Day 10

[andascholar]

[Everything is terrible and Zelda has no time to mourn forever. She needs to make plans and solidify alliances. And so she is making invitations to her dressing room whenever boys are available.]

Comments

[locktouching]

[Oh he would normally love to make a crude joke about invitations to dressing rooms, but maybe now's a bad time.]

[Instead he's subdued as he comes in carrying a drink caddy with several items from the fast food menu. Iced tea, mango pineapple smoothie, coffee, caramel mocha, oreo mcflurry, etc...]

[The first thing he says is an apology.]

I'm sorry.

[andascholar]

[Niles this is awful you're going to make her cry again. Zelda looks away from him sharply, taking a deep breath and pressing her hand against her eyes before looking back. Her eyes are still slightly red, but other than that she looks entirely composed.] Thank you. I do not intend to let this stand.

[locktouching]

Drink something. I bet you're thirsty.

[Takes an iced tea for himself and sits on the floor.]

[andascholar]

[Zelda nods and opts for the iced tea, because it's cold and has a straw which is good when she still has difficulty with her hands.] It has been a long day. But it's not over. I... I heard, there were to be two hotel passes this round. I saw Ene's sacrifice, but, have we seen anything of the other? I'm afraid I've been... distracted.

[locktouching]

Poison gas.

One of the sets is sealed off now. It seems the victims are being taken care of... likely by more capable hands than mine...

[andascholar]

[Looks up at him sharply, her mind racing at a mile a minute over everything - more attacks on people's rooms, who was hurt this time, they have to stop this, she doesn't have Link to help her anymore and she's struggling to do much on her own Niles would be able to help Corrin too how do they find out who did this they need to stop them she needs to talk to McDonald she needs to find clues it's one of the zero voters go through your most likely suspects - but there's something about that sentence she has to address right now.] It wasn't your fault, Niles.

[locktouching]

I'm just not the healer I wanted to be.

[Not really meeting Zelda's stare.]

Anyway. I don't think whoever did that wanted to kill people. The victims are in pain, but they're not coughing blood at least. Mari and Rosa... their rescuers might have sucked in some of it, too.

[andascholar]

You healed me well enough. I'm alive thanks to your efforts.

[Right. Right also time to deal with. All that.]

...It does not matter, if they intended to kill or not. They put lives at risk. It is becoming the norm, and someone is already dead. I intend to put a stop to it.

But I cannot do it alone, not like this.

[locktouching]

It does matter. It's a clue. If you want to find who holds that pass, it's probably someone who can't bear to take a life.

[andascholar]

...I have a few suspects.

Of the zero voters, we have Charlie, Dee, Mac, Clover, Junpei, Snake, Ene, Ib, Mary, Nijimura and myself.

I believe we can rule out Ene as we saw her... bid, already. Ib was advocating to minimise the damage, and I doubt she would come up with it. Charlie, Dee, Mary and Snake were the ones left without a vote at the time, making them the most likely to try something desperate, but we cannot rule the others out.

Dee is a previous contestant here, and I believe she would have had to do drastic things in the previous cycle in order to survive. I would not put it past her, but as you said, I think she'd be willing to kill.

I asked Lotus why she had not cast a vote for Snake, and she said it was because she was waiting to see what he wanted. I'm suspicious that this means he was angling for the hotel pass.

[locktouching]

A shame I can't use my old contacts to check their backgrounds.

[Finishes his iced tea quickly and grabs the smoothie.]

So this is what you meant by not doing this alone. Well, you may be on to something. But then what? If you find out who is responsible, what will you do?

[andascholar]

Right now I want to behead them and stick their head on a pike to send a message to anyone else that plans to make such extreme bids in the future. But my best friend did just die, and I recognise that my decision making may not be at it's most rational. [STILL THO. WOULD LIKE.]

[locktouching]

[Nods and grips his hands around the smoothie cup.]

Yes. If something were to happen to Lord Corrin, I would do... unforgivable things. And then......

[He stops there, and glances up at Zelda.]

Are you still planning on making it through to the end on this?

[andascholar]

[Stares back at him, trying to breathe evenly. Getting each other worked up will not do any good. They both understand the situation.] Yes. There is no other choice now. Before... Before the attack, Link and I discussed forming an alliance with you and Corrin.

[locktouching]

Did you. I bet you weren't too happy with the thought of working alongside me.

Lord Corrin, though... he is someone that can be believed in more than anyone.

[andascholar]

[Small, wry smile] I was the one who suggested your name, actually. Your devotion to Corrin seemed true enough to warrant trusting you both.

[locktouching]

...Can I tell you something private?

It's not vile, I swear.

[andascholar]

Oh? Very well. Let's have your first test of trust.

[locktouching]

[Fishes something out of his pocket and holds out his hand to show it. There's a ring laying on his palm.]

I know he's a higher rank than me... and that our futures are uncertain... still, I've really fallen for him...

...I want to ask him to marry me.

[andascholar]

[...Oh! Oh!!!] Speaking as someone from Corrin's rank, I think you two would be well matched together.

[locktouching]

I hope so.

I may ask him tomorrow, if the situation allows.

[andascholar]

[If the situation allows ahahaha when has this place ever allowed for anything nice] I wish you luck.

[locktouching]

[Closes his hand around the ring.]

What else do we need to discuss? Plans?

[andascholar]

The alliance, an investigation into who placed, the poison gas, and... One more thing. If we are able to catch whoever did this, and secure their hotel pass, I want to use it on Lotus. She has tried to manipulate me into despicable things with the voting list before, and I do not trust her being in charge of the board while I am indisposed. I want her placed in the hotel as soon as possible.

[locktouching]

...Lotus.

She approached me today.

She said she's using her final vote on Clover... to double-vote her to the hotel. And she wanted me to use mine on Mary.

She was so persistent about it... offering me things no one should offer. And I caught her lying about Santa to press me into doing what she said.

My vote is still on Okuyasu, I told her if she wanted it so bad she'll have to ask him to volunteer for death herself. It looks like she took Link's passing as advantageous and went after Simon's vote.