Day 2 - Night with Knightley

[murimurimuri]

[Just before curfew (in fact, cutting it slightly closer than is necessary), Simon is dragging an extra mattress into Horace's room while Money sits on it and eats banana-flavored cubes.]

I'm hooome~

Comments

[staunton]

Welcome back, Simon.

[ Knightley's just chilling on the bed, turning a black knight between his fingers to keep his hands occupied. What he wouldn't give to have his lady right now... ]

[murimurimuri]

[Closing the door behind him and shoving his mattress across the room.]

I thought we could stand to be a little less cramped tonight.

[staunton]

Good thinking. These beds aren't exactly made for two people. [ He didn't mind sharing it but it wasn't the most comfortable experience. ]

[murimurimuri]

It wasn't too bad last night, but it was there, so I figured I might as well.

[It actually wasn't, if only the forced sleep kept him from lying awake all night. It's not like he's not used to sleeping in cramped and uncomfortable places.]

Um... I also need to tell you something. The thing is... I might have fibbed a little bit. Before.

[staunton]

...Huh? What do you mean?

[murimurimuri]

I have a role. I'm the Troubleshooter.

[staunton]

...What!? [ what the fuck. ]

Why did you lie to me?

[murimurimuri]

I-I don't know! I just sorta did, and then there wasn't a right moment to fix it!

[staunton]

Did you think I lied about being a Citizen or something?

[murimurimuri]

Er... no, I mean, not necessarily...

But it's not a big deal, right? It's not like I was lying about being a Communist or anything like that.

[staunton]

[ He sighs. ]

You should've been honest from the start, Simon. Even if you were a Communist, I'd still help you.

[murimurimuri]

...What are you talking about? If I were a Communist right now, I'd have betrayed you by not having converted you. Though I get the feeling Sakura is the Indoctrinator and did that all on her own... but still. Why in the hell would you help me?

[staunton]

A knight always protects his king, Simon. Haven't I told you that before?

[murimurimuri]

...Look. You're not going to get anywhere trying to guilt trip me. I'm already ready to let you in on my plan.

[There's a note of barely-concealed anger there.]

[staunton]

...I'm not trying to guilt trip you.

[ Oh, he noticed that. ]

[murimurimuri]

[Simon pauses, then puts his faker's smile right back on.]

...Sorry, I guess I was wrong. Let's just drop it, all right? We don't have a lot of time before we pass out, so we shouldn't waste it arguing.

[staunton]

[ Knightley considers not letting it go, but he's right; they don't have a lot of time. ]

...All right. What's your plan?

[murimurimuri]

I told Yomiel about my role. I also let him know that I'd be telling you and only you all about our conversation, just in case he is a Communist and gets it in his head to kill me tonight.

But that's not the real reason why he won't kill me.

[staunton]

[ He nods. He's not sure how he feels about Simon going around and telling somebody about his role, but he's a smart little monkey and he knows what he's doing. ]

Go on.

[murimurimuri]

I told him that since it was too dangerous to introduce me to the Loyalty Officer directly, he could pass on a code that could be used over the anonymous messaging system in case a Communist is found.

If he is a Communist, there's no way he won't want to take advantage of that. Not with as gutsy as he's been so far.

[staunton]

Clever as usual, Simon. Heh heh heh.

[murimurimuri]

Yomiel's a clever guy, so if he is an enemy, I think he'll either try to get me to kill the Loyalty Officer right away or wait until it no longer matters that he'll be implicated by using my service. The latter is a better scenario for me than the former, but either way I buy some time, and that's only if he's a Communist. To be perfectly honest, I don't think he is.

[staunton]

I don't think he is, either. Maybe it's just a hunch, but that's the impression I've gotten from talking to him and watching him argue in the two trials.

[murimurimuri]

More than that, he's had access to the Loyalty Officer for two days now. Even if he lied about the order in which he and Greed were selected, he would have had a full day to kill. What's more, because he and Greed were the first two, it's extremely unlikely that the Loyalty Officer would be in contact with their defense at this point. No matter how long a game he's planning, there's not a lot of sense in letting a Loyalty Officer live. That's why I was confident enough to meet with him tonight.

I doubt I'm the only one who revealed myself tonight, either. With any luck, we'll all be organized by tomorrow.

[staunton]

[ He nods. ]

By the way, I spoke to Mr. Kimbley just a little while ago. We played chess, too, but it wasn't remotely challenging.

[murimurimuri]

I'll play with you later on, if you like. Did he say anything interesting?

[staunton]

He thinks Detective Fulbright is one of our Communists; I'm inclined to believe him. Fulbright did try to use that message about little Miss Phi to cast suspicion on him earlier, despite it having little to no value as evidence in this kind of game.

[murimurimuri]

I can see it. He's suspicious, not as bright as his name might imply, or both.

[staunton]

Foolbright would be a more appropriate name, heh heh. [ Knightley, stop, you're not Blackquill. ]

If you're a Commie, obviously you want to gun for the Citizens. But accusing them is inherently flawed as you risk exposing yourself unless they've done something you can use against them. His argument was flawed from the beginning, yet he didn't want to listen to reason.

[murimurimuri]

Or Fulldull.

Come to think of it, he was interested in us at first but hasn't been since. Maybe he has something else distracting him?

[staunton]

Yeah. Like focusing on acting like a Citizen maybe.

Mr. Kimbley's suspicious of Newman, too. Said something's not striking him right about that kid.

[murimurimuri]

Hm. He's had more than enough opportunity to observe him.

[staunton]

He said the kid's not reacting right, like when he didn't get angry over having to kill Moge-ko and didn't abstain from voting. And he got over her death too quickly.

We should keep an eye out and pay attention to his behavior, especially if Kimbley turns up dead tomorrow.

[murimurimuri]

I don't know how much emphasis one can put on wanting Moge-ko dead but pretending otherwise as a factor of suspicion...

(That would make even me a prime suspect.)

But I still think there's some merit in trusting his instincts.

[staunton]

He also told the kid that he'd be alone for the night, too. But apparently the kid had no real reaction to it despite having roomed with him for two days.

[murimurimuri]

So he thinks the boy's a faker.

[Getting into bed and curling up under his blanket.]

[staunton]

Yeah. [ He sits down on his bed. ]

...One more thing. We should keep a record of how people vote from now on. I don't think it'll be useful immediately, but it could help us out later on.

[murimurimuri]

That's a good idea. With any luck we'll have access to paper soon, but if not we can always just write on the wall.