vault113 | INTRODUCTION

INTRO

Vault 113

You wake feeling groggy. You have the distinct sense of oversleeping, even if you may not recall ever going to bed in the first place. And this bed? Definitely not yours, no matter how comfortable it may be. And you'd probably not go to sleep in your street clothes*, right? Well, maybe it's time to smooth out your bedhead and get exploring!

(*or whatever else you were wearing at the last moment you remember)

The first thing you'll notice is the complete absence of windows - are you underground? Though you'll encounter quite a few closed doors, there are some rooms for you to look through and maybe catch your breath in. Maybe it's time for a slushie in the dining room? Impatience won't get you anywhere!

And what's better than a sweet drink to bring strangers together? After all, you're not the only one who's crawled out of bed a little late today. Mingle and don't worry too hard about your current predicament!

((The Mastermind will introduce themselves at 7pm EST real time.))

NAVIGATION

Vault 113: a short-run murdergame

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ This part. This part is the hard part, the grind and the catch. ]

Yes and no.

[ She unclasps her hands. One arm falls to her side, and the other crosses her back, catching her elbow. ]

I didn't want it to come to that. [ It's not an excuse. There is none. ] It wasn't the plan. It was a contingency.

[ Ruby takes a breath. Inhale.

The sea breeze, over the peninsula. It never touches the underground places.

Exhale. ]

The contingency is part of the plan. You think I didn't know that it was dangerous? That Martinaise would be swarming with cops, no matter what? Come on. That shit is a matter of time for both of us, and you know that. But you didn't have the balls to tell me about your plan yourself.

[ Easy there, Paledriver. ]

Okay.

[ She's a silhouette under a halogen light. She's an outline against a window. She is the ice-cool shimmer of fresh cut amphetamines on a clean white counter. ]

When did you want me to tell you?

Because, you know, when everything was happening, I hadn't worked it all out yet - and then, after that? You didn't make yourself easy to find.

[ She lets her eyes shut, screw tight. First line of defense and of detection, disarmed. ]

I'm sorry. That was a shitty thing to say.

You're right. I didn't have the balls. I didn't know what you'd do. I didn't...

[ Archipelago: Please.

Oubliette: Don't. ]

It didn't work out, anyway. Plan, contingency. None of it. So yes, Ruby. I should have told you.

[ Against her better judgment, Ruby deflates a little, her shoulders loosening. She studies the ground instead of studying Klaasje. A more fruitful exercise, but only barely.

She looks back up. ]

During, I guess. Not that it would have made much of a difference. [ Ruby should have known. This is what happens - ] I would have done the same thing. You can have that one for free.

[ It's better not to owe each other. ]

The cop got you.

[ Tradecraft: She wants you to believe that. Whether it's true or not, in the abstract hypothetical, isn't important. What's important is that even now, there's a part of her that wants to let you off the hook you hanged her on. She knows better.

Poetics: But the lungs so often want to forget. ]

The world got me.

[ Her eyes blink open, slowly. Her fingers tighten on her elbow, but her face is placid, resigned. ]

I guess I got what I deserved for what I did to you, didn't I, in the end?

[ Ruby rolls her eyes at the melodrama, and it's like they're smoking together on the roof again. For a half a second, maybe, if that. ]

The cop isn't the world.

[ If he was, Ruby might have actually gone through with it. ]

Mm. Wrong again, college girl. It would have been better if you sold me out and it worked.

[ Ruby always was the only one smart enough to catch her bullshit, challenging enough to call her on it. It had been one of the only things that kept Klaasje's brain sparking up for more than anxiety and amphetamines. It had been nice. ]

That's too bad. Someone should have got something out of it.

[ Despite herself, there's a tremor in her voice. She blinks hard, back very straight, and examines a point between Ruby's feet. ]

I've spent the last few days detoxing in a detention cell, waiting for - the other cops. The rest of the world.

I know I wasn't a good person. But I still don't want to die like that. You don't, either.

Whatever this is - and I don't know if it's a prison, or interrogation facility, or something worse - that's one thing we know about each other, right? Something we don't know about anyone else.

[ While Klaasje looks at the floor, Ruby looks her square in the eyes for this one. ]

I wasn't going to die in a prison cell.

[ Klaasje will know what she means. ]

If it makes you feel any better, he let me go. Fucked up that he didn't extend you the same courtesy. [ Ruby says, her steel-edged voice growing harder.

Something we don't know about anyone else. Ruby tips her head back and sighs, tension deflating as quickly as it came. ] You know me better than nearly anyone else. Not sure if the same can be said for me about you, and even if you told me I did, there's no way to believe you.

[ Doesn't matter, though. What matters is getting out. ]

[ Klaasje knows what Ruby means. Her eyes, when they open, are full of it. The dark shape squirming behind them is not quite possible to name, but it is hideous. ]

Would you believe me if I said it did make me feel better?

[ It's gone again. There's just her, brittle, husked out. ]

Because it does. I don't care if you believe that, either.

[ She cares. It's the little break in her voice, the stumble. It's so hard to keep being herself, all the time. ]

You know enough about me for this. You know I'm a survivor. You know that if I'm coming to you, like this, it's because I really believe that whatever is happening, we're better off if we work together.

I don't get anything out of fucking you over here. And even if I did, you have something over on me.

[ It is hideous, and true, and Ruby hates that she recognizes it in Klaasje. She wishes she recognized anything else.

Klaasje says she doesn't care, and so of course, Ruby doesn't answer the question. After the run-in with the Can Opener, she doesn't feel much like answering questions anyway, no matter how fair that may or may not be.

Sunset over the reeds.

Ruby closes her eyes, and she allows a hand to rub at her forehead, and then run back through her hair. Maybe it's because she never slept well underneath the Feld building, but at this point, all she really feels is exhaustion. ]

I don't care what you believe. I know you're a survivor.

I'll think about it.

[ And unless Klaasje has some witty retort, that's her cue to go. ]

[ Ruby will think about it.

Archipelago: Her brow furrowed, eyes sharp, attention as far from you as a star. Her mind in her hands and her hands in her mind. Tactile, inventive, persistent.

Intimation: Yes. ]

Okay.

[ Sleep. Rest. They both need it. She doesn't know if they'll get it, but they won't find it here. She tucks her chin, unclasps her elbow. ]

Thanks for hearing me out.

[ And she turns on her heel, dancer in a music box, and goes. ]

INTRODUCTION

disco elysium spoilers throughout

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cw: suicide mention

cw: drug abuse, forced detox

cw: implied suicide

cw: implied suicide

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