foolishmortals | You unlock this door...

[Despite all the confusion and worry, everyone eventually finds themselves in the library mentioned on the note. The moment noon strikes, a horrible crash of thunder echoes across the hotel, knocking all the lights out and slamming the doors shut. After a few seconds, the TV flickers to life and starts playing a video. But the moment the video gets to the elevators vanishing, another bolt of lightning strikes, causing the TV to shut back off and plunging everyone in darkness.

After a few tense moments in complete silent darkness, the lights flick back on and, in front of the television, a man is now standing in front of the guests. He seems mostly human, except that his entire body appears to be monochrome, as if he had just crawled out of the TV. When he speaks (acting as if nothing was off about his sudden appearance), his voice is the exact same calm, even tone as the voice over in the video.]

Tonight’s story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, [He makes a grand sweeping gesture across the room.] is that very same hotel, still in operation, just for you. As you may have noticed, every single one of you is trapped inside this hotel with no escape. The doors and windows have all been sealed and one thing is clear: it is impossible to go back home.

However, this episode of the Twilight Zone is unique in another significant way. Each one of you has been offered a one-way ticket out of this hotel and back to your lives. While those five unfortunate guests became permanent residents here through death, death is your one requirement to get out of this hotel.

To put it simply: The only way you can escape is to get away with murdering one of your fellow guests.

[He pauses for a brief moment before continuing.]

Of course, if you’d rather not commit such a heinous act, we’ll be welcome to make sure your stay here is as comfortable as possible. There will be enough food and entertainment to make sure everyone is comfortable for the rest of their lives, but it's hard to live in complete comfort when you're now a citizen of… The Twilight Zone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, it can't be a murder mystery without the murder, after all!

[the point-> .

sally-> .]

... Murder kills people!

It sure does!

[That slightly creepy smile doesn't falter one bit. There is definitely some kind of disconnect going on here.]

Do you have a death wish or something? We're talking about actual murder!

Death wish? Oh, I'm not alive. [Smile, smile.]

Even death may die!

Oh, yes! It happens all the time back home!

[this is physically painful]

Permanently! Dead forever! Not coming back as a zombie, as a ghost, as anything!

Now that's just silly, zombies and ghosts come back all the time.

Yeah, but imagine if they didn't. That's what we're talking about here. Hasn't anything where you're from ever been destroyed? Forever?

Hmmmm.

[She actually thinks long and hard about this one.]

Well, there was Oogie Boogie, but to be honest we were all glad when he was gone.

Okay, good, we can work with that! Now, imagine that happening, but to someone you actually care about. That's what this is going to be.

(no subject)

darnsitall - 2017-10-02 00:45 (UTC) - Expand

hallotween - 2017-10-02 00:47 (UTC) - Expand

darnsitall - 2017-10-02 01:08 (UTC) - Expand

hallotween - 2017-10-02 01:18 (UTC) - Expand

darnsitall - 2017-10-02 13:09 (UTC) - Expand

. . . Don't be too hard on her. She doesn't understand humans.

[sighs] It's not even a human thing, though! I mean, all somebody would need is a match--

[oh god why did she put that thought out there]

And in her world, she just gets patched up and everything is better again. There's no permanence in death to her.

[Kinda what happens when you're dating a skeleton.]

Great. I wish all our worlds were like that. Maybe then we wouldn't have to worry about anything either.

Like I said: it's not her fault. Look, there's two things you can do here: you can keep yelling and being angry, or you can calm down and try to find a solution to the problem that's not the start of a bad Clue rip-off.

hallotween - 2017-10-02 00:56 (UTC) - Expand

[ ... ]

Okay, that's bad for most of us folks. Where's the demigod that summoned you, miss zombie?

I wasn't summoned! I was put together by Doctor Finkelstein. And I'm not a zombie, either! I'm a ragdoll.

By...what? An automaton?

[ ??? ???? ??????? ]

'Automaton'! I suppose that's a good word for what I am.

[ okay that makes some sense- ]

Well. Okay, so, us flesh people, when we die, we can't be fixed or put back together. We just kind of die. So we're not happy about a "murder mystery," understand?

Flesh can be patched up just fine! I've seen Doctor Finkelstein do it plenty of times!

[Yeah she's not. Getting it.]

...No. No, it really can't, if it gets cut up in horrible ways.

Oh, but that makes it all the more impressive when you can fix it up!

sentree - 2017-10-02 23:29 (UTC) - Expand