Music: Show

Ahahaha, even with the extra span of time afforded before the time for voting was nigh, you've failed to make much in the way of progress. Such a shame, though I am sure our killer believes otherwise. Truly, they have granted me a great service in disposing of such a troublesome Liturgic entity.

Aha! It is only natural then, that our killer be rewarded with the most confounding mystery of all! Such things are only fair, aren't they? I'd hate to have to surrender such a worthwhile ally to the Ritual's needs.



But of course, what is a game without the thrill of one's life on the line? Hardly worth participation at all! Truly, you should all be grateful for the time I've afforded you. The bonds forged by the deepest suffering last the longest, after all!

...Unless of course, you Vote for them! Ahaha!

---

Please place your votes in this thread. This trial will conclude at the same time as the investigation, at 8:00 PM PST on Monday, July 29th.

The chosen culprit will be executed, and their role will be revealed.

Giffany did it i think

Until any better theories avail themselves; I'll be taking a page from Alan's book and voting Tinkaton.

Giffany for the soul read.

This case has been hard to decipher. Whoever did this kill, good game, well-done. I believe our determination has been, based on the blood in the Director's Office and the lack of blood elsewhere, as well as timeline factors, that Hustler was shot by someone emerging from the hidden elevator. I believe that the people who most have the ability to be in that elevator, based on timing, are Konata and Giffany, with perhaps a couple of wildcards.

Of those two, Giffany has the capabilities for shenanigans that make her a more likely read to me. Will I change this in panic in four minutes? Probably!

#Vote: Giffany

Subject to change vote Vote: Giffany. Not sure I like this answer but unless something happens in the next ten minutes, it's the best we got!

##Vote: Phenera

Not a fan of that fellow in green we have in the basement - and anyone running around like another one of them is too much. Changing my vote to Phenera.

...I vote with confidence.
Phenera.

I'm revoting to Phenera fuck this

Sure. Phenera.

Giffany.

The Trial has concluded. You have made your choices, and will live with the consequences - right or wrong.

Please stand by.

A quiet moment is interrupted…





Good Evening, Agent Morgan. D'you have a minute to chat?




…Not much of an Agent these days. I guess I’m not busy.

Mister Morgan it is, then. I had something important I wanted to speak with you about… it’s about Hustler.

You’ve got the wrong guy. There’s nothing I can do anymore. That seal was the last damned nail in the coffin. With Phenera on their side, they’re going to do whatever they damn well please with the rest of the Seals. After that, they’re going to “synchronize” the world. By then we’ll probably be long gone.

Believe me , sir, I understand our situation better than most. I don't like what they're trying to do with their powers. I'm starting to worry about Astrid.

What, is she getting anxious? I don’t blame her. Seems like there’s just nothing we can do anymore.

...Mister Morgan. There's one last gambit we haven't tried yet. Its something I'm going to need help doing, and I can't bring myself to ask Astrid to help me kill someone.




…Is that the Void Rifle? You were the one who shot it before?

Yessir, I did. With your help, we could use this to nullify Hustler's Liturgic powers.

...Will you help me?

…There’s a part of me that wants to believe they’re not past helping. Putting them to death was the only thing I could think of doing before. Smithy paid for that.

But I suppose it's already gotten pretty bad if even you want to take a swing.




Fine. Let’s do this.


There will be no rest until this is finished.

Oh.

We've made a business critical error, haven't we? Is this… Please don't say… Don't say that this is a terminable offense! It isn't, is it!?

We can't be let go yet! Please, we were so near to completing the operation! It can't- This- The operation can't end in failure now! We took so many precautions! We followed every instruction DxHustler provided before they died! We were there at The Source last night! We touched it! A paradise was within reach! Global Synchronization was about to take place! A world where Heteromorphs were respected, and- and- and… A world where Esotera flowed freely again! D-Doesn't that mean a better world!? Isn't that the greater good!? Doesn't that mean…? Why would…? How could there be any opposition to that…? How could this operation fail? The boss died, and…

We… caused it to fail?


(It's like before… Every night is one disaster after another.)
(The boss's training was sufficient, so the problem must be…)
(The Source is so close. Something can still be done.)
(What if this was all a mistake?)
(The work can't stop. All these losses can't be in vain.)

(To try and rise above the rank of intern was a mistake.)
(Every protocol worked until the boss died… So the mistakes must have come from…)
(There's still one chance.)
(The forest is calling again…)
(What Dr. Lyra did… could it save paradise?)

