“Ezra, I need you to watch over the game for a while.”
“How long, boss?”
Apollo sighed.
“6 hours. Might be quicker.”
“Okay. But, what if someone gets killed?”
“It’s fine because the timer automatically updates. You don’t need to announce it to everyone. Might make it more fun if they found bodies for themselves.”
“No, I mean… when they d-”
“I’ll find somewhere, okay? When I come back. Just watch over, that’s all you have to do.”
Apollo grabbed his keys, walked out and locked the door, trapping Ezra inside.
Apollo went to the room on the right of Floor 18. There was a large table with 20 different people sitting there who looked like business men and women.
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Ezra booted up the simulation on one of the headsets the moment Apollo left.
Click.
“Ow!”
His body instantly loaded into the simulation. No role or disc. The System didn’t know he entered.
“What the hell?” Steve shouted.
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[Now…]
Ezra tightened his grip on Sol’s gun.
“I’ll bring them back here, Soleil.”
“So what’s in it for you?” Selene sighed.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re choosing to rescue us, instead of all the others before us. There must be a reason for that. And there must be a reason why you’re choosing to keep us alive either. Depends if you’re lying about this whole dying thing though.”
Ezra sighed before shaking his head.
“You remember the missing cases back in October 2031?”
“Wasn’t one Ayla?” Ali questioned.
“Apollo’s previous right hand.” Selene scratched her face. “What’s that have to do with-”
“Ayla tried to help a group before, and was unsuccessful. Didn’t any of you realise how four entrepreneurs on the same day went missing and presumed dead?!” Ezra slammed the table. “Why can’t you trust me! There’s no other reason for me to come in here to do this other than what I’m telling you. I want to save you because I can’t cope seeing more people fall into the… evil, twisted hands of Apollo.”
There was a short silence. Steve and Robin glared at each other.
“Sorry. I just want to help. Do it, Soleil.”
“I wouldn’t have a problem shooting you if it didn’t kill me.”
“It won’t. Like I said, the System doesn’t know me. I’m not a Civilian so you shouldn’t die with me.”
Sol sighed, looking at Robin before scanning the rest of the room.
“Alright, I’m calling a vote. All in favor of trusting this guy, raise your hand.”
Ali, Leya, Robin, Felix, Sable and Eva raised their hands. Sol also raised his own hand before placing his hand back on the gun.
Cres, Kieran, Selene and Steve did not raise their hand.
“Alright. 7 to 4.”
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Sol hesitated before pulling the trigger.
Click.
…
“I think you have the safety on.” Robin chuckled.
“Hold on, little guy.” Steve stepped forward.
BANG!
…
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His body lay in front of them.
It looked so… realistic.
His blood splashed onto some of the participants.
Selene screamed immediately and everyone except Sol, Kieran and Steve looked away from the body.
“SOLEIL! I wasn’t finished!” Steve nudged him.
“Finished what?”
“I was going to ask him more questions. What if he really is dead? Huh?”
“I… I’m sorry.”
Selene leant against a wall, trying to catch her breath. Felix rubbed her back, saying something in French that nobody understood.
“Should his body disappear? I really don’t want to keep looking at… that.” Robin gulped.
“Why would it?” Kieran smirked.
“I don’t trust Ezra anyway.” Cres shook her head. “Leya, come with me for one minute.”
“Woah, wait.” Kieran stood up. “Why the hell do you want her?”
Sol looked at his gun, stained with Ezra’s blood.
“I just need to talk to her about something private. Business. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” Cres chuckled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. You just seem a little too young.”
“I’m 21. You probably just want to take her away to kill her, don’t you? Well, bad move, because once we all see Leya dead, all fingers point to you.”
Leya sighed before standing up, grabbing an orange juice from the cafe refrigerator before turning around to Cres.
“Surely we should wait for Ezra, first.” She poked a hole with a straw.
“Pfft. No. You do realize it's one big lie, right?” Cres rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s no real evidence in what he said. The missing cases are probably coincidences-” Steve said, before getting interrupted with Sable’s facepalm.
