Chương 91: Chapter 88: Buckle Up, Chuckleheads

VOTING ROUND—FOUR Round Rating: 201 Ability Deactivated: From the Fragments to the Aftermath Ability Notification! Development points assigned: 34 Progress toward ability upgrade: 164/1000 Bonus Event Quest Update! Description: Survive a voting or hunting round. Completed: 6/X Reward: +1 Will, +10 gold, and +1 skill point for each round survived. +50, 000 clicks. Delivered immediately. Received: +1 Will +10 gold +1 skill point +50, 000 clicks >>Life admin update!

With that round bonus, we are about a half an hour from hitting one million clicks and another level-up. We'll probably get it at the start of the next hunting round (provided we don't end this trial right here and now). >>Speaking of… look! Greesh is still alone on the Green team. >>The plan might just work. Scoreboard: Red Team: 11 Blue Team: 10 Green Team: 1 Total Players Remaining: 22 >>It strikes me that Sarala's death trap didn't actually kill many people. Everybody made it through except Hollywood Cole.

>>TAKE THAT, SARALA… You psycho. >>Although a few players are looking worse for wear… and we can count Ezra as "half-dead" since he is playing on his second life now. George surveyed the room. About half the enclosures were empty now. The vacant cages formed silent gaps around the perimeter of the circular chamber. The remaining players stood inside their force-field enclosures spaced evenly along the wall. Every now and then, the barriers shimmered with a faint blue sheen.

Neco stood near the front of his enclosure with his hands tucked casually into his pockets. A private smile played across his face as he slowly looked around the room. Sarala had removed her helmet. Without it, the strain showed clearly on her face as she realized most of the players had survived her ambush. Her eyes tightened when she spotted George among them. The slime filled its enclosure to a depth of about three feet. It occasionally bubbled as ripples and convulsions passed across its surface.

TLX had been damaged. The metallic sphere that made up most of his body was blackened with scorch marks and dented along one side where something had struck him hard. Even as George watched, the damage began to repair itself. The burn marks faded first, dissolving into the metal like frost melting off glass. Then the dented section slowly pushed outward until the surface reformed into a perfect, seamless sphere. Lady Greesh looked as composed as ever.

Her clothes were immaculate—no dust, no blood, not even a wrinkle out of place. She leaned lightly on her cane inside her enclosure, watching the room with a vague look of impatience. Across the circle, Ezra's new gremlin body paced restlessly back and forth inside his enclosure. The creature lifted its narrow snout to sniff the air. Its long crocodilian jaws hinged open, revealing a serpentine black tongue writhing inside its mouth.

Top tapped on the force field between himself and George and waved at Pine to get his attention.

"Hey, bro. I kicked you off the team. Sorry about that." He was sitting in his chair with the small table in front of him, but instead of his regular teapot and cup he had what looked like a futuristic first-aid kit spread across the surface. His sleeve was soaked in blood. He cut the cloth away to expose a deep wound running from his shoulder across his tricep toward his elbow. Pine sprayed something over the exposed skin. Everywhere the mist touched, the flesh began to knit together.

He withdrew a thin strip of metallic film and pressed it over the wound. The material flowed across his arm, conforming perfectly to the injury before sealing itself in place.

"It was kind of a dick move to leave me like that," Top said.

"And then to start shooting at everybody. Not cool, man." Pine ignored him. >>Hey, check out the leaderboard. We are still on top even though we blew most of our prestige tokens on your resurrections. >>I guess the system thought we did a pretty good job last round.

Leaderboard Pinnacle (20 votes) • George—14 tokens, rating: 472 Diamond (12 votes) • TLX-448571001—37 tokens, rating: 209 • Neco—32 tokens, rating: 190 Gold (8 votes) • Lady Greesh—27 tokens, rating: 171 • Sarala—12 tokens, rating: 169 Silver (5 votes) • Pine—14 tokens, rating: 131 • Ezra Deathmantle—7 tokens, rating: 119 Bronze (3 votes) • Grey—5 tokens, rating: 99 • Tycho—5 tokens, rating: 78 Iron (2 votes) • Tinntannabel—4 tokens, rating: 44 • Cassie—0 tokens, rating: 39 • June—4 tokens, rating: 31 • Top of the Morning—2 tokens, rating: 29 • Loveland—2 tokens, rating: 29 • Misco Narisco—2 tokens, rating: 24 >>Looks like Sarala jumped up, too—along with Neco and TLX.

