WW LXXVII: The Metamorphs of Wolf-562-e

[Rikae]

Sorry, wintywinty - as you see my PM explicitly said I could only harm metamorphs... so what was I supposed to think? Anyway, with this knowledge, I'd have voted for you anyway.

Eh, well, at least I hope that I kill Inzil and we all die. That would be cool.

[Inziladun]

Any strong drinks in the galley? We could have a death-party. And a double hydraulic fluid for the droid!

[wintywinty]

Originally Posted by Rikae

Sorry, wintywinty - as you see my PM explicitly said I could only harm metamorphs... so what was I supposed to think? Anyway, with this knowledge, I'd have voted for you anyway.

Eh, well, at least I hope that I kill Inzil and we all die. That would be cool.

Yeah it's ok, not your fault. I hope everyone dies too, that'd be cool.

[Rikae]

Oh yeah, that's right:
I was bluffing, and I am hunting Inzil. When you said "the narration would have indicated it" I was so mad at myself for not considering that myself - if I had, I would have known who you were from the beginning of the Day.

[wintywinty]

Originally Posted by Rikae

Oh yeah, that's right:
I was bluffing, and I am hunting Inzil. When you said "the narration would have indicated it" I was so mad at myself for not considering that myself - if I had, I would have known who you were from the beginning of the Day.

Yeah I asked Nerwen about that in a PM a few days ago, because I didnt know how or if she was going to indicate that I got shot.

[Rikae]

Well, does anyone have any last confessions? Anything dramatic to reveal?

Do we spend the next five hours waiting to die (or in my case, having dinner with the in-laws )?

[wintywinty]

Others can probably post now, considering everyone's dead...

[satansaloser2005]

Originally Posted by wintywinty

Others can probably post now, considering everyone's dead...

We should probably wait, just so's Nerwen can put up her shiny narration.


*dances in blood, flails and dies*

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Rikae

Well, does anyone have any last confessions? Anything dramatic to reveal?

Do we spend the next five hours waiting to die (or in my case, having dinner with the in-laws )?

Nothing dramatic from me. I stand fully revealed.

[Rikae]

Not... uncloaked?!

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Rikae

Not... uncloaked?!

I suppose not.

[Nerwen]

Hey, people– I said I "would neither confirm nor deny any claims made by anyone about his or her role".

Rikae and winty, you're not supposed to post pms from me as evidence.

And Rikae, I should have probably worded your pm differently, but I didn't want anyone to know about the Rogue Android role. You were only intended to find out you could harm him (not kill, not in one shot) if you happened to attack him at Night.

[satansaloser2005]

*bows to the moddess* Sorry, dear, I did my best? *fails, crawls into a hole*

[Nerwen]

Anyway– results:

Metamorphs lose. Rogue Android loses.

Crew wins. Reformed!Traitor wins.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by satansaloser2005

*bows to the moddess* Sorry, dear, I did my best? *fails, crawls into a hole*

That's okay, I should have given you more information.

[Nerwen]

This, by the way, is the possible no-win scenario I was talking about. By stretching the rules about the Assassin being lynched, I could have interpreted the results as "winty blows up and kills Rikae, Rikae knifes Zil– everybody loses".

But like I said, it's a stretch, and I'm not that mean– and though it would be, I think, a unique finish to the game, I think this one might be too.

Final narration to follow.

[Blind Guardian]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

This, by the way, is the possible no-win scenario I was talking about. By stretching the rules about the Assassin being lynched, I could have interpreted the results as "winty blows up and kills Rikae, Rikae knifes Zil– everybody loses".

But like I said, it's a stretch, and I'm not that mean– and though it would be, I think, a unique finish to the game, I think this one might be too.

Final narration to follow.

Yeah!! We can post!

[satansaloser2005]

Originally Posted by Blind Guardian

Yeah!! We can post!

She's still got a narration to do, silly.


