>>1948165
>>View File 'Ultimate Occultist'

>>1948165
>View File 'Ultimate Comedienne'
Nobody hates the funny guy.

>>1948172
OPENING FILE "COWLER, HELEN"...

NAME: Helen Cowler
TALENT: Ultimate Occultist
NATIONALITY: American
LIKES: Romance Films
DISLIKES: Documentaries
BACKGROUND: Cowler claims to be a direct maternal-line descendant of one of the accused in the Salem Witch Trials, which she credits as the source of her alleged supernatural abilities. Cowler first appeared on the Future Foundation's radar as a possible candidate at the age of 9, when she reported evidence that resolved a months-old burglary, claiming that her "imaginary friend" had told her about the key evidence LINK: YOUNG GIRL EXPOSES JEWELRY RING. Over our subsequent period of monitoring, Cowler has earned a notable degree of celebrity as a "TV psychic", conducting seances, divinations, and exorcisms as part of a reality television program. In addition, the FBI has contacted her help in breaking a number of cold cases whose investigations were disrupted by Incident Zero.
TALENT ANALYSIS: While some have insisted that Cowler is genuinely in contact with supernatural forces, the 3rd Division's conclusion is that Cowler uses a deep, genuine knowledge of urban legends, traditional folk magic, and superstition in combination with a talent for cold reading, slight-of-hand, and stage magic to appear supernaturally-gifted. However, the extreme degree with which she can execute these acts more than earns her a potential place in the Ultimate Initiative.
PERSONALITY: Minimal risk of affiliation with opposition groups: subject seems to genuinely have a resilient, positive personality despite the ordinary connotations of her talent.

>>1948189
OPENING FILE "VAN DYCK, PAULINE"

NAME: Pauline Van Dyck
TALENT: Ultimate Comedienne
NATIONALITY: Belgian
LIKES: The Marx Brothers
DISLIKES: Slapstick
BACKGROUND: Pauline Van Dyck, AKA "Lil' Miss Razortongue" made her debut as a comic at the age of 12, when a video of her performing a stand-up routine went viral across social media. 2 years later, she began performing live stand-up shows that sold out within 24 hours of being announced (although detractors have suggested that her "jailbait" looks were the primary appeal for a significant portion of her audience), had a prime-time special airing on cable, and was being considered for film roles or her own talk show.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Van Dyck specializes in "insult" and "improvisational" comedy: styles of humor that combine clever wordplay, insight into the flaws of others, and the ability to rapidly adapt to changing conditions or unexpected events.
PERSONALITY: Possible risk: her sardonic, detached behavior and mild sadistic tendencies (which, as the 3rd division has observed, usually manifest through casual verbal jabs, insults, and liberal use of sarcasm) put her at risk of being subverted.

>Select File 'Ultimate Occultist'

>View File 'Ultimate Marksman'

>View File 'Ultimate Medievalist'

>View File 'Ultimate Ecologist'

>View File 'Ultimate Herbalist'

>View File 'Ultimate Survivalist'

>View File 'Ultimate Traditional Gamer'

>View File 'Ultimate Diplomat'

>View File 'Ultimate Archivist'

>View File 'Ultimate Acolyte'

>View File 'Ultimate Driver'

>View File 'Ultimate Psychologist'

>View File 'Ultimate Angler'

>View File 'Ultimate Film Director'

>View File 'Ultimate Brawler'

>Select File 'Ultimate Comedienne'

>>1948272
>View File 'Ultimate Marksman'

>>1948272
>>View File 'Ultimate Diplomat'
We should rescue either the Diplomat or the Comedienne, whoever will keep the group together better.

>>1948272
>>View File 'Ultimate Diplomat'

>>1948272
>View File 'Ultimate Driver'

I hope its just the stig.

>>1948272
>View File 'Ultimate Medievalist'

>>1948287
OPENING FILE "ROY, JEAN-BAPTISTE"...

NAME: Jean-Baptiste Roy
TALENT: Ultimate Marksman
NATIONALITY: Canadian
LIKES: Venison
DISLIKES: Gun Control
BACKGROUND: Jean-Baptiste Roy came to the attention of the UI 2 years ago, when he won first place at the All-Canada Youth Archery AND Youth Shooting tournaments, breaking several accuracy records in both. While he declined invitations to enter the International Youth events, claiming that he had only entered the tournaments in the first place under pressure, our models predict that he would have won in both events by a fair margin. Research into Roy's background indicates that he learned how to shoot from his father, a survivalist who had developed acute paranoia as a result of Incident Zero. Roy has spent most of his life living in relative isolation in a small rural township.
TALENT ANALYSIS: The extreme accuracy Jean-Baptiste Roy has with ranged weaponry is theorized to come from a combination of three unique factors, at least two of which are biological. He has natural 20/5 vision, which makes him capable of precise aiming over very long distances, while tragically comparing up-close work and reading. He has a highly-developed sense of physical self-control, which appears to be at least partially biological: this prevents him from twitch-firing by accident, or having hand tremors or breathing throw off his shot. And he seems to have a natural gift for filtering out auidovisual data: in other words, he can focus with an intensity not normally seen in an amateur shooter.

PERSONALITY: High chance of subversion due to emotional "coldness", combined with violent talent and suspect past.

>>1948292
>>1948333
OPENING FILE "BOTHA, RETHABILE"...

NAME: Rethabile Botha
TALENT: Ultimate Diplomat
NATIONALITY: South African
LIKES: Folk Music
DISLIKES: Prejudice
BACKGROUND: Rethabile Botha has been flagged by the UI since birth: as a child of two notable UN diplomats who joined the 10th and 14th Divisions during Incident Zero, there was a great deal of hope that their child would develop an Ultimate Talent. Pleasingly, the young Ms. Botha seems to have inherited her mother's charisma and her father's natural deal-making skills, which, combined with her gentle nature, make her talent highly valuable.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Ms. Botha is a a natural mediator, skilled at preventing conflict and keeping a group together at all costs.
PERSONALITY: Shy and kind, she prefers to stay out of the spotlight and hates conflict of any kind.

>>1948341
OPENING FILE "MURRAY, CHRISTINA"

NAME:Christina Murray.
TALENT: Ultimate Driver
NATIONALITY: Irish
LIKES: Unknown
DISLIKES: Unknown
BACKGROUND: Christina Murray's parents were gun-runners who worked with the 9th Division's European branch, moving weaponry between FF sites in exchange for amnesty from past crimes. When Incident Zero ended, the family continued to run guns illegally, supplying various criminal groups in Ireland and beyond. Christina Murray received her training from them.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Murray's likely been behind the wheel of something for as long as her feet could reach the pedals, and has naturally sharpened her talents to a fine edge.
PERSONALITY: Unknown. The 3rd Division lacks data from before her parent's arrest, and she appears to be a selective mute.

>>1948352
OPENING FILE "CARTER, HENRY"

NAME: Henry Carter
TALENT: Ultimate Medievalist
NATIONALITY: English
LIKES: Steak
DISLIKES: The French
BACKGROUND: Carter's passion for history, archaeology, and anthropology have apparently been present all his life, but he first came to the UI's attention last year, when a paper of his was published in an scholastic journal. Most of his time is split between research, fieldwork, and various hobbies.
TALENT ANALYSIS: While his History, Anthropology, and Archaeological skills are not so noteworthy as to be called "Ultimate", his skill at recreating the techniques of the Middle Ages, from archery to swordplay to peasant cooking to lute-playing elevate him to Ultimate Status, as his knowledge, both academic and practical, of medieval life is massively comprehensive.
PERSONALITY: Low risk of being compromised: has a direct and bold, even brash style of personal presentation.

>Select File 'Ultimate Occultist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Marksman'

>Select File 'Ultimate Medievalist'

>View File 'Ultimate Ecologist'

>View File 'Ultimate Herbalist'

>View File 'Ultimate Survivalist'

>View File 'Ultimate Traditional Gamer'

>Select File 'Ultimate Diplomat'

>View File 'Ultimate Archivist'

>View File 'Ultimate Acolyte'

>Select File 'Ultimate Driver'

>View File 'Ultimate Psychologist'

>View File 'Ultimate Angler'

>View File 'Ultimate Film Director'

>View File 'Ultimate Brawler'

>Select File 'Ultimate Comedienne'

>>1948540

>View File 'Ultimate Acolyte

>>1948540
>Just view all of them. Do we have any reason not to?

>>1948540
>>View File 'Ultimate Archivist'

>>1948561
OPENING FILE "IVANOV, ARKADY"...

NAME: Arkady Ivanov
TALENT: Ultimate Acolyte
BACKGROUND: Arkady Ivanov claims to have been born during a total solar eclipse with birthmarks matching the stigmata on his body (he claims his parents had them removed later through laser treatments). The son of a wealthy Russian oligarch who passed when he was still young, Ivanov used a portion of his family's money to travel around the world, seeking the guidance of various gurus and priests. When he returned to his homeland, he began a religious group called the "Cosmic Salvation Movement", which gained a rapidly-growing following among many people still haunted by memories of Incident Zero. Today, only a few years after the inception of the CSM, the organization has branches across Europe and in Japan and the US. After neglecting his education for a few years, he has stepped down from his leadership position to finish high school.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Ivanov has a fair amount of natural charisma, which he combines with sophistry, psychological manipulation, and cold reading to prey upon the emotional weaknesses of others and get them to accept the CSM's belief system.
PERSONALITY: Manipulative to a fault and possessed of the zeal of a true believer, Ivanov is the #1 risk for subversion out of this current batch of assets.

>>1948583
OPENING FILE "MARONI, GIOVANNA"

NAME: Giovanna Maroni.
TALENT: Ultimate Archivist
LIKES: Peace and Quiet
DISLIKES: Rule-Breakers
BACKGROUND: Giovanna Maroni grew up in Rome, where she spent much of her free time as a young child helping to reassemble the Vatican Archives, which were heavily damaged as a result of Incident Zero. Over time, her role went from repairing shelves to an attendant to the assistant to the Head Archivist, which she used to springboard to a position as Head Archivist at the Public Library of Rome.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Maroni has a meticulous and well-organized mind as well as a strong memory, which allows her to recall facts about anything in a collection at a moment's notice.
PERSONALITY: Quiet and prone to overstimulation, Giovanna tends to be detached from the world, and prefers books to people.

>>1948637
FORGOT SOMETHING:
LIKES: Donations
DISLIKES: Skeptics

>>1948574
Well, I was hoping you guys would find a character you liked and would select them, or just space things out a bit so you don't have to just read a massive infodump all at once.

