Both Seth and Ivan told a story, both were unbelievable, and that was why Kamille believed them. The stories matched up too well and the details were too specific. Six people with bags over their heads as makeshift masks. There was an incredibly old film his grandfather had mentioned once in passing, a horror film his own dad had left running after falling asleep. A man with a bag over his head preyed on a town. His grandfather had said he'd been terrified of this man breaking through their door for weeks afterward. Kamille didn't know the details but his grandfather had mentioned it was based on a true story.
There was no way the group that attacked Ivan had taken inspiration from it, the time gap was far too great, it existed only as a distant memory for his grandfather. An image more than anything else. But history had a way of repeating itself he supposed. The worrying thing was Ivan had fallen victim to six of them and that they weren't on the same team.
That would have meant they would be disregarding the fact they couldn't gain a kill release from killing people on their own team. It served to put them at the top of Kamille's list of people to avoid. There was a good chance they wouldn't be able to be reasoned with, they had after all already decided to disregard the small excuse for order the producers of Survival of the Fittest had assembled.
Kamille lowered his weapon a touch and finished ascending the stairs.
"I don't suppose you know who any of them were?"
Every frame of this show is someone's last known photograph
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MethodicalSlacker
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Mariko frowned. Ivan was slow on the uptake. He'd been beaten within an inch of his life, sure, but that was no excuse to forget a friendly face.
"If quiz-man means nothing to you," Mariko said, "how about trivia-boy? That ring any bells?"³
She'd know soon enough if it was pointless; if he'd been hit hard enough (with cross-team support!!!!!!!!) to be as fucked up as he looked then maybe he got hit hard enough to lose some memories. Personally, Mariko wasn't all too worried about the masked marauder menace, given how well armed everyone else on deck was. Still, something about the story seemed a little fishy, like Seth was leaving parts out. Silently, she went over what he'd said in her head one more time, front to back.
And that all checked out fine. Seth had no reason to hide anything, especially with a teammate in plain view. Mariko hadn't witnessed anything that would contradict him anyway. Rhonda and Xander? Two rando's that she'd never really heard of before today. Mangrove was a big school! And Ivan being strung up by the legs? If what he said was true, that he'd been beat by some fucked up freaks, then that made sense as well. Their stories were straight as could be.
Probably. She hadn't checked yet. Mariko decided that she might as well think about what Ivan said too.
"Why didn't they just kill you?" Mariko asked, "why go through all the trouble of tying you up? Not to mention, y'know, why team up and make a new team if they each already had a perfectly good one? I'm just having trouble picturing this, that's all."⁴
She glanced at Kamille and—
—and did nothing. She just looked at him and then looked away. Mariko felt like she should probably put down the harpoon and take another look at the wound on my—sorry, her—arm. The pain had flared up again while she was asking questions, and the harpoon had become heavier to hold. Maybe she'd find it a nice, comfortable spot on the floor once this standoff had fully de-escalated, so that she could take a break. Which could happen soon, or it could happen later, but it would only happen once her questions had been answered.
"If quiz-man means nothing to you," Mariko said, "how about trivia-boy? That ring any bells?"³
She'd know soon enough if it was pointless; if he'd been hit hard enough (with cross-team support!!!!!!!!) to be as fucked up as he looked then maybe he got hit hard enough to lose some memories. Personally, Mariko wasn't all too worried about the masked marauder menace, given how well armed everyone else on deck was. Still, something about the story seemed a little fishy, like Seth was leaving parts out. Silently, she went over what he'd said in her head one more time, front to back.
And that all checked out fine. Seth had no reason to hide anything, especially with a teammate in plain view. Mariko hadn't witnessed anything that would contradict him anyway. Rhonda and Xander? Two rando's that she'd never really heard of before today. Mangrove was a big school! And Ivan being strung up by the legs? If what he said was true, that he'd been beat by some fucked up freaks, then that made sense as well. Their stories were straight as could be.
Probably. She hadn't checked yet. Mariko decided that she might as well think about what Ivan said too.
"Why didn't they just kill you?" Mariko asked, "why go through all the trouble of tying you up? Not to mention, y'know, why team up and make a new team if they each already had a perfectly good one? I'm just having trouble picturing this, that's all."⁴
She glanced at Kamille and—
—and did nothing. She just looked at him and then looked away. Mariko felt like she should probably put down the harpoon and take another look at the wound on my—sorry, her—arm. The pain had flared up again while she was asking questions, and the harpoon had become heavier to hold. Maybe she'd find it a nice, comfortable spot on the floor once this standoff had fully de-escalated, so that she could take a break. Which could happen soon, or it could happen later, but it would only happen once her questions had been answered.
