WW LXXVII: The Metamorphs of Wolf-562-e

[Loslote]

Originally Posted by Isabellkya

[*highlight]++Blind Guardian[/highlight]

I really fail to understand why you are voting for someone whom you said was 'relatively innocent'.

Good point. I'd forgotten that.

[wilwarin538]

KK. I'm here, and there's what, 20 minutes left right? I'm going to skim over things quickly and try to come up with something semi logical before I fall asleep.

[Isabellkya]

Haha @ the pattern. Dang Shasta ruined it!

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Originally Posted by Isabellkya

Haha @ the pattern. Dang Shasta ruined it!

Not on purpose!

[Blind Guardian]

OH FOR GOD SAKE I"M THE SEER! THE TELEPATH! NICE GOING!!

Now I'm going to go cry...

[Inziladun]

DL. Silence.

[Nerwen]

BG, no-one is officially dead until I say so.

So let me say so now: You're dead.

There.

[Nerwen]

Death of a Telepath

The crew of the Lothlórien– at least those who could be spared from their duties– gathered on the bridge to discuss their alarming situation. Well, most of them did, though Ensign Blind Guardian was more concerned with her breakfast and MCPO Loslote was so worried about the engine that she had scarcely noticed the double murder.

Argue as they might, they could hit upon no way of detecting a Metamorph– except by killing it, of course. At first the full import of the Captain's words had not really sunk in, but as the Day progressed and the talk failed to, the crew began to look at each other askance. It could, they realised, be anyone...

"Now, there's a clue here that none of you have noticed yet," said MCPO Loslote. "Who stands most to gain with Captain McNerwen dead? Her second-in-command, Zil."

"I don't suspect anyone," remarked Lieutenant Sally vaguely, "except perhaps me. Yes, I definitely think we should lynch me toDay. Or not. Which way's left?"

"If that's not the real Lieutenant, it's certainly done its homework," Loslote muttered under her breath.

"Ensign Guardian looks very suspicious," said Eomer, narrowly eyeing the Lothlórien's newest recruit. The Security Officer would give no reason for this statement, but the young Ensign's nervous manner attracted more and more attention.

"Ensign, what do you have to say to Eomer's accusation?" asked Pitchwife, the Communications Officer.

"He's crazy! I know I'm not a morph! Let me go and walk my dog!"

"Well, then, stating your opinions of other crewmembers would be a good starting point."

"Er... um...I'm pretty sure Chief Engineer Loslote's innocent," said the Tactical Officer quickly. "No, wait, she's a Metamorph! Kill her!"

"Ma'am, you just said you thought she was innocent!" Technician Isabellkya pointed out.

"Oh, crud, I did!" Blind Guardian wailed.

Taking this for a confession, everyone drew their weapons and pointed them at the hapless Ensign.

"You've got it all wrong!" the Tactical Officer protested, tears starting in her eyes. "I'm not a morph, I tell you! I'm– I'm THE TELEPATH! Nice going, I was just trying to– AAAARRRRGGHHH!!!!" Blind Guardian clutched her head, as blood poured from her eyes, eyes and nostrils. Screaming, she collapsed to the floor, her body jerking in increasingly violent convulsions. Finally, she was still.

A large dog of indeterminate breed pushed its way through the horrified onlookers, nosed at its mistress and licked her face, but Ensign Guardian did not move. Foam flecked her open lips. Her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.

The dog sat back on its haunches to emit a long howl of grief and despair.

Terran Intelligence conditioning cannot be broken with impunity.

The Crew

Living
Commander Inziladun –First Officer.
Lieutenant Paranoia –Second Officer.
Lieutenant Sally –Navigator.
Ensign Pitchwife –Communications Officer/Interpreter.
Master Chief Petty Officer Loslote –Chief Engineer.
Chief Petty Officer Keeper of Dol Guldur –Quartermaster.
Isabellkya –Sensor Technician, First Class.
Wilwa –Android Technician, Second Class.
Shasta –Engineering Technician.
Eomer –Security Officer.
wintywinty –Weapons Maintenance Technician.
Rikae –"Cabin Boy" (a thirteen-year-old stowaway).

Dead
Doctor Morsul –Medical Officer and Captain McNerwen. –shot by Traitor on Night One.
Ensign Blind Guardian– Tactical Officer. –Died in convulsions (Telepath).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It is now Night Two.

