Day 1: Introduction

Claire's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Oh, as if I needed any more reason to off one of these dumb assholes."

She giggled a bit, using her feather boa to hide her mouth. "I'm kidding, of course. But really," she leaned in, anxiously awaiting more information. "Seconding Lux, what's this about an incentive?"

"Really, Brant? What is it?"

"Where are we? If you're our chaperone, you should know that, right?"

Jordan just stared at the proceeding, biting her lips.

Finally she said, "We don't need an incentive, just leave us be."

She turned to her classmates, "No one here has to freak out, if we stay calm we can live peacefully. We are all talented people, surely we can work something out. I can even offer my services if need be."

Dark tried to keep up with the conversation, but between all the different voices, and the disembodied head he was looking at, Dark started to feel dizzy. "Ah... Not good," he said, rocking back and forth a bit in his seat. "What happen now?"

Isaac felt his wrist vibrate, and although whatever was on the watch was the last thing in the room that he felt like he should be concerned with, he glanced at it anyway.

And he read the messages.

And he scowled.

"Fuck you." he signed.

"Well, if that's the case," Ariel began. "Then we should probably do this as orderly as possible."

Ariel cleared her throat.

"I realize none of you might want to hear this, but... The bolted windows, all of the nice rooms... I think we're being protected from something, - not imprisoned like I initially guessed. I don't know if it's a post-nuclear earth or an America taken over by a ravenous cult, but whatever it is, we're here to rebuild society somehow. And, eventually, we're going to run out of resources in this school."

She held her elbow in the opposite hand and began to slowly rock.

"And, if this bear is going to instigate conflict before we can ask questions and figure out what happened... Then it's safest for us to get it over with. If the only condition to get out of the school, besides murder, is to get away with it... Then I propose..."

She swallowed her throat.

"We should decide who makes it, and who doesn't. It should wind up following the rules if we excuse it personally and don't do anything about it," her teeth clenched.

"I volunteer to be... executed, I guess... if it means someone getting out of here to rebuild society."

"I do have to wonder, what if there's one surviving student, and they don't kill anyone?"

"All foodstuffs will be restocked regularly, so don't worry your pretty little heads!"  He walked down the table and patted Ariel on the head before returning to his original place.

"Now, my 'incentive.'  If you would all be so kind to look to your watches!"  He waited a moment to allow everyone to do so before somehow snapping despite being a bear.  The displays switched to a video feed.  The students could only watch as the place most precious to them burst into flames, in the middle of broad daylight.  After a moment, the screen faded out to a text display:

Find Out What Happens Next After Graduation!

"What the fuck is..." Avery squinted, "Big deal, there's a thousand skyscrapers that look like thaaaaaa-"

He trailed off, noticing the camera zoom out to show the sign in front of the place. "Hey! That cost fifteen million!" He huffed at monobear, "The insurance policy didn't cover terrorist dolls!"

Rachel shrieked at her watch, clutching her wrist in her hand as she watched in horror.

"No, no, no ... NO!"

Lux's eyes grew wide and watery and their mouth quivered as the horror unfolded in front of them.

"H-hey! This isn't funny anymore!" they yelled at Monobear, their voice cracking. "Quit fuckin' around!"

Lisa threw her hands over her mouth, eyes wide.

"What did you- Wh-" She fought to slow her breathing, mumbling to herself. "It's fine... they might not've been home, anyways. It's fine."

Dark's vision was blurry, but his eyes snapped to his watch and he looked at the scene that played out before him. He stared, confused, at the screen. "B-baba?"

He looked back up at the other students all having their own reactions, and suddenly fell backwards, knocking his chair over as he fainted.

"NO!"  Tears welled in Cobalt eyes.  

"What's the point of all this," he tore off his mask and threw it to the floor, "if it doesn't help!"

Miranda was silent as she watched whatever her video had. "... Well. I suppose you set me free, Mr. Monobear. So, should I thank you, I wonder..."

"Ariel, please..." Jordan began to say, "You're partially right. Maybe the outside is bad. But doesn't that mean we should just live peacefully here? No one has to die, we can make something go-"

Jordan was caught off guard by the video playing on her wrist, and she held it up to her face.
And became dead silent.

"Well, wait, this confirms my theory," Ariel interjected. "Something - or someone - is responsible for all of this, and we need to get a group out there to find out!"

"At this point, it's not even resource deprivation I'm worried about. We might be able to save the lives of survivors if we get this over with as soon as possible..."

When Ariel heard Jordan call her out, she bit her lip. "Surely, as a hypnotist you know how easy it is to manipulate people. Peace isn't going to be a possibility for as long as that... thing... is around to give us 'incentives'. And I'm scared to try to stop him and wind up like the butler."

Antoine swallowed, his cool facade faltering.

"Now this, this really isn't funny."  He looked up to the bear.  "Is this supposed to be your idea of a sick joke?"

Jaden's eyes widened with horror as he witnessed the carnage on the display of his watch. "N-no way! That's gotta be some special effects, man!" He glanced back and forth at the other students.

"Right? Right? This can't be real!" He stood up out of his chair and backed away from the table. "One of y'all is fucking with us!" He shouted. "This is sick! We gotta get outta here!"

Jake did as instructed, watching the video on his watch. After a moment, he scoffed.

"Well, this isn't the worst dinner I've been to. You'll have to try harder than that, honey." He looked over to Dark's form laying on the ground.

"Hang in there, man."

Judas stood up like a bullet at the video, hand clenched into a fist so tight his nails threatened to break his own skin. His other hand covered his mouth and he bit into the skin there, glowering down at the video on his watch.

His eyes flitted around the room for a scarcely a second, but then he sat back down in his chair, pulled his legs up, wrapped his arms around them, and hid his face.

Jason shivered, flinching at his screen a few times. Whatever he was watching, it shocked him to silence. There were tears in his eyes again, and his breathing was starting to stutter.

"Why are we being t-torment-t-ted like this? What did we do to you?!"

Isaac was already looking at his watch when the video played. It was a good thing his head was already down so no one could see an burning, angry tear drip from his eyes.

He got up, ready to leave. he didn't care anymore.

Claire watched her video with a pout, and by the end of it her eyes were twitching in annoyance. "My studio!" she yelled indignantly. "What bullshit."

"If this is someone's idea of a reason to kill someone else, it's a damn shitty one," she said, raising her hands in a shrug. "What reason do I have to leave if all I have outside is tons of property damage to pay for? What a nuisance..."

Jason gasped, covering the display only about a second into the video with a hand around his wrist. He closed his eyes and willed himself to breathe. He spoke to himself: "They're never home, so ... I'm sure that ..."