Monday, May 11, 2015: Undisclosed Location
"Starting to remember why I don't stare at the cameras anymore. Below my pay grade and it gives me a friggin' headache."
A pair of frameless glasses gently clattered to Dennis Lourvey's desk, resting in a place freshly swept of granola bars and Red Bull cans. It felt great to get them off of his face, if only so it freed up some room to knead at his brow in a desperate attempt to force away his headache. Staring at those monitors was like looking at the world through a bug's eye; each array was focused on a slightly different location. Wasn't as bad as his first version seven years ago where everything looked like a forest or a slightly bloodier forest with the rare house to break up the scenery, and there was less to watch this time.
At the same time, there was also less manpower these days. He was pulled from an early nap by Petrikov to cover a watcher's shift... note to self, never play a game of cards with a favor on the line, especially when you know things are short staffed. It was becoming harder and harder to run these things on as grand a scale as back then. He supposed that meant fewer kids were dying on an annual basis and that was... a good thing in some sense, but there was the issue of job security to worry about. Hilariously illegal as all of this was, there was no arguing with pulling in a tidy six figures. The dental plan was great, too. Sure beat working as some coffee-pouring intern or flipping burgers atop a Master's degree.
It sure beat the stripping, too. Lourvey mindedly patted the slight gut that had formed over the past few years. Even with semi-frequent trips to the gym, working a club probably wasn't an option these days. Oh well.
He reached to the side of his desk in a blind search for the top drawer's handle before finding and pulling it open. The object of his desires was neatly tucked in the right-hand corner of the drawer, but when he pulled out the bottle of ibuprofen... alas, empty. Lourvey groaned and picked up his glasses, flicking them open deftly with just the fingers of his left hand before setting them on his face. Abby basically never got headaches, she wouldn't have any pills to spare. He didn't feel like talking to anybody else.
"Commissary it is," he grumbled, pushing up from his desk. "Soto, I'll be gone a couple minutes. If Boris comes back, tell him I said I fucking hate him", Lourvey muttered. He took a few steps before turning around.
"Don't actually tell him that. I'll never hear the end of it."
He said 'a few minutes', but it wasn't like he was exactly in any rush to get back to his post. The others could handle the extra duty and while he did run the possibility of catching some hell from Jim if he found out, Lourvey was pretty confident in the importance he held to the task force. Most of his work took place before and after a version;the rest of it, truthfully, was just him being on-call for emergencies like with the G012 incident this time around (which if he recalled correctly, he responded only with laughter). With Achlys' death weighing in the back of his mind as a counter-balance, he decided he wouldn't take more than fifteen minutes to chat it up with Trent about the weather or what-not.
Trent was fiddling with stock or doing inventory or something boring like that when Lourvey strolled up, leaning on the counter. "Trent, my man!" He put on a smile. "Mi compadre. My ace in the hole. I need some piiiiiills here!" He threw the reference out, but found it unlikely Trent would get it.
Trent pulled his head out of the box of sedatives, wearing a smile when he saw who his guest was. "Do you have a doctor's note?"
"For a little ibuprofen?"
"That's your second bottle in a week. Stuff'll kill you, y'know."
"With as much as I drink, my liver's fucked anyway," Dennis sighed. "I know they keep saying how bad it is to cross-fade, but sometimes it's the only way to get shit done around here. But for real, I'm getting like... these CONSTANT headaches, and there's only like twenty pills per pack. You factor in I take 'em two at a time..."
"Then I'd say you need to see a doctor, but I'm sure that's not your top priority right now." he shrugged, shaking his head with a plastered smirk, before reaching under a counter and pulling out a fresh bottle, tossing it towards Lourvey. "Try to make this one last, we've only got so many back here."
"Better grab everything I can," Lourvey whispered in the same impression as before as he snatched the bottle. Just a little louder, he said "I mean, if we're being technical, aren't you a doctor anyway?"
"Yes, and in my professional opinion, you should consult a GP." he flashed a coy eyebrow back at Lourvey, still smirking. "Wouldn't want to survive all this, only to be done in by a brain tumour, after all."
"Remind me why I came here?" Lourvey chuckled, holding the bottle covetously. "I shouldn't even be awake right now, but I'm going to assume we're on high alert because the kids decided they shouldn't have nice things."
"You mean the fire? Those usually kick off at the end rather than halfway, don't they? Bit preemptive, really."