[Nerwen]

The Plot Thickens

Day and night have no true meaning in space, but on a starship there is a period when the lights are dimmed, when most of the crew sleep– except the few who must remain on duty during the “Night” period.

Security Officer Eomer was one of these, but toNight he was less concerned with his official work than with what he believed was his true calling.

Eomer thought of himself as a hunter.

Once, he had seen it as just a way to supplement his income, but as his skills had grown, so had his love of the chase for its own sake– as had his pride. True, he had earned some respect for his service in the Fleet, but under the name he used in his secret trade he was almost a legend, spoken of with awe as “the best in the business”.

Cautiously, he looked around the corner at a door halfway down the next corridor. There was no sign of movement, and the only sound was the usual faint background hum of a functioning ship, just as it had been during the two hours he had already spent lying in wait. Eomer was just about to resign himself to another long period of waiting, when he became aware of a faint noise on the other side of the door. He tensed himself, raising his gun, as the door slid open.

His finger froze on the trigger. The figure who appeared in the doorway was the right height and build to be the one he was after, but he had certainly not expected it to be wearing a mask, or to be clothed from head to foot in black.

Eomer shrugged briefly and then fired, a direct hit to the head. The frequency of the energy bolt would have been instantly fatal to the type of being he had thought he was hunting, but the masked figure merely swayed a moment and shook its head as if to clear it. Then it darted across the corridor, out of his line of sight. The hunter could hear it softly edging along the near wall towards him.

Eomer made a quick decision and ran for it. Whatever he was dealing with, it was not his particular quarry after all, and he didn’t care for the look of it either.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Assassin reached the corner and peered around, his dart-gun held at the ready, but the corridor was empty. He was very surprised.
Someone taking shots at him? It was supposed to be the other way around. And why attack him with an obviously harmless weapon?

“You can wait, whoever you are,” he whispered. “I've got bigger fish to fry..."

He was sure he knew the identity of at least one Metamorph.

As he crept down the darkened passages he smiled to himself behind his mask. The Telepath would be avenged this Night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Eomer skidded to a halt just in time to avoid crashing into Lieutenant Sally.

“Sorry, ma’am,” gasped Eomer, wondering why the Lieutenant was wearing her EVA suit.

“Eomer!” said the navigator with a delighted grin. “Just the person I was looking for! I’d like you to meet my friends.”

Two other figures, also wearing spacesuits, stepped out of the shadows behind Eomer. Before the Security Officer could react, one of them grabbed him and twisted the gun from his grasp. “Hey, that’s not Galactic Fleet issue! So, it’s true, you’re a bounty hunter! We don’t need their scum! We'd like to take the chance to get rid of this treacherous pest that goes by the name of Eomer before it can do any harm to our beloved crew. They'll thank us!”

“Shh!” said Sally. “I was going for 'sinister joviality', and now you’ve spoiled it! –Eomer, we saw how upset you were at poor dear Ensign Guardian's very affecting funeral, and we thought you’d want to be reunited with her.”

“What, now?”

“Now!” said the Lieutenant, pulling down her helmet visor.

A hand was clapped over the Security Officer’s mouth. Struggle as he might, he was unable to break free from the Metamorphs as they marched him to the airlock from which, a few hours previously, Blind Guardian’s pitiful corpse had been committed to the interstellar depths.

Unfortunately, Eomer was not wearing a spacesuit.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Assassin found the one he sought sitting outside a cabin door– clearly waiting for her comrades.

Coward, the Assassin thought, too afraid to kill a sleeping person on your own! Take that!

He fired his dart–gun. The mechanism was completely silent– but his target had glimpsed the movement. With a speed and grace that seemed inhuman, she rolled out of the way, coming to her feet in a fighting stance. The dart stuck in the door, quivering.

Cursing, the Assassin fired again.

“You’ll never get past me, Metamorph!” the other hissed. “I was trained in the sacred martial arts of Mu Arae b, and– what the–?” She stared down at the dart sticking out of her arm. “Hey, this looks like Intel make! –Oh no!” she groaned. “I get it. You’re the bloody Assassin, aren’t you?”

“The Defender?” asked the Assassin, feeling very foolish all of a sudden.

“Yep, that’s me.” The Defender touched her head, remembering the awful fate of Ensign Guardian, but of course nothing happened.

“I’ll be darned.”

They both started to laugh.

“What in Space is going on out there?” called a sleepy voice from within the cabin.

