"... You all can handle it while I'm gone, and I DON'T want any repeats of the little incident we had two years ago when I left, is that clear?"
Dorian managed to pick up the last sentence that left Danya's mouth and couldn't help but let out an audible gulp in response. The "incident" Danya was referring to from two years ago happened when a few former members of the Arthro Taskforce took it upon themselves to lounge around in Danya's office when he had gone home to visit his family around the middle of the game. It was all fun and games... at least, until they inadvertantly turned on the speaker in Danya's office while they were trashtalking him.
In Danya's book, that type of insubordination meant only one thing. Death. Dorian had always been a cowardly man, and the fact was, he was horrified at the thought of being killed. If there was one thing that Dorian had learned about Danya since he'd been assigned to the SOTF ACT, it was that the man didn't tolerate a lot of things, and he wouldn't think twice about killing insubordinates. After all, that had been the fate of Rice, Kaige and McLocke two years ago.
The way it had all happened had been quite cruel, really. Maybe they had deserved punishment for their actions, Dorian could see that much. After all, this entire program had strict rules and foundations, and insubordination against the coordinator was a big no-no in the rulebook. But... to cut out their vocal chords and throw them onto the island? He even went so far as to make poor Achyls use their chopper for target practice. It all seemed so... inhumane.
But that was Danya, he supposed.
It was ironic how a man who was so continually cheerful and easygoing in the office could be so cruel and sadistic. But Mr. Danya, he seemed like the type of man who was always drunk on power... at least, that was how he came off to Dorian. A sense of power came with the title of project coordinator, he supposed. Still, it was funny how Danya could watch his co-workers and underlings die horrible deaths and simply shrug his shoulders. In fact, the only time Dorian could recall seeing Danya even look grim about the death of an AT member was when Kimblee was killed in action.
"ARE you listening to me?" Danya spat out exasperatedly, causing Dorian to snap back to reality and stare at the pompous man.
"Y-yes s-s-sir!" Dorian stuttered out nervously, "B-but..."
"But what?" Danya sighed annoyedly.
"What ab-bout the a-a-nna-nanouncement?"
"Oh, right..." Danya responded, a quizzical expression coming across his face. The previous day on SOTF hadn't been all that interesting in his eyes. The kids had slowed down tremendously on their slaughtering from the previous day, which had been quite the disappointment to Danya. Besides all that, he was eager to get home and see Lilly and Amora... not to mention, his son was coming home on leave, and Danya hadn't been able to even speak with him in a long while. After a few moments of pondering, he looked back up at Dorian, a wide smile spreading across his face, "Why, Dorian... YOU can do the announcement!"
"M-ME?!" Dorian spat out.
"Why yes!" Danya exclaimed, "You'll do fine, I have faith in you! Just remember, I don't want any incidents!"
The rotund man beamed once again as he climbed into the helicopter, not giving his baffled assistant time to recover from the shock of his words, let alone adamantly refuse to do the announcement. Instead, the chopper began to lift off the ground and Dorian could do nothing but shield his eyes from the spiraling blasts of wind. Butterflies began to rise in his stomach as he thought about what Danya had ordered him to do, and how horribly it was going to go over.
The fact was, Dorian wasn't much of a public speaker.
---
Dark, ominous clouds rolled slowly over the still unlit sky of the island, bringing a howling wind that tore through the trees and caused the waves to crash along the beach with them as they accosted the area. The wind howled so loudly, in fact, that it drowned out the normally loud squeal that emitted from the island's public access system every time it was activated. Of course, the wind wasn't loud enough to drown out the voice that echoed out from the P.A. system, but to even the most pea-brained individual, it was quite obvious that the individual on the P.A. system was NOT Mr. Danya.
"H-h-hello?" Dorian squeaked nervously into the microphone before quietly clearing his voice, "T-today is d-day f-f-f-four of the SOTF ACT a-and the t-t-time is currently 6 a.m. This is D-dori--- ahhh, I mean, Mr. Danya's assistant. He c-could be with us t-today so I'll be making the an-an-announ-announcement in his p-place."
The fact that he was standing (he was far too scared to sit in Danya's chair) in an office where no one could see him didn't change the fact that Dorian had horrible stagefright. After all, the ongoing game was being broadcast around the world, and everyone could hear his voice. It made the mousy man all the more fidgety as he stood there, hands shaking slightly, staring down at the papers sitting on the table in front of him.