>>1948540
>Select File 'Ultimate Medievalist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Occultist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Marksman'

>Select File 'Ultimate Medievalist'

>View File 'Ultimate Ecologist'

>View File 'Ultimate Herbalist'

>View File 'Ultimate Survivalist'

>View File 'Ultimate Traditional Gamer'

>Select File 'Ultimate Diplomat'

>Select File 'Ultimate Archivist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Acolyte'

>Select File 'Ultimate Driver'

>View File 'Ultimate Psychologist'

>View File 'Ultimate Angler'

>View File 'Ultimate Film Director'

>View File 'Ultimate Brawler'

>Select File 'Ultimate Comedienne'

>Just read all of them

>>1948660
>Just read all of them

>>1948660
>Select File 'Ultimate Medievalist'

>>1948660
>>Select File 'Ultimate Archivist'

>>1948654
>>1948660
Why shouldn't we read all of them? Wouldn't it be better to know who these other people are if we find them, or will that automatically be given if it hasn't been already once we do?

>>1948660
>>Select File 'Ultimate Diplomat'
Voting for getting the heart of the group saved first before they collectively lose their shit.

>>1948660
>Just read all of them
I don't realy think anons would select one without acquiring all the available info.

>>1948732
I'm pretty sure we're selecting the character we'll play. The main character.

>>1948853
dead-on, anon.

>>1948663
>>1948732
>>1948843

OPENING ALL UNREAD FILES...

NAME: Ruby Willoughby
TALENT: Ultimate Ecologist
NATIONALITY: Australian
LIKES: Thunderstorms
DISLIKES: Automobiles
BACKGROUND: Incident Zero passed the Willoughbies by with little effect: their isolated location in the Outback prevented the worst of the Incident from impacting their rural farm. As a result, Ruby lived a childhood unmarred by the violence and horror of the Recovery, helping her parents out on the farm. A home-grown passion for ecology led to the development of her talent through passionate study and dedication.
TALENT ANALYSIS: "Ecology" is a complex field, drawing on biology, geology, geography, botany, and meteorology, among many other fields. While Ruby's knowledge of all these fields does not approach what might be called "Ultimate territory", her ability to combine this information and synthesize a view of the world around her makes her Ultimate.
PERSONALITY: Cheerful and outgoing, the odds of Ruby being subverted are low.

NAME: Peter Stoyanov
TALENT: Ultimate Herbalist
NATIONALITY: Bulgarian
LIKES: Ginseng
DISLIKES: Scammers
BACKGROUND: Peter Stoyanov's hometown was heavily damaged during Incident Zero, with its hospital completely destroyed and medical care very difficult to access, even after the region was stabilized. Peter wanted to make a difference, so he began to study and practice traditional medicine in order to prevent sickness. Throughout his middle-school years, he has acted as the primary care physician of his village, and has saved dozens of lives.
TALENT ANALYSIS: While his talent is officially "Herbalist", his actual skills extend into many fields of traditional medicine, fusing the techniques of European cunning men, American medicine men, and Asian alchemists together in a staggering repository of traditional medicine (although herbal ointments, teas, and pills are his greatest strength). The only thing that restrains me from calling him the "Ultimate Medical Student" is his total inability to perform surgery and lack of bedside manner.
PERSONALITY: Peter is a serious and stressed young man, but used to pressure. If he should be subverted, however, his skill with medicine could easily be turned to poisoning others.

NAME: Tiago Vargas
TALENT: Ultimate Survivalist
NATIONALITY: Brazilian
LIKES: The night sky
DISLIKES: Air conditioning
BACKGROUND: Tiago's parents were FF employees working in the 11th and 12th divisions, helping to repair infrastructure and agriculture in the wake of Incident Zero. As a result, Tiago spent his infancy traveling between the remote corners and urban areas of the world, a lifestyle that clearly had a profound impact on him. As he matured, he began to study wilderness survival techniques, and, once he turned 10, petitioned the FF for training as part of the 11th Division's junior scouting corps, where he quickly excelled, showing survival proficiency that rivals, if not exceeds, the average adult scout. He is the first official member of the FF that has been scouted by the UI.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Tiago's skill at survival isn't limited to lone survival in the wilderness: his training and skills apply to urban environments as well, and can extend to TEACHING the basics of survival skills to others.
PERSONALITY: Tiago's loyalty to the FF's ideals is almost unquestionable: frankly, only the fact that he hasn't undergone a Neo World "loyalty test" simulation makes me apply the "almost".

Sorry about that, dinner.
NAME: Christina Hess
TALENT: Ultimate Traditional Gamer
NATIONALITY: German
LIKES: Gamist play
DISLIKES: Simulationist play
BACKGROUND: Christina Hess's first board game sold in the European market was published when she was 12. Since then, over a dozen board games and two dozen RPG modules by Hess have appeared in gaming stores the world over, delighting millions of fans. Her skill at crafting fascinating scenarios and engaging mechanics is second-to-none, and her announced upcoming system is poised to take the world by storm.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Hess has an extremely tidy and organized mind and an excellent understanding of game theory and statistics, as well as an appreciable writing talent, all of which she uses to draw people into her games.
PERSONALITY: High risk of subversion: her analytical, calculating mind, stand-offishness, and tendency to understand the world through games bears an uncanny resemblance to the Initiator.

NAME: Roland Cameron
TALENT: Ultimate Psychologist
NATIONALITY: French
LIKES: Light Classical
DISLIKES: Boors
BACKGROUND: A youthful prodigy who studied psychology from a young age, Cameron's own high school employed him as a therapist during our observation period, where he successfully improved the school's mental health significantly; both for students and faculty.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Cameron has a vast theoretical knowledge of human behavior and dysfunction, and is skilled at understanding the underlying issues disturbing others.
PERSONALITY: Quiet, reserved, and concerned with his own self-image, Cameron's subversion risk is uncertain.

NAME: Gintaro Oshiro (European order)
TALENT: Ultimate Angler
NATIONALITY: Japanese.
LIKES: Swordfish
DISLIKES: Calm seas
BACKGROUND: The eldest son of a large fishing family, Gintaro has spent almost all of his time off of school at sea, battling the elements and seeking the perfect catch. Even at his young age, he's managed to catch record-breaking amounts of cod, trout, and salmon: his catches using spearfishing, lines, and nets have rivaled those of trawling boats.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Beyond the physical strength needed to engage in old-fashioned fishing methods, Oshiro also has a great deal of swimming experience, and a natural talent for reading the winds and waves, and an understanding of ichthyological behavior.
PERSONALITY: Oshiro has a fiery spirit and boundless ambition, as well as a resilient sense of self-worth that allows him to withstand the fury of the seas. Very low risk of subversion.

NAME: Albert Wiene
TALENT: Ultimate Film Director
NATIONALITY: German
LIKES: Expressionism
DISLIKES: Plebeians.
BACKGROUND: A young man with a burning passion for the world of cinema, it is said he had viewed Herzog's entire oeuvre before he could write. His short films have taken international festivals by storm.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Wiene has an understanding of light, shadow, direction, and management, which, combined with a powerful presence, makes him a master of bringing his vision to life.
PERSONALITY: Pampered, critical, and vain to a fault, Wiene may be subverted, but can be relied on acting on his own interests.

>>1949567
I'm digging this guy lads. But majority rules, and of course seeing the rest of our choices.

>>1949567

I'm into the director.

Light, Shadow, Direction and Management can all come in handy.

Who else will consider if the lighting or shadows give their crime away?

>>1948223
My preference goes to the occultist.

File: 1448565045739.jpg (39 KB, 398x307)

39 KB JPG

>>1949567
>DISLIKES: Plebeians.
This is good.

File: 1445964970548.jpg (294 KB, 582x600)

294 KB JPG

>>1949567
>Dislikes: plebians

I'm gonna have to go with this guy.

NAME: Alexandria Alekto Economedies.
TALENT: Ultimate Brawler
NATIONALITY: Greek
LIKES: Getting paid
DISLIKES: Not getting paid
BACKGROUND: Alexandria is an orphan: her parents a late casualty of Incident Zero. As a result, she grew up in an orphanage, where she quickly began to learn how to fight to defend herself against the depredations of older children. Over time, her skills became so refined that she started to engage in unsanctioned street fights for money to improve her lot in life, eventually becoming a "star" of pit fights throughout Europe, taking on opponents far older and physically stronger than her and winning.
TALENT ANALYSIS: Alexandria lacks flawless form or overwhelming strength, but compensates through her natural, intuitive fighting style and ruthless "will to power"
PERSONALITY: Brash, direct, and utterly confident in her abilities, Alexandria was selected for the Ultimate Initiative with some opposition by FF staff.

>Select File 'Ultimate Occultist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Marksman'

>Select File 'Ultimate Medievalist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Ecologist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Herbalist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Survivalist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Traditional Gamer'

>Select File 'Ultimate Diplomat'

>Select File 'Ultimate Archivist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Acolyte'

>Select File 'Ultimate Driver'

>Select File 'Ultimate Psychologist'

>Select File 'Ultimate Angler'

>Select File 'Ultimate Film Director'

>Select File 'Ultimate Brawler'

>Select File 'Ultimate Comedienne'

>>1949689
>>Select File 'Ultimate Film Director'

>>1949689
>Select File 'Ultimate Film Director'

>>1949689
>>Select File 'Ultimate Occultist'

>>1949714
>>1949738
Albert Wiene, the Ultimate Film Director. Incident Zero couldn't have happened without someone with extreme talent in audiovisual media in the first place. If the kidnappers really are part of... one of those groups, their interest in him is incredibly dangerous. According to reports, he was last seen in Madrid, on site for his next film...

>>1949689
>>Select File 'Ultimate Film Director'

You open your eyes and see nothing but darkness. Not bad, as establishing shots go. The perfect thing to monologue over. Now... why are you lying around in total darkness? Oh, yes, Roses in Full Bloom (working title). Your first full-length romance; a genre that, ordinarily, spins out plots far too long in full-length films, in your opinion, but you had solved that by making the film about the protagonist's love life as a whole; turning the mere mass-market twaddle handed to you as a rough draft by your writers into a soul-searing exploration of the nature of love, friendship, hate- the relations human have for each other, laid bare. Pure kino! Ah, but you don't remember going to bed in a darkened room. You were on the third day of shooting, and the lead- some replacable torso you were saddled with by the producer- had flubbed his lines during the vital carnival confession scene! You really let him taste your lash for his utter incompetence, and the man had RAISED HIS TONE AGAINST YOU! Complained about you being a "perfectionist". Who cares if you had had him shoot the scene 80 times previously, he had been getting so close! (or at least as close as his meager acting talents could get to your sublime vision, anyways). And then he RAPED the flow! It's "I'm sorry, Clarice, but I just don't love you anymore" NOT "I'm sorry, Clarence, but I just don't lub you anymore"!!!!
And then... well, you can't actually remember. Strange. Ah, of course! It had been rather hot today, and the argument with the Human Abs had raised your temper quite a bit- you must have had a fainting spell and the crew took you back to your trailer. That feels about right; the air is cool and still, and the mattress is soft, enveloping memory-foam. If it's so dark in the trailer, it must be nighttime. Dammit, half a day lost to your week constitution. You clap your hands for the lights to turn on...

