https://ramurrio.medium.com/games-without-frontiers-980abb60b1e7

A haze of stale cigarette smoke hung over the corporate boardroom, a miasma thick enough to choke a vulture. Two chrome-plated executives, faces etched with the paranoia of a thousand quarterly reports, huddled around a holographic display flickering with market share data. Steely-eyed Mr. C., the CEO of Coca-Cola Inc., tapped a manic rhythm on the table with a diamond-encrusted pen.

“The numbers are in, boys,” he rasped, his voice a digital screech. “Pepsi’s on our tail, breathing down our sugar-coated necks.”

A bead of sweat trickled down Mr. P.’s temple, leaving a glistening trail on his perfectly tailored pinstripe suit. “Price war?” he wheezed, his voice a dry whisper.

Mr. C. chuckled, a sound like ice clinking in a martini glass. “A bloody war, that’s what it is. But one with rules, an unspoken pact between titans. We keep the prices high, the profits flowing like a goddamn fizz fountain.”

He jabbed a skeletal finger at the holographic display. “But what if they break rank? Slash prices like a rogue soda jerk in a back alley? We can’t just sit there and watch our market share evaporate, can we?”

Mr. P. shook his head, his face a mask of corporate anxiety. “Defect, that’s what they’d be doing. Reneging on the gentlemen’s agreement, leaving us holding the bag of empty cans.”

Mr. C. leaned closer, his chrome dome glinting in the holographic light. “But what if we defect first? Hit them like a rogue sugar bullet? We might grab a bigger slice of the market, drown them in a firehose of high fructose corn syrup.”

A cold smile played on Mr. P.’s lips. “Risky game, Mr. C. If they don’t follow suit, we’re the ones left holding the empty can. Lower profits, a tarnished brand image…”

Mr. C. slammed his fist on the table, the holographic display flickering in protest. “But if they do follow suit, it’s a race to the bottom! A price war that leaves everyone bruised and battered, with shareholders screaming like banshees.”

The two executives locked eyes, a silent battle raging between their designer suits. The boardroom air crackled with tension, thick with the unspoken threat of a corporate cola war, a Prisoner’s Dilemma played out in boardrooms instead of interrogation rooms. The stakes? Market dominance, and the cold, hard cash that flowed from it. In this cutthroat world, cooperation was a fleeting dream, and the only certainty was the relentless pursuit of profit, no matter the cost.

<>

A metallic clang echoed down the grimy corridor. Two steel doors slammed shut, the harsh snap echoing in the fetid air. A and B, two faces carved from paranoia and stale cigarettes, found themselves bathed in the flickering fluorescent hell of the interrogation room. No windows. No clocks. Just a single fly buzzing a manic dirge against the flypaper crucifix on the wall.

The Warden, a chrome-domed insect of a man with eyes like polished obsidian, materialized from the shadows, his voice a dry rasp. “The score, gentlemen,” he croaked, a lipless smile revealing filed-down teeth. “Ten years hard time each, if you both keep your traps shut. A walk in the park compared to what awaits if you decide to squeal.” He leaned closer, his breath a reek of burnt coffee and stale authority. “Betray your partner, walk. The other gets fifteen. A sweet deal, wouldn’t you say?”

A’s gut clenched. Fifteen years. A lifetime in this concrete tomb. B’s eyes flickered, a desperate calculation behind them. Trust? Cooperation? Those were bourgeois fantasies, words that dissolved like sugar in this acid bath of survival. The Warden chuckled, a sound like dry leaves scraping concrete. “See? The meat understands. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and in here.”

A’s throat constricted. Fifteen years. B’s face, a mask of barely contained panic, mirrored his own terror. The fly buzzed its demented hymn. This wasn’t a game, it was a roach motel check-in for the soul. Each man, trapped in a personal nightmare, was a rat in a Skinner box, the lever a choice between self-preservation and a mutual descent into hell.