"S-so I think I'm s-s-supposed to a-announce the names of the s-students who died yesterday, s-so I'll just b-begin now. The first one was A-anderson Walker... I think he c-called himself A-andy. He s-slipped and f-f-fell down the quarry, a-nd he d-d-drowned when he h-hit his head on a rock and f-f-fell into the w-w-water. Next was Ivye Dewley. S-she was incinerated in a grenade e-explo-s-s-ion caused by Adam Dodd. Viktor Kurchatov d-died immediately after Ivye, stabbed by J-julie M-mikan. Gabrielle... n-no, Gabriel Theobaldt was n-next, also dying in the g-grenade explosion that was caused by Adam D-d-dodd."
Dorian was rambling quickly through the names, desperately wishing to turn off the public access system and go back to his cozy little cubicle on the other side of the room. Somehow, he didn't imagine that his announcement was turning out quite like a "Mr. Danya" announcement.
"Only four more to g-g-go," Dorian stuttered out, fidgeting once again before playing with the papers in his hands, "Next is Trey Leyton, who was k-k-killed by... by..." Dorian stared down at the paper in front of his hands, barely able to read the name of Trey's killer, "Natanya Hartless!" he exclaimed finally before moving right along, "T-then there was Quale Hutchinson who was killed w-when Bobby Jacks broke his n-neck. S-simon Wood was next, impaled b-by Darnell B-butler. Finally, C-courtney Blaggé w-was our last death of the d-d-day, a-and her throat was slit b-by Harry Tsai."
The relief of the fact that he was almost done with the announcement was greatly starting to outweigh his fear of public speaking.
"The northern shore has been cleared as a dangerzone, if you want to go b-back there... b-but it looks awfully s-stormy out there, the waves are crashing down p-pretty hard. B-but... we have four new dangerzones, going into effect in the next t-ten minutes. T-those dangerzones are the hospital, the jailhouse, the c-chapel, and the c-c-caves so make s-sure you get out of there i-immediately, p-please."
Dorian sighed quietly as he stared down at the final note scribbled onto the paper in front of him.
"J-just one more t-thing..." he stated tentatively, "M-m-mister Dodd... you've won our daily best k-kill contest... s-so if you'd please head to the... the mess hall, we'll d-deliver your prize s-shortly. A-also! P-please don't come near the mess hall for the first f-few hours of the d-day. It will be a d-dangerzone until Mr. D-dodd picks up his prize! T-thank y-you!"
Dorian immediately hit the off-switch on the speaker and let out a relieved sigh. It was finally over.
---
The OOC Stuff:
Contest Winners:
The character Adam Dodd, as stated above, has won this month's BKA and will be PMed shortly with the prize awaiting him. As for BDA, we had a tie this month, so both Clueless and Atomic Waffle will be receiving roll nullification cards. Congratulations, boys. You both deserved it.
Dice Rolls:
Because of the current lag in activity, I've done several rolls this month to make up for it. Just like always, you have 72 hours to begin your death and 5 days in total to complete it. I know we have a lot of people away right now, so if you require an extension on completing your death, please PM me ASAP. If you'd like to use a swap/hero/roll null card, please inform me ASAP as well. Without further adieu, I present to you this month's rolls!
Daniel "Dan" Brent
Eduardo Trinidad-Villa
Keith Jackson Khrysta Lawrence
Monique St. Claire
Braden Marsh
Julia Lauper
Inactives:
Currently, everyone on the inactivity list has redeemed their character. In the future, you will NOT be given warning when your character hits the inactivity mark (two weeks/no post) and they will simply be taken from you and killed, as it states in the rules. This is because when people are warned about inactivity, they frequently post to redeem their character and immediately let them fall back into inactivity again. This is not allowed. If you're going to be away, please remember to post in the away topic, or, if you're unable to, have someone else post as away for you. Being away does not exempt your characters from dice rolls or dangerzones, so bear that in mind. You can avoid the dangerzone problem by removing your character from their current topic before leaving, and it's preferred that you do that as a.) it saves you from getting caught in a dangerzone while you're gone and b.) it keeps topics from being held up in your absence.
I suppose with all that being said, this month's announcement is concluded.
