#ds2 ch5

The wheel isn’t spun, and no robots drag or force Eva to her fate. On the contrary, when she sweeps out of the room it’s with the air of a starlet on her way down the red carpet, into the building of her latest premiere.

Even as the wall closes behind her, the large screen descends from the ceiling a final time, flickering to life a scant few minutes later.

Final Girl

The setting is laid out first - a dark forest, so dark that Eva can barely be seen, only the light colors of her clothing making her stand out against the void around her. Above her, a cloud moves, and the moonlight provides the illumination needed to reveal the rest of the scene as a dingy, abandoned summer camp.

There is movement in the shadows behind Eva, and for a split second you can see the glint of a knife. The crunching of leaves from under this figure’s foot draws Eva’s attention, and she turns to face it.

Where there should be a scream coming from Eva - creating a perfect shot for a classic slasher film - there is instead a smile.

As the figure approaches, Eva doesn’t make any move to run. While she is shaking, it’s from excitement more than any sort of fear. That excitement only grows as the revving of a chainsaw cuts through the almost-silent ambience of the night, and another figure approaches from her side. Then there’s another, this one having a nasty-looking meat hook extending from it’s sleeve. Then another, with sharp blades protruding from it’s hand. And another and another. They just keep coming, and as they step into the moonlight, each have a distinct set of clothing, most wearing a mask to cover their face.

Jason Voorhees. Leatherface. The Fisherman. Freddy Krueger. Michael Myers. Ghostface. The men who shaped Eva’s life, who kept her company on long, dark nights. They were here to claim her, finally, to make everything she wanted a reality.

This setting, the way this execution will go... it’s perfect for her. There are tears falling from her face, real tears. Tears of excitement, of happiness. She can’t wait. She’s ready, she’s ready.

Jason reaches her first, her sweet, darling Jason, and as the knife tears into her, she relaxes, closing her eyes.

Except... the knife doesn’t hit it’s mark.

No, instead Jason disintegrates into the night, into a literal puff of smoke. One by one, the rest disappear as well, until even the world around her dissolves, falling away to instead reveal a brightly lit dressing room.

Aside from Eva, all that is left is a young girl in a tiara and a pageant gown, no older than twelve. Her eyes are blank and unseeing, her face marred by chemical burns.

The excitement drains from Eva’s face, leaving only fear behind. Fear... and perhaps sorrow.

“No...” Eva gasps quietly, backing up against one of the mirrors. “Not her... not you...”

She is cut off by the girl swinging a hammer into her skull, hitting Eva with a strength no normal twelve year old should possess. The back of Eva’s head hits the mirror, blood splattering all around her. The girl hits Eva again, and this time the mirror shatters.

She’s hit again and again, over and over. Even when she goes limp and slumps to the ground, the girl continues her assault until Eva’s face is an unrecognizable, bloody mess.

EVA LAMBERT, ULTIMATE SCREAM QUEEN AND MEMBER OF THE SPLINTER HAS BEEN EXECUTED.

-

“Time’s up. Votes are locked in.” It scarcely feels like four hours could have passed already, but they must have. Onryo steps forward again, cheshire grin in place.

“And let’s check our results… Eight votes for Eva Lambert, Operative Friday. One vote for Kazuko Kagami, Operative Chimera. Gotta say, I was expecting this to be more unanimous, but majority rules and the majority of you aren’t wrong. Tama would also have been a correct vote, or both of them, if anyone had asked, but Eva’s a solid choice, definitely the safest one for all of you, so congratulations. You’ve won, and as just one of your fabulous prizes, along with not being subjected to horrific death, I’ll do my best to explain a few things for everyone.”

