The screen flickered. The air in the classroom changed. It grew thin, cold. The hum of the overhead lights faded, replaced by the distant bark of a dog. Leo blinked. For a split second, he smelled pine needles and diesel exhaust. Maya gasped—her pencil had frost on it.

He got Delia to the Superdome with 11 seconds left.

He clicked Yes .

Each round was a different kind of trap.

When Jamal dropped his pin near the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, the floor tiles turned to dry, cracked earth. A giraffe walked silently past the door—no one else in the hallway seemed to notice.

“Did you feel that?” she whispered.

Leo clicked “Play.”