The Smole: 30.05-Ding ding ding

Last time on the Smole, the contestants had to take photos with landmarks. However, the photographs had certain requirements as to which contestant needed to be in each one. 80/130 points were earned overall, making the pot 200/250 points. Damien and Angel could have earned an exemption but neither of them got it because they did not fulfil the requirements needed to earn the exemptions. However, they did not need them, since they were safe, but the same could not be said for Brett Malta. While things become less perfect without him?

***

Day 10

Sebastian: "It has been 10 days already. I am beginning to sense some animosity towards me. I know, I know. Everybody thinks I am odd. But it is not my fault. There is no box for me to fit into, no square. So I create my own one. Just as well. I do not belong in boxes or squares. So stifling."

Rachel: "Autumn salad. Yum."

Hazel: "Rachel, why not come sit with me?"

Rachel: "I'm lazy to walk there."

Hazel: "Oh...you know, you really do look like The Little Mermaid."

Rachel: "Ding ding ding. You're the bazillionth geek to say that. Come collect your prize."

Hazel: "What did I win?"

Rachel: "Oh honey, go and learn some sarcasm, will you?"

***

Hazel: "I was personally told to visit the dining room and not let anyone else know about this. So I followed instructions. I then realised we were on a mission."

Esther: "I didn't get a good sleep."

Angel: "I wonder why we are gathered here. And where are the rest?"

"Good morning. You six are in charge of finding 200 points. Each of you will receive a phone and will be brought to a room, where you can communicate with the contestant in the previous and next room. The one in the first room will be notified of the location. He or she then has to pass this on all the way to the last contestant. The moment the last contestant has received the information, they would have 10 minutes to look for the points."

"You six are what I call the 'buggers'. Your fellow contestants know where the points are and have to relay on information via phone. Each of you have been randomly assigned to a bugged phone and can listen in to that conversation. Once you find out where the points are, you may bring it back to your starting point to earn an exemption but no points. However, if you bug a phone only to hear nothing, the points are gone as well and you will incur a penalty. You work alone."

"However, your other contesants will be eavesdropping. Each of them has been assigned to a bugged phone and can listen in to find out where the points are. If they get the points before you, they earn an exemption but no points will be earned. You may decide whether or not to call the next contestant, knowing that they may or may not be listening. If they listen in and you called someone, no points will be earned and the bugger will get an exemption if he or she brings the points back to his or her hiding place. If they listen in and you don't call, there will be a 5 points penalty. There are six of you, meaning it can lose up to 30 points. If they choose not to listen in and you call, the mission proceeds as per normal and you can earn 200 points, provided you find them. If they don't listen in to your call and you don't call, nothing happens. You are allowed to use any method to communicate but you cannot leave your rooms until the last contestant has received information."

Hazel: "Well, I'm sure they'll be nice and let us win points."

Rachel: "Don't be naive."

Esther: "I think we need to decide on the order first."

Angel: "Can I be the last? I think nobody would want to bug an old granny's phone."

Esther: "That is too risky. I think we can only communicate by phone. How else will we get information across?"

Angel: "So who should be last?"

Sebastian: "There must be another way to relay information. Maybe we will find paper there."

Angel: "Yes, maybe. Let us decide on the order first."

Ethan: "Hmm...I get a feeling whoever is bugging my phone will want to hear what I have to say. So, I should probably be somewhere in the middle."

Ethan: "How about you go last, Rachel?"

Rachel: "I'm fine with that."

Hazel: "Oh, how about we switch phones?"

Rachel: "I don't think that will help. We don't know if they are listening and I think everybody wants that exemption."

Sebastian: "Perhaps we can call really quickly."

Esther: "That's not a good idea. Information can be lost like that."

Sebastian: "We just need to be clear in speaking. Then the last one will run to get the points before anyone else can reach it."

***

Jake: "Should we bug their phones and listen in?"

