Remember when bunnies were simply cute and fluffy? Me neither. Let's Play Virtue's Last Reward!

Next stop, the crew quarters.



We run into Tenmyoldy, who isn't all that friendly to us. And I'm pretty sure it's not because we call him Tenmyoldy, since I only do that behind his back. Sigme attempts to ask him about himself, such as why he's been acting weird ever since the old lady was found and whether Quark is his grandson, but Tenmyouji is all, "GTFO OF MY FACE I DON'T TRUST YOU." Alrighty then.



His mother, I assume. Clover and Luna come join the party after searching the other rooms in the crew quarters, and predictably, their search came up zero. As in zero things, not the rabbit. Or the person. Because that would end the game rather prematurely. Sigme asks the others their thoughts on the reason Zero is making them play the Nonary Game. Luna speculates that it's entertainment for rich and powerful people.



You're a bro and all, but sometimes you worry me, Luna. Her voice sounds really dreamy when she says that line, so I'm getting some possible masochistic vibes. In contrast to fantasizing Luna, Tenmyouji is still in his ragey old man mood and brings the topic back to the old lady and whether her death really was part of Zero's plans. If Zero Sr. did murder her...



Seven in one...? I don't understand Clover statistics. Clover excludes herself and Alice as candidates for being Zero Sr. because they know each other and both know the other isn't Zero. This prompts Sigme and Luna to ask how Clover and Alice know each other, which Clover vaguely answers as 'co-workers' at an 'organisation'. She refuses to specify what the organisation is for 'confidential' reasons (it's totally a strip club) and, like Tenmyouji, is all, "GTFO OF MY FACE I DON'T TRUST YOU GUYS." Only less ragey and old man-y. The two girls go their separate ways, leaving Sigme alone with Tenmyouji once more.



Unfortunately, he is no more willing to have a manly heart-to-heart with Sigme than he was before, so Sigme gives up and leaves the grumpy old man to be grumpy on his lonesome. Fine, Tenmyouji. I-It's not like we wanted to get to know you!

Last stop, the infirmary.



Hey, Quark! How it's going? Phi, long time no see! K, you're a stupid jerkface and I only like you because you sound like Theo. Old lady, uh... sucks to be you.



No one recognises the old lady, though K acknowledges that he may have known her before he lost his memories. The conversation shifts to K and his robot suit, which he says almost feels natural, as if he had always been wearing it. Quark wonders if there is any way to take the suit off, which leads to K, um, taking his robe off. D-Does this count as nudity?



K, you didn't need to strip for us to look at the back of your head but whatever floats your boat. Since K can't see the hole, Sigme tells him that it looks like a key of some kind needs to be inserted in order to open up the suit and remove the mask. K is relieved to hear that there is a possibility that he won't have to spend the rest of his life in the robot suit, which is understandable because robot suits get fabulous guys like Dio all up in your face. I imagine that wouldn't be as desirable to straight males as it would be to straight females.



We're late! We're late! For a very important date! Dio is gonna kick our ass.



He has his finger gun cocked and ready and everything. Chillax, princess. Okay, Phi. What are our options this time?







Buuuut before we can decide, some members of the group throw in their two cents. Tenmyouji and K don't want to pair up with each other because K betrayed in the first AB game, and could potentially kill Tenmyouji in the next. Natch for Alice. Alice and Clover want to pair up for obvious reasons though I get the feeling that they would probably gang up on Sigme and dump his body somewhere. Luna wants to pair with Sigme or Phi, because we are bros. Dio, being Phi's partner, likes the sound of pairing up with Luna since she allied in the first game but we won't let him because she is our bro and he is a stupid jerkface. With all that in mind, let us—



Q-Quark?



What's with the yandere eyes?



This isn't funny, kid...



You were sane and calling us 'Mr. Sigma' like three in-game minutes ago.



Tenmyouji, do something!



Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap.

Option A. Go through the green door with Luna.
Option B. Go through the blue door with K.
Option C. Go through the red door with Clover.

Okay, I'm now positively convinced that Alice is a robot. Even if you glue your boobs to your necklace and to each other, THEY DON'T LOOK LIKE THAT!
(No, I haven't tried where did you get that idea nope)

Does this mean Alice won't die from whatever Zero uses to kill us innocent people? She will totally appear 'right behind you!' when we thought she was long gone, won't she?
And Lunatic is turning out to be pretty awesome afer all :D

Edit: Whoops, ninja'd. I'm sure going through a door with two women, while none of them are Phi is a bad idea, so let's go with K.

