"So I won't do it."

Albert's grip on the trigger loosens, and he throws the gun on the floor without even the tiniest bit of hesitation.

"There's only one thing about me you were wrong about, Teddy. I'm nothing like you. And I have no plans of stooping to your level any time soon."

Midge had locked her and Emma in the garden. It was hardly ideal, but there didn’t seem to be any better options before them.

“Hey, Emma.” Midge whispered. “Don’t worry. I’m still here.” She clutched her hand in reassurance and squeezed. “Just focus on my voice, okay?”

Some people had come by the door and tried to open it. They shouted from the outside, telling Midge they needed the combination. But she didn’t listen, just focused on Emma.

...time was running out. They’d be dead any minute.

“...I’m sorry.” Emma moaned. It was painfully quiet.

“What?” Midge parted some of Emma’s hair to the side. “Don’t talk. Just...stay relaxed, ok?”

“I...wish...we could’ve stayed together.”

“M-Me too.” Midge had begun to tear up. “I-I...it was the only thing that kept me going all these years.”

“I knew you’d talk me out of this.” Emma painfully smiled as she forced the words out. “I...I knew I wouldn’t have the resolve with you at my side……………..that’s why...y-you……..had...to disappear…”

Midge had no clue what Emma was saying. She wanted to ask more, but didn’t want to risk straining Emma further.

“Emma…” She bit her lip. “Of course I would’ve talked you out of this.” She said the words through sobs. “I-I’m...so disappointed in you.”

One minute left.

“C-Clara…”

Midge put her ear close to Emma, to listen to what she had to say.

“Z...it only kills in approximately nine hours…killing in exactly nine...that’s just a nocebo.”

Midge’s eyes widened at the information. “W-What?!”

“The combination to the safe...it’s your birthday. I want you to open it.”

“Emma, why didn’t you tell the others?!” Midge’s disappointment and frustration was growing. She thought she had known Emma better than anyone, yet every action from her today completely defied expectations.

“I love you…” Emma smiled weakly again. Her breaths got weaker and weaker until eventually...she stopped. The garden became eerily quiet, like a tomb.

Quickly, Midge tried to resuscitate her. She desperately did what she could, pushing on her chest, trying to breathe air into her lungs...she didn’t stop. She kept going, with the desperate hope that she could get one last bit of life out of Emma.

It took awhile for Midge to give up. For her to realize it was futile.

For her to realize that everything she had suffered through had been for nothing…

Midge pounded her fists in the dirt and screamed. She held her head in agony and screamed again and again, far past the point where her voice should’ve given out.

“...I-I....love you too.” Midge said the words with a deep sadness in her heart, trying to hold back the anger she had. Her fists were clenched so tightly that she drew blood from her palms.

Slowly, Midge stood up. It took some time to summon the strength--she wasn’t even sure she had it.

She unbarred the door and took one last look at Emma’s corpse. She looked down at the floor. “...goodbye.”

Slowly, she lumbered to the safe. She only did it because she had to. Because she’d die any minute otherwise. Because there wasn’t another choice but to survive.

It was worth it, right? She still could feel blood flowing through her veins, the beat of her heart in her chest…as long as she was alive, everything she had done had some meaning. It had to.

Walking past the corpses of the others didn’t even faze her. She had already lost so many. She just had to keep walking. Keep going to the foyer.

Midge kneeled down in front of the safe when she arrived. It began to occur to her that she wasn’t even feeling pain from the virus anymore. It was there, but it was something that she was numb to at this point.

It almost occurred to her that this must be how a homunculus feels. Just a member of the walking dead.

Slowly raising her finger, she entered her birthday into the safe. She could hear the sound of a latch unclicking from the inside the moment she pressed the last digit.

Emma hadn’t lied. She was still looking out for Midge, after all this.

Slowly, and with great trepidation, Midge opened the safe.

…

…

…

EMMA ~ END

...nobody.

“Uhh...Adriana?” Helios looked a little embarrassed on her behalf. “I kind of thought you were...going somewhere with that.”

