"I wonder if the number has some sort of significance... Beyond just being a number, I mean. It could be a code of some sort? Initials, maybe, if you change them to be alpha-numeric."

---

"It's possible the number has some sort of special significance, but considering it'd only be a two-digit number, I don't think it can be that complex," Luna replied. "Plus, we don't even know if the rule for the escape door involves the sum of the bracelet numbers."

---

"Also...we should probably consider what gemstones people have. Assuming folks were smart the first three gemstones from those pedestals back there are already gone..." she crossed her arms "That said, Zero is essentially controlling the order these pedestals appear, certain people won't be able to escape until Zero deems it appropriate based on that but I'd like to know who has their gemstone already." she asked.

---

"Maybe it has something to do with our symbols?" Doctor suggested. "I don't know how that would work though."

---

Seven tapped her head with the end of her pencil. The questions kept piling up and they didn't appear to be having any further answers. Zero was certainly making this a cruel puzzle for them to solve.

"Well...are starsigns associated with any kind of number? Other than the dates?" she shrugged defeated by the puzzle "It's something we can bear in mind but someone has already asked our question for us now. Might be worth thinking up for a proper one to ask next time."

---

"I actually checked the pedestals a little bit ago myself," Luna said. "From my best guess, it seems like the [Capricorn] and [Sagittarius] gemstones were taken, but not the [Scorpio] gemstone... I don't know who has any of those symbols, however. And with a thief running around..."

---

(I'm on my phone because the site hadn't worked all day on my computer for some reason)

The group goes to Door [7] first. Oliver, Leo, and Pigeon line up in front of it. They each scan their hands on the RED, but something different happens now. The RED says “Brave New World.”

The group is understandably confused. Leo scans the bookshelf. “Ah, here it is.” He pulls the book out.

Suddenly, the bookshelf swings around, bringing a circular section of the floor with it. Oliver, Leo, and Pigeon disappear behind the wall. In the place of the bookshelf, a fireplace now rests.

“W-What?” Seven said. “Are they gonna be okay?”

“They’ll be fine.” Saturn assured. “It’s probably just like the other rooms. Besides, look.” He pointed at the fireplace. A keyhole was on it. “We should take note of this.”

Luna, Yon, and Saturn went through Door [2] next—the backstage.

Finally, Triton, Seven, and Doctor went down the elevator. They stood in front of the new Door [9]…the beeping of the bomb sounding like a frightening boom each time.

They entered.

(Same rules as last time. Quicktopics are now restricted unless you’re sharing a room with your quicktopic partner. Please standby for your Door PM).

The intercom crackled to life as a voice spoke out from it.

"Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?" Yon spoke into the intercom. "I can confirms that Luna, Saturn and I are doing alright! Plus, you guys are not going to believe what Saturn told us while we were in here! We'll talk about it when we get back together."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Anyone found a machine that looks like it could be a receiving machine? We found something that we think is supposed to be used on the receiving machine."

"He means a fax machine," Luna chimed in over the intercom.

---

"...Right, a fax machine. Anyway! What'd you guys find in the room you're in right now?" Yon asked, "Other than the fax machine, that is."

"And let's not forgets the Pigeonholes while we're at it! We can talk about it when we get back together." Yon added in.

"I'm fine with explaining now. We ended up in a workshop. Oliver is a history buff (the way I'm buff, but with history) and said this place is a casino that closed twelve years ago. Before this place was renovated, it was a stop on the underground railroad so it's filled with secret passages and has some tunnels that can go some distance. Those are probably collapsed."

The intercom crackles back to life. A somewhat hurried voice comes over it.

Did any of the rest of you have the lights go out in your rooms?

I'm sorry, let me try to compose myself.

This is Leo. My group is perfectly fine. I'm just wondering if the other groups experienced what might have been a brief power outage. This question is not high-priority like I made it sound, it just put me a little on edge.

"Yep, this room is pretty cool," Saturn chirped over the intercom, "It's actually a stage complete with spotlights and backdrops. You know what that means, right? Yep, the shirt works, and it was quite a neat trick. Actually, now that Leo mentions it, the lights did go out for a few seconds after I had said something." His voice took a more serious tone, "However, this room... brought back some memories. I accidentally let slip what my real name is. No use hiding behind a code name anymore... To save everyone else in my group the trouble, I'll just tell you all now." Saturn paused. 'Best to just let it out,' he thought, before pressing the call button once more. "My name... is James... James Ri..." Why was he finding this so hard? It was just a name. And yet, he couldn't make the rest of it come out. Perhaps he was afraid of Zero. That had to be it. The more information Zero had, the easier it would be to manipulate the others.