*waits patiently, is interested to see the ending*

[Nerwen]

End Game

Commander Inziladun found Rikae on the bridge, gazing out through the main viewscreen at the tiny, distant points of light that speckled the black depths of space.

The Commander cleared his throat. "Rikae."

Rikae said nothing, merely edged away from him, towards the door.

"As I am still in command of this ship–"

That was too much for the boy. "In command of what? A whole lot of dead people?"

Inziladun winced. "Rikae, the way I see things, the humans aboard are doomed if the Android survives. So what do we do? Give up? I'd rather go down fighting."

A calculating expression came into the boy's eyes. "Hm. I'm not even sure whose side I'm supposed to be on, anymore... Kill myself? But that seals the Android's victory, and I'm not technically on the Android's side. Plus, he killed poor Shasta. There's no way for me to win."

The Commander frowned. "What... oh, I see. You're hoping that if you pose as the Traitor, I'll let you live. Clever. But there's one little hitch. You're not the Traitor, Rikae, I..." he swallowed and looked away, "I am."

Rikae remained silent and continued slowly backing away.

"Rikae, I've been working against this ship, it's true. But now we face a common enemy. It seems clear to me that if the Android is not stopped we both will die. We may die anyway. Who knows what the result will be if we attack the Android? But as I said, I'd prefer to go down fighting than placidly surrender to that mechanical menace. Are you with me?"

"...if I were to guess now, Inzil," said Rikae coldly, "I'd think you were the Android..."

"Are you the Assassin?"

Rikae automatically clutched at his head. "You... you know I can't answer that."

"I'll take that for a yes. Who did you hunt?"

"Loslote. Izzy. You. But I have my knife, now, Commander." A long, wickedly sharp blade flashed into the boy's hand. "If you try to kill me, you die."

Inziladun sighed. "You don't trust me, do you? Well, I don't blame you. I think we're at an impass until Winty appears."

"Did someone say my name?" asked the Weapons Maintenance Technician as he strolled onto the bridge.

"Wintywinty? What do you say you are?" asked Rikae.

"The Android, of course," said Winty, smiling. "And now, I have an announcement to make. I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the–"

"What in Space are you talking about, you weird android?" Inziladun demanded. "I've seen things like that on a regular basis."

"Sorry," Winty slapped himself in the forehead, "software glitch. What I meant to say is:
I have an implanted explosive device. It will be activated if I "die". That's right, my friends: If you kill me, I'll take at least one of you down with me."

Inziladun shot him.

The energy bolt took off half the cyborg's head. Wintywinty reeled and flailed, but managed to keep his feet, though his movements had a jerky, spastic quality.

"One– more– to- go!" His speech sounded flatter and more metallic, but a mad grin stretched across what was left of his face.

Inziladun said, "My gun's out of power. I did what I could. Rikae, if you leave him alive won't he kill whoever's left anyway? That's why I say go down fighting. Even if I die that way."

"Hey– Rikae–" said the Android. "If– you– attack– Zil– then– noone– will– survive. That– sounds– much– cooler." His hand struck apparently random keys on a control panel beside him.

Neither Rikae nor the Commander noticed the small panel that started flashing the words, "Self-destruct Armed".

"As long as you go down," said Inziladun.

Rikae looked from one to the other.

"So– Rikae– what's– it– gonna– be? Will– you– allow– the– traitor– of– the– empire– to– win?!? Or– will– you– die– valiantly– taking– down– both– the– traitor– and– Rogue– Android?" Wintywinty laughed wildly.

Inziladun said, "Who can say whether the bucket o'bolts is telling the truth anyway?"

"Actually, wintywinty - if I attack Zil, he dies and you win. Nah, not that cool," said the Assassin.

"You– could– always– kill– me– at– Night," said the Android. "Your– gun– works– on–me– too." Again his fingers tapped the control panel.

"Sneaky, sneaky mechanical monster," Zil commented, almost approvingly.

