The Nonary Game

Game Master Alex I.

Welcome back! It might be a good idea to go read through what your characters have been through, so you remember and in case it becomes important later.

Bruh, James has decided to drop out for lack of time. Thus, there is no longer a need to spoilerize. Are you chill with playing by yourself? The game doesn't really need multiple PCs because you interact with the NPCs all of the time, and it would be weird to shoe someone in now. Also, you can post as much as you want now and I should be able to keep up. :P

You reach the bottom of the stairs just in time to see the tall, tired looking man burst from the doorway through which he disappeared, quickly followed by a young, muscular man with blonde hair. Another "BOOM" shakes the room.

"RUN" yells the older man. "The water is rising too fast! This room will flood!"

What he said was true; a large wave had already crashed through the doorway, and water is lapping at your feet.

The people gathered begin to run for the stairs. Clover is guiding Snake by the hand.

Well, looks like I'll just turn around then.
I go back up the stairs. Quickly.

Reaching the C Deck once again, you see Santa come hurtling down the stairs. "All of the doors are locked! We're trapped! The stairs go to an A Deck, but no higher. I did see some more numbered doors on B Deck, like the ones we were stuck behind before."

Suddenly, the sounds of water rushing beneath you cease.

Clover: "It... stopped?"

Seven (moving down the stairs): "Looks like the water isn't comin' in any more. But I don't think we'll be headin' back to D Deck, unless you guys fancy a swim. The water is so high it comes halfway up the stairs."

Older Man: "Let's go to the numbered doors. We don't know how long it will be until the water starts coming in again."

As the group begins walking, the blonde man speaks up, with a slight Greek accent, "Who are you people? What is going on here? I think I've been kidnapped... I should be somewhere else."

Santa steps in and introduces you all, explaining that you were all kidnapped and have been placed aboard some kind of boat. He then introduces you all and tells him that you're all going by "retarded nicknames".

The older man decides to go by Ace (his bracelet says [1]), and the Greek man says he'll go by Star (five pointed [5]). You then reach B Deck. It seems to be an empty room, except in front of you lie two huge metal doors, one with a [4] slashed in red, and the other with a [5].

4 and 5?
That's your number, Star. Why don't you open it and see what's on the other side? We'll be right behind you.

Star moves to the door.

"There is no card slot. Only a strange scanner."

You then hear a crackling noise from above you. It comes from a speaker on the ceiling that you hadn't noticed before. An obviously altered voice floats through. You recognize it as the voice of the figure who kidnapped you.

???: "I am [Zero]... The captain of this ship. I am also the person who invited you here."

Santa: "Hey! A%@$*&+! What the hell is this?! C'mon out here! I wanna get a
look at you!"

Ace: "What do you mean to do to us?!"

Zero: "I mean to have you participate in a game. Some of you, I know, are familiar with this game. The [Nonary Game]. It is a game...where you will put your life on the
line."

June: "Nonary Game...?"

Seven: "What the hell's that?!"

Zero: "The rules of the Nonary Game are simple. On this ship, you will find a handful of doors emblazoned with numbers. The doors in front of you are a pair of the same. The key to opening these numbered doors are the [numbered bracelets]
that each of you possess. Should you total the numbers on your [numbered bracelets] and find that the [digital root] of that number is equal to the number of that door, the door will open. Only those who have opened the door may pass through. There are, however, limits. Only [3-5] people can pass through one numbered door. All those who enter must leave, and all who enter must contribute. The purpose of the game is simple. Leave this ship alive. It is hidden, but an exit can be found. Seek a way out... Seek a door that carries a [9]. There is one last thing I must tell you. As you have no doubt surmised, this ship has begun to sink. On April 14th, 1912...the famous ocean liner Titanic crashed into an
iceberg. After remaining afloat for 2 hours and 40 minutes, it sank beneath the
waters of the North Atlantic. I will give you more time. [9 hours]. That is the time you will be given to make your escape."

A bell tolls from somewhere within the the ship. It rings nine times. 9 o'clock...

Zero: "Now, it is time. Let our game begin. I wish you all the best of luck."

The speaker goes silent. Santa yells at the speaker with language coarse enough to embarrass a sailor, but everyone else is silent, consumed in thought.

Ace: "Very well!"

His voice seems oddly loud in the silence.

