Sven staggers back slightly and laughs as Maxerson shakes his hand in pain.
"Yeah, that's what happens when a chunk of your skull is replaced with titanium, Alex. You get kinda hard-headed. And maybe I'd have a LITTLE respect for you if you'd grow some balls and VOTE! You think this is easy for the rest of us? And even if the Duke's voting weird, at least he's voting!"
With a short run, the ornithologist hurls himself at the so-called "survival specialist", slamming his forehead into the man's face.
"Hard-headed is right, but not in the way you're thinking!" Alexander says as he shakes his hand, only to be taken off-guard by Sven's headbutt. He stumbles backwards, covering his nose with his other hand. This was hardly the first time it had been broken. "Heh, got a little fight in you, eh? Well, you should know that if I grew balls, I'd end up having four of them! If that happened, I'd have to waddle around like one of your damned penguins!"
Paying his bloody nose no mind, Alexander lowers his head like a bull and charges in for a tackle!
Avistan begins to get nervous:
"Sven!, Maxerson! Change your votes! I promise you're going to regret this decision! Don't let the Tentacles win. I'm begging you!"
With a sigh of relief Mike nods at Sven, "I will change my vote as well."
"I'd rather keep my vote for the Duke, but self preservation is more important for the moment!"
"Nothing personal, Tharp. I can't stand this goon, but I'm not about to let Jim get shocked!"
"I hope you all die here for this mistake!"
Robert sighs softly, shaking his head. ""May god have mercy on yer soul Avistan. I think yeh are innocent but I could be wrong. My vote stands with Jim and if he is human no hard feelings."
"Duke, They're gonna lynch me now. What can I lose? Sure I'm capable of lying for my own benefit but this time I'm just trying to make sure the nunnlifs don't win. "
"Sorry, Tharp."
The fight between Jimmy and Red Robert becomes a bit more half-hearted, while the one between Alexander Maxerson and Sven becomes a bit more heated!
Jimmy C Smith and the Red Robert both have knives in hand still. Jimmy doesn't seem to even be fighting back towards the end, just weaving between the swings of the knife like a practiced martial artist. The glimmer in his eye suggests that he's been in more than his fair share of knife fights, and this is not the most interesting one he's had to deal with.
While the fight continues, Avistan is shoved into the chair by the battling Sven and Alexander, and strapped in by Mike and Duke Leto. "I hope you all die for your mistake!" repeats the mechanic, "Maybe Russ would want you to live on, but... He trusted me! You should have known to trust me!" Getting a bit misty eyed, Avistan Tharp puts his fist up in the Super Secret Mechanics Fist Bump position. "See you soon, buddyEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-" Avistan Tharp does not take much time to die when the electricity is turned on, but his vocal cords continue to scream while the lights flicker in a strobelike effect.
While Jimmy continues to bob and weave with acrobatic grace, even as the strobe continues to flash, in between one of the flashes Jimmy stops moving, a massive stinger plunged through his chest. One more flash, and the stinger explodes into many thin blades, cutting through most of his body. By the third flash, he is sectioned into pieces. On the fourth, he is nothing but a pile of bloody flesh.
The lights come back on. The results are nothing good, and nobody's left to clean this mess up.
In Jimmy's janitorial closet is a poster of Chuck Norris and a thick paperback book, Tao of Jeet Kune Do. There is also the Sawsall case in which a website printout entitled "47 Practical Defense Moves with a Sawsall" has been wrapped around the implement in question.
"Well... f%%%!"
Robert moves back to the side of the room, putting his back against the wall, keeping close to dash.
"Which one of you f&*&ers is it?"
Sven leaves off rolling around on the floor punching Maxerson as Jimmy is dismantled. "Oh God, looks like somebody got him with a Sawsall," he groans, staggering to his feet. "Wrong again. The Nunnlifs must be laughing behind their carapaces. But it's narrowed down now. Mike and Atredies."
Mike rolls his eyes at Sven, "Six of us are left. I can say with 100% certainty that I am not a monster, and with 99% certainty that Robert and Dash are roommates. Sorry guys, but I guess somehow there could be a string of circumstances that the actual roommates have stayed silent allowing the two of you to not face the vote, although I admit that is highly unlikely. I say with 75% certainty that Alexander is human, the test done by Russ could be wrong. That leaves Sven and Duke Leto at high probability."
