It was 17:44 and Amo sat slouched in his couch, being flipped through the TikTok machine. He was supposed to have already left for his corporate team building activity at 18:00, but sat slouched hoping that 10 minutes late were 10 minutes saved of the awkward small talk of people only seen online. If Fourways traffic was faithful, it may even be 20 minutes. At 18:00, his weakened will finally managed to drag his body off the couch, into his car and to The Great Escape in Pineslopes.
He sat in the car in the parking lot, flipping through TikTok, hoping to buy five more minutes, until he heard a knock on the passenger side window. “Hey Amo, we’re late, let’s get inside”, Meg said. His corporate smile gripped his face, as he opened the door and left the car. “Wow Amo, I haven’t seen you in months. I’d even forgotten how you looked like” she laughed. “Ya well, you know I don’t like that Camera On button”.
Entering the reception of The Great Escape, Amo and Meg saw the whole team standing awkwardly.
“Ah, there you are”, said Nevesh, their manager. “Did you two come together?” he asked suspiciously .
“No!” shrieked Meg. “We just arrived at the same time”.
Oh well, that door is closed. Amo sighed internally. I guess her online voice was deceptive.
“Is that everyone?” asked the guy from The Escape Room.
“Yes, all the latecomers have finally arrived”, Nevesh said with a side-eye to Amo.
“Great. I’m Rob, and I’ll guide you through this experience”, he started. “We’ve recently upgraded our room in line with international trends, and so we now have an AI-powered experience. First, you can connect to our Wi-Fi, download our app, and register to start”.
Everyone started fumbling on their phones to get this whole thing started and over.
“It’s asking for permissions to my contacts and photos”, Dineo asked. “What do I do here?”
“Just accept it”, Rob said. “We delete everything we use at the end of your session so there’s no need to worry about privacy”.
“I guess I have nothing to hide”, she whispered back.
“From what I understand, you all work remotely”, Rob continued. “Today’s game will help you know your colleagues all the more better, which will result in better collaboration and teamwork going forward, and maybe even a better bottom line for the team”, he signalled to Nevesh. “Let’s walk inside the room”.
“If anyone’s been here before, you may have noticed that we replaced all the old antique furniture and tools we had with these digital screens and devices. They’re all touch screen. Your pairs will then have to go through all the clues given on the screens, and find the way to escape. The pair that escapes in the shortest time wins”.
“Sorry, I haven’t been paired up with anyone”, Meg interrupted.
“Oh, we chose our pairs before you and Amo arrived, so we just paired you guys together”, Nevesh explained.
A cocktail of awkwardness and excitement started to stir in Amo’s bowels. “Ok that’s cool, we can work with that”.
“Ready, set, go!”, Rob shouted to start the game. The lights dimmed, the screens brightened and the game started.
Meg ran to the first screen. A question popped up on the screen: “Which one of these is Amo’s most recent girlfriend”, with a set of four pictures to choose from. Wow, this is embarrassing, thought Amo to himself.
“I didn’t know you’re into white girls”, giggled Meg.
“To be honest, I only dated one of those”, Amo defended, “and two of them I haven’t spoken to in years”.
“Well, I pick option C”.
WRONG! – the words on the screen emboldened. “The correct answer is A”.
“What!? I never dated her! We just chatted all the time! Rob, if you can hear this from outside, can you please…” until he was interrupted by the prompt on the screen.
MOVE ON TO THE NEXT STATION – read the words on the screen.
It was Amo’s time to pick the clue.
“What is Meg’s preferred drink” asked the screen, followed by 4 pictures on the screen: two with bottles in her hand in a nighttime scene, and two taking shots surrounded with friends.
“Wild girl aren’t you. I didn’t know this about you”, Amo returned the giggle. “We should hang out more”.
“I stopped drinking 4 years ago! That’s not the same me, I promise”, Meg tried convincing. “I’m really not that person anymore”.
“Well, I’ll say B. You seem to be a cider kinda girl.”
WRONG! – the words on the screen emboldened. “The correct answer is D”
“Jägermeister! Oh wow”, laughed Amo. “I’ll remember that the next time you tell me I need to change my life”.
“I don’t want to play this game anymore!” shouted Meg. “Can I get out!”.
MOVE ON TO THE NEXT STATION – read the words on the screen.
“Which of these is Amo’s best friend”, followed by 4 pictures of Amo in his younger days with different people”
Amo’s smile disappeared into a frown as he walked backwards to the door. “I don’t want to play this game anymore. How do I get out?”
“What’s wrong?”, Meg asked.
The pain of betrayal simmered by the unresolved bitterness of the years in between couldn’t be explained to a familiar stranger. “It’s nothing, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s just something I thought I’d forgotten about that I’d prefer not to be reminded of”
The screens suddenly started flashing and the lights went bright again. “Nevesh and Nathi have won! Nevesh and Nathi have won!” The screen flashed.
The doors to the room opened as they made their way to reception.
“I guess we know each other more”, Meg joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Amo waved to get out of all of this, and started walking away.
“Or maybe even less than before”, he whispered laughing.