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Please, I want to end...
Luar and Nimire beat a murder game
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Adriana looks up from the bed in her cell as another pair of new corpses rolls in. The researchers depart after only a few moments: must be waiting on revival. 

... these two seem to be coming round faster than most, though. 

“Hey! First timers!” She bangs on the bars of her cell with one hand. “Either of you got a match?”

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"...What??"

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"Can't say that I do!"

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She looks at the blonder one. “A match. The thing you use to make fire with. Yeah, I get it, you’re scared, you’re chained to a gurney, answer the damn question.”

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The blonder one is extremely blonde, almost silver. She declines to answer.

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"Eugh. Fine then." 

She slumps back onto the bed. 

"How'd they get you two?"

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"What, are you telling me they don't have standard kidnapping practices?"

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“Kind of hard to nab all of us the same way. I mean, half of us don’t even come from the same continent. Mexico, here - you?”

Now that she mentions it, she does have a slight accent. 

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"Canada."

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“Ah.” 

She trails off contemplatively. 

“So I take it nobody’s filled you in on these yet?” 

She holds up one wrist: a steel bracelet clamps around it, its solitary LED glowing a steady green.

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"Oh, that looks exciting."

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“You could say that. It explodes if you don’t do what they want. Had it happen... about a half dozen times now, that I remember.”

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"There are times you don't?"

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“They don’t always bring you back with all your memories when you die. Some of the other subjects say they’ve killed me when I don’t even remember meeting them.”

A door thunks open somewhere down the hall, and she hurriedly lies back down on the bed, pressing a finger to her lips.

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The click of shoes on concrete comes down the hall: moments later, a grey-haired researcher wielding a clipboard steps into view. She smiles: an ID card on a lanyard around her neck announces her as “Dr. Nadia”.

”Hello, new recruits! Welcome to Lumia Island!” She sing-songs. “You’ve been enrolled in our clinical trials of Human 2.0. On behalf of the AGLAIA project, I’d like to thank you for your help, however unwillingly acquired.” 

She pauses. 

“I’m honestly sorry about this, but I have a job to do and Thomas has a bet with me on - never mind. What you need to know is that this island is a battleground: in about ten minutes, you and eight other test subjects will be released from cells around Lumia Island. Certain areas of the island are restricted: if you enter one of these zones, the bracelet on your wrist will detonate and you’ll be retrieved from backup for the next round.

Over time, more and more restricted zones will be announced, until eventually there is nowhere left and everyone dies. This progression will only cease once there is only one test subject alive.” 

She frowns. “Or less, I guess, but I’d advise against suicide. The whole point of this is to iron out glitches in our immortality tech, so if you die there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to revive you every time.” 

She looks from Naomi to Lauren and back again. “Clear enough for you two?”

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"Your ethical standards are deplorable and you should be ashamed to call yourself a scientist," Naomi says dryly.

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Lauren says nothing at all.

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“Yeah, I get that a lot.” 

She shrugs, and walks back off down the hall. 

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The red-haired woman peeks out from under her bedsheets: when the coast is clear, she sits up again. 

“What a joke. Nadia’s really phoning it in these days. Bad luck you got her and not Thomas: he’s at least slightly less of an asshole.”

She stretches. “Any minute now -“

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The cuffs securing Naomi and Lauren to the gurneys abruptly separate. 

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“ - that’ll happen. We’ve got maybe a minute before the game is on, so I’ll give you some quick advice - if you hear somebody humming, run. If you see a woman with green hair, also run. I haven’t met our local ghosts face to face that I remember, but that’s probably because they killed me. Stay the fuck away.”

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"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

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With another clank, the cell doors unlock.

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“Well, time for another round.” 

The red-haired woman sweeps out from her cell, grabbing a grey backpack from a pile of grey backpacks as she saunters down the hall. 

“Don’t wait up: I’ll be nice and not fuck with you guys until we get down to last three, but I ain’t waiting around for dead weight.”

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Distantly, a hesitant voice comes over hidden loudspeakers. 

“The, uh, the round has begun. Everyone, please do your best to survive.”

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There’s a rustle of cloth, a muttered apology, and a more strident, female voice comes on. 

“Let there be glory to the pawns, who reached the end of despair!

This is a ten-player round, and will take place over the duration of forty-eight hours. The first set of restrictions will occur after six hours, and will eliminate the Lighthouse, the Forest, the Town Hall, and the Factory. Further restrictions will occur every six hours thereafter!”

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Naomi looks over at the blonde girl and raises her eyebrows. "You coming or what?"

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She shrugs. She follows Naomi past the pile of backpacks; they each take one.

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The red-haired woman flashes a thumbsup at the pair. 