>>Why couldn't the bad guys suck at this game more? >>Or the good guys be, you know… better at stuff? >>We are at the top with all the sociopaths, but we teamed up with the groundlings clinging to the scraps at the bottom of the leaderboard. Alas. The circular door in the center of the floor opened, and Razza rose smoothly up through it on his elevated platform. His long purple robe draped around him in heavy folds, his arms folded comfortably inside its sleeves as though he had been waiting there the whole time.

"In just a moment," Razza said, his voice carrying easily through the chamber, "we will begin the final voting round before the intermission."

"As soon as the voting round is complete, you will be teleported out of the trial for a short time. When the intermission concludes, all remaining players will return, and the trial will continue until one team—" Razza stopped. His eyes drifted across the room until they settled on Lady Greesh.

"Rather—until two teams are the winners."

"Now," Razza said, spreading his hands slightly, "the negotiation phase begins." As soon as the moderator finished speaking, TLX floated forward inside its enclosure and its amplified voice filled the chamber.

"The optimal strategy since Lady Greesh formed her own team was to vote her out and end the trial as soon as possible. The most rational course of action is to vote for her immediately." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"Here, here," Neco said.

"Moderator, I think we're ready to vote."

"That was a clever plan you launched last round, Neco," Greesh said.

"Though it doesn't seem to have made much of a difference." She paused and turned her head toward George.

"Especially the one in the Moa armor." Now she addressed George directly.

"You've been somewhat of a dark horse, George. Why don't you come join the green team?" And then she gestured toward him and the team standings changed. Scoreboard: Red Team: 10 Blue Team: 10 Green Team: 2 Total Players remaining: 22 George produced his team card. It was green instead of red. >>Did not >>See that >>Coming. Greesh smiled.

"I told you I could invite three players to the green team. That doesn't mean only in the hunting rounds. And the next choice is obvious." She waved at TLX. The green team gained a member, and the red team's roster dropped to nine.

"And just like that, the green team controls 40 votes out of 88 and I have one spot left," she said.

"Does anyone else want to join the winning team? Neco? No?" The prince stared at her without expression.

"And we have room for one more," Greesh said, passing her extended finger across the room like she was choosing. >>Is she going to bubble-gum-bubble-gum this thing? George stepped forward and said, "Tycho. Choose Tycho." Greesh looked at him.

"Why?" She glanced at the leaderboard.

"He only brings us five votes."

"Because you don't want any of the other players in diamond, gold, or silver tiers on your team," George said.

"Neco and Sarala aren't your friends and the necromancer became a monster." Pine spoke up.

"I'll join the team, Greesh," he said.

"I know the look of a winner when I see one."

"No," George said.

"He is a Saar, and I have a Saar death mark. He's already tried to kill me once. If we are together in your room, he'll try again, and then you'll lose your extra twenty votes." Pine smiled, shrugged, and said, "No hard feelings, George."

"And if you choose Tycho, I'll give you my fourteen prestige tokens." Greesh said, "What is he to you?"

"Important," George said. She looked at Tycho for a long moment and then glanced at the leaderboard.

"I appreciate it when players make their motivations clear," she said.

"It makes cooperation so much easier." She waved her hand and the team scoreboard changed again. The green team rose by one and the blue team lost a member.

"We now control forty-five of eighty-eight votes," TLX said in its inhuman voice.

"We may choose whomever we wish to eliminate. I recommend Prince Neco. He is the next highest-ranked player on the leaderboard." The room turned to Neco. He seemed unconcerned by the developments.

"Well played, Greesh. House Flensa still has some life in it, it seems." A slow grin spread across his face.

"But team alignment may not mean as much as you think." Neco looked at George and winked.

"George, you are going to vote for Lady Greesh." Then he turned to Tycho and studied him for a moment.

"And you…" he said.

"You are going to vote for George." He smiled wider.

"Just for fun."

"I think not," Greesh said. But George said nothing. >>We need a strategy session, boss. >>I think it's time to get the band back together. >>You ready to toss some shit into the fan? George made his chuckleheads orb appear in his hand and raised it overhead. He saw Cassie's body tense. Loveland nodded once. June raised her staff, and a soft purple light began to emanate from it. George crushed the orb.

