"Hey, careful there! I know my products have a captivating charm, but I definitely would not recommend putting that in your own face. You were about to become Nana Izu-motionless just now." Rose says.

She then turns to Evelyn. "Hm...I see. Fine, whatever, I'll trust your word. Thanks for the food, I suppose. I was starting to get a bit peckish."

"Don't mind Rose, Evelyn, these burgers are lovely whether or not they were once a person."

Marshall grins before taking another big bite.

"Also, you know what Nicos? Just now I was thinking maybe I felt a little unsafe, so why don't you tell me your idea?" he snickers.

"That'll do." The RC car lowered slightly as if imitating a bow, then drove off with the cereal on top of it.

Finally taking her eyes off of Elijah's drink, Althea graciously accepted a burger.
"Thank you, Evy! I am so very glad someone here is concerned with keeping hopes up, rather than down."
She took a ridiculously dainty bite out of the overcooked thing.

"I'm glad you asked, Marshall!" Nicos exclaimed, clearly excited. "Dun dun dun duuun! Announcing..!

Ruffling through his pockets, he whipped out a crummy hand-drawn photo of a police badge. In large, bolded, sloppy text read: SUPER ULTIMATE FUN POLICE FORCE!!!

"Ta-dah!! Whaddya guys think? I thought of it this morning! With some enforcement up in here, you guys don't ever have to worry about the Boogeymen that walk at night! We're taking volunteers! All are welcome!"

Rose looks at Nicos' drawing and laughs. "I have to laugh. But I guess it's the thought that counts? Or something like that." The perfumer shrugs. "It's a cute gesture."

"Why, thank you!" Evelyn replied cheerfully to everyone tasting her burgers. "I do indeed hope that you enjoy them. I put a lot of effort into those little things, you know!"

"And your idea on how to keep us safe sounds quite interesting, Nicos!" She said to the swordsman encouragingly. "Preserving morale is rather important in times like these, after all! I would like to volunteer for this 'Super Fun Police Force'! ...Though, perhaps a detailing of our duties would be nice."

---

"Aw, come on Kyoya. Right out of the box? What about the rest of us?! Have your robot fetch a bowl at least. I can get you a gallon of milk," Marshall groans.

He then turns to Nicos, "Alright, I'm in, chief. Gotta make sure the fun police live up to their name, right?"

Eli quietly shook his head at the others, but it seemed he'd said all he needed to say.

---

The car returns to the cafeteria shortly after in time to listen to the conversation. The sound of someone sifting through a box of cereal could be heard, probably with sticky hands. "crunch crunch... This idea seems strange to me. crunch crunch. Part of the appeal of this trip is the absence of authority figures." Kyoya said, completely forgetting about Nick. "And establishing a hierarchy will only lead to totalitarianism, which will truly be the death of us all."

Marshall shakes his head, and sits up straight.

"I mean, I know you're just saying that to be crazy or whatever, Kyoya, but I do think some sort of authority figure that we can actually rely on and who's like actually our age or whatever could feel really good. I don't think it'll be like authoritarian or whatever either, because it'll be us who's giving them that authority in the first place and it can be taken away. On the football team leadership works really well because there's always one person you can rely on to keep everyone organized and so you don't gotta be scared if everyone's coordinated when you're doing your own thing. I feel like Nicos might have a good idea here."

"Hey, but If I catch you saying anything bad about the fun police again, you're going straight in the trash again, so best watch yourself," he laughs.

"Ohhhhh... I get it," Nana replied unconvincingly. "So no perfume in the face. Got it! Thanks for the beauty tips, Miss Rose!" she beamed. "And the perfume!

"Whoa, Ultimate Fun Police?" she gasped. "That sounds, like, really fun! You don't have to take, like, police school or anything to join?"

---

The previously forgotten teacher had decided to just... hang out in a corner and watch. They didn't need his direction, and from the way Marshall was sounding, he'd prefer someone not twice their age.

It didn't mean he considered himself to no longer be their teacher; no, if anything, he of all people understood that his authority was transient and had no meaning unless someone else found some. So as far as he was concerned, if they wanted to elect their own leader, so be it. He had no reason to interfere nor to speak up; it was best handled by those who would be affected by it most.

"Doubt the whole police force thing will work..." Taylor remarked, his arms crossed. "But hey, if I can help deter people from murder, then screw it. Worth a shot. Count me in, I guess. If I see anyone try anything, I won't be afraid to rough them up a little bit."

"Please don't make me wear that badge..."

"L-Laugh? Why..? Is it the name..?" Nicos looked, his eyes shrinking with supreme sadness. "W-Well, I was thinking about the Super Highschool Insulation Team, or the S.H.I.T's, but something about that name didn't click with me..."



