Chapter Text
The first thing FlameFrags did when he woke up was swear.
“Fuck.”
He pushed himself upright.
Scarlet fabric shifted around him.
He wasn't where he'd been before.
He wasn't anywhere he recognized.
The room was enormous and almost completely empty. Smooth white walls. Bright lights. No windows. No obvious doors.
And people.
A lot of people.
Flame immediately counted.
One.
Two.
Three.
He stopped.
“Why the fuck are there so many people?”
“Because apparently we're all invited.”
Flame turned.
Lomedy was standing a few feet away.
Amber.
Flame's expression relaxed by about half a percent.
“You know where we are?”
“No.”
“Why we're here?”
“No.”
“Great.”
“Yeah.”
Lomedy looked around again.
“I was hoping you knew.”
“Same.”
That was when someone else spoke.
“Okay, this is definitely weird.”
Parrot.
Lime.
He was already walking toward Theo.
Theo—yellow—was staring at the walls.
“You know what happened?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Theo looked at him.
“How is that good?”
“Because I was about to feel stupid for not knowing.”
Theo laughed nervously.
“Fair.”
They stayed together.
Neither questioned it.
A little farther away, Wemmbu had found Eggchan.
Lavender and Sky Blue.
Eggchan was staring at the ceiling.
“Do you know where we are?”
“No.”
“Did you do this?”
Wemmbu looked offended.
“Why would I do this?”
“I don't know.”
“You think I'd kidnap twenty people?”
“I'm asking.”
“That's a terrible question.”
Eggchan laughed.
“Okay. Fair.”
Neither moved away.
Near the opposite wall, Spoke stood beside Mapicc.
Black and Crimson.
Mapicc looked around.
“Recognize this?”
“No.”
“You?”
“No.”
“Fantastic.”
Spoke nodded.
“Great start.”
Mapicc looked toward the others.
“Who do we know?”
“Most of them.”
“That's not reassuring.”
“No.”
They stayed where they were.
Ferre was having a completely different problem.
He was staring at himself.
Brown.
He looked down.
Then up.
Then down again.
“Why am I brown?”
Jumper, Pink, was standing nearby.
“What?”
“My clothes.”
“Yes.”
“Why are they brown?”
Jumper shrugged.
“Maybe the room hates you.”
Ferre stared at him.
“That isn't funny.”
Jumper grinned.
“It was a little funny.”
Saparata, White, walked over.
“You two already arguing?”
“No,” Ferre said.
“Yes,” Jumper said.
Ferre pointed at him.
“See?”
Saparata sighed.
“It's been, what, thirty seconds?”
“Thirty-one,” Ferre muttered.
“Wonderful.”
MinuteTech, Gray, was standing several feet away, watching the room.
He had already tried three walls.
Nothing.
He tried a fourth.
Nothing.
“There's no exit.”
That got everyone's attention.
PrinceZam, Gold, immediately walked over.
“You checked?”
“Four walls.”
PrinceZam checked one himself.
Nothing.
He frowned.
“That's not good.”
“No.”
Boosfer, Light Green, came up beside them.
“Any hidden mechanisms?”
MinuteTech shook his head.
“Nothing obvious.”
Boosfer looked around.
“Then we wait.”
PrinceZam frowned.
“I don't like waiting.”
“Neither do I.”
“Good.”
They stayed together.
Across the room, Yungy stood quietly.
Dark Charcoal.
He wasn't touching the walls.
He wasn't talking.
He was simply taking in the room.
Who was where.
Who had already paired up.
Who was alone.
He glanced toward Spoke and Mapicc.
Then Parrot and Theo.
Then Wemmbu and Eggchan.
Then Flame and Lomedy.
He frowned slightly.
Everyone had gravitated toward someone.
Everyone except a few.
Clown was one of them.
Ruby.
He stood near the wall with his arms crossed.
Ashswag noticed him.
Plum.
“You know what's going on?”
Clown shook his head.
“No.”
“Same.”
Ashswag looked around.
“This is weird.”
“Very.”
Jaden was sitting on the floor.
Navy.
Nobody had seen him sit down.
ManePear walked past and stopped.
“Why are you on the floor?”
Jaden looked up.
“Comfortable.”
“We don't know where we are.”
“Exactly.”
Mane shook his head.
“Of course.”
Jaden smiled.
“You're worried.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I'm not.”
“You are.”
Mane walked away.
Jaden laughed.
Wifies was standing alone.
Violet.
He had been quiet since waking up.
Parrot noticed him.
For a second, neither moved.
Theo glanced between them.