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The two were on their level now, opposite ends, staring contest ensued between the duo's. Questions answered only roused more questions, but none towards him. Just the way he liked it, it allowed him to slink a little bit further back and allow Ivan to do his thing.
Or trivia man, as Mariko put it. He'd heard about the trivia contest that had been held in the cafeteria, signs had been around for months beforehand and they had been hard to miss considering the craft that had gone into them. Despite that, Seth did not participate in the event, it always ended up with some random slapdash question that would get him and he was not interested in losing because of something like that.
Yep, that would just suck.
So, whatever happened there between these two, Seth wouldn't know. It irked him to a degree to be in the shadows about that, but they seemed to be on level with each other which could only be good for him. The only unknown factor here was Kamille.
His vision through this was kept on him and his weapon, despite his seeming concern for Ivan. Seth was not about to let this factor out of his sight.
Or trivia man, as Mariko put it. He'd heard about the trivia contest that had been held in the cafeteria, signs had been around for months beforehand and they had been hard to miss considering the craft that had gone into them. Despite that, Seth did not participate in the event, it always ended up with some random slapdash question that would get him and he was not interested in losing because of something like that.
Yep, that would just suck.
So, whatever happened there between these two, Seth wouldn't know. It irked him to a degree to be in the shadows about that, but they seemed to be on level with each other which could only be good for him. The only unknown factor here was Kamille.
His vision through this was kept on him and his weapon, despite his seeming concern for Ivan. Seth was not about to let this factor out of his sight.
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The Honeless Beard
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"No, yeah - trivia man, makes sense," Ivan said, voice flat and unconvinced as he plowed right on ahead, "and I was planning on asking who they were, but I didn't really want to be around people when I asked."
Ivan tapped on his collar, in three separate spots, hoping he'd cause some extra work for whatever audio guy needed to piece this together later with the mic thumps.
"I have zero stake in convincing you that it happened, guys. All I know is that this," here he tapped his forehead, "sure wasn't carved by me."
Ivan glanced towards the catwalk, and back to the trio. "Okay, give me two shakes - I gotta go grab my gear and then we can play more twenty questions to - uh, trivia girl,"
Ivan jogged up the catwalk, the metal rattling under his footsteps as he went.
((Continued here))
Ivan tapped on his collar, in three separate spots, hoping he'd cause some extra work for whatever audio guy needed to piece this together later with the mic thumps.
"I have zero stake in convincing you that it happened, guys. All I know is that this," here he tapped his forehead, "sure wasn't carved by me."
Ivan glanced towards the catwalk, and back to the trio. "Okay, give me two shakes - I gotta go grab my gear and then we can play more twenty questions to - uh, trivia girl,"
Ivan jogged up the catwalk, the metal rattling under his footsteps as he went.
((Continued here))
Everything about the stand-off stayed much the same as Mariko and Ivan continued to trade barbs. At least that was how it appeared, a low level of passive-aggression towards each other, of distrust. Kamille didn't blame them, if there was one thing that Survival of the Fittest was especially good at creating it was paranoia. That said, he was growing more and more confident that Ivan was telling the truth and there was no reason for them to be on edge.
To that end, he moved up to the top of the stairs and let his weapon fully point down to the floor. A hand ran through his hair as Ivan spoke again and then moved away to go and retrieve his belongings. Whether he actually planned on coming back Kamille couldn't say, but he put the chances at around fifty percent. He couldn't make out exactly what the symbol was that had been crudely carved into Ivan's forehead but he was correct in that it seemed highly doubtful to have been self-inflicted. There was no benefit.
Meanwhile, another problem had gradually made itself known to Kamille, mainly that Mariko and Seth were on the same team. In the short term, it was beneficial for his alliance with Mariko, they had a third person that they would have been able to recruit but that also left Kamille on the outside of a pair of teammates. He and Mariko had agreed to work together for a while but Kamille hadn't been fooling himself in regards to the alliance being anything but temporary. They were on opposite teams. If push came to shove they would be required to eliminate each other to win.
"Maybe they did intend to kill him?" Kamille offered with a shrug once Ivan was out of view. "Maybe they got interrupted by someone else."
Kamille switched his focus to Seth, who had stayed quiet for a rather long time.
"Was there any sign that anyone had recently been around when you found Ivan?"
To that end, he moved up to the top of the stairs and let his weapon fully point down to the floor. A hand ran through his hair as Ivan spoke again and then moved away to go and retrieve his belongings. Whether he actually planned on coming back Kamille couldn't say, but he put the chances at around fifty percent. He couldn't make out exactly what the symbol was that had been crudely carved into Ivan's forehead but he was correct in that it seemed highly doubtful to have been self-inflicted. There was no benefit.
