Game 2 - DAY 3

[protoshepherd]

[ After ousting finishes, the bodies of Hans, Gina, York, and Bruce slowly turn into glass, starting from their feet and it works its way up until the glass covers the bodies. A few seconds after looking like a diamond statue, the glass shatters, leaving nothing but the broken pieces on the floor.

THERE CERTAINLY WERE HUMAN BODIES THERE EARLIER. WELL? NOT ANYMORE…!

Right after that, everyone will receive a text saying:

Congratulations on making it to the third day! Please get some rest now, as the game will continue tomorrow.
Had there been no wolf ousted the past two days, you all will be in grave danger as one more mistake would mean the wolves win. Oh no! :(
The poll has been updated. Please make sure to cast your votes on time.
Please remember that the game will be over once the number of remaining sheep is the same as the number of total wolves. That is three!

The twelve mirrors backstage will look pretty strange, too. Four of those mirrors have been broken as well, with only eight mirrors hung properly. If this isn't symbolic, then I don't know what is. Perhaps it would be best to clean the glass shards up. We wouldn't want anybody to get injured, right? And it would be best to get a lot of rest.

The loudspeakers seem to have been turned off now, and even the noise you could hear in the locked dressing room is gone… mysterious. But it's also helpful since you'd want to sleep peacefully at night, right?

Of course you do. Come morning, the stage will have Samurai Dogs YET AGAIN, coffee, Cheerios and milk. Have at it. ]

Poll #16634

This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 4

Who do you think are wolves?

Nagi Springfield, Gilderoy Lockhart
0 (0.0%)

Asuna Yuuki, Aoi Kurashiki
0 (0.0%)

Inspector Cabanela, Jesse Pinkman
1 (25.0%)

Dick Gumshoe, Bobby Fulbright
2 (50.0%)

Luca Valentino, Lucina
0 (0.0%)

Grace Makutsi, Tony Chu
0 (0.0%)

L'Arachel, Kongwai Tao
0 (0.0%)

Diana, Dandy
1 (25.0%)

---

We'll be going on a break this weekend!

[ 00 EST 24 April: Clue/Activity!!* (change of plans, I'll drop a clue tomorrow so you guys can do something over the weekend.)

00 EST 27 April: Suspicion poll comes to an end and Ousting poll gets put up.

00 EST 28 April: Ousting poll draws to a close. A new day begins, with two teams out of the game. ]

Comments

[inspectormacarena]

[That is exactly the sort of thing he doesn't want to think about. Especially not now, with so much uncertainty about Jowd's fate. Not that he'll admit how much of a sore spot it is out loud. The whole point of making one vital mistake during interrogation is to learn from it and improve those techniques. ...And to avoid doing it by himself if at all possible.

So he steps into the circle with a tired smile a bit of additional bouncing for the flair of it all. ...Well, that was underwhelming. Feels just like standing on a normal floor.]

Don't see how that has to do with extending beyond my body, maaan. Can't you give any better examples than that?

[notaccurate]

[Huh. That's odd. From what Luca had seen, that was all it really took.]

Maybe abstract doesn't quite work for you? Try concentrating on the door, and see if anything happens. Picture the door in the form you want it to turn into, and that should force your will upon it.

[He had hoped that there would be more of a chance to practice, but oh well.]

[inspectormacarena]

[See, that he can try with all his will invested into it. He turns his gaze on the door again, trying to picture it turning to a pile of sawdust. Because the easiest thing to do to wood would be to just pulverize it, right?

Sawdust... Sawdust....!!!]

... And now I just feel silly.

[notaccurate]

[Okay, this is not working at all. Something has to be wrong.]

This isn't right at all! Even for someone new to sfeer theory, something should happen!

Was I wrong about your potential? Or maybe it's that only someone from where I am from can do it?

[Now he is pacing, trying to sort this out.]

[inspectormacarena]

[Meanwhile, Cabanela will step out of the circle and cast a quick peek down at it to make sure he didn't accidentally smudge any of the symbols. Hm... Nope, still good.]

Don't wooorry, baby. I did tell you I'm not much of a magician. I've got plenty of poteeential for other things. [Which is totally not the point, but okay. Just putting it out there.]

[notaccurate]

[Luca might have made a joke about how bad that sounded if he weren't so focused on trying to figure out where he went wrong. Being frazzled makes it harder for him to pick up on maybe-innuendo.

Eventually, when he is done looking over the array to see if he did something wrong, he just gives up and sighs.]

It was probably a bit too much to hope for anyway, what with your previous attempt being blocked and all.

[inspectormacarena]

[Eh, it wasn't as bad as the 'little friend' maybe-innuendo anyway. And now that they've officially given up on this attempt, he'll be using his foot to try and rub that symbol out for real. Best not to leave something like that 'lying around', in case any no-gooders come around here.]

Our host's veeery persistent about keeping us in here.

[notaccurate]

[Oh right, they don't need someone seeing that and thinking things. Luca will help scratch it out, to make it just less like an array and more like some childish chalk monster drawing.]

I'm still wondering if the wolves are the murderers for the real case, and this is their trial.

[inspectormacarena]

[Aww, what an impressive chalk monster. No way would that look out of place here.]

Baby, I may not be from 'round these parts, but I can tell you right now that this isn't how the Los Angeles court system works. Besides, our two local detectives who claim to know nothing about this would have to be putting on ooone heck of a show.

[notaccurate]

Well...what if they're the wolves? If it's their trial, they would have every reason to lie.