“Sorry.” She blushed. “Just got a bit dramatic. I don’t really know who the killer is, but I have a theory. I’d like to confirm something first.”

“Is it about The Dissector?” Bradley asked. “Should we go to the library?”

“No, let’s head to the foyer.”

***

“Ok...what’s going on?” Violet asked.

Adriana didn’t seem to hear Violet, but if she did she didn’t acknowledge her presence in any way. She just stared at the safe.

“This Dissector…” She began. “Isn’t it kind of weird that they killed Albert and Emma and then just...stopped?”

“A bit.” Midge frowned. “Not like I could guess how serial killers work though.”

“Maybe they just wanted to kill more people…?” Violet suggested.

“But we’re going to die in less than an hour.” Bradley said, looking at his watch nervously. “They may as well not hide themselves…”

“Well, they probably couldn’t kill more people that way.” Violet huffed.

“No.” Teddy disagreed. “It’s definitely weird. But we don’t know shit about The Dissector. It doesn’t really make sense to dissect bodies, period. So I’m not sure how useful it is to delve into their logic.”

Helios looked at Adriana expectantly. “Well? It seems like you have an idea.”

“Why would anyone do anything in this game? Why would somebody kill for no reason?”

“Maybe a grudge against Mister Albert and Miss Emma?” Bradley guessed. “And they wanted to make it look like The Dissector did it…?”

Teddy nodded at Bradley. “Not bad.”

“I was thinking a little more simply.” Adriana rubbed the top of the safe. “The killer wanted a vaccine. And they haven’t gotten it yet.”

“How would they get a vaccine?” Midge asked. “The safe?”

“Maybe somebody activated a new trial too…” Teddy theorized, rubbing his chin.

“Let’s go to the dining room.” Adriana decided. She started walking over.

“H-Hey!” Helios shouted. “W-Why are we-?” He stopped talking and then just followed with the rest.

***

The dining room was much like they had left it. Ghost’s body was still in the middle, blood in a small pool around him.

“Do we really have to be here, Miss Adriana?” Bradley shivered.

“Sorry. I’ll try to be quick.” She assured. She then kneeled down next to Ghost’s body. “Helios, you said Ghost had the key to the armory on him, right?”

“Yeah.” Helios nodded, cradling his shotgun closely.

“When did you get it?”

“I stayed behind once Mr. Bianchi quit the trial. I waited for everyone to leave the room, then searched his body. It was in his boot.”

“So between the end of Teddy’s trial and when you got the key, nobody touched Ghost’s body?”

Helios raised an eyebrow at the third degree. “Yes. Adriana I’m sorry but...if you want to accuse me, can you please be straight about it?”

“I haven’t accused anyone yet.” She said matter of factly. “Ghost’s wound bothers me though...it’s bigger than it was before.”

“It looks the same to me.” Midge opined.

“I can’t disagree.” Helios frowned. “Not that I could tell one way or the other.”

“I think it’s bigger.” Bradley said, nodding at Adriana. “Did The Dissector do this to a dead body?”

“Is The Dissector also the one who killed Ghost?” Teddy furrowed his brow.

Adriana didn’t answer either of those questions. It seemed she had already internally moved on to another topic. “Can everyone do me a favor? Lift up your shirts.”

“Teddy, it was you.” Adriana completely silenced the room. The accusation had came out of nowhere. All eyes turned to her, and then immediately to Teddy.

“T-Teddy?” Violet stammered.

“What the fuck?!” Teddy shouted. “I’m just confused as the fucking rest of you on this!”

“I don’t think you are.” Her eyes stared right at his, unwavering. “I think you knew about these scars for some time.”

“You think?!” Teddy was outraged. “You got some balls, throwing an accusation like this out with no evidence!”

“You’re right. I don’t have evidence. But I feel pretty confident anyway.”

He stared at her, crossing his arms. It seemed he had calmed down a bit. “You know, you’ve had it out for me from the beginning. You’re not exactly unbiased.”

