Part 48: Gods Strike Down

[BGM: Silence]


Whatever. I couldn't linger on bad feelings. I had to keep up forward momentum. I returned to the cafeteria. By the time everyone returned, the 15 minute cycle was almost up. We ignored that, and talked about searching strategy.



After we confirm that everything worked out fine, we'll gather back up in the groups we were in and resume our search. The important thing is to stay focused.

If we rush and miss a Trinket, then mark a room as searched, we can be really screwing ourselves in the long run. We need 10 Minor Trinkets, no matter what.

12 of course would be ideal, but-

Ox was interrupted by an announcement that played on our tablets.'

[BGM: Mousetrap]


With a total of 6 prayers, the great Draconic Gods have heeded the group's wishes and strike down Ox.

Dam-

Ox couldn't even get out a curse before starting to choke.

Ox!

Wh-what's wrong with him?!

The execution process. It's begun.

No!

[BGM: A True Foal]


But Snake was right. Ox's face had begun to turn a strange color, and he clawed at his own throat. Drips of blood had started to come down from under the collar. The knives must've already been in his throat. He thrashed and swayed in a delirious, horrifying dance. Eventually, it was too much for him. His knees buckled to the floor.

His body followed shortly after. And a corpse now lay in the cafeteria.

AAAAAAGH!

Ox... no... Damnit, damnit, damnit!! What the hell?! Brian, you bastard! Fuck you! Fuck you and all you stand for, you fucking murderer! Piece of shit!

Mouse, calm down!

Excuse me?



I know you have the right to be angry, but we need to think about what this means rationally if we don't want more to follow him.

…

I hated it, but Bunny was right. My rage was just supplanting my sorrow. I didn't know Ox for long, but he seemed really nice. We woke up in the same room, so I felt like I knew him the best. He was a leader of the group. And to end up like this?

No. Both anger and sadness were out of place.

[BGM: Bullfighter]


I needed to once again bottle up my emotions. Because though I screamed at him, Brian wasn't the one who caused Ox to die. It was someone in this room.

What on earth was that about? I thought Dragon was supposed to get 6 votes too!

Dragon, the hell is this about?

Why are you looking at me? I did what I was supposed to. I was one of Ox's 6 votes.



If you're looking to blame anyone, look at the people who were supposed to vote for me, because one of them didn't hold up their end of the bargain!

Excluding Ox... that's five people. Tiger, Snake, Rooster, Horse, and Dog.

So does that mean the person who used the Major Trinket is one of them?

Unfortunately, it's not that easy.

Huh?

God, this seems like a big pain, but it looks like I'm gonna have to really do some work today, huh?



Let's assume that all non-traitors were completely loyal and fearless and did what they were told to with no ulterior motives. Say we buy that. I do.

We're still left with the problem that we're not dealing with only one traitor. There's two people who didn't out their personalities.

Shit. You're right, Dog.

Even if one person started this 'prayer' nonsense, now that it's active, there's two people who benefit from people dying.

That means that, even though the two don't know who the other person is, those with abnormal personalities are basically partners who both benefit from using this system to kill others.

We can guess that at least one of the traitors are in that list, but it's going to be a big pain narrowing it down from there. Even if we attempted this 'tying' shtick five or six more times, it'd still be a struggle to know for sure who's the traitor.



So what you're saying is that the tying plan won't work, and that we're totally doomed?!

Didn't say that. Just said what I said.

Still, the traitors certainly got lucky. After all, if the two were voting for different people, and both decided to switch their vote, not only would there be a tie, but we'd know two people tried to betray the group.

Snake, that's it!

Oh?

I know how we can beat the traitors.

Uh, sorta.



Actually, this might be a really _{dumb idea, so I shouldn't...}

Just say it.

[BGM: Stampede of Truth]


Okay, so the two traitors don't know each other, right? So it would be difficult for them to plan.

Right.

I think instead of us making a big tie, we should make a little tie.

You mean like a '1 vote each' type of tie? I'll be honest, I haven't totally 100 percent exactly been paying too much attention, so I might be off base in saying this, but wouldn't that make it easier for someone to get voted out, not harder?

If we knew how the tie would go, it would. B-but what if we made it so the traitors didn't know who would be voted?

Two of us will be the designated voters, and the rest of us will choose to vote 'no one'. The two voters will then each vote someone separately, but the rest of us won't know which two people they vote.

That way, the traitors won't know who's getting a vote, so they'll have to randomly guess who to choose. Even if both of them guess, it'll usually end with four people getting one vote each.



Not to be dismissive, but doesn't this plan have a fairly glaring flaw? If one of the traitors votes the same person that one of our designated 'voters' chooses, that person will die.

That's why I said the system was flawed. It leaves things to chance, and it has the possibility of going wrong.

Eh. It still seems like our best bet. Not like I'm seeing a better plan to go with.

We could also use this to help figure out who the traitors are! If it says that we have a four-way tie, we'll know that the two 'designated voters' are both definitely innocent!

Are you sure about that?

Hm?



I don't think it said that they'd announce who was voted in the case of a tie.

You're right, they didn't.

But they might do that, I don't know. I think it's unclear at the moment.

I see a problem with this plan.

Another one?

If one of the 'designated voters' is a traitor, they'll know who their partner is voting, and can copy that vote. The odds that at least one of our 'designated voters' is a traitor is 2/11, which isn't that low.

The two designated voters could just not tell each other who they planned to vote.

That's better, but then we're risking the designated voters choosing the same person.

I know!



We can have a system where the voters write all 11 of our names on sheets of paper, then fold them up. Then they can choose a different sheet of paper, look at who they need to vote, then throw their sheets away.

And afterwards they'll also throw the rest of the paper away. That way, they're definitely voting for different people, but they don't know who the other person is voting.

That sounds like a great compromise!

If that all works for everyone, I suggest we get a move on. These 15 minute cycles are far less forgiving than the 45 minute round cycles.

In an effort to keep things moving, I'll volunteer to be one designated voter.

Then I'll be the other.

Great teamwork and choosing efficiency, guys!

[BGM: Silence]


Yeah, yeah, just split up and vote. And also put in your moves for Round 5 while we're at it, we don't know when we'll have another chance.

And break!

Once again, we split into different rooms, this time with a better plan. However, there was a sense of deja vu. This was the same feeling I had when we split off last time. I was trying not to think about how that turned out. We had also spent two thirds of this round simply dealing with this prayer business instead of finding Minor Trinkets. It wasn't exactly a hopeful situation.

Still, there wasn't much to do. I chose to RUN for Round 5, and I chose to pray against no one. Then, we met up in the cafeteria. This time, however, the group was silent. There were only seconds left until the end of the prayer cycle. The success or failure of our plan would be determined. We all held our breaths, waiting to hear the outcome.

Then, we heard it.

[BGM: Mousetrap]


With a total of 2 prayers, the great Draconic Gods have heeded the group's wishes and strike down Tiger.

NO!

This can't be-

Similar to Ox, Tiger's last words were cut off. I couldn't watch again. I had to turn away. I wasn't the only one. In Tiger's final, thrashing, painful moments, all but three had their backs to her. Was this disrespectful? I didn't care. Watching someone as positive as Tiger die painfully like that would break my psyche.

I just couldn't handle it.