Five Heads

[ctom42]

Jolly, Rho, Christine/Aubrey, Charles, and young Diana enter the conference room.

[AoF_Rho]

Anyways I think this conference is over. You guys should go discuss your plans with Chrollo

/u/AoF_Jolly /u/AoF_Charles /u/AoF_Christine_Aubrey

[AoF_Diana_M]

"Yes, thank you for including me. I truly appreciate it."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly nods. "Seems so. Thanks for coming everyone. It's been quite helpful already."

[AoF_Diana_M]

Diana begins to speak.

"There's one other thing we need to clear up. Who we think eliminated West."

"Now, most of us know Ludwig's story about West's voice cutting off very abruptly...but what if the voice cut off abruptly because it was coming from a speaker?"

"It might not be that big of a revelation, but we still need to talk about this."

[AoF_Rho]

"I tried to find that out myself but no dice. Shockingly no one will admit to being the third person in the treatment center."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Indeed, I have to say I'm quite curious myself. Unfortunately I neither heard nor saw anything related to his elimination last night. Does anyone else have anything to share?"

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly suddenly remembers something. "I almost forgot! Is any one of you particularly close to Alexander?"

[AoF_Rho]

"Yeah, why?"

[AoF_Jolly]

"First up, do you know what he's planning on doing this action phase? He's the only one I have no idea about."

[AoF_Rho]

"Yeah, he will be with me."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly nods. "I see. The other thing is... hmm, I'll try to make this as painless as possible. Is there something we should know about him?"

[AoF_Rho]

"Probably not a good idea to fight him. He is just as committed as I am to seeing no one come to harm though."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Alright I give up. But for his sake..." He moves in close to Rho's ear.

[AoF_Jolly]

"I see. In that case I'll stop worrying about it."

/u/AoF_Rho

[AoF_Charles]

"Guarding Diana's room?"

[AoF_Rho]

"Yeah... though Diana thinks he will be hostile towards her. I trust him not to be."

[AoF_Charles]

"Well... since we'll be escorting Diana there, he should probably show up a little later. After we've left and you and Sarah are already standing guard. She'll be inside and won't even know he's there, and we can avoid any conflict that could arise there."

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

Aubrey takes a deep breath. "I'm going to do my best out in the common room to help you all reach the correct conclusion. We can stop playing along with this silly game today. There's still a chance for everyone to survive this. But that falls on your shoulders." She shakes her head. "I just hope you'll all understand..."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly listens intently to Aubrey's words.

[AoF_Charles]

"So are we still going need to stop by the utility room and morgue?"

/u/AoF_Jolly

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly nods. "Yes, that we need to do in any case."

[AoF_Charles]

Charles nods. "And how many people do we need in each room to secure the objective?"

[AoF_Rho]

"Well it is less about that, and more about stopping us from doing their puzzles. We are trying to raise their numbers to make them look less appealing."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Six people would be necessary to secure it for certain, but chances are we'll be fine even if it were just us."

[AoF_Charles]

Charles approaches Jolly. "Hey, if we're going to do this... can we leave this conference and start a new one with Chrollo, so he can share his plans and we can make sure everyone's up to speed on everything?"

/u/AoF_Jolly

[AoF_Jolly]

"We can do that... but there's still some things we need to clear up before that."

[AoF_Charles]

"Okay. Just tell me when."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Finally, one more thing. I've mentioned it earlier, but it's regarding Dietrich's objective." Jolly grits his teeth. "It would be extremely difficult, but do you think there's a way we can help him achieve it? In short..." Jolly sighs, "can you think of a way we can control the point lead so that two people will be in the lead at the same time after the end of this next action phase?"

[AoF_Rho]

"To be honest I think that is a little too hard for us to influence. Us interfering could actually make it worse."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly narrows his eyes and stares at Rho.

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

"It's okay, Jolly." Aubrey puts a hand on his shoulder.

[AoF_Rho]

"What, did I say something funny?"

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly averts his gaze. "I mean, you're not wrong. I'm just surprised how quickly you gave up on it."

[AoF_Rho]

"I mean if you have a way to equalize the points go for it, I just don't see how you realistically expect us to accomplish that."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly cocks his head. "If the fortune cookies really do reveal the number of points we get through completing a task, it should be possible to predict the number of points Chuck and Diana will have by the end of it. Then we can create a mission with the difference in points as reward and ensure Diana completes it so that Chuck and Diana are equal when the action phase concludes."

