role - foxes

[foxhounds]

FOXES Instead of waking up in the jungle, you wake up elsewhere. This is the square where the Foxes comes to decide what to do, and Ivan patiently sits on a bench. It's your job to pick someone to investigate. After all, you're saving them. You have a little while to think about who you'll pick tonight, but don't think too hard, since you only have until dawn. "So? Who do you want to know about?" Ivan asks, so clearly, she's not going to let you think on it that long. rulebook character statuses profiles All night votes will be due 5PM EST two days after trial.

Comments

[baaaaka]

We should investigate Souza.

[ that would be Mr. Pink from tonight's proceedings - though there's no doubt in his mind that Jason knows who he is. ]

I talked to him a little bit while everything was going on. He's a really weak person who doesn't care what happens to him, but after tonight, he's going to try and do something with his life. I told him to help me. [ a wave of his hand. ] Well, I didn't tell him what he'd be helping me with, of course. But he agreed.

He seems like a useless guy, but he's not the important thing here. You saw how all of his friends ganged up to protect him tonight, right? If we can get him to play along with us, we'll have a pretty big group of people in our sway. And I don't think it'll be hard to make him listen. [ pause. ] Of course, that's only if he really is as innocent as his little herd of friends think he is.

[unrecked]

[At first, Jason is quiet, thinking it over. Makes sense, in a way. He can't disagree with Auger's reasonings, not for why, but...]

No. [He doesn't sound angry when he says it. His arms cross over his chest.] Not yet, I mean. You can blame the blind guy. After he spoke out, our biggest issue right now is having the killers pose as us and start calling random people guilty to get others to vote for them, claiming to be Foxes. The only way we could refute that is to step out.

They'd bait us back, if they're smart enough for it.

[A pause, considering.] You have to be absolutely certain this guy would help us. I don't trust a guy who didn't care what happened to him. Anyone worth their oats should have cared about dying in this place--especially if they had a gaggle of friends? Yeah. Fishy.

In order to start telling everyone who is innocent and who is guilty, we have to remain anonymous, even from allies. We have to make contact without being known, and we'll need a seal only the two of us have, one no one else could mimic.

Still think Souza is going to be the right guy?

[baaaaka]

[ he wasn't expecting to be disagreed with. Blame it on being a prince. His ears clip back in disappointment, and he crosses his arms, too, regarding Jason with some skepticism. ]

You really think we'll be able to do something like that? I don't. All of us here, we've got access to the exact same resources. There's nothing we could make that those guys couldn't copy. Things aren't gonna work out that nicely.

Anyway, Souza works exactly because he doesn't care about dying. People like that - they're the easiest to use. He's already broken in here. [ tapping his head. ] We tell him to pretend to be a Fox, and we can have him point out anyone we want - all those other guys will back him up. The only one who would know the truth would be him. If word got out, we'd know who to blame, and we could take care of him.

[ it's not clear what Auger means by "take care of," but it's vague enough that death is a possibility. After all, who wouldn't want to work with them but a villain? ]

[unrecked]

[God dammit. Jason's arms drop a little after Auger takes the same pose, but it's mostly because Jason has begun to pace, slow, back and forth. Thinking.

He doesn't like it--doesn't like it since he hasn't talked to Souza himself, not personally. Only seen in passing, only watched the mayhem that was Sephiroth's seemingly baseless accusation and the fallout after.

The plan sounds good on the surface, but Jason knows it can't be that easy. It's never that easy. A wrench is going to be thrown into it if he doesn't try to consider every worst case scenario. Why was Sephiroth trying to blame Souza anyway? What tipped the man off if there was innocence?

Jason stops to look at Auger, lips pulled into a tight frown. Foxing is tough.] Even if he's innocent, we can't trust he won't babble. His whole group of friends could keep the secret among themselves and still know. That means we'd be the ones under their thumb, doing what they say to keep our identities secret.

And what if he's innocent but a friend is a the killer? He could tell them, and we'd be fucking dead as a doornail before we'd ever realize he told! [One of them would anyway...] No. No, he has too many allies, and we can't trust the allies any more than we could trust him.

The vote on him, sure, fine. But using them for our plan? Hell no. It's too risky.

[baaaaka]

Of course it's risky. No matter who we pick, it's gonna be risky, Red.

[ he shakes his head. Naturally, Auger's considered this - all of this. The potential benefits outweigh the dangers in his mind; that, and he's confident he can scare Souza into submission. It's a skill he's honed a lot over the years, and last night gave him all the ammunition he needs.

If only Mejojo was here, too. This would be so much easier with someone he knew would back him up. ]

Let me hear your plan, then. Who do you have in mind that's better?

[unrecked]

[Gently, Jason's jaws clench. He stares Auger down because he knows if he looks away, Auger will probably just sneer at his indecision. Plan--what fucking plan? How are they fucking supposed to make a plan in this game? What's the catch they are missing? Is there one?] I don't. That's the problem.