File: 1464815597195.jpg (63 KB, 800x600)

63 KB JPG

>>1950071
>that entire character establishing post
>he actually says/thinks "Pure KINO"
I don't regret this decision one bit QM. Not one bit.

File: url-1_8.jpg (48 KB, 640x480)

48 KB JPG

...This is not your trailer. This is a shipping container. It looks like the only things in it are yourself and this mattress. The two... doors, you suppose, are closed. The only sound you can hear is air, moving through a passage of some kind, and occasionally, a metallic scrape.
...Well, this... is not good. Have you been kidnapped? You've heard of obsessive fans who stalk their crushes, lure them to isolated locations, and hobble them so that they can remain as some kind of perverse... love-trophy.
>Try Northern door
>Try Southern door
>Wait silently.
>Yell for help

>>1950173
>>Try Northern door

>>1950173
>Try Northern door
And do be careful not to make too much noise, the metal will echo it.

>>1950173
>Try Northern door

>>1950173
>>Try Northern door
Sounds like great fun, glad I caught this now.

>>1950184
>>1950193
>>1950207
>>1950234
You gently press against the metal door to the north (you guess: on second thought, why are you assuming that you're facing north?). It moves slightly, but immediately bumps against something hard. Well... South it is, then.

The door to the south swings open quietly, revealing some kind of underground loading bay. A large number of other shipping containers are arranged in a rough circle around a large, circular wooden table in the middle of the bay, resting on the concrete floor and emitting an aura of unsettling incongruity. In the back, beyond the circle of containers, there seems to be a metal door. A couple of damaged halogen lights flicker near the roof, giving the whole area a definite low-budget horror feel.

>ULTIMATE FILM DIRECTOR: There's no mistaking that this aura is deliberate: the rest of the loading bay is in good condition, but the lights are damaged and the containers are rusty with well-oiled hinges? This room is meant to put anyone in it on edge.

You walk to the table; looks like there's a pair of... tablet computers resting on its polished wooden surface. The back of each has a chessboard pattern and a key-ring resting atop. The key-rings... well, there's a pair of keys, some kind of electronic fob, and... oh, a name-tag. This one has your name on it. Well, clearly someone meant you to have this.
>You got a key-ring!
Now, the tablet. Well, it looks well-made; rather reminds you of your personal tablet, the one you use to make last-minute script changes and take candid photos to blackmail uncooperative divas. Hopefully, it can get a wireless signal: then you can e-mail your security contractors and get the wheels moving towards ending this unpleasant side-track (ah, yes, make a mental note: fire the security contractors once you get out of here. Clearly, they aren't up to par.)

As you press your finger down on the "Home" button, the tablet springs to life with a resonant, vaguely-musical tone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJsbGxd9Luc
"Albert Wiene" appears on the black screen in white letters, before opening up onto a simple black homescreen. A clock app displays the time: 5:30 PM. There don't seem to be any apps installed, beyond a notebook... and there's a note addressed to you in here, how TYPICAL.
Find the others. Time is fleeting.

Enigmatic. Obnoxiously so.

>Examine the other set of keys
>Examine the other tablet
>Examine the other shipping containers
>Examine the room
>Try to access the internet using the tablet
>Try to make a call using the tablet

>>1950148
The character was German partially so he could use that term unironically.

On another note:
>Design a rival character
>You pick him, you absolute madmen

>>1950342
>Examine the room
As one very immersed in the arts as thyself, such an admirably desolate set up demands closer inspection!

>>1950364
You slide the tablet into the pocket of your Armani coat.
>You got the Mysterious Tablet!

Well, someone clearly knew what they were doing with this place. Let's see how much they knew...

As you walk around the edge of the room, you hear a very familiar sound:
*wrrr...*
Your head snaps towards the source of the noise. There, up in the shadows, a security camera turns to face you.

>ULTIMATE FILM DIRECTOR: The camera is clearly not a film camera: looks like CCTV, or some other kind of security model, maybe? Pretty sure you ordered a prop like this for Fatal Encounter.

Looking around, you spot two more cameras in other niches.

>ULTIMATE FILM DIRECTOR: Judging by their positioning, they were placed such that the room would have no blind spots, other than inside the containers.

Other than the containers, cameras, and desk, the room is barren.

There's a metal door, barely big enough for one person to fit through, in one of the corners. A large metal sheet covers the loading bay's mouth: it looks as if its been melted and allowed to cool in its track, essentially "fusing" it shut. Damn.

You hear a metal "clang" in the room. Must have come from one of the shipping containers.

>Call out

>Hide

>Investigate

>Run through the metal door and out of the room

>>1950516
>>Run through the metal door and out of the room

>>1950516
I don't think we're stronger than metal sheets, but fuck it try to break through that shit.

>>1950516
>Check out the other key, clearly there's supposed to be someone else here with us.

>>1950516
>>Walk through the metal door and out of the room

>>1950523
>>1950886
>>1950523
Like HELL you're going to stick around and let... whatever's in that container find you! You sprint through the door, barrel through it, and bolt up the narrow concrete staircase beyond. You bolt up the stairwell... one, two, three, four stories, until you hit the roof. The door ahead slams open as you shoulder-check it, to hell with the damage to your designer jacket, and close it behind you as quickly as you can without making noise. The space beyond looks like... well, some kind of institutional building. The lights seem to work, at least, and the hallways are... less dirty than they could be, but the place has clearly been abandoned for some time. The windows look like they've been blocked off from the outside, though: the hall lights shine on some kind of thick, rigid plastic material. Odd.

From up a nearby hall, you hear measured footsteps; you can't tell if they're getting closer or not. There's a doorway nearby that seems to lead into a room.

>Try to find the source of the footsteps.
>Duck into the nearby room.
>Check the stairwell you just ran up
>Double back down to the loading bay

>>1950897
>Try to find the source of the footsteps.

>>1950897
>Duck into the nearby room.

>>1950897
>>Duck into the nearby room.

>>1950897
>Duck into the nearby room.

>>1950904
>>1950908
>>1950914
Are you... being hunted or something?! The quarry in some twisted sport? Whatever it is, you're certain that you don't want your captors to find you. You slip through the nearby door into...
...A presentation room, by the looks of it. There's a dust-covered projector sitting by a giant lump of a computer tower (just HOW OLD is this place, anyways?), chairs scattered (and occasionally SHATTERED) around a damaged desk... the room is a scene of chaos and confusion, and real: there is no art to this mess at all. The only place to hide here is under the desk.
The footsteps draw closer. A voice with a thick Slavic accent calls out:
"Come on out, who ever is there! We do not want to stab you in face!"

>Hide under the desk

>Try and barricade the door

>Arm yourself with a chair leg and get ready to fight

>Respond

>>1950943
>Try and barricade the door

>>1950943
>>Try and barricade the door

>>1950945
>>1950947
Does this killer really think a denial that half-assed would work? There's no way that you'll let him break into this room and stab you in the face! You hastily begin stacking the shattered remains of chairs against the door to protect yourself.

Roll 4d6 to build a barricade.

Rolled 3, 4, 4, 5 = 16 (4d6)

>>1950959
I got this lads.

Rolled 4, 4, 4, 3 = 15 (4d6)

>>1950959

Rolled 5, 1, 1, 4 = 11 (4d6)

>>1950959

>>1950961
There. Hopefully, that will hold. And just in time, too: the footsteps have reached your door. You hear someone shake the lock and press the door against your barricade...

>>1950986
Question is it a best of 3 or taking the first roll?

>>1950987
of-three, unless someone rolls the min result (god forbid). Also, don't worry TOO much about rolls: this is a game of argument and deduction, not blind chance.

>>1950986
..And stop. Instead, you hear a set of sharp raps on the door, and the high slavic voice on the other side.

"May I please come in? I am friend, not murderer!"

You hold your breath and stay as quiet as you can.

"...Hello?

Well, if some one is there, please come down to the big dining room on ground floor, yeah? I think... half of us are already there, and I do not like to think of what might happen if we ignore what the pocket computers say. Peace and light, friend!"

You hear the mysterious Slav open a door and head down the stairs. Well, he's gone for now, at least.

>Hunker down for the long haul

>Unbarricade and explore this level

>Unbarricade and search for the dining hall

>Unbarricade and go back to your shipping container

>>1951000
>>Unbarricade and explore this level

>>1951000
>Unbarricade and search for the dining hall

>>1951000
>>Unbarricade and search for the dining hall
Trust in the cheeki breeki

>>1951000
>Unbarricade and search for the dining hall

>>1951011
>>1951014
>>1951016
Others? Maybe that Slav is in the same situation you are... or it could be a trap. But you won't get ANYTHING done about escape by just sitting around here. May as well take a look.

You pull down your makeshift wooden wall and step out into the hallway.
>Ultimate Film Director: Cameras here, too, positioned in discreet places. Pretty sure there was one in the room you just took shelter in, as well. Someone here is monitoring the entire building.

You walk down three flights of stairs and step out onto what you guess is the ground floor. From there, you simply keep your ears pricked and follow the sound of conversation to a set of free-swinging cafeteria doors.

