The Fourth Announcement

[Ohm]

London, United Kingdom

Ruairi McKenna had been working for nearly 16 hours straight, and there wasn't an end in sight even before Pamela showed up five minutes into his smoke break.

Being a member of the SIS's National Cyber Force meant long hours and a shitty workplace. It also meant eventually becoming one of the most respected cyber analysts and hackers in the western hemisphere, so you took the good you took the bad. Today was particularly on the 'bad' side, especially because some of them had been tasked with trying to find traces of a group of American terrorists and where they could possibly be holding up with tens of kidnapped school children. But every path ended off a cliff - literally every single time they thought they'd found something, it turned out to be a dead end. Sighting in Alaska? Coincidence. Chartered plane from Fiji to the United States? Millionaires on holiday. Worse yet, it was as though the dead end had been placed there, specifically, by someone who knew what they'd be looking for.

It was almost a relief when Pamela Marlowe started sending him weird text messages, and then asked him to go for a smoke break.

He'd almost finished his second feg when Pamela Marlowe stepped out onto his stoop, holding a tea-coloured rolled up photo, which she promptly unfurled like she was about to declare independence.

Ruairi looked her up and down.

"So what's this about?"

His eyes went to the photo, and the butt of his second feg subsequently fell to the ground.

*

"So I don't see why we can't just go everyone about this?"

Ruairi and Pamela were hunched over a back wall computer in the building's IT department - Ruairi essentially treated Pamela like his mam, ever since he'd joined the SIS, and he'd sooner drop his mam over the cliffs of Fairhead than subject her to anyone in the National Cyber Force, and he'd always been buddy-bud with the IT department, enough so that they could give him a computer and a room and not ask any questions.

"Because what if I'm wrong, Ruairi? What happens to my career if the batty old lady shows up with a photo from Guildhall of a guy who looks like one of the most wanted terrorists in the world, and I'm wrong? What's left of my career is done. I've got a family to take care of, and I'm not risking them just for me being right."

"You’re not old, Pam, but fair enough. So what makes you so sure this guy is the same guy?"

"Because he doesn't exist."

Ruairi's left eyebrow climbed his forehead, and he leaned back in his chair.

"Tell me more."

"He has no social media. He has no Linkedin. He has no photos on Guildhall's website. He's not even mentioned on Guildhall's website. I even gained access to their databases and he's not in there, either."

"'Gained access to'-Pamela you know for damn sure that's breaking so many-"

"It's like somebody went in and removed any mention of him from the internet. They made him an un-person. He literally only exists in this photo."

Ruairi crossed his hands behind his head, and looked upwards at the ceiling, his brows furrowing as he did so. Pamela continued speaking, regardless.

"So what can you do?"

"Well...Pam, it ain't easy, but I can do my best. See if I can find out who did this, and work from there. I can't promise you I'll find out, but I've got my ways. I just need to get away from my actual work for a while."

"Leave that to me. I'm nobody in my department, or in this entire building, but as far as they know I'm as honest as the day is long. I can spin some stories."

Ruairi nodded.

"Okay. Let me know, and I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Ruairi."

"Don't think of it, Pam - you know I owe you."

The clacking of keys in the room was deafening, but to Ruairi it became part of the orchestra, as Pamela left to go lie to as many heads of departments and important grandstanding men as possible.

---

????

"Shit, shit, shit." Terrence muttered. He was noted for his small frame and vest he liked to wear over his office getup. Small utterances in a room filled with monitors. Several men and women were illuminated by the glare from machines, tirelessly keeping track.

The last few days had been hectic. Ever since the Australian girl confronted that boy from Singapore, the camera on the harbor had been on the fritz. They had managed to convince the team to leave that area off-limits for now as they tried to see what they could do from the base, but it was becoming increasingly clear that it was an issue that could not be fixed from there.

"Aw, dammit!" Words that one would hope would never be spoken by the engineer at his post, but at that moment were the words that caused colleagues to turn and look at their workmates.

"What'd you got for me, Wilde?" Asked a bespectacled man approaching, flanked by two guards. Concerns had been raised from another department about the viewing of that area. The first day had been rendered almost incomprehensible due to issues of static and audio glitches. On the second day, most had stopped functioning entirely.

"These cameras are utterly fucked, and won't work. Whatever is causing it, we can't fix it from here."

"So, what are you suggesting?" Said the man, staring at him.

"Unless you fly someone in there to deal with it, that area has to be off-limits. It's too risky; otherwise, we might miss something."

"Overlord's not going to like that Wilde, and you know it."

"Course' I know he won't like it, but unless you've got magic hands that can fix it from here, and judging by the fact you went to me for this, that's not happening."

A staring contest between the two men ensued, silence filled the room with everyone else either averting their gaze to focus on their work or looking over at this till one of the guards coughed, and the bespectacled man gave a sigh while rubbing his temple.

"I'll see what I can do, but it's on your head, Wilde." With that, he moved to leave. The two guards shared a look between themselves before moving to follow. Stares followed the three till they were out, and then it was back to work.

