Week 0

[productions]

Who: Designated Killers and Mastermind
What: Assignments
When: Early Morning, Sunday

[Early this morning, several guests will be awoken before 6 AM by a loud alarm ringing in their room. Lying on their desk will be a telegram, signed The Producer, instructing them to go immediately to the billiards room.

Once they arrive at the billiards room, they will find the door in the back open. They will then be able to proceed into the smoking room, where others await.]

Comments

[speakveryclearly]

[Kanaya slides in perhaps the earliest and already dressed properly - there are benefits to her speed. She has one of those hats with a veil, now, and her clothes notably are selected to completely cover her decolletage. She finds a corner to wait in.]

How strange that this door isn't locked anymore... why do I have a terrible feeling its opening is related to a morbid part of the "game" we're going to be playing?

[vytis]

A place like this probably wouldn't wake anyone up for a reason that isn't sinister. [He tries to smile a little, but it doesn't really reach his eyes.] Good morning, regardless.

[souredsweet]

[likewise, Kaoru is dressed surprisingly well for being up this early, though there was no time to put all of that messy hair up in a bun. instead, it's tied neatly into a low ponytail slung over the shoulder of a simple blue dress pulled from the closet.]

Maryam-san! [a cheerful enough greeting, since it's a relief to see a familiar face, but... the trepidation underlying that tone is clear.] Did you receive a letter as well?

[aozaki]

That sounds more like a well-educated guess, actually.

[some people are taking this better than others...]

[vytis]

[Lithuania is fairly early--this isn't that much different from his normal schedule for waking up, really. This is a fair bit earlier than they were told to meet last evening, though...]

Ah--hello...?

[teenspirit]

[ Sonia arrives late and in considerable distress. ]

Wah, wah! Have I missed breakfast?

[souredsweet]

Hello. [his greeting is met by a quiet but polite one from Kaoru, who stands somewhat nervously near the door.] You've also received a note, I assume...?

[pasodoble]

( Breaking the early-bird and on-time combo, Spain will most likely arrive later than most. Who wakes up before 6AM when there aren't any fields to harvest? It doesn't help that his sleep this night wasn't as sound as he'd expected it to be. Whine, whine, nag, nag.

Though dressed, he's still bleary eyed and it looks like he didn't even bother to brush his hair before coming down. )

Am I late?

[speakveryclearly]

No. [Taking this long for an explanation to emerge means by now Kanaya has begun crossing her arms and tapping her foot.]

Or at least. We don't know what's going on yet.

[souredsweet]

[IT'S THE SLEEPY GUY AGAIN and wow what a surprise, he still looks tired... Kaoru wonders if this guy is just in a constant state of "I need a nap".]

I don't believe that's the case.

[aozaki]

Aah, so that's what this room was for!

[Touko's been moseying around outside the smoking room yesterday wondering what was inside, ok.

...

now scanning it for actual tobacco or something she can legitimately smoke, because reasons.]

Is this an early preview? We're certainly getting into the spirit of things, haha.

[souredsweet]

[another familiar face!! Kaoru approaches with some amount of hesitance, but manages to retain the elegant air possessed the day prior.]

Good morning, Aozaki-san. [pleasantries first, apparently...] ...Did you also receive that notification?

[teenspirit]

H-huh... there's not a lot of us here, is there...

[vytis]

[Once everyone is accounted for, Lithuania moves--finding a spot by the fireplace where he can easily be seen. Far from his earlier, nervous behavior, he seems quite confident now, as if he'd flipped some sort of switch in his mind.]

It seems like everyone's here now, so please listen carefully! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but I needed to make sure everyone got here. I'm the Producer--the one who called you all here, and the one in charge of this game.

The five of you have been selected specially to make sure the game runs smoothly for everyone. Pay attention, alright? We need to make sure there's a murder every week for our audience to watch--if none of our other contestants step up, it will be up to one of you to do so instead. We'll be giving you a bit of an extra incentive to ensure you have a good reason, so if none of you cooperate, you'll all lose.

If one of you commits a murder and is killed, you'll lose your incentive--however, if you win, you get your prize, instead. That makes sense, right?

[speakveryclearly]

[WHAT

LITHUANIA

YOU SEEMED SO MILD-MANNERED]

Incentive?????

What kind of incentive could you possibly be talking about? I really appreciate the customized clothes and all that, but I'm afraid it will take a great deal more than that to buy my cooperation!

[teenspirit]

[ Sonia begins screaming. This is the producer?! This kind-looking young man? ]

S-stop it! Stop saying such horrible things!

1/2

[pasodoble]

( And a laugh and joking, )

You couldn't have waited until a better time to play--

[souredsweet]

As the one in charge of this game, are you responsible for our arrival as well, then? [it's obvious Kaoru is selecting words very carefully, grim-faced and looking displeased.]

[aozaki]

It'll be easier to ask you, then. What happens after we die? [>not even asking about the other poor suckers outside, JUST THE PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM] And unfinished business at home, if you wouldn't mind indulging the cleaning crew of your cast. [gonna fish for a smoke now A+, this IS the smoking room, right?] I may be a freelancer, but I still have a few employees to check up on back home.