(Now it's time to accept the consequences.)
(All of the failure rests on a single point.)
(No matter the cost, Esotera will flow again!)
(The plants… The fungi… Home… The forest would be ideal for dying…)
(Weaponize the pain. Hold to the faith.)

DxHustler… We need to apologize. We should be handing in a resignation letter in disgrace… but there's no superior left to hand it to…


We lost to… Agent Morgan. We did everything we could. We tried, but… we're not qualified to lead a business yet. We lost everything. All of the stocks the company had built up are depleted. Every associate we had is gone… Father Dodo, Johnson Smithy, even Dr. Lyra is imprisoned now…


This was the pain back then, wasn't it, boss? To have lost every resource and every associate…


(All that's left is the forest. Is it still possible to go back?)

The contingency planning never accounted for this. It wasn't supposed to end this way. They were supposed to come back when the operation ushered the world into paradise… When they understood what the Greater Good meant…


What if… what if that job offer had never come? Those things that *Mute said… Everything that happened when Lita was shot, could there have ever been a way we could have…? Did we have to oppose Agent Morgan…?



(It could go differently? But then what were all the losses for?
(Were they the wrong person to mimic?)

...no...


We're not experienced enough to be your successor. We failed Father Dodo, Dr. Lyra, you… but… we can't let this end! The sacrifices can't be in vain! This faith can't waver!


It's time for something drastic! We have to violate protocol! There's no more that we can do in this state, but we might still be a useful asset as one of Dr. Lyra's experiments! There's still THAT experiment!

We're about to be terminated. We can't be a part of it any longer, but we're not going to let the pain go to waste! We'll bring about paradise, so, please let our final six month review reflect that positively!

To the very end, any procedure that it takes, for the greater good!

The end.

This post was last modified: Aug 5, 2024 at 4:51 PM by Spooks?.

With the Occultic Seal having fallen… we draw ever closer to the end of our little game. But alas, there’s still one more in my path. A trivial matter, this final step - yet I believe we’ll discuss such matters later. You all believe yourselves to be so very clever, I’m sure you’ve worked out the purpose of this ritual by now… and why it trivializes our final step even without the many contingencies I have put into place.

But let’s focus on the matter at hand, shall we?



Poor little Phenera, a being abandoned by those she so idolized. Her status in your Bureau was always nothing more than a figment of the imagination, of course. In the end, nothing more than another scrap of errant magic to be sealed away in your containment cells. It’s only natural that you’d seize the opportunity to sacrifice her the moment her masked protector ceased to exist.

I doubt there will be tears shed for our dear potential hazard…



…Save for my own, which shall paint my visage with the lingering stain of utmost joy. You see, this child has done something quite fascinating, a deed that hearkens back to years long past - and with no prompting this time, how very wonderful!

Now, perhaps, you shall see what occurs when a soul pledges itself to my will with its carving of the Nocturnum Sigil.

The masked figure raises a hand, and Phenera begins to rise into the air, the first true execution in some time now. As the crowd looks on, Phenera seizes up, each slime making up her being finding itself unable to move - locked in place as they begin to shake, threatening to rupture entirely.

Each slime’s eyes roll backwards, dilating and twitching wildly as their collective consciousness blacks out…

---

Her consciousness returns, and she finds herself standing in a small, barren room. She squints, her many eyes contracting to dim the harsh fluorescent light beaming down from the ceiling as she tries to get her bearings. The room is as empty as can be, the only point of note… a small window, laid into a door that dominated much of the far wall.

Scrambling towards the window, her heart sinks as she takes in the view and realizes where she is.

Outside the containment cell where Phenera sits entombed, two agents are locked in conversation. One of the agents, a man short in stature, flips through papers on his clipboard and shakes his head as he gestures towards Phenera’s location. His comrade, a tall portly man nods along in agreement with the first agent. Phenera bangs on the cell door, shouting for help, but the shorter man only rolls his eyes.

“Not this again. See? It’s like I was telling you, this thing never shuts up. All this yelling and banging… you’d almost think it was sentient.” The man flips to a specific page of his notes, chuckling slightly. “Yeah, as if. ‘Potential Hazard Enera’, just another dangerous anomaly using its usual tricks.”

“Like the pizza guy,” the second agent replies.

“Yeah, like 2101.” The short man places his clipboard on the table, checking his watch. “Speaking of, let’s get outta here. Got that safety meeting in fifteen.”