“Got something to say?” Selene side-eyed Sable.
“You fail to give a reason as to why he would lie in the first place. Why would he choose to go in here and tell us those things if he wasn’t being genuine?”
“That’s why I don’t trust him. He has no reason. He must want something out of us, and I’m not following it. Whether what he said about us dying or not.” Cres opened the door. “Come on, Leya.”
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…
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Creak!
Ezra got out of his seat.
“Oh, shit.”
12 PLAYERS LEFT.
“No… NO!”
He read the information displayed to him on the centre screen.
DEATH: VERA FAIRFIELD
ROLE: CIVILIAN
REASON: MURDERER’S KILL
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Her blood was splattered across the floor and the machine she was formerly hooked to. Her body was completely fried by the badge she wore. It displayed colours of orange and purple. It couldn’t detect life.
“I can still save… the rest of them.”
He turned to the computer and found Ciara’s location, tracking her in the simulation.
“Are you freaking kidding me?”
He found Ciara in a red car driving on a large rural road that led to the beach.
“What is she doing?”
There was a microphone next to Ciara’s chair.
“Ciara!” He shouted through the microphone.
“Woah!” Ciara gasped. “What the hell… who was that?”
“Ezra. Look, you need to stop driving now and go back.”
“How are you in my head? Damn, that technology really has advanced.” Ciara sped up. “I’m not going back till this game ends. Is something important going on that I need to know?”
“Where are you going, Ciara?”
“I could lie and say nowhere, but you’ll just track me, won’t you? I’m going to the beach. If I can stay away then I can’t get killed.”
“You running off made everyone suspicious of you. Including me. Are you the murderer? Be honest.”
“You should know, you’re in control.”
“I’m not, actually.”
“Why do you need me to return to them? Because they’re asking?”
“No. Well, yes, but I need to help you and everyone else escape.”
“Escape?”
Ezra had no choice but to explain everything he had explained to the others.
…
“Na.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“You expect me to go back there? Your plan makes no sense, how are we actually going to escape? The quickest way possible is by killing the murderer, that would genuinely kill the murderer, no?”
“I just need you to return, and we can convince whoever the murderer is to-”
“To kill themselves?”
“I can’t risk everyone dying. Vera already is. I wouldn’t be able to cope knowing I could’ve done something.”
“Then end it! You don’t need me because I’m NOT the murderer, damn it!”
Ciara gasped.
“Wait. The simulation only simulates the uh… city, right?”
“Well, yes. It would take too much effort to simulate the entire country.”
“If this is anything like a game… Ezra. I could escape, and so could everyone else without the need of someone being killed.”
Ezra scratched his head.
“I… see your point. I just don’t know how the System would react. It could still kill you if you go out of bounds.”
“Risk worth taking. There’s a chance it does nothing and I stay here just to die, I fall out of bounds and exit the game or I die as a result of leaving.”
“I think you should wait before making any rash decisions. If anything, I’ll make everyone come to you.”
“No. Don’t. Let them play the game but make sure nobody isolates themselves from anybody else, otherwise things like Vera will happen. Let me take the risk. If I’m unsuccessful, then you can do your plan. Now get out of my head.”
Ezra slammed the microphone down, screaming to himself.
“SHIT!”
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The sound of his scream echoed loud enough for Apollo to hear from the other room.
One businessman asked “What was that?”
“Hmm. I believe it’s my assistant.” Apollo stood up. “I’ll see what’s wrong.”
He stood up and transferred himself from the meeting to the simulation room.
He unlocked the door.
Clack.
“Ezra?”
No response.
He scanned his eyes and noticed Vera’s body lying on the chair. He walked over and grabbed the badge, putting it in his pocket.
“Ezra! No!”
“Fuck you, Apollo.” Ezra whispered before putting on the headset.
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Bzzt.
“Maybe he’s a masochist?” Steve shrugged.
“What the actual fuck?” Robin walked off.
“Ezra? Ezra! Did you find them? Are they coming back?” Ali rushed over to Ezra who spawned behind the counter next to Eva.