“You two aren't happy to see each other?”
Parrot answered first.
“Yeah.”
Wifies nodded.
“Yeah.”
Theo looked at Parrot.
“Everything okay?”
“Fine.”
Wifies said nothing.
Theo didn't push.
Instead, he moved slightly closer to Parrot.
Wifies noticed.
He didn't comment.
A mechanical click echoed through the room.
Everyone froze.
A large screen appeared on the wall.
Nobody spoke.
The screen was black.
Then white letters appeared.
WELCOME.
Flame stared.
“Welcome?”
Mapicc looked around.
“That's it?”
Another line appeared.
20 PLAYERS DETECTED.
Lomedy counted the room.
“Twenty.”
“Yeah,” Flame said.
“Why?”
“No idea.”
Eggchan stepped forward.
“Can whoever's running this talk to us?”
Nothing.
Wemmbu looked around.
“Hello?”
No response.
Parrot raised his voice.
“Okay, whoever brought us here, this isn't funny.”
Still nothing.
Theo cupped his hands around his mouth.
“WE WOULD LIKE SOME EXPLANATIONS!”
Jumper laughed.
“That'll definitely work.”
“Worth trying.”
Ferre raised a hand.
“Can we at least get a door?”
MinuteTech gestured toward the wall.
“There isn't one.”
Ferre frowned.
“That's concerning.”
“Very.”
PrinceZam stepped forward.
“Whoever is responsible for this, we're not going to cooperate until we know what this is.”
Clown looked at him.
“You think they're listening?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why are you negotiating?”
PrinceZam looked irritated.
“Because doing nothing isn't helping.”
Ashswag shrugged.
“He has a point.”
Jaden nodded.
“Yeah.”
Boosfer looked toward the screen.
“Maybe we should wait.”
Spoke folded his arms.
“We've been waiting.”
Mapicc nodded.
“Not exactly patient.”
“Apparently not.”
Yungy finally spoke.
“There's probably a reason we're all here.”
Everyone looked at him.
Yungy continued.
“We just don't know it yet.”
Silence.
Then Saparata said,
“That is possibly the least comforting thing anyone has said.”
Yungy shrugged.
“Sorry.”
“You don't sound sorry.”
“I'm not.”
Jumper laughed.
Ferre groaned.
“I hate this place.”
“It's been five minutes,” MinuteTech said.
“I hated it immediately.”
“That I believe.”
The screen flickered.
Everyone went quiet again.
New words appeared.
PLEASE REMAIN CALM.
Flame laughed.
“That's never a good sentence.”
Lomedy nodded.
“Definitely not.”
More text appeared.
YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN A GAME.
Theo blinked.
“A game?”
Parrot frowned.
“What game?”
The screen didn't answer.
It simply changed.
TWENTY PLAYERS.
THREE IMPOSTORS.
Nobody spoke.
Then:
“What the fuck is an Impostor?”
Flame had said it.
Spoke looked at him.
“I don't know.”
Mapicc frowned.
“Neither do I.”
Eggchan looked toward Wemmbu.
“Do you?”
“No.”
Wemmbu looked around.
“Does anyone?”
A few heads shook.
Jaden stood up.
“Sounds fun.”
Clown stared at him.
“You don't even know what it is.”
“Exactly.”
Ashswag laughed.
“That's probably the worst possible attitude.”
Clown shrugged.
“Probably.”
PrinceZam looked toward the screen.
“Three impostors out of twenty?”
Boosfer nodded.
“That's what it says.”
“What happens to the other seventeen?”
No answer.
Theo looked at Parrot.
“I don't like this.”
Parrot nodded.
“Me neither.”
Wifies remained silent.
Jumper looked at Saparata.
“Do you think it's actually dangerous?”
Saparata hesitated.
“I don't know.”
Ferre immediately said,
“If it's dangerous, I want a different color.”
Everyone stared at him.
“What?”
Jumper laughed.
“You're unbelievable.”
Ferre pointed down at himself.
“I'm serious.”
“You're worried about the color?”
“I'm worried about everything.”
“Fair.”
ManePear crossed his arms.
“Whatever this is, we're together.”
Flame looked at him.
“That's optimistic.”
“No.”
Mane looked around the room.
“It's practical.”
That quieted several people.
Twenty people.
Most of them knew each other.
Some trusted each other.
Some absolutely did not.
But nobody knew why they'd been brought there.
Nobody knew what an Impostor was.
Nobody knew what the game expected them to do.
And nobody had any idea what would happen next.
The screen flickered one final time.
PREPARE.
The lights went out.
Someone swore.