"Nice try, Mike. But that doesn't make sense. I was the one who figured out Russ's message about Clive. If he were another monster, I would have kept my trap shut. I've been useful to the monster hunting efforts, at least. What have you done? Nope. It's you and the Duke, 75% chance. Otherwise, it's Maxerson and one of you two."
Robert arches an eyebrow at Mike, frowning. "Your math is a bit ff there laddie. Unless yer thicker than I thought. I count 6 of us left. Two monsters, prolly, two civvies and two who we can be sure are human, the roommates, me and Dash. If you are only 99% certain that we are the Roomates then, if we aren't, the two other humans have to be. Meaning you would have to be a roommate with someone else. As you aren't..." He trailed off meaningfully.
Mike barks a laugh at Sven. "I have done just as much as anyone else here. You worked out the clue on Clive, I worked out the clue we decided to ignore on Avistan. You say Russ mentioned he thought about voting for Alexander but gained info to change his mind. Thinking back to his statement, it could be said he was informing us that Alexander should be voted for, but he did not as that vote would have done nothing but make Alexander aware Russ was on to him. With that in mind it very well may be the case that you and Alexander are indeed the bad guys, twisting the words of Russ to protect each other!"
Mike nods at The Red Robert, "Yeah, I know you and Dash are the roommates, but wanted to leave the possibility that through some crazy Jedi mind trick you were able to pull off somehow claiming to be roommates and the actual roommates not speaking up. I should have said 99.9999%.
Jimmy, actually.. protected me? And I've been on his case since the start Dash looks like he might cry.
Alexander finally pulls himself off the ground, leaving to question whether it had been Sven's blows or the two untimely deaths that left him stunned. He spends a few moments in silence, wiping some of the blood off his face with the back of his hand, before finally speaking up.
"Now, let's clear up one of these misconceptions I still see going around," he growls, a little more calm than he had been before. He looks dazed, yet somehow still lucid. "If one of your own kind slips up and gets caught, what do you do? Keep your silence, or protect them, even if it draws attention to yourself? Of course not! You sell them out and let the crowd tear them to pieces for you. After that, everyone has to trust you. Right, ?"
Sven pinches his nose shut so the blood stops dripping and answers Maxerson in an odd, muffled voice. "Beats me, Alex. I wouldn't know. If I were a nunnlif, I certainly wouldn't have pointed out Clive's identification when nobody else seemed to notice. That would have been pretty pointless. No, I'd have kept quiet and jumped on the voting bandwagon once I saw which way the wind was blowing. Or something like that." Brandy has done nothing to improve Sven's use of metaphors. Or is it analogies? He can't remember.
"I know it's hard to think of Mike or the Duke as monsters, but at least one of them is. And I'm wondering about you, Maxerson. Maybe I misunderstood Russ." He looks back at the horrible chair and the final mess that Jimmy ironically left on his own clean floor and plops down into a chair, pale as a sheet. "But we can't go wrong again. Can't. We have no geneticist and no defender. We must guess right."
Alexander laughs bitterly, sounding awfully delirious for someone who hasn't had a sip of alcohol.
"Ha. Vote me to the chair, and I promise you, either Robert or Dash are gonna bite the dust. And once that happens, there ain't nothing stopping the nunnlifs from finishing off the rest of you. Unless two of you think that you can handle an alien abomination in a one-on-one fight. I'm pretty sure that I can, but you're all not me."
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"That's the way heroes work Dash doing the right thing even when it is not in their best interests to do so....I noticed you didn't confirm that you and Robert are roommates. I tried to protect Jimmy too he was a target early on."
"I have been wrong more often than not I pegged Maxerson as the combat trained and Jimmie as the geneticist. "
" Right now I suspect Sven is not just a creature, but a geneticist of the things, and that is how he first noticed and then killed Russ."
Sven laughs and relaxes against the nearest wall, looking relieved.
