads. In his front lay a hundred-meter race track. On his left was Rolan; while on his right were two other contestants. The commentators shouted, “… ONE… GO!” And the race started. “So the race has started and Rolan has taken the lead, followed by his arch-rival Zack Will who’s giving his best to win this game, but the end is just seconds away! And, ROLAN HAS WON!” Mr. Willey reviewed the whole ten-second game “It was a fast race, with Rolan’s team leading the scoreboard with three more points on the ranking-table. But, can they obtain the three points of the pool-rankings?”
Zack advanced towards the dugout and Harry took his place for the second round. It was also a sprinting round. Harry took on the position, and the game started. This time also, Zack’s team secured second place, with the first place for Rolan’s team. The rounds went off, and the teams won and lost. The last round was to be handled by Adam. He was on his cycle, looking in the front at the track. Mr. Willey commentated, “The game ‘til now is going’ insane! Both Rolan’s and Zack’s teams are on the same position with six points each. So, it is up to Adam to take away the three points, or our Rolan’s looking ready to grab it!”
“I think that Rolan’s been consistent this all time and he deserves to win. His team is in fifth position in the Pool-Charts. But, we can’t say anything,” Mr. Fredrick commented. “It’d be an interesting game to watch.”
“Yeah, so let’s begin the last round! THREE… TWO… ONE… GO!”
Mr. Fredrick was explaining the happenings of this round. “So here we go. Rolan’s on the cycle again against Adam and two others. Rolan has, once more, taken the first position and is not willingly to give it away. Oh but wait, Adam is coming from behind as he’s taken the lead! Oh no, the round’s still not ended and Rolan is just behind him now! The two are giving their best and aw! The round ended with yet another win by Rolan!”
Mr. Willey said, “It was just fabulous the way Rolan came from behind and stole what was actually his right from the start, the first position!”
Adam, panting heavily, came at the dugout and drank some water from his bottle. “Sorry guys,” he said after drinking a whole bottle of water. “I didn’t make the cut.”
“Oh, it’s okay, Ads. The main thing is that we gave a good fight,” Zack cheered him up.
