WEEK 3

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 3



[The week begins as last week began. But there's is a great difference-murder. It has happened. Blood has been drawn; it cannot be undone. The Game has made itself known. The Game is paramount. The Game simply is.

As morning dawns, those who were not present with the DEAD lock will find that the doors that were locked are now gone-and a whole new area has finally opened up to them. They will also find that they remember something they had not been able to recall beforehand. The question is, was it worth it?

And-is it you, or is the ship getting...colder as the hours go by? No, it's not just you. By the end of Sunday, the ship has started to dip into freezing temperatures. It might be difficult for people to bundle up-unless you're Brain, who will find his closet inundated with winter clothing that fit him perfectly.

Yup. This is going to be a long week, as if last week wasn't bad enough.



There are currently 16 strangers in this place.]

Comments

[yesorwoof]

"Nonary." This word almost hurts you too much to say out loud to me. I figured writing would be best as speaking in front of everyone would include him...

[Makima blinks, impossibly soft. Her voice is unwavering, but her eyes look touched.]

Me? You'd be alright with me, even now?

Cw: 999 spoilers, child endangerment, child death, upsetting ways to die, kidnapping, drugs

[exequte]

No. Maybe you're right and it's best to let everyone know, even if I'm not sure its... its relevant.

[She looks back up at Makima and forces a smile.]

Yes. After all, you're just trying to keep everyone safe, right? I can't be mad at you for that.

But....

I should probably start from the beginning.

Just... just after my 12th birthday, Aoi and I got kidnapped. He was 13. They... they put us in sacks. They drugged us.

[She pauses for a moment, curling in slightly and gathering strength.]

They took us to the Gigantic. B-both of us. And when we were there they made us play the Nonary Game.

Every participant has a numbered bracelet, like this one. It's... it's also a detonator. They fed us bombs when we were drugged, little ones, so we could swallow them. And then they did something to the ship so that it started sinking.

The Nonary Game was different than what Delta is making us play here. In it, there were a series of locked doors that could be unlocked by different combinations of numbers from our bracelets. Going through the doors armed the bombs in our stomachs, and if everyone who unlocked the door didn't also disarm them they'd go off after about a minute and a half. There were puzzles inside the rooms, and we had to solve them to get out, and the ship was still sinking, so we didn't have very much time. The game was like a maze, and we were supposed to be able to find a way out only.... only the last door was inside the incinerator and not everybody could leave through it.

Everyone playing was a child. I was one of the ones who stayed behind. So was he. I was... I was so scared....

And.... and the incinerator got turned on. There was a girl who died. She burned to death. I got hurt. I don't... remember all the details, except that... I'm here still.

[Her voice is close to breaking now, but she makes herself press on, makes herself speak up.]

That was nine years ago. For me, anyway. And then... it... it happened again.

The first Nonary game wasn't run by Zero, but the second one was. It wasn't this Zero though, I think. I saw a figure in a gas mask before I got knocked out and then I woke up on the ship again, I don't know how since it was sinking, and there was a bracelet on my wrist again, and then....

After we'd met all the people who were on the boat this time most of them were strangers but Aoi and I were both there again and o-one of them, a man, he....

He made some of us open one of the numbered doors and then he went in alone and h-he blew up. There was.... there was so much blood. It was almost like what happened to Power, he....

[She can't make herself keep going.]

I don't know anything more than that. I'm sorry. After that was when... when I woke up here.

[A tear rolls down her cheek as she looks up at Makima again, her expression haunted.]

So even... even if I don't agree with what he did, I can... I can understand why he was scared. And why that maybe made him do something stupid. Because.... Because every time we've been put here, terrible things happen.

[onychomance]

....

[Fucking christ, that is not a peaceful life]

[somuchshipping]

Were there any weird polar bears or other... weird things? Did the ship bleed?

[exequte]

No. It was.... I think it was a normal ship, it just....

Got turned into a death trap.

[somuchshipping]

Huh... Oh! Speaking of puzzles, Ritsu and I couldn't solve the one right outside the rec room last Friday. We wanted to ask you for help, but didn't know where you were.

[not_a_lego_maniac]

.................Akane........

[Can.

Can he come over to give you a hg?]

[exequte]

[She looks up and gives him the best smile she can manage. It's not a very good one, but she's trying.

Hugs, however, are always welcome.]

[not_a_lego_maniac]

[And so he does. Despite the cold, and despite his clothing being just jeans and a shirt, he is...surprisingly very warm.