Ability Orb Activated (George) Buckle Up, Chuckleheads: Deactivate the containment barriers in the voting room for the duration of the voting round. Any act of violence between players will result in the aggressor's expulsion from the game at the Moderator's discretion. The force fields vanished all at once with a sharp sizzling sound. And many things happened at once. The voidling let out a loud screech and reached a talon toward where the enclosure had been.

When it discovered it was free, it looked left and right as if searching for a target. Cassie gasped. Its head snapped in her direction. George stepped forward, activated his shield bracelet, and shouted, "Hey!" The voidling turned toward him and tensed as if preparing to spring across the round chamber. Then it noticed Razza standing calmly in the center of the room. [Combat initiated] With a sudden screech, the creature scrabbled toward him and launched itself into the air at the moderator.

Before the voidling could strike, Razza raised one hand. The monster vanished.

"Good riddance," Razza said. The Blue team count dropped by one. Loveland stepped sideways toward June's enclosure. The gnacker lowered its head and began to stalk toward him. Loveland noticed the movement but continued walking slowly, steadily toward June. The purple glow from June's staff brightened.

"Just let it attack, Juney," Loveland said. The gnacker's muscles trembled with barely restrained energy. Loveland glanced once toward Razza, then suddenly lunged toward the creature and shouted. The gnacker took the bait. It scrabbled across the floor and launched itself at the armored warrior. Loveland stood perfectly still and held his hands behind his back. [Feral Gnacker: attacks Loveland.] The gnacker slammed into Loveland's armored chest, knocking him backward.

By the time Loveland's heavy body hit the floor, the gnacker was gone. The red team dropped by one on the scoreboard. As soon as the force fields disappeared, the slime began to slowly ooze beyond the boundaries of its enclosure. The two enclosures on either side of it were already empty, but it continued to take up more space as it spread itself across its quadrant of the room. The neighboring players retreated as the slime crept across the floor. George sent a mental message to Cassie. >>Cassie.

Tell the team to come to this side. —Will do. A moment later, Top sidled over and stepped beside George. Max edged away from the slime encroaching on him and crossed the room to George. June walked in George's direction with her staff raised in front of her. Pine stood up quickly and backed away, tipping his chair backward as he rose. She continued walking steadily toward him.

"Easy, June," Pine said.

"Do you want to win this trial or get zapped out of here right now?"

"Maybe I could get you before Razza stopped me," June said. Pine glanced sideways at the moderator, who simply watched them in silence. June waved the glowing tip of her staff at Pine and he dodged away.

"Shoo," she said. Pine held up his hands and retreated a good distance from her. June took her place on George's right side, and Loveland stepped in beside her. George positioned himself beside Aeternum with his shield raised. The crystal golem didn't seem to mind as the other players crowded behind it. Max moved to the other side of the crystal golem and set his backpack on the ground. He reached deep inside it and seemed unable to find what he was looking for.

He cursed and shoved his whole head and both arms into the dimensional space inside the pack. Finally, he pulled out a conventional milk carton, but instead of white milk it was full of a glowing green liquid. He twisted off the red plastic cap and dribbled a line of the fluid from the spot where Aeternum's left foot met the floor to the nearby wall. When he finished, a jagged glowing line ran from Aeternum's foot to the wall. Max put the cap back on and stepped back.

A rippling wall of shimmering force rose from the line, shooting up to the ceiling before stabilizing into a solid barrier. >>Liquid force field? >>What else does he have in that bag?

"We need a new plan," Loveland said in a hushed tone.

"Just think it to Cassie," George whispered.

"And she'll communicate to everyone else." Loveland, Max, and June started to speak rapidly to each other through Cassie, who acted as a mental switchboard. A feminine laugh rang out in the quiet room. Everyone turned to look. Misco Narisco was smiling and laughing and stepped forward into the center of the room. Red flower petals were still trailing out from the back of her cloak as she walked. She had a vacant stare and her laugh seemed half mad.

Grey grabbed at her cloak and tried to pull her back, but Misco swatted her hand away.

