The Moment of Truth

[Yossarian†]

((Mike Maszer continued from Searching For Clues))

Finally.

After almost two days of extremely tiring trek, with only a single few hours break to recharge the batteries, after dealing with roots just waiting to trip his legs in the woods, and quicksands lurking at the swamp, Mike finally made his way toward the ship he noticed way back in the lighthouse.

Or rather, a sailboat. Looking at it now from a closer distance, Mike couldn't actually believe he mistaken it for a ship before. He must've been hallucinating from the pain back then, there was no other explanation. Nothing to worry about though. Ship or sailboat, it still had to be registered. It had to be have a name, and it still would be a valid clue, if he could learn it. It was time to finally test his theory. But first...

Whoa boy... Break time. I need to catch some breath.

The Pole sat down on the rock nearby and took out some food from his backpack. His rations were shrinking down. Not good. Mike hoped he could find enough clues to call the help before he would starve... Or die thanks to some lunatics running around the island.

As he munched the crackers in his mouth, the speakers were turned on. Twice. It was odd at first, considering it was nowhere near the time for another announcement, but looks like Danya had some important things to say.

As Mike listened, he experienced the roller-coaster of emotions. Through the voice of a math teacher (apparently still alive), he learned that someone named Liz Polanski managed to find a way to disrupt the collars. Awesome. Judging from her last name, she probably had some Polish ancestors, which meant she had to have a spark of genius in her, so the news should be true. Alternate way to say 'fuck you!' to terrorists was more than welcome. Then, Danya started blowing up collars, because apparently she started destroying cameras. Mike held his breath and listened closely to every name of the unfortunate students who were supposed to die in a moment. As he wasn't among them, he sighed with a relief. Looks like he will have a chance to pull of his plan anyway. Even more reassuring, he thought about terrorists completely occupied with that Polanski girl. Maybe, just maybe, they will be distracted enough to not notice his efforts, and they won't be able to cut off signal or anything, while he'll be talking directly to any government agent watching SOFT. Finally, he felt uncomfortable again, when he realized, that since the girl is destroying cameras, he might be not able to address anyone, because of that. Yet another reason to hurry.

Mike finished his 'meal', and packed all of his stuff into backpack again. He looked at the boat, mumbled something under his nose about some 'fucking clues', and slowly approached his target.

[Limisios†]

((Josée Trembley continued from Too Late.))

"Are you sure this is the right way Cisco? We've been walking for ages now and seem no sign of Remy. You would think it was easy to spot that idiot." Josée had been searching for her brother for what seemed like an eternity, it was only a matter of time before he did something stupid and Josée needed to be there to pull him back... Possibly by his hair if the opportunity arose.

Even so it was good to be away from him for a bit; Cisco was at least slightly better company then Remy. Cisco might be missing a few brain cells but at least he listened to her. Even so Josée made sure that she didn't talk to him too much, just in case he flipped out and tried to kill her or got scared or whatever crazy people did. But she had to focus on finding her idiot brother. Then she spotted someone, only one person... A student... Well Josée supposed that it was better then nothing.

Making sure that she knew which hand she was holding her blackjack in, she started to approch the boy in the most non-threatening way she could manage, keeping her blackjack to her side she called out. "Hey you! On the bench! I don't suppose you've seen my brother pass through here... He's rather fast... Probably holding a pocket knife... Oh, and he's got straight, brown hair that kind of makes him look like a bit of a... Douche..."

Josée then remembered that people were trying to kill each other on this island. Josée cursed herself, hoping that she hadn't made the biggest mistake of her life.

[Yossarian†]

It turned out, Mike's search quest ended up more quickly than he could ever imagine. There it was, painted right on the hull, just waiting to be found. The Pole froze in place, almost as he witnessed the savior himself.

My goodness, why didn't I think about it earlier? It would be much quicker to just go here, rather than visit the lighthouse, and maybe Max would still...