Someone, anyone, stop that kid! Also, K, no stripping unless you're a girl. Although all Alice has to do is remove that necklace.

Let's go with K because two mysteries are better than one!

You guys want to be locked up with someone who looks like a robot in addition to someone who is potentially a robot?

YES

Well, I'm going to follow my usual methods of determination here, and vote for Clover.

Also, Sigma needs to obtain a large floppy hat with a feather in it before proceeding.

I'm gonna vote for K because of reasons.

...

Oh. Oh. That thing. That thing one cannot unsee. How did I forget about that?

I like the colour of the red door, so I'll vote for Clover.

I vote for Clover! Though I feel bad about leaving Luna to Dio's tender mercies. Maybe she'll 'accidentally lose' him on the way...
Also I want to find out if those dinosaur eggs on her head will hatch if Alice uses her lasers on them.

Voting for K. Quark u ok?

Voting for K.
I'm just waiting for one of them to go completely bonkers. Guess it'll be Quark.

Also, I kind of miss the 2D art style they had in 999. I'm okay with the 3D, though.

I'm going in blind, and we've already established I make bad decisions, so K is a go!

Iron Man! We choose you!



Phi, Dio, and Clover get the green door, while Luna, Tenmyouji and Quark go through the red door, which is fitting because it will undoubtedly be bathed in their blood by the hands of the craycray kid. Been nice knowing you, Luna. Tenmyoldy, not so much. I haven't forgotten that you rejected our offer of a manly heart-to-heart. Who will you be talking to about your feelings now, huh?



This is different. What gives?

K: It appears they are all locked.

Alice: Is this a dead end?

Not yet, Alice. I'm waiting for one or both of you to kill me. Then it'd be a dead end.



Pull the lever, Sigme. What's the worst that can happen? Either you die by robot, or you die by lever. One is slightly less dignified.



Only one door opens, so guess we have no choice. According to the plate on the door, this leads to the recreation room, where we will...



Initially, I didn't like this room. But then we found this.



And this happened.

K: Eeeeee he he he he he he he he! Look at me go! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!

Alice: I...I can't watch this...

Sigma: There is no god...

K: Heeeey! Sigma! Alice!

Sigma: H-He's waving at us now... Alice, what's going on? I'm scared...

Alice: I'm not watching. This isn't happening. Everything is fine.

K: It seems to have taken a picture! Hooray! Ahahahahaha! Aaah, that was delightful. I give you this as a momento of our time together, Sigma.

Sigma: U-Uh, I...I don't really... Just holding it makes me feel...wrong...

Despite his words, Sigme is still holding on to that photo by the time we open the safe. I bet he's wishing he still had that booze from the last room for its brain bleaching properties.



In it, we find another map.



As well as some moon key cards and the key to get us out of here. No, K, we're leaving. Stop looking at the kiddie ride.

After leaving the rec room, Team Blue Door find themselves in what looks to be another warehouse.



It even has its own ketchup graffiti!



And its own Chromatic Doors! Only... they're all white. Huh. Sigme tries the doors (of course) to find that they're locked tight (of course) and doesn't have the opportunity to do much else before a familiar voice cuts short the investigation.



That could only mean at least one team has already escaped their room and made it back to warehouse A. It also means that at least one person was enough of a stupid jerkface to open an AB room without waiting for everyone else to get back. Now with a 45 minute time limit, Sigme and co. race through the blue door again, up the elevator, and through the magenta door to reach the warehouse. If you trace their route with the maps, it's not exactly a short distance.



Okay, who was the stupid jerkface who went ahead and opened an AB room already?



Figures.



It also figures that on top of being fabulous and a stupid jerkface, Dio is a kleptomaniac.



Clover lunges at Dio and feels him up rifles through his pockets. Dio, for all his swearing and aggressiveness, is unable to fend her off before she finds what she's looking for.



...he was carrying that in his pocket? I'm surprised it hasn't accidentally stabbed him yet. Pity.



Fine, take it back, geez. All the more opportunity for it to accidentally stab you. And then you'll know why everyone says never to run with injection guns. Wait, that was scissors. Same principle.



Hey guys, you're alive. And Quark's not with you. Congratulations on managing to escape his bloody clutches!





Okay, you didn't escape per se, but at least you're no longer in his bloody clutches? That's good, right?



Sure guys, let's go actively seek his bloody clutches.

