Bimbo or Billionaire: Fun with Numbers
by TheHandsThatLead, copyright © 2014
Chapter 4 — Round 2
The crowd was cheering as I stood at the podium, tugging at what little clothing I had on.
“Ok Lilian, what’s your first case of the second round going to be?”
“Case 20 please Jack.”
“Another cash case, you’re up to $1000!”
Between the rounds I had been working on the math in my head as much as I could, it looked like I would need two more cases and that should do it, just avoid two bimbo cases and I’d be home free.
“That’s great Jack, how about case number 8?”
“Oh, case number 8 is a bimbo case!”
The crowd cheered, Jack smiled and waved at them to settle down.
“Let’s check out what the category and options are...
Vocabulary! With the random options being... Klingon, English as a Second Language, Freudian Slips and Valley Girl!
Well Lilian these options are pretty much playing right in to the audience!
And the result is... English as a Second Language!”
I had seen that coming from a mile away as soon as it had been said. The fog was pervasive throughout my mind as the collar worked this time and things were definitely different once it had left.
“Lilian, how does that feel?”
My answer didn’t come out the way I expected. I spoke 4 language but my native tongue had always been English. This time my response was in Japanese and without focusing on speaking slowly it was a long string of words all jumbled together.
“Li-li-an... feel... good.” Was all I could muster in English.
“Well that’s certainly a big change, Lilian. That anime trend is going full speed now!
You know, you seemed to have some trouble there with your name, perhaps if you use the Japanese translation it would help?”
That wasn’t a suggestion I liked very much, but before I had any choice in the matter my new vocabulary latched on to it.
“Ri Ri An?”
“Oh, that’s not too bad, but how about just RiRi?”
“Hei! RiRi!” It sounded ridiculous, but I went with it, there wasn’t any choice. The collar had made sure of it.
“Ok RiRi, what’s your next case going to be?”
“RiRi choose 15!”
“Oh another bimbo case, that’s too bad!”
“Well it’s time for a new career RiRi, no more hacking for you. The options are... Dirty Jobs, Dance Dance Revolution, Bottom Rung and His Girl Friday!
Audience?”
I knew this was bad, but it was the last bimbo case I would be seeing. I just ignored what Jack was saying and focused on the math. But there was a problem. I had used words and phrases to map the complex formula in to a format that I could remember but they were all in English. Now with English as my second language it was hard to tell if what I was remembering was right or not!
“His Girl Friday! A classic if there ever was one. Your new job will be doing all the little things your boss either doesn’t have time for or just feels they’re too demeaning for him to do!”
I was just finishing the problem in my head as best I could when the collar came to life again, the fog rolled in and I tried to keep focused but it was a lost cause. Once it had left I tried to refocused on the pattern and finish the problem.
“Well RiRi, what’s your next case?”
I stalled as long as I could, double checking everything but the last change had made things fuzzy. Jack wasn’t just the host, he was the boss. I was supposed to make sure the boss had everything they needed and I was keeping him waiting. I needed to give him a case number. I couldn’t wait any longer and went with what I thought was the right answer.
“21 puh-lease.”
“A cash case, great work RiRi! You’re up to $5000.”
My world brightened up, it was a cash case, I was on my way to the billion dollar prize. But more importantly Jack had said I’d done a good job!
“Ok, two more cases to go RiRi, what’s your next choice?”
I picked the next case that my formula said was a cash case, “9.”
“Another cash case! That’s $10,000! Ok RiRi, just one more case this round.”
It was working, I was doing a good job for Jack!
“4!” I said with confidence. I had the game beat!
“And your third cash case in a row to end the round. That’s $50,000!”
“RiRi so smart!”
“Yes you’re doing very well RiRi, but now we need to find out what The Accountant has to say!
I have his offer, he’s willing to jump you up one cash level, all the way to $100,000, if you quit right now.”
“RiRi no stop, RiRi go all way!”
“Alright, that means round three!”