"Very good! Now, the strong ones with the sick weapons like us are here to protect people when something is going down! Uh...like, we could all use whistles, and blow on them really hard if someone is in danger! Then the S.U.F.P.F will report for duty!"



"Hell yeah, Marshall! Get over here and pick up an honorary badge!" Nicos handed him a shoddy looking paper badge. It looked awful.



"In this force, we're all our own leaders!" Nicos eyes shone as he spoke, his ambition pedalling quickly to his head.



"Nuh uh! Just have a good time, while protecting the good little boys and girls of this trip!"



"Let's do it, Little T!" Nicos exclaimed, taking a particularly ugly badge and slamming it straight onto his chest. "Wear that badge with honor!"

Nicos puffed up his chest, brimming with a sense of accomplishment. He hadn't necessarily expected this idea to actually take off, after all. But it was! Seemingly.

In response to the badge being slammed onto his chest, Taylor simply groaned. "Dammit..." he muttered.

"Such a beautiful facility..." Honda said, as he looked around, admiring the view. "I'd love to put on a concert in the garden or gymnasium. It's such a shame that we cannot be here under more pleasant circumstances. However, we cannot let this get to us! Let's all forget this stupid killing game and put on a smile. We do not have to kill each other, just because some machine told us to. Let's just enjoy our time here, while we wait for our rescue to arrive. I'm sure someone out there is looking for us, it'll only be a matter of time."

Anabella returned to the group, her dolls now safely in her room. She looked around the other students, who all seemed to be talking about something. "What's...going on here? Fun Police? What are you all doing?"

"Hm? Did you wanna join too, Annabella?"

"Join what? Are you guys trying to create some sort of police force? I doubt I'd be of much help."

"No, you'd be just fine!", Evelyn encouraged. "We need all the help we can get, you know, Annabella?"

---

"It sounds a little too busy for me." Annabella said. "I'm already really busy taking care of my dolls. I don't think I could do whatever this Ultimate Fun Police is and that at the same time."

"Police... force?" said Nina, reentering the room. "Pffft, you morons. Do you really think a police force will stop any murderer? What if one of the police members is the murderer? The police are inept, and annoying. They'd rather arrest some nobody for jaywalking than some druglord who pays for all their donuts."

Nina's eyes flashed for just a second.

"It's kill or be killed here. I can't believe I'm saying it, but Rose is right. Self-defense is what you need to survive."

Nina took out her lighter.

"And if any of you even think of killin' me, I'll burn everything you own, and burn your carcass to the ground... not that I intend on killing. This environment... it's finally fun. A life where anyone will kill anyone at any time... this is way better than prison, or workin' for the government. Even livin' with family... well, I could still live with them, but they're all charred piles of bones now."

Rose listens to Nina's speech before sighing and rubbing her temples in frustration. "Somebody better tell this girl to shut up real soon."

Eventually, everyone decides to call it a night and get some rest. They’ll need to be in good shape for whatever might be to come.

The next day, a commotion by the facility entrance catches everyone’s attention and they hurry to go look. They find Nicos making a fuss about something, and it’s immediately apparent what: the glamorous white doors had been painted a garish red, with a skull and crossbones added on top in black. Thinking about it now, the Ultimates realised they’d noticed a few other doors and objects around the place painted this way as they’d hurried here.

“Akrasia and I decided to see why we could not simply walk out of here now that we are fed and rested, but we find the door vandalised!” Nicos explained, gesturing dramatically at the offending door. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Surely the doors still work though, right?” Taylor asked, raising his eyebrows. “It’s just some paint.”
“Oh! That is a most excellent point!” Nicos replied heartily. “I shall try that now; keep close behind me, guys!”

Before he could try, however, Eve waltzed in dressed in painting overalls that she must have found somewhere, possibly a costume from the backstage of the gym. “Ah, here you all are! All gathered up in one place, perfect!”
“Oh, great, she’s back…” Skylar muttered. “Here for the rules or whatever?”
“Very perceptive!” Eve nodded cheerfully. “It’s time to formally announce the killing game! (Pause for applause.) Yes, it’s that moment you’ve all been waiting for!

“The premise is pretty simple. You’re all stuck here. You’ll stay stuck here until you stop whining and kill someone, starting a trial like before! And then if you win, you get to escape! With me so far?

“Once the victim’s body is discovered, you’ll get some time to investigate, and then it’s trial time! You all know how that goes by now, so I won’t repeat myself.

“Now there’s a few more specifics, but I’ll be handing out nifty little handbooks with those details in just a bit. More importantly for now are the fantastically-named Deadzones! In short, anything painted with those black-on-red skulls is a ‘Deadzone’. Damage, vandalise, touch or even look funny at these and I might have to execute you on the spot. So just leave them alone, you hear!”

