"How many sides does a pent..."
>Bzzz<
Jack microphone cut off at the sound. The booths plunging in darkness, only Matthew was still visible.
"Five... Five sides." He answered in a rush. His face showing a range of emotions, at his own interruption of the question, his blurted out answer, and the consequences for a wrong interruption. An uncertain smile flickering across his face, as he heard what he wanted, and needed to hear.
"There are five sides to a pentagon."
As Jack confirmed the correct answer, the darkness left the booths. The faces of Mark, Scott and Jamie were horrified. They'd not reacted quickly enough to answer themselves, each knew they were closer to being the bimbo of the first round. The audience hooted and howled, at the promising first start. Mark's expression flickered briefly, as he hoped against hope that his rival had messed up, and received the first stage of the treatment. However, not very deep down, he truly wished he'd been quicker on the buzzer.
"Next Question. How many members were in the group The Beatles...?"
>Bzzz<
The booths darkened on the buzzer leaving only a terrified Mark lit up. The sweat beading on his face revealing how confident he was in his answer. Jack didn't need to press him to answer. The whole audience drank in his regret. As he swallowed. His mind had gone blank from stress. He swallowed, once, twice trying to get enough saliva to answer.
"I need an answer." Jack said, slowly and deliberately after a pause.
"Five, no...four. Four...!" His answer instantly regretted. He knew the rules. Hated them.
"I'm sorry Mark for an incorrect interruption, you get the treatment..."
He looked wildly around for an escape. But the room was literally bomb proof, and made to contain and control nanites.
"But, since it's the first round, it's mild..." Jack shrugged apologetically.
In moments, Mark's hair grew out, bouncing from his shoulders, as it curled and cascaded down his back. His eyes pleading for comfort, he knew... and didn't that he had made a mistake.
"There were four Beatles: John, Paul, Ringo and George." Jack's smile beaming at the contestants.
The fear was gripping Scott, and Jamie. Plunged into darkness twice, incapable of answering even the easy questions. Both knew they couldn't win without answering. Each hunched over the button, ready to press the instant they knew... anything.
In their isolation, Mark knew only that he was sporting long blonde hair, and hating it. Matthew knew he'd missed answering an easy question. No-one was happy with their performance. This was the spice that the studio loved. The fear, and insecurity was catnip for the viewers. The dread on the leaders face, as they thought they didn't ... couldn't know their position. Those others fretting over every answer they knew and missed out on giving. The few smug smiles of those who thought they had to be in the lead, and found at the round end, they weren't doing as well as they'd imagined.
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