“That is, if we can remove Albatross from suspicion. Though that would still make one of you two suspicious to me...”

Silver let’s out a deep sigh, trying to cover up any nervous cracks in her voice.

"Well, if we can believe TV-Head... Gertrude... then Albatross can't be a killer... that doesn't clear him of being one of the scientists behind this, though... but if we're determined to find one of the killers, we can give him a pass for now..."

---

"Nova, you and Ennea are the only ones we can trust right now," Odin sighed, scratching his head. "E-Even if you guys think it's me, we need to hear who you think it is...the only ones who can lead this vote are you guys."

Odin covered his ears, scared of what was to come.

After a very long time spent staring into space and remembering every single thing said during discussions, Ennea finally spoke up again: "... I really can't come up with anything except that Uno is definitely a scientist! So! Why don't we hear something from all of you now? Some defense, some reason you must be prey... Anything, really, because I must say, I'm stumped!"

Odin uncovered his ears and nodded nervously.

"W-Well...I think I've been pretty helpful and cautious, and eager to help everyone," Odin said. "I mean, I can talk about my thought processes...I always voted in a case where I thought it'd help the Prey. Granted, the first night where I didn't vote for Twist was probably just a fluke -- that was a battle of luck, anyways. But I swapped to vote to Crow because I thought in my heart that Nero was *probably* Prey based on how they were behaving. If I were killer, I wouldn't need to compromise myself by swapping a vote, since that'd naturally look suspicious."

Odin tapped his cheek, trying to think of more to say. "Maybe...it'd be helpful instead for you guys to reason out why you think we might be killers in the first place? It'd be easier to convince you guys of my innocence if I can convincingly rebuke any doubts you have."

"Well, it is hard to come up with something, but I believe Silver has largely moved with the crowd, so to speak, when it came to votes. All of our votes thus far have turned out to be preys or scientists, so I don't think it's unlikely that a killer would do that... Aside from that, Odin only moved his vote to crow after some time, which I think shows he wasn't immediately willing to remove the jailer, which seems like prey or scientist behavior... But that's all I have. I'm afraid I've never been good at telling how people think or feel!" Ennea smiled.

"Truth be told I am unsure anything I or the other two could say would change much to change our positions as far as potential killers go but non the less I will explain my thought for each vote so far."

"In the first round it cannot be denied that I had been quiet for a time and as such why I started off in a position of one to be voted for, going on twist would reveal his role, as such I thought it best to mention being unable to claim a role in hope nero would make a claim of his own, as you may have guessed both nero and twist had claimed a role, in my eyes it was suspicious but with no one counterclaiming I could only assume they were both telling the truth and would soon after claim my role or lack there of anyways."

"This still in my eyes meant it possible among the two one of them was a non prey...which of course we now know is unfortunately false and as such we were unlucky to have two of our roles outed early. and worse yet one of them voted for."

"As for the second vote id like to remind the others I had always suspected crow was not prey and that round had been pretty reaffirming crow was indeed as such. but alas removing the other scientist was at most a delay tactic in hopes we could have more to work with this round, and in a way we do with nero's death as unfortunate as it is."

"Id like to think I have done my best to help and catch our killers but alas It is not up for me to decide."

"I..." Nova pressed her fist to her forehead while she thought things through. "...I think Odin, Silver, and Golf are the most likely to be Prey, judging by their past actions. I don't entirely buy the idea that Uno and Crow were working together because I really don't think she would pass on using her power, and even if she had, there doesn't seem to be much reason for Uno to bring up the fact that she 'birdbrained' him, it would just draw extra attention to him if she were exposed... I think it's most likely he's one of the Killers, though I wouldn't rule him out entirely as one of the Scientists...

"The problem with that, though, is if Uno is a Scientist, I think Albatross HAS to be Prey, going by what Gertrude said... Her other wild accusations aside, she DID have the power to tell whether someone was a Killer and said she was certain he wasn't..." She scratched the back of her head and sighed. "...But I'm pretty sure he's most likely to be the last Scientist through process of elimination. That being said, we do need to find a Killer now... So right now I'm most inclined to vote for Uno... failing that, out of the other three possible Prey I mentioned earlier, I'm least confident in Golf, so probably him..."