"Terran Intelligence never said a word about this– nice try, Winty." With a look of icy determination on his young face, Rikae took a deep breath, walked up to the laughing, staggering wintywinty, and plunged his knife into the Android's exposed brain.

Sparks flicked up the blade and up the Assassin's arm. For a moment nothing happened. Then wintywinty blew apart. Rikae was thrown across the bridge.

Inziladun ran to him.

The boy was bleeding and unconcious, but– to the Commander's relief– still breathing.

Then the lights started flashing. "Five minutes until detonation... five minutes until detonation...."

The Android, Inziladun realized in horror, had set off the ship's auto-destruct sequence. There was no time to lose. He scooped the half-dead boy in his arms and raced for the escape pod bay.

As he settled Rikae in one of the pod's life-support systems, the boy stirred, "Hotdog..." he whispered.

"Rikae, the ship's about to blow, I can't go back just for–" Then Inziladun realized he would have to return to the ship anyway, to send out a distress signal. "–I'll be right back."

Inziladun sprinted to the Communications Room. The flashing lights and the mechanical voice counting down the minutes were distracting, but he was able to make the last few connections needed to get the system up and running.

"This is Commander Inziladun of the TGS Lothlórien. May day... May day..."

After a tense minute Captain Nilpaurion Felagund of the Nargothrond answered the call. Inziladun outlined the Metamorph plot (leaving out his own part in it, naturally) then gave Captain Felagund the approximate coordinates in which he could expect to pick them up.

Then he ran for his life.

"Thirty seconds until detonation... Thirty seconds until detonation...."

Something gripped his leg. Looking down, he saw wintywinty's skeletal hand clutched around his ankle. The android had not been wholly destroyed in the explosion. Its flesh was gone, but the torso and part of the head of its metal "skeleton" had survived, and somehow it had managed to drag itself after him.

Commander Inziladun screamed, but he could not get free of that vice-like grasp.

Then, a yellow-brown shape streaked through the air. Ensign Guardian's dog locked its jaws around the Android's neck-vertebrae, worrying at them until its sharp teeth cut through the wires that conveyed signals from the artificial brain.

Wintywinty's hand relaxed.

"Good dog!" said Inziladun.

Together they raced for the pod.

Inziladun sealed the door and frantically steered the small craft away from the looming bulk of the doomed starship. He was only just in time.

A series of explosions tore through the Lothlórien, bathing the pod's cockpit in blinding light.

When Inziladun finally opened his eyes, there was nothing left of the ship, just the eternal night of outer space.

He sat there dazed for a while, absently patting the dog's head, before going to check on Rikae. The boy had lapsed into a coma. Inziladun did not know what more to do for him, and could only hope that he would make it.

After that, the Commander retired to the pod's small galley, to pour himself a good stiff glass of Aldebaranian whisky– and to ponder all the strange and terrible events.

He, it seemed, had been given a chance to redeem himself, and Earth was safe again– for now.


The Crew

Living
Commander Inziladun –First Officer. (Reformed Traitor.)
Rikae –"Cabin Boy" (a thirteen-year-old stowaway). (Assassin.)
The Dog.

Dead
Doctor Morsul –Medical Officer and Captain McNerwen. –shot by Traitor on Night One.
Ensign Blind Guardian– Tactical Officer. –Died in convulsions (Telepath).
Eomer –Security Officer. –Thrown out the airlock (Bounty Hunter).
Lieutenant Sally –Navigator. –Torn to pieces (Metamorph).
Chief Petty Officer Keeper of Dol Guldur –Quartermaster. –Killed by exploding console (Ordinary).
Wilwa –Android Technician, Second Class. –Force-fed own muffins (Metamorph).
Master Chief Petty Officer Loslote –Chief Engineer. –Beaten to death with iso-spanner (Defender).
Ensign Pitchwife –Communications Officer/Interpreter. –Kicked to death (Ordinary).
Lieutenant Paranoia –Second Officer. –Blew own head off with flame-pistol (Ordinary).
Isabellkya –Sensor Technician, First Class. –Poisoned (Ordinary)
Shasta –Engineering Technician. –Thrown into Stardrive Reactor (Metamorph).
wintywinty –Weapons Maintenance Technician. –Self-destructed (Rogue Android).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

THE END.

