43.15-At this day and age

Ten ex-runner ups played for another shot at winning. Only three remain: Brianna McWinner, James Christian Sol and Kelly Hoggart. One of them will have a breakthrough and win. And one of them was assigned to be the Mole. Which one of them is it?

***

Kelly: "Second time in the finals. Last time I got here by luck but this time I relied on skill. This has been a drama-free season for me, at least compared to outside. No deadlines, no pass/fail grades, no boys trying to chase you...oh thankfully Brianna isn't a gossip or man-crazy. I managed to avoid the topic generally this whole season. I just don't want to think about it right now. I just want to focus on my studies and graduating and the uni experience. And right here I want to focus on winning the Smole. Don't look down on me. I may be the oldest but I know best."

***

Brianna: "It did take me a lot of wrong suspects who kept getting executed but that shows that I didn't get here by luck but by ability. It takes skill to be able to outlast everyone despite being wrong. What matters is that I'm here now and I know who the real Mole is. I will win. Just watch. I'm not called Brianna McWinner for nothing."

***

James: "I had three different Sims tell me that I need to care more about others and not just myself. I hate to admit it, but maybe they are right. I'm earning loads but couldn't share it with my caretaker enough in time. What gets me the most isn't the fact that I'm poor any more, but that I wasn't there for  her when she needed me. I'm doing it again. I said I wouldn't bare my heart and here I am...I suppose I rather tell strangers who don't know and don't care about me than those in the house. I bet you're laughing at how it took 15 episodes for me to realise this."

***

Brianna: "Am I seeing things?"

Brianna: "James is grilling hot dogs?"

Brianna: "He's probably just making his own share. That's the only explanation possible."

*

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Kelly: "I still have quite a bit to read up on. The Smole has really taken a lot of my time away."

Kelly: "Did something fall out?"

Kelly: "What's this?"

Kelly: "Where did they come from? Who put them in there?"

Kelly: "They're addressed to me."

Kelly: "Oh...I know who it's from. That sneaky rascal."

*

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Brianna: "Why are you eating that? Didn't you make hot dogs for everyone?"

James: "Who told you that?"

Brianna: "There's a group-sized serving on the counter. I also saw you personally grilling the sausages earlier."

James: "I meant it for myself but I made too much. It felt like a waste to throw it away."

Brianna: "That sounds like an invitation to eat your food. Hey Kelly. What's that in your hands?"

Kelly: "What hands? Nothing, nothing at all."

Kelly: "Kelly Hoggart, you are an idiot."

Brianna: "She's acting weirdly. Do you think those were letters from production?"

James: "I think it's very inconsiderate for you to leave spoiled food in front of me while I'm eating."

Kelly: "Why can't Gary just give me a break? Sending me love letters? At this day and age? This might work on young schoolgirls but I have only one goal in university and that is to graduate. I don't have time for love."

*

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Kelly: "Oh, someone fixed the shower?"

Kelly: "I wonder who this helpful finalist is. There's nothing to be gained from helping me get it fixed."

*

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"Finalists, it is time for your last mission. You will be brought to three different locations. Each location will have a task that is best suited for one of you to do. Each of you may only complete one task. Once done, you must make your way to a specified location. You can earn 300 points with this last mission. Make it count. Good luck."

*

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James: "Task One: Calculation. Worth 130 points."

James: "Who's the best at calculation?"

Kelly: "I will be fine with anything."

Kelly: "Calculation is primary school stuff though. Anyone can do it."

James: "Yes but remember each task is tailored to our strengths. We need to play to it."

Brianna: "Don't look at me. I was never good at math. In fact I don't ever tend the register. I mostly do stocktaking, shelving and serving customers."

James: "Kelly, what about you? What are you good at?"

Kelly: "Something not physical, clearly. I don't feel like doing a mental task though. My noggin's taxed enough."

Kelly: "You're the smartest, James. I think this task is for you."

James: "I think there's something better ahead for me."

Brianna: "I think Kelly's the most suited. I've seen her study. She is very smart too and the closest to school out of all of us. And you do business."

James: "I agree. This seems more your alley than ours. Didn't you say you were fine with anything?"