---

"I've explained my reasoning for my previous votes before but let me reiterate", Uno spoke up. "Round one, it wasn't much. I was willing to vote for either Twist or Nero, as neither had spoken up much and had roles which we weren't fully sure of at the time. Then Round 2 come, I had more faith in Crow due to her imprisoning me earlier on... Call it blind faith, but it is what it is. I decided to vote for Nero because while Crow could be a scientist at worst, Nero could be a killer and I thus deemed him to be a bigger threat at hand. Now come this round, I think Golf is the most suspicious of the remaining four. He hasn't spoken much but just enough for a potential killer. I also don't think that Albatross can be eliminated from the suspect list just yet. Everything that TV Head said was probably just a bluff. I doubt she was actually able to uncover anything of use." He finished.

---

"I'm not a killer!" Albatross squeaked. " I was fully using the bathroom which is why I wasn't saying much! But I guess i should say something now. Okay. So it seems like generally there is some talk about Golf, Uno and to some extant Silver and uhh, others. I don't think anyone is obviously the killer, but I guess to be uhh, desicive. I do think that Uno seems like a scientist, but honestly i agree it is worth trying to go for an actual killer this round. I am at least a little convinced by the argument about silver's voting, but not enough to commit to her" Albatross shot a sweaty and apologetic look at Silver before continuing.

"Golf doesn't really resonate as a killer to me that much, but I'm not convinced either way. I uh. Hope that's okay?" Albatross then took a deep breath and was quiet. He definitely wished he had a coffee with cottage cheese right now to soothe this nerves, and everyone could tell.

"This isn't as helpful as I'd hoped..." Nova grumbled as she fiddled with her anklet. "Okay, so everyone, if you had to vote right now, who would you pick, and why?"

---

Odin rubbed his arm awkwardly, as he waited for someone to speak up.

"Well...I don't really want to go first, since I'm in the hot seat, but *someone* has to answer your question."

Odin closed his eyes and reluctantly pointed at Golf. "I would vote for Golf. If...if we aren't making any mistakes with our logic, in that Alba is innocent and Uno is Scientist, then from my perspective, it has to be Golf or Silver. But in case our logic is wrong, I think it's worth considering which one of the two we're more comfortable in keeping. And frankly, I think I trust Silver more than Golf right now."

"I concur." Uno nodded. "I would vote Golf as well. Hopefully I don't need to explain why for the third time this round, but he strikes me as the most suspicious person in here."

---

"I'm in the same boat- I would vote for Golf over Odin." Silver nods slowly. "I've heard many opinions across each of our discussions, but I believe Golf has often taken a neutral stance without any strong opinions of his own? Or at least when compared to Odin, I've heard a lot of compelling thoughts and arguments during previous discussions (as well as what he would say on that super cool and radical chat room we use too much.)"

"Though like Odin said, from my perspective, it's both Golf and Odin. But that doesn't really feel quite right to me either, I believe Odin is Prey..."

"Neutral? the only two votes before this one was one where there would be no reason to have a target and the other in which I very much had been on one side, it feels to me your merely attempting to create a reason where there is none, and If I'm to be frank, I certainly feel assured my vote for this round will be for you silver."

"Your silent attitude doesn't do you any particular favours. Perhaps I'm a little mistaken, but I do not recall any strong or compelling arguments from you, or at least nothing that can match arguments that Odin has made in the Prey's favour."

"Of course, when the situation is like this, there's not much we can do. Of course we need to search for reasons that will let us determine who to vote for when our options are all so similar, no? Forgive me, I don't quite understand your shock when there's not much else to differentiate who we target first between our potential voting options."

"Apologies if I seemed upset, and it indeed is understandable to seek anything out to vote, I however merely did not feel what you said to be right, and as thus my reply. By your own admission now you said there isn't much to differentiate who to vote for between us which would be a fair argument and even the fact that I haven't made any strong or compelling arguments is true, but I can also say the same about you in this matter."

Silver lets out a long exhale. "I understand your frustration and the logic behind your vote. As well as the fact that if you are innocent, then we would need to turn on Albatross, but without that, Odin and myself are your only options."

"I believe I've made many arguments that seemed reasonable between the two options we've voted on so far, although for this current round I admit that I've not done much, but I can't see how much there is to do here..."

"Ideally, none of us are killers, but that Witch out there wants us all gone...."

"Indeed, we three aren't in enviable positions and i must also state my thoughts on here assuming either of us get voted out and are shown to be prey."

Golf proceeded to write out a list of who he believes are the most likely to be killers

Uno
Odin
Albatross

"As to why I feel Uno is on top is due to uno and odins Reponses were fairly close to one another as far as there vote went and as such may have discussed who they would vote shortly before actually saying anything. this is of course merely a small possibility and nothing more, Id like to also state in this case albatross would would likely have the highest chance of being a scientist in this case for me, also I feel Odin is either prey or killer and only for this moment leaning more towards prey.