Nicos backed away from the door in a hurry, before pointing his sword at Eve. “Fiend! You can’t keep us caged forever! Our souls will cry out for release, and eventually we will break free!”
“Well, you keep working on that,” Eve nodded. “But in the meantime, kill kill kill!”
“None of us even want to kill, stupid robot!” Rose spat. “They know what’s coming for them if they try.”

“Well, about that… I figured you guys might have difficulty with this, so I thought up a wonderful motive!” Eve declared. “Unfortunately though, I did some research and realised it probably wouldn’t convince anyway, so instead I came up with a boring alternative. Remember, this is all your fault for being such boring human beings! It’s not my fault if a lifetime subscription to Midnite doesn’t tickle your fancy...”



“Fool! No-one will be tricked by that!” Kyoya shouted, rotating his RC camera to look at the others. However, some of the students were looking uncomfortable now, not willing to meet anyone’s gaze. “I have already provided the perfect motive not to kill, anyway!” he continued regardless, quite proud. “With unlimited free toast on offer here, why would anyone ever want to leave?”

“I’ll let you guys think about that yourselves,” Eve said, pulling a bunch of small touchscreen devices out from a large pocket in the painter’s outfit. “Anyway, you each get one of these. You’d best not lose them! They’re all kinds of useful, you can keep notes in them, record evidence, and they even list all the killing game rules so you never accidentally mess up and force me to kill you! Aren’t they great?”



After throwing the handbooks at everyone, Eve skipped off to do whatever it is robots without true sentience do when not interacting with humans.

Last edited by KamiPanda on Mon Jan 14, 2019 3:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

“Oh dear, what an alarming turn of events”, Evelyn sighed worriedly, putting her handbook away. “Hopefully none of us are actually tempted to kill for our family’s support...well, I hope not. Thankfully, my father is doing quite well, last I heard. So there’s nothing to worry about”, she declared confidently.

---

"I'm in the same boat as Evelyn. My family is doing pretty well, as far as I know." Rose puts a hand to her hip. "This motive smells like broke."

"Modern medicine can do nothing for me." Althea scoffed.
"Your motive is less than dirt, you vile machine! Less than dirt!" she yelled at Eve, who had already left.

“Ha, what good is the motive when you don’t have a family.” She turned her back. “Better luck next time.”

"Um, everyone in my family is pretty healthy, so..." Nana frowned. "Wait, they are, right?"

---

Eli looked at the floor thoughtfully for a few moments, but then he shook his head.

"Nah...my family ain't gonna take handouts." he said, joining the seemingly endless crowd of people shitting on the motive.

---

“You call that a motive?” Honda laughed. “I’d sooner kill for a piece of Kyoya’s stale toast!”

"To make this work, you could severely injure one of them two," Nina nudges towards Hoshiko and Nana. "Then the other twin has a good reason to kill someone."

"Mr. Honda, don't do that!" Nana yelped. "Mr. Kyoya said he'd give you toast for free, remember?"


"What? No! Don't do that, either!" she cried. "Why would you even say something like that, Miss Nina?!"

---

"My family's alright, I think. So I guess the motive doesn't apply to me." Annabella shrugged. "Maybe this motive is targeted at someone here specifically."

"Family, huh? I see..."

Skylar closed her eyes and shook her head in a dismissive way.

"Anyone here could say they aren't that desperate, but we'll know the truth soon enough." She said while crossing her arms. "I don't think it's smart for anyone here to act high and mighty since, well, even the most common card has a history to it, if anyone gets what I'm saying. As we saw with Vic, just about anyone can hide their baggage with a mask. None of us knew how royally screwed his life was, y'know?"

She stretched out her arms and released a yawn. "Look, all I'm saying is that we can all pretend to be friends and that this motive isn't enough, but someone'll crack eventually. I guess you could say that this killing game is more of a waiting game!"

"Ms. Culver, you shouldn't say things like that..." Althea grumbled.
"Are you implying you don't trust any of us? Thinking like that can only lead to the worst happening!"

"Maybe, maybe not. Look, I have the capacity to believe in people sometimes, like when I tried defending Taylor in the trial, but everyone here is a wild card as far as I'm concerned. I mean, how do you know I won't slash your throat in the night, or that Kyoya won't poison his toast, or whatever?" She glanced back at the toaster with contempt.

"Because, well, because none of us are killers!" Althea argued, weakly. "Not even Mr. Terry was! None of us have to play Eve's game, so we shouldn't. I'm sure things will end up fine."
"And, well, I know you won't slash my throat Ms. Culver, because I know you're a good person! Even if you have an abrasive tongue..." she muttered.

"I wouldn't slash your throat either, Skylar!" Evelyn replied reassuringly.

---