Six other people are gathered in the cafeteria space: three men, three women. You quickly dash your eyes over them, committing their faces and dress to your mind honed by a hundred casting calls:

>>1951052
-ACTORS-

-The muscular fellow busy rummaging near the long-abandoned buffet table is definitely leading man material: well-muscled, fairly tall, dark-haired, and... Asiatic, as it turns out. Doesn't usually scan well with Western audiences, so scratch leading man. Deuteroganist, perhaps? Would pull the Chinese market, hopefully. His outfit speaks of someone more accustomed to the elements than the spotlight: a worn-down orange wifebeater with a slogan in kanji written on it and... are those bathing trunks? In this chill? Hopefully, all those muscles help make up for his lack of insulation. He has very intense eyes and a smile that's surprisingly handsome for his clearly rough living.
-The pale, slim fellow in the... frock of some kind? It resembles a blend between the dress of one of those Russian priests and a Buddhist monk's robe. Anyways, he must be the Slav (Or Ruskie, as it turns out) who was talking to you earlier. His fingers are decorated with many rings with occult-looking symbols embossed on them. His short brown hair, boyish features, and wide, warm smile would put any woman in the audience's heart aflutter; provided she didn't look at his eyes. Normally, eyes are the window to the soul, which is why actors must learn to use them to truly emote. This man's are a stone wall. Not even [b[YOU[/b], whose skill at judging character and acting ability is so great that half the time you don't even NEED a prospect to read their lines to know that they're a fit or not, can't get anything out of these eyes.
-You have never seen a man this young with so little taste... you think. Perhaps the tweed jacket and the loafers are now so outdated that they're considered avant-garde? You never bother keeping up with fashion trends unless they're important for a work. Regardless of the clothes, the fellow's posture- short, heavyset, with a certain slump that suggests that his life experiences have added an extra 50% onto his actual weight- and his pince-nez reek of an aesthetic consciousness that's in a permanent vegetative state. If you were casting him, he'd be the comic relief to the protagonist; perhaps he would die in a tragic way around the climax of Act II to provide some extra motivation. His eyes are somehow both comforting and sad.

>>1951054
-ACTRESSES-
-You have to actively focus on this girl for your eyes to willingly register her existance, she has so little star power. Despite her intriguingly exotic looks- blending the proud strength of African women with the gentle femininity of the European in a most pleasing way- she simply lacks the ability to project her presence needed to be anything more than a bit part; and the frumpy business suit, glasses, and skirt certainly don't help. Her eyes are watery, but you get the faint impression of something... more behind them.
-Contrariwise, this specimen is impossible to overlook. Dressed in a long, flowing black (no, a purple so deep it almost BECOMES black) dress in the Gothic style, with milky skin, medium-length hair pulled into a tight bun, and green eyes that burn with some unspeakable fire... she is the feminine Other made flesh, a dark Muse poised to descend on a starving artist and both exalt and ruin him... and then she smiles a big, goofy grin, and the spell breaks. All you see in her eyes now is someone boiling over with dangerously directionless enthusiasm: the top item on your lists of traits to avoid in actors.
-GAAH! YOUR EYES! You had thought that tacky plaid coats had gone the way of B-reel Creature Features, but before you stands a slight, childish-looking girl with slight buck teeth, in a small plaid coat, a too-long checkered tie, jeans, and a T-shirt that says "Want to know how to keep an idiot busy? (See back of shirt)" on it. Her eyes glimmer with a near-sadistic degree of puckishness.

You become acutely aware that everyone in the room is looking at you.

>I know, it's a bit overwhelming to be in the presence of a visionary. Please, no autographs.

>Well, what a motley crew you lot are. Are any of you going to introduce yourselves?

>...I always hated Lynch films. Perhaps I'm in Hell?

>(Remain silent)

>>1951059
>>...I always hated Lynch films. Perhaps I'm in Hell?
Toss in a mein gott or two, stare at one of the camera's and usher to Der Erlkönig surely watching...

>>1951059
>>...I always hated Lynch films. Perhaps I'm in Hell?

>>1951054
>>...I always hated Lynch films. Perhaps I'm in Hell?

>>1951059
>...I always hated Lynch films. Perhaps I'm in Hell?

>>1951059
>...I always hated Lynch films. Perhaps I'm in Hell?

Man OP I've never seen some one actually put this much effort in to this large a cast right out of the gate. It's honestly kind of amazing we picked a random character out of 16 and you were ready to give a perspective this strong instantly. To be fair you did say he was a rival character so I imagine he was by far one of the most fleshed out, but still. The only thing I'm sad about is not being a film buff I'm not going to appreciate this character as much as I could. Still keep up the great work.

>>1951065
>>1951069
>>1951072
>>1951073
This gaggle of eccentrics in front of you... it's just too unreal, like something out of an absurdist film. Your head throbs.
"...Mein Gott, I've always hated Lynch. This must be Hell. I must have died of heatstroke and gone to Hell, which for me, of course, is being trapped in a Lynch film."
You look into one of the cameras set up in the cafeteria. "Well?! What are we waiting for?! Bring out the snickering midgets and cauldrons of meat and shit!"

The Imp in Plaid picks up a wax apple from a fruit bowl and idly chucks it at you.
"Hey! Ronnie here and I resemble that remark! Don't we, Ron-ron?" She gives the Pudgy Professor an exaggeratedly coquettish look.

He sighs and shakes his head, glaring at her through his pince-nez.
"Excessive familiarity with strangers is a classic sign of boundary issues, Ms. Van Dyck. Tell me, did your mother frequently take your toys from you as punishment?"

"So you DON'T deny that you're a cauldron of meat and shit, huh?"

The Professor's face reddens. "T-that is not the issue here..."

"Oh, come on, Shitjug, don't try to hide behind your nerd stuff. It works about as well as you trying to hide behind a lamp-post, anyways."

"Your use o-o-f insults as a defens-s-s-se mechanism won't s-s-stop me from-"

"From what? Sputtering more of your spittle onto your trousers?"
The Imp draws out each of her sibilants on the second sentence, while drawing her shoulders in, sinking her neck, and bulging her stomach out in a crude pantomime of the Professor's own mannerisms.

The Wallflower speaks up, her voice quiet but steady.
"...We shouldn't be arguing right now."

The Imp rolls her eyes. "Argument? What argument? We were just having a little bit of fun! Well, I was, at least: I'm not sure if the nerd over there can have fun, or if it's one of"- the shoulders come in and the spittle sprays out again- "-his allergies."

"No, no, Madam Botha is right. We have a new friend to greet!"
The priest spreads his arms wide. "Welcome to our little group! I'm Ivan, and these are Okitsumi, Roland, Rethabile, Helen, and the little one is Pauline."

"Oh, 'Little One', yeah. I'm everyone's favorite little girl!" The Imp says this last sentence with an upbeat tone, wide smile, and eyes that say "Kill me."

"And you are?..."

>Albert Wiene. You may have heard of me.

>How can none of you recognize me? The jacket is VERY distinctive.

>Have you seen Peppermints and Viscera?

>Remain silent.

>>1951098
>How can none of you recognize me? The jacket is VERY distinctive.

>>1951098
>>Have you seen Peppermints and Viscera?

>>1951098
>>Remain silent.

>>1951098
>Have you seen Peppermints and Viscera?

>>1951098
Clearly none of these folks are cultured enough to understand much less heard of your prized works, your name is enough to stimulate their simpleton mines.

>>1951098
>Have you seen Peppermints and Viscera?

>>1951098
>Albert Wiene. You may have heard of me.

>>1951098
>Ivan
>Okitsumi
Did you mean Arkady and Gintaro?

>>1951297
Yep. It's just that their full, or even first names aren't what they go by.

>>1951104
>>1951118
>>1951136
"Tell me, have you seen Peppermints and Viscera?"

Ivan smiles at you confusedly. "No? Sorry, but I do not watch many films."

"I also don't watch a lot of movies. The ocean is more compelling than any film!"

"The use of two conflicting symbols to create a sense of tension... I've never seen it, but I'd guess it's a horror film?"

"...I don't like horror."

"Yeah, me too, Rethy! Films like that just make me queasy!"

"Sounds like a gorn film."

"Really?!? NONE of you have seen my work? It was voted 'Best Short' at the BIFFF and Scarefest- not to mention it's my most accessible work for the masses. I would have thought at least one of you plebeians would have seen-"

"Did you just call me a pleb? Listen here, smart guy-"

"PAULINE."

Pauline withers slightly under Ivan's glare and closes her mouth. He turns his face back to you and puts his smile back on.

"Please...I presume there's a point here?"

"Obviously. I am Albert Wiene, director of Peppermints and Viscera, among many other works."

"Really? Very interesting..."

>Of course: it's not every day that you get to be in the presence of true artistic genius!

>How so? Your tone indicates you aren't talking about me.

>Enough empty pleasantries: what is happening here?

>remain silent

>>1951355
>Enough empty pleasantries: what is happening here?

>>1951355
>How so? Your tone indicates you aren't talking about me.
I love Pauline already, what a magnificent little shit.

>>1951355
>>How so? Your tone indicates you aren't talking about me.

>>1951355
>Of course: it's not every day that you get to be in the presence of true artistic genius!
>Enough empty pleasantries: what is happening here?

I was wary because of the oversized character selection, but this looks really promising!

I find it interesting that of the six players we've seen, five are specced in human psychology in one way or another.

>>1951486
Naturally, the socially-focused ones would group up together.

>>1951385
>>1951455
>>1951362
>>1951486
S-S-S-SPLIT OPINION!

>>1951539
For lack of morphonomical trial grounds, how about a dice roll?

>>1951554
Odds: >How so?
Evens: >Enough Empty Pleasantries

>>1951355
>>How so? Your tone indicates you aren't talking about me.
>>1951554
I'll break the tie I guess.

Liking what I'm reading so far. Keep it up, OP.

(nvm)
>>1951385
>>1951455
>>1951563
"And how is that? You clearly aren't just talking about me..."

"That is true! I am thinking... all of us here are special, you know."

"Is that what your mommy told you? Don't forget your helmet!"

"...For example, the loud child over there is popular comedienne in the West."

"Oh. plebeian entertainment."

"All of us have some sort of major talent, very rare. To be gathered in one place..."

"You're clearly thinking something. Out with it."

"...No, no, could be nothing. Anyways, we should relax. Henry and Alex are out looking for anyone else, and hopefully will be back with new friends soon! So, sit down and relax with us."


>To hell with that, I'm finding a way out of here. (Leave the room)

>Fine. (sit by yourself)

>Fine. (Talk to someone: specify who and, if you want, the general topic)

>>1951570
>Fine
>Who are Henry and Alex and why do you think there are any others?
>Do you have any idea of what's happening and where we are?

>>1951576
Support

>>1951570
>Fine
>Get introduced with everyone and see what their 'talents' are

>>1951576
>>1951581
"Fine, I suppose that there's safety in numbers, if nothing else. I have a couple of questions first, though."
Ivan spreads his arms wide. "Ask away! 'Curiosity is the first step towards true understanding.'"

"Oh...kay. First, who are 'Henry' and 'Alex', and why do you think there are others?"

"Easy question! I wake up, am in shipping container. All of us wake up like that. I come out, there are many keys and pocket computers lying on table: 12 of each, I think, but they were laid out in circle and there were a few gaps. I take mine, start looking around. Run into others, eventually. I am thinking there are probably 16 here. Alex and Henry are friends: they are the strongest of us, so they decided to look for the others. I was helping them, but then, we split up to cover more ground."

