Child's Play: The Seesaw

Child's Play: The Wandering Child On The Playground

Between 2025 and 2026, an artificial intelligence was brought into this world by an organization called The Seesaw; throughout the existence of the said organization, they spent years developing a machine capable of hacking into multiple distinct software, including government property.

The Seesaw, after gaining complete reign across the globe through military weapons and the world’s data, quickly rose to the earth’s top. No one could nor wished to oppose such a force capable of setting off all nukes at once, resulting in the institution’s words becoming laws in the face of humanity’s fear and ignorance. They produced a newfound system for all human beings to follow, a point system created solely to separate the strong of this world from the weak.

One organization and one machine erased all currency from the front of this planet, replacing them with points and their unique system. Using a normal distribution, one would see that the average points one could have in 2066 stand at 128.8, but nobody starts with this number of points, and the average changes once a year. The exact number of points a person begins with from birth is zero, allowing some form of stability and avoiding the systematic collapse of the organization. And yet, via that same system, an infant could be born on the weaker side, the side of slavery and manual labor.

By any means, the system would not permit a child to be taught to work before their first steps. But it shall wait until the child reaches adolescence so that they can either compete for points or end up on the world’s inferior side. As the name suggests, The Seesaw gave life to a world where humanity no longer uses money but instead points earned from children’s games while escalating the difficulty.

The AI kept track of every person’s points and secured them with the utmost caution. A machine controlling every phone, computer, television, and any other machine the human mind could think of.

The two sides of this world were the slaves and the players, otherwise known as citizens. The citizens were the people on the superior side of this world, where they could compete for points through games anytime they wanted to. These people had to keep playing to remain above the ever-changing world average and survive. The citizens were people who had achieved at least 2576 points and used them up to give themselves and their family members citizenship. With citizenship, one could retire from all future games and live a happy life.

And finally, there were the slaves, people that were stripped away of their human rights and made to build edifices for the players to contest within them. The slaves, through blood and sweat, had to create such structures, while the AI brought a heaven’s worth of goods to its ‘strongest’ people.

That was the world a citizen named Nobuyuki and his seventeen-year-old son lived in. The lad’s name was Gontou, Tamanaha Gontou. The teenager was the oldest brother in his family, having a younger brother and a younger sister. Even though he had such a large family, Gontou frequently felt isolated.

He thought his siblings stood too immature to understand him, but the boy tried to sympathize with them, for they were also troubled. The boy knows that, similarly to himself, all individuals his age have to deal with multiple private issues such as their identity, family issues, or loneliness. But that never stopped him from offering compassion to the ones close to him, and his problems never stopped him from showing kindness to everyone.

It was a snowy Wednesday afternoon, and the date was December 27th, 2066 in Japan's Hokkaidō. Gontou went to the building that used to be his school. Education had changed, removing the last three years, making students study until they were fifteen and only fifteen. The Seesaw wanted as many players as possible. So, to succeed in this mission, it deprived children of their essential education needs, replacing them only through extra lessons and hours to their school’s curriculum.

Taking in the recently abandoned building, soon to be destroyed and replaced with another ground for games, Gontou sighed but kept walking for he had someone to meet there. Upon arrival at their old classroom, Gontou saw his best friend, Uyeda Tomiko, waiting for him.

-Gontou- «You’re here early.»

-Tomiko- «I’m not, you’re just seven minutes late, idiot.»

-Gontou- «You know, you’ll never find a boyfriend with that attitude.»

-Tomiko- «You’re one to talk, you’re ugly as fuck Gon.»

-Gontou- «For your information, the test gave me an 88%, so I’m just not your type.»

-Tomiko- «Ah yes, that explains the thirteen rejections.»

-Gontou- «Hey, do not bring that up! Meanie.»

-Tomiko- «Gon, you sound gay when you talk like that.»

Tomiko said, chuckling as Gontou laughed alongside her.

-Gontou- «Maybe that is what I want to do.»

-Tomiko- «You wanna find a boyfriend or something?»

-Gontou- «Why, you single?»

Gontou responded jokingly. He knew Tomiko hated it when referred to as a boy. Gontou kept calling her that way due to her masculine clothing, but that did not stop the girl from being bothered by her friend’s comments. So, she responded with.

-Tomiko- «As if I'd ever date you.»

These two have been friends since the third grade and know each other more than their families do.

-Tomiko- «So, how has it been for you?»

Gontou asked his friend.

-Tomiko- «Difficult.»

She responded. Gontou asked why, wanting to know what had been troubling his friend. She tried to shake him off, spouting weird things from her mouth.

-Tomiko- «A citizen like yourself wouldn’t understand Gontou, so don’t worry.»

Gontou’s smile faded, and his face had a solemn countenance.

-Gontou- «Come on, Tomiko, please tell me.»