"If you are indeed prey silver then my apologies and know Should I be voted I bear no ill will as you too were only trying your best to remove our would be killers."

"I'm afraid I don't quite get your logic here," Odin said, tilting his head. "I understand that this is assuming you are voted out and Prey, but some of your conclusions still seem...far out? Particularly, if you truly are Prey, why would that make Silver more Prey than the others? Based on our collective conclusion, Silver and I should be the most obvious choices, no?"

"Ow sorry for the confusion Odin, potentially being voted is a tad nerve-racking, Silver is still at the top of my list for killer even should I be voted out, however I was speaking to silver and simply removing us both from the topic and instead looking at who our other killer is or in silvers point of view assuming she actually is prey who the actual ones are assuming I am voted off."

Silver sighs deeply and quietly inputs a vote for Golf, still willing to change her mind but forcing herself to vote now in case she can't find the time to do so later...

"So who do you all think is in which group?" Nova wondered. "Reasons would be appreciated, too..."

---

"My guesses would be... Golf is a Killer and Odin is a Scientist. I've gone over why for both. Then the rest of us are all Vanilla Prey except one. I think Albatross is the likeliest out of him and Silver, the fact he's protected by TV Head is awfully convenient for him. So that makes me, Silver, Nova and Ennea Prey... in my book, anyhow." Uno summed up.

---

"So you think TV-Head was lying about Albatross...?" Nova popped her gum. "Why's that? Wouldn't lying about something like that hurt the Prey a lot with no real benefit?"

---

"After hearing your thoughts I am but forced to draw one conclusion, my vote is on the wrong person." Golf switched his vote to Uno.
"It is in my belief that your attempting to draw others to me is no surprise, but your decision to call Odin scientist is what i call to question, nothing about odin as far as I can see would make him a scientist, I believe your working together with Odin and choosing to call him so in hopes to convince others to not vote him out. I am also more sure now that Albatross is our scientist.

"So, now you think Silver is innocent?" Odin asked, tilting his head. "Why don't we just all...calm down and think rationally here? I think we're starting to spin our wheels a little too much."

Odin tapped his chin. "The thing is, I'm not really sure *who* I suspect the most. The biggest problem is, even if we can take TV-Head's words to heart, we don't have solid proof that Uno is the Scientist or not. So I can't *truly* suspect the other three right now."

"We don't have time to wait for proof that won't show up," Nova countered evenly. "This is the point that decides who survives and who dies.

"...Let me put it this way. There's only so many roles to go around. Some of you seem awfully certain that Uno is the last Scientist. If that's true, Albatross would have to be Prey, unless you want to entertain the idea that Gertrude just lied about him not being a Killer for the hell of it. So if THAT's true, that means out of Odin, Silver, and Golf, two of them are the Killers and one is the last Prey.

"Alternately, if you doubt Uno as the Scientist, that opens up the possibility of Albatross being the Scientist, which means the other four unknowns would be split between Prey and Killers. Of course, Uno or Albatross could also be Prey. Maybe BOTH of them are Prey and the other three are the ones we should be voting for..."

Nova sighed and swept some of her bangs out of her eyes with her hand. "The best way to figure out who's who is to debate over it, but we can't do that without everyone taking a stance and arguing for it. We can't afford to be passive about this anymore... at least, I can't. I for one don't want to die here..."

---

"Yeah, I know," Odin sighed, scratching his head. He looked at Golf and Silver, worry in his eyes. "...Then I have no choice! This is the conclusion we led ourselves to, and if this is the truth, then I won't be blind to it. I have to vote for either Golf or Silver."

Odin shifted his glance to Nova. "I honestly have my doubts that Uno is Scientist. My belief on that is due to his insistence on Crow's innocence, as well as Crow jailing him the first night. It's not foolproof, but that's where I'm at with that. TV-Head...er, Gertrude, had her suspicions, and she had her clears. Meaning...t-this is the only way."

He pointed aggressively at Golf, finalizing his vote. "We are running out of time..! No more wavering. There is two Prey left amongst the unknown, and I will prove myself to be one of them."

Albatross was crying again, but it wasn't a sobbimg or wracking cry, just tears rolling down his face as he spoke normally.
"After all the debate these are my thoughts. Firstly, I uhh thank you all for being so clever about this, i never have been good at logic puzzles. The second thing is that... Uhmmm. I think that there are some pretty convincing arguements for Golf. We should try and get a killer over a scientist, and Golf has a good chsnce to be it. I also sadly think it's possible of silver at least a little, but my real decision is this: do I join and seal Golf's fate. And I Guess the answer is yes. It seems too late to go with someone else so I vote for Golf and... I'm sorry."
Albatross sniffled loudly.

