07.Slow
The general air of pain and distress following the brutal murder and execution hadn’t had nearly enough time to subside before the overhead lights dimmed. The time display on the screen shut off, and Murasaki’s “face” filled it instead.
“I think it sad,” she began, “that I need to remind you of the situation you are in. No one within this room will escape without killing another competitor. I believe you have acquainted yourselves with the button and the rest of the killing room well enough to formulate a plan, but perhaps you are still having some difficulty. Is it with selecting a victim? Is it anticipation of the victim fighting back? Or are you all merely not motivated enough by the slow death that awaits you here should you choose to stay?”
She paused. “In any of these cases, I feel I can help. You will all lose consciousness shortly, so please prepare yourselves...”
There wasn’t much you could do to prepare, but you at least made yourself moderately comfortable before the collars did their work.
When you came to again, Murasaki’s broadcast was back on—if it had ever ended.
“Is everyone with us?” she began. “I’ll begin slowly so you may have a chance to wake up fully. You must kill to leave this room. It should go without saying that your victim must be a person other than yourself. In the coming days, however, you may feel tempted to betray your own self-interest.”
She waited another moment, apparently deeming you all awake enough to cut to the chase. “I have released a certain virus into the killing room. Some of you are already infected; some of you will contract the disease over the next few days or weeks, if this goes on long enough. The disease may progress at different rates for different people, but the symptoms are as follows: a mild fever. Difficulty maintaining your normal personality. Spurts of time in which your brain’s processing speed plummets, leaving you in a helpless stupor as the world around you runs in fast-forward. A powerful sensation of being overwhelmed. All of this eventually culminates in the irrepressible desire to end your own existence.”
She adjusted her mask. “If you would prefer to live, I suggest you commit murder before you can reach such a point. I hold a cure for the disease that I have already ensured will be effective on all of you. I will administer it to everyone remaining upon the discovery of a murdered competitor—and no sooner.”
The overhead lights began to strengthen again.
“The best of luck.”
The screen reverted back to a plain digital clock.
(Please post opens on your character blogs with the tag #kropen so we can find them and add them to the Opens page. If you would like to know if your character has already been infected, ask here.)