Kelly: "I did, which is why I will take it but I think there is a better task for me, like something to do with my hometown or time management."

Kelly: "It's back to school for me."

Kelly must go from classroom to classroom solving mathematical equations and sums as quickly as she can. Every sum she gets correct earns 5 points. There are 26 questions in total. Contestants are only aware they need to reach and end-point but not that they have to run to the end point in order to cash in the hard-earned points, but if Kelly can be the fastest she gets a 2-km advantage.

*

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The next task is at City Hall and is a memory task worth 90 points.

James: "Who has better memory?"

Brianna: "I have good memory. I can memorise all the details in my journal to answer the quiz."

James: "So can I."

James: "The fact that we're at a government complex must mean something and I am more affiliated with the government than you are. I am part of the judicial system, one of the three wings of governance."

James: "I think I should take this task."

Brianna: "Fine by me. I agree that there must be a reason we are at City Hall."

James: "The car keys are all yours."

Brianna: "I wonder where the GPS is going to lead me to."

James must memorise a wall of country flags in 15 seconds. He must then recreate the flags as accurately as possible to earn 10 points per flag. Once he had completed all 8 flags, he could choose to go to a different room to recreate one more flag with higher difficulty to earn 10 more points. He must try to be as quick as possible too because if the ladies complete the task before he does, he must stop immediately and head to the end point. The same goes for the other two.

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Brianna: "The last task is about literature and is at the bookstore. I happen to work at a bookstore. This must be for me."

Brianna will tend to the bookstore. She can earn 80 points here. Customers will enter asking for a book by describing the plot to Brianna. She must pass the customers the right book to earn 10 points. She can proceed to the end point if she serves 8 customers. If she is the fastest out of the three she gets the biggest advantage but if she is second-fastest, she will still get a 1-km advantage over the slowest finalist.

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Kelly: "I have a head-start over the rest since I'm first to know my task. Let's see if this classroom has sums for me to do."

Kelly: "It does. 18 x 36 = ?"

James: "Third right is Germany, above that to its corner is Ireland. Beside is red-white-green, below is white-green-red..."

James: "My time is up. I'll start with this one."

James: "I have to do it in order too."

Brianna: "Where are my customers?"

***

Brianna: "My task was the hardest because you had no control over when the customers would arrive. Furthermore, there are tons and tons of books with similar plots and if they don't describe it properly there's nothing I can do to help."

***

Kelly: "12+127? That's easy. 149. Where's the next question?"

James: "What was it again? Three stripes, black, red and yellow, like Germany, but vertical."

Brianna: "I hear the door! Finally, my first customer."

Brianna: "How may I help you?"

Anya: "I'm looking for a econo-political book with a long title. It involves three countries: USA, Spain and the UK. It mentions the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks."

Brianna: "Can you give me an easier book?"

Anya: "No? I want to read about it. I can't find the book anywhere and I forgot about its title. You never heard of it?"

Brianna: "No."

Brianna: "I don't even own this store. I don't know what books are available here."

Anya: "Then why are you here?"

Brianna: "Long story, but I'll try my best."

Brianna: "Hmm, this is the non-fiction section."

Brianna: "This book is about 9/11. Is this the one you're looking for?"

Brianna: "9/11: The Big Lie."

Anya: "Don't be silly. It looks nothing like that. Nevermind. I'll look elsewhere."

Brenda: "She didn't seem happy."

Brianna: "What book are you looking for?"

Brenda: "It's like those mafia-themed party games, or like slasher novels. A bunch of friends are snowed in and one of them is a secret serial killer. It's not an Agatha Christie book though."

Brianna: "I think I know what you're talking about. I think I saw it at the back."

Brenda: "Can you find it?"

Brianna: "Is it The Hunting Party?"

Brenda: "Yeah, that's the one. You rock."

Kelly: "83 raised to the power of 0 is 0. Anything with 0 ends up with 0."

James: "The fourth flag was similar to the third one, just that it was vertical. It was Ireland's flag if I recall correctly."

Simon: "Can you help me find a book? It's autobiographical in a sense and talks about the author's memories with his grandmother in a vacation home. It's set way after WWII and is set in Germany. Ring any bells?"