Everything I can think of turns out to have a bigger asshole lodged in the back end ready to dump shit on us at the first mistake. [A sigh, to relegate himself, to be calm--er.] The blind guy could be beneficial because of his disability, if he's even actually blind. Royce is beneficial because he is playing the game as it should be with no ties to anyone else here.

Max is a teenage girl; useful. Emotional. Easily swayed. She has a camera, too. Can take pictures. [Fuck, no one is worth two pennies in a bucket to them.] --Fine, whatever. Pick Souza. But I better not find my name in his mouth. You can tell him you're a Fox if you choose, but don't breathe a word about me.

[Sounds like a threat with how low he hisses it.]

[baaaaka]

[ that's basically what he expected. If Jason had a good idea, he would have told him about it by now. But he doesn't. As Auger sees it, he's just afraid - afraid to take the first step over the line that they're going to have to cross sooner or later. Everyone here could be an enemy; anyone could kill them. Even if they don't reveal themselves, they could die randomly.

The only way to win is to grab the game by the neck and throttle it into submission. ]

Oi, oi. Don't get testy with me. We've only got each other, you know. [ it feels weird to say that to someone that isn't his brother. ] That Royce guy is interesting, but he'd definitely betray us if he thought it'd benefit him. He's not stupid. And Max's camera is useful, but she's one of those do-gooder types, you know? If we have to get our hands dirty, I bet she'd turn on us, too. And this game's gonna be a lot harder if we don't.

[ on that note - he might as well just spill it instead of hinting at it. Jason could probably already guess as much. ]

Here's a secret from me to you. I'm a prince, but my brother is the king. He's the one that does all the big, public political stuff. Me, I'm the behind-the-scenes guy that "cleans up" all the messy loose ends. And I'm good at it. If you're worried about Souza talking, I have lots and lots of ways to keep him quiet. Weak guys like that are easy to train. [ a pause. ] But if I want him to really believe that I'm a Fox, I'll need someone to back me up. You don't have to tell him that you're one, of course, if you're that scared.

[unrecked]

No. [Head shaking, Jason points at Auger, shakes his finger up and down.] No way, Kitty. [The bold proclamation of being a prince, of being brother to a king, gets completely and unenthusiastically tossed to the sidelines. To Jason, Auger is no more or less important than the rest of them. Hobo, king, whatever. Here, they're all the same.

What he's thinking is: he can trust Auger's skills no more or less than he can anyone else's here, no matter what they say.] If you think he's so easy to wrap around your fuzzy tail, then he'll believe you if you claim to be a Fox. Or, what? Where's your big talk now, Princeling? Make him believe you.

I'm not throwing my name out there, and you better keep those little fangs of yours out of sight, or I'll pry them out for a cat necklace. [His arm has lowered, but his tone is deadly serious.] Don't tell him who I am. I mean it. At least one of us needs to remain anonymous, or we need to have different pawns. It's less risky.

One of us will be able to live since those people will only know the identity of a single Fox. Insurance policy.

[baaaaka]

[ such violence. Auger's not threatened, but he is annoyed, looking at Jason with lidded eyes. The smile remains on his face, though it's become rather dark, and a few heavy wags of his tail suggest his anger on their own. So much for partnership. He should have expected this much, honestly. ]

You insulted me, and now you're threatening me? So that's how this is going to be. That's really too bad, Red. [ shaking his head. ]

Have it your way, then. I won't say a thing to him. But let's at least investigate him tonight so we can see if that recently-deceased pretty boy was onto something.

[unrecked]

Look, just because we have to agree who to vote on doesn't mean I have to agree with how you do the whole Fox thing. [Funny how he can tell the mood of a cat-man perhaps better than a normal human; the tail and ears give signs away.] I mean what I said. About not telling. [He's not sure he trusts Auger anyway, not after what the guy just told him.]

There's too many people and too many variables right now. Just tell him there's more than one of us, and the other one will be keeping an eye on him. I'll vote with you on Souza. If your plan goes as smooth as you think it will, then I'll consider telling him what I am. Until then... [He motions to Auger, then to Ivan.]

Souza it is.

[foxhounds]

[ She's of course been silent thus far, but once they seem to come to a decision, she looks up from her lap. ]

Then your choice for the night is Souza Samonji?

[baaaaka]

Mmhm. I'll make it work, don't worry.

[ he can do this with or without Jason's help, if he has to - of that, he's certain. At Ivan's question, he turns towards her with a nod. ]

Seems like it.

[unrecked]

Yeah. [Jason jerks his chin up in a half nod.] Souza.

[foxhounds]

[ She reaches into a pocket of her dress, since this dress is actually useful, and pulls out a little Moleskine notebook and a penknife. The book is opened on her lap, and she cuts a little incision into her pinky. She winces a little as she cuts herself, but speaks clearly to the book. ]

Who is Souza Samonji?

[ She holds her pinky out over the book, and the red is seemingly absorbed into the pages, leaving no trace of where it stained behind. After a moment, red letters surface on the page. ]

SOUZA SAMONJI. INNOCENT.