TDM: ROUND 3

[strangerpeople]

15 STRANGERS ROUND 3 TEST DRIVE There are 15 strangers in this place. Someone knows why. And its clear the odds are stacked against you. 1. ARRIVAL Oh god, you're inside a Base. Why are you here? What happened to your powers? Your memories? Who else has been so unlucky as to be brought in with you? What are you wearing? What are these strange rules? And...why do you feel like the person who wrote them is going to like yelling at you? 2. POWER You have been, er, "blessed" with a power. Its not a power you want or care for, but its yours now. You might want to try an control it, lest you hurt someone else. That is...unless you want to. Or if you want to try and see if you can break out of your new domicile. Or, hey, go ahead and blow things up - there's no rule against property damage aside from the camerabots, after all... 3. HOME So now you live in a Base of some kind. Whee. Maybe living here forever won't be so bad, since there are things to do with your free time. Unless you're looking for a way out, but surely, you wouldn't do that, right? 4. MINIGAME The Commander has decided to do...erm, 'games'. Those who win the games will get prizes, the Commander has promised. This Test Drive Meme's minigame: a laundry folding contest! The most items folded in one hour wins! Work alone, or in teams - either way, you get the feeling there's an ulterior motive to the Commander making you do this while they watch and laugh... 5. MOTIVE The Commander has (somewhat too gleefully) announced the motive for the week. Clearly someone out there really wants to give you a reason to kill someone else. How will you react? Will you stand against such an insult and help others to fight the temptation? Or perhaps, you yourself are tempted...? 6. DEATH One of your own has died - no, been killed. The Inquisition has started. The body lies before you, and now you must discern the truth from the clues before you. But can you when you mourn? Or, perhaps you don't mourn the dead. Perhaps you're only playing along because you know more than you let on. 7. TRIAL Well, it looks like the Commander wasn't kidding when they said there would be a trial if someone was murdered. So now you're here, looking to condemn the responsible killer. If you do, they die. If you don't, well, you'll end up killing an innocent person, as the Commander has announced what would happen if the majority votes incorrectly. Whatever happens, you have to figure out what happened. Can you? 8. SCAPEGOAT Oh dear...the Commander has just announced that the person everyone just voted for...was actually completely innocent! Not only that, but they've revealed who the real culprit was! Maybe you're that innocent person, trying to say your goodbyes or beg for your life. Maybe you're one of the ones who voted for the innocent person, trying to cope with the horrible act you've just committed. Or maybe you're the true culprit, who now has to not only deal with an innocent dying for your actions, but also the fact that you can now be killed without repercussion!... 9. WILDCARD Anything not mentioned above. Go wild!

Comments

Scapegoat

[losergod]

[ It isn't very often he lets his unfazed persona fall, but this is certainly one of those moments. He's not exactly doing okay, watching another person die horribly when he could've been taken in their stead. But no, no one ever wants to take HIM out.

C is not doing all right at all. ]

...

[ But on the other hand, the actions, the uncaring executions... it reminds him of someone. He just can't place a finger on who. Someone he... cares about. And though he feels nauseated, some part of him can't help but want to say... something. ]

... You really don't care, do you?

[vividsins]

Why would I? I am a demon. I made myself too useful for you all to be rid of. I know too much, too many whispered secrets of here and elsewhere. That's what I do. And in a place of kill-or-be-killed... Well. Why would I let myself die? I've important work to do, after all.

[ He wears the most pleasant of smiles as he says all of this, but really, why would he care about someone he won't see again after this? Someone he would outlive anyway? He'll live indefinitely, and so many of the beings here are... Far too mortal and squishy for him to ever become attached. It's so, so easy to say the thing he's said a hundred times. ]

What a pitiful face. This is reality. Didn’t you choose this for yourself? Welcome to a monochrome world!

[losergod]

Speak for yourself. I voted for myself.

[ He smiles placidly, quickly reaffirming his usual demeanor.

... This demon reminds him of something. He honestly... isn't sure why, but he feels like it's tugging at the back of his mind, just out of sight. Something similar to his own persona, maybe? He knows as God he often takes nebulous personas on. Not that he knows what his kingdom is like, but he gets the feeling he's done that often. ]

And I don't go whispering my secrets to random demons. They eat your name, and never return it. You would have to be extremely lucky to acquire a God's secrets. If anything, you've just given me more reason not to. The others might have trusted you easily, but I'm not someone that trusts parasites.

[vividsins]

I'm not a parasite. I devour the nightmares of the troubled, who can't sleep at night. All so they can go to bed with sweet, little dreams running through their heads, the worries of the day forgotten.