Mike quickly shook his head to get away from the miserable thoughts about his dead companion. He couldn't do anything for him right now, but now he could do something for himself. And for Erik. And Fatty, whatever his name was. And everyone else.

Before he could even start putting his plan into motion though, someone interrupted him. Mike quickly turned his head toward a girl, who approached him. As much as Mike knew island's standards (hint: Not much), she looked and behaved pretty okay. No weapons pointed at him, no threats, and most importantly - no sneak attacks. It was a really nice change of pace after that encounter with Max's killer (who's name was apparently Quincy Jones, if Danya was to be believed). She asked him about seeing her brother, before giving a brief description of him. Frankly, Mike could match a third of the American teenagers to that description (except that part about the pocket knife of course), but this time he was fairly sure he didn't meet anyone like that along the way, simply because managed to meet in person only five other people (six including the girl) so far.

"Nope, doesn't ring a bell. Sorry to disappoint you."

Although he tried to come up with the most serious face possible, a giant smile from his latest discovery managed to surface on his mouth, making him look a bit like a wacko. And then, he came up with an idea. A bit stupid, but he just wanted to share his good news with someone. Also, it was a pretty good way to keep up the conversation.

"Hey, tell me..."

The Pole took a few steps toward the girl. As he noticed her cautious look, he quickly put his both hands in the air to show no ill meaning. A second later, he was already by the girl's side, and asked her:

"Do you see, what I see?"

And with an index finger, he pointed out the old black letters painted on the hull of the sailboat, mixing into a symbol of hope for every student alive, even by the name itself.

LIBERTY

((Mike's discovery, as well as the sailboat's name is staff approved))

[Sunnybunny]

((Orpheus Campbell continued from They F**cking Work Because . . .))

He'd lost Rizzo.

He'd lost Rizzo and Rizzo had died because of it. So many deaths, collars being blown over some chick. It was sickening, but it was all blending together. He'd just walked, had to keep moving. Sleep was good, and rations were too (because all the good stuff was long gone, by now) but it didn't matter. He was still alive. She was too. He'd been around this whole damn island looking, but he wouldn't give up until he at least knew Josée was okay.

To be honest, completely honest, he was surprised she hadn't ran her mouth off and gotten killed already.

But he was so damn tired. He'd just sit on this beach for a while, it was much better than the damn woods or swamp as far as sight-seeing went. He plopped down in the sand, and was dozing off when he heard voices . . .

"Hey tell me . . . Do you what I see?

He didn't see shit, but he ran over to the sound of the voices anyway. He saw Mike Maszer, soccer player, pretty cool guy. He was pointin to something . . . But Orpheus didn't really care about that. Not now, not at all.

It took him five days but, he'd done it. If he wasn't a big ass football player, he'd probably start crying. It was still a tempting option.

"Josée?"

[Limisios†]

((GMing of Cisco Vasquez authorised by LaZardo))

Josée breathed a sigh of relief, no matter how dangerous running up to random people seemed to be, you could always count on getting lucky and finding someone nice. Josée was almost pulling Cisco along with excitement

"Nope, doesn't ring a bell. Sorry to disappoint you."

The voice shouted back. Oh well, the island was so big, Josée almost expected to pull a blank when asking someone of the whereabouts of her brother; but at least this person seemed friendly. Her also seemed very happy with himself too, and with good reason.

"Hey tell me . . . Do you what I see?

Josée and Cisco looked to where the boy was pointing, it was quite a strange sight, a sight that at first Josée didn't quite believe, but it was there, floating right in front of them. Josée didn't know what to say. "You don't mean that this is..." Josée started, but couldn't finish her sentence, she didn't know how to feel. She was flabbergasted at the sight. It couldn't possibly be this easy. No, it wasn't that easy. "But... But what about these things?" Josée pointed at her collar. "If we try to escape... Won't they..." Josée's face dropped.

[Yossarian†]

"No, no, no... I'm not talking about the boat itself. The boat's name is the key... Watch."