Brianna: "No but I'll try to find it."

Brianna: "It should be a non-fiction book but I'm not an avid reader so I don't know what he's talking about."

Brianna: "This one revolves around World War II. Screw it. I'll give him this one. I'm not combing the entire first floor to find that book. That's not practical especially since I don't know it at all."

Brianna: "Here. I'll introduce you to The Diary Of A Young Girl."

Simon: "Thanks but no thanks. This isn't the book I wanted. I've read this before already."

Brianna: "Take it or leave it."

Zed: "Oh no. There's a queue."

Simon: "I was just about to leave. Be warned that she doesn't have very good attitude."

Zed: "Oh."

Zed: "My friend and I ordered two books online and we're here to collect them."

Brianna: "Order? I didn't realise we do online orders here."

Brox: "That guy was right. She's not friendly."

Brianna: "Oh shut up. I'll try to look for the books."

Brox: "Mine is the first book of a series. It had a 4.43 star review on Goodreads so I thought I would buy one copy to see what it's about. It's a romance novel about two lovers who fall out of love. Before they can have a second chance, they have to live through their first love...and heartbreak. Gosh, I'm going to tear up."

Brianna: "Okay...what's your book?"

Zed: "My book won the Stonewall Book Award. It's going to be a good book. It's about a black gay poet who faces discrimination because of his person. One point in the book is in New York in the 1950s. I'm sure you can find it."

Brianna: "Hmm, there's only one romance novel that came in at the back. This is probably it. As for the other guy's book...they came together so they must have similar tastes. This is the only book that has the Stonewall Book Award on its cover."

Brianna: "Here you go. Beats of the Heart for the sappy blonde."

Brianna: "And If I Was Your Girl, an award-winning book. Enjoy."

Brox: "Yay! I've been waiting to read this all week!"

Zed: "This...this isn't what I ordered."

Kelly: "85/9x3^5 is...what is 3x3 is 9, then 27, then..."

James: "The middle strip was green. It was different from that other flag."

Kelly: "This question is hard. I'll give a random answer first then come back to it later."

Kelly: "Another classroom with questions."

Kelly: "Is a multiplication sign missing? Regardless, I should try doing the other part of the equation first."

James: "Down to one. I remember one of the colours was slightly different but which one was it?"

Brianna: "How may I help you miss?"

Diane: "I've been browsing for good books to read but nothing has caught my eye. Do you have a book that is the first by an author about an Irish immigrant who grew up in Virginia. Oh, it can't be in the recent decade either and the protagonist must be a young girl."

Brianna: "That's oddly specific."

Brianna: "Let me see...this is about refugees."

Brianna: "Ah, this one stars a young girl and her sister. And it's about a 1994 genocide."

Brianna: "There you go. A book that fits as much of your needs as possible."

Diane: "The Girl Who Smiled Beads? Were you not paying attention to me? I wanted a book about an Irish immigrant."

Brianna: "No such book exists, ma'am."

Diane: "You don't exist! I know such a book exists. I'll be leaving a bad review."

Brianna: "Bye. I don't really care. This isn't my real job anyway. That's why I hate my job."

***

Kelly: "After a while I realised I was taking too long. I'm used to having a calculator but I had to do things manually here. After some time I decided to just answer as quickly as I could and then hurry to the end-point. It's only then will points be earned."

***

Kelly: "I will set myself a time every question. If I overshoot I'll give a random answer and move on."

Cora: "Could you help me?"

Brianna: "Yes, of course. You're the last customer I need."

Cora: "I can't find this book. It's a fictitious mystery book with romantic elements. It's set somewhere in USA and about a CIA assassin. The title also contains a name of a US state."

Brianna: "US state...hmm, I think I saw that somewhere."

Brianna: "This is a book that has a US state on it."

Brianna: "I never thought my experience at the bookstore would ever help me."

Brianna: "Is this your book? Louisiana Longshot?"

Cora: "It is. Thank you."

Brianna: "No problem. Have a nice day."

