Lord of The Stars

The false Noor shook his head disapprovingly and said:

"We shouldn't do that. He won't like that I chose you over him first, and second, he might try to steal the keys from us—he wants to reach the finish line just as we do. That's why we need to slip away stealthily without him noticing and get out of here. When he doesn't find any key, he'll try to obtain one through another route. If he reaches the finish line, we'll tell him we searched for him but couldn't find him, and found only two keys, so we were forced to cross without him; we thought he had met his demise. Isn't this a good plan? I know it's sad and not a particularly good move. But think carefully about the consequences if we tell him what happened, think carefully."

Jean seemed to have fallen into a deep well of confusion with no one extending a helping hand or throwing her a rope to cling to. Thoughts conflicted relentlessly in her mind, the greater part telling her not to leave Akira here without informing him of what was happening. Yet she knew he might hate Noor for this and might attempt to steal their keys. She remembered he had helped them thus far—without him they wouldn't have obtained the keys, and he wouldn't do something like this. She said, confusion evident on her face:

"It doesn't matter. We'll tell him anyway, and if anything happens, we'll devise a plan. We've been through worse until now, and we owe him our lives. We can't leave him here just to save ourselves. In any case, if we survive and Akira doesn't, I'll reproach myself for this until death. And I really don't want that."

The false Noor approached her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and looked at her. His pale face reddened, his features tensed, his eyes flashed, and he said in an urgent, decisive tone:

"Do you realize what you're doing? The finish line is close. We'll escape this hell. And you want to throw all this away for some possibilities? You know he won't like this, and he might try to steal the keys from us or even kill us. If we leave him now, it will be the best chance for all of us. He'll search for another key anyway. What bad thing will happen to him?"

Jean pushed his hand away and began to understand that this might be part of the test. She said irritably:

"Get your hands off me. Who are you? You're not Noor! Noor has never touched me before. He would never think only of himself like this. Tell me now, who are you?"

"Have you lost your mind? I'm Noor—who else would I be? Alright, I'm sorry for what I did, but you understand what I mean. This is our only chance to reach the end of this hell."

"I know it's our only chance, but we shouldn't leave anyone behind. He's helped us before, and we wouldn't have reached here without him. Shall we abandon him after all this? We'll tell him you found one key and I found the other, and we'll ask if he found his. Then we'll pretend to search with him, and if he doesn't find one, we'll look for another key elsewhere with him. We owe him that much."

The false Noor fell silent briefly to think, his intensity and tension increasing. Then he broke the silence, saying:

"But this is a waste of time. He'll catch up with us, I'm sure of it. We need to arrive before the others to get more points, to become among the eight who will be able to exit from here! Don't you realize this? The more time we waste, the less chance we have of getting out of here!"

Jean's face showed distress and doubt at what he was saying. She raised her hand, pointing at him, and said:

"Who are you?"

"I'm Noor, I told you. What's wrong with you?"

"If you're Noor, then what's the password we agreed upon?"

The false Noor fell silent, paralyzed by these words. The words choked in his throat. With a forced smile, he said:

"Do you doubt me?"

"Of course I doubt you. Tell me the password."

The voice paused the video and said to the real Noor:

"When did you create a password? I've been listening to everything you've been saying and witnessed most of what's happening!"

Noor laughed, knowing that Jean had passed the test even if the video hadn't finished. He replied with cool detachment:

"We anticipated you were monitoring us and listening to our conversations. We knew there would be many deceptions in this race. To prevent someone from deceiving us and dividing us, we decided to create a password. This happened while we were waiting for Akira to regain his strength. To ensure you wouldn't hear us, I wrote the password in the sand and signaled them to look at it silently and never speak of it. They understood my intention. Perhaps you thought I was merely playing in the sand out of boredom, so it didn't draw your attention to watch us during this period that seemed unimportant for anyone to observe."

The voice laughed and its tone softened slightly:

"My goodness, I didn't expect all this from you! Truthfully, I didn't expect you to pass the first test so easily, but you continue to amaze me. Now I'll resume the video."

The false Noor, sensing his time was running out, said:

"I just don't remember it! All these events made me forget... you know... all this terror and anxiety; it would certainly affect me."