Everyone leaves to go look for Quark except for Alice, who is staring intently at the corner of the warehouse. Sigme, while noting its strangeness, doesn't think much of it in his eagerness to go get killed by Quark. Looking for a ten year old with yandere eyes on your lonesome is never a good idea. Just sayin'.



No Quark in the lounge.



No Quark in the rec room.



Oh thank god. With two people there's less of a chance of being picked off. Unless... K, you're just here for the kiddie ride again, aren't you?



Totally back for the kiddie ride.



Upon returning to the floor A warehouse, Sigme and K find Tenmyouji, Phi and Clover. Since Quark is not with them, it is safe to assume they haven't had any luck finding him either. The mood becomes sombre as they all begin fearing the worst. Suddenly, the cyan door opens and Dio rushes through.



What is it? You've found Quark?



...Quark isn't a 'they'.



I have a bad feeling about this...



Oh.



God.

Hmm, that doesn't look like Alice got stabbed by that gun and I'm positive Quark can't reach that high... Wait... Dio's gun IS lying there, isn't it? I know he is fabulous, but he shouldn't be that stupid. Hmmm...

And K the living dictionary and avid fan of kiddy rides is awesome~

It's a bit hard to see there, but Alice has a knife sticking out of her.

You have no idea how much I wish that part with K and the kiddie ride was voiced. xD

...Well then.

is it just me or is clover smiling

Clover is ALWAYS smiling.

Yeah, her default mouth is that smile, which looks odd during events like those.
On the flip side, it explains so much.

Just an hour ago, we were being traumatised by K's enthusiasm over a kiddie ride with Alice. A few hours before that, we learnt from Luna that banana hangers are actually a thing. We were starting to bond. The possibility of everyone escaping together didn't seem as farfetched as it did at the beginning. Now with two dead, it will never happen.



With their deaths, the ones who are left are reminded of the harsh reality that among them is a murderer. Suspicions flair once more as they turn against each other.



Is it Dio? There is always the possibility that the first person at the scene of the crime is in fact the criminal. Also he's a selfish jackass, so there's that too.



Is it Tenmyouji? Luna was to be Tenmyouji and Quark's opponent in the next AB game. With Quark missing and Luna dead, Tenmyouji is free to betray for an easy 3 points.



Is it K? Alice would've been his opponent along with Sigme, however as he points out, Sigme is still alive and free to vote against him.



Their accusations are interrupted by the now familiar announcement. Death is death, but the game must go on. Could it be that Alice and Luna's deaths, like the old woman's, were planned all along?



Clover, who has been quiet during the entire exchange, finally speaks, only to say that she refuses to vote. That means, of course, that she would automatically ally. Phi points out that Dio, who is sitting on 6 BP, can betray her and reach 9 BP. And no one's dumb enough to believe that a) he wouldn't betray and b) he wouldn't then ditch them all to save his own skin. So Clover grudgingly comes along, solely to prevent Dio from leaving. Serves you right, you fabulous stupid jerkface.

Shortly before entering his AB room, Sigme is stopped by K.

K: You have 5 BP. If we both ally, then you will gain 2 points, leaving you with 7 in total. Should you also cooperate mutually in the following round, you would gain another 2 points, bring you to 9.

K: Conversely, if you were to choose to betray me during this round, you would gain 3 points, for a total of 8. In other words, you will be unable to reach 9 BP until the round following this one.

K: That being the case, choosing "ally" is the most logical choice.

Nice try, K. Sigme may be shaken up by the deaths of two of his fellow captives, and he may be pretty stupid at times, but he can still math.

K: Ah. Yes, that is true, however... Escaping as soon as possible is not my goal.

Sigma: But you picked "betray" in the first round, didn't you?

K: That was in the interest of my own safety. As I only had 3 points at the time, the prospect of losing 2 of them was very unsettling. Now that I have 6 BP, I have some room for error.

Sigma: Why wouldn't you want to get out of here as soon as you possibly could?

K: Of course I would like to. But attempting to do so would be...unwise. If I escape on my own, everyone else will be trapped here forever.

K: Consider the following. If I did manage to get to 9 points before anyone else, do you think the rest of our companions would allow me to leave?

K used LOGIC! It is questionably effective.



K used ^_^! It is... just questionable.



Your call, guys.

I think we should ally. K's logic seems sound, I see no reason for him to betray us.
Well, other than getting to leave early, but why would he want to? The key to his armor's probably in the place somewhere, so he has a bigger motivation to stay than to leave.

