Fourth.

[trustfellows]

As the fourth week comes to a close and Friday morning dawns like the rest of the week before it, with the chiming of the clock and the doors to the kitchen unlocking, it seems, for a brief moment, that everything will be normal. For a given degee of "normal", anyway – perhaps some are on edge because there's a definite pattern that's been happening here, but for a few blissful moments, everything seems quiet. It doesn't last long; eventually, Jericho's voice can be heard over the public-address system. He doesn't sound as excitable as usual, though perhaps that can be explained away with the content of his message: "Hey. Just so you know, we've kind of got a problem this morning. Nothing catastrophic or anything, but you might want to get into the foyer so you know what's going on. We'll be waiting." You might want to go.

Comments

[trustbound]

[And when people have managed to make their way to the foyer, there are two people waiting there – one of them is Alena, as is probably expected, if it's going to be anyone. She's facing the wall near the clock, and doesn't pay attention to anyone who enters the room, even if she's addressed.

There's also a person pinned against the wall in front of her - judging by the setup, it seems that the "problem" this morning has to do with Tabby.

It's difficult to say exactly how she's being kept there at first glance, but it's obvious that she is – her muscles are tense and she's twitching hard, jerking a bit once in a while, like she's trying to get away from invisible bonds; Alena's focus is being kept on her, and once in a while it looks like blue flames flicker into being here and there – small manifestations of power that don't last long before they're dispersed into nothingness again before they can burn anything.

This continues for a brief while before Jericho can be heard again.]

So the good news for you guys is that nobody died last night – you've been showing a pretty impressive amount of restraint, I'm actually kind of happy for you.

The bad news is that you've run out of time.

[It's obvious what he means from the wording, from his tone; looks you’re your timer has run out.]

Like we've promised, we randomly selected one of you to take out; sorry about that, Dynamic. If it's any consolation, it probably wouldn't have been you if Alena had a say.

[Tabby swears loudly at that before she jerks again; Alena's gaze flicks upward toward the speakerbox at the mention, and for the briefest of moments it looks like she's considering letting Tabby go.

And then she refocuses, slamming Tabby back against the wall again before those blue flames flicker into existence again, melding into a solid mass held together by the same sort of inexplicable energy that's pinning Tabby in place before it arcs forward and slices into her body, the density of it cutting easily into her chest as though her ribcage was nothing in terms of resistance, and while Alena is close enough for the blood spray that ensues to hit her she doesn't flinch away from it.

She isn't crying, but she does look...upset, at this one; the same force used to hold Tabby against the wall seems to apply itself, unseen, to her neck, breaking it for good measure and to ensure that she's dead, and after a moment Alena lets the body drop to the floor.

Tabitha Smith is dead.

Jericho doesn't say anything for a long moment; when he speaks up again, he seems agitated, though it's difficult to tell in what sort of direction, emotionally – there's just a harsh undercurrent to his words that wasn't there before.]

No trial for this. We'll deal with the body. You've got eight hours until the next one.

[chessturner]

...this is going to be a problem.

[How many will die before someone takes action? She can't avoid wondering that...and who'd be the next unlucky selected]

[blackmass]

...Well, one of us might want to see to poisoning someone's breakfast unless we all want to die.

[kIREI]

[firstaid]

S-so one of us will keep dying until someone... kills?

[No, no, no, no! She wraps her arms around her body. No, this can't be happening...]

[trustbound]

[And not even ten minutes after the incident with Tabby, there's another announcement from Jericho; he doesn't seem back to full tilt yet after that earlier incident, but he does seem to be in a slightly better mood.]

Once again, I've got good news and I've got bad news. The good news is that you guys work fast – your timer has been reset.

Incidentally, that's also the bad news, because you guys now have a small problem on the third floor. Just thought I'd let you know.

[...He may be having issues this morning, but it seems that he's about as tactful as ever. Either way, you at least have some idea of where to go now.

Explore?]

[perpend]

Don't be ridiculous.

[sir, what did he tell you five days ago]

[matchbreaker]

[ Well she's up for once? Okay not for once but she did manage to get to bed and up at a decent enough hour today. More to the point though, the woman is watching this scene, surprise registering on her eyes before she steels herself, her red eyes narrowing and her fangs exposing. ]

Who would have thought we could actually hit the time limit?

[ She says that with a tone dripping in tense malice, but her gaze isn't so much at the speaker or even really at Alena, but rather at the body of Tabby.

... That woman was someone she felt a certain level of respect for. that's not fair at all.

[sleepytimegal]

Tabby--!!

[ Alex almost rushes forward. Almost. Tabby was so sweet to her, so insistent that she shouldn't shoulder all this sadness, but it's like...something's stopping her. She can't move.

It's probably fear. Probably. But she suspects otherwise. ]

Shit. Shit, shit- what are we gonna do?

[destage]

What? Already?

[YEAH, GUESS WHO'S RUNNING TO THE THIRD FLOOR. MOST IMPORTANTLY THE BAR. WHAT THE FUCK.]

[flagitate]

Shut up, Kirei.

[matchbreaker]

You willing to go out like that? I'll drop you in the pit.

[destage]

[They've run out of time.

They've...they've run out of time, and they're all going to die. They are literally all going to die if nobody acts. And that's a horrifying prospect.]

Tabby-san...!

[Oh god, she can't deal with this--]

[blackmass]

[Jesus literal actual Christ.]

[Alright, Jerry, let's head to the third floor--unless there's blood and kidneys immediately notable (and who knows anymore), he'll check the game room.]

[firstaid]

[Estelle will check in the billiards room. Anything here?]

[chessturner]

[Something about the announcement really irks Kyrie. Not even ten minutes after she died? Jeez, if someone was going to kill all along, then you could have acted a bit sooner, culprit! Tabitha's death was an unnecessary loss of life]

...I'll go take a look what's going on.

[Third floor? Kyrie goes to the billiards room]

[blackmass]

[rude]

[sleepytimegal]

No--! [ Is this good news or not? God, Alex takes the stairs two at a time until she reaches the third floor, going for the billiards room. ]

[hesperos]

[ Shit. Okay, how is the game room looking? ]

[matchbreaker]

[ Couldn't they time it better? She's running up there to the billiards room. Might as well strike out. ]

[blackmass]

Well, if you'd prefer we all go out one at a time, by all means I'll follow the will of the group.

[brandnewday]

[This is too terrifying. She's not even sure how she's moving so quickly, but Hibiki heads to the Restrooms. That's where it all started last week. Or maybe she needs to throw up.]

[blackmass]

You can try.

[matchbreaker]

Do you really think you can work out something in eight hours no one'll figure out?

[heritrix]

[Rin can't remember going it; it's only after it's over that she realizes that when she saw who it was, she took a step forward. Not that it matters; it's over in an instant.

She grits her teeth, staring at the body on the floor. God fucking dammit, she liked Tabby.]

[evilfrenzy]

[Um. Holy shit? They barely just dispersed!

Rideaux will start making his way there. If this just happened, is there a chance that he may not immediately be looking at a corpse? Considering Jericho said the timer was reset, maybe not...]