The two agents glanced at each other, and took to their heels, in opposite directions.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lieutenant Sally was in a hurry. Her cover role forced her to spend some hours this Night plotting the ship’s course, and the diversion, though pleasant in itself, had put her fearfully behind schedule.

“Out of my way!” she ordered the figure who had just stepped out of a side corridor.

“Oh, no, Lieutenant, I don’t think you’re going anywhere,” said the other.

A chill ran down Sally’s spine. She wished she had waited for her fellow Metamorphs to accompany her.

“So you’re this Assassin-person, are you?” she said, deciding to brazen it out. “And I suppose you’ve somehow got it into your head that I’m a Metamorph? Well, then, fire away– your little darts won’t do me any harm.”

“Darts?" said the figure. “What’s the fun of that?” And it ripped Sally’s arm from its socket.

That was just the beginning.

Sally’s dying screams brought people running, but by the time they arrived on the scene, the navigator could be identified only by the bloody scraps of her uniform. All that remained of her body was a heap of mangled flesh.

And that flesh was changing. Skin turned rough and scaly; fat and muscle took on a strange gelatinous texture; even her blood paled from red to a sickly yellow-white hue.

“A Metamorph!” someone gasped. “But– but who or what killed her?”

[NB. Pronouns used in the narration do not necessarily reflect player's actual gender.]

The Crew

Living
Commander Inziladun –First Officer.
Lieutenant Paranoia –Second Officer.
Ensign Pitchwife –Communications Officer/Interpreter.
Master Chief Petty Officer Loslote –Chief Engineer.
Chief Petty Officer Keeper of Dol Guldur –Quartermaster.
Isabellkya –Sensor Technician, First Class.
Wilwa –Android Technician, Second Class.
Shasta –Engineering Technician.
wintywinty –Weapons Maintenance Technician.
Rikae –"Cabin Boy" (a thirteen-year-old stowaway).

Dead
Doctor Morsul –Medical Officer and Captain McNerwen. –shot by Traitor on Night One.
Ensign Blind Guardian– Tactical Officer. –Died in convulsions (Telepath).
Eomer –Security Officer. –Thrown out the airlock (Bounty Hunter).
Lieutenant Sally –Navigator. –Torn to pieces (Metamorph).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It is now Day Two. You may post.

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Two kills, and neither one appears to be from our Assassin (needler/laser thing). Of the two kills, Sally sounds more like she was killed by the Metamorphs (torn to pieces).

Nerwen, love of my life? Mind telling us what Eomer and Sally were?

[Rikae]

Hm. Two kills. I'm going to guess they didn't have special roles, Shasta, since none were listed in the narration.
My leftover comments from yesterDay were that I agreed with Lottie on Wilwa's forced sounding tone, and also that I, along with a few others I don't remember, found Sally's self-vote a bit fishy or even out of character - but apparently the second point is now pointless.
Oh yes, for those who wondered, my older, more female alter ego is in the US - NY, to be specific.
I'll be around in after a work day or a good night's sleep to enlighten all with my great wisdom. OK, to amuse all with my absurdity....
Annoy everyone with my foolishness? Meh.

Oh yeah, and Sally? Post count is MINE. OH YEAH.

[Nerwen]

Death by Muffin

Again the crew gathered on the bridge, or what remained of it, and again the accusations flew. This time they centred on Lieutenant Paranoia and Android Technician Wilwa– the former because he had wanted to kill Blind Guardian, the latter because she had been reluctant to do so.

"Trying to make herself look good, if you ask me," said Loslote, glancing up from the panel she was repairing.

Engineering Technician Shasta nodded firmly. "What the Chief said."

"Indeed– or, as they say on Alpha Goombae VI– schmorfl," Ensign Pitchwife agreed.

"MUFFINS! WHO WANTS MUFFINS?" B.I.L.L.Y. the Android entered, bearing a tray. "ENGLISH MUFFINS, BLUEBERRY MUFFINS, BANANA MUFFINS, APPLE MUFFINS! GET YOUR MUFFINS HERE!"

"What in Space is this?" said Commander Inziladun.

The Android Technician smiled sweetly. "Oh, sir, I thought it was time for refreshments. Won't you try one?"

"No! Don't touch them!" Lieutenant Paranoia knocked the tray from B.I.L.L.Y's hands. It fell to the floor with a crash. Muffins and muffin fragments rolled all over the bridge. "That is... they might have been poisoned... sir."

