5.5
I had no likes or dislikes.
It not only applied to food, the curriculum was no different as well.
Music (piano, violin, etc.), calligraphy, tea ceremony, and other traditional cultural pursuits.
The only thing that I was unenthusiastic about was the altered curriculum, which was newly introduced after I turned six. It introduced a half-day class held only once or twice a month. It was a class called “travel” using a virtual console.
All the children stood up and put on large goggles at the same time.
Our vision went black, but soon the screen lit up and the program was displayed, and it began after a few moments.
“The curriculum will now focus on Japan, whereas in the past we’ve studied American cities such as New York and Hawaii. First, we’ll start with public transportation.”
This was the basic premise of the course. It introduced a world that wasn’t just a White Room.
This was still learning time, and children were told early on that they won’t leave this place until they become adults.
The virtual console reproduced the same outside scenery in 360 degrees with such quality that it could be mistaken for the real thing, and the sound was combined with the visuals to create a sense of presence. Even the people passing by were reproduced, showing a businessman in a suit, an old man with a cane, an elderly woman trying to get into a cab, and other street scenes.
Of course, children were also present, but unlike the reality outside, they didn’t appear to be playing or having fun at all; instead, they showed inorganic, machine-like movements.
We learned the history and structure of the world so that one day, when we go out into the outside world, we’ll be able to adapt to it without problems.
I knew it was necessary, but I had a problem with this way of learning.
One of the reasons why I disliked it was because it was accompanied by an indescribable feeling of discomfort.
It’s what was commonly described as 3D motion sickness.
It’s possible that the brain misperceives it as a hallucination if the balance between visual perception and the semicircular canals are incorrect.
There’s no way to stop the sickness by individual power alone, and the only way would be to let the brain learn over time.
It wasn’t so hard that it was impossible to continue, but it was the reason why I didn't like it.
Of course, the virtual console wasn’t only used as a device to perceive the outside world visually but also as a tool to train observation and insight.
We were asked to detect unnatural points in the views that unfolded in various locations.
If what we pointed out was wrong or the unnatural point itself couldn’t be found, the instructors gave us unrelenting guidance.
The methods of guidance varied, but it mainly consisted of those that caused pain to the students themselves.
That's why we used our eyes to thoroughly observe, not even sparing the blink of an eye.
The more we feared for our lives, the more our senses sharpened and we began to see things that we couldn’t see before.
“Next, let's take a walk in Tokyo on the virtual console.”
As we virtually walked through Tokyo, the screen suddenly went dark.
The instructors’ voices that I was listening to stopped, and I was engulfed in silence.
“Everyone take off your goggles.”
The voice came from inside the room, not through the microphone, and we all followed the instruction at once.
“There's an equipment issue. That's it for today's virtual console lesson. We still have less than half an hour before the next curriculum, so please stay here.”
With those instructions, the goggles in everyone's hands were retrieved.
“Stand by…”
Many of the kids were left standing, seemingly intent on passing the time.
In the end, it seemed that the equipment problem couldn’t be resolved quickly enough, and the instructors decided to move on to another curriculum.
The children were, of course, quickly lined up and turned their attention to the next part of the program.
“We’re going to read out the names one by one. The first person whose name is called will move with the instructor.”
With these instructions, the first three names were called.
In the end, I was the last one to be called. I obeyed, and the instructor walked slowly and invited me into the private room.
There were no other children in the room, and it was a one-on-one with the instructor.
In the center of the room was a small table and two pipe chairs.
“Come on, sit down.”
The instructor said, tapping the table and ordering me to immediately sit down.
I sat down in front of the instructor and the five cards in his hands were placed on the table.
Each card had a different symbol on it.
From left to right it showed a circle, square, cross, star, and wave.
“I'm going to put into practice what I'll ask of you to do. Watch carefully.”
The instructor faced me, and he took the lead in turning over all the cards.
Since the backs of the five cards displayed the same pattern, it was impossible to tell which card had which mark when the cards were shuffled in this state.
Was he asking me to guess and show him a particular card among them?
That was what I thought, but…
The five cards were rearranged.
“You’ll be given only 10 seconds each time.”
“...Square.”
The instructor then flipped the leftmost card.
A star came out.
