فصل بیست و هفتم

chapter-27

Kyle wasn’t worried when Dr. Zinchenko made her morning announcements at Olympia Village on day three of the games.

“Today’s two competitions will both be centered on books.” Kyle knew Sierra Russell could handle anything bookish the game makers threw at her.

“Today’s your day to shine,” he told her.

“I’ll do my best,” said Sierra.

When the bookmobiles arrived at the Lemoncello Library, the security guards, Clarence and Clement, gave each team member a brand-new smartphone.

“You will need it for today’s first game,” said Clarence.

“But you get to keep it, too,” added Clement.

Sweet, thought Kyle. Even if his team lost this round, they’d all just scored some excellent swag.

The eight teams were assigned work desks in the rotunda. Spectators crowded around the edge of the circular room.

“Please access the Web browser on your phones,” said Dr. Zinchenko from her position behind the central desk, “and go to Lemoncello.it.” Kyle did. Then he helped Sierra do it, too. Miguel and Akimi were fine on their own.

“Please enter game code one-zero-zero-two-four.”

All the players did.

“Excellent,” said Dr. Zinchenko.

Overhead, the Wonder Dome turned into a giant game screen reading “Welcome to the Battle of the Books.” “Please enter your first and last names and, when you have done so, tap ‘Join Game.’ When you are all online, I, as the quizmaster, will show you a series of ten questions, each one with four possible answers. For each question, you will have ten seconds to make your selection on your phone screen. Lemoncello.it will instantaneously calculate your score based on correctness and speed of answering. It will then post a leaderboard for the top five players. In the event of a tie, the team with the most players in the top five will be awarded today’s first medal, the Libris.” Up on the Wonder Dome, thirty-two brightly colored names in a balloon font popped into view as the players finished tapping them into their phones.

“Let us begin,” said Dr. Zinchenko. “First question: In which book does a character bounce a pinecone off someone’s head?” Tense, clock-ticking music throbbed out of the Rotunda Reading Room’s hidden speakers.

Four answers were displayed on the dome, each identified with a geometric shape. A square for Ungifted by Gordon Korman, a triangle for A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff, a hexagon for Twerp by Mark Goldblatt, and an oval for The Postcard by Tony Abbott.

“The square,” whispered Sierra.

Kyle, Akimi, and Miguel didn’t waste any time second-guessing her answer, because the countdown clock had already slid from ten seconds to five by the time they’d finished reading all the possible answers.

A gong sounded when the timer hit zero. The red square for Ungifted lit up and was given a check mark as the correct answer. According to the scoreboard on the ceiling, thirty of the thirty-two players had answered correctly, including, of course, all four players from Ohio.

“Way to go, Sierra!” said Kyle.

“Question two,” said Dr. Zinchenko. “The Watson family went to Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. In what city did the Watson family actually live?“ Four choices filled all the phone screens: Detroit, Kansas City, Kalamazoo, and Flint.

“Flint,” said Sierra.

All the players on the hometown team tapped the oval icon for Flint.

Sierra’s answer, once again, was correct.

“Boo-yah,” said Kyle.

Suddenly, Marjory Muldauer, two desks away, leapt up from her seat.

“Dr. Zinchenko?”

“Yes, Ms. Muldauer?”

She pointed at Sierra. “That girl from Ohio is telling her teammates what answer to give.” Trembling slightly, Sierra stood up, too. “Is that against the rules, Dr. Zinchenko?” Kyle stood up beside her. “Because you didn’t say we couldn’t help each other.” “Yeah,” said Miguel, standing up, too.

“What they said,” added Akimi as she stood to join her teammates.

“You are correct,” said Dr. Zinchenko. “I did not specifically state that collaboration would be prohibited.” “But it’s cheating!” hollered Marjory. She whirled around and glared at Kyle. “This isn’t flap-your-arms-and-do-the-chicken-dance, Kyle Keeley. This is serious. ‘Battle of the Books’ serious. Everybody on your team needs to know the material, inside and out.” “I agree with Miss Muldauer,” boomed Mr. Lemoncello. His huge face, looking weirdly warped around the edges, was now filling all the video screens under the dome. “As much as I love teamwork, for this game, you all need to fly solo, like Han in Star Wars, although he always had Chewbacca in the copilot seat. But that is neither here nor there, because it is in a galaxy far, far away. Play on, Olympians. And henceforth, there shall be no consultation amongst teammates. Kindly keep your eyes on your own phone.” The Battle of the Books continued.

Kyle got a couple of answers right on his own, but he took longer to respond than everybody else, so his name never appeared on the leaderboard again. After the ninth question was answered, Marjory Muldauer, Sierra Russell, and a girl from Knoxville, Tennessee, named Jennifer Greene were all tied for first place.

“Here is your final question,” said Dr. Zinchenko. “Once again, you will have ten seconds to choose your answer. In which book is a toddler worshipped by cockroaches?” Wow! Kyle actually knew that one, because the past summer he’d read the book. He quickly tapped the purple hexagon for Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins, who had also written The Hunger Games.

The gong sounded.

Kyle’s answer was correct.

Sierra’s, however, wasn’t.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I read that book when I was six. I forgot….” “It’s okay,” said Kyle.

Meanwhile, at the Midwest team’s table, people were jumping up and doing bad potato-masher dances.

Jennifer Greene from the Southeastern team must’ve chosen the wrong answer, too. Because according to the leaderboard, Marjory Muldauer had just won the games’ fifth medal.