"Alright. Now: where are we and what is going on? I assume we've been kidnapped."

"Eh... probably? Last I remember I was writing down the latest revelations that the stars had revealed to me. Then I went to bed, and I wake up in this... I think it is a lab of some kind? Sorry, that's all I know, but I'm certain the stars will guide us out of here!"

>Really? Nothing else?

>The entire place is wired with cameras: whoever's kidnapped us wants to be able to see everything that goes on in here.

>Why do you keep prattling about the stars?

>Hmph. (Talk with someone else (specify who and the general topic))

>>1951663
>>Hmph. (Talk with someone else (specify who and the general topic))
Monk Man, GAZE INTO HIS UNREADABLE EYES

>>1951663
>The entire place is wired with cameras: whoever's kidnapped us wants to be able to see everything that goes on in here.

>>1951663
>The entire place is wired with cameras: whoever's kidnapped us wants to be able to see everything that goes on in here.

>>1951672
You're already talking to monk man.

>>1951686
Yes but we must investigate further. Gaze into his special eyes.

>>1951663
>The entire place is wired with cameras: whoever's kidnapped us wants to be able to see everything that goes on in here.

>>1951663
>The entire place is wired with cameras: whoever's kidnapped us wants to be able to see everything that goes on in here.
Let's change topics before the zealot tries to convert us.

>>1951697
>>1951676
>>1951681
>>1951729
"I was looking around earlier, and this entire place seems to be wired with cameras. Their angles give total coverage. Whoever brought us here... they want to be able to see everything that we do."

"Hmm... makes sense. They wouldn't just let us walk around if they don't have a trick to keep us in line. The cameras must be part of it. Ah, well, so it goes."

"'So it goes'? You're being awfully nonchalant about the fact that someone kidnapped us and is holding us prisoner in an abandoned building!"

Ivan gives you a look with those soulless eyes of his. "You think I should get angry? What good is that? 'A wise soul is nourished by tranquil waters'."

Okitsumi jerks slightly at the phrase "water".

"Hell with that! Why are we even sitting around here?!?! We should be trying to GET OUT!!"

"We've had this conversation, Okitsumi: the doors are locked and hardened, the windows are covered... there's no easy way out, and our best chance is as a group."

"How can you just give up like that?!?"

"We aren't giving up, we're conserving strength."

"Speak for yourself, Rasputin. I've given up. I didn't even try in the first place!"

Pauline holds one hand over her heart and thrusts the other into the sky. "Take me home, God!"

"If you're genuinely having suicidal ideation, perhaps we can talk in private?"

"Did I ask for your opinion, Mr. Human Sweatervest?"

Ivan chuckles at the proceedings, and starts walking towards the cafeteria. "There's plenty of food back here, so you don't have to fear starvation."

>I'm with the muscleman, we have to get out as soon as possible!

>Fine, I suppose I'll wait here for now (Sit quietly).

>Talk to another person (specify who and the general topic.)

>>1951822
>I'm with the muscleman, we have to get out as soon as possible!

>>1951822
>>Fine, I suppose I'll wait here for now (Sit quietly).

>>1951935
>>1951977
Well, looks like another deadlock. Also posting this to let you know I'm still here!

>>1951935
Let's go with this

>>1951935
>>1952414
"You can sit around and wait for death all you want:I'm with Mr. Muscles over there: I want out."

"EXCELLENT! Now, grab the other end of this table."

You look at the metal table. It has a distinct "heavy" quality to it.
"Err... Why, exactly?"

Okitsumi looks you dead in the eyes. "We're gonna throw it at the window."

>Okay...

>Are you joking? Throw it yourself!

>...On second thought, maybe staying here isn't so bad; less manual labor.

>>1952472
>>Okay...

>>1952472
>Okay...
Who knows, maybe these window plates are simply props that were made explicitly to look real as possible even to our expert eyes! Surely throwing this will work!

>>1952472
>>Okay...
Well, I guess that's the end of the quest.

>>1952474
>>1952561
>>1952606
Roll 2d6 for throwing the table.

Rolled 3, 5 = 8 (2d6)

>>1952698
I got this?

>>1952698

Rolled 5, 3 = 8 (2d6)

>>1952769
Fuck

Rolled 6, 1 = 7 (2d6)

>>1952698
nat1

>>1952837
>nat1
>with 2 dice

I'll be honest, I'd be impressed if you managed that. That would be some SHSL Luck.

>>1952854
In my defense, it's 2 AM here.

Rolled 2, 4 = 6 (2d6)

>>1952854
>>1952894
Watch me score those elusive 1,1 dubs

>>1952776
You put your back into lifting the table, and manage to move it... less an inch off of the ground.

"OH, COME ON, MAN, PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT!!!!"

"I'M TRYING, YOU PILE OF TESTOSTERONE!!"

After a minute of struggling, your hands give out and you drop the table, hands aching.
"Show some more SPIRIT!"

"My spirit is willing, but my flesh is... achy and bruised."

"FINE! I WILL DO IT ON MY OWN!"

Okitsumi squats, belts out a mighty battle-cry, and lifts the heavy metal table onto his shoulder. You have never seen a display of muscle and sheer determination like this in the flesh. He braces his legs and arms to make the throw...

And then a crashing noise and a loud crash echoes outside the cafeteria doors.

"Oh... oh dear. I suppose we should check on that, yes?"

"...Someone might be hurt."

"DEFINITELY!"

"You can go get yourselves killed: I'm gonna see what's in the fridge."

"Nah, way too spooky for me."

"I will trust in the wisdom of the stars to resolve this."


>Your curiosity must be sated: go investigate the noise

>You aren't stupid enough to get killed over something like that: stay here

>Screw these idiots: wander off

>>1953081
>>You aren't stupid enough to get killed over something like that: stay here

>>1953081
>You aren't stupid enough to get killed over something like that: stay here
>All that needless exertion plus however they put us to sleep to get us here, has made us absolutely famished. Let's see what food they have here, we've had to eat a lot of different things in our brilliant career. Surely they must have something we can have in between these takes of absurdity!

>>1953081
>>Your curiosity must be sated: go investigate the noise

>>1953081
>Your curiosity must be sated: go investigate the noise

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>1953169
>>1953226
>>1953235
>>1953254
Well, since it's almost midnight, let's bust the tie here: odds for staying, evens for going.

(Sorry for the gap: service interruption)
>>1953169
>>1953226
"You three can fall for obvious traps as much as you want: I think I'll stay here, where it's safe."

"...Okay."

You watch the action trio sprint off through the door, and feel a sharp pang in your stomach. Not of guilt, obviously: feeling guilt over your own superior decisions would be stupid. No, you've simply realized: you're FAMISHED. There must be [i]something[/i] to eat in the kitchen...

And indeed, there is a MASSIVE amount of food in the kitchen: doors lead off from the preparation space into a pantry the size of a small warehouse and a gigantic freezer (with a door in the back suggesting that this is only one of a number of freezer rooms), all filled with goods.
>ULTIMATE FILM DIRECTOR: Going by catering standards, there's enough food here to feed a few dozen people for months.
Most of the food is either (shudder) CANNED or MICROWAVE-READY, and the rest is raw.

>Use the commanding presence of the Ultimate Film Director to get one of these stooges to make you something.

>You have no culinary experience, but it can't be THAT hard: make something yourself!

>Perhaps you can just eat a few things that require minimal preparation? Hardly the banquet you're used to, but maybe you'll show restraint this once.

>Gah! Lowering yourself to the level of the unwashed masses, but, in extremis... you could eat something canned.

>>1953725
>>Perhaps you can just eat a few things that require minimal preparation? Hardly the banquet you're used to, but maybe you'll show restraint this once.

>>1953725
>Use the commanding presence of the Ultimate Film Director to get one of these stooges to make you something.

>>1953725
>Perhaps you can just eat a few things that require minimal preparation? Hardly the banquet you're used to, but maybe you'll show restraint this once.

Implying we've never spent an all-nighter of work on coffee and sandwiches. Excuisite sandwiches.

>>1953737
>>1953978
Well... you've had to work in less-than-ideal circumstances before (like the on-location shoot in Borneo for [i]The Day the World Died[/i]... three hours on foot through the sweltering jungle between the nearest airstrip and the shoot location, you weren't sure you were going to survive at times...) You can manage something that won't need too much preparation. You fish around and grab some apples, wheat bread, ham, lettuce, tomato, and mustard, and assemble a rough sandwich. You sit in a corner of the hall (away from Pauline, who appears to be eating raw garlic cloves while methodically switching the labels on the spice cabinet) and prepare to take a bite-

"It's not your fault, you know."

You look to the side, and see the Dolt in Black- Helen, yes?- coming over to you.

"Pardon?"

"It's not your fault. I know you blame yourself for leaving the rest of your cast and crew behind, but you couldn't have stopped this. We are all here for a reason."

Her usual, goofy look is absent from her face: that mercurial aura of mystique and forbidden desires has returned to her eyes.

>How-how did you know?

>It's none of your business. Leave me to eat in peace.

>Yes, and that reason is because some sick rich pervert kidnapped us. What interest could they have in you, anyways?

>>1954015
>Yes, and that reason is because some sick rich pervert kidnapped us. What interest could they have in you, anyways?

>>1954015
>>Yes, and that reason is because some sick rich pervert kidnapped us. What interest could they have in you, anyways?

So while we're waiting for the votes t ocome in, who's the best girl in the original Danganronpa, anons?
It's Hina and you can't prove otherwise.

>>1954015
>apples in a sandwich
I-is that what patrician food is?

Anyway vote for:
>Yes, and that reason is because some sick rich pervert kidnapped us. What interest could they have in you, anyways?

>>1954060
For me it's Junko (Mukuro), but Hina is a top tier girl too

>>1954067
The internets tell me apples in a sandwich go well with Cheddar cheese.

>>1954060
>>1954067
Great taste, anons, but the top waifu is Sakura.

>>1954111
Sakura is my #3 just on her personality. She would be the top easily if she didn't look so terrifying.

>>1954015
>Yes, and that reason is because some sick rich pervert kidnapped us. What interest could they have in you, anyways?

>>1954033
>>1954051
>>1954067
>>1954182
"Yes, and that reason is hat some sick rich pervert kidnapped us. What interest could they have in you, anyways? I'm a celebrated film director, so I suspect they are a fan, but what could you-"

Helen shrugs. "I dunno. Maybe they want to know when they'll die? Or they have a family member who died, and they want me to channel their spirit so they can say goodbye. They could have just paid me to do that, though... Maybe they want me to use my powers to commit crimes!?"