Two bugs, trapped in the flickering fluorescent hell of interrogation. A and B, buzzing with paranoia. A fly on the wall, the warden, grins a chrome smile. The deal, a cut-throat tango:

• Sing, and your cellmate gets fifteen years in the roach motel. You walk, free-ish.
• Both stay zipped, five years a piece. Not ideal, but tolerable.
• But the warden, that chrome bastard, knows the human condition, the bugginess of self-preservation. He’s seeded doubt, a virus of suspicion.

The message flickers on the fly-blown screen: SILENCE IS SUICIDE.

A’s antennae twitch. Fifteen years? No way. B’s gotta be thinking the same thing. It’s a trap, a Y-shaped nightmare, a control system feeding on fear. But the logic, cold and insectoid, screams betrayal. The silence, a gamble with your freedom.

This is the roach motel of existence, man. Every corner a hustle, every friend a potential fink. You cooperate, you lose. You compete, you might win, might just get another year on the lease before the boot comes down. It’s a virus in the social code, a feedback loop of paranoia. It’s the corner hustle writ large, on Wall Street, in boardrooms, everywhere the bugs crawl and the deals go down. A symphony of self-interest that leaves everyone worse off, a chorus of buzzing wings in a cage of our own making.

The Warden’s smile widened, revealing a single gold incisor. “The clock’s ticking, gentlemen. Tick-tock. Tick-tock…” The metallic clang of the doors echoed once more, leaving A and B in a soundproof hell, each gnawed by the same horrifying truth: cooperation might be the only escape, but the siren song of self-interest drowned it out in a cacophony of paranoia. The Prisoner’s Dilemma, a microcosm of a twisted world, played out in the flickering light, a testament to the seductive power of betrayal even in the face of potential salvation.

<>

A lone flickering bulb cast grotesque shadows across the sweat-slick interrogation table. A and B, two faces etched with paranoia, shared a glance – a silent communion of fear. The Warden, a man with eyes like polished obsidian, leaned back in his chrome swivel chair, a cruel amusement twisting his lips.

“Alright you scumbags,” he rasped, his voice like sandpaper on bone, “let’s talk turkey. You think this is some kind of goddamn picnic? Ten years apiece for keeping your traps shut. A walk in the park compared to what awaits if you decide to sing.” He tapped a nicotine-stained finger on the table, a malevolent glint in his eye. “Rat on your partner, walk. The other gets fifteen. A real sweetheart of a deal, wouldn’t you say?”

A’s throat constricted. Fifteen years. An eternity in this concrete purgatory. He stole a glance at B, a flicker of desperation in his bloodshot eyes. Trust? Cooperation? Those were fairy tales for suckers. The Warden chuckled, a sound like gravel crunching underfoot. “See? The meat gets it. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and in here.”

“Hold on just a goddamn second,” B croaked, his voice hoarse. “What if this ain’t a one-night stand, Warden? What if we gotta play this little game multiple times?”

The Warden’s smile faltered for a brief moment, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. “What are you yapping about?”

“Tit for Tat,” A rasped, a newfound glint in his own eye. “First round, we button our lips. A shaky truce across this piss-stained table. But the beauty, Warden, is in the next round. We become mirrors. You sing, I sing. You stay quiet, we both get a lighter sentence.”

The Warden’s eyes narrowed. This wasn’t part of the script. “And what if I throw you a curveball, chum? Change the rules halfway through?”

A shrugged, a cold indifference settling over his features. “Then we improvise, Warden. Maybe we stay silent the first two rounds, keep you guessing. The key is to stay unpredictable, offer a glimmer of hope while holding a shiv behind our backs.”

The air crackled with tension. The Warden, the puppet master, suddenly seemed less in control. The Prisoner’s Dilemma, a twisted game indeed, but with a dash of cunning, the tables might just begin to turn. Survival, it seemed, wasn’t just about brute force. It was about strategy, about outsmarting the man in the chrome chair. No hero’s welcome awaited them, but in the cold war reality of the interrogation room, even a flicker of hope felt like a goddamn victory.