31.11-Betrayals

Last time on the Smole, the final four had a go at snake charming. Only Melvin managed to earn points, resulting in 30/260 points, or 320/850 points in the pot. However, he was executed. Angie managed to find an exemption by luck and Sydney had the chance to take it away. However, she was incorrect in naming who was from Mercucorp and who was in the resistance and hence couldn't steal the exemption for herself. With only three left, who will win in Egypt? And who is the Mole?

***

Max: "I will win this. I'll show Coach and everyone watching that I am the best."

Max: "That bed over there must had bad fengshui. Anyone who slept there is executed."

***

Sydney: "Hello Chihuahua."

Max: "Stop calling me names. My name is Max Zhao. Go sit with Angie."

Sydney: "Crikey, this finale cast is so boring."

Angie: "We were eating breakfast when suddenly a van whizzed by. Supposed agents of Mercucorp got out and threw us in and forced us to change while in the van. I was prepared to beat them up before I realised that this must have been part of the final mission."

***

Max: "What happened to your other clothes?"

Sydney: "Couldn't find them."

"Attention. You have been split into different rooms for a reason. You two are Mercucorp agents. Angie Reese is from the resistance."

Sydney: "Hold up there. So Angie that c*** lied to me? I knew I couldn't trust her."

"Your fellow comrade...or enemy, rather, has been found out by Mercucorp and is currently being tied to a torture chair. The torture is that she must answer a morally ambiguous dilemma posed to her. She is not allowed to question any loopholes and must assume everything will occur."

"Outside this building where Mercucorp holds their meetings, you will find a table and two chairs. There, you will discuss what you think Angie Reese answered to free her and earn 50 points. You have 10 minutes to decide before she is tortured mentally and emotionally too much."

Max: "They didn't have to go in one big round to come up with this mission. The storyline is a waste of time."

Sydney: "Stop being such a spoilsport."

"Angie's dilemma is: You are the sole resistance spy left. You have just discovered a way to purge Mercucorp from Al Simhara, but that involves you sacrificing yourself and strapping a bomb to yourself while the Mercucorp leaders are having a meeting in this very building. If you don't, you will survive unscathed but can never fully get rid of Mercucorp ever again. Do you do it?"

Max: "Let me start. Angie is such a nerd."

Max: "I think she's too scared to do it "

Sydney: "Speak proper Simlish, mate."

Max: "Don't test me right now."

Sydney: "Whatever. You don't know Angie well enough."

Max: "And do you? You seemed so shocked that Angie was from the resistance."

Sydney: "I think Angie will sacrifice herself. She's nice at heart. And she's the only resistance member left."

Max: "But how nice? I don't think she'll give herself up. Will Mercucorp really cease to exist because of that? She was so scared of a snake in the last mission she couldn't even do it. What makes you think she'll be willing to explode herself and die horrifically for altruistic reasons?"

Sydney: "We're getting nowhere with this."

Max: "Let me prove myself."

Sydney: "No, let us win. Now I know why you've been put off the Olympics. You don't f***** understand the meaning of teamwork. This isn't about proving you're better than anyone else, mate. It's about working together to achieve a common goal. If this was real and we had to really save Angie, she'd be dead by now. And it'd be your fault. Prove yourself? Prove to me that you actually listen to others."

Max: "I never really thought about it that way. Okay. We will follow you."

Sydney: "Great. Then I say Angie kills herself to stop Mercucorp."

"Please enter the block on the right."

Sydney: "I believe I'm right."

Max: "You better be."

Sydney: "Angie! They really tied you up!"

Max: "Let's untie her. What did you answer for the dilemma?"

Angie: "I felt that since I was the only resistance member left, I had to do it. It was my purpose, to destroy Mercucorp, wasn't it? I said that I would kill myself to destroy Mercucorp. I heard about their evil practices and I frown on them in real life anyway."

Sydney: "Excellent. Now let's get out of here."

Sydney: "Ow!"

Sydney: "Did you just hit me?"

Max: "Nope, must have been that fly over there."

Angie: "Sorry, Sydney."

Sydney: "Ow!"

Angie: "You should never have trusted me. I'm the enemy after all. I'm from the resistance. You aren't."

Max: "Is she still alive? You hit her pretty hard."

Angie: "Yes, I'm sure. Production said to knock her out and tie her to that chair at all costs."

Max: "She fell pretty hard. She's a woman too. Do you think she'll be alright?"

Angie: "Oh...I never considered the idea of a concussion. Hopefully she'll come to. Let's just do our job."

Max: "Okay, what now? All I was told by the cameraman was to knock Sydney out."

Angie: "I flee from you. That's the next logical step."

Max: "But I thought we're on the same side now, since we went against Sydney."

***

Sydney: "My f***** head...did you seriously knock me out cold and tie me here, you c***? Let me go!"

Angie: "Sorry, production's orders."