It took a few seconds, but finally James managed to steel himself and pressed the button once more, speaking clearly, but weakly, "James Ridley."

---

"Well, the lights in our room went out. It lasted 5 seconds." Yon answered. "Anyway, Leo, what does the room look like? Considering that you're in that room?"

A pause.

"Anyway, it's fine if you can describes the room to the rest of us. But the most important thing is, what [items] did you guys find in the rooms?"

"I don't want to reveal anything, but if someone here has a name that starts with B and ends with E, I'd like to speak to you as soon as possible."

((I won't be here to roleplay the rest of today))

"...We haven't heard anything from door [9]," Luna suddenly realized.

Last time, the intercom had apparently been broken when they first entered the room. They had gotten advantageous information, but got The Narrator to fix the intercom to share it with the rest of them. Could a similar thing have happened this time, except now they've made the other choice...?

The power outage had completely slipped Luna's mind since nothing seemed to have happened during or because of it, but Leo's comment jolted her memory. Maybe door [9] hadn't gotten an advantage... Maybe they fell into a trap of some kind.

Luna wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but she had a strong suspicion that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

---

"Seven?! Doctor?! Triton?! You guys okay in there?!" Yon shouted, a obvious hint of fear and concern in his voice tone.

Leo's voice comes back over

Ah, James Ridley, interesting...

Anyway Yon, I'm in the room with Pigeon and Oliver. It has tools and parts and blueprints. It is a workshop. There was a newspaper in here about... our Russian friend, not anything new though. There's also a dove key, a sheet of paper and a pedestal.

Yeah, I'm terrified about door 9. Maybe there's no intercom, but maybe something more sinister is going on.

At the very least, Door 9, you knuckleheads better give us a proper crime scene analysis.

This last comment as Leo's voice fades out is recited with no levity.

"Oh I found a mysterious passcode too guys."
Pigeon's nonchalant voice echoed coldly over the intercom

The intercom crackled back to life once Yon pressed the call button.

"Hey, didn't one of you guys say something about tools?" Yon asked, "Check to see if there's any tool that looks like it can cut through thick wires? We might be able to uses it on the fence..."

The intercom then fells into silence.

Oh there might not be but lemme check.

"What was that about a passcode, Pigeon?" James asked.

((It should be obvious, but since my character's real name is now known to everyone, Saturn is no more. You may keep calling me Saturn, but I will refer to myself as James.))

---

Shortly afterwards, Leo's voice echoes through the building.

No dice. It's a workshop with no tools, and all of the stuff in here is useless junk. My apologies. The parts are surprisingly new though for a closed-down casino, though.

"Well, Zero thought of every damn thing there is, didn't he?" Yon responses back to Leo over the intercom.

((At the request of our dear Narrator JesusMonroe, here is the narrative event from Door [2].

The backstage quickly led to…a stage.

“Geez, talk about misleading…” Yon started.

Saturn looked at the stage. He seemed…sad.

“Are you ok?” Luna asked. “It’s just a stage.”

“Heh…I’d have to disagree with you there. This is no mere stage. This was a [battlefield].”

The lights suddenly turned off. Five seconds later, they came back on.

“What was that?” Yon asked.

“We’ll figure it out later.” Luna clearly wanted to get back to the story. “What do you mean [battlefield]?”

“This is where the battle of [old] and [new] magic reigned.”

Luna and Yon both seemed terribly confused. Saturn smiled.

“Where are my manners? I’ll explain.”

Saturn went into a long, detailed explanation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmZ4NoTDtsQ

-20 years ago, there was a troupe of magicians called “The Ridley Brothers.” They consisted of Charlie (the one who designed the outfit that Saturn is currently wearing), Alex, James (Saturn), and Damian. Besides James and Damian, none of the troupe was actually related. They also had an assistant who frequently helped them, Rachel. She was Damian’s girlfriend of eight years.
-They did various shows all around the country, and eventually, the world. They were massively popular at a point, and it was hard to find a person on the street that not only hadn’t heard of them, but didn’t adore them
-2 years later (18 years ago), a new form of magic entered the world. To compare them, old magic is like disappearing, pulling rabbits out of hats, card tricks, you know--wowing the audience. New magic was more about shocking the audience—as Damian put it, it was self-inflicted torture. It was never THAT bad, but it definitely relied more on gross-out and shock value
-The troupe seemed split on the issue. Damian fought tooth nail for old magic while Charlie was more interested in trying new things. Alex and James were neutral towards the subject
-One day, Charlie borrowed Rachel for a magic show at the Turning Stone Casino. He was doing a “new magic” trick that involved sword-skewering. Rachel died in front of everyone that night. Damian was of course, furious. However, Charlie was never seen again. He fled the country
-Damian, Alex, and James continued their own thing. They had another show at the Turning Stone Casino 6 years later (12 years ago). Alex had gotten involved in some crime (he always had a mischievous side) and was killed for it
-The troupe split apart after that, but Damian and James remained close