“Let’s start with what Project Genesis is. In short, it’s referring to an orchestrated apocalypse event. Jumpstarting World War III, among other things. I’ll spare you the details, Tama told it better anyway, since it was his baby. In short, Tama had the bigger goal, Tama handled the tech development, Eva was the drive, Eva decided to use the killing game. A testing ground. A live set. Tama testing his inventions and his nerve for mass murder, Eva making her directorial debut. I’d say Tama would’ve passed with flying colors, if he hadn’t been killed. Definitely had the stomach to cause indirect death on a large scale, but didn’t have the stomach for bullets, apparently.”

Onryo… Riku shakes their head wryly.

“Of course, it didn’t end with him, did it? The AI he created, the one that’s been helping to run the game, is still around. Don’t worry, there’s ways of handling that, you’ve all done the important part. I’m just filling in the gaps for you here. Tama created the Wireless Artificial Intelligence for Utilities, or ‘WAIFU’ long before any of this, and implemented her into the facility’s systems. She’s been the one operating most of the robots, compiling data, running the executions - designed by Eva, of course. She’s also the one that’s been keeping HG in check, or was supposed to be, though apparently HG managed to hide clues around anyway.” Riku pauses, and a faint grin tugs at their lips. “I may have helped with that a little. Turned a blind eye, so to speak. Sorry, Eva. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but… at the end of the day I’m still a victim of my own emotions.” What the hell does that mean? They don’t elaborate. The rest of the explanation continues, though.

“But just to cover any questions I’ll go back further, all the way to the beginning. Splinter was originally formed by Operatives Deadline and Frost, with the goal to abandon all the limitations WC placed on medical experimentation. Hiro was terminally ill and desperate for a cure at any cost, and Chloe… well, you all met her. Hiro - Deadline - recruited Regal and Trickster, because he could tell from their archival data that they’d be receptive, and then they took control of the Splinter faction when he died and brought me on board. Since then it’s been a circus. We all have our own agendas, Regal just uses us, and Trickster backs her plays. This game was all Eva and Tama, though. The rest of us were only helping them, for our own reasons. Some of you already know mine.”

Riku folds their hands over their cane, not resting their weight on it because it isn’t designed for that, but assuming a calm, relaxed pose.

While Onryo has been out of sight and radio silent for the past day, they were true to their word at least. All the rooms in the building that you know about have been left unlocked, and you’ve all had ample time to explore and investigate. Whether you found any of the scattered surprises waiting for you or simply used this time to rest, it goes by quickly.

Almost too quickly to keep track of, so that when your ElectroIDs start beeping and buzzing insistently again it may come as something of a jolt.

Time’s up. Meet at the elevator. Anyone who doesn’t come on their own will be escorted by androids.

This is certainly more brisk and terse than you’re used to the messages from Onryo being, but it proves true as well. For those of you who show up on your own, the elevator is already waiting, open, to receive you. Anyone who needs an escort will be herded or even carried or dragged by implacable robotic sentries into the elevator as well, and the door only closes once you’re all inside.

A familiar rumble, and it starts to rise… hopefully for the last time.

Nine of you remain. Only a little over half your original number, and soon, depending on your choices, that number could drop even lower. Do you feel the pressure? Or is it relief? Do you feel your doom ahead, or your salvation? Do you even trust that this really will be the end, for better or for worse?

The elevator doors open into the room. At a glance it looks the same as the first time you arrived. Pristine, any and all blood cleared away, podiums arranged neatly, the big bright Wheel lit up in the center. Except… the names showing on the screens in front of the podiums have changed.

Instead of your operative codenames, your real names are now on display, including those of the dead. For the living, the screens glow a pale green, for the dead, an unforgiving red.

The Dead:

Alice Thatcher Princess Michiko Jasper Krasnoff Kitaro Suko Moriko Sano Tama Fukumura Yoshika Mitsukazi

The Living:

Didier Lestrange Eva Lambert Hikaru Suzuki Johan Kaelin Keisha Deering Reese Bellamy Seidou Yokushiku Timber Woods Kazuko Kagami

It seems almost fitting, in the circumstances. A time for the truth to come out, a time for masks to be pulled away.