"Channeling? Powers? What the hell are you rambling about?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm a witch and stuff, can't you tell?"

"That's nonsense, there's no such thing as the supernatural-"

"Then how did I know you were kidnapped while shooting a film? It was because the spirits showed me!"

>Of course they did.

>An educated guess.

>I wasn't making a film: I was at home.

>>1954427
>I wasn't making a film: I was at home.
Even though we weren't.

>>1954427
>>An educated guess.
A Film Director making movies? Who would have guessed.

>>1954427
>An educated guess.

>>1954427
>>An educated guess.

>>1954444
>>1954482
>>1954540
"An educated guess, nothing more. I'm a film director: of course I would be working on a film. Hardly an astounding feat."

Helen tilts her head and grins at you.

"You guessed right, yay!~ But I actually am a witch, though~ Would you like me to read your fortune?~"

"Of course not, I don't believe in such nonsense."

"Aw, you're no fun~"

The double-doors to the cafeteria swing open again, and the away team returns, with Rethabile, her face hardened, pulling two men behind her, her arms locked in a vice-like grip. You give them a once-over:

[blue]-ACTORS-[/blue]
-This one... you wouldn't call him "pudgy"... more like "stout". Despite the fact that he couldn't be much older than yourself, he already has a well-trimmed beard and mustache. His frame is well-muscled; his pecs fill out the loose, drab, crude-looking shirt he wears. His eyes are steely fierce.
-This one is tall, pale, and has a mostly-plain face; icy blue eyes carefully assess the room behind his glasses. He's dressed in white-and-grey camouflage, with a ballcap shading his eyes. A pair of ear protectors hang from his belt... along with three long bullets.

"You shouldn't have been fighting him, Henry! We need to conserve our energy in order to survive here! Conflict will only weaken us!"

"Lady, you were not there, so I'll excuse your ignorance, but-" the stocky fellow jabs a finger at the tall and pale one- "That FRANKISH LOUT's insults simply WILL NOT GO UNANSWERED!"

"You talked to me about bows. I simply told you the truth: a compound bow is more effective than a longbow."

"See? There he goes again, the blackguard! You will answer for this!"
Henry peels one of his rough leather gloves off and throws it in the pale fellow's face.

"Face me at dawn tomorrow with the weapons of your choice! No matter, I shall crush you regardless, you cur!"

"...This is a waste of time. No."

"HOW DARE YOU!?!"

>>1954588
>The Ultimate Medievalist is really an Ultimate Englishaboo

>>1954588
Rethabile's voice cracks out like a whip.
"I thought I said you two should stop fighting. Neither of you really want this to come to blows, and there aren't any weapons in this place anyways, Henry; you said so yourself. Just accept that people have different opinions."

That quiets Henry down. "...Yes, my lady. I apologize, I was clearly in error and made the fool out of myself."

The fire retreats from Rethabile's eyes. "...Good. I hope we can all get out of here together."

"HELL YES!"

Cameron coughs slightly. "Well... I think we should all introduce our new guests. This is Jean-Baptiste Roy, a... I don't believe you've actually said, have you, Mr. Roy? Not that I wish to make you uncomfortable or anything."

"I'm a game hunter."

"Ah, that explains the outfit. And, while the rest of us know him, I don't believe Albert has been introduced formally to Henry; or the rest of us, for that matter."

Henry bows slightly. "I am Henry of Bath, known there as Henry Carter. Some call me Henry the Many-Talented. I specialize in the history of the Welsh kings! Well met, good sir."

"Oshiro Gintaro's what my family named me, but call me [b]OKITSUMI[/b]! The favored child of Hachiman! Thanks for trying to help me earlier; I forgot how weak other people can be sometimes!"

"...Rethabile Botha. I'm just an ordinary high-schooler... but my parents are pretty rich and powerful, so maybe that's why... I hope we all can work together."

"Arkady Ivanov, but please, call me Ivan: Arkady is too... Russian, yeah? I am the chosen prophet of the Ascended Luminaries, so please, do not hesitate if you need guidance!"

"Helen Cowler! You can see my show [i]Providence Medium International[/i] at 9PM Eastern/6PM Pacific!"

"I'm Pauline Van Dyck, professional asshole." Van Dyck waggles her right hand by her ear, thumb and pinkie extended, and mouths "call me" to Jean-Baptiste.

"And I am, of course-"

"NO ONE CARES, CAPTAIN TWEED."

"Pauline, let him finish."

"...Roland Cameron. The reason I was abducted is most likely because of my status as a prodigy in the field of psychoanalysis."

"And that is every one here, yeah Cameron? What a very interesting cast of characters we all are. Different countries, different skills... I wonder why we were all kidnapped by the same person?"

"For ransom, mayhap?"

"The spirits tell me it's probably vampires."

"WHO CARES?!?! What matters is getting out of here! If I stay ashore too long, I get landsick!"


>It's because of our talents

>It's because we're all famous

>It's because we're all teenagers

>Remain silent

>>1954621
Ivan is even more Russian, isn't it?

>Remain silent
They are all plebs anyway, what is their opinion worth?

>>1954621

>It's because of our talents
I mean, c'mon, these kids no what happened before, right?

>I'm Pauline Van Dyck, professional asshole
Thank God she's self-aware, at least.

>>1954621
>>It's because of our talents

>>1954646
>>1954671
"It's because of our talents."
"Pardon, friend? What do you mean by that?"
You pinch the bridge of your nose and inhale, gathering the mental fortitude to accept what your subconscious had already realized.

"Think for a second. We're all high-schoolers: in fact, I'm willing to bet that we're all sophomores. We're each extremely talented in a particular field. And now we've been kidnapped to a remote, fortified location. There's only one thing that could be happening here."

The room falls silent.

"W-w-w-what are you implying?"

"But... there hasn't been one of those in 20 years!"

"And that group... the Remnants of Despair... weren't they dismantled?"

"I don't know, but this is clearly-"

File: Spoiler Image (91 KB, 570x428)

91 KB JPG

>>1954705
"A KILLING GAME!"

>>1954709
The voice booms out from the air as a panel in the wall flips over, revealing a monitor currently displaying a well-dressed figure in a mask sitting behind a blood-stained desk. His suit is a deep, rich red, while his tie is split down the middle: one side as white as bone, the other as black as sin. His mask is smooth and featureless, without color save for a mocking, snaggle-tooth grin painted in black marker on the left side. The eye-glass is mismatched: the one on the right is black, but on the left, its been tinted crimson. A bobblehead in the shape of a similarly-themed bear mascot rests on the desk, alongside several stacks of paper, a set of desk toys shaped like a Breaking Wheel, a rack, and a guillotine, and a sign that says "Principal Scarlet".

"You can spoil my introduction all you want, but I won't let you take THAT away from me! Oh, it loses so much of the impact without all of you in the same place, but I've waited WAY too long to get to say that to let some pretentious brat steal it from me!"

The cafeteria erupts in panic. Helen somehow goes even more pale and begins to shake slightly. Others begin to cry, or yell. You notice that only yourself, Ivan, and Roy have maintained your composure. Okitsumi bellows, grabs a chair, and flings it at the monitor: in mid-flight, the chair is shredded apart with a *thwip-thwip* noise, as wire bursts from another panel and strings itself between chair and monitor.

>ULTIMATE FILM DIRECTOR: This, too, was deliberate. He might have been hoping for a greater effect by doing this with all 16 people in one room, but he still had carefully set up the whole situation to create anxiety that his announcement could then exploit.

The masked man wags a finger and speaks in a mockingly paternal tone.

"Now, I'll forgive you kiddies that one, since the game hasn't officially started, but the next time you try to break my toys... well, I'll break you. Now, since there's no point in delaying anymore, let's just give your Handbooks the apps you'll need!"

A chorus of pings erupts from all around you; including in your jacket. You take out your handbook and see that three new apps just installed themselves onto your book: a "Map" app, a "Rules" app, and a "Phone" app.

>Look at the map first

>Look at the rules first

>Look at the phone first

>>1954760
>Look at the rules first

>>1954760
>>Look at the rules first

>>1954760
>Look at the rules first

>>1954760
>>Look at the rules first

>>1954768
>>1954770
>>1954816
>>1954866
You open us the "Rules" app, and a list written in red font on a black background pops up:

1. As long as the Killing Game is ongoing, leaving the play area is strictly forbidden.
2. Whenever a player is successfully murdered by another player (hereafter referred to as "The Blackened"), after a certain period of time (determined by the Arbitrator) a trial will commence: during this trial, the players will debate on who the Blackened is, and then vote. If the majority vote correctly, the Blackened will be executed and the game will continue. If they vote incorrectly, the Blackened will win and be allowed to leave the play area, and all other players will be executed.
3. If there are two remaining players, those players will win and be allowed to leave the play area.
4. If the players can successfully solve the "Mystery of the Killing Game", then the players will all win and be allowed to leave the play area.
5. Play will continue until one of the three previous victory conditions is met.
6. Damaging the Arbitrator's equipment (which include, but are not limited to: monitors, cameras, key rings, Handbooks, and microphones) is forbidden.
7. Trespassing in certain facilities during the night (here defined as the period between 10PM and 8AM local time) is forbidden. The cafeteria is one of these areas: others will be specified as they become relevant.
8. The play area will expand after each Class Trial, up to an upper limit.
9. Violation of ANY of the Killing Game rules results in instant disqualification and execution.
10 These rules may be amended as the Arbitrator sees fit.

"I hope these rules aren't too tedious for you kids to read: all this modern technology's really made focusing hard for you guys!"

>Look at the map next

>Look at the phone next

>>1954877
>>Look at the phone next

>>1954877
>Look at the phone next

>If the players can successfully solve the "Mystery of the Killing Game", then the players will all win and be allowed to leave the play area.
Now this is an intriguing little addition. I'm sure it won't happen, but I wonder if it would be possible for us to get everyone out of this unscathed. This is the first time everyone that's been dumped into one of the killing games has at least some meta-knowledge of the previous ones. (Well, the DR3 anime not withstanding.)

>>1954877
>>Look at the phone next

>>1954897
>>1954901
>>1954904
You open up the phone, and are redirected to a list of contacts, 16 people long: 15 real names followed by talents, and a last number that reads "Principal Scarlet-Ultimate Arbitrator". You notice that the call function is disabled.

"I know how hard it is for kids these days to interact face-to-face, so consider this my gift to you future hikkis! You can text each other whenever you want! Although... I have to warn you, reception out here's a bit weird, so there's a 5-minute delay between a message being sent and received, so... unless you're really patient, meeting face-to-face might be the best option."