Gontou said as the wind brought his cyan hair into the air. The sun behind him assisted Gontou in his trial of his friend opening up to him. He looked like an angel sent by some deity of the sun.

-Tomiko- «… You’re a pain, Gontou, but if you want to know, it is because life as a player is so exhausting that I barely managed to pass the average this year. I only managed to reach 133 points.»

-Gontou- «I see, it must’ve been more of a challenge than I could imagine.»

The boy said, feeling a little guilty that he was so privileged.

-Tomiko- «Gontou, you shouldn’t be this sad for me since it’s not your fault, so just consider yourself lucky and live your life to its fullest. So, stop being so stupid, okay?»

She said with a smile towards Gontou.

The boy nodded to his friend, seeing as her platinum short hair covering her face made it seem as if nature was hiding her face from Gontou, perhaps to avoid hurting him. They spent a few hours together before Gontou had to go home. He waved his hand goodbye to her at the convenience store where Gontou used his citizenship to buy a water bottle without spending any points. He did not have any either way.

Making his way toward his home, the boy glanced occasionally around, watching the construction in the area. He pitied the slaves who were working against their will, and guilt would wash over him as he sensed their hostile, powerful stares at him. He did his best, trying to ignore such gazes, and made his way back home.

Once he arrived home, he opened the door and took off his shoes, placing them under the hangers and putting on his slippers. About to announce to the house that he is home, something cut him off, the voice of a man he did not recognize conversing with his father.

-Unknown Person- «Mr. Tamanaha, come on, you have kept yourself and your family citizens for years! Don’t you think it’s about time you cut your kids loose? It is a wonderful world; I’m sure your children would love it.»

The man said with a rather condescending tone in his voice.

-Nobuyuki- «I’ve already told you, I will never take away citizenship from my children. You people made this disgusting world, and I am following your damn rules, so leave my family and I alone.»

Gontou’s mind was racing with thoughts. What was this person telling his father? As he was overhearing the conversation, Gontou thought, why would anyone want his father to abandon his children’s citizenship? Who would benefit from such an action? Gontou quickly remembered what they did to their education system, what The Seesaw did to gather more players, so Gontou understood who that man was, an agent of The Seesaw’s!

-Seesaw Agent - «Well, you might be right there, Mr. Tamanaha, but even if you’re acting by our rules, you aren’t exactly acting within our best interest.»

-Nobuyuki- «Excuse me? You come into my house and dare to ask for shit like that? I want you out of my damn house.»

The agent laughed, his piercing purple eyes and black hair turned to look at Gontou’s father.

-Seesaw agent- «Mr. Tamanaha, I have come here with such good intentions. All we ask is to have a talent like yourself back, and who knows, your children might prove amusing to watch competing, you know? Like father, like son.»

The man pulled out a gun. Only agents were allowed to carry weapons anymore.

-Seesaw agent- «Come on, it’d be fun to have you back.»

No matter what, Gontou couldn’t avoid losing his citizenship. He was scared, and even though he was so sympathetic towards people of a lower class than him, he still didn’t want to lose it. He was afraid.

-Seesaw Agent- «So, want to become the dominating player you used to be, Mr. Tamanaha?»

The agent was smiling, clearly enjoying the power he had over this family right now. But a smile wider than his own existed within that same room. Tamanaha Nobuyuki would never return to being a player again.

-Nobuyuki- «Fuck off.»

Gontou’s father spoke, chuckling lightly and punching the agent across his face. Surprised, the agent pointed the gun at his body and fired it, creating a gaping hole in the left side of his chest. Nobuyuki bled profusely and fell to his knees, slowly dying.

Gontou almost gasped out loud but covered his mouth with his palm. The boy was terrified. A bullet went through his father’s body, tearing up from what he was seeing, as the boy wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings. He accidentally made one of their coats fall, causing a minor sound. Which, in return, alerted the agent that somebody else was in the house. Looking back at Gontou’s father lying there motionless. He spat at him and began walking to locate the source of this sound. Gontou was hiding out of sheer horror. What would happen if the agent found him?

Since the agent was in such a foul mood, Gontou wished to avoid him. The agent appeared at the entrance of his house, where he found beige-colored walls, a closet, a hanger, and a lamp because the house’s lights couldn’t reach all the way there. He saw an open door indicating Gontou had only recently arrived, and as he saw the coat, his gaze immediately fell upon the closet, thinking Gontou was hiding in there.

The agent approached it and violently opened the closet’s doors, finding nothing but drawers of the family’s clothes and a random sock, most likely misplaced. Gontou was nowhere to be seen, and the agent stormed out of the house, leaving while thinking that he must be hearing things.

Once the agent had left the boy’s sight altogether, Gontou came out from under his house. It was winter, so most of the entrances to the crawlspace were hidden by the snow. Gontou’s house had a large enough crawlspace for him to obscure himself under. The boy ran inside the house and ran to his father, and saw him bleeding to death, falling on his knees in front of him. The boy began crying.