As Mike looked around, he noticed two more people. One of them was a black, muscular guy, who actually didn't look all that menacing, and...

"Oh, Cisco..."

Cisco Vasquez, his fellow goalie from the soccer team and a friend-rival by default. Maybe if they would meet during normal circumstances, Mike would freak out, and back away from him, because the announcement flagged him as a killer, but right now, he simply didn't remember about it, because he was more preoccupied with his plan.

The Pole spotted one of the cameras near the boat, and quickly approached it. It was a bit heavy, but it wasn't immobile, so Mike started to adjusting it's view to point it exactly at the 'Liberty' sign.

"Help me if you can. Find one or two more cameras and point them at the boat's name."

After a bit of a struggle, the Pole finally moved the camera so it was pointed out in the correct direction. As it was finally done, Mike entered the camera view (but carefully to not block the sight to the boat), took a few sips of the water for courage (shame it wasn't an alcohol), cleared his throat and started the phase one of his plan.

"To everyone from the government watching this, and trying to find this island and get us out of here." The Pole begun his speech. "My name is Michał Maszer, and I'm one of the students trapped on this island. I know, or at least I certainly hope so, you are trying to locate the island right now. It's a difficult task, so I want to help you as much as I can. The climate on this island should help you figure out the geographical latitude. There's no volcano here, but there is a mountain, which should also help you cross out many islands, but I'm sure you all know this by now. I just discovered something though, which was hidden from your view up until now. This sailboat..." At this point, the Pole pointed out the name with his index finger. "... Is not suitable to get us out of here, but it should help your cause. It's name is 'Liberty'. I'm not that good with the sailing to know what kind of boat is it exactly, but I'm sure you will know. Every larger boat must be registered, so this one should be no exception. Find the registers, check out for every sailboat like that, named 'Liberty'. Find the owner if he's still alive, or at least his last known location. His journals, maybe he plotted a voyage on certain waters. Whatever, that will help to pinpoint down this island. I know it's not much, but I'll try to find more. You need to hurry though. There's not much time left for us."

With those last words, Mike stepped out of the view, looked at the boat and the people who were with him. And then... Nothing happened. Just as expected. It was impossible for him to know, whether the clue was useful or not, but even if, it will take some time, before anyone will find the right course. There was nothing left for him, but to go somewhere else and search the island again.

"Okay guys, to the point..." The Pole said to the three other students with him, while sipping some more water. "Do you want to help me find more clues about this island's location? Or at least, did you found something like that name, which would help us, during those last four days?"

[Limisios†]

((Sorry to skip post order here guys, but I've got to get this all straightened out.)

Josée watched as the boy gave off his message to the world. It seemed logical that boats would be on some sort of registry, it also seemed more then logical that the boat would have an owner, and it certainly seemed logical that all the brain-power of the government could find... Well, Josée didn't exactly hold her breath on that particular bit, but for the most part, she thought the plan was quite magnificent. After the boy had finished, Josée spoke.

"You know... That's actually brilliant, I actually think that could work, what do you think Cis-" Josée had turned to ask Cisco to give his compliments, but she hadn't turned to Cisco, and the person who she saw standing right behind her; who because of her fascination had completely gone unnoticed until now. Josée was truely speechless. "Orpheus? OC? Is that... I don't believe it... I didn't think that I'd ever actually see you again." Josée wasn't really the type of person who gave out hugs to people; but for this event, she made a brief exception and wrapped her arms around him for a moment, before remembering that Cisco and everyone else around her would probably be watching.

By now Josée was lost for words, Cisco watched the scene from next to Josée, not quite knowing what to say, holding his precious record to his chest.

[laZardo†]

((I should probably have warned you beforehand about this. Mea maxima culpa.))

((Cisco Vasquez continued from Too Late))

For what felt like several weeks though it probably hadn't even been 24 hours, Cisco Vasquez suffered in silence. And it was all for a mistake he regretted making the moment he made it, although given the unpredictability of human nature above depression and other mental disorders he didn't exactly regret it continously.