The instructor continued to flip the cards, stating the symbols.
“Circle, star, cross, wave—”
The second to the fifth cards were a wave, square, cross, and circle, respectively.
Only the fourth one, a cross, matched and was thus correct. The percentage of correct answers was 20%.
“This is one round, and it’ll be repeated ten times. Watch carefully.”
Five guesses, ten times. It was 50 times in total.
The same thing was repeated without any hesitation.
The final percentage of correct answers was about 30% with 15 correct answers out of 50.
“So, now it's your turn, Kiyotaka.”
“Yes.”
I took my seat in place of the instructor, who got up from his seat.
What was the purpose of this practice?
I don’t think it was to develop psychic abilities.
In other words, to train intuition?
No, it was hard to think of that as legitimate or realistic training.
The five cards were mixed by the instructor.
When mixing the cards, the instructor always used an overhand shuffle.
Was this just a habit, or was it intentional?
It was impossible to judge, but it was easy to dismiss it as meaningless.
I wondered, if it did have a meaning, what it was.
The table’s material made it seem smooth and easy to do a wash shuffle while it was on the table.
Should I dare to use an overhand shuffle?
Another thing that bothered me was that the instructor didn’t always line up the cards from the same position.
Sometimes he started from the left end, sometimes from the middle, then from the right end, then from the left end.
I didn't think there were any kind of rules as far as I saw from the 10 times.
This couldn’t be dismissed as a habit.
On the other side of the card, I didn’t feel any difference even if I stared at it carefully.
In other words, I didn’t think that either the instructor or I could distinguish between the two.
However, there was a big difference between me and the instructor.
That is, whether we can or can’t touch the cards.
When mixing the cards, when distributing the cards, when flipping the cards, only the instructor was doing all the motions.
What if the instructor didn’t want it to be sensed?
It was only because the instructor could see the card, whose answer should be invisible to him.
But even if I could see it, I still couldn't touch it.
I wasn’t forbidden from reaching out and touching it, but would that be the proper move?
It was now clear that this wasn’t just an exercise in intuition.
Then, a possible rule of thumb was…
Five cards were laid out and the 10-second count began.
In order to increase the percentage of correct answers by even 1%, the first conspicuous mark must be decided upon.
“A star...”
I answered, and the instructor flipped over the leftmost card with an unchanging expression on his face.
“It’s a star.”
It's still just one-fifth correct.
“Wave, square, cross, circle.”
The instructor flipped from the second card to the fifth.
The marks were turned over and matched just what I said they would, thus making them correct.
“You still have nine more to go.”
“Yes.”
After five correct answers, I was convinced of one rule.
Then the rest was easy.
I then went on to play the remaining 9 rounds. I guessed all 45 cards.
“100% correct…”
As I finish collecting the previous 50 cards, the instructor looked at me.
In his eyes, I saw an emotion that wasn't there before.
“I didn't realize you had your eye on me from the very first phase.”
The instructor showed the first practice. If all he had to do was explain the rules, he would’ve only had to show the same repetitive content once or at most twice.
However, the instructor silently went through all of the exercises up to ten times, regardless of whether they were successful or not.
This meant that it wasn’t a mere explanation of the rules.
They hid the fact that it was a memory test to see if I could reach that realization as quickly as possible.
“And on top of that, a perfect memory. It's hard to believe…”
“I wonder if you’ve also had them memorized, all lined up the same way they were the first time.”
“...No way. I only remembered the five symbols based on the small scratches on the cards that I couldn't see, and the only reason I was able to line them up the same way as the first time was that I received instructions from the intercom in my ear.”
“So that's why the cameras were installed in the ceiling.”
“...You were aware of that as well.”
“I knew it was strange because it was like that guy was talking to me.”
When I entered the room, I was approached by a man who seemed to squeeze my free gaze toward a certain part of the room.
It was also unnatural that the instructor urged me to hurry up and sit down.
If for some reason he wanted to proceed with the curriculum quickly, he could have done it faster by rushing me even before I entered the room, or by showing me the practices.
“You're the first one to pass this curriculum in one shot... You can go back.”
“Excuse me.”
Considering it was an alternative to my least favorite curriculum, the virtual console, I could say that it was many times more enjoyable.
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