"Attention. Zhao Qun, Angie Reese, you may choose to come to a negotiation on whether to free Sydney. She has also been given a torture dilemma to resolve within five minutes."

Max: "I'm so confused now. So am I on Sydney's side or what?"

Angie: "I think you're just a confused man. Ever watched Age of Shadows? It's about the Korean revolution against the Japanese occupation and the central character was a very confused man. That train scene highlighted..."

Max: "I'm going to have to stop you there now. I haven't seen it."

Max: "I say we just leave Sydney be."

Angie: "I know she's not very nice and all but we really shouldn't leave her tied to a chair all day. It can seriously hurt."

Max: "Do you think production will leave her there?"

Angie: "..."

Max: "Alright, let's go 'negotiate' or something."

"Sydney's dilemma is: You have been held hostage by the brutal resistance group. They will set you free if you reveal the whereabouts of all your colleagues and bosses, otherwise you will be tortured to death. However, Mercucorp isn't known for being nice, and once you are set free they will know you betrayed them and flog you to death. Do you reveal their whereabouts?"

Max: "Essentially how you want to die."

Angie: "Both sound pretty terrible."

Angie: "I don't think Sydney will want to get beaten by her own colleagues."

Max: "We don't know how painful the other way is. Could be worse."

Angie: "Do you think that Sydney will try to fool us? Give an answer we wouldn't expect?"

Max: "That's actually very possible."

Angie: "I don't think she'll reveal the whereabouts. There's a reason why we were the ones to make Syndey unconscious. That means Sydney's moral compass is unwavering."

Max: "I don't get it but I trust your analysis."

Max: "Don't you think she'll try to fool us then? By picking the other option?"

Angie: "Why would she do that? Thinking about it, I think she'd want the points. After all, she is supposedly the upright one though she works in an evil corporation."

Angie: "Oh, you think she's the Mole."

Max: "I...well, don't you?"

Angie: "I thought it's you."

Max: "Awkward...what if it's you?"

"One minute left."

Angie: "Focus. Quick, give an answer."

Max: "Uh, uh...we'll go with whatever was discussed. Sydney doesn't reveal anything."

"Please enter the block on the left."

Angie: "Let's go free Sydney."

Max: "Can we untie you?"

Sydney: "See for yourself."

Sydney: "I believe that it's not like everyone from Mercucorp is waiting outside for me with a stick. That would mean Mercucorp and the resistance are in cahoots. So I can get a chance to escape as soon as I can. I'll tell the resistance everything I know."

Angie: "Yes! Wait, no. You mean to say you said you'll spill?"

Sydney: "You didn't?"

Max: "What the heck, Sydney. Angie was right in saying Sydney would try to go against our train of thought. The instructions was clearly not to question anything and assume everything is true. You will get caught and beaten to death eventually. Escape is futile."

Angie: "Okay, we can't untie Sydney."

Angie: "Production said that I had to tie you up too. We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Max: "Fine. But only because you can't knock me out."

"Angie, you are the only one who can earn 50 more points for the pot. Zhao Qun has also been given a dilemma. It is up to you whether you want to betray your ideals to save your enemies, agents from Mercucorp. You have one and a half minutes."

Angie: "Why is the time getting shorter and shorter?"

"Zhao Qun's dilemma is: You have the ability to fulfil all your deepest desires, but you will lose all past memories. However, others will still remember everything about you, including your affliations with Mercucorp. Are you willing to exchange your memories for your self-fulfilment?"

Angie: "This is a tough one. I don't think Max realises exactly what Mercucorp does. That means I can ignore that part because he will too."

Angie: "If we lose our memories, then who do we become? Just another passer-by on the street. We lose our identity. Is Max willing to lose his identity?"

Angie: "I don't think so. He's trying so hard to be the best, and you can't be the best if you're just like the rest. As in, you can't differentiate yourself which is a requisite to be called 'the best'."

Angie: "But Max can't take failure. I'm sure he wants to forget all his past mistakes. And going to the Olympics is his dream, I presume. He'll do anything to reach it."

"Thirty seconds left."

Angie: "I need to think faster. This is so stressful."

Angie: "I have decided. Max will sacrifice his memories for his dreams."

"Please enter the centre block."

Angie: "I hope I'm correct."

Max: "Are you here to untie me?"

Angie: "Assuming we're on the same wavelength."

Max: "I don't know about this Mercucorp stuff, but they sound pretty bad from what I hear. But others will remember things that I don't and that can be unnerving. I'm willing to bear with that. I'm anxious to fulfil all my dreams and wishes. I'll do it. Plus, I can always make one of my desires to have others forget things about me too, right?"

Angie: "Excellent."

"You have earned 100/150 points, making the pot a grand total of 420/1000 points."

Max: "Let's go before they make us do any more funny stuff."

Sydney: "Guys! What about me?"

Max: "You can stay there and reflect."

Sydney: "Are you all sure he's from Mercucorp?"