122nd ♫ | phosphor burned a silent mayday, my hand slipped with a dirty splash

[phaiinein]

The Murder Game Meme



You know the script. You wake up in a place you've never seen before, with a whole bunch of complete strangers and there's a mysterious voice or a mascot or what have you ready to let you know how things are going to work around here.

The rules are simple: You're trapped here, with no hope of release or rescue. You've been provided with all the basic necessities you need to live comfortably, and all you have to do is settle down and live out the rest of your days here in peace. But if you can't do that -- if you're really so desperate to escape that you'll do anything -- then there's one teeny tiny thing you have to do first.

All you have to do is kill somebody.

But it's not quite that simple. Every death will be followed by a period of investigation, followed by a trial in which the survivors will attempt to solve the mystery and out the culprit. If the survivors guess correctly and out the culprit, the killer is executed and life goes on. But if the survivors guess wrong, then the culprit is free as a bird and everyone else is executed.

Even with the promise of freedom, can you really bring yourself to kill so many other people?

tl;dr: it's a murdergame meme. TIME TO HAVE A BIG OL' MURDERGAME BLAST.


Settings

1. High School A classic! Doesn't matter if you're too old or too young to be in high school -- you've been enrolled and the only way for you to graduate is to kill a fellow student. But hey, the faculties are nice!
2. Tropical Island Weren't you just hankering for a nice tropical vacation? No? Too bad! You're going to have a nice sunny vacation at the beach and if you don't like it, just kill someone and go home. Simple!
3. Prison It doesn't matter if you don't remember committing any crime; you've been tried and found guilty of something or other and now you can go ahead and rot away in jail. If you ever want to see the sunlight again, better put that criminal mind to good use and get rid of your inmates.
4. Mall A huge mall stuffed full of stores, places to eat and all the regular amenities like deadbolted doors and the threat of death. It's like Black Friday but even worse because you can't leave and all the rest of the shoppers might actually kill you for real this time.
5. City Holy shit, you've got the run of a whole city this time around! Maybe with all this room to keep out of each other's way, you'll be able to make sure no one starts killing people. But probably not.
6. Cruise Boat YOU'RE ON A BOAT, MOTHERFUCKER. The accommodation is all five star, even if there's no one around to act as wait staff. The only snag is that you still have this whole murder thing hanging over your head – but on the plus side, they have those little drinks with the umbrellas in, so...
7. Space Station THE FINAL FRONTIER... Maybe you're familiar with space stations like this or maybe all this future tech is fascinating to you. Not like it matters either way, of course, because you won't be getting out of here unless you lay down a murder on someone.
8. Wildcard! None of the above scratch your murder itch? Go wild and come up with your own setting!



Downtime

1. Excuse Me, Who Are You? You've just woken up in this weird place and you have no idea what's going on. But hey -- maybe this stranger's more informed than you. Or maybe you can put your heads together and investigate what's going on.
2. Social Link Go! Well, if you're going to be stuck in here for however long, you might as well get to know the people stuck in here with you. You've got plenty of rooms to explore together and there's enough to do to keep you occupied. How do you plan on passing time without killing each other?
3. Vending Machine Woes Somewhere in this place there's a mysterious vending machine that spits out all manner of bizarre items and occasionally dispenses items that belong to you and the other people trapped here. You've got a fat stack of tokens and nothing to lose.
4. The Corners of My Mind So as it turns out, your lovely hosts have been fiddling with your memories. Maybe you're just discovering this now or maybe you've had a particularly upsetting memory regain you're dealing with.
4. Wildcard! GO WILD AND BE FREE (or as free as you can be here, anyways)



PUTTING THE MURDER IN MURDER GAME

1. Motive Your mysterious overseer has decided there's not nearly enough murder going on and so they've ~helpfully~ given you a little push to do the deed. Maybe one of your loved ones is in danger, maybe they're offering more money than you could ever dream of or they're threatening to reveal your deepest darkest secrets. Whatever is it, would you kill for it?
2. Murder WELL APPARENTLY, YES. Are you a killer or are you being killed? Either way, someone's not walking away from this alive.
3. Body Discovery Rise and shine, murdergame! It's a brand new day and someone's dead. Better get investigating!
4. Trial You know how this one goes. Line up all your evidence and sniff out the killer -- or sit there and sweat and hope no one works out you're the murderer. Will they go down with a confession or put up a fight?
5. Afterparty You've survived another trial, but more of your friends have died. Even without the executions, trials are a stressful enough affair. It's time to destress and lick your wounds and support each other.
6. Mastermind It's the end. It's time to uncover all the mysteries behind this murder game -- and find out just who trapped you here. Are they really an unconnected party, or is the mastermind someone among you...?
7. Freedom Just as it says -- you're finally free, but at what cost? Have those you love been returned to you, or are you still reduced to just those who made it to the end? Are you on your own, or is anyone here to help you? And more importantly, how the hell are you going to get home?
8. Wildcard YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO


OPTIONAL FUN

Lots of murdergames have in-universe public profiles for other characters to get the skinny on yours. If you'd like to fill one out to post with your toplevel, peep at the code below!