"Oh, and I almost forgot! If you ever want to ask for a clarification in private, just text my number: I'm always ready to help you aspiring kids succeed in life!"

>>1955087
Apologies for no real map yet, will make one soon: I just have total potato drawing skills.
You open the map tab: a crude floorplan of a 4-story building with a basement pops up. Most of the rooms are labeled "classroom", except for a few noteworthies on each floor:
B1F: Loading Bay, Power Room, Ultimate Occultist's Lab, Building Courtroom, The Front Door.
1F: Cafeteria, Dorms, Ultimate Medievalist's Lab.
2F: A/V Room, Gym, Ultimate Traditional Gamer's Lab.
3F: Gaming Room, Pharmacy, Class Store.
4F: Ultimate Acolyte's Lab.
Light-up labels with the names you've spotted in your phonebook glow in various rooms: you can see your own in the Cafeteria.

"The Power Room is part of the play area, but be careful in there! You damage those generators, and not ONLY will you be executed, but you could take the entire building with you!
The Class Store... well, I call it a store, but it's really just a place where you can go get things, free of charge! I mean, unless one of you wants to run it as a store or something.
The Pharmacy is full of modern medicines, recreational drugs, and poisons: be careful not to OD!
Your Ultimate Labs are places where you can hone your talents: just because you're in a Killing Game doesn't mean you should slack off! They also have some things you might find useful for the game!
Those labels tell you where everyone is: it's no fair if you become the Blackened and then try to hide from the trial! By the way, I'm recording this so that those kids who weren't here can catch up. Now, everyone fight for your survival in this game of life and death! I'll be watching you!!!!..."

The twisted figure flickers off the screen, and leave you all standing there.

"This... this is a joke, right? Ha...ha..hahaha."

"Another Killing Game?"

"Why us? We aren't even really Ultimates: the Future Foundation hadn't scouted us..."

"Yeah... the Future Foundation wouldn't let something like this happen, right? It must just be a prank show..."


>...

>We need to find the others. Everyone stick together in groups of three or more.

>We need to get out, now! Everyone to the Front Door!

>>1955146
>We need to find the others. Everyone stick together in groups of three or more.

>>1955146
>>We need to find the others. Everyone stick together in groups of three or more.

>>1955146
>>We need to get out, now! Everyone to the Front Door!

>>1955146
>We need to find the others. Everyone stick together in groups of three or more.

>>1955146
>We need to find the others. Everyone stick together in groups of three or more.
>I've seen enough so-called "horror" movies to know going alone tends to make people targets.

>>1955515
>>1955164
>>1955167
You get up. "We have to find the others. Everyone! Get into groups of three or more and use your maps. We'll meet back here when all 16 of us are accounted for."

"H-h-hey, wouldn't we cover more ground if we each went on our ow-"

You cut Okitsumi off, projecting your voice to cut through any crosstalk. "That's out of the question! If this is a Killing Game, we need to make sure no one has an opportunity to murder someone. That means no one should be alone or in pairs."

"B-but surely none of us would-"

"I'm not saying any of us would, I'm saying we need to consider the possibility. None of us want to die, right?
There's nine of us here now, so we'll be working in three groups of three. Two groups should go and get two others, and the last will get the remaining three. We meet back up here when all 16 of us are accounted for and plan our next move."

You start discussing who should go with who to GET whom.

>Present Ultimates: Ultimate Film Director, Ultimate Acolyte, Ultimate Angler, Ultimate Psychologist, Ultimate Marksman, Ultimate Medievalist, Ultimate Occultist, Ultimate Comedienne, Ultimate Diplomat.

>Missing Ultimates: Ultimate Survivalist (Location: 4th floor classrooms), Ultimate Herbalist (Location: Pharmacy), Ultimate Driver (Location: Gym), Ultimate Archivist (Location: A/V Rooms), Ultimate Ecologist (Location: Loading Bay), Ultimate Traditional Gamer (Location: Ultimate Traditional Gamer's Lab), Ultimate Brawler (Location: Front Doors)

Assemble rescue parties and designate who they'll retrieve.

>>1955629
Group 1
>Ultimate Film Director (Us)
>Ultimate Marksman
>Ultimate Occultist
retrieve
>Ultimate Herbalist (Location: Pharmacy)
>Ultimate Survivalist (Location: 4th floor classrooms)

Group 2
>Ultimate Diplomat
>Ultimate Medievalist
>Ultimate Psychologist
retrieve
>Ultimate Archivist (Location: A/V Rooms)
>Ultimate Driver (Location: Gym)
>Ultimate Traditional Gamer (Location: Ultimate Traditional Gamer's Lab)

Group 3
>Ultimate Comedienne
>Ultimate Angler
>Ultimate Acolyte
retrieve
>Ultimate Ecologist (Location: Loading Bay)
>Ultimate Brawler (Location: Front Doors)

This way each group goes and picks up the people on that same floor, and don't have to move around too much and take too many potential risks.

>>1955629
Group 1
>Ultimate Film Director, Ultimate Psychologist, Ultimate Marksman
Retrieve:
>Ultimate Herbalist (Location: Pharmacy)
>Ultimate Survivalist (Location: 4th floor classrooms)

Group 2
>Ultimate Occultist, Ultimate Comedienne, Ultimate Acolyte
Retrieve:
>Ultimate Archivist (Location: A/V Rooms)
>Ultimate Driver (Location: Gym)
>Ultimate Traditional Gamer (Location: Ultimate Traditional Gamer's Lab)

Group 3
>Ultimate Angler, Ultimate Medievalist, Ultimate Diplomat.
Retrieve:
>Ultimate Ecologist (Location: Loading Bay)
>Ultimate Brawler (Location: Front Doors)

>>1955767
Seconding this

>>1955767
I'll support this

I just got an idea, we can't damage the cameras.
Buuuut whats stopping us from OBSTRUCTING the cameras?

>>1955767
Supporting this

>>1956582
>Buuuut whats stopping us from OBSTRUCTING the cameras?
The moment we do this the rules will be amended. So this is a one-use plan.

>>1955767
>>1955792
>>1955792
>>1955798
"Each group needs at least one person capable of fighting... you know, in case things go bad."

"I shall protect Madam Botha, you can rely upon it!"

"I will go with Ivan; between my muscles and the power of the stars, there's no way we'll be defeated!"

"...I'll work with whoever's left."

"Okay, excellent. Now, to figure out who will be the third person in each of these groups..."

"Ooh, ooh, I wanna be with the bangable guy- I mean, the bang guy! You know, because... guns?"

"...I don't like kids."

"Hey, I'll have you know-"

"I think it is best if friend Pauline go with friend Okitsumi and myself: she is small and fragile, and needs protection."

"But I wanna!-"

"PARDON?"

"...Okay."

"Well, I think I shall accompany Mr. Cameron: I'd love a chance to talk to him about his clear complexes."

"Is CHIVALRY a complex?!"

"...Yes, and no."

"Well, I guess that leaves us, huh Albert?"

Helen smiles at you; you're amazed she can still do something like that in this dire situation into which you have been thrust.

"I suppose. Now, about who should go where-"

"I am thinking that my group should go and get friend Alexandria and the girl in the loading bay"

"Eh, sounds good: I don't like to walk. Hey, Okitsumi, carry me."

"What? That's ridiculous!"

"What's ridiculous is those guns you're packing, son. Va-va-VOOM! You think you could let my boy Roy over there take them for a spin, if ya know what I'm sayin'?"

"...何?"

"...There's three people on the second floor. ...Maybe they've already met? ...We should stop any misunderstandings."

"And I suppose that means we have die Reste. Well, I can't object to this; it was my idea. Sei vorsichtig mit deinen Wünschen..."

Your groups take off to their respective destinations. In your mismatched trio's case, that means heading to the pharmacy.

The pharmacy looks very much like the set you used when doing guest work on "Sand Through the Hourglass", but there are things that a set never replicates. The first thing is the temperature: the air is cool in here, flirting with outright cold in places. The second is the smell: stale, and vaguely chemical, with overtones of... something overpoweringly herbal?

The source of the scent becomes obvious as a towering figure rounds the corner of a shelf, oblivious to the group. His face is gaunt, with sunken eyes and hollow cheeks, but his frame seems to be sinewy and deceptively powerful. His clothes are patchwork, tattered things, covered in pockets and suspect stains. His hair is long, black, and unkempt, rolling halfway down his broad back like some strange lichen. He's carrying a jar of- are those mushrooms?- under an arm. He stops when he sees you, and his eyes widen.

"So I'm not alone! Thank God. Please, can you tell me what's going on here?"

>A Killing Game. A lot like THAT Killing Game. Come with us.

>Just come with us, we'll explain later.

>What are you doing with those?

>>1957072
>A Killing Game. A lot like THAT Killing Game. Come with us.
>What are you doing with those?

>>1957072
>>What are you doing with those?

>>1957129
seconding this

>>1957129
Thirding this

>>1957129
Fourthing this.

>>1957129
>>1957528
>>1957540
>>1957578
"We've been kidnapped by someone eager to re-create the seminal event of the Tragedy. It's safest if you come with us."

"You mean... the Killing Games?"

"...Unfortunately, yes. Come with us: we're holding a strategy session to try and figure out how to escape."

"Good idea."

"By the way... what were you doing with those mushrooms?"

"I was going to make something to relax myself, so I could think about what to do next. Lots of recreational drugs have valuable medicinal uses when properly used."

>Did you notice anything interesting about the stock?

>Really? I would never have guessed.

>That's nice, but we need to pick up someone else.

>>1957652
>That's nice, but we need to pick up someone else.

>>1957652
>>That's nice, but we need to pick up someone else.

>>1957652
>That's nice, but we need to pick up someone else.

>>1957652
>>That's nice, but we need to pick up someone else.

>>1957665
>>1957764
>>1958045
>>1958161
"Very interesting, I'm sure, and you can tell us all about it- later. Please come with us."

"Oh, sorry. Be right behind you!"

You head up to the fourth floor, and follow the indicator on your Map to one of the "classrooms" (it looks like this one was some kind of small library). In the middle of this, a bronzed, muscular fellow dressed in khaki pants and a shirt is tearing pages out of the books and... piling them up on the ground in some kind of oblong mess. He looks up and smiles at the sound of the door.

"Ah, hello! I was just busy making a bed. Would you happen to know how I got here?"

"You've been kidnapped. There's a Killling Game happening. Listen, can we talk about this in the cafeteria? All of us are going to meet up there to try and figure a way out."

"There isn't one, I'm afraid. All the windows are blocked and all the doors are sealed tight, except the front door. But, that one appears to be heavily reinforced, like a vault. So, we should simply adjust to living here forever, yes?"