Jean scrutinized him with attentiveness, cunning, and apprehension while backing away. The false Noor tried to feign innocence:

"Jean, what's wrong with you? It's me, Noor, can't you see?"

"Tell me the password."

"I truly don't remember. Why won't you believe me?"

"I don't believe you because you're the one who created the password, so how could you forget it? That settles everything. Where is the real Noor? Tell me where he went."

The false Noor fell silent, realizing he had been discovered. He laughed an unsettling laugh and said:

"Fine, fine, you've passed the test. You can take the key, but only after you guess which one is the real key."

He held up two keys before him, his face bearing a mocking expression.

Jean smiled confidently and said:

"It's in your back pocket."

The false Noor's mocking expression changed as he stared at her, thunderstruck with disbelief:

"How did you know that? You couldn't have figured it out so easily!"

Jean's smile widened as she said:

"Because you're a fool. You fell into my trap despite knowing my power. But I'll explain. I had already chosen one of them, and you foolishly told me both were fake and the real one was hidden in your back pocket. So I went back in time five seconds and chose correctly. Now give me the key; I don't have time."

The false Noor laughed and put his hand over his face in frustration:

"What a fool I am. I forgot about that; it never crossed my mind. Well done, you've proven you deserve the key."

The false Noor tossed the key to her. She caught it and said sharply:

"Now tell me where the real Noor is."

The voice spoke to the real Noor:

"What an intriguing group you are. I've truly been entertained watching you, and I hope you reach the finish line as I see great potential in you all. Now, let's take a look at your friend Akira to see whether he passed his test or not. Trust me, his test is particularly fascinating."

A smile spread across Noor's face when he saw Jean's intelligence and perceptiveness. He felt relieved that she had passed the test, though he grew concerned about Akira. Would he succeed as well, or would he fail?

Noor began watching the video showing Akira walking through a corridor similar to the one he had traversed, then entering the room at its end, only to be shocked by what he saw.

Akira stood stunned, staring at two glass cages before him. One contained a key placed on a table, while in the other glass cage sat a false Noor bound in chains, sitting on a chair, looking at Akira with terror and pleading with him for rescue.

Noor paused the video and said:

"I don't understand! Why did you choose me for both Jean's and Akira's tests?"

"Don't you see? In the first test, I had to choose you because you're closer to Jean than Akira is. She seems to trust you greatly and follows you. This would reveal what lies within her soul: would she escape with you, or stay and tell Akira what was happening, despite barely knowing him? If I had presented her with Akira instead of you, she would have certainly refused from the start to leave you behind. As for this test, I chose you to make his conscience more at ease when he chooses the key and leaves you to fall into the pool among the fish. This test will force him to choose between you and the key. If I had put Jean in your place, male instinct to protect the female would bias him toward saving her, possibly abandoning the key in the end. But for a male to choose another male over his own interests! That rarely happens. Therefore, to test what truly lies within him and probe the depths of his soul, you had to be the one in this test."

Noor drifted into thought, contemplating the malice behind these tests. He felt as if the devil himself had designed them and said to himself:

"The fascinating thing is how it plays on human survival instinct, ego, self-interest, and the principle of utility. Would one prefer 'I' over 'we' if 'I' were in danger? It reveals what's inside each of us while simultaneously misleading us. The main objective set for us isn't the solution. If we understood this, we wouldn't suffer from these tests. But Akira doesn't know this—what will happen to him? These tests were designed so that no ordinary human could pass them, and we are not ordinary."

His contemplation was interrupted as the video resumed playing.

Akira heard the voice addressing him:

"This test is simple. There are only two keys in this place. Jean has already obtained one, but Noor's bad luck led him down the wrong path where there were no keys, and he fell into this trap, becoming a rat in this experiment. Now you have five minutes to choose between Noor and the last key, knowing that very few keys remain for the ten gates. Your chance of obtaining another key besides this one is only 10%, so think carefully. This key is your passage through here; otherwise, you know what will happen. Also, Noor has no hope of getting another key—he's doomed either way. If you choose the key, Noor will fall into the pool below to be devoured by the massive fish. The same goes for the key. Now, let the game begin."