15 STRANGERS ROUND 7 TEST DRIVE

[strangerpeople]

15 STRANGERS ROUND 7 TEST DRIVE There are 15 strangers (give or take a few, this time around) on the ship. Regardless, someone wants you all dead. Why? And what is a funyarinpa?... 1. ARRIVAL It's time to wake up in your berth on this not-so-fantastic voyage. Why are you here? What happened to your powers? Memories? Who are these other people that've also been abducted? And...what is that smell?... 2. POWER It turns out you have been...'gifted' a power. It's not something you asked for, but you've got it now. It might be best to figure out how they work. Or don't. It's up to you. From chaos comes order, after all! 3. HOME Well, may as well make yourself comfortable for the foreseeable future on this ship. It's not like Zero is letting you go anywhere they don't want you to go. But perhaps you can find something that can help you get out of this situation! Or...maybe you want to give up and just drink in the lounge. That's an option too! Either way, you and your fellow Strangers won't be bored, at least? 4. MINIGAME Apparently Zero has decided you're not entertaining enough on your own, so now you're being tasked with playing in this game. And why not? You're technically on a cruise ship, so why not have some games? You could put some effort into the game, or maybe you're just done with this [BLEEP] by now-it's your choice on what to do. 5. MOTIVE You knew this was coming. Zero has decided they've waited long enough to see some bloodshed, and have released a motive to incentivize you into killing someone else. How are you feeling about it? What motive has Zero come up with? And...are you thinking about doing it...? 6. DEATH It's happened. One of your number has passed on-killed by another Stranger left in your group. There they lay, clear as day. It's officially time to investigate. How will you do so? Look over the body? Look around the room for evidence? Find a room that you believe is suspicious and search there? Or maybe you aren't up for investigating and would rather mourn your loss or pass out. It's up to you. 7. TRIAL It's time to focus-either you solve this case, condemning someone to death for the murder they committed, or you vote incorrectly, executing an innocent person. You've got a limited time to figure out what happened, and if you get it wrong, everyone dies. Take a deep breath, look at the evidence, and do your best to nail down the guilty party before its too late! 8. GUILTY ...Oh. It turns out you were the one responsible for what happened-you are the murderer! Why did you do it? Was it the motive? Was it something else? Are you sorry? Or was everything that has happened between you and the survivors a means to an end? Now is the time to confess everything-you're not likely to get another chance before you're executed! 9. WILDCARD Have an idea that wasn't mentioned above? Do it! Go crazy!

Comments

Hermes v1 | Fortuna

[somuchshipping]

1. Arrival

[It's one of those days. You know the one. Where you just wake up and can just TELL. And the first sign this time? This strange robot just accidentally runs into you, causing both of you to tumble. Now that you and the robot are basically a tangled pretzel of people, the face on its screen looks very confused.]

What in the Underworld...? I'm not supposed to have momentum applied to me all the time...

3. Home

[Hermes seems to be drawing on a large, blank sheet of paper. More specifically, he seems to be drawing groups of two people together, with a few of the pairs scratched out. Right now, he's just staring at an image of himself and appears to be contemplating just who to draw next to him.]

6. Death

[The speakers had just notified everyone of the body you found. A handful of seconds later, Hermes comes bursting into the door and takes one glance at the body before the face on his screen frowns disappointedly.]

Aww, man... I didn't get to watch it happen...

8. Guilty

[Hermes tried. He tried his absolute best to get away with the murder of Hiro Nakamura. But hour by hour, everyone slowly whittled away all the red herrings until nothing was left except for evidence pointing at Hermes. Speaking of, he looks absolutely dirtressed and is nearly dancing in place, his "earwings" sagging.]

I... I had to...! NoneOfYou WouldEvenUnderstandAnyway! HeHadToDie AndIHad ToKillHim...! ButButBut ThatDoesn'tMean YouShouldVote ForMe AsTheKiller!

