Teddy giggled after he heard the question. The room's lights were on and the windows on every wall were open. It was daytime, but everyone who was invited inside thought it was dark. And that was, in fact, the answer: dark. Teddy giggled again when he finished submitting his response. (Giggling was a habit of Teddy's when he felt right about things. He was aware of this, though, and did his best to hold back his volume.) The rest of the room followed his decision, carefully squinting to make sure they all made his selection.
Dark. It was correct.
They lived to see the next question: Is it too hot, too cold, or neither too hot nor too cold? The text displayed in simple white font projected over the black screen at the front of the room.
The answer: neither. However, no knew what to choose yet. This was the first question with three possible answers.
Jenny, along with everyone else, felt the tension building. Their heads all tilted down and the skin at the front of their necks contracted into folds. They were not sweating, but all of their eyes shifted impatiently, glancing right and left, waiting for someone who knew. Jenny, who was standing right next to Teddy, on his left, was just barely able to hear him giggling. Teddy had decided that it was hot. He was incorrect. Jenny did not know that—she just felt lucky standing next to him. She like him and his confidence made her blush.
A gentle breeze came through one of the windows on Teddy's right side and brushed across the thin hairs on his upper lip and a small, focused red light followed shortly thereafter—inching its way up toward his temple. Teddy did not notice the breeze, but he did notice Jenny smiling at him. When Jenny noticed Teddy noticing her, she even started to giggle a bit herself. But when she saw the glowing red spot on his forehead, she stopped.
Teddy fell to the floor. The prideful smile was still on his face, but he was silent now. Jenny fell next to him. The rest of the room burst into laughter as ketchup pooled around their motionless bodies on the floor. More questions were on the way.