Adriana raised an eyebrow, but just continued her reasoning. “You’re a mob boss, right? The Underground Mafia?”

“M-Mob boss?” Violet looked at Teddy, hoping for an answer.

“Goddamnit.” Teddy shook his head, frustrated.. “Not all Italians are in the mafia, you know? It’s a fucking insensitive stereotype.”

“I’m just going from what Helios told me.”

Helios looked at Teddy sheepishly. “H-Hey now. I said alleged mob boss.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Teddy was clearly annoyed. “Everybody thinks they know everything. Not just out there, but also in here.”

“So you deny it?”

“Of course I deny it! Even if I were a mob boss, that doesn’t fucking mean I killed Albert and Emma.”

“It would certainly make you capable.”

Teddy rolled his eyes. “Jesus, you have nothing. This is the most worthless bluff I’ve ever seen.”

“Something’s been bothering me.” She continued. “When we started your trial, you quit immediately. Without even trying. Why?”

Teddy glared at Adriana. “Because I was trusting my instincts. Like Null said.”

“Uh-huh.” Adriana nodded. “There are only two reasons I think you would quit that trial. One, you killed Ghost. Two, you found out an easier way to get a vaccine.” She pointed at her stomach with that statement. “Am I right?”

He stared at her. He was very obviously unimpressed. “Again, everything you’ve said is just a goddamn theory. You have no evidence. There’s no reason it couldn’t be anyone else who found out about these scars.”

Bradley stared at the ongoing argument. It seemed he was remembering something.

https://www.quicktopic.com/52/H/FLCrqVMHeichY

“Miss Adriana’s right.” Bradley interrupted. “You wouldn’t have quit that trial.”

“Stay out of this, Bradley.” Teddy growled.

“Violet’s your daughter, right?”

Teddy was actually briefly silenced for once. A glint of fear flashed across his eyes, but only for a moment.

“N-No, I’m not!” Violet yelled.

“You are.” Bradley winced as he said it. “You wouldn’t have quit your trial, Mister Teddy. Not if you didn’t have another way. You would’ve gotten the vaccine in that trial...even if it meant killing all of us.”

Teddy just stared at Bradley, then back to Adriana. “None of this is relevant.”

“Then empty your pockets.”

“What?”

“There’s a reason we all have a stitched scar. There are vaccines inside of us that the killer wanted to retrieve. So empty your pockets.”

“No.”

“Empty them.” Violet was the one who spoke up now. She looked...scared. But it was a different kind of fear from normal. Teddy looked down at her, and then at everyone else who was looking at him expectantly.

Slowly, he lowered his arms and then reached his right hand in his pocket. He pulled out...three small, glass balls. They almost resembled marbles.

Midge’s eyes widened. “The circular indentations in the safe...are those…?”

Bradley suddenly put the pieces together. “You...found out how to open the safe?”

“Mr. Bianchi…” Helios took a step back. “No...I can’t even pretend this development is shocking...”

“What?” Teddy broke out into a smile. “I just found these. I got the first one from Ghost’s corpse, and the other two were in the garden.”

“You still continue to deny it?!”

“You...killed Albert and Emma.” Midge’s face contorted with rage.

“I didn’t do nothing.” He laughed. “Sure, i found these. And I guessed they could open the safe, but that’s it. The real villain here is The Dissector. They must be out there somewhere, right?”

Despite the great prices, nobody was buying Teddy’s bullshit.

“What? I’m serious!” Teddy defended. “They must be still alive! They can kill us at any moment!”

“This is just sad.” Adriana sighed. “Just admit it already.”

“I’m not admitting shit. I’m innocent.” Teddy reiterated. “You’re way off the mark, the killer is that Dissector. That crazy fucker. Makes a shitty situation even worse.”

Everybody just stared at him. Nobody could even offer a retort when it was clear he wouldn’t take it seriously.

He rolled his eyes at the reaction.“Alright fine. You got one thing right.” Teddy dropped his smile, and his face became completely still like a mask. The room almost felt colder. “Violet is my daughter.”