"Tell me about it," Lourvey sighed with a heavy lean. "We had Josie n' her squad take care of it but that leaves us short a man, so I've been kinda called in to do grunt work. Just as well... I don't normally have much to do during the game itself." He threw his eyes to the side. "Still, I was kind of hoping to wait for the dramatics until we had all the rats caged off in one spot."
"Well you could always come help me out in here." Trent replied with a warm chuckle, as he went back to rooting in his box. "Maybe we can find something else to help with your headaches, if you're lending me a hand." He glanced back upwards, momentarily, but with a deliberate meeting of the eyes.
Dennis met the glance with a blank stare of his own before realization kicked in. He raised a finger, lowered it, then shook his head. "If I'm not back in a few minutes, Abby's gonna get pissy with me. I know she barely emotes but trust me on this one..." he trailed off on that line of thought, moving on. "Tracen n' I are buddies so I probably won't be Version 1'd but I shouldn't chance another verbal beating from Greynolds!" He chuckled again, maybe just slightly forced that time before stepping away from the counter.
"Hey, Camden, we still on for Settlers of Catan Wednesday?"
"Only if you want to get your arse kicked."
"Have fun trying to get to me without any roads!"
Tuesday, May 12, 2015: Undisclosed Location
Thankfully, Tracen's morning had been much calmer than the previous one. Nothing else set on fire, and all the students behaving themselves. So, everything could proceed as normal. There had even been some more interesting occurrences which had added some much-needed spice to the proceedings. The betting pool had been shaken up, that was for sure.
"Welcome to yet another wonderful day. Congratulations to everyone listening on getting through the dreaded Monday, some of you weren't as lucky. Something else to brighten your mood, you're halfway to the end of this contest of ours. It only took you all one week to eliminate half of your number. I'm so proud of you all."
He took a quick break to sip his coffee before he continued.
"Best get to down to business though. I know you are all keen to carry on with your days."
"We're starting things off with a quieter moment today as Nadia Riva jumped off the bridge. Boring I know but don't worry this will get good."
"We start off the real action of the day with Lucilly Peterson who became yet another victim of Isabel Ramirez. It's for the best really, I didn't think she had the stomach for this game of ours... especially after Miss Ramirez was done with her."
"Next Kaitlyn Greene played a game with Alba Reyes and as I'm sure you can all guess by now, she lost."
Tracen read over the next couple of lines to get all the events clear in his head. This was the point where everything had picked up.
"Alex Tarquin was the next to go when William McKinley disemboweled him with a machete, unfortunately poor Will died not long after due to a gunshot from Amanda Tan. Quite the bloodbath that one."
"But even despite that you kids managed to top yourselves. Now stay with me on this one because there's a lot to take in, I know. First Noah Whitley had a fight with Isabel Ramirez. I'll give you a guess as to what happened. If you said Noah won... well, there's no hope for you. Then a brawl broke out as all of Miss Ramirez chickens came home to roost, as Scout Pfeiffer, Fiyori Senay, and Dorothy Shelley combined their powers to bring her down, though despite this Isabel still managed to kill Alan Banks during the struggle.
Tracen let out a loud and dramatic sigh.
"If I could let you all in on a secret. That fight was a great one to watch, it even brought the cafeteria to its feet. Bravo to you all."
Tracen gave a polite round of applause.
"Thankfully we end things today with something a little simpler. Rene Wolfe fell asleep and her supposed 'friend' Blair Moore took her life. For shame."
"Today's danger zone is the Asylum Exterior. To make it easier for you, we consider that the Bell Tower, Cove, Roof, and Northwest Cliffs. I'd suggest staying away from there if you like your head and want it to remain on your shoulders.
"Finally today's Best Kill Award goes to Amanda Tan. Your prize can be found at the Cove. I'd hurry, you don't want the tide to take the fruits of your labour."
DAY SEVEN: TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015
Weather: The sky is still clear and the sun has come out but the temperature has stayed at 46 degrees f, 8 degrees C. The wind has gone completely and the air around the island is still. A week after it was full the moon has entered the waning crescent stage.
Here are the rolls for this cycle:
#1. Jeremy Frasier (Yugikun)
#2. Clarice Halwood (Violent-Medic) - Lily Caldwell (Violent-Medic, Swap card used)
#3. Ben Fields (Cicada Days)
#4. Alba Reyes (Laurels) - Hannah Kendrickstone (Courtography, Hero card used)
#5. Kimiko Kao (Deamon) - Jerry Fury (MK Kilmarnock, Hero card used)
The three days for cards...
And the seven for deaths...
Finally, congratulations go out to D/N for the death of Kaitlyn Greene. We'll get the quote nomination thread up shortly.