Ace: "Standing around here won't do us any good. Best we get moving, don't you
think?"

June: "...Get moving?"

Seven: "Are you planning to open the numbered doors?"

Star: "H-Hey! Wait! Don't tell me you're actually going to do what this...this Zero says?!"

"I don't think we have much of a choice, Star. Unless you'd rather sit around and count the passing time while your last seconds slip by. I'll go first."

Maya proceeds to scan her bracelet on the scanner next to the door that reads "5".

"I have eight. That means we need to get 6 more. We need 3-5 people so I think it's best to have 2, 3, and 1 all scan their bracelets as well. The rest of you can figure out how to get into the other door," Maya points at the door with the number "4" written on it. "Everyone else can see if they can find another door somewhere else on the ship. Meet back here in one hour with what you've found. If this area is flooded, then just continue through your doors and hopefully we'll meet up again soon."

Seven: "Hold on just a minute-"

Seven is cut off by a loud scream. You see Clover being restrained by the nervous, sweaty man.

9th Man: "N-n-nobody come any c-closer! If you do I-I'll cut her open!" he stutters. His hand moves to his pocket, where he pulls out a small knife, which he presses against Clover's throat.
"Everyone just d-d-do what I say and I'll l-let her go!"
He nods at June. "Y-y-you're [6] right? Scan your bracelet!"

June seems to be in shock. She remains frozen in place.

Clover: "What if she doesn't do it?"

9th Man: "Are you an idiot? I-I-I could s-slit your throat right now!"

A very nervous looking Snake touches June on the shoulder. "Please June..."

June's eyes widen, and tears flow down her face as she slowly moves toward the door and scans her bracelet. The 9th man reaches out and scans his own bracelet. "[8+6+9]=[23]=5. E-exellent. N-n-now everyone back up. I mean i-it!"

I do as he says, waiting to see what he does next.

The rest of the group also backs up.

9th Man: "Hehe...hehe... EHEHEHEHEHEHE!!! Thank you all. N-n-now I c-can get out of this nightmare."

He then pulls a lever on the side of the device, and the door slides open. He slowly slides in, still holding Clover and stands on the other side of the door. Suddenly the door begins to close, and he shoves Clover out. The door slams shut.

"Clover, are you OK?!" Snake asks as he runs to her.

"I... I'm fine," she replies.

Star and Seven both run over to the door. Seven attempts to pry it open, to no avail. Star tries to swipe his bracelet. "Shit! It won't do anything. It says occupied."

"I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe the rest of us should try the other door. He's on his own now.

June: "But how will we all get through?"

Snake suddenly straightens up, and moves toward the door the 9th man went through. "I hear... beeping"

All of a sudden, from the same door, you hear a muffled yell from the 9th man. "Shit! Why isn't it stopping?! Goddamnit! Y-Y-You l-lied! Th-Th-This wasn't supposed to happen! This is wrong! This is very wrong!"

You can hear his voice shaking with fear.

Ace: "What is happening in there?!"

9th Man: "O-O-O-Open the door! Please! I'm begging you! Help me! Please, get me out of here! Get me out of here!"

Star slams his wrist into the scanner. "Still nothing!" He pries at the door, to no avail.

9th Man: "A-Ah... Oh my God, oh my God, there's no time left...! Listen! I was lied to! He lied to me! He put me in here! It was him! He killed me! It was him! A...Aahh... Aaahhhh... Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaght--!"

You hear a loud explosion from the other side of the door. Immediately afterwards, a mechanical 'beep' sounds through the room.

Star: "It says 'Vacant' again! We should see what happened!" He swipes his bracelet, and you hear another 'beep' as the scanner registers it.

I swipe mine as well.

Ace nods in agreement and scans his as well, then pulls the lever. The doors creak open, and a horrifying smell hits you. Behind the door, you see a long hallway. Blood covers the walls, and chunks of flesh are strewn about, sliding down the walls and falling from the ceiling. (Roll a health check to see if this image shocks you). You see what used to be the 9th mans body, now a disjointed heap of bones against a wall, organs near the corpse aligned like the blooming of a grotesque flower.

Santa: "He... blew up..." Santa promptly throws up. Ace also looks quite pale. June shrieks and collapses onto the floor in a heap.

My health is 8, i got 12, therefore i failed.