Terrence leaned back in his chair, beads of sweat on his forehead and the hair on his arm standing up straight. He'd been lucky it was one of the grunts that had come along. If it had been Quaker, or god forbid, Polar, he'd probably be lying in a bay somewhere.

Another worker approached,

"Getting grilled, I see." He said with a grin.

"Fuck off Max, any other area having issues?"

"Some static here and there. Although the farmhouse's audio has been messy for a while, and then there's the shore. Cameras in that area have been dealing with a lot of shit these past few days."

"Shit." He shook his head at that and turned back to his screen. Max leaned in around Terrence's shoulder to see.

"Losing a lot of real estate on this."

"I know."

"So, what now?"

"We... we’ll just have to keep telling them certain areas are off-limits. They've been slowly boxing them in with the danger zones anyway, so we've been lucky that it's just the areas to the south, at least."

"That sounds good to me." He said before looking around discreetly before whispering.

"Any idea where the bosses are? I haven't seen them outside of Disco."

"No clue and I'm not about to check," Terrence said in a harsh whisper, and with that, he hoped it would be the end of this conversation and the troubles his team would face going forward.

*

Polar stared up at the ceiling, speckled with cobwebs and black, before moving aside the covers, as well as the arm draped across her chest, and getting out of bed.

Within a stride of the room was her bathroom. She grabbed a towel from her desk, before walking to the shower, closing the door, and placing it on the doorknob. She stepped in, turned the left knob, before dousing herself with the reportedly hot water. The cold water soon followed, evening everything out.

It had been a time here. They’d technically been operating here for months, but things hadn’t begun to ramp up, on everyone’s ends, since the last several weeks. And within a few days, they were going to have to be gone. There wasn’t going to be nearly enough time to take it all in, but it’s not like they were building a relief hospital in Haiti. They were killing kids, after all.

There were at least four layers of this operation, and anyone within the upper two got their own quarters, which essentially came down to seven people, Polar being one of them. If she’d had her druthers, Prodigy wouldn’t be another, but that may have been the blackmail talking. She was talented and from what she’d heard, her entire department had the least complaints of anyone. Not that people complained about her management style to her face, of course, since everybody knew not to get her angry, but still.

But even then, as she washed the extra layer of sweat from her body, she knew that Prodigy was there long before any of them. She’d compared notes with Quaker, with Disco, with the one laying ass-upwards in her bed, and Prodigy was involved in the operation even before Jack was. She had to know what that was about at some point, but then again, she always seemed to be one step ahead of them. Territory that came with laying breadcrumbs for unsuspecting government agencies to follow, she presumed, but either way.

Polar’s thoughts began to dissipate the moment she heard the door open and her towel fall to the floor. She silently sighed. If this was who she thought it was?

It was who she thought it was. Freebird slowly snaked his arms around her waist.

“Well, good morning.”

Polar promptly grabbed his wrists and removed them from her body.

“There were four things I told you needed to happen afterwards if this was going to be our arrangement. You are currently breaking the second.”

Freebird took pause, stepping backwards in the roomy shower.

“Didn’t you say no acting like we were a couple?”

“That may have been your interpretation of ‘no touching afterwards’, but I said ‘no touching afterwards’.”

A pregnant pause.

“Alright.”

Polar turned around, pulling her hair back as she did so.

“So are you here for a shower, or were you trying to break dot point number three?”

“...guess I’m here for a shower then. Pass the soap.”

Polar was about to make another pointed comment, when a third voice joined the bathroom.

“I’m not here for a shower, but I won’t turn down the post-coital shag, if you’re still offering, Freebird.”

Polar slammed open the door to the shower, as Freebird tried to cover himself.

“Prodigy.”

The girl from the tech department stood there, holding a towel.

“Polar.”

“Can I help you?”

“Overlord wants to see all four of you. It couldn’t wait.”

Polar wasn’t the best at reading facial expressions on normal people, let alone this loon, but she knew from that face Prodigy was making that there was something else to it.

“What’s it about?”

Prodigy smiled.

“A little meeting on responsibility.”

---

The speakers on the island once again crackled to life, as Jack’s strong voice greeted the morning.

“Well, a hearty good morning to you all, kids! Where once stood twenty nine of you, there now stands only ten! Be it luck, skill, tenacity, perseverance, or divine intervention, you’ve all managed to make it to the top third! Who didn’t make it past the night? Let’s find out!

“But first, we have a little something different in today’s announcements - with only ten of you left, we’re going to have to shepherd you down to-”

The announcements suddenly paused, and a clicking sound was heard, as though the announcements had stopped. For the next thirty seconds, the speakers were silent. Without warning, however, the click returned and Jack’s voice returned.

“Sorry about that, kids! I have an adorable little cat up here that sat on the microphone switch! He’s really quite something! You can come and pet him if you win!

