During the following days the selection process was changed. Individual trials like the run on the first day were abandoned in favour of group exercises. Teams were swapped constantly, and Junior rarely got to work twice with the same person. What made such team efforts difficult though, wasn't the lack of familiarity, but a much more straightforward problem: the language barrier. Amazingly, it was easier to communicate with the aliens than it was to communicate with fellow humans. Junior had wrongly assumed that every participant would possess a rudimentary knowledge of English.
JUNIOR
Which one?! The red cube? Or the blu cone?
Cried out Junior in frustration. The task at hand was seemingly quite simple. Following only the instructions given by the other teammate, one person had to build an object they couldn't see. Trouble was, in this instance, the person that was supposed to direct Junior couldn't speak anything but her native language, which Junior did not know.
JUNIOR
Please, at least point at things...
At the end of that depressing exercise, Junior had inquired with R-328 about such communication difficulties.
JUNIOR
How are we supposed to do this if we can't understand each others?
R-328
What team were you just in?
JUNIOR
Team 19...
It was the first time Junior had spoken privately with one of the clones. He looked just like Konos, but behaved quite differently.
R-328
19... What an interesting prime number...
He looked down at the tablet he was carrying. Junior was bewildered by that object. It appeared to be just a thin glass screen, but R-328 took notes on it, recalled information, showed them pictures and recorded media. Such advanced technology captivated Junior, and he wondered how many centuries it would have taken humans to develop such things on their own.
R-328
Team 19... even if you didn't finish, you did... well...
The clone did not look pleased with what he was seeing on his tablet.
JUNIOR
We didn't finish because my teammate couldn't speak English!
Apologetically exclaimed Junior.
R-328
And do you speak...
R-328 inquired after tapping a couple more times on his device.
R-328
Finnish, like your teammate?
JUNIOR
Well, they clearly should speak a bit of English in order to participate to the selection...
R-328
They are not expected to know English more than you are expected to know their native language... you should really get over your bias.
JUNIOR
What bias?
R-328 laughed at him, and once again, Junior couldn't help but notice how much the clones were different from the original. His laughter was vastly dissimilar from what he remembered from his meeting with Konos.
R-328
Excellent, you don't even realise it yourself. I guess that is to be expected...
Junior became annoyed, but hid his feelings from him.
JUNIOR
Could you please explain that to me?
R-328
Well, how to put it... humans think they are the center of the Universe, and Americans think they are the center of the world, so you assume everyone is supposed to speak your language.
JUNIOR
It's not because...
R-328 interrupted him.
R-328
You should carefully think about all the things you presume to be true. You might just find out they are not as irrefutable as you think. But not right now... we have work to do now...
Said R-328 before leaving.
JUNIOR
He didn't really answer my question though...
The two clones might have been different from Konos, but it was nothing compared to how distinct they were from each others. X-466 was persistently in a bad mood, screaming instructions at participants, telling them what they were supposed to do and when. R-328 on the other hand was calmer and contemplative, but by no means a gentle person.
X-466
Listen up, everyone!
Addressed them X-466.
X-466
By now you've hopefully learned that you need to work together, and during the past few days you should have gotten some practice. We have let you take things easy, but things are about to change. That means your fate and that of your teammates will be connected.
He took a brief pause.
X-466
Starting tomorrow you either manage to complete the task you have been assigned, or you are out of here.
A murmur of disappointment ran through the crowd.
X-466
You can moan all you want... here are the teams for tomorrow.
He said, pointing at the board behind him. Before Junior could get close enough to take a look at the team he had been assigned to, he was stopped by Lwazi.
LWAZI
Hey roomie! Are you happy? We are finally in the same team!
JUNIOR
Really? That is amazing!
Junior felt incredibly relieved. He already knew Lwazi, and they both spoke the same language.
JUNIOR
Is it just us?
LWAZI
Nope... The third person on our team is the Russian girl, Irina Petrova. Do you know her?