"And there's what we needed, fellow humans. The nunnlifs are up against the wall - just like we are - and they need to put a human in the chair as well as kill one of the roommates or we'll have them. You overplayed your hand this time, whatever the heck you are that pretends to be the Duke."
Sven turns to Dash and Robert. "With no protector and you guys vouching for each other as human, they can pick you two off the next time nobody's watching closely. But they decided to rush and try to lynch a human so they can overpower the rest of the humans. I'm the most likely to be human besides you guys. Jimmy certainly thought so, and he was a smart fellow. So one nunnlif got in a hurry and decided to go for another twofer - kill the most likely human - me - and tear apart one of you two. Much as it hurts, Robert, the Duke is certainly not the Duke anymore."
Rummaging in the janitor's closet, Sven emerges with a coal scuttle and a rolling cart containing a large plastic container. Snapping on some rubber gloves, he moves the whole contraption to where Jimmy's remains are scattered and starts shoveling the chunks into the large bin. "A sad end for an almost-great man, this, but taking care of Jimmy's remains is an honor. I can't think of a better thing to do if this is my last hour on earth."
Still close to sniffles Dash chokes out Sven pointed out Clive, Russ seemed like he trusted Maxerson. Only one that doesn't have a reason to not go in the chair is Mike and the Duke.
Sven nods sympathetically at poor Robert's roommate. "Yeah. But remember, it's not them anymore. Our friends and comrades are already gone. What's left is an alien life form that doesn't live well with humans. And you know what happens when alien species are introduced where no predators have evolved. Rabbits in Australia. Zebra mussels in the Great Lakes. Overrun. Desolation."
He carefully slides more Jimmy pieces into their temporary resting place. "I just... I wish we'd had a way to tell about Wilkins and Tharp." He sounds stuffed up, whether from a bloody nose or something else, it's difficult to say.
Mike gives Sven a hard look for several long moments. "Damn-it Sven, why you are so damn difficult to figure out. One minute I am sure you are human, swayed by your passionate delivery and constant loud arguments. The next I am certain you are a nunnlif, you put just a little to much effort into convincing yourself and the rest of us you are human."
This vote scares me more than the previous votes, so few of us left, so close to swinging clearly to the other side. That being said, a decision must be made. I pray I have not chosen poorly."
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"Actually it was you Sven the one who was self admittedly the very first one to be on to Russ when he indicated Clive. Did you notice it because of your great powers of observation, no assuredly not, you picked up on Russ's subtle clue because you also had determined Clive's identity, leaving no doubt in my mind that you are the creature geneticist. How clever of you to keep using that 'nunnlif', term to keep making it seem like you are a human and they are the other, but you sir are the other!"
Alexander continues to growl, clearly unconvinced of Sven's innocence. Still, he was not totally oblivious to their current predicament. He turns to Robert and Tharp and grunts.
"All right, roomies. Since you're the only two that can undeniably wave the flag of humanity, it's your asses on the line. With everyone else raving like a lunatic, it's getting real hard to tell who the other nunnlif might be. So who are you two voting for?"
Robert frown before turning to Dash. "Whattya think laddie? I don't know who I trust now..."
Sven shrugs. "I only picked up on Russ' clue after he was dead and we realized he was a geneticist. What he said had meaning. What you keep saying has none. You're definitely a monster, if you don't like the term "nunnlif". What do you call yourselves, by the way?"
He shuts the lid on Jimmy's remains and, rinsing the mop in the mop sink, begins clearing away the bloody slick on the floor.
I don't trust the Duke. I was wrong about Jimmy, but I gots to go with my gut still
Sven nods agreement. "If we're wrong, we're dead," he says dully, sending Jimmy squeezings down the drain.
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"Of course your claim is you didn't know who Russ was until after the fact, but that is another lie, and again your convincing use of the made up term, offered as evidence of nothing. I say we get rid of the nunnlif geneticist!"
Points to Sven....
"I challenge you to a duel and then we will see who is who!"
Sven stops mopping and stares at the Duke, eyebrows raised. "A duel? What is this, "Hamilton" cosplay? Who duels anymore? "I've bought up Apple stock and am taking it over." "Nay, I challenge thee to a duel!" "Curses, that little-known SEC provision!" Get a grip." He returns to mopping.