Sure, people made bigger mistakes. Like neo-Nazis in the SOTF roleplaying forums set up by sick twisted fans from the Philippines or some other country in buttfuck nowhere that always died for reasons stupider than in real life. But those mistakes immediately got them killed, rather than left in a prolonged state of...whatever this agony felt like. The kind of agony where he couldn't help but wonder how Death would have its inevitable vengeance for his sudden and violent act of disobedience.

The fact that he had apparently left his bag, leaving him with only his precious 'music' - in reality a bloodied, tarnished circular sawblade tucked neatly into the dirtied sleeve that once held a vinyl record, was only the prelude to that punishment. Sure, he managed to get her to share a sip or a bite every now and then but other than that he tried to avoid saying anything, hoping and whimpering to himself often that Joseé would lead him back to Joe and in some miraculous chance help him reconcile before the two of them reaped her (with that first 'e',' he reminded himself) together.

Running into his eternal arch-nemesis Mike Maszer, unfortunately, did absolutely nothing to calm his mind. Neither, apparently, did what transpired next.


"Do you see...what I see?"

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king...

Suddenly it was like a merry motherfucking christmas from Satan as Cisco's gaze traced the length of Mike's arm toward the object he pointed to.

It was a motherfucking boat. The kind of aquatic device used for fishing, leisurely cruises on the Riviera, and violent escape attempts from a game where everybody had to kill each other. And he knew how it went the last time it happened. Or at least part of it. He never really got the end of it, and neither did everyone else watching. But that was beside the point.

It was a motherfucking boat, and Mike was pointing at it with the clear intent of fucking with the game on it. And considering what happened to the others that tried (or because of those that tried), it wasn't hard for this sad little second-stringer to think that Death had finally found the perfect way to fuck with him.

It was a motherfucking boat, and Cisco could only watch as Mike pointed every fucking camera at the damn thing and go on in some inspiring speech that just somehow begged for inspiring background music. He found himself clinging to his record tighter than ever, which was saying quite a bit because apart from impromptu shitting breaks his bloodied arms had practically calcified around it. And that wasn't counting the temptation to try to use his 'music' on Mike the same way he did with Katelyn (his first reaped soul, according to a past announcement).

Then, Mike turned to speak to them. Apparently one of the football team members had also been attracted to the key, but despite his obviously looming figure Cisco hadn't noticed him up to that point. And speaking of points...

"Okay guys, to the point...Do you want to help me find more clues about this island's location? Or at least, did you found something like that name, which would help us, during those last four days?"

Right now it seemed that only Mike Maszer had any clue exactly where the fuck they were, in literal terms. Cisco knew pretty much where he was too...on the road to a proper fucking.

"Mike...I wanna know..." he began, what came next punctuated by what felt like a flood of depression he'd been holding back, "what the fuck are you doing?!"

[Yossarian†]

((Sorry Dee, I need to skip, to save Mike from the inactivity))

That one part of Mike's inner self which was responsible for his self esteem, just got pumped up to the maximum level, as the girl he encountered praised his plan. No one knew if it would really work, but it was good to know, that yet another person appreciated his work.

And then, the girl vanished in the massive arms of the black guy (apparently a long time friend and/or lover), while Cisco Vasquez decided to ruin the Pole's good mood a bit.

Oh good old Cisco... First to complain an mock, last to do anything worthwhile. It was fine, when they were battling for the first goalie spot in a soccer team, because that was a motivation to work harder and shut him up by showing who's the boss, but right now, his comment was just irritating, with no good sides hidden inside.

"What am I doing Cisco?" Mike's irritation easily leaked from his voice. "Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to get out of here. I'd rather take the chance and risk dying for that, rather than sit on my ass, and hope for one to two hundred chance to be the sole survivor. Especially, since I'm not going to..."

The Pole stopped at that point. He was going to end his sentence with 'kill anyone', but then, something he dismissed earlier came back to him with full force. He heard the announcements. He KNEW that Cisco recently joined the 'elite' group of the island killers. Was that his current plan? To kill them all, starting with Mike?

