Miss Elizabeth spoke, glancing at the contestants to make sure she was being understood.
"You would all be divided into ten groups of seven for the next stage of the competition. But mind you, we will have only one winner," Miss Elizabeth said once.
Everyone threw a glance at each other. How was that even possible? Most of them thought so, as they couldn't picture that happening in their minds.
Derek was also taken aback by this statement. He was really wondering what was going on. Maybe she had just made a mistake, he thought, then dissolved the idea in his head.
"The division will be done today and now," Miss Elizabeth said, cutting through all the commotion her words had initially caused.
Everywhere became quiet as everyone soon came to the realization that Miss Elizabeth was not at all joking or making a mistake.
Soon enough, the sharing began, and everyone was being moved into ten different positions. The sharing was not done by Miss Elizabeth.
Instead, it was handled by a virtual AI assistant named Bing—it was the company's official AI assistant.
Bing would simply display the candidate's info and the group allocated to him or her.
Then Miss Elizabeth took the initiative to tell them where to stand when they were called.
After about 45 minutes, all 70 candidates had been shared randomly into ten different groups.
Derek casually glanced at his group members. He had mentally taken note of all of them as they were being called out.
Derek's group members by name were:
Lucy
Stella
Dave
Collins
Justin
Eve
Derek stared at his group members in disbelief.
He had been very skeptical about his position and knowledge, so he had prayed for very high-ranking teammates.
But apart from Stella—coincidentally—the rest of his team members were obviously ranked among the last four.
Derek's heart was racing. How was this even possible?
Glancing down at Thompson's team, it was quite noticeable how ironic the case was.
Thompson was actually grouped with roughly part of the top fifteen.
Derek didn't understand what the hell was going on. This AI assistant has surely gone nuts, Derek thought as he began doubting his fate in the competition.
Miss Elizabeth's voice cut him out of his thoughts.
"You have now been successfully matched. Just make sure to know each other better, because you and your teammates will be competing as a team tomorrow.
But remember—only one winner," Miss Alison finally said before dismissing the group.
"Hi, my name is Stella," someone said from behind Derek, cutting him out of the long roll of thoughts running through his head.
"Yeah, hi. My name is Derek. Nice meeting you," Derek said, sounding a bit shady. He still wasn't used to socializing and stuff. He was still under that shell.
Derek casually glanced through the room, looking at all his teammates. Undoubtedly, they definitely had the least chances of producing a winner. And Thompson? He was already off to a good start.
"Well, it's equally nice meeting you. I was thinking we should, you know, hang around just to know ourselves better," Stella said, looking around.
Though shy, she was still one of the people in the group with the most courage at that point.
Because she was definitely speaking to the last four on the board—and Derek—who just didn't know his worth.
Stella stood still, scanning through the unresponsive faces she was getting. But she knew better than to blame them. After all, they were going through a lot, and she really didn't want to compound it for them at the moment.
Stella just glanced back at them with a knowing look as she turned and headed towards her own dorm.
Derek looked at her retreating figure. Something about her just resonated with him, but he couldn't tell what it was.
Derek took a deep breath, still looking forward, when he felt a gentle tap on his back. Turning around, he found Lucy behind him.
He also noticed that all the other members of the group had actually begun dispersing into their various rooms.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Derek said lightly. He had become slightly free with Lucy, based on the fact that he had actually been with her for some time and was able to see her flaws quite well.
"Well, I'm actually doing great. And you?" Lucy said as they instinctively began walking toward the dorms.
"Wow, that's quite nice. I'm actually doing fine," Derek said, still thinking about Stella. Something seemed off about her. Though she was shy, that tension didn't seem to be in her eyes.
Or was it just him? Derek thought, scrutinizing his thoughts. From the time she asked that question during the premiere of the Mind Grid, Derek had always been suspicious of her.
Derek kept walking, not noticing that Lucy had stopped midway, just looking at him. Immediately he noticed, he turned impulsively, trying to find out what had happened—only to see her standing silently behind him.
"If you don't want to talk to me or just don't want me around, just tell me. So I don't keep trying to get to you," Lucy said, her demeanor changing.
She was flaring with annoyance, and Derek just stood still, not knowing how to handle the situation.
"I'm always trying to get your attention—right from school—and you always keep treating me as though I'm a minor." At this point, Lucy had completely lost it. Tears gently piled up in her eyes.
Derek quickly panicked. He wondered how the case had suddenly escalated. He quickly began walking toward her.
Seeing the panic in Derek's face, Lucy couldn't help but feel slightly fluttered. She had to hide her pressure so as not to look suspicious.
"I'm actually sorry—I didn't know when I left. I was carried away," Derek explained, trying to make Lucy see reason with him.
Immediately, Lucy cut him off.
"It's actually fine," Lucy said as she began walking to her dorm, which was quite close to his in a way.
Derek still stood still, regret and confusion washing over him.
He couldn't understand how things had escalated so quickly. He began walking to his room, his mood obviously soured from the event.
Soon, Derek was at the door of his room. He quietly opened it and moved in. He collapsed on his chair—not physically, but emotionally drained.
Apart from John, Lucy was actually one of the only people he could call a friend.
Derek sighed, taking his mind off it. Within minutes, Derek was back to thinking of Stella and the competition.
Derek quietly started critically scrutinizing the details. Why were they being put into a team, and yet there would be only one winner?
After thinking for a couple of minutes, a stray thought hit Derek mind.
Derek's eyes widened in suprise.