"Get back here," Grey said in a hushed, urgent tone. Misco walked toward the moderator and looked at him with an almost peaceful expression. She put one hand on Razza's shoulder, and she held the other out to her side. Her outstretched hand slowly blackened and formed long claws. Razza looked at her with a deadpan, put-upon expression. Misco moved to strike the moderator with her newly formed claw hand, but before the blow fell, the woman disappeared, and the red team lost another player. Grey sighed.

"Whatever." She picked up her staff from where it had fallen when she lunged for Misco and looked around the room. The slime covered nearly a third of the chamber now as it spread itself thinner and thinner across the floor. Grey slowly walked toward George's group until she stood directly in front of him. She reached up, knocked on Aeternum's chest, and said, "Can I come in?" For a moment, George wasn't sure what to do. Then he said, "Cassie?" Cassie slipped up beside him.

George moved his shield aside, and Cassie stretched out her arm toward Grey, motioning for the young wizard to take her hand. As soon as Grey touched Cassie's hand, there was a sharp snap like static electricity, and Grey reflexively jerked her hand back. George looked down at Cassie, and after a moment Cassie said, "She's okay. Let her in." George stepped aside and lowered his shield. Grey shrugged, pushed past the crystal golem, and took her place among the group. She nodded at Max and said, "Tycho."

Max returned the greeting.

"Grey."

"Hey, Cass," Top said.

"Do you mean she's, like, on the team? The team team?" Cassie nodded. <Grey has been added to Top's party> George sent a message to Cassie. >>Tell Top he needs to vote for Neco no matter what. —Gotcha. The moderator raised his voice and said, "It is time for the voting phase. You have sixty seconds to cast your vote." Neco spoke into the silence that followed Razza's pronouncement.

"If anyone votes for me, I will kill them, either in the trial or after."

"You already tried to kill us once," Loveland said.

"You and her." He jerked his head toward Sarala.

"He's got my vote," June said. Then the group fell silent as they continued using Cassie to quietly coordinate their votes. The minute passed, and all the players had cast their votes.

"I will now reveal the votes, and the two-minute resolution phase will begin," Razza said. Pale blue lines appeared between the players and the people they had voted for. George had voted for Lady Greesh, and Max had voted for George because they had no choice. Neco and Sarala had thrown the strength of their votes at Greesh, and Pine and Tinntannabel had jumped on board too. Ezra voted for the slime again. Everyone on Top's team except for George and Max had voted for Neco—but it wasn't enough.

Resolution Phase—Vote Ranking Lady Greesh: 47 Prince Neco: 31 Dragonmaw: 5 George: 3 As soon as Razza revealed the vote ranking, the troll-gremlin that had once been Ezra let out a cry and raised an orb in its three-fingered hand as Cassie's brainwashing took effect.. Ability Orb Activated (Ezra) • The Vacant Into the Vacant: Nullify another player's vote. George's vote vanished. The blue line linking him to Lady Greesh disappeared. At the same time, Top produced an orb in each of his hands and crushed them both.

Ability Orb Activated (Top of the Morning) • Bippity Boppity Boop: Increase your vote by ten. Ability Orb Activated (Top of the Morning) • If I Can't Have My Druthers, I'll Just Take Yours: Acquire the voting strength of the lowest two players on the leaderboard. Their votes are rendered null and their voting strength is added to your vote. George looked at the new vote ranking and saw that they'd done it. They had beaten Neco. The plan had worked.

Resolution Phase—Vote Ranking Prince Neco: 41 Lady Greesh: 27 Dragonmaw: 5 George: 3 But there were still ninety seconds left in the Resolution phase. Everyone looked at Neco. No one spoke. The Prince didn't look disturbed. He raised his hand and an ability orb appeared in it. He closed his hand around it but he didn't crush it. He tapped the orb against his lips and looked around the room thoughtfully. Then, just before the time limit on the resolution phase elapsed, he said, "Well played, truly.

Such coordination. Such initiative. And yet…" Then he crushed the orb. Ability Orb Activated (Prince Neco) Come Here, Ya Wee Fockers: Play after being voted out. You may remain in the game as if you were not voted out. Razza said, "No players are eliminated. The intermission will now begin." Then his platform began to sink back into the floor.

"Well, shit," Max said under his breath. In the last moment before the intermission began, George looked up at Neco. The prince was staring right back at him. Then, the voting room disappeared and George was back in his cradle.