Damien: "Of course! We have exemptions and they don't know we're listening in. It's totally fine if you don't want to though, goody-two-shoes."

Joseph :"It can't be that simple. I suspect that the others know they're listening in on us and have to try and stop us."

Damien: "That's...possible."

London: "What do we do? We don't know enough."

Danielle: "Maybe we don't all have to eavesdrop."

Sylvester: "I think that only the bugger who is listening in on the last contestant's phone should listen."

Jake: "Yeah but we don't know who the last contestant is."

Joseph: "And who's going to give up the exemption?"

Damien: "Not me, that's for sure."

Sylvester: "It's tempting but there are also points at stake. And not to mention a penalty if we 'hear nothing'. If they choose to keep mum we can lose points."

London: "So at the end of the day let's just all bug."

Sylvester: "We couldn't decide. It was every man for himself. Everybody wanted an exemption. So in the end we all decided to bug. There's nothing they can do anyway. They have to use the phones to earn points."

***

They are in their places.

Sebastian: "I really expected there to be some sort of paper or other way to communicate, otherwise this is a very biased mission. It is a good thing Hazel decided to bring it up again or we would have no idea what to do."

Angel: "I know where the points are: on the rooftop garden, hiding inside a tomato plant. I know somebody has to be eavesdropping on my conversation with Sebastian, so I could not reveal it so early. I decided to drop clues instead."

Angel: "Sebastian. The points are in the rooftop garden in a plant."

Damien: "I bet they deliberately put me with Ma to see what I would do. Well, I'm gonna listen in, of course! They wouldn't put her last, that's for sure. So I have to bug."

Sebastian: "Understood."

Sebastian: "Ethan, plant. Rooftop garden."

Joseph: "I'm not going to do it. Knowing Sebastian, he'll probably try to confuse everyone. If he doesn't call, then I'd be a sinner for bringing 5 points out of the pot."

Ethan: "Plant and rooftop garden? Okay."

Sebastian: "Hurry up and hang up and call Hazel!"

Ethan: "Hello? Hazel? Are you there?"

Hazel: "Yes. It's me. Where is the money?"

Ethan: "In a garden."

Ethan: "It's understood that the points have to be in some plants if it's a garden right? So I tried to be as vague as possible to make it harder for the buggers to know where exactly to find."

London: "I'm listening. Go on...I feel like I'm missing something. I can only hear 'Hello Hazel are you there' and 'in a garden'. I think something in between is missing."

Hazel: "Could you repeat that? It's a little fuzzy."

Ethan: "In a garden."

Hazel: "Garden? I don't see a garden here."

Ethan: "Just pass it on."

Sylvester: "Hazel's so naive she'll just blurt out everything. And there's no way she'll be last so I have time to find the points."

Sylvester: "Garden. Got it."

Sylvester: "Damien!"

Damien: "Shh."

Damien: "Nope, none here."

Sylvester: "Where should I begin searching?"

Sylvester: "Maybe it's in here somewhere. A fake tomato perhaps."

Damien: "Nothing under the seats."

Esther: "It is taking quite a while. What happened to relaying information quickly?"

Esther: "Oh, my phone is ringing."

Hazel: "Hi Esther, it's me, Hazel."

Esther: "Cut through all that and tell me the location."

Hazel: "Um, the garden."

Esther: "The garden? That's it? Okay then."

Danielle: "Sorry Esther. I want to stay. I didn't quite catch that though."

Damien: "He's still at that bush. Idiot."

Damien: "I should probably search in there too. Ouch! It's thorny."

Sylvester: "No...aha. I knew I would get something."

Sylvester: "I've found the points."

Sylvester: "He's still searching."

Sylvester: "I better leave before he tries to stop me."

Danielle: "Syl--"

Sylvester: "Shh."

Danielle: "Did you find it?"

Sylvester: "No. I'm beginning to think this isn't the right place. Damien's still searching. Ow, didn't remove the earpiece. Now I'm getting that irritating feedback."