"We'll know soon enough who's who, with the chair. Besides, I saw what you did to Marco and Jimmy and Russ and Elora. What could I bring to a duel that would be able to fight that?" He rinses the mop again, then returns from the janitor's closet to address the irate nobleman once again with sneer and a challenging stare.
"Tell you what. You want me? Leave Dash and Robert out of this and get me instead."
He leans on the mop in unconscious imitation of Jimmy. Too bad he has neither the fighting nor the janitorial skills of his model.
"The Duke, then, huh?" Alexander mumbles, glancing at Sven first, and then to the older gentleman. The wrinkles on his forehead could probably be counted, and used to ascertain the number of years that he has been alive. After a moment of deliberation, he nods once. "This is gonna be one hell of a comeback... Fine."
He turns to Leto and shrugs. "Sorry, Duke, but I'm playing for Team Human."
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"In that case Alexander you should be against Sven, he and Clive learned of Russ's identity especially when he began to drop subtle hints, and why did he nudge us in the right direction? To get you to trust him, but he knew that we would learn that Russ was a geneticist, after they murdered him, so he was right there to lead us by the nose to the clues. Think about it and you can plainly see it."
"That may be. But there's two of these nunnlifs left, yeah? So for all I know, you could both be nunnlifs. Besides, that little tussle I had with Sven got me thinking. What if their little human suits are so damned good, that not even they could tell each other apart? For all I know, the other nunnlif's voting you off the island because not even he can be sure you're human. In which case, all of this squabbling doesn't mean squat."
"I should have known better than to follow your vote for Tharp, "Duke"," Sven grouses, "Naturally you'd pick a human to electrocute. I suspected you and still followed your lead. Stupid of me! You won that round, nunnlif."
Sven finishes his cleanup and trundles the Jimmy Bin into the airlock leading to the frigid outdoors. "That'll preserve him for burial. We don't need his DNA for research, poor guy."
Robert smiles, moving towards Duke and taking a stand at his side. "I believe our friend the Duke is right. Sven has been as bad as I have, for executin humans. The only difference bein I KNOW I am human, as does Dash. I think what the Duke says is sense. Sven, you are the Nunnlif Geneticist. If I am wrong, I die, like everyone else. But I feel like I am not wrong. You, my fine Scientist friend, are not of this world."
"Dash, talk sense into your roommate. If we stalemate, the nunnlif's will kill you, despite your courage in stepping forward as Robert's roommate. Or rather, because of it."
Sven regards the "Duke" mildly, then hoists Tharp's fried corpse to his shoulder and staggers with it to cold storage.
"'Nunnlif' isn't a scientific term. It was meant to be courtesy. This is our first meeting with an intelligent life form. It's exciting! It's amazing! And I thought "monster" or "creature" was a rather rude term. So 'nunnlif' was neutral, at least, and not insulting. I had hoped you would talk to us, work with us, give us the name you have for yourselves. But you didn't." There's a thud from storage as Tharp's body hits the heap, then Sven reappears in the doorway, panting slightly as he addresses the Duke again.
"The real half-witted thing I did was follow you in voting for Tharp. You're right; you frequently urged us not to vote and give the geneticists time to test people. But then, all of a sudden, you pop right up with Tharp's name - after our human geneticists were dead. No reason for it, not that we could see. But you had a reason. You tested Tharp and knew he was human. He'd been on the bubble with a lot of us. So you led the charge and we killed the poor man. Nicely done, by the way. You played us perfectly."
He strides over to where the Duke sits and stands directly in front of the nobleman. "You're what you've been accusing me of - you're the geneticist of your group. And if you think the term "nunnlif" is half-witted, then let's call you what you've proven yourself to be."
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"You are a fool with your words, all of a sudden you say? That was not the case at all, it was after we had used the only actionable intelligence we had, and I knew that not voting would be suspicious."
"Do you really believe that trite argument is going to convince anyone?"
"I tell you all what if you vote for Sven and he is not the monster I will vote for myself the following time even if it cost me my life, as I can not have another innocent killed!"