[speakveryclearly]

[Seeing Sonia about to faint is the breaking point for this girl. Lithuania has already finished talking with Kanaya; she shifts from lost in thought to directed at the others.]

I feel like I should inform you... I do intend to play this game. The incentive I've been offered - it's not just larger than myself, it's as large as my species. Refusal in this case... would be the morally wrong thing to do, to me. [The edge seems to indicate that the double meaning there is perhaps not entirely unintentional.]

If any of you are unable to do this yourselves, even now... I understand that. I know not everyone has that capacity. I also know some of you are very strongly affected by what you were shown, if not entirely swayed. Failure isn't what I want for the rest of this group either...

What I'm making here is a promise to be at least one of us who'll take drastic action when it becomes necessary.

[teenspirit]

[ Sonia is still curled up in her chair, looking tearful but somewhat more composed. ]

...We have no choice...

[pasodoble]

( After his confrontation with Lithuania, Spain had taken some time to think about their situation. Fo ra long time, he doesn't speak at all until finally he responds to Kanaya. His voice is calm, quiet, and solemn, )

"For the good of the many over the good of the few."

[aozaki]

[inspired by above...

Touko came in with her glasses, but she doesn't have them now, clipped at the V-cut of her shirt between steep valleys. She's smoking too - this IS a smoking room, deal with it.]

Objectively speaking, we're contracted as "fail-safes": final resorts, in case no other contestant steps up to act. Some of you clearly started out unwilling before you received your individual terms, a number of you are also no doubt inexperienced. Don't take it as a slight, we merely need to assess the entire group's strength first, mental and physical. Willpower is nice, but concrete experience would be far more preferable.

That said.

Who's killed before, and isn't squeamish about doing it again? This isn't the time to be modest. We'll likely face the most amount of reluctance on the first week, unless the prize is good enough to catch a bold person's eye. The odds are still high, however, and I'd propose those with already dirty hands step up first.

[speakveryclearly]

[Grimly steps forward.]

I have once. It was related to my incentive, in fact. I used to have that object but someone destroyed it -- I actually couldn't execute him for it immediately, he did kill me before I reached him, that's actually when I became a vampire. I had a chainsaw with me at the time, so the act was easy.

There was one other individual. He had gone completely crazy and was murdering any troll he could get his hands on--I tried to kill him for the protection of us all but later discovered he had survived.

So I definitely have no compunctions about the action. However... I should disclose a complete lack of experience in covering up a murder, which is also a part of this game.

That's all from me. As for yourself?

[vytis]

{After giving the group a little time to talk among themselves, Lithuania speaks up again.]

Miss Aozaki has brought up a very good point--because it's so early on in our game, there's a fairly high chance our other contestants may be a bit hesitant. Therefore, we would like one of you to volunteer now to cover this week in case it becomes necessary. You can decide among yourselves, of course.

((OOC: Whoever volunteers, please fill this form out by Monday night!))

[speakveryclearly]

As I've said before, I'm willing to participate, but Ms. Aozaki, I do think you yourself would be best suited to the task. We absolutely can't afford to lose a member of this group so early on, your type of quick thinking and charisma is vital to successfully evading investigations...

And regardless of who does this, I think we should agree it's in our best interests to wait as long as possible to make sure our week's work isn't done for us. Not wait that long to plan, but it would be ideal for not even covered evidence to exist connectinking us to any death.

SATURDAY, POST WEEK-ONE EXECUTION - 6AM

[vytis]

[It's early in the morning when the designated killers are called into the smoking room again. Lithuania is waiting for them this time, hands folded neatly in his lap. He waits until everyone is assembled before he begins speaking.]

Good morning. I'm sorry to call you so early, but I just wanted to remind you of your roles. You didn't have to use them last week--the trial was exciting, right?--but because we still may need you this week, I've gathered you all together here so you can discuss who will be volunteering to commit a murder this week if none of our other contestants do so.

((OOC: Remember to reply here if your character is volunteering this week!))

[speakveryclearly]

[Kanaya sinks into a cushioned reading chair, the kind with legs, and her fists are held over her eyes.] Aaaaaaaaaaaaugh. [This is getting her crazy alreavedy.]

This whole "alibi" thing, it's going to be very difficult to get around. And I don't see how. At this point it's starting to look like our odds are much worse than even of being executed if we do go through with anything. You would have hoped for one-in-five. But no.

I've got my speed at least. That should help. If I'm responsible for something... What I should do is leave a room with multiple confederate witnesses to carry the act out, then return to the room and receive the announcement.

We have our advantage in numbers at least. There's a huge advantage in the two-examiners "no funny business" clause. Two group members not implicated in the crime could go together and fiddle with the evidence that way. There's that, at least. And similarly if we use our chloroform we can make up the amount with each other's bottles...

That's all I have so far. [God she's just dead girl walking here.]