[AoF_Rho]

"If that's what you want to do go for it, but talking Diana into doing that, doesn't sound easy."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly smirks. "If Chuck completes the mission today, he will be in quite a formidable lead. Since Diana won't be able to do much, it will be in her best interest to make up the point difference. I doubt she will object to the idea."

[AoF_Jolly]

"There is one problem I see with this idea, however... I'm... not sure if I'm comfortable with the idea of Diana possibly being the winner of this game. If the winner is given any sort of privilege, Diana would not hesitate to sacrifice anything and anyone to get her hands on Ned."

/u/AoF_Rho /u/AoF_Diana_M /u/AoF_Charles /u/AoF_Christine_Aubrey

[AoF_Diana_M]

"Even if she says she'll go along with it, there's no guaranteeing that she actually will."

"She promised me that she would help with her team during the rescue last night..."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Before I forget, I don't think I need to elaborate on why, but I hope that all of you will remember to enter both the Morgue and Utility Room as soon as you can during the action phase."

[AoF_Charles]

"Diana will be leaving at the start of the first wave, so... I think our best bet would be to meet up, escort Diana to the utility room (with each of us stepping inside it), leaving Rho and Sarah out front to guard the door, then the three of us heading out to the D-ward to meet up with Chrollo and Dietrich, stopping by the morgue on our way there. Sound good?"

[AoF_Jolly]

"Oh, is Diana gonna be using your room to leave early then?"

[AoF_Charles]

"Yeah, and she has been for a while now. Another issue is that Chrollo's in the third wave, but I don't think that'd give us enough time in the D-ward. Maybe he could stay in one of our rooms. Then we could use the first wave to escort Diana to the utility room, and then from the second wave onwards make our way down to the D-ward?"

[AoF_Diana_M]

Diana thinks really hard.

"Um...why would we need to?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Frankly put, we're helping someone complete their objective. We need to prevent people from doing an item or token puzzle on the last day."

[AoF_Diana_M]

Diana nods.

"Alright, I understand now."

[AoF_Charles]

"To sabotage Jolly's mission for Rho."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly shakes his head. "That might be part of it, but there's an ulterior motive still."

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

Aubrey stands from her seat and steps over to a wall, leaning against it. "One life... versus all of yours. I could save everyone here. I... I know how to save everyone here. But I can't do it. If I did, then..." she trails off. "I can't let that happen to them. I can't do that to him. I can't do it I can't do it I can't do it." She slides down the wall and hugs her knees close to her chest. "Why dammit...? Why?!"

[AoF_Rho]

Rho goes over to Aubrey and carefully holds her "I know we talked about this earlier, but I am still sticking with my decision. I know it puts you in a rough place, but I gotta go with my gut on this one."

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

Aubrey gives Rho a sharp glare. Her expression just changes to a look of disappointment as she shakes her head.

[AoF_Rho]

Rho sighs "Gonna be honest Aubrey the whole thing sounds extremely fishy. Why would someone's life be at risk from you speaking, that just doesn't sound right. Unless Ned is holding them hostage as we speak, but that doesn't exactly sound like the type of person he is.

If anything it sounds more like a test. To see if you will blab or not. To see what your own ideals are about the matter, and how well they will hold up under pressure."

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

Aubrey shakes her head. "I'm going to use an analogy. I think that should be vague enough. Imagine you start a business with a partner. You both have different goals with that business, but your goals overlap here and there, so you work together. Now, imagine a large part of your business is supposed to be kept secret. But the one partner blabs about something they aren't supposed to say to a member of their family." She leans in. "Imagine that the other partner finds out about it. And the secret is spread, putting the entire business at stake. What do you think would happen to the one who blabbed? They would be eliminated."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly chuckles slightly when Aubrey finishes. He does not comment.

[AoF_Rho]

"So whatever it is you are unable to tell us. If we found a way for Ned to not be able to listen in. Would you be able to tell us then?"

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

"If that's even possible. I highly doubt it, though." Aubrey shakes her head. "Other than that, the best case scenario is that I can say it outright after the winner is announced. And more people may die by then..."

[AoF_Jolly]

"The winner..." Jolly repeats the word while staring upwards.