"Did she not think that accusing somebody she didn't know to be a killer would be a dangerous move if she got killed?" Uno shook their head. "Their inner actions are a mystery to me, quite frankly. I do not know why they did what they did... but, it is possible for them to not lie and for Albatross to still be a Killer. We know by now there is a roleblocker within the killer group, after all. It is very possible that TV Head got blocked because of how outspoken they were, and because they were unable to uncover anything they had to rely solely on bluffs. You may call this unlikely, but the fact that she stuck to her vote with Crow despite not having anything to back up her hunch makes me suspect the same holds for Albatross, even if it was a throwaway remark."



"Interesting." Uno gave a smile, unfazed. "I believe I explained why I had to see him as one earlier? Assume that somebody who didn't vote for Crow last round is suspicious. That leaves me (who I know to be innocent), Crow herself, and Ennea (who already got confirmed by Nero). However, Odin momentarily voted for Nero before switching his vote. If you assume my innocence as a scientist then he is the most likely candidate by process of elimination."

"In any case, my thought process remains unchanged. I vote for Golf", he declared.

---

"I disagree." Nova shook her head. "Suggesting others are suspicious and absolving someone are totally different things. Calling Crow and the others she mentioned suspicious was obviously bluffing since she had no way of knowing for sure whether they were or not, but that could easily have been her just seeing how they reacted. On the other hand, there's no reason for TV-Head to lie about Albatross; she had the power to know whether someone was a Killer or not."

Nova turned her eyes to her anklet and tapped in a vote for Uno. "Your argument for suspecting Odin as the Scientist is really shaky at best, and I don't like how willing you are to just ignore one of the very few leads we have from a confirmed Prey."

---

"Ah, despite my own suspicions that Uno is a scientist, I still can't in good faith say I suspect him of being a killer, seeing as how he passed the chance to eliminate the jailer." Ennea said. "And as much as I'm unable to discard the idea TV Head was wrong, I believe that is our best lead for now. With that in mind, I will vote for Golf! Oh! And before you die, thank you for saving my life!"

It was time.

[Execution theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFY2DaiScAQ]

Greg went out in a similar manner to Crow: his final moments were spent talking to his brother over the walkie-talkie. It was hard for anyone to make out the words, though, as Golf was sobbing so hard. As before it was over quickly, at least. Once the needle struck, his words slurred and his expression became dazed, then within seconds he was gone.

“SO!” the robot screamed, abruptly ruining the moment. “Was it the right choice?”


“And there you have it!”

The remaining players nodded glumly. There would be time to mourn later; for now they needed to get moving to the next Trial Area.





There was only one door remaining, but the players still needed to vote for it. Needless to say, the vote was unanimous this time, and the dark blue Sadness door swung open. Everyone stepped through.


The fourth and final of the available areas to explore was bathed in a dark blue light as expected, but this time there were no additional gimmicks. The simplicity gave a sombre feeling to the room the players found themselves in, matching their melancholic moods after everything they’d all been through.

[Sadness theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ATV8dfmM8]

The first room of the area was dedicated to a memorial. It commemorated the many who’d died in Cartor’s civil war; it was quite a large memorial. Someone pointed out that the list was probably outdated at this point, too. A brief look around was enough to confirm there were likely no Trials in this room: presumably the Scientists hadn’t wanted to desecrate it.

A single door in the memorial room led to a bar, very much the type people would go to drown their sorrows at. An ‘exit’ here led to an indoor car park in a very sorry state. There was obscene graffiti on the walls, detritus about the place and all the cars here were clearly long-abandoned.

[The Exploration phase will end in 3 days. During this time, please send me your actions!]

Without a word, Nova slid her hand into her hoodie pocket and shuffled away from the group, towards the bar.

---

"H-Hold on..!" Odin stammered. "W-Wait, we can figure this out..!"

Odin brought his hands to his head in a panic. "H-How is this possible..? Where did we go wrong..?"

Still panicked from the earlier discussion, Odin had spent some time away from the group. If he didn't do something, he'd surely be suspected and voted out. The thought of that weighed him down as he stumbled into the ruined car park. Through the rusty cars and cobwebs that cascaded across the ceiling, he could see a faint glow in the distance. Odin sprinted over, getting closer and closer to the blue-ish light.