Someone else yelled.
Then the lights returned.
The screen had changed.
GAME INSTRUCTIONS WILL BEGIN SHORTLY.
Flame looked around.
“Well.”
Mapicc grinned.
“This is going to be fucking awful.”
Spoke nodded.
“Probably.”
Parrot looked at Theo.
Theo looked back.
Wemmbu stood beside Eggchan.
Lomedy stood beside Flame.
Mapicc stood beside Spoke.
Yungy stood beside Saparata.
PrinceZam stood beside ManePear.
Everyone had instinctively found somebody.
Not because they knew what was coming.
Because when the room became unfamiliar, they reached for what wasn't.
The people they knew.
The people they trusted.
The people they had survived things with.
For the moment, that was enough.
The screen began to glow again.
And all twenty players turned toward it.
The screen began to glow again.
All twenty people turned toward it.
The room had changed since the first message.
They weren't scattered anymore.
Not exactly.
People had naturally drifted toward whoever they trusted.
Flame stood beside Lomedy.
Parrot and Theo were together.
Wemmbu and Eggchan stood shoulder to shoulder.
Spoke and Mapicc had barely moved.
Jumper was beside Saparata.
Yungy stood near Saparata as well.
PrinceZam and ManePear had ended up together.
Clown and Ashswag were close enough to hear each other.
MinuteTech stood nearby, while Boosfer watched the screen.
Jaden had moved closer to the others.
Ferre was still complaining about his color.
Wifies remained slightly apart.
For a moment, it almost looked normal.
Then the screen displayed the first rule.
CREWMATES
Theo read it aloud.
“Crewmates complete tasks.”
A second line appeared.
COMPLETE ALL TASKS TO WIN.
“Okay,” Theo said. “Easy enough.”
Parrot looked at him.
“You're assuming the tasks aren't bullshit.”
“They probably are.”
“Then why'd you say easy?”
“Because I'm optimistic.”
“You're never optimistic.”
“I am today.”
The screen changed.
IMPOSTORS
The room went quiet.
THREE PLAYERS ARE SECRETLY IMPOSTORS.
Flame's expression changed.
“Three?”
Mapicc nodded.
“Apparently.”
“Out of twenty?”
“Yeah.”
Flame looked around the room.
“That's a lot.”
Spoke shrugged.
“It's fifteen percent.”
Everyone looked at him.
Spoke blinked.
“What?”
“Why did you calculate that so fast?”
“I can do math.”
Mapicc laughed.
“Apparently.”
The screen continued.
IMPOSTORS MUST ELIMINATE CREWMATES WITHOUT BEING DISCOVERED.
Jaden raised a hand.
“Wait.”
The screen didn't respond.
“So they can just kill us?”
Silence.
Then:
“What?”
Ferre's voice cracked.
Jaden looked around.
“That's what it says.”
Ferre stared at the screen.
“You're telling me there are three people in this room whose objective is to kill the rest of us?”
“Yes,” MinuteTech said.
“I don't like this game.”
“You haven't even started.”
“I already don't like it.”
Jumper patted him on the shoulder.
“Welcome to the club.”
Ferre looked at him.
“Does the club have a better color?”
“No.”
“Then fuck the club.”
A few people laughed.
Even Ferre smiled.
The screen changed again.
IMPOSTORS CAN PRETEND TO COMPLETE TASKS.
That got a much stronger reaction.
PrinceZam frowned.
“So they can lie.”
“Obviously,” Ashswag said.
PrinceZam looked at him.
“That's not obvious.”
“They're trying to fool us.”
“By pretending.”
“Yes.”
“That's lying.”
“Yes.”
PrinceZam stared at the screen.
“Great.”
Boosfer crossed his arms.
“So completing a task doesn't automatically prove someone's innocent.”
“Correct,” MinuteTech said.
Eggchan frowned.
“Then how do we know who's actually doing tasks?”
“We don't.”
“That's the point.”
Wemmbu looked around.
“That's going to be a problem.”
“Massive problem,” Eggchan agreed.
The next rule appeared.
IMPOSTORS CAN USE VENTS TO MOVE AROUND THE MAP.
Clown raised his eyebrows.
“Vents?”
Theo laughed.
“That's actually kind of cool.”
Parrot looked at him.
“They can hide in vents.”
Theo's smile disappeared.
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“That is significantly less cool.”
Clown grinned.
“I'm still impressed.”
Jaden shook his head.
“Of course you are.”
The screen changed.
CREWMATES MAY REPORT BODIES.
Nobody spoke for a second.
