SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012: UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, EARLY MORNING
While the rest of the Arthro Taskforce was winding down its busiest stages of operation, focusing on cleaning up the island and erasing all trace of their presence from the vicinity, the real work of the version was still in its earlier stages for the broadcast crew. Things had changed. Once upon a time, SOTF had gone out close to live; there had been some delay, of course, to prevent anyone from simply reverse-engineering the approximate location of the islands based on time of day and position of sun, but it had been minimal. The kids' deaths had shown on roughly the day they occurred. More than that, it had shown on television. At first, it had been a matter of bribes and coercion and the government's fumbled attempt at a cover-up. When that house of cards finally crumbled—far later than it should have, it was almost universally agreed—the news had become an unwitting ally, showing clips that provided just enough of a tantalizing glimpse to lure the curious to those foreign channels still willing to broadcast or the websites running archives and streams.
Now that so many people went straight to their computers as a first stop when seeking entertainment, now that there was such a wide and anonymous audience for footage of atrocities, distribution wasn't such a big deal. Now that the crew had three weeks of preparation time, they didn't have to focus solely on scrubbing identifying details. The island would be found, probably within an hour of the streams going live. What the broadcasting team could devote time to now, for the first time ever, was trying to make the footage look good.
The bulk of them were not on-site; that was left to the more security-oriented members of the organization. The broadcast crew was sequestered far from the action, all the better to view it as work and not anything particularly real or personal. They were a mix of people from all walks of life: film students with slightly too keen a taste for realism, Hollywood never-wases trying to scrape together some meaningful work, radicals with surprising understanding of staging and propaganda. The only thing that unified them, aside from their shared task, was their willingness to sign up for a job that might well last them the rest of their lives.
So they created. They stitched together website designs allowing users to follow specific students with ease. They cherry-picked the best angles on scenes captured by multiple cameras. They figured out just how much to let leak at any given time.
And they waited for the world to see their work.
SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012: UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, 9AM
"Good morning, kids." Tracen's voice today was back to normal, firm and collected with good enunciation. "You're getting closer to the end of our time together. I know I say this every day, but you're nearly in the final stretch. There are just over twenty of you left, putting you in approximately the top fifteen percent of your class. So close to graduating with honors."But of course, some fall along the way. Today's first unfortunate was Ian Williams, who trusted Mirabella Strong just a little too much and let her close enough to sink a blade into him. For those keeping score, that's a new killer minted.
"Virgil Jefferson-Davis was another newbie, gunning down James Wade while shooting at someone totally different. Goes to show what a risk it is to mess around near fights that don't concern you.
"Iselle Ovalle-Vandermeer was shot by her teammate, Kathryn Nguyen, when she startled her during the night. Of course, given the way the two had been arguing, I remain skeptical as to just how much of an accident it really was.
"It was certainly intentional when Hansel Williams blew Marcus Leung away. Equally premeditated was Leona Van Kamp's stabbing of Timothy Abrams.
"Another of our most experienced killers, Katarina Konipaski, stabbed Deanna Hull, who managed to limp away but didn't last long after that.
"Shortly later, Phoebe Cho, after days of laying low and hiding from anyone who came near, finally cracked and took a stroll into a danger zone. I'm hoping she'll be the last, but past experience makes me somehow doubt we'll be so lucky.
"On a related note, and as a lesson to the rest of you who want to die, Maynard Hurstbotched his suicide attempt. Luckily for him, Ami Flynn was on hand to oh-so-charitably finish him off.
"It was quite the surprise for Paris Ardennes when Joachim Lovelace turned on him and stabbed him. You never know what crazy ideas your companions will come up with if they get a few minutes to themselves. It didn't do too much good for him in the long run, though, because Ami Flynn happened to wander by and win one last game, sending a bullet through his head.
"In a similar spirit of competition, Tyler Lucas and Cooper Komorowski had themselves a rematch after their dust-up earlier in the week, but this time Cooper stayed down for the count.
"After that, Hansel Williams scored two more notches for his belt, winning a gunfight against Virgil Jefferson-Davis and then pulling Christopher Harlin aside and putting on an impromptu one-man firing squad.
"Not so long after and not that far away, Katarina Konipaski used Claire Monaghan as a shield in a fight, and when that didn't kill her finished the job with a knife.
"Travis Webster caught up with Owen Kay, and blew him away by way of greeting.
"Finally, Andi Victorino and Miles Strickland managed to finish each other off in a tussle. I know I'm always encouraging you to be proactive, but do make sure to have an exit plan. Otherwise, it might not mean anything in the end.
"With that taken care of, I'd like you all to avoid the School Buildings and the Shopping Center from now on. There's a slight exception to that for a pair of you, though; we couldn't decide between Hansel Williams and Ami Flynn, so we'll leave the two of you to work out your differences on the bottom floor of the Shopping Center, where a new gun, two meatball subs, two large glasses of peach iced tea, and two big slices of apple pie await. That's plenty of food to share, but we'll let you play rock paper scissors for the weapon.
"I'll talk to those remaining tomorrow. You're in the home stretch now. Good luck."
DAY TEN: SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012
Weather: Once more, the day is largely bright and clear, though with more of a chill. Wind blows across the island, and clouds can be seen in the distance. Temperatures are lower again, with a high of 65F, 18C at 4pm. Tonight is two nights before the first quarter of the moon is visible. The tenth announcement will come at 9 AM on June 24.
Here are the rolls for this announcement:
1. Mirabella Strong (SansaSaver)
2. Mara Montalvo (Ruggahissy) - Leona Van Kamp (Outfoxd, Hero card used)
3. Ruby Forrester (Fioriboy)
4. Ami Flynn (Ciel)
5. Takeshi Yoshikawa (Munnin)
6. Juhan Levandi (Maraoone)
Three days for cards and DZs, and a further seven for deaths.
Finally, congratulations to D/N and Ruggahissy, who tied in this month's BDA for the deaths of Deanna Hull and Paris Ardennes respectively. The quote nomination threads will be up shortly; Rugga has requested that the quote go to Deanna for the full month.