[ He does so many favors. So he's not saying what else he does. ]

[losergod]

Parasites feed off of other creatures to continue existing.

[ If anything, you're simply proving his point. ]

Like most of them, though, you dress it up to be pretty. That's what put us in this position. People trusted you, and were fed on. Besides--you don't do that anymore, do you? Now you're just like the rest of us, stuck in your own flesh, incapable of what you were before.

[vividsins]

I made sure I wasn't going to die. I'm going to go home, in the end. I've something important I have to do, after all. By the way, your definition of parasite... Is wrong. A parasite is harmful. And really, in any other environment, I'd be in a helpful relationship with you humans.

[ Symbiotic. He needs humans to live. ]

[losergod]

Nightmares are important.

[ He actually disagrees. ]

If a human doesn't feel fear, they don't know what happiness is. Or they become drunk and blissfully ignorant of the world around them, engulfed in a fog they don't wish to perceive. If you remove these things, you remove a fundamental part of someone.

[vividsins]

They can also be a continuation of the living hell someone has to go through every day, and if they've no reprieve even in their sleep... Well. Like I said. I do an important job. And specifically, I only eat the nightmares of those who are so plagued they cannot sleep.

[ Nnnnot actually a lie. ]

Don't you agree a body needs rest?

[losergod]

... If they're still troubled in their dreams, then they should probably seek aid. Fighting on your own is ill-advised in the best of times. And a demon is never going to be the solution to their problems.

[ SORRY but he doesn't trust you. ]

Perhaps it's in my nature to be suspicious of wordsmiths who twist things, because I am one, but I have a feeling you are leaving quite a bit aside.

[vividsins]

Not everyone has the luxury of depending on doctors. And that's where I come in. I can't eat dreams. Only nightmares. So I'd think the contract is mutually beneficial, isn't it?

[ No, he doesn't eat dreams. But he can still take them. ]

I'm but a humble servant with a very important job who has many clients waiting for him. The longer I'm here, the more sleep all those young ones with bad dreams keeping them up lose.

[losergod]

[ His yellow eyes just... stare at the Baku. They seem to bore into him, as if looking through him a moment.

He's silent, for a good while. Then he speaks. ]

... And I've a heavenly host to return to. Nobody here WANTS to be here. But I doubt you're doing yourself any favors like this.

[vividsins]

That's why I made myself so useful. Whether I do myself favors or not... I refuse to die here. And if the rules are kill-or-be-killed? I'd rather be doing the killing at this point.

[ It may sound cold, but it's simply practical to him. ]

I'm going to outlive you all anyway, even if we all lived. I've no reason to feel attachment to a single person here when your lives are so impossibly short compared to mine.

[losergod]

It's rather difficult to outlive a God.

[ He smiles. He's going to ignore that first bit. ]

And what makes you so sure you'll live after that stunt? Just because you know things doesn't mean you won't die.

[vividsins]

Because I'm good at getting information. And all of you need that to get out of here, don't you?

[ Information from the person in charge. Who says he only has their secrets? ]

[losergod]

It doesn't particularly matter to me. The others might not see it that way, though. Would you really have that gamble? What if someone kills you in hopes of obtaining that information? Not everyone is going to care that much, or think it's worthwhile more than you being here is. You're a liability now. You could get more of us killed.

[ He's just saying, you're not in a great spot. ]

[vividsins]

I've secured my ticket out of here--I've no other reason to kill. And I only work on exchanges, sorry. So they can kill me, but what I have? They'll never force it from my lips. Rules mean a lot to a demon.

[ So yeah, nothing gets you nothing. Everything has a price. ]

[losergod]

...

[ Sorry, he just... starts laughing. He can't help it. ]

[vividsins]

[ I MEAN. DO YOU THINK HE CARES, CHAR? ]

[losergod]

You're going to die with that philosophy, Mister Baku.

[ Why does his tone sound so fond? ]

You're so sure you won't, but people aren't as predictable as you like to think. Violence will always happen when you least expect it.

[vividsins]

I'm more aware of that than you think.

[ And there's a flicker of something... More. Much worse, angry, distorted... Beneath his calm mask. ]

[losergod]

[ ... Now that catches his attention, and once more, he finds himself reminded of that blank spot in his memories he can't quite place.

I have to be clean, the voice comes to his mind. But he can't... recall them. ]

It's a good thing, then, that you aren't human, isn't it?

[vividsins]

It is, indeed.

[ But something about that feels hollow--like he's lost something. ]

[losergod]

I envy you. Being stuck in a meat suit isn't fun.

[ He siiiiighs. ]

Well, I certainly hope no one comes after your head after all of that nasty business. It'll hardly benefit anybody to have MORE murder.