Then Ashswag asked,
“What happens when somebody finds one?”
The screen answered.
A MEETING WILL BEGIN.
ALL LIVING PLAYERS MAY DISCUSS WHAT THEY SAW.
PLAYERS MAY VOTE.
Wifies finally spoke.
“So we accuse each other.”
“Basically,” MinuteTech said.
“And whoever gets the most votes is removed?”
The screen displayed the answer.
YES.
Ferre raised his hand.
“Removed how?”
Nobody answered.
Ferre looked around.
“That's an important fucking detail.”
The screen changed.
EJECTED PLAYERS LEAVE THE GAME.
“Where do they go?”
No answer.
Saparata frowned.
“That wasn't very reassuring.”
“No,” Yungy said.
“It really wasn't.”
Parrot folded his arms.
“So if somebody accuses me, I can defend myself?”
The screen displayed:
YES.
Theo immediately said,
“Then we're fine.”
Parrot looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because you're good at arguing.”
“That's your reasoning?”
“Have you met you?”
Parrot laughed.
Flame called from across the room.
“That's actually true.”
Parrot pointed at him.
“Don't get involved.”
“I wasn't.”
“You literally just did.”
Lomedy smiled.
“Five minutes in and we're already holding meetings.”
“Not a meeting,” PrinceZam said.
“Feels like one.”
The screen interrupted them.
EMERGENCY MEETINGS MAY ALSO BE CALLED.
Everyone stopped.
PrinceZam looked interested.
“That's useful.”
“How?” Boosfer asked.
“If you see something suspicious, you don't have to wait for a body.”
“Correct.”
ManePear nodded.
“So if somebody is acting strange—”
“You can call everyone together.”
“Good.”
Clown tilted his head.
“So what's stopping everyone from constantly calling meetings?”
The screen answered before anyone else could.
EMERGENCY MEETINGS ARE LIMITED.
Clown smiled.
“Ah.”
Ashswag looked at him.
“Don't.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I really wasn't.”
“You were.”
The next rule appeared.
MEETINGS ARE THE ONLY TIME PLAYERS MAY DISCUSS THE GAME.
The room went quiet.
Theo's eyebrows rose.
“So we can't talk while we're walking around?”
The screen remained unchanged.
Parrot slowly turned toward him.
“That changes everything.”
“Yeah.”
Wemmbu looked toward Eggchan.
“So once the game starts, we're basically silent?”
Eggchan nodded.
“Until a meeting.”
Flame glanced toward Lomedy.
“That sucks.”
“It's probably the point.”
The screen continued.
PLAYERS MUST USE THEIR OWN OBSERVATIONS TO DETERMINE WHO TO TRUST.
Yungy read that one twice.
“Who to trust.”
Spoke looked around.
“That sounds important.”
Mapicc nodded.
“Very.”
Another line appeared.
CREWMATES WIN BY COMPLETING ALL TASKS OR EJECTING ALL IMPOSTORS.
IMPOSTORS WIN BY ELIMINATING ENOUGH CREWMATES TO GAIN CONTROL OF THE SHIP.
Nobody joked this time.
Twenty people stared at the screen.
PrinceZam broke the silence.
“So there's a number.”
“Probably,” MinuteTech said.
“Meaning if enough people die, we lose.”
“Yes.”
“And if enough Impostors get voted out, they lose.”
“Yes.”
PrinceZam nodded slowly.
“Okay.”
Boosfer looked around.
“So the safest strategy is to stick together.”
“Obviously,” Ferre said immediately.
Parrot shook his head.
“Not necessarily.”
Ferre looked at him.
“Why not?”
“If we all stay together, nobody can kill anyone.”
Theo nodded.
“That makes sense.”
Parrot pointed toward the screen.
“But we have tasks.”
“So?”
“So if twenty people stand in one room holding hands, nobody finishes anything.”
Jumper laughed.
“Fair.”
Ferre frowned.
“Then we split into groups.”
Spoke immediately shook his head.
“Groups make it easier to isolate people.”
Mapicc looked at him.
“Also fair.”
Wemmbu looked around.
“So what's the actual solution?”
Nobody answered.
That was the problem.
There wasn't an obvious one.
The screen continued.
SABOTAGES
A diagram appeared.
IMPOSTORS CAN SABOTAGE THE SHIP.
CREWMATES MUST REPAIR SABOTAGES BEFORE TIME EXPIRES.
Theo stared.
“What happens if we don't?”
The answer appeared.
THE CREWMATES LOSE.
“Great.”
Parrot sighed.
“Fantastic.”
Ashswag laughed.
“I like this game.”