“Anyways, as I was saying, we’re going to have to shepherd you up to the top of the island, since I think you’ve had enough time with roofs and easy access to the ocean. So the danger zones for the day are: The Shallow River, The Rocky Shore, The Empty Farmhouse, The Fishing Village, The Cold Harbour, and The Abandoned Camp; so, essentially everywhere except for The Temperate Rainforest, The Mysterious Circle, and The Underground Caves. So if you’re in the village, I suggest you start listening to me while you run.

“So first up on the announcement today, Artemis Qiu fell asleep in a place that soon became a danger zone, and didn’t get out fast enough when I told her to! Just a reminder that while you don’t have to listen to your competitors, since rest assured they are all out to get you, you definitely have to listen to me, because I have nothing but your best interests at heart.

“Up next, Soraya Martinez decided the best way to try and escape our armed collars and armed guards and distance from anywhere you’d call home was to try and float into the ocean in a plastic ball, through a danger zone. We’ll let you guess how that turned out for her.

“Jaxon Chen caught a bullet between the eyes, courtesy of Philia Constantinou. Word to the wise? Don’t fight random people for things you don’t need, and trust me, Jaxon, you did not need that.

“Unfortunately, while some stocks rise, others must unfortunately plummet, as is what happened when Caleb Policarpo caught a bullet of revenge from Clara Micallef. Don’t get cocky with those guns, kids - we gave a lot of them out for a reason.

“And finally, Katherine Thomas took a tumble down in the caves, but thankfully, Jen Mara Tuiqamea was there to make everything better. That’s right, Katherine escaped! She’s now living in a big farm on the next island over, with all the free space to run around in, and kangaroos to play with, but unfortunately they don’t allow visitors at this island farm so you’ll all just have to take my word for it.

“Aaaand, that’s it for this morning! If you’re in the village and you haven’t started running yet, good luck, and as for everyone else, have a wonderful day!”

---

Weather: Day Three, 9am, Monday March 8, 2021

The wind and cold weather has disappeared for today, leaving hot humidity in its place - the sky is full of clouds again, and the temperature will rise the closer to the middle of the day it becomes, leaving the island warmer than it has ever been. However, as the day draws to a close, one may notice the clouds becoming darker.

---

Hello everyone! Welcome to the final ten of INTL! It's time for our next set of rolls! The first of the last two that we'll have before endgame.

Rolls:

[+] roll logs

Catche, But Smaller — Today at 20:54
These will be the eighth rolls
Rolling two (2) characters for this set
Rolling list: viewtopic.php?p=31629#p31629
@Definitely a Deredere Would you like to do rolls or names?

Definitely a Deredere — Today at 20:55
I'll do the rolls

Catche, But Smaller — Today at 20:55
And I'll do names

Definitely a Deredere — Today at 20:56
d10

Roll Bot 2.0
BOT
— Today at 20:56
5 ⟵ [5] 1d10

Definitely a Deredere — Today at 20:56
for context, test rolls to see if bots works
d10

Roll Bot 2.0
BOT
— Today at 20:56
4 ⟵ [4] 1d10

Definitely a Deredere — Today at 20:56
final test roll
d10
Roll Bot 2.0
BOT
— Today at 20:56
4 ⟵ [4] 1d10

Definitely a Deredere — Today at 20:57
once more to see if this bot doesn't hate Catche
d10

Roll Bot 2.0
BOT
— Today at 20:57
8 ⟵ [8] 1d10

Catche, But Smaller — Today at 20:57
And now for the proper rolls

Definitely a Deredere — Today at 20:57
Alrighty, let's go
d10

Roll Bot 2.0
BOT
— Today at 20:57
9 ⟵ [9] 1d10

Catche, But Smaller — Today at 20:58
Zander Lin (Fenrir)

Definitely a Deredere — Today at 20:58
and our last roll
d10

Roll Bot 2.0
BOT
— Today at 20:58
3 ⟵ [3] 1d10

Catche, But Smaller — Today at 20:58
Harun Tee (Ohm)

Definitely a Deredere — Today at 20:58
and that's a wrap, I'll log

Three days for cards and a further seven to complete deaths. Remember to practice good roll etiquette to your fellow handlers. F.eks: No gloating about the rolls in any regard and no kill requests sent unprompted. Make sure to treat card time as planning time, even if you are hoping for a save.

[Ohm]

I'd like to continue writing Harun, and wouldn't mind a hero, though, I'd understand with how late it is how difficult that could be. If not, send me ideas.

[Fenrir]

I've had fun writing Zander so far, so I would also appreciate a hero if anyone is willing.

If not, send me your pitches.

[Brackie]

That's time on cards - deaths are due in approximately seven days, as are all exit posts from danger zones.

[Ohm]

I have a killer, but I need an extension of 4 days due to a person intergral to death currently unavailable due to unforseen circumstances.

[Catche Jagger]

I have a killer, but I need an extension of 4 days due to a person intergral to death currently unavailable due to unforseen circumstances.

Approved!

[Fenrir]

The evil had been defeated.

[Ohm]

Harun is dead.