Both men leave the room, the tall agent flipping the light switch as he leaves, plunging Phenera into total darkness. She slumps against the side of the containment room. No… that can’t be right? Containment? She’s… she’s an agent of the Bureau, there’s no way she could be… Surely, Dr. Orpheus is coming to get her out of here, right? Or… Hustler…?

No… no one was coming. As she came to that realization, the shadows smothering her in that small cell seemed to grow darker. Hustler was gone, everyone else thought she was a murderer, and as she cried out in despair, she realized… not even the voices of the myriad slimes that composed her very self were answering her pleas.

As the weight of the darkness crushed down upon her, Phenera was truly alone.

---

In reality, one by one, Phenera’s slimes rupture, spraying the room with a fine green mist… until only one remains - the one that makes up her torso.



@Phenera has been executed for the murder of DXHustler3000

Phenera was....



Their role was....

Role Card: Show

Phenera possessed a Role Buff at her time of death, granting her two extra random traits per night.

Her previous roles were…

Night 1
+Deal guaranteed Critical Hits on burning players, allowing you to kill them even with strangling or punches
+Your limbs will regenerate at the end of a night.
+You're obscenely wealthy
+/- you leave horse hoof marks instead of footprints
-Weak to sharp weapons
-Forbidden action: Getting your hands bloody

Night 2
+Every time a player is incorrectly lynched you will receive a buff to your role.
+When you attempt a single action, you may request to disguise yourself as another player. Any players will see you perform that action as the player you disguised yourself unless their role states otherwise.
+/-Unarmed blows have a 50% chance to knock players out, and a 25% chance to knock yourself out
-Forbidden action: Touching a shovel
-No sense of smell
-Cannot steal from other players

Night 3
+Block one attempt that would have succeded on yourself.
+Once per game you may turn invisible, only so long as you continue standing still
+You may start your night in any player's bedroom.
-Everyone else only hears you speak Japanese during the Nights. You don't have to speak only Japanese during investigations.
-You can never enter the same room twice in a night. Dorms and hallways are excluded.
-Every night you must slap at least two other players on the ass

Night 4
+You possess limited telekinesis
+You transform into Shrek for the rest of the night when you eat Onions. As Shrek, you believe the location you transformed in is your Swamp, and you will protect your Swamp from any intruders. You scare other players off and have greater strength and endurance, and resist physical attempts.
+Start with a Polaroid camera. It has enough film left for two photos.
+/-You are Batman. You do not possess any of his gadgets, however you may change in and out of his cowl at will and are slightly better at hand to hand combat. You cannot kill while you are dressed as Batman, it is against your code.
-Everyone looks like Bubsy to you

Night 5
+-50% chance to being murdered on days beginning with T
+Block one attempt that would have succeded on yourself.
+If you brush your teeth before bed your smile can temporarily blind other players.
+You can power up by screaming like Goku and wearing a t-shirt on your head like it's super saiyan 3 hair
+Quit while you're ahead: At the beginning of any night but the final, specify that you'd like to quit while you're ahead. You will retreat to your room at the first sign of danger and not leave or let anyone in for the rest of the night
-You have no teeth.

Night 6
+You transform into Shrek for the rest of the night when you eat Onions. As Shrek, you believe the location you transformed in is your Swamp, and you will protect your Swamp from any intruders. You scare other players off and have greater strength and endurance, and resist physical attempts.
+You have a Duel Disk, and when you play Spell or Trap cards from Yu-Gi-Oh!, they actually work in real life.
+If somebody tries to attempt on you, you will know if it was legitimate or not.
+Give someone a high five to gain a random attribute from their role for the rest of that night. Works once per night.
-You're not registered to vote. You can still submit a vote but it will not count.
-You absolutely MUST make at least two Rick & Morty references every single night
-Every night you have to attempt to fight someone
-On your person is an embarrassing photo from Jr. High prom. If anyone else sees it you kill yourself.