Maya also feels rather sick to her stomach. She also tears up a bit, and eventually begins to sob quietly, hiding her face from the rest. Once she 'sobers' up again, she says...

"The man, Zero, said that only those who scan their bracelets may enter and that there has to be at least 3 and no more than 5. I guess this is what happens if we break the rules of the game.

Star goes to June and puts his arm around her.

Star: "You are very warm. Do you have fever?"

June doesn't answer. Star picks her up and leans her back against a nearby wall. Star spins around.

Star: "Do any of you know what the f+++ is going on here?! Who's Zero?! What's this "Nonary Game"!? C'mon! Anybody? Anything?! What the hell is going on?! What are we doing here?!"

As this is occurring, Seven turns to you.
Seven: "So this guy was killed for breaking the rules... That means Zero must be watchin' us from somewhere."

Snake: "I'm not so sure of that. I have something to show you all. I had hoped Zero would save me the trouble, but that seems increasingly unlikely."

Ace: "Do you know something?"

Snake: "Well, I know a great many things, but... Yes."

Ace: "What is it you know?!"

Snake: "Here." Snake removes a card from the pocket of his jacket. With a flourish, he presents it to Ace, who takes a close look at it and speaks.

Ace: "Come on, now. What's the point of giving me this?" He holds it up for the group to see. "It's in braille." He hands the card back to Snake.

Snake: "I found this in my pocket when I awoke. It is a message from Zero." His fingers then began to move across the card, and he started to read.

Snake: "Bracelet number (2)... Since you are not blessed with sight, I shall bless you--and only you--with information. I shall tell you of the function of the RED, of the DEAD, and of the bracelet. The [RED] is the Recognition Device. It will verify your number. Beside every numbered door, you will find a RED. The [DEAD] is the Deactivation Device. It does exactly what it says. Once you have passed through the numbered door, you must use the DEAD to stop the [detonator] in your bracelet. But perhaps you are wondering... What does this detonator detonate? I am afraid this may be something of a surprise. I have placed a [small bomb] inside of you, and the people whom you are about to meet. You swallowed it while you were unconscious. I have no doubt that by the time you read this note, the bomb will have passed your stomach and found its way to your small intestine. In other words, you will be unable to regurgitate it. I suggest you do not try. As I mentioned before, the bracelet on your left hand contains a detonator. Think of it as a remote fuse, or [timer], for the bomb in your body. There is only 1 condition which will cause it to detonate. That condition is that you enter a numbered door. Once you have done so, the timer will activate, no matter who you may be. You will have [81 seconds]. If, after that time, the detonator has not been deactivated, it will send a signal to the bomb in your body, instructing it to explode. In order to deactivate the detonator, [every person who verified their number at the RED] must also verify their numbers at the DEAD. Once all numbers have been verified by the DEAD, you need only pull the lever at its side, and the countdown will cease. Anyone who does not verify their number at the RED will find themselves unable to verify their number at the DEAD.
That is to say, if you should pass through a numbered door without first verifying your number at the RED, in 81 seconds you will be dead. You must also keep in mind that the numbered doors will close automatically after [9 seconds] have passed. So long as the door is open, the DEAD will not function. You would do well to remember this. Lastly, let us discuss [how to remove the bracelets]. There are only 2 ways to do so.
One: You escape from this ship.
Two: Your heart rate reaches zero.
In other words, once the bracelet is taken outside the confines of the ship, or detects that its wearer's heartbeat has fallen to zero, it will shut down automatically. There is no other way to remove your bracelet. If you attempt to force it off, or disable the detonator, the bomb within you will immediately explode. This is all the information which I can impart to you. How you choose to use it is for you to decide. "If used wisely, you can eliminate those who might be a danger to you. For a time, you would be able to control your fate. "I wish you the best of luck."
Snake falls silent. Santa and Seven immediately put their fingers down their throats and begin to gag.

By the way, since everyone is doing so much talking and I'm never sure where to stop to let you take an action, if there's ever a place where you want to interject or do something in the middle of one of my posts, let me know. Just tell me where.

I want to do this when snake finishes saying "... if you should pass through a numbered door without first verifying your number at the RED, in 81 seconds you will be dead..."

"O my god guys! We all just scanned our bracelets! We have to move quick or we are going to die!" I run into the room and start looking for the dead.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that the door slid shut while you guys were talking about the braille card (after 9 seconds). I assumed you didn't actually enter the room, since it's covered in nastiness and you got sick. Nobody else entered the room either.