>Maybe you're right, but you should still come with us.

>There has to be something we missed! Don't give up so easily!

>You don't have all the information: there is a way out.

>>1958545
>>There has to be something we missed! Don't give up so easily!

>>1958545
>You don't have all the information: there is a way out.

>>1958545
>There has to be something we missed! Don't give up so easily!

>>1958545
>There has to be something we missed! Don't give up so easily!
Rousing speech?

>>1958545
>There has to be something we missed! Don't give up so easily!
It's not proper kíñô without a rousing speech.

>>1958580
>>1958659
>>1958982
>>1958997

"Look, there has to be something we've missed. Mein Gott, you cannot seriously be considering living in this place for the rest of your life! You must have a family, friends, a dog- SOMETHING! Think about them!"

"I am: if I die here, they probably will never know. But if I wait, there's a chance I will be rescued. So, I'll wait."

"Don't give up so easily-"

"I'm not giving up. I'm making the best decision I can in these circumstances: removing myself from a dangerous environment and establishing personal safety."

>I don't care, you're coming with us anyways.

>Fine, do your own thing.

>I'm not asking you to join us forever: just hear us out.

>>1959154
>I'm not asking you to join us forever: just hear us out.

>>1959154
>I'm not asking you to join us forever: just hear us out.
Listen, there's a bunch of stuff you don't know, there might be another way out.

>>1959154
>>I'm not asking you to join us forever: just hear us out.

>>1959192
>>1959205
>>1959285
"Look, all I'm asking is for you to hear us out: there's a lot of information you probably don't have, and there might be a way out that you couldn't have found."

"'Couldn't' have found? Alright, now I'm a bit interested. I'll attend this meeting of yours."

Your fully-assembled group meets back up with the others. You look around at the five new faces:

-Alexandria Economides, the Ultimate Brawler is sleek, and attractive in an Amazonian way; her copper hair is cut in a short, mannish style, and her skin is covered in scar tissue. She's wearing gym shorts and a loose, sleeveless top.

-Giovanna Maroni, the Ultimate Archivist peers out at the world from within thick layers of cloth: her ears are covered by muffs, and her eyes are behind a set of black glasses. She twiddles with a pencil with gloved hands.

-Christina Murray, the Ultimate Driver is dressed in a white crash jacket, jeans, and a driving cap. Her face is as still and dark as the deepest lakes.

-Christina HESS, the Ultimate Traditional Gamer, is sitting at one end of a table, writing feverishly in a notebook. Her black hair is pulled back in a bun, and her shirt, coat, and pants are covered in a complex geometric pattern: focusing on it, you can see that it appears to be a mix of square and hexagonal grids, and the profiles of various-sided dice.

-Ruby Willoughby, the Ultimate Ecologist, is relaxing at the other end in her floral shirt, denim skirt, and grubby skin. A small stuffed koala hangs off of one of her skirt loops.

Ivan waves as you enter. "Ah, friends! We're all here, and no one was killed! Very good result! Now, we start strategy session, yes?"

Hess looks up at the word "session".

"Well, I don't think we can escape easily: most of us seem to have STR as a dumpstat, and if we try to escape, the campaign will probably become really combat-heavy."

"Yo, what're you talking about?"

"Yeah, I don't think any of us caught that nerd shit."

"Well, it's not my fault you prioritized CHA over INT; Bard is a low-tier class anyways."

"I didn't understand half of that, but I'm still pissed off!"

"Hess, take this seriously! Pauline, don't respond!"

"I think that since fiend Wiene had the idea to do this, maybe he should lead us off?"
Ivan looks at you and gives you an encouraging little smile that, like all of his expressions, doesn't quite reach his eyes.

>Let's start with the third condition.

>Let's start by laying some ground rules.

>Let's start by sharing some info.

>>1959355
>>Let's start by sharing some info.

>>1959355
>Let's start by sharing some info

>>1959355
>Let's start by sharing some info.

>>1959393
>>1959434
>>1959852
"Alright, let's start by sharing what we've all learned. I'll lead with the obvious: we have been trapped in a building and are being forced to kill each other in a way similar to the infamous Killing Games of the Tragedy."

"There's no way out of the building as far as I can find, and I've looked all over"

"I tried beating the front door down, but that shit must be made out of titanium or something!"

"The material through the windows looks pretty solid. I don't think that, if we broke through the glass, we could take it down."

"So we are trapped in here after all."

>For now, it would seem so.

>We should try to force the front doors together after this

>Not quite: there is the third condition

>>1960053
>>Not quite: there is the third condition

>>1959355
>/TG/ GIRL
>ALL HER STAT AND CLASS BANTER
I LOVE HER ALREADY! Too bad we're above such childish things as "vidya and board games".

>>1960053
>Not quite: there is the third condition
Yeah, we just have to have everyone contain their autism long enough for us to seek a way out through clues.
Oh who am I kidding, all the important shit that'll help us figure this out and leave are gonna be locked away in the future areas anyway, so the slaughter is inevitable like the games. Fucking RIP, though we don't know this IC. Right now the others need the Hope, so going with this option.

>>1960053
>Not quite: there is the third condition

The fact that that's even in the rules to begin with tells me it's a "Hope spot" intended to induce despair.
Like we have to sacrifice people to uncover the secret, or something.

>>1960092
>>1960159
>>1960195
"Not quite: there is the third condition, remember?"

"Yeah: 'If the players solve the Mystery of the Killing Game, all players win and will be allowed to leave the play area.'"

"What the hell's the 'Mystery of the Killing Game', though?"

"Maybe it has something to do with how we got here?"

"Yeah, or where 'here' is in the first place!"

"I don't like it: it smells like a trap option, like taking anything but Power Attack for your Fighter's first feat."

"What, so the Mystery of the Killing Game is, like, a spiked pit?"

"...Maybe one of us has trapfinding?"

You slam your hands on the table. "Will you stop with your nonsense?! If we don't keep the goal in sight, we'll end up walking into the Mastermind's trap!"

"Okay, friend Albert: let's say this Mystery is out there. How do we solve it?"

"Well..."

"Ah, I thought so. Not that I blame you: I do not think any of us have an idea about what it might be. So, for now, I think we should get some rest, and then, tomorrow, we can take another look around, see if we can find anything. That's reasonable, yeah?"

"I can get behind that!"

"...If that helps keep everyone focused."

"I don't intend to look around for anything... but if I find something, I'll be sure to let the rest of you know."

And just like that, it was decided: no one seemed to want to speak up against Arkady: it must be that commanding presence that makes him the Ultimate Acolyte...

You all decide to retire to your "dorms"; although in truth, they look like on-site apartments. After locating a laundry room near the entrance (apparently undifferentiated from the Dorms on the map), you open up your apartment with one of the two keys; you vaguely wonder what the other one is for; or what the key fob is.

The closet is full of careful reproductions of your current outfit: black skinny jeans, a plain black T-shirt, and your Armani jacket. There are also a number of berets lining the top of the shelf for some reason: you hate hats of any kind in general (they ruin your carefully-styled hair), so you have no idea why Mr. Scarlet would put them in. You strip down to your underwear and crawl under the covers.

So... you're so far out of your element that you've honestly been fighting down a panic attack for the entire day. You're a FILM DIRECTOR, for God's sake! Life-and-death games of murder and intrigue are so far removed from your world that it almost feels like this all must be some kind of fever dream. Even though you managed to get everyone else together under your direction for now (Save Vargas, but you're sure you can bring him around eventually), you aren't sure you can handle the stress of a Killing Game for long.

>>1960195
That's always the thing with the killing games. You have no choice but to trust in the mastermind because their word is law and it would undermine the game if they were dishonest, but they've constructed the game in such a way that anything that may help the students also risks causing a murder

>>1960353
A Killing Game... You have some familiarity with the Killing Games of the past; you had to do background research for "The Day the World Died". The most promising students of Hope's Peak, forced to murder each other by Junko Enoshima and Izuru Kamukura; the monstrous ringleaders of the terrorist group that caused a temporary collapse of global stability: Ultimate Despair.
But after Junko died when the Killing Game she designed for the 78th class backfired on her, Ultimate Despair splintered into the groups known collectively as "The Remnants of Despair", and, several years later, Izuru Kamakura's cell (which was viewed by most others as the successor to Junko's) was neutralized during their attempt to force a Killing Game on the leaders of the Future Foundation itself. These days, the Remnants of Despair are virtually nonexistent; certainly not capable of something of this scale. So who is behind this? Who would do something so horrid to innocents yet again?

Pondering these heavy questions, you drift off into an uneasy sleep...

You wake up at 9AM the next day, your sheets tangled around your legs. After extricating yourself from the mess, you get dressed and stumble off to the kitchen.

You find Christina Hess, Giovanna, and Ruby eating together at a table, while Pauline plays with a ball-and-cup toy in a corner. Ruby waves at you.

"G'day, mate! Wanna rustle up some grub and join us? The rest of the blokes are out takin' a walkabout to find the mystery, but we've decided ta pool our knowledge and help from the backline!"

"And I'm just here because I'm lazy."


>Sure, why not.

>I'd rather get to work as soon as possible.

>Sorry, but... Pauline and I were going to do something, isn't that right, Pauline?

>>1960439
>Sorry, but... Pauline and I were going to do something, isn't that right, Pauline?

>>1960439
>>Sorry, but... Pauline and I were going to do something, isn't that right, Pauline?

>>1960460
>>1960700
"I'm sorry, but I'm already going to do something with Pauline, isn't that right?"

Pauline finally manages to land the ball in the cup. "Nah, you're just stuck-up and don't want to eat with plebs."

"Bluff check failed."

>Well I guess I'll just eat on my own, then.

>I just wanted to sit with Pauline, okay?

>FINE, I'll sit with you three.

>>1960439
>Sure, why not.

>>1960767
>>Well I guess I'll just eat on my own, then.

>>1960767
>FINE, I'll sit with you three.

>>1960767
>FINE, I'll sit with you three.
>Maybe some of my class rubs off on you

Identifying persons of interest:

Combat: Brawler (obviously), Marksman (if we obtain a ranged weapon), Medievalist, Angler, possibly Survivalist

Medicine: Herbalist, probably Survivalist

Utility: Survivalist, Medievalist, possibly Driver (if she knows her way around the garage)

Puzzle solving and detective work: Us.

Threats: all Combat people, Hebalist (poisons), Acolyte (charismatic and manipulative)

Plebs: Everyone but us.

>>1960887
Forgot to add that Archivist could too be possibly of some small use in puzzle solving and detective work. Not nearly as much as us, of course.