Ezra stared at Ali before shivering. His hand was in his pocket.
“Apollo. No.”
“You did this to yourself, Ezra.” Apollo’s voice echoed throughout the simulation.
“Have fun.”
Apollo typed on the keyboard, adding Ezra to the code. His dead body from earlier disappeared. He felt the disc in his pocket and decided to take it out in front of everybody.
A shotgun generated in front of him.
He was a Hunter.
“Sol, listen. Vera. She’s dead.”
Everyone stood back as Sol pointed the gun towards him. Ali and Kieran just looked at each other before nodding and fleeing out of the door.
“Wait-”
“Ezra, you take one foot near us and I’ll shoot you again.”
Sable looked down, his speech slowing as he spoke until he couldn’t any more. “But if you’re telling the truth then that means…”
“Vera is dead.” Felix whispered.
“Wait, so if you’re a Hunter now and you have us all gathered here… defenseless… Was this your plan all along?” Selene questioned. “Apollo must’ve let you join along for your own personal reasons, right? All that shit you said meant nothing, and now you got what you wanted. A role. Sol, shoot him.”
“I’m not lying, Selene.” Ezra’s voice shook. “Ciara is at the beach. If her plan is successful, she might be able to escape without us needing to kill the murderer-”
“Pfft.” Steve shook his head. “Nice contradiction. You don’t want any of us dead because if we die here then we die in real life, so why would you want whoever the murderer is to die for us?”
“Because it’s the only way for us all to leave without more people dying! Or so I thought. If Ciara’s theory is right then…”
Robin looked at Sol before she placed her hand on the gun, lowering it for him.
“If we kill Ezra now and he’s telling the truth, he’s actually going to die.”
“I’m not going to put that stress on you.” Ezra grabbed the shotgun and pointed it towards himself.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Sable stepped forward, but Selene grabbed him and pulled him back.
“I have so many reasons to do this. You’ll need more time to find a way out of here, and even if I get out of here the same way Ciara might, Apollo will kill me. He knows what he’s done, and I won’t keep playing by his rules!”
“Wait. If you kill yourself, you can technically win. You need to kill one person to accomplish the win condition, right?” Robin thought for a minute.
“No. I need to win AND survive until the end of the game.”
“There’s other ways!”
“There isn’t. There’s no other way for me. I messed up the moment I stepped foot in this stupid fucking tower! So Apollo, I know you can hear me right now, but I won’t let you WIN! You’re the true murderer here, you vile monster! Whether you like it or not, you will be found out eventually. And I hope my missing case becomes the start of this investigation. All of you need to just trust what I said. I tried… so hard. So hard to keep you all safe. If any of you manage to get out, tell my family that I did this for the greater good.”
“No!” Sable pulled away from Selene before rushing to Ezra.
BANG!
Ezra’s body dropped to the floor.
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Ali and Kieran were still running away from the cafe.
“Kieran, it doesn’t make sense! Why are there two hunters?”
“I don’t know.”
“Apollo. He never said there was a fixed amount of each role! What if…”
“What if there’s more than one murderer?” Kieran nodded. “Yeah, I was thinking that. But the Deceptor knows who the Murderer is and vice versa, so surely the Deceptor must question why there’s more than one murderer, and the two murderers couldn’t possibly know eachother-”
Kieran walked straight into a lamppost.
“Oh my god!”
“I’m alright. Ow.”
“We’re here, anyway.”
The two were outside Leya’s store.
“There they are!” Kieran pointed, still on the floor.
“Dude, stand up.” Ali held his hand out, helping him up.
“What’s that thing in her hand?” Kieran squinted.
“Let’s just go in!”
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“I’m the Psychic, Leya.”
“Oh.” Kieran looked at Ali. “That explains that, then.”
“Shit!” Cres shoved the disc in her pocket.
“Hey, we aren’t gonna tell everyone and their moms.” Ali shrugged. “It’s fine, Cres. We aren’t anything evil.”
“You better not.” Leya shook her head.