[Nerwen]

And I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting. I was just about to post the narration when I was called away on family matters for a couple of hours. When I returned, the party who had been using the computer in the meantime had closed the window, deleting the entire thing.

So, I had to start from scratch. Hope you like it.

Oh, and wintywinty– yes, for narrative purposes I have allowed Rikae (the thirteen-year-old male version) to live, but that's only because it doesn't change the outcome of the game. The actual reason the crew wins is that Inziladun survived.

[Inziladun]

Well, my first time out as a cobbler. I can say that at least I only contributed to the death of one of my morphish conspirators. I count that as a major accomplishment.

Sorry about voting you, Wilwa, and that it took me an extra Day to respond to your hints, Shasta. I didn't even get a chance to interact with Sally, except to cast suspicion on her for her self-vote Day 1.

Sorry for killing you, BG. You had dreamed of me Night 1, I know, and thought me innocent based on how Nerwen worded the response to you (as recounted in the Admin Thread). I had no idea you were the Telepath, of course, but it seemed likely you were innocent, and what else is a cobbler to do?

I thought I was pretty much done after Shasta bought it, but the endgame was quite entertaining in its dramatic way, thanks to winty and Rikae. I thought my biggest test would be proving I was the real Traitor. Rikae's post detailing why she was the Assassin convinced me she was telling the truth, and I expected winty to also claim to be the Traitor, leaving it up to Rikae to decide between us. The open reveal of winty's droidism surprised me, but I could see no reason he would lie, so voting for him required no thought.

Kudos to Nerwen for the concept, and for such well-written narrations.

[Blind Guardian]

Thanks Nerwen that was great! Sorry for crying on night one. I don't know what happened. Ha! My dog survives! Lucky! Im glad I mentioned taking him for a walk he was great! So what happens to Iziladun? Does Rikae make it? Wait, is it over? Iziladun, I didn't know you were the Traitor until after I was dead. Good game, I enjoyed watching it from the dead point of view.

[Loslote]

Well, well, well. We won after all. And just after me posthumously switching sides to that of the suicide bomber.

I protected Zil the first Night, then Rikae. Zil because I guessed the wolves wouldn't kill someone who didn't vote Day 1, just in case they were modfired, and then I crossed off the people I thought were wolves (including Wilwa and Shasta, by the way - I don't remember who I thought the third wolf was) and ended up with Zil and Izzy. After a long time flip-flopping between the two, I chose to protect Zil. The next Night, I noticed that there were three people who were not suspected at all, and I guessed that the wolves would go after one of them. Those three were Rikae, WWinty, and myself. I couldn't protect myself, and I figured that the wolves would prefer to attack Rikae (or myself, for that matter) than WWinty. Thus, I protected Rikae - and found the Assassin. We got to pm that Night. I knew I was going to die, though. So did Sally - she giggled at me about it a lot over IM. So did Rikae.

When Sally told me who the wolf was, I told her that if Rikae died, I was going to posthumously switch sides to root for him. Lone-wolf Shasta is simply too good, but I still wanted Rikae to win, of course. But Shasta died before Rikae did, so I just rooted for everyone to die.

Amazing game, Nerwen!

[Shastanis Althreduin]

*mutters about not actually losing to the innocents*

[Paranoia]

Originally Posted by Shastanis Althreduin

*mutters about not actually losing to the innocents*

Oh hush. You lost all the same, be it to crazed, paranoid innocents or a murderous android/suicide bomber, it matters not. :P


Horrible luck with winty picking Sally for his n1 kill though; I doubt she would have gotten lynched any time soon.

