LOCATION : LUCKY FOOT THEATER.
TIME : 12 PM.
PROLOGUE ENDING : THE EXPERIMENT BEGINS.
Looks like this is the designated meeting spot, even though you still have no clue what lies beyond the curtain on stage, save perhaps the man in charge of all this, ready to deliver whatever it is he’d promised all of you -- incentive to murder? It still reeks of blood and there are piece of gore along the theater’s walkway, as if the victim’s body was dragged after all of you left last time, but there are no doubt a number of you eager to not put too much thought into what happened with Orion’s body. On stage, the same Sentinels stand guard, watching over all of you with unblinking eyes. If you look close enough, you can see blood on their clothes.
It doesn’t take as long for Kuma to make his appearance this time, nor does he seem to have any firearms in his hands when he steps out. He simply slips the curtain open and takes the stage -- no announcement, no fanfare. Just him, his lighter, and the casual lighting of a cigarette. He stands on the stage quietly as opposed to trying to get anyone’s attention, although there are already a number of you turned towards the stage, waiting to see what he has to say. Noticeably, a few of you have opted to avoid the front rows... it’s not a decision anyone can blame you for, is it?
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEY HARE!!” Ultimately, it’s Zero’s voice that suddenly bursts over the speakers as his image pops up on the screens above the stage without warning -- he’s loud, obnoxious, and as energetic as ever. It takes barely half a second for him to begin bouncing around on stage, arms waving. “OOOOOOOOOOOOOH BOY!! Finally, we’re HARE! You all know what this is, right? The beginning of the experiment!! You didn’t think it was already underway, didya? Of COURSE you didn’t! Hahhahahahahaha, don’t worry, we’ll HOP to the point -- you all are probably juuuuust as eager as we HARE, so not point wasting time, right, Kuma Kuma? Why don’t we just tell ‘em straight up --
THE FIRST MURD-HARE INCENTIVE!!
EHEHEHAHAHAHAH!!”
“Shut up. Your voice is grating.” Finally, the Supervisor speaks, voice picked up by the same mic he wore the previous time. He stops only to blow smoke from between his lips, shooing Zero away in a gesture that only made the AI rabbit silently point. “But he is not wrong. From henceforth, we can consider this experiment underway. I asked you all to meet me here in order for us to begin -- from now on, get used to this ritual. We will meet every Sunday, here at the theater, at noon. This time it is in order for me to give you a motive to commit murder ; as, once again, I am sure you know by now what this experiment entails. If you still have not read your tablets, I honestly cannot help you and I am sure your low intelligence will make you among the first to die.”
It’s a hard objective to forget, isn’t it? He gives you an incentive to murder, ideally one or more of you take action and kill someone for it, and an investigation and trial follow afterwards. If no murder occurs, you all vote for someone in the group to be executed simply because someone MUST die, and majority vote wins. The ultimate goal -- find and eliminate three “butterflies” hidden among you, despite the mind-numbingly awful odds stacked against you. It’s ridiculous, but there’s nothing any of you can do about it. As awful as it is, all you can do is stand here and listen.
Kuma gestures to the Sentinels and as he does so, they begin to move off the stage, spreading themselves out around the crowd. Now they’re a little too close for comfort, all watching you more closely than they were before. Even on the upper floors, they seem to come out of the wood works specifically just to stare you down. How unsettling...
“Zero, you start. And if I hear one rabbit pun during your reveal, I will replace you with a bear.”
“...!! Hmph! Fine. You want to start it short and simple, right? Nothing too flashy yet... We’re gonna ease you all into this, so we’ve decided to go EASY on you for this first week! Hahaha, nothing too... dramatic... you see? After all, you gotta learn to PLAY the game before things start going hare-wire ( sorry, Kuma Kuma, it slipped out! ) and it looks like we may be getting a few unexpected visitors to spook you on our behalf, anyways... THE SHORT OF IT IS, one of you has got to DIE-DIE!! The incentive? Hahahaha, IRONICALLY, death!”
Death seems to be a common theme around this place : just short of butterflies, it’s the word you all keep hearing. What the hell are they going to do? Shoot someone else?
“Yes... If you all will take a look at your bracelets, you will notice a new timer has popped up below your assigned number, effective... now.” The Sentinels suddenly step forward, closer to all of you, and their eyes seem to focus on those closest to them. Though the movement is startling, it doesn’t distract from Kuma’s words -- below all of your numbers, a time counting down from 8640 MINUTES has begun to tick. “When that timer reaches zero in six days’ time, all of you will be injected via one of the needles hidden in your bracelets. Half of you will receive an injection of a simple medication that will put you to sleep for a few hours -- the other half, however, will be injected with poison.”
“Hohohohohoh!! You didn’t think we’d just let you have safety in NUMBERS, right? I said it BEFORE, but we can stand to lose, I’unno... about a hundred of you... at least. So HARE’S the dealio, buns and gents! Those of you who are in PAIRS have ONE person with a sleeping agent and ANOTHER with poison! If you’re one of the unlucky hoppies to be here with your friend, unless someone commits murder, ONE of you is TOOOOOOOOOTALLY gonna CROAK IT when the countdown reaches its end! ‘But Zero! What about those of us who are alone!? We want in on the game!’ Don’t you worry, bun buns, ‘cause about HALF of those of you who are here alone ALSO have poison in your bracelets! It’s just a game of chance, hahahah! Sooooo just to clarify for all the slow jos out there, one person in each pairing will die! Several of you who are singles will die! Poison alllll around, hahahah!”