"Brianna, you have completed your task. You have earned 40 points. You may change into your athletic gear in the back. You have to run to the end-point but for finishing first, you get to drive 2km of the route. As long as one of you reaches the end point, all of you will earn the points. Your last task is to run a relay first."

Brianna: "And we've gone full circle."

"James, you have completed your task. You have 5 correct flags and thus earn 50 points."

Kelly: "This is hard. I spent too long on this. I'll just give an answer. 56."

"Kelly, you have completed your task. You have 14 correct answers and thus earned 70 points."

*

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The contestants now need to make it to the end point in one hour, starting from the time Brianna completed her task. Each of them is given a phone to call each other to decide how they want to complete the last leg - run relay-style or altogether.

James: "I am second to finish. I took too long perfecting the flags. At least I get a 1km advantage."

Kelly: "The end point is too far. But that doesn't mean I'm going down without a fight."

James: "I'll do a group call to the other two."

Brianna: "Hello? Oh, it's you two. Obviously we should take turns to run to the end point but I have a 2km advantage so I can go last."

James: "That is fine with me. I will go first. Brianna, have you started your journey yet?"

Brianna: "No, I only finished not long ago. I was about to make a call but you beat me to it."

James: "That means we didn't finish too far off from each other. Kelly, are you there?"

Kelly: "Yeah. I was listening and have no issues. I was at the entrance when you called. Call me again when you want me to take over."

After his 1km car ride, James takes off first.

The other two will follow James in the cars until it is their time to take over.

James: "A good start...and finish...is all we need...got to go...as far...as I can..."

James: "I need...to stop. Time to switch over..."

Brianna: "Why did you stop? Need to switch?"

James: "Yes..."

Brianna: "Kelly, get out of the car. It's your turn to run. Go for it."

Kelly: "Slow and steady wins the race...slow and steady wins the race..."

Brianna: "I'll take over from here, Kelly."

Kelly: "But I still can go further..."

Brianna: "We don't have time. We'll swap again if needed."

Brianna: "So glad I have an advantage."

Brianna: "Time to cover the home stretch."

Brianna: "Almost there..."

Brianna: "Wow..."

James: "She made it to the end."

James: "Did we win?"

"Finalists, you really like to push things. Brianna made it just on the dot, at exactly one hour. Congratulations, you earn 160 points, making the pot a grand total of 581/1500 points! A nice finish."

Kelly: "At least we earned something and the view here is magnificent. It really makes it worth it."

James: "But it's only a third of what we could have earned. We didn't do well this time. And we just missed the sunset. We were too late."

Brianna: "But this view still looks cool. No use moping about the pot now. If you wanted more you should have worked harder from the start."

Kelly: "This is a nice change of pace, don't you think? The three of us, away from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, just standing here enjoying the breeze and admiring the view. We don't get to do this often."

The pot is finalised at 581/1500 points. The Mole appears to have won this season, but who is this Mole? Who will win the 500-over points? Find out in the final episode of Season 45!

***

Summary

Kelly's questions:

1. 18*36
2. 432-54
3. 22/42+61
4. 12+127
5. 19*19
6. 21-14+16*32
7. 43/4*5
8. 20^2-43%*2
9. (18+17)*7/6-1
10. 83^0
11. 16/4-(23*5+14-(22/44))
12. 29*4+15-6
13. 85/9*3^5
14. (9^3)-(4*4+12)*50
15. 84.26-43+24.55
16. 18.30*2+9
17. 50.56-9.99/3*4
18. 123+456-789
19. 777/2-5^5+30%*3
20. 0.8(27)-6+3*155
21. 135*4325
22. 497-86*0.3
23. 1245+3253*331
24. 0/5.352+2.2346-35.3367*1000+1
25. (86*84^5-3335+1234)/6+87.2-56.7
26. 45%2.4-83+1/(4^6)-0.39

Brianna's books

1. The Adoption of a Pro-US Foreign Policy by Spain and the United Kingdom by Nathan Jones
2. The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
3. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
4. The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding
5. Beats of the Heart by Charli B. Rose
6. Dark Reflections by Samuel R. Delaney
7. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
8. Louisiana Longshot by Jana DeLeon