<center><b>Name:</b> NAME | <b>TITLE (Super High School Level, Ultimate, Champion, etc)</b> <b>Age:</b> AGE | <b>Species:</b> SPECIES | <b>Occupation:</b> OCCUPATION <b>Likes:</b> LIKES <b>Dislikes:</b> DISLIKES <b>Traits:</b> A HANDFUL OF NOTABLE TRAITS <b>Trivia:</b> A PIECE OF TRIVIA</ul></center>

Comments

[selfreliar]

[Aqua looked up blearily at Viktor from over the top of his arm. He hadn't expected to be joined on the floor, of all things; it was going to be hell on Viktor to get back up. The gesture made something dangerously like gratitude soften the corners of Aqua's gritty eyes.

He dropped the pill case into Viktor's hand.]

I know.

[Aqua wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled them closer, rested his chin on them, and stared forward into nothing in particular. Into the hospital room. Into the past.]

Pure science is all about the truth. Truth usually isn't pretty, or fair, but it's how the world operates. There's nothing we humans can do about it but work within what's possible.

But someone told me once... "Lies are the most exquisite kind of love." [Aqua lifted his gaze towards the ceiling. This tired, he could almost see a swath of stars above, the clarity of a night sky one could never make out above Tokyo.] Radiant lies that dazzle a crowd starved for beauty... quiet lies that keep people from being hurt...

[How many of those had he told his loved ones, all this time? Weaving some story for Jayce Talis, a total stranger, would be a cinch, if that's what Viktor wanted.]

It's okay. I'm not the kind of actor who forgets the truth while I'm performing. I know what the likely outcome is, and... let's just say this is the only way I can accept it. If I can say we tried... I'll be fine.

[He lied.]

[hexcrafter]

It is more than that. For all its difficulties and dead ends, science exists to create truth from dreams. Advancing, step by step, towards a better world as that flawed and useless foundation is built upon. Innovation gives people hope that tomorrow may yet be better than yesterday, no matter how ugly the realities of the world may be.

[Viktor had spent enough time on the labratory floor surrounded by notes and spare parts that he was used to the effort. He would be miserable about it, sure, but given the situation it seemed a worthwhile inconvenience. Leaning his head back against the wall with a sigh, he slipped the case into a pocket of his vest.]

Much as I refuse to accept the outcome my calculations continue to show me, the weakness of my own mortality remains an unchanging constant amidst dozens of variables. It is a disheartening thing to know, worse still to watch what little shreds of hope remain begin to fade. Even so, I have...not yet given up. Not until every last option is exhausted and every possible theory tested. Perhaps I'm just lying to myself at this point, but...what else is there?

[selfreliar]

[Hearing Viktor wax poetic about science is like listening to Ruby gush about idols, or Arima and Akane go on about acting. His obsession with it was comforting, in its way. It probably wouldn't fade even on his deathbed.]

Obviously, I don't think it's so wrong to keep fighting for your life.

You have something you want to do. More than that, it's something you're driven to do. Whether it's hope or lies that keep you struggling towards it, the chance to see it through is worth something, isn't it?

[hexcrafter]

[Despite being prickly and sarcastic at the best of times, Viktor was unfortunately an aggressively nice person.]

Of course it is. That chance is worth everything, I simply do not know where the lying turns into out and out deluding myself.

[selfreliar]

...

My unprofessional medical opinion is that it doesn't matter. Whatever it is, use it. In the meantime, I'll do everything I can, too.

[hexcrafter]

[Viktor huffed out a short laugh, pushing messy hair out of his face.]

I think I like that approach. Whatever it takes.

[selfreliar]

[Would Aqua have said something like that if he weren't two days running without sleep? Who knew. The point was--that he'd earned a point, because Viktor laughed.]

It's worked for me so far.

[hexcrafter]

...You know, I have never told anyone this, but...

[He let out a quiet sound between embarrassment and exasperation, pulling his good leg to his chest.]