Meanwhile, another problem had gradually made itself known to Kamille, mainly that Mariko and Seth were on the same team. In the short term, it was beneficial for his alliance with Mariko, they had a third person that they would have been able to recruit but that also left Kamille on the outside of a pair of teammates. He and Mariko had agreed to work together for a while but Kamille hadn't been fooling himself in regards to the alliance being anything but temporary. They were on opposite teams. If push came to shove they would be required to eliminate each other to win.
"Maybe they did intend to kill him?" Kamille offered with a shrug once Ivan was out of view. "Maybe they got interrupted by someone else."
Kamille switched his focus to Seth, who had stayed quiet for a rather long time.
"Was there any sign that anyone had recently been around when you found Ivan?"
“Couldn’t see shit. Outside some dried blood and Ivan hanging upside down, nothing much there.” He answered dryly as he stared at Kamille. Said stare wouldn't last long as Ivan announced his as Ivan left the area. As Ivan left, so did the miniscule amount of security Seth had in this place. Both of these two were armed, and this just put him in a bad position again.
"Look, I'd love to talk about this stuff, shoot the shit and all. But I'm also pretty keen on not freezing my ass off on this boat waiting for those fuckers." Excuses, flimsy ones at that. He needed to get out of there, now. He had a place to get to, one Ivan had set up. Xander and Rhonda were supposed to get there as well. Might as well take his chances and get there now before any funny ideas happened between these two.
Or any place, really. He wasn't beholden to these people. Hell, the only he should technically trust had grouped up with someone from another team. Probably should have washed his hands of this situation and walked away a shotgun blast ago.
"Well, I'll see you guys at the meeting spot." He said as he turned and jogged past Mariko, picking up the pace once he got down the stairs and made his way off the boat.
"Look, I'd love to talk about this stuff, shoot the shit and all. But I'm also pretty keen on not freezing my ass off on this boat waiting for those fuckers." Excuses, flimsy ones at that. He needed to get out of there, now. He had a place to get to, one Ivan had set up. Xander and Rhonda were supposed to get there as well. Might as well take his chances and get there now before any funny ideas happened between these two.
Or any place, really. He wasn't beholden to these people. Hell, the only he should technically trust had grouped up with someone from another team. Probably should have washed his hands of this situation and walked away a shotgun blast ago.
"Well, I'll see you guys at the meeting spot." He said as he turned and jogged past Mariko, picking up the pace once he got down the stairs and made his way off the boat.
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MethodicalSlacker
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Ivan left, and Seth followed not long after. Which was fine, because Mariko had been wanting to ask Kamille about his scavenging and whatever he'd turned up and hadn't had the chance to do so yet. Between Ivan telling the three of them to 'hold tight' and Seth telling them to find the 'meeting spot,' Mariko found her patience wearing thin. She hadn't heard earlier where that hiding place was, and it wouldn't be a good look if she went searching, because the only way to do that was to follow Seth and he could easily, easily tell if they were doing that.
So she was pretty much out of ideas!
"I guess we should head downstairs, or find somewhere else to go, then,⁶" Mariko said, "or, I dunno. If the blood was dry when Seth got there, then it wasn't him showing up that scared him off. Either something else interrupted them, or they just didn't finish the job. Either way, they'll know he's alive by the evening, and they might want to come back around, so, that's probably a good reason to avoid Ivan from now on. Or to follow him, if we care enough about this plot hook to spend precious time finding out what the masked bandit's deal is.
"I mean, the only other thing I can think of is I tie the harpoon off onto the guard rail and we just, I dunno, wait up here, out in the open, in the line of sight of like fifty fuckin' boats just for multiple choice man to come back and not even remember me from his stupid cafeteria game."
Was it weird that Mariko was still salty about that? She couldn't tell, or trust what she had to say to herself about that. It was one afternoon, and maybe with how it went and how Ivan stormed out it was something he'd wanted to forget. Mariko could understand that. There was plenty she was ready to forget, too. She just didn't understand why Ivan wasn't waiting for the Great Forgetting, why he wouldn't acknowledge it just for the hell of a reunion before the likely end? It didn't seem like him. So, blunt force trauma it was. Amnesiac Ivan, rambling about. And Seth the turncoat, barely acknowledging her as a team member.
"Another option, as good as any," Mariko continued, "would be to simply pick a jetty at random, and start to walk.⁷"
So she was pretty much out of ideas!