“What are you then?” Kieran pointed to Leya.
“Civilian, what do you think? Look, Cres, do you wanna explain what’s going on?”
“Yeah, I may as well. I left so I could get a clue from my disc without anyone knowing I’m the Psychic. I thought maybe it would help me find our two missing cases. I took Leya with me because I know that I can trust her, and even if she was the Murderer or Hunter and she killed me, every finger would point to her if I died. Anyway, my clue was very revealing. I think Vera’s dead though.”
“What was the clue?” Kieran leaned in.
“It was more like a vision. I saw a wheelchair, and then Vera on the wheelchair but… dead. Except she was being pushed by a… clown? Then it was Ciara’s face, but with a large orange car over her head and dancing purple piles of sand…”
“What?” Ali chuckled.
“No clue what that meant, but there was also an X on Ciara’s shirt and a green flag on the car, as if to say that she’s not the person who possibly murdered her. And then purple and orange colours flashed before the vision just stopped.”
“It’s a Deceptor, that’s my theory. Just pointing out the obvious here but I feel like it’s too unfair to have abstract clues like that. And if the clown wasn’t even a person in here, then it must be a Deceptor trying to confuse Cres.” Leya put her hands on her knees as she sat down.
“But the Deceptor uses a disc, right? And nobody’s been alone to be able to use a disc except-”
“Except Ciara and Vera. But Vera’s dead. That’s what Ezra told us and that’s what you saw in the vision.”
It was silent for a few seconds as Ali and Cres both came to the realisation.
“That means…”
“Ciara’s the Deceptor.” Ali turned to Kieran, who was staring at the floor.
“So she might have run away somewhere to perform her deceptive abilities without being seen while allowing the murderer to work and while letting her stay safe from the Sheriff and Hunter.” Leya nodded.
“Hunters.” Kieran sighed.
“What?” Leya and Cres simultaneously questioned.
“We’ve discovered that multiple people can be of the same role. Ezra came back with a shotgun, but if he wasn’t assigned a role originally and Apollo gave it to him, then there’s a possibility that there could be 2 of the same role.” Ali looked down at his pocket.
“And Apollo never mentioned any fixed numbers.” Kieran added.
“There could be more Psychics?” Cres questioned.
“We’ll have to find out, won’t we? How does your clue thing work?” Ali sat down and shuffled towards Cres. Kieran sat down, too.”
“I ask a question and it answers… very cryptically.”
“Is that a word?” Kieran chuckled.
“Yes?” Leya genuinely looked concerned.
“I dunno.” Cres rubbed her nose. “Anyway, I’m guessing the Deceptor gets notified as my clue gets prepared so they can interrupt the clue while I’m receiving it.”
“How long did it take for your clue?” Leya asked.
“Like, a minute and a few seconds.”
“Ah.”
“So what do we do now? No point trying to find Ciara because she’s probably gone to the damn beach at this point.” Ali sighed.
…
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea.” Leya laughed.
“Huh?”
“She could’ve ran to the beach.”
“RAN???”
“Or drove.”
“Yeah, I’m not doing all that.” Kieran stood up. “We should get back to everyone else.”
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[Meanwhile…]
“Thank god he finally left me alone.” Ciara spoke to herself. “As if I’m actually gonna do that, gullible idiot.”
Ciara looked at the disc in her hand. Bright green.
“I tried to rush whatever idea I had into that vision but didn’t get to cover the whole thing… Hopefully they won’t suspect anything though.”
She sat on a beach chair as she watched the ocean.
“Apollo’s a bitch though. Why would he assign Murderer to two people and only tell me the name of one of them? Though I wonder if the other murderer knows who I am-”
It wasn’t moving. The ocean.
“Huh?”
She hesitantly walked over, placing her hand on the water.
“Wait, what the fuck?”
Her hand didn’t go in. It was as if it were ice instead of water. She stared in front of her before standing herself back up and walking on the water.
“Wait… what if this Ezra idiot is right?”
She sighed.
“Fuck it.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAGjapDwef
and then Add to home screen.