I lied my way into the Academy. Someone like me could never get in, even on scholarship. So my parents saved everything they could for a uniform, and I acted like I belonged there--because that was what it took to make anything of myself.

[selfreliar]

[The words felt like someone else, someone far away from all this, was speaking them.]

...I... know what that's like.

[Reality slammed back in, and Aqua exhaled, ducking his head and folding his arms over top of it.]

Shit. Can we pretend I didn't say that? It's... [He wanted to say 'embarrassing,' or continue with some other word that would reduce the weight of that statement, but his exhausted brain gave him little more than static.] ...It's... I just meant I know the feeling.

[hexcrafter]

What's so shameful about it? I do not regret it--that simply is not the kind of thing I go around telling people.

[He raised his head slightly, watching Aqua out of the corner of his eye.]

What's wrong?

[selfreliar]

I haven't slept in two days is what's wrong.

[That was just deflection, though, and Viktor was smart enough to know that.]

Nothing's wrong. Not with doing what you had to, whether it was a lie or not. I just...

[...Did it matter at this point? Keeping up the act? Viktor was asking him to go back to his world to deliver the news of his death, trusting him with that and more. With so many dead, the possibility of death hovering so close to the rest of them, did the secrets Aqua had kept so fiercely all his life have any meaning at all?

Slowly, carefully, he said:]

I... don't usually go around telling people I've lied for years, either. ...I've never told anyone.

[hexcrafter]

Eh...so what? [Viktor shrugged, closing his eyes like Aqua had raised a concern that was absurdly minor in the larger scale of things.]

Where I come from, we do what we must to survive. Lie, steal, whatever proves necessary to keep from starving or worse. And what is wrong with that? Everyone lies, one way or another. The world is not yet so kind as to allow for unbridled honesty, and until that can be rectified I see nothing wrong with lying for one's own sake.

[selfreliar]

...And if it's not for survival? If it doesn't benefit anyone?

[hexcrafter]

That depends. Does it benefit you?

[selfreliar]

...Not really.

[hexcrafter]

...Then why lie at all to begin with?

[Not a judgement, but a scientist seeking the answer to a puzzle.]

[selfreliar]

...There's someone back home I need to find. Whatever it takes.

I know it won't do me or anyone else any good to ferret him out now. It just doesn't change the fact that I have to.

[hexcrafter]

If it will not do any good, then what is it you hope to achieve from finding him?

[selfreliar]

The logic only leaves 'something bad,' doesn't it?

[hexcrafter]

Yes, but I would still want to hear it.

[selfreliar]

...I guess you would.

[After a long pause, Aqua finally let his arms fall.]

All right. I want to kill him. For over a decade, all that's kept me in the entertainment industry is the opportunity to seek him out. And when it's over, I plan to completely and utterly destroy him.

[hexcrafter]

[For whatever it was worth, there was no immediate condemnation no matter how much Viktor hated the idea. He was quiet as he evaluated the matter; Aqua was not an unreasonable or impulsive person as far as Viktor could tell. Quite the opposite, and it was because of that he asked what seemed the obvious question:]

...And what will you do after that?

[selfreliar]

[He shot Viktor a look that was equal parts 'seriously, that's your question?' and studiously wary. After another weighty pause, he answered.]

...If I get through everything physically and psychologically intact... [and Aqua wasn't in jail forever or subject to any of the myriad other possible consequences of trying to murder a dude,] ...I still think it would be cool to be a surgeon. I've been keeping that option open.

[He leaned his head against the wall.]

Or I could keep going as an actor. I'm not that good, but... it's not the worst job in the world. With my connections, I bet the parts wouldn't dry up for a long time. And there are other roles in that industry I could do just as well.

I could focus on supporting my sister's career. Or help Miyako more with running the agency. [Aqua closed his eyes.] ...Maybe I'd even tell a girl I like her and date her for real.

[Though his wry and weary tone suggested he was joking, the fingers of one hand tightened quietly, unconsciously on the bottom of his hoodie. There was real longing, there.]

[hexcrafter]

[Strange though it might have been, he asked it for a reason. No point in questioning his motivation, that wasn't the worrying part.]

'If'. This is no light undertaking, I presume you need not be told as much. The time spent here has forced me to realize that thingss are not as cut and dry as I wish they were, so whatever your reason...that is not for someone like me to judge.

But if you expend so much time and energy into a single equation, I worry for what becomes of the next step when it is solved.

[selfreliar]

Unfortunately, I can't plan for what I don't know. I haven't found out who this guy even is yet. It's hard to imagine what comes next when I haven't even cleared step one.