He took one step back, ready to run at the first sight of the ill-intentions from his rival.

"Actually, no... Scratch that. You better tell me, what the fuck are YOU doing. I heard the announcement..."

[Limisios†]

((I need to post now to stop Josée from going inactive, but storywise I can't really post until I know how OC is going to respond to Josée's previous post. I don't know what to do! ))

((EDIT: Ok, I think I've gotten all this sorted out, so if a mod reads this post, please delete it; thanks.))

[laZardo†]

((Anti-inactivity post. Well, since Mike is asking Cisco...))

"What am I doing Cisco?" Mike replied, quite irritated, "Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to get out of here. I'd rather take the chance and risk dying for that, rather than sit on my ass, and hope for one to two hundred chance to be the sole survivor. Especially, since I'm not going to..."

Mike then stopped. And for some strange reason, it was almost as if both of them knew exactly what he was going to end his sentence with. And that meant his cover, or whatever pitiful excuse passed for whatever cover he was thinking of at the moment, was blown like half the men on Rosa Fiametta's block.

"Actually, no... Scratch that. You better tell me, what the fuck are YOU doing. I heard the announcement..."

For the first time since - well, only the last time it got cold at night - Cisco started to tremble. If he wasn't going to die from Mike attempting to carry out his plan, he was probably going to die if Mike decided to prevent him from stopping it.

"I was just following orders!" he whimpered, the classic Nuremberg trial line a blatant lie even to Cisco, knowing quite well that what he did was defying orders, however much of a charade those were themselves. "Death...Joe...I was reaping souls for him..." Yet, as the defendants themselves once preached, the more he repeated that delusion to himself, the more he believed it as truth. Especially when one was already mentally unstable and left on a desert island to kill people. That didn't stop him from taking an accusing stare at Mike, though.

"I don't wanna die...I don't wanna die..." he then repeated, more to himself than to Mike, as he slowly slid one hand into his record sleeve. The only advantage he had at this point was that Mike didn't know (either) that there was a bloodied circular sawblade lodged in that record sleeve. He figured that if he drew it out and threw it quick enough, he could take Mike's head clean off before he could draw some kind of gleaming chrome pistol and plant one through his face.

"I don't want you to kill me..."

[Limisios†]

((Sorry Sunny, but going to have to do this.))

Josée was over the moon that she had been reunited, she was so caught up in her reunion, that she almost didn't notice the argument that was kicking off behind her.

"...You better tell me, what the fuck are YOU doing. I heard the announcement..."

Josée only caught the end of the argument, but she knew that Cisco was probably on the receiving end.

"I was just following orders!" Cisco was really taking a verbal beating. "Death...Joe...I was reaping souls for him... I don't wanna die...I don't wanna die..." Josée had to step in before someone was shot, unfortunately peaceful negotiation had never been Josée's strong point.

"Come on Cisco, calm down, no-one's going to hut you." Josée put her arm round Cisco to try and comfort him. "He didn't mean to kill her, I saw it myself, it was all a stupid accident." Josée tried to sound calm but after she had started talking, even she realised that her voice had an unintentional slither of spite in it. "So stop shouting, if we've got a plan, then we carry it out, but we're not going to go killing each other, I've just got away from one knife-twitching fool and the last thing I want is a whole bloody group of them." Josée started to calm down and her voice became ever so slightly more polite. "So if anyone has any clues as to where the Hell in the world is Survival of the Fittest, please tell us."

[Yossarian†]

Cisco's reply, instead of calming Mike down or giving him the signal to run, just confused the Pole. Orders? What orders? Who's Joe? Reaping souls? What?

Clearly, Cisco has gone mad. Mike wanted to put some reasoning in his head again, but before he could open up his mouth again, his fellow goalie asked him... Not to kill him? Then, the girl accompanying them went to defend Cisco, and asked to stop shouting, while putting Mike in the attacker's shoes.

