Ultra's Thread

"Disappointing." Janean walks over to stand beside Texas. "From where I'm standing your position doesn't seem better then ours, but please enlighten us what it is you've discovered about our 'situation?' Despite your performance I don't believe all you care about is self-preservation."

"Self-preservation? I don't care about that." Wildcat's smile widens. "My job was just to kick things off. The rest of you? Ha. Have fun..."

"Oh, I like fun!" Anne volunteers. "But, um, murder isn't really fun? People should just be nice and friendly!"

"You can't intimidate us with whatever this is," The Bulgarian says, joining Texas and Janean.

Wildcat leans back. "Yeah? I'll tell you this: I wasn't the only one here with... certain interests."

"What does this mean?" Sammy mutters to himself. He folds his arms and steps to the back of the group.

"It means go fuck yourselves," Wildcat answers.

"Monster..." Francois mutters.

"Well, isn't our captive little electron just the most cheerful," Valerie says. "Does anyone else have any questions while she's being so cooperative?"

"That is all from me," Zarv says, disgust visible on his face.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock!" AI-1c-e's avatar forms itself, sitting on the edge of Wildcat's bed, pocketwatch in hand. "The time until the charges detonates continues to tick-tock away. Was wasting all this time worth it for those final words?"

"Ugh..." Mikoto grimaces. "Disgusting. I kind of wish we'd just tossed her out the airlock..."

"I have to say, I am quite glad we decided to be humane and allow you to wake up and give us your last words, no matter how harsh and violent they are," John says, almost to himself. "I'm sure you will have none of it, but giving some common decency, even to a murderer, is well worth it. We are not animals."

"Well, then! Without further ado, it's time to move on to the main event! I won't accept any more stalling," AI-1c-e announces. "Those wishing to observe, please report to the cafeteria."

There's a quiet moment of people discussing between each other before everyone starts to trickle out. Most people head to the cafeteria. Zach, Calum, Francois, and Valerie go to their rooms, instead. No one says anything else to Wildcat as they go.

After only a few moments in the cafeteria, the doors slam shut behind you. There's another sound like a second set of doors sealing behind them. The lights slowly dim, leaving the windows to the outside the only source of light. The speaker immediately crackles on with AI-1c-e's voice. "Uh, this thing on? Test, test... Hey, you bunch of degenerates. I've got great news for you. It just so happens that some folks from one of the other facilities managed to escape! So, I'm just gonna go ahead and... let's see... oh, here we go. Establishing audio connection to Queen of Red Hearts... Connected. Now transmitting audio from escape shuttle QR."

An unfamiliar male voice rings out over the intercom. "So, what now?"

Another voice, female, answers. "We have to help the others escape somehow!"

"And how do we do that?" a third voice asks. "There's nothing we can do for them! We should make a break for it while we still can."

"I locked Caterwaul out of the shuttle, firewall holding at 97%... It doesn't have any control over, and we've got plenty of time to figure something out," the 2nd voice repeats.

"Yeah, there's nothing they can do to stop us at this point, so let's take a minute to see if we can think of something," a fourth voice suggests.

"Connecting primary boosters... set. Control thrusters, responsive. Primary vector set. Connection to AI-1c-e established." Wildcat's voice is now coming over the speakers.

"What was that?" one of the unfamiliar voices asks.

"Caterwaul's broadcasting something?" the one who mentioned the firewall suggests. "What is this?"

"Radar... online. Target identified."

As you all watch, a large shuttle similar to the one you arrived in crests over one of the possibly artificial moon craters. There's a loud sound coming from the facility behind you.

"You're watching, yeah? Here, all you guys who skipped off to your rooms. Let me provide some holograms so you don't miss out, yeah? All emergency bulkheads sealed. Preparing to launch secondary escape vehicle."

The entire facility begins to shake. A roar comes from the central chamber and the temperature noticeably increases by a few degrees. When everyone manages to recover their footing, a long, missile-shaped rocket, much smaller than the shuttle, is curving from your facility towards the shuttle.

"Target locked," Wildcat announces. "Accelerating. Full throttle!"

"What- What is that!?"

"Move move move mo-"

The two collide, the rocket smashing through the shuttle and sending them both spiraling towards the ground before a large, silent explosion marks the impact with the ground. A matching silence spreads across the room until the AI interrupts it.

"Emergency. Wildcat vital signs are reading negative. Terminating connection to Queen of Red Hearts. Beginning emergency rec- Hey, that's two down! Whoever the two winners will be, you're well on your way to escaping - just 12 more to go! A dozen should be no trouble at all! Hahahaha! Anyway, you should all head to bed soon. Normal operations resume in 10 minutes. The temporary ban on murder ends in... NOW!"

The cafeteria lights snap back on, the doors slide open. Sounds of machinery whirring to life in the kitchen confirm the return to normal operating conditions.

John turns pale and quickly turns to the door, quickly making his way out. Sammy and Mikoto run after him.

The Bulgarian sighs and continues staring out the window for some time before turning and heading to bed. Zarv clicks his tongue before following a short time later. Larissa clenches her fist with rage before running down the hall towards her room.

Anne Jean cocks her head and continues staring out the window. "I don't understand. Where'd Wildcat go...?"

Jill Aliapoh sits in the corner of the cafeteria, staring off into space.

Janean and Texas mutter something to each other before they return to their separate rooms.

When you return to your room, the lights dim. This would be a good time to make any notes in your journal you want, before whatever happens next.

When you wake up the next morning, things are unusually quiet and somber.  As you make your way to the cafeteria, you're interrupted by the now-familiar ring of an incoming announcement.  "Good morning.  This announcement is to notify all remaining participants that conditions have been cleared and an additional floor of the facility has been unsealed. Please proceed to floor B2F at your leisure.  And have fun figuring out how to take each other out with the new toys!"

As you head to the central chamber and descend the brightly painted stairs, you find that on the opposite side of the B1F chamber, once again a portion of the floor has opened to reveal a new staircase.  As the group descends to B2F's central chamber, you find 5 signs pointing in different directions.  It seems the general layout is the same.  A central chamber, this one filled with a few tables with board games, some comfortable seats and lamps, and a small row of books of various genres.  Five spokes branching out to other rooms, connected along an outer ring, these lining up to the first floor.

The north-pointing sign has a picture of a tank half-filled with water with a set of padlocks holding it closed.  The next sign to the left shows a pair of tops slamming into each other with dramatic colors and speed lines.  Next shows what looks like a news desk with a pair of crossed hockey sticks on the front.  The next sign shows a small collection of animals.  The last sign just has a dollar sign.

Everyone stands around for a moment before Mikoto breaks the silence. "Yell if anything weird happens," she says before heading to the south-east. Sammy and Zach follow after her. You head to the north.

Larissa and Francois all also head towards what looks like their labs.

Anne Jean follows after Francois.

The Bulgarian follows you north.

Calum and John head towards the room marked with a dollar sign.

Valerie and Jill go with Larissa to the top lab.

Janean and Texas head back upstairs.

You arrive in your lab. You find it unsurprisingly stocked with restraints. A half-dozen sets of handcuffs, matching leg bars, and one key are hanging on a pole just inside the door along with three straight jackets. In the center of the room is a water pipe connected to a large plexiglass box, the famous water escape tank. Beside it is a large jungle gym, with a few easy spots to pass through along the outside, with increasingly tight paths in the center.

"you have nothing to fear, I didn't vote you" Zarv says as he takes the environment in. he hates it but this is still his element.

"I would prefer it if everyone stayed away from this and leave it to professional. there is trick to everything here. it's all child's play really, but if you don't know trick you could get hurt or worse"