Clearly he is good with hugs.]

[godspiousjasper]

[ Ah yes. He hated this. How much it hurt her to talk about it or just that hearing things a second time didn't make any of it easier for him to stomach.

Then there were new details and they were just as grim as the rest of it. ]

Miss Akane... That must have been difficult for you to speak of. Thank you for telling us.

[ For it was all he could say, but there was still a question he wanted to ask her. Now was not the time, nor place to do so, though. ]

[exequte]

I...

I'm sorry for not telling everyone sooner, I... I.... couldn't.

[godspiousjasper]

There's no need to apologize. You experienced something traumatic that no person should have had to gone through, and I find it incredibly brave and strong of you to have managed this much.

[ He flashes her a soft, kind and reassuring smile. Seeing people in pain hurt, but she had a great support system. Kaito, Aoi, Moriarty. Strong people who had her back whenever she needed it. ]

[jinglebros]

[ Aoi slips his arm around her, pulling her into a side hug. ]

[exequte]

[She turns to him in turn, hugging back, and speaks.]

I'm... I'm sorry. I know you hate talking about it. But I think it was best to tell everyone, just in case.

[hatesdeerstalkers]

[Moriarty listens, though with sorrow in his heart and a rising anger inside.

This? This was the kind of Evil he could not stand - the kind that festered in a way even his 'Evil' self could not tolerate. Involving children in a cruel game, and making it so that not everyone could leave at the end?

No. Regardless of if Akane or Aoi had become something precious to him, he would have reacted this way. Some Evil just should not be.

Even though the area is cold, yet again it feels as if the temperature has dropped around him with the glare he's putting out.]

...And the ones who did this to both of you before - I assume they were never caught.

[exequte]

... no.

[hatesdeerstalkers]

....I see.

[M E N A C I N G]

Then they should hope I never find them.

[He's not going to say WHY, since, uh. it should be pretty clear from how he's acting.]

[pegasinister]

[Like Moriarty, Hubert is also radiating Death- but he doesn't add anything to what the older man says. There's not much he could add without just getting more graphic]

[exequte]

[Akane is already the center of a cuddlepile, but she still looks up at him and smiles, maybe a little apologetically, a little shakily, sorrow for having experienced and having related those experiences, and after a moment of hesitation stretches out a hand towards him in silent invitation.]

[pegasinister]

[He doesn't join in- that is too much pda with too many people for his Comfort. But he does step forward a bit and take her hand... and lightly bend down to press his forehead against the back of it. He doesn't do so for long, just enough to show his comforting intent before stepping back and letting the hugpile continue uninterrupted.]

[hatesdeerstalkers]

[See, this is why he likes you, Herbert. You also Have Standards.]

[yesorwoof]

[Makima listens to all this with, as almost always, a face of ice. Not smiling, but still and quiet. Early on, at the detail that the children were placed in sacks, she delicately puts her hand over her mouth, and keeps it there. When the story of one game is almost over, Makima's eyes focus as she anticipates the story ending - but no, of course there's more, Akane had spoken of kidnapped as an adult earlier the same day they met. At the end, Akane looks to Makima for absolution, and Makima gets out of her chair all at once to hug her.]

Good work, Akane-chan. You can rest now. I'm happy you told all of us.

[Makima's slightly larger body is soft and accepting. She'd be willing to hug her even longer but can accept getting nudged out of the way by glares from surly brothers or sundry at this point.]

You know, the door to C Deck was unlocked in the night by a combination of our bracelets too. But all that happened was the door going from closed to open. I know now to make sure you don't have to be scared of that kind of door. We'll keep everyone safe this time.

[exequte]

[She hugs her back--never too many hugs, and after that kind of sharing she honestly needs them.

At her words about the door to C Deck, Akane's eyes briefly flash up to Makima's face again and for a second they are shining with terror, but she bites her lip and closes them again after.]

Okay.

[Her voice is small, and a little rough.]

Sorry....

Re: Cw: 999 spoilers, child endangerment, child death, upsetting ways to die, kidnapping, drugs

[valkavian]

...so did anyone else besides you and your brother survive, or are they all goners?

[exequte]

[She looks up at her, a little uncertain.]

Yes. We....

Almost e-everyone got out.

[And her eyes look briefly haunted.]

A... a police officer managed to... help us escape, I think. I don't... It's like I said, I don't really remember very much.

I don't... know how the second game ends. But... I know that someone had already died. I... I don't know how many more do.