“Of course, as long as someone is killed by this Saturday night, Zero will shut down the timer on all of your watches, saving the lives of everyone who would have been poisoned otherwise. In return, at least only one person has to die. It is not so awful a trade, is it?” He pauses to knock the ash from his cigarette. “In the event none of you decide to kill anyone, our numbers will be thinned and the experiment more focused. If you do, the experiment truly begins. It is a fitting way to start, yes? I do not think this is a particularly dramatic or difficult motive. Ah, but that is the thing... it seems there are some... issues with the simulation that have popped up unexpectedly. While the motive this week starting us off is not as particularly as exciting as Zero would have liked it, we do have some... unfortunate... interferences that may make things more... Mm. Well. You will figure that out on your own.”
Unfortunate interferences? He said this town was a simulation. There’s no limit to what that could mean for you, but... what could be worse than the threat of death?
“I did promise to address those bracelets and their functions to all of you next time we met, but I think it is best we leave it at that... Besides, they will be utilized in the investigations. Not to get ahead of ourselves, right?” There’s humor somewhere in his voice, like he’s mocking all of you -- not that it would be surprising if he were. The curl of his lips make it even clearer, but... Then he turns and leaves the stage without another word and compared to the last meeting it almost feels... anticlimatic? No, not even that. Something in the way he held himself just then, smugness aside... he seemed eager to get out of here, almost nervous even. Why? Even Zero disappears from the monitor without a last laugh or pun -- isn’t it weird for him to be quiet?
...
Then you hear a loud metal SCREECH
and something akin to a CRASH
from outside the theater and you can’t help but think maybe being given this “incentive to murder” which has put all of your lives on the line collectively, as a group, somehow classifies as the calm before the storm... All of the Sentinels around you bring to life and, without warning, begin to grab you and forcibly push you out of the building, claws DIGGING in the shoulders of those of you not lucky enough to catch on and make a break for it before they have a chance of grabbing you --
When you step out into the Quarantine Zone,
all the rain falling from the sky has mixed with ASH.
The Sentinels run past you, hurriedly making their way, collectively alongside the employees, to the burning METRO STATION not far from the theater. Flames lick the sky and a gaggle of shadowed creatures in clown-like rabbit masks seem to move around the light before disappearing into the bulk of the fire... There’s BLOOD covering the streets, corpses of people you don’t recognize -- faceless figures with bloodied fingers and missing limbs. Some are torsos, dragging themselves across the pavement, others cry and wail and moan as piece of their bodies melt in the fire -- the youngest of them call out for parents as something unseen rip them open and drag them down the metro’s stairs -------------
Wait... wait, something’s... not right...
A second passes, the vision fades and there’s no fire there at all... No ash, no clowns, no dying... Someone’s looking at you, concerned, wondering if they should offer a hand. Had the Sentinels pushing you out of the theater spooked you a little too much? There’s a few of them standing around the Metro Station, yet there’s no fire... When you ask about it aloud, a few people around you seem to know what you’re talking about -- but others just stare at the rest of you -- they say that you’ve just been standing there for a few seconds, completely spaced out. There wasn’t a fire, there were no clowns. All of you were just kicked out of the theater, that’s all. But you saw that just now, didn’t you?
A wave of vertigo overruns quite a few of you, some of you even feel close to fainting -- or vomiting... Maybe it’s just the ash in the air... but you think you might be hearing someone or... something... whispering to you... Yes, that’s right... the lighter your head feels...
There’s someone whispering to you... What are they saying...?
Almost as soon as you think that ----------
THAT’S WHEN THE SIRENS START,
and with them comes the thunder & lightning.
Now all of you -- all of you can hear that.
EVENT COMPLETED: PROLOGUE: ACQUITTAL WON OMEN ‘ERE.
CURRENT OBJECTIVE: COMMIT A MURDER.
… YOUR TABLETS HAVE BEEN UPDATED!
RED HAREING STATION -- A new location has opened up on the map! The underground train station previously guarded by Sentinels appears to have been forced open... In fact, the two Sentinels that were standing outside guarding it look like they’ve been ripped to shreds. If one looks closely, there appears to be blood staining the metal and a few teeth caught in the wires... Both their heads have been removed and apparently drug down to the station below, judging by the mechanical innards that trail down that way. The doors previously closed at the bottom appear to have been ripped open by something with large claws and the train on the left side has been ripped from its track and crushed. Yikes! Well, this place wasn’t supposed to be open yet, anyways, so it doesn’t really matter... None of the trains are running yet. You’re free to visit from now on, but it sounds like something -- or, rather, a lot of somethings -- might be running around in the dark... Did you see something in the corner of your eye just now?
DETAILS.
THE FIRST MURDER INCENTIVE: Cutting the numbers. Someone must die, or a mass execution will take place that will slice the cast in half. Each of your bracelets either has an extra needle containing more poison, or a sleeping serum. When the countdown runs out on Saturday, you will be injected. Those of you who fall asleep will continue on in the experiment. Those of you with poison will die. One member of each pairing has poison, the other has the sleep serum. Half of those of you on your own also have poison. Kill someone or don’t.
Either way, you’re facing the consequences.
CHAPTER ONE : BUTCHERS RIB, I ACT
BEGIN !
OOC NOTES.
The crash / metallic screech was not a hallucination. Everyone heard that.
It is up to you whether your muses experienced the fire hallucination or not. They can be in the half of the group that did, or the half that didn’t.
If they did, they can now hear voices whispering to them on & off, but they can’t make out what they’re saying. It’s muffled...
If your muses did NOT see the fire hallucination, they are now acutely aware that something appears to be following all of you in the dark. Always in the corner of your eyes, but never out in the open. No matter what you do, you can’t see them properly.
The metro may now be entered, but the trains do not operate.
The Sirens (reference youtube link) are now CONSTANT. They do not stop. They will be going off NONSTOP for the next SIX DAYS. Along with constant, LOUD thunder & violent strikes of lightning in addition to the rain.
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