"I guess we should head downstairs, or find somewhere else to go, then,⁶" Mariko said, "or, I dunno. If the blood was dry when Seth got there, then it wasn't him showing up that scared him off. Either something else interrupted them, or they just didn't finish the job. Either way, they'll know he's alive by the evening, and they might want to come back around, so, that's probably a good reason to avoid Ivan from now on. Or to follow him, if we care enough about this plot hook to spend precious time finding out what the masked bandit's deal is.
"I mean, the only other thing I can think of is I tie the harpoon off onto the guard rail and we just, I dunno, wait up here, out in the open, in the line of sight of like fifty fuckin' boats just for multiple choice man to come back and not even remember me from his stupid cafeteria game."
Was it weird that Mariko was still salty about that? She couldn't tell, or trust what she had to say to herself about that. It was one afternoon, and maybe with how it went and how Ivan stormed out it was something he'd wanted to forget. Mariko could understand that. There was plenty she was ready to forget, too. She just didn't understand why Ivan wasn't waiting for the Great Forgetting, why he wouldn't acknowledge it just for the hell of a reunion before the likely end? It didn't seem like him. So, blunt force trauma it was. Amnesiac Ivan, rambling about. And Seth the turncoat, barely acknowledging her as a team member.
"Another option, as good as any," Mariko continued, "would be to simply pick a jetty at random, and start to walk.⁷"
Seth didn't give them much additional information. He also didn't seem keen on sticking around and let fairly soon after Ivan did. That left Mariko and Kamille alone again. As it turned out Mariko finding a teammate hadn't had any notable effect on their situation or partnership. While Kamille had issues with how Seth had framed his leaving he didn't vocalize them, although it wasn't as though he had the chance as Seth had left as soon as he had uttered them.
Mariko broke the silence first, as she had the habit of doing, to lay out their options. The way she had chosen to phrase them struck Kamille as strange but he didn't comment on it, instead, he was content to listen and nod along. Despite his interest in the masked group, Kamille would have been lying if he said he had any interest in encountering them. Neither he nor Mariko had the equipment necessary to fight a single person who was armed, let alone a group. No, they needed the avoid that posse at all costs, or at least they had a sufficient amount of backup.
Staying in place also brought issues just as Mariko had said. They were horrendously exposed to any potential shooters on the other boats and there were multiple ways up onto the deck. So many that the two of them being able to cover them all seemed like wishful thinking.
That left them with only the third and final option. Pick a direction and start walking. In any other survival situation that would have been suicidal, but on Survival of the Fittest with a limited arena and built-in methods to keep them within said arena it was as viable as any. Plus, there were actual positives to the idea that weren't completely overwhelmed by the negatives, which also served to make it the most enticing option.
Kamille gently scratching at the side of his face, just under his glasses lense as he considered everything.
"I can't find any reason not to just do that." He finally said with a small shrug. "Do you have a direction on the compass you prefer over the others?"
Mariko broke the silence first, as she had the habit of doing, to lay out their options. The way she had chosen to phrase them struck Kamille as strange but he didn't comment on it, instead, he was content to listen and nod along. Despite his interest in the masked group, Kamille would have been lying if he said he had any interest in encountering them. Neither he nor Mariko had the equipment necessary to fight a single person who was armed, let alone a group. No, they needed the avoid that posse at all costs, or at least they had a sufficient amount of backup.
Staying in place also brought issues just as Mariko had said. They were horrendously exposed to any potential shooters on the other boats and there were multiple ways up onto the deck. So many that the two of them being able to cover them all seemed like wishful thinking.
That left them with only the third and final option. Pick a direction and start walking. In any other survival situation that would have been suicidal, but on Survival of the Fittest with a limited arena and built-in methods to keep them within said arena it was as viable as any. Plus, there were actual positives to the idea that weren't completely overwhelmed by the negatives, which also served to make it the most enticing option.
Kamille gently scratching at the side of his face, just under his glasses lense as he considered everything.
"I can't find any reason not to just do that." He finally said with a small shrug. "Do you have a direction on the compass you prefer over the others?"
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MethodicalSlacker
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Kamille continued to cooperate, and at that Mriko continued to bask her delight at his patience and kindness and maybe just ignorance at his circumstances and her later intentions. For now, she noted his lack of any one specific destination and called upon her own memory of the map, which she studied just some time ago along side the rest of her contents on the jetty.
See you guys at the meeting spot.