“Glad you could join us! I’m Adriana, by the way. 16M-RFT29, if you hear me over the loudspeaker - check your bracelets for your own subject IDs.” 

She smiles, and adjusts her bangs so they don’t hang in the way as much. 

“Packs have bread, water, and a map of the island. I’m headed for the Forest ‘cause I know the cabins there have hatchets, and I have a good throwing arm. After that, probably north to the school for a Bunsen burner and some food supplies.”

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The blonde girl fishes out her map, glances at it, and nods.

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“Alright, let’s move.” 

It’s a bit of a hike to the forest from the tunnels under the research centre, down a mountainous trail interrupted every so often by scree. 

After a few miles of this, Adriana holds up a hand for a halt.

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"What's up?"

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She raises a finger to her lips, and points.

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A brown-haired girl is meandering down the trail, nose in a book, trailing a long, stout branch on the dirt behind her. She seems not to have noticed she’s being observed.

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Well that's something.

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“You guys wanna stop to chat, or...? We haven’t got any weapons...”

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"I'm feeling chatty, but you're the expert."

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The blonde girl does not volunteer an opinion. It is probably safe to say she's not feeling chatty.

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“Let’s go around for now. No sense in maybe giving away our location this early.” 

 

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Agreeable shrug.

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Adriana nods, and onwards they go. 

A few minutes later, a fusillade of gunshots rings out from somewhere to the north. 

"... Looks like the round's properly underway, now." 

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"Fun and excitement!" says Naomi.

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The blonde girl lets out a soft huff of laughter.

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Another five minutes’ walk, and they come to the end of the trail: a more densely forested area, with a small cabin. 

Adriana puts a foot on the stump by the woodpile, and pulls out a wicked-looking hatchet. 

“Nice: hatchet from the very first cabin. Have a look inside and see if you can find some food: I’m going to go next door and see if can’t find some spares for you two.” 

She pauses, and looks back and forth between Lauren and Naomi. “Now that I think of it - either of you two have any skill with really any kind of weapon?”

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Headshake.

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"I stabbed somebody with a pen once but I wouldn't call it a skill."

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“Really? Good job, that’s close-up work. I’ll cut you a bamboo spear: same basic principle at least, and every tiny edge helps.” 

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"Sure."

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Adriana nods amiably, and heads off into the forest.

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So: cabin. What's up?

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The cabin is quite small: it has a bamboo bed (no covers, no mattress), a bamboo table, and a few hooks on the walls. 

A spearfishing harpoon is leaning in one corner: a pair of hatchets hang on the wall next to it, partly covered by someone’s hat. A pair of plastic two-litre jugs of water occupy the table, along with a few oddly-shaped roots. Hiding in the other corner, a freshly-tanned hide still stands on its frame.

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Well, that's... something.

Naomi gravitates toward the harpoon.

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Lauren takes the hatchets. And, after a moment's consideration, the hat.

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"So do you, like, know more than one word," says Naomi.

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"Maybe."

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"Well, that's a start. How about a name? I'm Naomi."

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"Lauren."

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"Nice to meet you!"

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"No it isn't."

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"Okay, you got me."

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She turns away to inspect the remaining objects - water, roots, leather.

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Someone taps on the door. 

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Naomi and her harpoon go to answer it.

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It’s Adriana. She’s carrying the advertised bamboo spear across one shoulder. 

“Any luck?”

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She gestures, with the harpoon, at the other contents of the cabin. "Some!"

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“Nice, two spare hatchets and some of the - what’sitcalled. The root. It’s good in soup.” 

She picks up one of the heavy jugs of water with little apparent effort. 

“Oh, by the way - you’re probably stronger than you expect. Comes with the, ehh, ‘upgrades.’ Space is more a thing than weight for us.”

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"Good to know." She grabs the other jug.

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Lauren collects roots.

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“The plan now is to head north to the school, where there are things like ‘coats’ and ‘lighters’ and so on. Those gunshots sounded pretty far away, so they were probably further north - but the school has a lot of supplies, so we have a decent chance of running into somebody hostile. Which is why we didn’t go there before we had weapons. Any objections?”

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"Sounds good to me!"

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“Alright, let’s move.”

The trees thin out again after ten minutes’ walk northward, ending in a tall chainlink fence. Adriana takes it in a single practiced vault, dropping down onto the faded spraypaint of the school football field’s thirty-yard line - then sprints across the open space, and flattens herself against the near wall of the school building. 

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Naomi takes a little longer than that climbing the fence, but then manages the run about as well.

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Lauren is right behind her.

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Adriana shifts down the wall, and tugs on the closest door. 

It doesn’t budge. 

She makes a demonstratory swing at the lock with her hatchet, then looks at Lauren and Naomi.