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

[vytis]

Alright. Pay attention to the fireplace, now.

[An old-fashioned black and white video video begins to flicker in the fireplace. There's no sound, and the picture is shaky, but it is possible to see clearly what is happening. A title card appears, and then another card with text on it:

Kanaya's Motivation
Success!

The picture shifts to an image of what seems to be the matriorb. It is resting carefully on the ground it what appears to be a peaceful forested area.

Once Kanaya succeeded, she was given the matriorb.

Another card then appears:

Failure!

The image of the matriorb fades away, and is replaced with an image that is unclear at first, but gradually zooms out to reveal a pile of corpses of each of the eleven other trolls Kanaya was traveling with.

When Kanaya failed, the troll race was doomed to immediate extinction.

The image changes again - it is no longer black and white, but suddenly an incredibly realistic and modern video of the matriorb.

The video ends.]

[speakveryclearly]

[She tries to aloofly refuse to look at first, but by the time the title card is gone her eyes slide over and then they stay on the fireplace, stuck.

As the video plays every single muscle in her body relaxes - limbs slackening, eyes widening, jaw dropping - with the peace only possible for someone beholding the impossible. There weren't trees, on Alternia, ever since... the meteor incident? That's not right, exactly, not that it matters. And just when she almost thinks she's realized what she's seeing, some elaborate replica... the picture changes.]

A--ah--

[Their names - seem strangely unimportant, like they have since she's entered this mansion for some reason - but there's the one responsible, her former friend, and that girl who got herself backstabbed, and even rotted by old age the person who beheaded some of the other corpses in the disgusting pile.

After the final image cuts out, Kanaya becomes aware that she has fallen to her knees with one arm extended. She tries to clench that fist, but it's weak like her voice is creaky.]

This is - th-this is bullshit, we-we-we're on Earth... [She's kidding herself. The desperation in her voice is one step below the level usually heard in a declaration I'll Do Anything.]

[vytis]

I'm sure you'd like to succeed, or at least avoid failure, right? It'd be a shame if you lost your incentive.

[speakveryclearly]

I-I-I-I would... more than...

[Anything]

It's... really... rare opportunity to me, you understand... you have to have known that...

[vytis]

Of course--we'd like to provide good motivation for you to make your situation more palatable.

[speakveryclearly]

A-and... the other guests... none of them have anything like this to concern themselves with... right...?

[vytis]

Your incentives make the five of you uniquely suited for the task, of course.

[speakveryclearly]

...

How long is this game supposed to last?

[vytis]

It's difficult to tell exactly--a few months, though, certainly.

[speakveryclearly]

It's just that -- for us to not get caught -- and get someone else executed for the act too for that matter -- we'd have to... ration out... the other contestants very carefully.

[vytis]

You won't be expected to murder every week. Hopefully we'll hardly need you at all, as long as our other contestants are active enough. You could spend time getting to know the other contestants so you can pick out a few options agreeable to you, of course.

[speakveryclearly]

That's true, I doubt that every single contestant is entirely undeserving...

Especially when you consider the type of people who would play and not for this sort of incentive...

[vytis]

Then it shouldn't be too much more trouble than the situation you already have to deal with.

[speakveryclearly]

Not too much. Not too much... [A little quieter the second time. Echoing like the obligation in her mind. The duty taking root.]