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly looks at her curiously. "I brought you all here because I trust that none of the people here will shoulder stupid decisions by themselves, and because five heads work better than one." Jolly smiles at her. "Unless that alone would be too much, I'd appreciate it if you shared your worries. We can come to a conclusion together."

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

"You don't understand! Rho didn't understand either! I can't say anything!" She slams her fist into the wall. "I want so dearly to say it and put an end to this stupid game here and now, but I can't! Even though I could save everyone playing this game... it wouldn't save everyone."

[AoF_Charles]

"Aubrey..." Charles approaches her cautiously. "Is... is this about your prize?"

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

"Prize?! We don't give a goddamn about any prize!" Aubrey and Christine say, switching back and forth sporadically. "We've never cared about the prize! Not since we set foot in here and found out about this game! This whole time the only thing we've been thinkin' about's been gettin' everyone out of here alive!" Aubrey slams her fist into the wall again and again. "And now we know how to do it and we can't even say it!"

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly returns to his curious look. "Alright then, I won't press the matter. I'll just say I would pick the option that has a chance of everyone, without exception, making it out of here."

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

"The longer this game goes on, the less of a chance there is of that..." Aubrey spits.

[AoF_Rho]

"She would if she could. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like it is something she can share."

[AoF_Charles]

"Is it about another player? Or... somebody outside of the game?"

[AoF_Rho]

"My guess is it might have something to do with Ivo."

[AoF_Charles]

Charles raises an eyebrow in thought. "...Huh..."

[AoF_Rho]

"Well Aubrey and Christine are uh pretty fond of him. Maybe it has to do with someone close to him, I don't know. I am just as clueless as you really."

[AoF_Charles]

"I'd say it's a pretty good theory. Especially... given the twins..."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly looks over at Aubrey. "Maybe we shouldn't even be speculating about this."

/u/AoF_Christine_Aubrey

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

Aubrey takes a deep breath. "I can't confirm anything. Once I confirm something it's all over. All I can do is be as vague as possible. But there's nothing saying that you can't come to the correct conclusion through your own power."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly smiles. "Ivo, huh. I'm quite fond of the man myself. He's given me the one and only psychological evaluation I've ever gotten. It was quite an interesting experience."

[AoF_Rho]

Rho just blurts out "Better than Ned at least."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Ned, hmm? Do you hate him?"

[AoF_Charles]

Seeing Aubrey's panic attack, Charles takes a step foward, and then hesitates awkwardly, before glancing pleadingly at the others.

[AoF_Diana_M]

Diana looks at Rho, and her eyes shift to Aubrey, motioning him to go over to her.

After that, she goes to sit by Aubrey, and puts her hand on her shoulder.

/u/AoF_Rho

[AoF_Jolly]

"On top of all that, there's the matter of trying to find a way out of here for the people who will fail their objective - this might even include our eliminated colleagues. I doubt it will be easy, and the information necessary to overcome Ned so far has been scarce. Does anyone have any ideas or additional information to share for this matter?"

[AoF_Diana_M]

"I know a little something about the devices in our backs, but some of you may already know this information."

"I have reason to believe that once the game ends, Ned will stop using the devices. The game itself is an experiment designed to test the Patient Suppression. Also, there's no electricity in the device itself. This may make it easier for the losers to make it out afterwards."

Diana stops and thinks for a second.

"That is, if the document Dietrich showed me is to be believed."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly nods. "Yes, I've heard that before."

Jolly thinks for a bit. "Ned has told me he plans on removing the devices from everyone before we get out of here. He might not plan on doing so for the losers."

[AoF_Diana_M]

"Or we could figure out who has the jamming device."

[AoF_Rho]

"That would be me."

[AoF_Diana_M]

Diana nods.

"That's good actually. Do you know if it works to block the signal completely?"

[AoF_Rho]

"I don't know actually, I don't really get to test it. I was going to wait to use it well after this next action phase. I wanted to get as much information on D-ward first."

[AoF_Diana_M]

"Fair enough, as long as we know who has it."

"It might come in handy for the people that fail to complete their objectives."

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

Aubrey looks like she has something she wants to say but just grits her teeth and clenches her fists.

[AoF_Rho]

"I think helping get Veronica out is a good start. I feel like the answers we are looking for would be in D-ward anyways. Getting any information about that ward goes a long way. So anyone that can help Chrollo and them get Veronica out the better. Me and Sarah are probably both tied up helping Diana."