Wilwa drew herself to her full height, glaring at the Second Officer. "So that's what trying to be nice to humans gets me? That's it then! –B.I.L.L.Y.," she pointed at Paranoia, "Attack!"

"SAVE WILWA! SAVE WILWA! SAVE WILWA!" As B.I.L.L.Y. advanced on the Lieutenant, his hands retracted and were replaced with whirring, needle-sharp drills. "SAVE WILWA! SAVE WILWA! SAVE WILWA!"

"Someone save me!" pleaded Paranoia, backing away. He fired at B.I.L.L.Y., but the rays were deflected by the android's surface.

Yelling a Fundalkn war-cry, Pitchwife tackled the android from behind, while Loslote smashed its head in with an iso-spanner. B.I.L.L.Y. staggered away and crashed into the helm console, which fortunately could hardly be damaged worse than it was already.

After Commander Inziladun had commended Loslote and Pitchwife on their bravery, there remained the problem of what to do with the clearly evil Wilwa.

"Sir," Loslote picked up a large blueberry muffin, "may I suggest– poetic justice?"

Everyone thought that was an excellent plan.

Wilwa kicked and screamed, but they held her down and forced muffin after muffin down her gullet. Whether she simply choked, or whether the Second Officer had been right about the poison, Wilwa's face soon turned blue and, after a few spasms, she went limp.

At first nothing happened.

"Maybe she was just the Traitor?" young Rikae suggested.

"I knew we should have killed Pitchwife," muttered Technician wintywinty. "All that funny talk of his..."

"Quiet!" Commander Inziladun ordered.

A change was spreading over the corpse. First its hair melted away, then its skin hardened and turned to scales, while webs formed between its fingers and the once attractive face flattened into a noseless, wide-mouthed reptilian mask. The dead eyes were huge and yellow now, with slit pupils like a cat's.

Rikae's eyes seemed almost equally huge as he stared at the thing that had been Wilwa.

"Gosh," the boy breathed.

He spoke for all of them.


The Crew

Living
Commander Inziladun –First Officer.
Lieutenant Paranoia –Second Officer.
Ensign Pitchwife –Communications Officer/Interpreter.
Master Chief Petty Officer Loslote –Chief Engineer.
Isabellkya –Sensor Technician, First Class.
Shasta –Engineering Technician.
wintywinty –Weapons Maintenance Technician.
Rikae –"Cabin Boy" (a thirteen-year-old stowaway).

Dead
Doctor Morsul –Medical Officer and Captain McNerwen. –shot by Traitor on Night One.
Ensign Blind Guardian– Tactical Officer. –Died in convulsions (Telepath).
Eomer –Security Officer. –Thrown out the airlock (Bounty Hunter).
Lieutenant Sally –Navigator. –Torn to pieces (Metamorph).
Chief Petty Officer Keeper of Dol Guldur –Quartermaster. –Killed by exploding console (Ordinary).
Wilwa –Android Technician, Second Class. –Force-fed own muffins (Metamorph).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It is now Night Three.

[Isabellkya]

For clarification. My #52 was in response to Loslote's #37.
It happens quite often, not even sure why I need to point to it again. People will rule x player out of being a wolf for x reason, because wolves just won't do that. Most often it happens with new players. Quite a few people completely ruled Paranoia out as a wolf, because he was new to the BD - which they read as new to Werewolf in general. Which was not true. I've played in games with him before, it was even stated. Wolves will do just about anything under the sun, especially if it will further their cause - a victory.

My reason for voting for BG implied fabrication/lying/falsehood. Things don't need to be spelled out like that, for it to be seen.

No. 99% of the time, innocents do not need to fabricate a list of their suspicions. Even if they have a result which they are trying to get out - there is still the rest of the player list. Which will have honest suspicions. Wolves on the other hand, know whom the wolves are - therefore will not have honest suspicions.

Really Rikae; suspecting me is all good and fine. But twisting my words, and putting your own meanings to what I said - is beyond ridiculous.

I stated right with my seer thought, that I immediately ruled BG out - as she was too new to try a move such as that.

Again, you are giving your own reasons to what I actually said and meant. I can be a stickler for details. I don't sit well - ever - with people attributing data to me wrongly. I own up to my own actions - but say I did something which I didn't; what I should just continue to let people think that I voted BG because of last game; when I did not. It is conclusions based upon false information.


X'd with everything after #208.

[Nerwen]

Ten minutes.

