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murdergame voicetesting with nin!
[The room you wake up in is not your own. In fact, you may not have been sleeping at all before you're suddenly waking up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. The bed isn't terribly uncomfortable, but it certainly isn't the nicest thing either; it's a standard cot, surrounded by the towering stone walls of your room. There's a wooden desk with a plain key on it, a simple chair, and a mirror, but absolutely nothing else. No decorations, nothing to indicate where you are or how you got here, and certainly no answers.
Should you leave the room and start exploring, you'll find that you're in some sort of fortress. A medieval one, from the looks of it, given that there's no technology to be found anywhere and the laundry room involves no actual laundry machines. The front doors are sealed off with some sort of magic sigil and guarded by two hulking suits of armor that stand ominously in the way. They won't react if talked to or poked, but you get the distinct feeling that they're watching you...
The other rooms are about what you'd expect - a kitchen and dining room fit for function rather than fashion, an armory that is strangely empty aside from some training dummies, a war room that is really just a round table and chairs, and a small library. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but that's likely intentional.
After all, in the foyer there are two very important pieces of information behind unbreakable glass: the first are the rules, written in a flowing hand and dark ink with the usual rules - including one notable one about killing for your freedom. Beside it is a second set of information and pictures: profiles of all the Soldiers brought into this little game, it would seem.
Enjoy your stay in the Fortress; the General will be watching you.]
Should you leave the room and start exploring, you'll find that you're in some sort of fortress. A medieval one, from the looks of it, given that there's no technology to be found anywhere and the laundry room involves no actual laundry machines. The front doors are sealed off with some sort of magic sigil and guarded by two hulking suits of armor that stand ominously in the way. They won't react if talked to or poked, but you get the distinct feeling that they're watching you...
The other rooms are about what you'd expect - a kitchen and dining room fit for function rather than fashion, an armory that is strangely empty aside from some training dummies, a war room that is really just a round table and chairs, and a small library. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but that's likely intentional.
After all, in the foyer there are two very important pieces of information behind unbreakable glass: the first are the rules, written in a flowing hand and dark ink with the usual rules - including one notable one about killing for your freedom. Beside it is a second set of information and pictures: profiles of all the Soldiers brought into this little game, it would seem.
Enjoy your stay in the Fortress; the General will be watching you.]
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Hours after they went their separate ways, the so-called mastermind of the kidnapping made his appearance. Not too long into the General's speech, Harry interrupted him to call him "Moralintern scum" to the confusion of literally everyone, including the General, but that sure didn't stop him from voicing the opinion that they have the numbers to overthrow him, and that the kidnapper doesn't know what the hell he's doing.
For the most part, the group seemed to agree with Harry, even if they don't agree with his... er, perspective entirely. At least up until the first motive.
A stack of sealed envelopes with the names of the participants suddenly makes itself known in the war room. Inside the envelopes, is a letter with an embarrassing secret written on it, and the threat to reveal it to the rest of the group should someone not be killed by the end of the week.
Whatever is written on Harry's doesn't seem to bother him, at least not outwardly. He stares at it blankly before crumpling it up and shoving it in his pocket.]
For a kidnapper, the "General" sure has bad ideas when it comes to blackmail.
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A "motive" isn't particularly surprising, though the contents of the letter are. Yeager could think of far more damning secrets the General could have used - secrets Yeager might even be halfway tempted to kill over - but the one he's chosen is surprisingly mundane. Yeager and "embarrassing" belong in the same sentence all the time anyway, so he doesn't particularly have anything that actually bothers him here.
Still, he pockets the envelope with a shrug, turning to Harry at that.]
I wonder if he's intentionally starting us off easy... Or maybe someone happened to get a particularly bad secret?
[But like, if he didn't then who the hell here did?]
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[A pause.]
No, that's definitely it. This is targeted. Me, I don't remember most of the embarrassing shit I've done in my life. Including the one written in here.
[He pats at the crumpled up paper in his pocket.]
Know I did it, though. Kim and I had a long talk about it. The guy my profile mentioned; Kim Kitsuragi.
[whose name I typoed because I'm dumb]
We're strangers here, so it doesn't really matter to me if other people know, too.
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[Of course, if they have any sense, they won't make a show of it. You never know, though!]
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[He raises a single finger up for emphasis.]
He doesn't need thirty people to act, just one.
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[Yeager shakes his head once that's out there and lifts his shoulders a bit.]
But we'll see how it goes, ja?
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[It's muttered darkly.
And then, like what seems to be usual for him, he goes very quiet.]
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Well, I suppose we should have expected as much from the rules...
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Regardless, he seems like he's somewhere far away until he starts talking again.]
There must be a way out of here. Something that doesn't involve sitting around waiting for someone to act.
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I'm sure all of us have been searching for a way out - but I also don't think our captor is stupid enough to overlook something like that. One of the others was talking about a meeting later today, ja? Perhaps we'll learn more then.
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[Like he'd forgotten that, even though everyone had been present when the announcement had been made.]
Right. It makes sense that other people would be doing their own investigations. The more eyes on this place, the better.
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[Though really, he can't imagine that the meeting will reveal anything particularly useful.]
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And whatever the hell Yeager is.]
Not until the clock starts to run down, at any rate.
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[Of course, the meeting doesn't reveal anything of value, and instead turns into a shouting match because some people simply can't stand the thought of listening to anyone else. Everyone leaves feeling vaguely frustrated; they haven't discovered a way to escape, and it seems unlikely that any measures to prevent murder will be particularly effective. Yeager chimed in here or there, but mostly argued against the proposal of sharing a room with anyone; he likes his space and having anyone else in it is simply out of the question. So in the end, there's a small group determined to carry out patrols at night, but otherwise nothing has changed.