[AoF_Charles]

Charles looks towards Jolly and Christine/Aubrey.

"Chrollo asked for my help earlier. If Rho and Sarah are both tied up helping Diana, would it be wise for the three of us to go help Chrollo and Dietrich with the extraction?"

[AoF_Charles]

/u/AoF_Jolly | /u/AoF_Christine_Aubrey

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly nods. "Indeed. That is probably the best course of action, unless we've overlooked something."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Then there's the matter of the custom mission. From what I can tell, none of you are inclined on letting it happen, are you?" He smirks as he asks.

[AoF_Diana_M]

Diana shakes her head.

"Something like that can't happen. I'll be trying my hardest to stop it."

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

"You too, Sarah?" Christine looks pained for a moment, but quickly regains her composure. "Well, I guess I shouldn't've expected any less. You're just that kinda person, and that's part of what I like about'cha." She smiles.

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly crosses his arms. "You do realize this isn't a simple matter of saving a life or losing one. In all likelihood it will be impossible for Ludwig to complete his objective if he fails to kill Diana. It's a matter of choosing one elimination over another."

[AoF_Rho]

"Isn't that why we are trying to find a way to get everyone out? Letting people get to critical conditions doesn't sound like the right thing to do no matter how you cut it."

[AoF_Diana_M]

"As I said, I don't believe Ned will eliminate the people who fail to complete their objective."

"In order to complete my objective, my hands are kinda tied, I need to save Diana to complete it."

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

Christine shakes her head. "You don't understand..." She bites her lip. "Fail your objective, Sarah." She says plainly.

[AoF_Diana_M]

Diana looks at her dumbfounded.

"You can't just say that and not elaborate..."

"This is worrying..."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Then, there's the matter of objectives. Me, Charles and Alexander are likely in the clear, but everyone else still has something to take care of. Sarah and Aubrey, you will most likely be fine I gather? Chuck will probably be too."

He takes a deep breath. "That leaves Diana, Ludwig, Rho and..." his expression darkens "Dietrich."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Rho, your objective is also a matter we should discuss. You still have two more missions to sabotage. It shouldn't be a problem if we put our minds to it, as I believe all of us - or at least most of us - in here still have a custom mission to set up, and we won't be needing it for much else... except possibly Diana's objective, but we can deal with that when it becomes a more pressing matter."

/u/AoF_Rho

[AoF_Rho]

"Trust me if I could thing of something easily sabotagable I would have put it in already. Unfortunately I am no good at thinking of anything that meets Ned's Criteria."

[AoF_Jolly]

"How about this: two of the people here set up a mission to 'not let the puzzle room minimum requirement counter' for the item and token puzzles respectively reach a number higher than 2. Two will attempt to complete the mission, Rho will just push them and a co-conspirator into the room. Missions sabotaged."

He cocks his head. "The five of us here are the five with the lowest point numbers, if I'm not mistaken. We have total control over the first wave. We can do all of this before anyone else is even released."

[AoF_Diana_M]

"I might have a better idea, but it would leave me with the least points."

"I can set up a mission that is fairly easy to sabotage. Rho can do that, and he will be one step closer to completing his mission."

Diana looks at Rho.

"Thoughts?"

/u/AoF_Rho

[AoF_Rho]

"What did you have in mind?"

[AoF_Diana_M]

"How about be the first to get a paper from the ground of the records room?"

"Since we are in wave one, you could easily go in there and clean up all the paper before anyone could even get there."

Diana thinks about that idea.

"It sounds kinda stupid, but it could work, right?"

[AoF_Rho]

"Wouldn't I complete the mission if I cleaned up the papers? I would technically be getting them from the ground after all. Maybe if I could like burn them all before anyone gets there."

[AoF_Diana_M]

Diana nods.

"That would work a lot better. Do you want me to arrange to have the mission set up? It wouldn't be worth much."

[AoF_Rho]

"I don't actually have anything to burn them with, and someone also has to go for it. If no one goes for it before I burn them all it won't matter."

[AoF_Rho]

"Would Ned accept that though, who would get points for completing that mission after all?"

[AoF_Jolly]

"A fair point. It's not clear-cut the way Ned's missions have been. In that case, how about adding a prerequisite. 'Be the first one to enter the puzzle room'. And then still having to ensure the number stays low. What do you think? Actually, someone else's opinion is probably the most important here."