“Hmm…The Ridley Brothers.” Luna said. “I should’ve recognized you, James. Unfortunately, I had no recollection up until this point. The same can be said about your brother, Leo.”

Saturn smiled sheepishly. “I see that you realized…yes, Leo is Damian Ridley. He’s my brother.”

Yon had more questions. “You called this stage a [battlefield], right? Is this place…the Turning Stone Casino?”

“Observant. Yes, it is. It’s a smaller place as far as casinos go, but it seems this is where Zero has decided we should play this game. How fitting. The battlefield where old magic prevailed for a new generation!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP3FMYYb12Q

Thoughts ran through heads. “Old vs. new magic? Magicians? A casino? It seemed too far-fetched to possibly be true but…did Saturn have a reason to lie? How was any of this relevant?”

“Well, I insist we begin this puzzle.” Saturn said. “It would not do to turn up empty-handed. We already wasted enough time. Let’s go.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCfpmW6s37U (love this song)

The group began to search the stage area. After a puzzle involving various spotlights (and some fooling around with the lights to make Saturn’s torso disappear), the puzzle was solved.

The group ended up with a [key], a [fax machine], an [item], and a [pedestal with a symbol].

The group examined the pedestal. “[Aries]…” Yon said. “Well, let’s remember to bring this out with us.”

The group also examined the key. “The [Hera] key…” Luna said. “This should probably unlock another door.”

“Alright, there’s nothing else to do now.” Yon said. “Let’s decide what to gamble.”

And that's it!))

---

I will... confirm that.

Can the Door 9 group check to see if the BP is still there?

That wasn't a question to The Narrator. I'm asking the group to check

"Pigeon," Yon answered, "I think the intercom in their room is busted. That's why we didn't hears anything from them."

"We'll check on them when we get back together."

Pigeon smiled almost mockingly at everyone. Though his face was ripe with conceit, he looked sexier than ever. The others were almost in awe of his glorious figure.

"Hey, everyone. I have some things I want to discuss. Unfortunately, we need to do them all one at a time. That should be okay. We have a lot to talk about."

Pigeon cracked his handsome fingers and gave each muscle on his body a quick flex.

"I have three bombshells I want to drop. Maybe four." Pigeon looked knowingly at Yon. "The first one: I didn't bet any BP in the last round. I advised Leo not to but he did anyway. How unfortunate. But that's okay! The important thing to take away here is that I set a trap and it sprung successfully--Oliver bet 8 BP. You might be asking how Oliver got 8 BP. After all, he never got a BP increase item. Well, what if I told you he still had 4 left? The Narrator's words have been bothering me. He said that every player started the game with 6 BP. That was just meant to mislead us. Oliver DID start the game with 6 BP. It went up to 12 after he killed The Russian." Pigeon smiled again, proud that his trap was successful. "We can already be fairly certain that Oliver stole the knife. He was also after one of the gemstones in this game, the diamond. That shouldn't have been necessary to obtain if he was only interested in one gemstone for himself. So, he needs more than one. As for motive? I admit I don't know but I can guess. We can be fairly certain that Oliver stole the knife and is therefore a thief. Thieves are born from nothing and always work to get something. Seeing Sergei in his expensive suit, billionaire attire; it probably triggered some kind of anger in him. I know the motive isn't rock-solid (Pigeon looked at his biceps, something he said reminded him of them), but the 8 BP bet is all the evidence we need."

Blacken Oliver: Killing the Russian ((Kind of like the font and the sound effects where the Judge is all like Not Guilty))

Seven hung her head.

"Someone took the BP...we found ourselves on the roof of the building... Its impossible to.get down though as we're protected by a forcefield."

Seven fidgeted with her notebook, clearly uncomfortable, "We found a newspaper article about a thief and a security guard who got killed at the same time as the 'Ridley Fiasco'" she explained scratching her chin.