Well, at least until Friday morning, where they find a blood trail leading to the library. Within is one of the younger members of their group - Sayaka Maizono, stabbed through the chest.
They're ushered into a dark and foreboding courtroom and put through their paces; a trial to find Sayaka's murderer, where if they vote wrong, the killer will walk free and they'll all die. Yeager has nothing much of value to contribute aside from pointing out a few people who could be capable of such a precise stab wound, so he mostly watches as everything goes down.
While many people are greatly upset by Sayaka's death, it eventually comes to light that her killer was merely acting in self-defense, that she attacked him first, and he had to defend himself with one of the kitchen knives. Yes, he stabbed her and killed her, but was it truly his fault when she was the one who attempted to get the jump on him?
In the end, they aren't really allowed to consider that. They have to vote for the killer or they'll all be executed in his place. And so they vote for his title, and he's dragged off, beheaded before them in a brutal execution.
Some of the others have put together a gathering to try to get everyone out of their rooms after that. Yeager isn't particularly bothered - he liked Sayaka better than the killer, but she made her choice and died for it so he's hardly all that torn up about it - but he decides to see exactly what this gathering is like.
Clearly someone's been stress baking, because there's a lot of sweets to consume and plenty of tea. The hosts are out and about trying to greet everyone with a smile and some cheer, but it's obvious this is a strain on everyone. Yeager's taken up residence at a table, paging through one of those books he doesn't particularly care about reading.
Though really, he's keeping an eye on everyone present. He's curious about those who are taking this hard, after all; it's not every day you send someone off to die, after all.]
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Everyone present for the investigation would have seen the old, almost reverent way he treated her, entirely silent as he worked. He didn't speak a word about it until the trial, and even during the trial he's largely quiet. More so than usual.
Of course, he's quick to notice the nervous tells of the young blonde man. Some spoiled brat of a prince, who made it clear that he was nobility, and his mother and his fiance would be out for blood. Though many people were put off by Wolfram's behavior, Harry saw it for what it was: the actions of a terrified kid.
The fact that he hadn't immediately complained about entering the courtroom had been an alarming tell.
In the end, Harry couldn't do it. He couldn't be a part of it. The General had made it clear that a majority needed to vote for the killer. It didn't need to be everyone. It couldn't be.
So it's not a shock when it comes down to the vote, he chooses to vote for himself.
He's still subdued at the gathering afterwards, holding, but not actually drinking, the tea in his hands.]
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Thank you for your assistance today. How are you holding up?
[He doubts Harry's issue is with handling the body - the man did seem to know what he was doing, after all. Sending a scared kid off to die is likely the bigger concern here.]
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[It's said automatically. He winces as soon as it leaves his mouth, though he doesn't take it back.]
A boy was put to death for defending himself. There was no justice here today.
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[He'd framed it like there wasn't another option, like Sayaka would just keep coming at him if he hadn't killed her. Like maybe she would have targeted someone else even if he had gotten her to stand down. But is that really the truth? There's no way to know for certain.
Yeager could argue that Sayaka was desperate to get home, that she'd been anxious and upset the entire time she was here, that she'd told him that she was worried she'd be left behind and forgotten by the time they managed to find a way to escape. She was a desperate kid too, just one who went to extremes right away. She didn't deserve this either.
But that brief flicker of anger dies easily enough; after all, Sayaka truly isn't comparable to Gauche and Droite. They would have been smart enough to sit down and take stock of the situation before committing to killing someone to try to escape. The only reason he's annoyed with this at all is because Sayaka reminds him a bit of his own girls.
Instead, Yeager shrugs.]
I do agree, though I don't believe our captor has any interest in "justice". This is a game to him, ja? He puts us in a situation where our lives are on the line, and we've no choice but to play along.
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[It's hissed, not shouted, though he gets a few stares all the same.]
All the more reason to find the bastard.
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[The outburst doesn't seem to startle him at all. As always, he's remarkably calm about the whole situation.]
But who knows. He did say we would be... "rewarded" for our efforts.
[We're getting a new floor tomorrow, but no one knows that yet.]
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[There's so much disgust in Harry's voice.]
How long will this go on for? Until there's no one left?
[It's clearly a rhetorical question, because he continues before Yeager can answer.]
This is someone well-funded. It's not some one-person act. If he's not stopped, he'll probably do it again. Him and his collaborators.
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[He doesn't mean to be cryptic when he says it, but it certainly is a cryptic thing to say.]
I've been in situations when the odds are bad, Yeager. Life and death kind of shit. I was in one of those situations five days before I woke up here.
There will be an opportunity. It's just a matter of minimizing casualties.
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[He doesn't believe the General would be stupid enough to allow something like that, but then, who knows? It's a possibility he can't rule out entirely, and it is better than thinking that he's going to die here. So Yeager nods at that.]
I don't mean to be such a downer, though it is rather difficult to think like that after [handwave] everything today has been.
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[No doubt this so-called "General" is counting on people continuing on with the killings.]
Before I was here, I was in my city. Revachol. Capital of the world.
[A city-state in other words. Anywhere that isn't Revachol is somewhere else entirely.]
It's... [he pauses] a long story, but the short of it is I was investigating a murder in a no man's area called Martinaise. It doesn't fall into the jurisdiction of any precinct, so two ones were called in. The 41st, me, and the 57th, Kim Kitsuragi.
[There seems like there's a lot more to it than that, but he's trying to keep it as brief as he can.]
The man who was killed was a merc. The union covered up the real cause of death to cover for a woman the merc was... er, intimate with.
The merc's friends got drunk some days into our investigation. Decided to hold a "tribunal" with the intention of executing every single member of the union who was part of the cover up. They didn't believe the real cause of death was a sniper's shot.
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