-Gontou- «Dad! Get up, we are going to the hospital! We are citizens, s-so they will save you even if you do not use points!»

His father placed his hand on Gontou’s shoulder and smiled as the boy kept shouting out of fear.

-Nobuyuki- «Gontou, they will not help me. Because there are no doctors in this world, just The Seesaw.»

-Gontou- «Stop! No, please don’t leave us. We can’t survive as players. What about Norio and Moe; Will they make it? And I-I-.»

His body couldn’t allow him to move, but his father wouldn’t allow him to spout such nonsense.

-Nobuyuki- «Listen up, Gontou. Their leader wanted the world to play children’s games. So the whole world will play children’s games.»

-Gontou- «L-leader? What are you on about? Stop talking, you’re losing blood!»

-Nobuyuki- «Of course, they would hide it. I suppose they only tell players, don’t they?»

-Gontou- «Dad! I don’t care who the leader is! You talk about that after you are well!»

His father chuckled a bit as his vision was getting foggy. Gontou was trying to lift him, but the boy did not have the power to do so.

-Nobuyuki- «Well, there’s no point in telling you, I suppose, you’ll find out soon enough…»

The grasp on his son’s shoulder went slack, his hand dropping limply to his side. Tamanaha Nobuyuki had passed away. Gontou’s face went pale, and the tears stopped running temporarily. His mind ceased functioning for a moment, and his heart ached so much it seemed as if it stopped. Then, the boy’s senses stopped working, and the snow falling outside alongside the bird’s singing was muffled. The smell from the candle wax dissipated, and Gontou couldn’t feel his arms. All the boy could understand and see was his father’s corpse. Everything else was black.

Gontou could only do one thing, and that was to cry. In such a world, there is no police, and there is no justice. The system will only act if someone can potentially deprive it of its players. On the other hand, even if Gontou’s family had multiple cameras lying around, with such power the AI has, it could’ve easily saved them. It could’ve controlled even the security system they had within their house. But it didn’t. All for a single reason. Tamanaha Gontou and his siblings were now players.

Gontou spent three days burying his father’s body, all because no one would’ve done so otherwise, so he took the matter into his own hands. His siblings were nowhere to be found. His weak body didn’t allow himself to do it any faster. He didn’t have the points available to buy a suitable gravestone, so he grabbed the most immense in size rock he could find and carved his father’s name alongside other information usually found in a gravestone.

As he was finishing up and staring at the grave, a figure of a young woman slowly approached Gontou from his peripheral vision. As he turned around, he saw Tomiko approaching him, wearing a coat. She came because Gontou didn’t show up at the convenience store to hang out. Tomiko had gotten upset over it, but once the girl arrived at his home, his friend didn’t utter a word, for her eyes fell on that grave. She saw Gontou’s fingers, and it was obvious that he had been working non-stop, his eyes showing the lack of sleep he’d been receiving. She decided to speak up.

-Tomiko- «Guess that makes you a player, huh?»

-Gontou- «Yeah.»

-Tomiko- «Well, I’m sorry for your loss.»

-Gontou- «Thanks for that, but you really don’t have to.»

-Tomiko- «Won’t you ever stop that?»

The girl sighed, feeling slightly upset herself. This man was kind to her all these years, even though she was a player and he was a citizen. Tearing up herself, she wiped them off, not wanting to bother Gontou in such a difficult time.

-Tomiko- «So, what now? Anything you plan to do? You only have two days before you become a slave.»

-Gontou- «I will try to find a game I can play where I can gather all the points I’ll ever need at once.»

-Tomiko- «I figured you might say that. But you won’t find much. Every game has the maximum number of players. The new year is coming, so people want to secure a safe spot.»

-Gontou- «I see, it seems like it’s over for me.»

Gontou laughed at himself, but it was a rather depressive one. Tomiko looked at him as if pondering something in her head. Afterward, she sighed again before reluctantly passing Gontou a ticket.

-Gontou- «What’s this?»

-Tomiko- «It is a ticket I earned for a game of ‘I Spy’; If you play correctly, you can gather enough points to remain a player. I hope you know how much I risk by giving you this ticket.»

Gontou looked at the ticket in surprise before hugging Tomiko. She didn’t expect it, but she hesitantly hugged him back.

-Gontou- «Thank you Tomiko! You’re helping me a lot with this!»

Tomiko pushed Gontou away lightly and wiped her coat off.

-Tomiko- «So, what do you want to do, Gontou?»

Gontou looked back at the grave one last time before walking past it and staring into the morning sky. The beauty of the sun’s rays fell upon the boy to reveal the polar opposite of this beauty, a sad young man, yet both were brimming with energy for the future.

-Gontou- «I'm gonna get on the seesaw.»