The comment stayed on her mind, despite her earlier consideration. It seemed to still contain a thread worth pulling on, an idea ready to be unraveled and then hung out to dry. Where were there places to meet that wouldn't be disturbed by others? Any of the single boat locations were out. The houseboat was too near. That left the major boats, the cruise ship, the ferry (which they were on), the ghost ship, and a few others, all of which would be much easier to observe from the big daddy of them all—
"The cruise ship," Mariko said, "it feels like we'll have to pass through there to get to just about anywhere else anyways, so we might as well tackle it head on."⁸
Could she make the walk? Yeah, sure, fine, even though her arm still hurt and she was starting to feel a little woozy, she could make it over there just fine. And once the two of them did, they'd be rewarded likely with a private room where they could camp out and scope out the competititon. If they could make it.
"We're probably going to run into some people. Shouldn't be much of a problem to you, since you've been sort of mindlessly yes-manning and mouth breathing at me this whole time, but I want you to take point and lead the way with your long fork once we get to the door downstairs."
Mariko smirked. Then, she chuckled, and rose a hand to her face to cover her mouth before anything else came out.
"Or not. Whatever! Later! See you in like fifteen seconds!"¹ she said as she turned and walked back downstairs, this time without a thought paid toward stealth and all her minds eyes focused singularly on the current moment and not missing a step, and also how to talk the next person they found out of their rum.
[Mariko Whitney continued in Investigate.]
See you guys at the meeting spot.
The comment stayed on her mind, despite her earlier consideration. It seemed to still contain a thread worth pulling on, an idea ready to be unraveled and then hung out to dry. Where were there places to meet that wouldn't be disturbed by others? Any of the single boat locations were out. The houseboat was too near. That left the major boats, the cruise ship, the ferry (which they were on), the ghost ship, and a few others, all of which would be much easier to observe from the big daddy of them all—
"The cruise ship," Mariko said, "it feels like we'll have to pass through there to get to just about anywhere else anyways, so we might as well tackle it head on."⁸
Could she make the walk? Yeah, sure, fine, even though her arm still hurt and she was starting to feel a little woozy, she could make it over there just fine. And once the two of them did, they'd be rewarded likely with a private room where they could camp out and scope out the competititon. If they could make it.
"We're probably going to run into some people. Shouldn't be much of a problem to you, since you've been sort of mindlessly yes-manning and mouth breathing at me this whole time, but I want you to take point and lead the way with your long fork once we get to the door downstairs."
Mariko smirked. Then, she chuckled, and rose a hand to her face to cover her mouth before anything else came out.
"Or not. Whatever! Later! See you in like fifteen seconds!"¹ she said as she turned and walked back downstairs, this time without a thought paid toward stealth and all her minds eyes focused singularly on the current moment and not missing a step, and also how to talk the next person they found out of their rum.
[Mariko Whitney continued in Investigate.]
Mariko suggested the cruise ship and Kamillehad no issues with that suggestion. He had no true preference and the cruise ship seemed to be placed so as to act as the centerpiece of the arena. That meant they were bound to encounter other classmates when they went aboard but at the same time, it was large enough that should have been able to find some privacy.
He was about to voice his agreement but Mariko continued talking and insulted him. His eyebrows raised in surprise and he cleared his throat as she covered her mouth before quickly moving the conversation along and moving on from the area.
"What was that about?" Kamille mumbled to himself as the back of Mariko's head disappeared down the stairs.
It was a strange and unprompted outburst. Maybe it helped explain some more of the context behind the standoff where Kamille had first met Mariko. If she had said the wrong thing to someone like Gabriela who was clearly on edge then maybe that was why things had escalated. It wasn't any immediate issue he supposed. But it was certainly something Kamille wanted to keep an eye on.
He took one last look around the deck of the ferry and then set his eyes on the cruise ship looming in the distance. Their next destination. He sighed and descended down the stairs, there was no point delaying.
[[Kamille Rémy Martel continued in Intuition]]
He was about to voice his agreement but Mariko continued talking and insulted him. His eyebrows raised in surprise and he cleared his throat as she covered her mouth before quickly moving the conversation along and moving on from the area.
"What was that about?" Kamille mumbled to himself as the back of Mariko's head disappeared down the stairs.
It was a strange and unprompted outburst. Maybe it helped explain some more of the context behind the standoff where Kamille had first met Mariko. If she had said the wrong thing to someone like Gabriela who was clearly on edge then maybe that was why things had escalated. It wasn't any immediate issue he supposed. But it was certainly something Kamille wanted to keep an eye on.
He took one last look around the deck of the ferry and then set his eyes on the cruise ship looming in the distance. Their next destination. He sighed and descended down the stairs, there was no point delaying.
[[Kamille Rémy Martel continued in Intuition]]