SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2012: UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, 4:22PM
"You think they're gonna kill each other?"The tech who asked the question was a fresh face, someone they'd brought on just prior to the version's start, and Christina Stockton could not remember his name. Once, that might have bothered her. Even a few days ago, it could have given her pause. Now, however, her entire concern was doing whatever she could to help the version wrap up. Since she wasn't one of the escort crew, she was pulling extra duty helping in the communications center.
She'd been lucky enough to be on call when Hansel Williams brought them down to the final four. Tracen Danya was even now preparing himself for the announcement, adjusting the chair, stirring the cup of coffee he'd poured out of what she assumed was tradition, the fact that it was the middle of the afternoon be damned. The only complication was that two of the remaining students—the two with kills to their names—were now in close proximity.
"I don't know," Christina said.
On some level, she understood the desire for neatness. It would feel wrong to have less than four students for the finals, but it would be equally awkward for the scattered two to arrive to a corpse they'd heard announced as alive.
"What should we do?" The tech was frowning at the screen. Christina looked at it. They weren't fighting yet. Their body language conveyed some wariness, but not immediately forthcoming violence.
She turned her gaze to Tracen, who was taking a sip of his coffee. He raised an eyebrow at them, mouthed something. She didn't catch what.
Christina paused for a second, then said, "I think we should roll.
"Back in V2, Johnson died between the announcement and the final arena. It happens sometimes. If it happens now, it's a shame. If one of them dies while he's talking, well, only one of them will be in any position to complain anyways."
The tech looked like he was considering protesting. He opened his mouth, looked at Christina, and she me his gaze flatly. He closed his mouth, nodded, signaled to some of the others.
Just like that, the preparations for the final announcement of Version Five of Survival of the Fittest were underway.
SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2012: UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, 4:35PM
"Good afternoon, kids." Tracen Danya's voice was smooth, calm, reinvigorated. It piped from the speakers spread throughout the park and the town; the rest of the island remained quiet. The bulk of the equipment had been retrieved by now. There was no need for him to be heard anywhere without surviving students. "As I promised, I'm here to give you the skinny. You know what that means. There are only four of you left, and it's time to whittle that down to one.
"But first, those who fell just short:
"Hansel Williams caught up with Gray Emerson, cutting him down in a shootout I half expected to see swing the other way.
"That wasn't the end of it, however. Mr. Williams was fresh from another firefight, one which left Joe Carrasco critically wounded. He bled out a short time after Mr. Emerson's demise. I'm sure he'd have been proud to pull ninth place... if he'd been conscious.
"After that, Madeline Wilcox showed herself out. A pity—she seemed like a real contender at several points, but that last wound she sustained certainly wasn't looking good.
"Kathryn Nguyen fell prey to Matt Vartoogian, finding herself outgunned and outmaneuvered. That didn't do her killer very much good, though, since he immediately ended up on the wrong side of Katarina Konipaski.
"Ms. Konipaski made quite the name for herself throughout this competition, but all runs come to an end eventually, and her luck finally ran out in a rematch with Hansel Williams.
"So that leaves four of you. In the name of fairness—and because some of you have done quite well keeping yourselves out of the spotlight—I'll give you the rundown on the competition. Tradition dictates we do this in numerical order.
"Zubin Wadia, you've been trying to play it so smart, haven't you? You sure were full of ideas earlier, always busy with your notes. You're not so subtle as you think you are—if you'd ever had a chance of making trouble for us, you wouldn't be here now. The real question is, are you smart and dedicated enough to finally figure out the real way home?
"Joey Grey—who? I have to say, the degree to which you've managed to avoid everything going down is almost supernatural. You've seen death once or twice, but I don't think you've even been hurt by anyone but yourself in your time here. You're in the freshest shape, but can that matter if you don't have the stones to back it up? It's time to show your true colors. Nobody lives through this by mistake.
"Hansel Williams, as of Ms. Konipaski's demise, you have officially taken the record for single-version eliminations. You know what has to be done, you know how to do it, but has the road to this point taken too much out of you? All you have to do is hold it together for a little bit longer, and you'll be home free. Take a deep breath and taste it, and do your best not to choke. The others will be looking hard at you if they want to have a shot.
"Finally, no introduction is really needed for the singular Amaranta Montalvo, in no small part because she's the only one of you who's met all the others. Well, Mara, you've killed one of your best friends and gotten yourself pretty torn up on your way across the island. I can't say you always make the best choices—your little fireworks display wasn't a very efficient use of resources—but you invariably leave an impression. Can you manage one final show?
"We'll see which of you takes it home soon enough. This is my final goodbye to three of you. I want you all to make your ways to Central Park with all due haste. As soon as you're there, every other area will become a permanent danger zone. You should be in the park itself; don't get too close to the Duck Pond.
"Good luck. Oh, and remember: you need to score at least one kill if you don't want to star in the next act of our continuing drama. That means you, Grey and Wadia.
"I'll see one of you later. Do your best."
DAY ELEVEN: SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2012
Weather: The clouds have returned, though it is not rainy. The air is cool and humid, but not muggy. Today's high temperature is approximately 63F, 17C at 4pm. Tonight is one night before the first quarter of the moon is visible. The twelfth announcement arrives at 4:35 PM, shortly after the death of the fifth-place contestant. As such, this weather section is identical to that from the Tenth Announcement.
We're not enforcing DZs this time out (and I'd like to drop a huge shout-out to the V5 handlers for not seeing a single active character need to be staff-killed for DZ violations all version). Endgame activity rules are in effect.
As in V4, we're leaving V5's Endgame publicly readable. It keeps the community a lot more invested and lets them follow along with the action. That said, in the interest of allowing those who would rather read it in one go to avoid spoilers, we will not be updating the student roster until a winner is determined, and similarly ask that the wiki not be updated with information on the fates of any of the finalists until that time. Please be respectful in chat, and if someone's around who doesn't want to be spoiled, keep discussion to #V5Spoilers.
Congratulations to the finalists. I have a feeling we're in for quite the show.