[inspectormacarena]

And our host would allow them to go around brandishing the title of detective? Would even let them have nice, shiiiny badges to flash in our faces? I dunno, baby. I'm not saying they're not wolves, but somethin' feels off.

[He pauses for a moment, mulling a few things over. This whole situation is just filled with odd coincidences that he can't deny.]

Speaking of law enforcement... You know Mr. Bruce's partner? He was with the FBI. ...Federal Bureau of Investigaaation.

[notaccurate]

[Luca thinks that is exactly what the host would do, to win their trust over, or as some sort of secret test of character or something. But Cabanela still looks tired, so Luca decides not to go off on that tangent at the moment.]

I did not know that, no. The 'FBI' doesn't sound familiar to me, either. Where I am from, all policework is handled by the military.

[What with it being a military powerhouse that is forcibly occupying other countries and all.]

[inspectormacarena]

[Yeahhh... He figured Luca might say something like that. Makes it a bit more difficult to explain just how strange this whole situation is.]

The FBI basically does what I do, except on a much graaander scale. They operate across the country as a whole, my humble little Special Investigations division operates locally. Los Angeles falls outside my jurisdiction, but Mr. York? He could've arrested eeevery single one of us if he wanted to, baby.

[notaccurate]

That seems inefficient, and would likely lead to abuses of districts, especially if someone could just hop over to another one to escape arrest by one specific person.

[Luca is a little hairy at the thought of being arrested, though. Knowing that it is 2026 here, he definitely should not exist in this time. Nevermind the fact that he is from a country that doesn't even exist in this world.]

...But I can see what you are saying, I think. If Mr. York could arrest people here, then the wolves would want him gone, yes?

[inspectormacarena]

Maaaybe. Keeping that in mind, then maaaybe he'd already started digging and found just a little too much buried treasure around here, if you catch my drift.

[notaccurate]

...ah.

So we need to be less obvious, then.

[inspectormacarena]

At least in front of people we can't trust, yeah. But it might already be too late. Following the rules of the game, the wolves can only take out one team every night. Two if they trick us into ousting fellow sheep. Point iiis, come next morning, I might not be here anymore.

[notaccurate]

I think it's too early to call that. If you appear in a clue, then it would be careless of the wolves to take you out.

[At least this early, at least. Once they're through all the teams that weren't in clues, though...]

It is also early enough that I think most people are either still asleep or getting ready for the day. We will need an excuse for our absence from the main room, of course, but I think we can avoid any suspicion for now.

[inspectormacarena]

[Cabanela could point out that once breakfast is served, this room is the main room. He could also point out that he had a perfectly good reason for lurking around in here all night. However, that encounter they had in the bathroom the previous day comes to mind and he can't stop himself from joking about it.]

Weeell, baby. If anyone asks, we can always say you were inspecting my little friend. [He might be talking about his gun, which Luca claimed was "smaller than a child's rifle". Then again, he might not be.]

[notaccurate]

[Luca chokes when he hears that. Because hell yes his mind went right to where Cabanela was kindamaybe joking about. His mind always goes there, he just is usually good about keeping those thoughts inside his head only.]

What?!

[After that initial outburst, he remembers that they are where they can be heard, and he covers his mouth with a hand. Then he looks around quickly, to see if anyone heard him, before leaning in to whisper harshly to Cabanela.]

Are you insane?! I thought the whole point was to not get arrested or murdered!

[Notice how he protested the 'tell everyone a thing' idea, not the lie itself.]

[inspectormacarena]

[... Wow. He was not expecting a reaction like that. Luca was the one who started this little game of gay chicken, after all. Or... whatever this game is. Something gay, that's for sure.

He doesn't seem remotely shaken, or even bothered whether someone might've heard or not. He just shrugs his shoulders with another mild smile.]

Don't get your panties in a twist, baby. Nobody gets arrested for things like that. Besiiides, I was only joking. [In this particular instance, anyway.]

[notaccurate]

[Private matters are private to him, that's all.

He is a little disappointed that Cabanela was only joking, though. He's good-looking enough that if this weren't life-or-death he might have tried a little harder to get his attention.]

I am fairly certain that people do get arrested for it, yes. Furthermore, private matters are for private spaces. It is impolite to talk about night-happenings with a large crowd.

[He might sound a little flustered as he says that.]

[inspectormacarena]

[Oh. Well, in that case, Cabanela will move in for the kill. He takes a step closer to whisper in Luca's ear.]

Your certainties stopped being certain the second you got here. Welcome to LA, baby. Depending on which crowd you're facing, people might even braaag about their nighttime accomplishments. [And then he slams a hand down on Luca's shoulder just because it might add to the shock value.]

[notaccurate]

[That gets a mortified squawk out of Luca, who was not expecting such a hard hit to his shoulder. As confident as he is in private, the moment he thinks everyone else might find out, he starts to stutter and panic internally.]

I- we- We're supposed to be thinking of a cover story, not some wistful romance novel plotline! Focus, Inspector!

[inspectormacarena]

[Good. Another victory for Cabanela in this silly battle where everyone is technically a total loser. It keeps him entertained, at least. He takes a step back to allow Luca his space again, chuckling under his breath.]

You reeeally need to learn how to take a joke, man. If you want a cover story, here's one. We were discussing our suspicions away from prying ears, because the biiig bad wolves could be lurking around every corner. As I always say, there's no alibi like the truth.