[Loslote]

++Vanilwuffin

For, of course, previously stated reasons...

EDIT: xed with Rikae...actually, none of the BeiGe-bandwaggoners were particularly inexperienced...

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Loslote

++Vanilwuffin

For, of course, previously stated reasons...

EDIT: xed with Rikae...actually, none of the BeiGe-bandwaggoners were particularly inexperienced...

Point still stands. If I were a wolf going for a convoluted bluff like that would have to have been, I would only do so among a bunch of players experienced enough to know how common such Day 1 innocent lynchings for blunders are. Obviously, this was not such a village - the proof is in the pudding.

Edit: X'd with DL - oops.

[Rikae]

So, Izzy, you think that it's reasonable to say that copying someone else's suspicion list and then voting, three posts later, for a person you listed as "relatively innocentish" is the sort of thing to further a wolf's victory? On day one, in a village full of inexperienced players eager to lynch for a silly blunder? Wow. I've seen you as a wolf before, and you can be surprisingly formidable, considering you hold such absurd views about wolfish success.

ROFL.

[Isabellkya]

I thought we were supposed to be voting for whom we thought suspicious. Not whom had more potential to be lynched. Or did the nature of werewolf change in the last week or something without my knowledge?

Rikae. Why do you think this village is full of inexperienced players? 98% of what you say is absolutely ridiculous.

++Rikae

You can deem it as OMGUS I suppose, though that isn't the reason. Yes we interpret what others do - but blatantly spinning it to fit your vote.. come on.

[Nerwen]

Deadline.

[satansaloser2005]

Pitch-->Paranoia
Wilwa-->Paranoia (2)
Rikae-->Izzy
Paranoia-->Wilwa
Winty-->Pitchie
Dun-->Wilwa (2)
Lottie-->Snuggle Muffin (3)
Izzy-->Rikae

[Nerwen]

Wilwa is dead.

Narration to follow.

Night-people, I'd like your picks at least an hour before the next DL this time.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Isabellkya

My reason for voting for BG implied fabrication/lying/falsehood. Things don't need to be spelled out like that, for it to be seen.

If you disliked even her simple use of Lottie's list so much, why didn't you say so yesterDay?

Originally Posted by Izzy

No. 99% of the time, innocents do not need to fabricate a list of their suspicions.

I wish that were true. However, I've played a few werewolf games myself, you know. In my experience, they very often do just that on Day 1.

Originally Posted by Izzy

Even if they have a result which they are trying to get out - there is still the rest of the player list. Which will have honest suspicions. Wolves on the other hand, know whom the wolves are - therefore will not have honest suspicions.

No, this is backwards. A wolf has no reason to care who is lynched, as long as it's not a buddy - and therefore has the luxury of voting in the way that seems most plausible and consistent. Innocents may have to change their minds in the search for a real baddie.

Originally Posted by Izzy

Really Rikae; suspecting me is all good and fine. But twisting my words, and putting your own meanings to what I said - is beyond ridiculous.

I stated right with my seer thought, that I immediately ruled BG out - as she was too new to try a move such as that.

Ok, so you did. I did not twist your words, I forgot.
I still don't buy it, though, and don't see the point in even mentioning it.

[Isabellkya]

Okay. So I'm guessing that the secret role is indeed akin to a WereBear or simply a third party. They hunt someone/thing specific; yet aren't adverse to killing anything in their path?

This third party attacked Loslote, and the remaining Metamorph finished her off, in some sort of revenge kill? Or just plot to show that the Third Party & Metamorph both chose to kill Loslote.

Dun. If Wilwa and I were morphmates. Why throw my vote away on Rikae? Why not 'seize opportunity and find a plausible reason to vote for someone other than Wilwa', whom would keep her away from the noose? Some one like.. Paranoia for instance. I was the last vote, why not try and save her?

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Isabellkya

This third party attacked Loslote, and the remaining Metamorph finished her off, in some sort of revenge kill? Or just plot to show that the Third Party & Metamorph both chose to kill Loslote.

The "third party" tried to kill the person Lottie was protecting; Lottie then fought it (made a save). The Metamorph killed Lottie in the usual way. (The bit about being Wilwa's mate was just for narrative purposes– it wasn't really a Lover's revenge kill). I realised after I'd posted that it's a bit misleading.

[wintywinty]

People keep talking about a Werebear, or BearCyborg, or something as being the thing that killed Sally. Could someone please describe to me the details of what a Werebear role does?