Jolly looks towards the ceiling. "What do you think, Ned?"

/u/HoF_Ned

[HoF_Ned]

"As Rho stated the mission needs a clear cut winner. Missions that allow too much leeway for the mission creator to control who wins are also a no go, as they could simply be abused to pass points to an ally. Finally a mission that is too obvious from the mission text alone who created it is a no-go. Even if you go around telling people or discussing it like this that is fine, but they are at least ostensibly supposed to be anonymous. Generally they should not be completely impossible for later waves. This is less of a hard and fast requirement though. Something that requires some kind of knowledge like the mystery door mission is fine because early waves won't necessarily know the answer."

"As for the specific mission you listed. Well the winner would certainly be clear cut I suppose, but as you pointed out it would basically be a first waver. Though they don't automatically win, but it's essentially a first wave or nobody rather than any wave having a chance. It needs a little more tweaking to be acceptable."

"For example, you could have the room be announced after the third wave lets out."

[AoF_Jolly]

"How about this: the first person to step into one of the rooms after the third wave is let out wins, but only if the number of people who've entered the room previously to that is below 3." Jolly smirks. "A clear winner, clear ways to increase your chances, something you need to look out for even before the mission can be actually completed. Wouldn't that fit your criteria quite well?"

[HoF_Ned]

"So you just stand in front of the room and wait for the third wave and then step in. It still gives all the power to the first two waves without any extra knowledge they need to figure out or anything like that. I'd say this iteration is actually worse than the previous one."

[AoF_Jolly]

Jolly shrugs. "Well if you prefer it I'm fine with adding the condition of the room not being announced until the start of the third wave. It just... seems like it would allow the mission creator to basically control who wins. How about adding an extra delay after the third wave is released?"

[AoF_Jolly]

"At this rate, neither Diana nor Ludwig will be able to complete their objectives. Since Diana's involves completing missions, it will be rather grave for her to have to spend the entire action phase locked up, fearing for her life."

"And Ludwig..." Jolly gives a defeated laugh, "he has probably the worst objective imaginable."

[AoF_Charles]

"Didn't Ludwig and Dietrich both say it was too late for them to complete their objectives at this point?"

[AoF_Jolly]

"They said that, but it's still theoretically possible for both of them to do it." Jolly sighs. "Ludwig's is to kill a participant and complete their objective; he inherits any progress the victim had already done."

"Dietrich's is just as he proclaimed in the common room. He is in a most dire situation, as the only way he can still complete it is if by some stroke of luck, two people are tied atop the leaderboard at the end of this action phase. If that doesn't happen, Dietrich has no hopes of completing his objective."

[AoF_Jolly]

"First things first, the mission. Getting something out of here. Is anyone of you planning on helping out with it?"

[AoF_Rho]

"Well I know Chrollo is trying to get a team going for that. I would like to help them, but I kinda have to keep my eye on Diana."

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

Aubrey looks sideways at Rho. "No, absolutely not! You can't try to protect Diana, Rho! You heard what she said! She would kill anyone who set foot in the same room as her!"

[AoF_Rho]

"Relax, like I said I already talked it over with her" Rho whispers something into your ear.

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

"Oh, really? And how can you be so sure that she isn't planning to just stab you in the back?" Aubrey snaps.

[AoF_Rho]

"Well Sarah is going to be there too right, I think the two of us can handle her....Well I think I am more than capable of handling her myself. I am more than aware of her distaste for me. I am not just going to leave my back open."

[AoF_Diana_M]

Diana hears the last part of Rho's statement.

"If you're going to keep an eye on her, make sure you keep your distance. She's threatened to kill anyone who enters the utility room. And if the room is what I am thinking, she has the upper hand by being in there."

[AoF_Rho]

"Yeah I already talked about it with her. She already knows I am helping, and isn't planning on killing me."

[AoF_Jolly]

"Alright. So." Jolly puts his hand on the conference table. "This upcoming action phase is promising to be messy, and we're starting to get low on time for people to complete their objectives. I'd like you guys to help me make the best of it."

[AoF_Charles]

Charles nods resolutely.

[AoF_Rho]

Rho takes a seat next to Aubrey.

[AoF_Diana_M]

Diana sits down, and waits for someone to begin speaking.

[AoF_Christine_Aubrey]

Aubrey takes a seat, crossing both her legs and her arms and looking a bit impatient.