I think we should Ally. If only because betraying would only anger the man and I don't want him angry at us. And anyway we still wouldn't be able to leave even if we did betray him so and having 8 points would just make us a target of everyone else in the room.

I, on the hand hand, do not believe that K won't betray us so I say we should Betray him.

Yeah, you don't want K angry at you. He could make you ride the kiddie ride with him next time.

HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS GAME EXISTED IT HAS ALL OF MY WANTING

K does have more to gain by Allying than by Betraying, and even if he does double-cross us all that'll happen it that we'll end up back where we started in terms of AB points. We're hardly in danger either way. Granted, we could also Betray on the assumption that K will Betray and risk either a 3-point gain or a no-win situation, which in theory seems like the smarter choice, but in practice only benefits us in a no-win since we'll lose everyone's trust by choosing Betray in the first place and actually successfully Betraying will make us 1) become a target for having 8 points and 2) probably severely piss off the guy in the robot suit, neither of which bode well for our continued existence. And since we haven't been Betrayed yet, keeping up the Tit-for-Tat strategy is (as JohnStargazer said) the best option.

tl;dr I say we Ally.

Ally. There is no way this could possibly go wrong.

I vote Betray. It's very sound logic.. But he only says that he'd not leave.

Man his little expressions are adorable though.

I vote for let's romance K. Because he is seriously awesome. Though I kinda do have problems with imagining him with sigme.


Romance that robot!
...
So yeah, let's ally. It is a completely rational choice not influenced by any emotional sentiments.

Well, actually given the circumstances of the game itself I think Tit-for-Tat would call for looking at their voting record against previous opponents and voting based on that, making Betray the best option here.

That said, K's logic holds up and Ally could potentially be the best option here. Unless he's just saying that to trick us into trusting him.

So, I'm going to have to go with raw gut instinct here, and Betray the Man in the Iron Mask, because screw the Monarchy.

YES!!!! Romance him, ally with him, gaze longingly at his robotic glory. He is beautiful. Look at that sweet face. What could possibly go wrong?

faf;kasdlfk;laksdfjalksdfjajsdflhajnvhblasjef I need this game. I need this game like burning, DAMMIT, WHY DID I SPEND MY MONEY ON OCARINA OF TIME 3D?! Wait, no, I take that back... WHY DID I SPEND SO MUCH MONEY ON YOGA PANTS?! D8

Also, I agree with this "seduce the robot in the toga even if we are some average looking guy who asks too many questions" plan. Because THAT KIDDIE RIDE SCENE. You have no idea how quickly I would have hopped on that over sized Zero III replica with him. Even if it was a murderous rabbit.

EDIT: Does anyone else notice K's sadface eyes when Sigma is saying the two girls are dead? WhydidInoticethat?

Never trust anyone with 6 BP to Ally! Betray!

Hohoho, more people wanting this game. Just according to keikaku.

I wouldn't trust someone, that I met just a few hours ago, that also has 6 BP to vote ally, Betray.

Mission 'Romance K' is a go.



Our partner is dead, so there's no one to scream at us for not picking "betray". Straight to the results monitor it is.



Just as well Phi wasn't paired with us in this round, or there would be the biggest "I told you so!" on the planet. As it is, I'll let all the people who voted for "betray" have the honours.



Yes, yes we did. Unlike a certain somebody.



You're a dirty rotten liar, K. Do you hate being shipped with Sigme that much? ...actually, don't answer that.



That's true. but K's not you, Dio. He wouldn't be callous enough to leave us all to be trapped here. R-Right?



Okay, wrong. But K, think this through, man. Do you think the outside world would be accepting of a robot man riding on kiddie rides?



Stay here and ride that stupid Zero III kiddie ride as much as you want! Hell, let's go to the rec room right now!



Think of the kiddie rides!



Fine, K, if you're going to be a heartless asshat, go ahead. But tell us one thing before you leave. Why did you do it?



Aside from being a heartless asshat. That is indeed obvious.





He has a robot suit. A robot suit.



It's amazing how his logic has made a complete 180 degree turn. In the end, even if he does look the least human out of all the players, his sense of self-preservation is still very much human. Doesn't make him any less of a dirtbag though.



He apologises again, and leaves. The number nine door slides shut behind him.



The announcer cheerily tells everyone that escape is not possible and to enjoy their stay.

Well, that was surprisingly not interesting o.o Where's all the ketchup gone?

Whohooo, K survived and Sigme did not~