What? Since when I became the bad guy in here?

Even though Mike had completely no idea, how and why the situation suddenly took a 180, he felt it was necessary to calm things down.

"Okay, look... As you may already noticed, my escape plan is bloodless, and I have no intention of hurting anyone, unless in self defense. So you can both calm down..."

The Pole started looking for other ways to continue the conversation. Finally, after a few seconds, he recalled the girl asking him for the next step. At least that was the one thing he know a clear answer for.

"Anyway, I'm going to continue with my plan. You like it? Feel free to go with me. Don't like it? Go the other way. After all, no one 'orders' you to stay with me..." Mike couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a stab at Cisco's crazy statements. "I want to go to the broken cell phone tower next. It had to be built for a certain phone company, so if we'll learn which one, maybe that will narrow down things a bit. If you have a better idea though, then I'm all ears."

[laZardo†]

((Where'd Sunny go?))

"Come on Cisco, calm down, no-one's going to hurt you. He didn't mean to kill her, I saw it myself, it was all a stupid accident."

Cisco whimpered incoherently to himself as Josee Tremblay wrapped his arm around him. He just couldn't bring himself to try to replicate his feat, however miraculously unlikely it was to pull off in the first place. His hand remained in that record sleeve, his fingertips making their way across the dried bloodstains on once-shiny metal. The alternating texture of smoothness and a slight stickiness did little to calm him as much as that warm embrace. And for those few, fleeting moments, it felt like what he did really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

"Okay, look... As you may already noticed, my escape plan is bloodless, and I have no intention of hurting anyone, unless in self defense. So you can both calm down..."

It was that moment of calm that essentially helped his mind lose track of what he wanted to do or say. Or at least focus on it a little less than he did a moment ago.

"Anyway, I'm going to continue with my plan. You like it? Feel free to go with me. Don't like it? Go the other way. After all, no one 'orders' you to stay with me..."

Nobody was ordering Cisco to leave, either. He couldn't exactly 'hear' what Death had planning for his insubordination. He couldn't think of any way to make up for it, at least not when he was looking almost feline trying to enjoy that embrace of hers.

"I want to go to the broken cell phone tower next. It had to be built for a certain phone company, so if we'll learn which one, maybe that will narrow down things a bit. If you have a better idea though, then I'm all ears."

And he definitely did not have a "better idea" to even enhance his self-preservation. Maybe he had subliminally passed that point of no return - or no hope in his case. Maybe death was something best enjoyed coming at him. Or for the time being, goddamn did that arm around him feel good. Almost invigorating. It wasn't hard to tell he'd tag along just to get more of it.

[Limisios†]

((I haven't seen Sunny in almost a month now, if she's not coming back, we'd better find out what's going to happen to OC))

"Okay, look... As you may already noticed, my escape plan is bloodless, and I have no intention of hurting anyone, unless in self defense. So you can both calm down... Anyway, I'm going to continue with my plan. You like it? Feel free to go with me. Don't like it? Go the other way. After all, no one 'orders' you to stay with me..."

This guy seemed to mean business, but he seemed to take a verbal jab at Cisco every time he opened his mouth, and Cisco was in a messed-up state as it was. Even so, he knew what he was doing.

"I want to go to the broken cell phone tower next. It had to be built for a certain phone company, so if we'll learn which one, maybe that will narrow down things a bit. If you have a better idea though, then I'm all ears."

Oh yes, he really seemed to know what he was doing, and Josée liked the idea of being in the team that saved everyone, so she'd have to get in on it. and as an added bonus, if she was going to be scouring the entire island, she ran just find Remy... Possibly, Josée didn't really hold her breath on that one. Without fully considering the friction between the boy and Cisco, Josée spoke. "I'm with you then, we all want to get off this Hell of an island... And if I find my idiot brother in the process, then that's just all the better for me. Right Cisco?"

Josée turned to him smiling, narrow-mindedly not considering the possibility that he might have any objection to the plan.