Assuming you still run towards the door:

Snake (to you): "Hold on now. I do not believe we are in any danger of meeting the fate of the 9th Man, so long as the door does not close behind us. Opening the doors and looking through should have no effect."

June (looking terrified and holding her stomach): "How can we be sure?"

Snake: "When the 9th man was on the other side of the door, I heard a constant beeping sound. It seems logical that the noise was the timed detonator in his bracelet activating. Seeing as nobody's bracelet is making the sound, I'd venture to guess that we are safe."

If you don't have any other interjections/actions, Snake continues reading from where he left off, and the dialogue remains the same as the previous post.

"What should we do then? Seems like we have no choice but to play by the rules. If we wanna get out of here before we starve to death I suggest we start moving.

Ace: "That seems like a logical decision. How should we split ourselves up?"

Santa: "I sure as hell am not going through door 5. The thought of that guys blood on me..." He shudders.

Star: "I am with Santa. I have seen enough blood in..." He falls silent.

Ace: "We can't all go though door 4. We need some volunteers."

Seven: "Fine. I'll go into door 5. Who else is with me?"

Snake: "I'll go."

Clover: "W-What?!"

Snake: "Don't worry. You'll be fine. We may part now, but I'm certain we'll meet again later."

Clover: "How do you know that?!"[b]

Snake: [b]"Because I do."

Clover: "That's not an answer! If you're going, I'm going too! I'm going into door 5!"

Snake: "What am I going to do with you..."

Ace: "There's nothing you have to do. If I join you, the problem is solved, correct? Seven is (7), and Snake is (2). And if you add Clover's (4) and my (1), the digital root will be [5]. The digital root of Star, Santa, Maya, and June is [4], so it all works out."

Snake: "Unless anybody has any objections, I say we go with this plan"

"Sounds good to me. Let's get through this... Together. " :3

Ace, Clover, Seven, and Snake all scan their bracelets. The metal door creaks open, and you can once again see the disturbing remains of the 9th Man. The group hesitates, staring at the body (or lack thereof) before stepping through. Ace turns around.

Ace: "Goodbye."

Star: "...Be careful"

Ace then turns and follows the others. A few seconds later, the door creaks shut.

If you want, you can roll a hearing check to hear whats through the door with a -2. I probably won't give you any more hints as to when to do checks, so go ahead and roll whenever and I'll give you the number to beat.

Star: "We'd best be moving. Who knows how much time we have left."

As if in answer, you hear the clock bells again ringing through the ship. Ten solid 'gongs' echo in the room.

Santa: "Ten o'clock. We've got eight hours left."

Star goes to where June is leaning against the wall.

Star: "Allow me to help you"

June: "Thank you, but I do feel better now. I think I can stand on my own." She gets to her feet. Star feels her forehead.

Star: "You are still feverish. Maybe we should wait."

June: "No, please, I'll be fine. Let's just get going."

She proceeds to scan her bracelet. Star and Santa look at each other and shrug, then follow suit.

Assuming you do the same:

Star: "OK. Everyone get ready." He pulls the lever. The door creaks open. Before you is a long hallway, maybe 300 feet in length. On each side of the hallway lies four doors, and a single door opposite you. You hear a clear beeping noise, and see that it is coming from you bracelet. A skull flashes from the screen with every 'beep'.

Santa: "Let's go! We've only got 81 seconds!"

They leap through the door.

June: "But there's so many doors! How will we search them all?"

You should roll Will with no penalties to see how you deal with this stressful situation.

For will i rolled 8 and have a score of 10 so i succeed.

I begin running around with the others searching rooms to find where the scanner is. I start on the far right.

I roll 12 on perception. My score is 10 so I fail.

You hear nothing from the other end of the door. However, in the hallway, you are clearheaded, and take no penalties to any stats. As you turn the doorknob, you find it to be locked.

Santa: "What the hell?!?" These two doors are locked!!!"

Star: "These are too!!!"

June: "Maybe we could lock pick them?"

Star: "How will we have enough time to open them all and search the rooms? How many of us can actually lock pick? I can, but that won't be enough! And what tools would we use? I woke up with only clothes."

Santa: "Guys, its already been like twenty seconds!"