"We also found out we are on top of a casino...Turn Head? Turn stone casino?" She frowned unable to remember exactly.

"Still more importantly did someone get a pass code? Do you think we could disarm the bomb with something like that?" She asked hopefully before being struck dumb by Pigeon's accusation.

---

Oh, Doors [2] and [7] are now inaccessible. Door [9] can still be entered if need be!

(Not a forcefield, just a high voltage electric fence. Now I know what you mean when you said sci-fi :p )

Luna couldn't believe her eyes.

She stared at the scoreboard. Her legs felt like they were about to give out from under her. Her group had had the least BP. Luna knew that. That's why they bet as much as they did... But why the hell did the other groups bet so much too?! And now... And now she would be...

Luna was suddenly torn from her thoughts by Pigeon's pronouncement. He had bet nothing, and Oliver had bet 8 BP? Yes, the group had been following Pigeon so far, and Luna had been one of the major advocates for following the pigeonholes. But an accusation like this was totally different. Maybe everything until now was a calculated lie to gain their trust, and this was the moment to spring his trap.

...No... Luna looked at Oliver. Maybe the others couldn't see it, but Luna could pick out the telltale signs--the bead of sweat on his forehead, his eyes darting around the room, the look on his face the moment Pigeon made his accusation... There was no denying it. Everything Pigeon had said was true. Oliver had been 8 BP.

But how could he have had that much BP to bet? They started with 6 BP. Seven was the one who was supposed to have gotten the extra 3 BP in the first [9] door. Even if Oliver did get that BP, betting 8 BP would leave him with 0 or 1 BP, which was unthinkable.

There was only one explanation. He must have gotten some other, larger source of BP.

There was only one other source. The rule about killing another player to steal their BP.

There was only one murdered player.

There was only

It was him.

It was him.

He was the one who did it. He was the one who murdered Sergei. He was the one who stabbed him over and over again. He was the one who took him away from her. He was the one that bet all the BP for his team. He was the one who had done all of this to her.

---

vote: Blacken Oliver for the Crime of Killing Sergei

Leo's face is beat red. Sweat glistens on his forehead. He opens his mouth and his booming perfoming voice is perferated with rage.

What Pigeon says is true. I bet 3 bp. That means 8! of the bp that came from our team is unaccounted for.

EIGHT BP!

Pigeon told Oliver that his premonition said for him to bet just enough bp to bring him down to four: in this case, because he had TWELVE bp he bet EIGHT to get to four. The only way he bet eight is by murdering someone, plain and simple.

He's a grade-A scumbag. He's probably nothing more than a petty thief involved in a smuggling ring. He's likely the pickpocket as well. That's why he killed Sergei, for the diamonds and money.

I'm sorry I'm such an idiot everyone, I didn't realize that my team wasn't worth saving or else I woulda bet nothing. James, Luna and Yon, I hope those of you who survive can forgive me, I mean we all played the game to win, but I shouldn't have.

Leo yells out in frustration and turns away form the others.

Yon was stunned by the results of the 2nd gambling phrase... Either Luna, Saturn or himself had to go.

His heart seems to be beating faster than normally. Was it the fear of death? He didn't know.

"If I was picked to be on the lynching block, I'll never be able to find out who I am." Yon stammered. He can feels 8 pairs of eyes staring at him as he made his statement.

"Oh yeah, I supposes you guys deserves the right to know what I mean by that. I already told 4 of you guys about this, but I figures the rest of you need to know this." Yon said, uncertain of what was to come next after.

He took a deep breath, then released his breath. It was time to tell them what's up with him.

"..... Amnesia." Yon spoke, as he looks down at the floor. "To put it simply, I have no memory of my own. Even since I woke up in the closet, I couldn't remember who I am."

"Hey!"

Seven shouted as she skidded to place herself between Luna and Oliver. She didn't much like the look in her eyes.

"Just hold the phone moment. I'm not saying Oliver is innocent but who is to say Pigeon is telling the truth?" She said her hands apart ready to stop Luna if she lunged for him.

"All we have is pigeon's word he didn't spend any BP. There's no way to check. Also what about their other partner in the room? Its possible they could have killed him to get the BP."

She gritted her teeth "For the matter nothing especially big happened to Doctor when he went through the door. At least not on the same scale as the others. Pigeon might have had some right calls but we can't let him lead us blindly." She protested.

---

Leo, can you show that newspaper to everyone?

Another thing I forgot: the pedestals that were brought out are [Aries], [Virgo], and [Leo]