Jaden looked at him.
“You like everything that sounds like it could go horribly wrong.”
“Yes.”
“That explains a lot.”
The screen changed again.
WHEN A MEETING IS CALLED, PLAYERS MAY SHARE THEIR LOCATIONS AND ALIBIS.
MinuteTech immediately nodded.
“So that's how we track people.”
“Yeah.”
“We need to remember where everyone was.”
PrinceZam looked around.
“With twenty people?”
MinuteTech paused.
“Okay.”
He looked at the group.
“That's going to be difficult.”
“Very,” Saparata said.
Yungy looked around the room.
“Especially if everyone is moving.”
“And especially if three people are deliberately lying,” Wifies added.
That made several people glance toward him.
Wifies didn't react.
He simply continued looking at the screen.
The final rule appeared.
TRUST NO ONE.
Silence.
Then Flame laughed.
“Oh, fuck off.”
Lomedy looked at him.
“No, that's actually the best rule they've given us.”
“It's also the most annoying.”
“Why?”
“Because I know these people.”
Flame gestured around the room.
“I know how they act.”
Mapicc grinned.
“That's exactly why you shouldn't trust them.”
Flame looked at him.
“Fuck you.”
“See?”
Spoke laughed.
Parrot shook his head.
“This is going to be a nightmare.”
Theo looked at him.
“Think about it.”
“What?”
“If the three Impostors know each other, they can coordinate.”
Everyone went quiet.
Theo continued.
“They know who they're protecting. They can back each other up.”
PrinceZam nodded.
“And the rest of us don't know who's working together.”
“Exactly.”
Boosfer looked around.
“So staying with people we trust doesn't necessarily help.”
“It might make it worse,” MinuteTech said.
That realization settled over the group.
Wemmbu looked toward Eggchan.
“So…”
Eggchan nodded.
“Yeah.”
“We shouldn't stick together.”
“Probably not.”
Flamefrags looked toward Lomedy.
“Even us?”
Lomedy nodded.
“Especially us.”
Jumper looked between them.
“That feels weird.”
“It is,” Lomedy said.
“But if we stay together,” Saparata said slowly, “someone could accuse us of covering for each other.”
“Exactly.”
PrinceZam looked at ManePear.
Mane was already nodding.
“We split.”
“Agreed.”
“Even us?”
Lomedy nodded.
“Especially us.”
Jumper looked between them.
“That feels weird.”
“It is,” Lomedy said.
“But if we stay together,” Saparata said slowly, “someone could accuse us of covering for each other.”
“Exactly.”
PrinceZam looked at ManePear.
Mane was already nodding.
“We split.”
“Agreed.”
Spoke glanced at Mapicc.
Mapicc smiled.
“Guess we're doing this.”
“Guess so.”
Mapicc took a step away.
Then stopped.
“Don't die.”
Spoke smirked.
“You too.”
Nobody knew whether that was a joke.
The screen suddenly changed.
RULES COMPLETE.
The ship doors opened.
Beyond them was the enormous interior of the Skeld.
Cafeteria.
Hallways.
Rooms.
Multiple directions.
Twenty people stared into it.
For the first time, the reality of the game became obvious.
They couldn't all stay together.
They couldn't trust their friends blindly.
They couldn't even assume the person standing beside them was on their side.
The screen flashed one final message.
ASSIGNING ROLES.
Everyone froze.
A small device appeared in front of each player.
Twenty identical screens.
Twenty people.
Three Impostors.
Seventeen Crewmates.
Nobody could see anyone else's screen.
PrinceZam looked around.
“Good luck.”
Nobody answered.
The devices lit up.
One by one, the players looked down.
Then the doors opened completely.
GAME STARTING.
The twenty players immediately scattered.
Flame went one direction.
Lomedy another.
Parrot and Theo split at the first hallway.
Wemmbu and Eggchan went opposite ways.
Mapicc disappeared toward one corridor.
Spoke chose another.
Jumper and Saparata separated.
Yungy headed toward the opposite side of the ship.
PrinceZam and ManePear split without hesitation.
MinuteTech disappeared toward the upper rooms.
Boosfer headed down another corridor.
Ferre ran off before anyone could tell him otherwise.
Wifies went alone.
Clown went alone.
Ashswag went alone.
Jaden chose a hallway at random.
And for the first time since they had arrived, there were no groups.
No friends standing shoulder to shoulder.
No familiar faces beside them.
Just twenty players moving through an enormous ship.
Some were looking for tasks.
Some were looking for people.
And three of them were looking for their first opportunity.
The game had begun.