There was a little, square-shaped hole in the wall. A pair of active blowtorches were loosely attached beside the notches, with a keypad inside. A monitor underneath the blowtorches had a particularly ominous message waiting for Odin. Suspiciously, the monitor was attached closer to the ground. It'd be hard to see the contents if he got up too close, even if he looked down.

*Your trial begins once your hands reach the keypad. Instructions will follow once the trial begins.*

Odin stood still, stunned into silence. The heat of the flames radiated even as Odin quite a distance away. He nervously approached the blowtorches, sticking his hand out. A quick touch to the flame, and he immediately rebounded, the fire too much for him.

"Y-Yeowch!" he helped in pain, immediately clutching his hand. There was already a small burn. His skin peeled back a bit as he retreated from the blowtorches. "I-I can't do this..! This is insane..!"

He turned around, preparing to run to the others for help. But in the distance, he could see the others. The ones who had passed in place of him, both innocent and guilty. A strong sense of shame washed over Odin. If he were going to get out of this situation alive, he needed to complete his trial. He needed to prove himself.

Preparing himself, Odin took off his jacket and shirt, biting into his removed clothes to help with the pain. With a deep breath, he plunged his arm into the flames and reached around for the keypad. He let out a sharp scream, the pain almost too intense to bear. Confused from the flames burning his skin, it took him a good while to find the small keypad. By this point, he had leaned in completely, unable to see the monitor plastered underneath the wall.

"W-Wait, what's my riddle..? What's my trial?!"

He instinctively brought his arm back, but all of a sudden, the wall had begun to close in on his arm. His hand was stuck, the flames still torching his hand. Noticeably, the longer his hand remained inside the blowtorches, the hotter they got. They got hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter. He pulled and pulled as hard as he could, the roughness of the wall mixing with the fiery pain emitting from the torches. He could feel his skin simultaneously peeling and chafing as it scraped against the wall, the flames growing hotter and hotter. He could see the glow of the monitor from underneath his peripherals, taunting him with the instructions.

"H-Help...h-help!" Odin cried.

He screamed for what seemed like an eternity for someone to come help him. He screamed and screamed, still pulling on his arm. He could barely feel his hand anymore.

"Help me!!" he cried one more time. Luckily for him, Silver and Uno were nearby. They responded to his cries and ran into the carpark, finding Odin in the back. Tears were streaming out of Odin's eyes.

"M-My hand is stuck..!" Odin cried. The monitor below him read a simple message.

*Simply input the code: 001.*

"W-What does it say?! What does the monitor say?!" Odin cried.

Silver rushed over, putting a hand on Odin's back. She read out the instructions, and Odin did his best to shift his focus in inputting the correct numbers. His hand grew numb from the pain, and he couldn't even tell if he was touching the keypad anymore. After what seemed like an eternity, Odin managed to input the simple, easy 3-digit code. The torches immediately stopped. The wall loosened up, and Odin immediately lurched back, stumbling into a nearby car. He clutched his shoulder, the pain of the burns too much to bear. His arm was nearly unrecognizable.

"A-Are you alright?!" Uno stammered.

"L-Let me take a look!" Silver immediately said, immediately following up.

The two of them walked towards Odin. Odin retreated back, kicking his legs and pushing his back into the rusty car behind him. "S-Stay away..! Stay away from me..!"

Uno and Silver stopped in the tracks, exchanging concerned, yet frightened glances.

"Y-You guys..! You guys are the real killers, aren't you?! I can't...I can't trust any of you..!"

Uno and Silver exchanged glances once more. Yet this time, there was a gleam of distrust in both of their eyes. Between the three of those at the carpark were at least one, maybe two killers. It was clear at that moment that they were all working against each other. Odin sobbed from the pain as Uno and Silver simply stood in silence, unsure of what to do.

Uno grimaced, looking at Odin. It was clear Odin was in great pain and needed medical attention immediately. However, he clearly seemed to distrust both Uno and Silver, not accepting their assistance. Realising this, he nodded to Silver. "Let us go get Ennea and Nova. Then we can take a look at Odin's injuries without anybody having to worry about any fishy business." They turned around, beckoning Silver to follow them as well.

---

"Hello! I heard a bunch of screaming and then my name from over here!" Ennea, who didn't let any of the current happenings or rooms dampen her constant smile (almost, she changed to a somber expression in the memorial room before immediately snapping back to smiling after leaving it), walked in. "Oh my! Is Odin dying next? Ha, I really thought it'd be me!"

"D-Do you think...some aloe vera would help..?" Odin grimaced, even though it was clear it probably wouldn't.