Costa Crew: Our Turn To Die

Chapter 8: Death is a Kindness

"I lied!?" Ben yelled, baffled. "I was only saying what I was instructed to say, how did I lie!?"

"Well," Paul replied, with a snicker. "You went off script. We told you to explain attractions. We told you to explain this room and may I say you did so beautifully. However, we did not tell you to lie about a way out."

"But if everyone gets the same amount of clear chips then they can bypass this phase, right?" Hero asked.

"Oh, you actually believed her?" Paul burst into laughter. "Ben has been lying her ass off this entire time. I believe I mentioned back when we had our first majority vote that we normally accept a tie as a double loss. It's the same throughout this game. If two people have an equal majority vote, they both die. And if you all had the same amount of clear chips-"

"Then we all would have been punished?" Kleinman asked. Paul nodded.

Becky couldn't believe her ears. "You mean-"

"Yes Becky," Paul confirmed. "A minimum of one person will be punished at the end of this phase, although I personally hope it's more. Oh, and unlike with our earlier majority vote, there isn't any smart way to get out of this punishment."

"Why did you lie Ben?" Ted asked. "We trusted you!"

"I... I-" she cried, trying to form a sentence. "But I..."

"Too late Ben," Paul tutted. "Any last words?"

"Of course!" yelled Ben, adamantly. "How come you don't get punished for telling the same lie?"

"You're claiming I told the same lie?" Paul repeated, intrigued. "I thought it couldn't get more desperate but here we are. Please, do tell."

"Well," Ben explained. "You never explicitly told the lie. However, it was Meister and yourself who designed that room right? With the note that told everyone to split the chips evenly? That note would have been responsible for everyone's death. And it must have been you or Meister that wrote it, right? So, in the spirit of fairness, one of you two needs to die."

Paul laughed. "Wow, this really is rather dolorous. You're wasting everyone's time here, Ben. Hannah already told us all exactly what the note said. One for each person. It said that to tell the participant that there was the same amount of clear chips in that room as there were alive participants. Nowhere did it say to split them among the participants. Of course, we hoped you'd interpret the note that way, and you all did. It was designed to be a trap, not a lie. Of course, Ben ruined that all now by attempting, and succeeding, in deceiving you. Not revealing the truth behind this trap now would have led to unjust casualties."

"Why though, Paul?" Becky asked. "What's the point of this 'trap' anyway?"

Paul laughed. "There's the Becky I know and love. The Becky that's way too trusting. Have a look around the room. Can you tell me, in all honesty, that not one person here would have betrayed you? Can you say for certain that every person here would have collected the same amount of clear chips and left it at that? That not one person here would worry about dying enough to collect one more clear chip 'just in case'? Because if you seriously believe that then you're not as wise as you seem, Becky."

Becky looked around the room. She saw the faces of her friends, Ted, Hannah, Charlotte. There's no way they would betray her. However, as she looked around more, she couldn't be certain. Hero. She liked Hero but there was no way she could trust him. Not fully anyway. Nothing personal about the guy, just that they know nothing about him. Same went for Anthony. And that left Amelia and the Lisas. Three people who would probably watch Becky die rather happily. They probably would have collected some extra clear chips hoping that it would cause her death. Ben had lied about another thing as well. There was no way in hell Becky could actually have allies and survive this death game.