Night 7
+Start with a gun
+Any traps you place may kill during the day phase. In the event this happens a new trial is immediately opened for the victim and will close at the end of the current phase.
+Start with a katana
+/- Eyes in the back of your head. Clearly visible when open and causes vertigo if left open.
-Not allowed to use guns
-You continuously generate Totino's Pizza Rolls.
-Accounts must be given in haiku format
-Forbidden action: Voting for the wrong player three times. If you do not vote that will still count against you

Night 8
+Gain a notebook with three pages. You may draw one thing on each page and leave it somewhere, people will see what you drew however it will be a static image and intangible.
+You are abnormally good at playing music
+Completely immune to fire damage
+If you can convince someone to consenually enter a competition with you, you will always win and may take one of their items as a prize
+/-You appear as the victim from the previous night
-Forbidden Action: Coming into contact with any gardening tools
-You are deaf and cannot hear anything besides extremely loud sounds
-Forbidden Action: You must attempt every night

Night 9
+Once per night you may choose another player to blackmail. Their account will receive some random redactions and the information will be given to you instead.
+If anyone tries to give you something you may counter with "Double it and give it to the next person".
+After you kill, the victim will proceed to complete the rest of their actions for the night. They will be visibly dead to other players.
+You will have a nightmare each night where the murder is reenacted as a porn parody.
-Each night you will hallucinate an encounter with another player that does not happen.
-Start the game with a hat of your choosing. If the hat is removed from your head you will die.
-All of your votes count as negative votes.
-A random action of yours will be changed to flexing and doing bodybuilding poses.

---

…The final slime begins to warp and distend in a way unlike the others. As the clothes once giving her the illusion of humanity fall away from the solitary remaining slime, you see a familiar symbol gashed into the slime’s membrane, now glowing a deep, ominous red…

The glow begins to brighten, turning to a searing red before your eyes.



The final slime bursts, glowing energy flowing from its core and into the masked figure’s hand, swirling and coalescing into a brilliant red sphere before disappearing into the entity's cloak.



Ahahaha… Perhaps now you can understand that of which I spoke. In the depths of the laboratories, many nights ago… your dear friend conducted a experiment with Dr. Orpheus. An attempt to uncover the effects of a certain sigil carved into the flesh of a series of murder victims - she didn’t, of course, expect anything to come of it.

After all, she hardly thought she’d die.



Of course, the sigil in question serves only one simple purpose: Granting me complete control of a soul, beyond what even the Ritual can offer. Rest assured, I have great purpose in mind for the wealth of Chaotic magic sealed within this one’s soul. Truly, her noble sacrifice will not be in vain, though I doubt you'll be seeing her in the afterlife anytime soon considering. There will be little left of her once this soul has served its purpose.



…But for now, listen to the cries of those who passed before. The matter of the final Seal can be settled at nightfall. There is nothing you can do to stop me now.

---

With the breaking of the Occultic Seal, three Wraiths may be chosen. In addition, two Mimic Pleas impersonating others have been added to the pool, bringing the total to ten.

Choosing a Mimic Plea will result in the revival of a random wraith as well a significant buff to that Wraith’s role for the night in addition to a flat debuff to every player who voted for it.

The pleas of the Wraiths are plain and clear - Which will you choose to rejoin the living for one fateful night?

---

• The First Plea - A regal voice calls out...
  
  "It's missing something... Not enough...? That's it. This killing game does not have enough royalty <3"
  
  
• The Second Plea - A confident voice calls out...
  
  "This wraith discovered one simple trick that masterminds don't want you to know!"
  
  
• The Third Plea - A raspy voice calls out...
  
  "I got a BONE to pick with you! *rattling skeleton noises*"
  
  
• The Fourth Plea - A strong voice calls out...
  
  "Ho ho, third time’s a charm, ain’t it?"
  
  
• The Fifth Plea - A powerful voice calls out...
  
  "BPI-8108-Y. [ACCESS LEVEL: ?]. [THREAT LEVEL: ?]. [DESCRIPTION]: The Chaotic Seal's last line of defence."
  
  
• The Sixth Plea - A mopey voice calls out...
  
  "nico nico plea...."
  
  
• The Seventh Plea - An artificial voice calls out...
  
  ”I'll still be here for security assistance until the end, okay?”
  
  
• The Eighth Plea - A hoarse voice calls out...
  
  "man"
  
  
• The Ninth Plea - A pissed voice calls out...
  
  "Shit, it’s really taken you this long to pick me, huh? Go fucking figure."
  
  
• The Tenth Plea - A regretful voice calls out...
  
  "I saw what happened from behind the eyes of that mask. Please, let me make things right?"
  

---

You may now Vote.

Please vote for three of the above Pleas. If you do not choose a spirit, a random spirit shall be assigned to you.

This voting will end when the Night begins officially.

...Ten.

Dangit, this is so hard!

Fine, I'll vote for please Seven, Nine and Ten!

No ghosts.