Guilty

[not_a_lego_maniac]

...Why don't you make us understand, then? Because...well, you have to at least explain!

[somuchshipping]

It's because...! IT'S BECAUSE...!

[Oof. This is tough for Hermes.]

It's because I want to see Polly again.

[Apollo. Hermes had explained earlier this week to the majority of people that he's from a video game called Fortuna and has robot NPC characters based off of greek and roman mythology.]

I- I know I'm not in my video game right now, so if I get executed, then that means my data may never recover and I wouldn't be able to see him again...!

[not_a_lego_maniac]

...

...............



That's...but if we don't vote for you, we'll all die...is that something you really want?

[He's. He's clearly conflicted.]

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes sort of slumps over his podium, frowning sadly.]

[Psychopomp Activated]

I mean it'd be cool to watch that, but... some of you are my friends...

[Yes, he actually HAD made some friends here with others.]

[not_a_lego_maniac]

This......this isn't fair...........

[somuchshipping]

I didn't ask to be here, either... I just want to see Polly again...

[not_a_lego_maniac]

...Why? Why are we doing this, Zero?

[He slams his fists down onto the podium.]

WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US!?

[yesorwoof]

Understand?

[Makima is standing in the same spot she has occupied for the entire trial. She hasn't even wandered around for examinations, instead giving extremely precise verbal instructions.]

What a dim view you have of our intelligence, even though you have just admitted that we have inferred the comprehensive truth of the crime you committed.

[somuchshipping]

Boy, those sure are some words you said in order to say a sentence alright.

[yesorwoof]

Fine. I'll get to the point.

[Makima would be looking down anyway since Hermes is less than five feet tall, but she's REALLY looking down.]

You obviously did it for some kind of reason. I know that. But I do not care. Just as you did not care about the trouble you brought Nakamura-kun and the rest of us.

[somuchshipping]

[It's hard to physically look down on a robot who's actually 7 feet tall, but metaphorical looking down is fine.]

But that's just it...! I'm not like any of you humans...! I'm from a video game! AndINeed MyDataToSurvive!

For everyone playing along at home: yes I did a stupid. Hermes is 7 feet tall

[yesorwoof]

Oh, and Nakamura-kun didn't need oxygen to keep going to his brain?

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes is quiet for a long moment.]

Lots of species I've seen before don't need oxygen.

[yesorwoof]

Ahhh, yes, which perfectly explains your deliberate employment of that murder method.

[somuchshipping]

[Wow, way to make this so hard on Hermes...]

I just.... I... I just have get back into my computer game... I have to get back into Fortuna...

[yesorwoof]

You see? How could that be difficult to understand?

[She spreads her hands, beatific, to show the entire group to Hermes.]

Everyone misses their homes. Everyone misses the people they love. Or at least, they long for the chance to leave this place and one day find a happy home with someone to love.

[somuchshipping]

[And now Hermes actually looks annoyed and starts fidgeting in place.]

But I'm from a computer game! I know none of you ever heard of the game I'm from, but there's probably millions of copies of me. I'm usually the first person you see when you boot the game up and...

...

I'm replaceable. If my NPC data gets deleted, the player will just restart his data and get a new me. I'm not gonna let that happen.

Guilty

[jinglebros]

I mean, tell us why you think you should get away with it, while everyone else dies.

That's a tall order, Mister.

Death

[scaldingsands]

You wanted to watch someone die?

[Kalim must have heard Hermes wrong. A total misunderstanding! But that frown on his screen…]

[somuchshipping]

Yeah, it would've been so interesting to see! What a rip-off.

[scaldingsands]

W-what’s so interesting about watching someone die?!

[Kalim stares at Hermes in horror…!]

Guilty

[lovedthemost]

[Brain seems unperturbed by Hermes' distressed actions, and simply pushes his glasses up on his nose]

I don't see why not. You did kill him.

[somuchshipping]

I had a good reason to!

[It would help if you explained what the reason was, Hermes.]

[lovedthemost]

Why should that matter?