A panel in the wall opens, and the elusive Onryo appears again at last.

“Functionally this isn’t going to be that different from the murder trials you’ve been through here. Present evidence, or anything you may think is evidence. Discuss what you’ve found and what your theories are. Share what you know, or what you think you know. Ask questions, if you absolutely must. You all have… four hours. Four hours, and then your votes are locked in. Win your freedom, or lose everything. These are the only two outcomes. And you know...” For a moment, a softer smile appears on Onryo’s face, and their voice takes on a less professional cadence, a hint of an Osaka accent creeping in.

“I really do wish you the best of luck. You still have plenty to live for. So win, and go be a better person than me. It shouldn’t be hard, the bar is on the ground.”

Was that towards all of you? Only some of you? Or someone specific? As usual, Onryo remains a little cryptic even when they’re apparently being genuine.

“Now, the final trial has begun. Start talking.”

[TRIAL START]

-

It’s startling how loud a gunshot really is. Several have gone off now, one in the room with you, more on the screen, and it’s difficult to say which is still ringing in your ears. Maybe all of them.

So many have died today alone that it’s perhaps difficult to grasp the full scope of it. How does the saying go, again? One death is a statistic… what’s thirteen? And what is Frost’s death, or Lioness’, compared to people who were innocent or who were your friends?

There are ten people left alive in the room. Bullseye, Chimera, Cue, Friday, Labrat, Maestro, Selene, Starling, Tomahawk… and Onryo.

“Congratulations for making it this far.” Onryo’s performative cheer is nowhere to be seen, melted into the sarcastic resignation that they’ve been slipping into more and more as time goes by. “I imagine you’re all even more exhausted than I am, and now that Chloe’s dead I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before one of you does something stupid like try to come at me again. I won’t go down as easily, I promise, but just to avoid embarrassing any of you in that way, let me tell you right now it won’t be necessary.”

Onryo steps away from the Wheel, moving towards the back of the room, giving the blood on the floor where Chloe had been a wide berth.

“There’s no more floors after this. And frankly, I’m not interested in continuing anyway. I feel like we’ve reached a natural narrative peak here. Things are just starting to lose impact, you know? So we’d better quit before we fall too far behind. Of course, I can’t just let you go - that wouldn’t be satisfying for any of us. Very anticlimactic. So instead we’re going to play one last little game. I’ll give you all the rest of today and tomorrow. Then, in the morning of the day after, we’ll all meet back up here, and you can try to pick out who the Mastermind is. What am I talking about? For those of you who never received a full briefing on the last projects or bothered looking into them, I’ll explain - I’m only the host. Someone else instigated this, someone else planned it, someone else picked who would spin, someone else laid out the motives, the executions, everything that’s been happening. You’ve all had plenty of practice finding clues and putting them together at this point, so I’m sure that if you look hard enough around this place you’ll be able to find everything you need. Investigate. Prepare. And we’ll have one last trial. If you win, you go free, I’ll call the rescue team myself. If you lose… well, then the Mastermind gets to decide what to do with you. I cannot emphasize enough that you do not want that. This isn’t an opt-out kind of deal either, so I suggest you really give it your all.”

A panel in the wall behind them slides open, and Onryo steps back into it, the shadows seeming to swallow them, leaving them unseen as their voice calls out, “Happy hunting.”

The panel shuts again. The elevator dings, doors sliding open. You’re alone in the Wheel Room, and free to go… at least, free to go back down to the other levels. But if Onryo can be believed, then maybe as soon as the day after tomorrow, you’ll be free entirely. Does that give you hope? Does the thought of finally escaping renew your motivation? Or are you apprehensive? Is it daylight at the end of the tunnel, or a train?

At this point, maybe you don’t even care anymore.

Either way, this is the beginning of the end… better rest up and get to searching, unless you want to resign yourself to a loss, and everything that entails.

[BONUS CHAPTER 5: MASTERMIND INVESTIGATION BEGIN]

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