Edit: On another note, excellent narration Nerwen. Some of my favorite moments were my death, the muffin madness of day 2, and night 3.

[Isabellkya]

Lovely game Nerwen!

Haha Dun. Well done on your bit about Pitch. I considered that as a possibility, and was one reason I wasn’t comfortable with voting for Pitch. However the Paranoia wagon was too terrible feeling to vote for him, or vote for someone else - where he would be lynched anyhow. Seeing as they were both ordos.... it didn't really matter.

I was rather surprised that no one seemed to pick up on me suddenly going after Dun.

I assume you killed me due to me being on to you Shasta, or something like that? I honestly thought that is where you revealed yourself. Your overt scheme in forcing Pitch to vote for Paranoia and the entire way you went after him - especially about the part involving the assassin hurting the bear clarification. Which was a leg that your entire reason for going after the WereBorg first rested on. Yet you seemed quite unconcerned in actually asking the mod, attempt at clarification. I'm certain that had you been innocent, you would've sought clarity.

Which confused me altogether. People assumed what the assassin could/n't do based on the seeming public information about the role.. even though there were two secret roles.

Aw well. xD

[wintywinty]

Originally Posted by Paranoia

Horrible luck with winty picking Sally for his n1 kill though; I doubt she would have gotten lynched any time soon.

I actually suspected Sally of being a morph.

[Blind Guardian]

Finally, here is my picture of Hotdog:

[Blind Guardian]

That's not the best, but it was all that I could fine.



That better, didn't get any smaller...

[Nerwen]

Thanks for playing, all of you!

I did enjoy writing those narrations– thanks for providing such good material. I tried to use as many actual quotes from people as I could. As you see, much of the dialogue for the final narration comes straight from Zil, Rikae and winty.

And BG, thanks for lending me your dog. He did come in handy, didn't he?

[Blind Guardian]

I know, I love him! Iziladun should thank him! (cookies?) he's so cute, he loves to chase bunnies :P

[Loslote]

Oh, and as some people commented on my excessive questioning about the Defender role: that was an attempt at a bluff.

Also, I thought the Assassin was Noia for a while. Look at my posts to him. They bothspell out 'assassin' with the first letters of the sentences. The first also ended with "What's a girl to think??"

[Rikae]

BG, your dog is toooo cute.

*snuggles Hotdog*

[Inziladun]

As a rule I don't like dogs, but it was nice of him to save me from that freakish Terminator-wannabe.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

As a rule I don't like dogs, but it was nice of him to save me from that freakish Terminator-wannabe.

You hear that, wintywinty?

[Inziladun]

Heh, winty did a good job, of course. Too darn good. Killing off my Metamorph friends....

[Blind Guardian]

I have to say thank you for killing off the morphs, but get off our ship :P
nerwen, I would like to play again!

[Shastanis Althreduin]

I consider that given that the 'droid killed two out of three of us, we didn't lose to the innocents. Nerr.

Izzy, I killed you because I thought you were most likely to go after me the following Day, yes. I was hoping you were the Assassin or Werebear, but alas.

[wintywinty]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

As a rule I don't like dogs, but it was nice of him to save me from that freakish Terminator-wannabe.

You can just refer to me as Terminator.

[satansaloser2005]

Originally Posted by Shastanis Althreduin

I consider that given that the 'droid killed two out of three of us, we didn't lose to the innocents. Nerr.

Izzy, I killed you because I thought you were most likely to go after me the following Day, yes. I was hoping you were the Assassin or Werebear, but alas.

Especially since I didn't even have a chance to do anything as a wolf. Grar.


So the first Day was just awful for me. I came back, realized I had no idea who to vote, and decided the nicest thing to do would be to vote myself. Had nothing to do with my wolvery, just the lack of desire to pounce on someone for no reason.

Being nice sucks.