[elevator] [echidna]

[guillotineroom]

[ Hello, Echidna!

You are in grave peril! Well, no, you're not, but it will definitely seem like it at first.

You're in a cage with a single control panel on a door, being held aloft high in the sky, by a creature who is just so happy to be here. This kitty-bird is enjoying the high life. You might even hear purring.

But still, you're being held in a cage in the sky and you can't see the ground. Yikes! It's scary!

That said, on the panel in front of you is a selection. Ten different teams, with (0/1 CHOSEN) written in dark green text below. ]

Comments

[survivaltricks]

[for a moment, nothing happens. . . but then the Shadows of the elevator seem to intensify, eating away at all of the light within the cage. they swirl and pulse around you all, before gathering together in the center of the cage, and eventually melting away to reveal--]

I don't think you want to negotiate with the Warden??

[HE LOOKS A LITTLE FRAZZLED, and extremely tired, but he's here!!]

[doublefried]

Well I mean like, IDEALLY not.

[survivaltricks]

She's an asshole, so.

[gestures at himself]

What can I do for you?

[doublefried]

So like, we've got this trial thing going, right. And we CAN basically mitigate one team's turn for one round just one time. The prooooooblem is.

We have absolutely no way of knowing what teams are playing what and on who, so the absolute best we can do is just randomly throw a dart.

[survivaltricks]

[tapping his toes against the ground as he thinks, head tilted to the side]

. . . I think I can get you that information.

For a price, though compared to last time, it'll be a small one.

/2

[warpweft]

-- Akira!

[warpweft]

[Beat.]

...orrrrrrr....

Ffffffran?

[survivaltricks]

[fingerguns]

Got it on the second guess.

[the shadows are creeping up his face and his hair looks longer, pulled back into a ponytail, so yep, definitely fran]

[warpweft]

Ah.

I'm sorry for mixing you up at first. It's just that you're so similar to each other.

[parttimeai]

Well, yeah, no. She's a piece of shit.

Buuuuut, we also don't wanna sit here twiddling our thumbs while dozens of people go splat.

1/2

[survivaltricks]

[cheerily]

She's a piece of shit!!

[survivaltricks]

[and then, more seriously]

So what can I do for you?

[parttimeai]

Help us do literally anything more than take a blind stab in the dark. We get one chance to cancel one of their - [ waves at all the fog ] actions.

Problem is, we don't know a damn thing about how they're playing

[survivaltricks]

So it's information you want. Something. . . relatively small.

[hm]

. . . I can do that. For a price, but it'll be pretty cheap.

[begguiling]

Ooh, you're not the Warden! Glad to see we got a guy who knows how to negotiate!

[survivaltricks]

I'm also way cuter than her.

[SPARKLES]






[it's funny that he says that when he has obvious bags under his eyes and looks super pale]

[begguiling]

Hehehe, I'm sure your fellow human-looking-things all definitely agree on that.

[YOU'RE ALL REALLY . . . WEIRD AND STRETCHED OUT . . . ]

So the deal is, one petty annoyance, for a week, for the voting info? What if we decide we don't need it until next round, huh? Is the offer still open?

[survivaltricks]

Mmyep. And you can also buy it both this round and the next round, if you decide you need it. The price is the same: one different petty annoyance for each instance of information.

[amalgameat]

[she's letting other Echidnas hash out the informational cost, but she does ask:

Fran, why can you interfere in a game where Akira is not playing?

and, what is the price if we wished to cancel two teams' choices? so we are aware.]

1/2

[survivaltricks]

[his lips twitch a bit at that]

"Interfere" is a nice word. I like it.

I'm the "administrator" of this task, as determined by the Warden. My power is limited, but I can still provide opportunities, whether the Kurusu kid is playing or not.

[survivaltricks]

[his expression sobers]

And I can't let you cancel two teams' worth of choices. Only one. That's the limit of said power.

[amalgameat]

[i see.

so you were already interfering from the start? thank you.]

[thisisalie]

You look like you could use a drink.

[survivaltricks]

Or ten. Followed up with a couple of cigarettes.

[thisisalie]

I can't provide the latter, but I could certainly do the former.