Deck 4, 3:57 am

Many of the infected had escaped deck seven, though it didn't matter at all since Dr. Han had already anticipated such an outcome. He was currently hiding in his office with the door locked and a chair positioned under the doorknob as a safety precaution. He had even sealed off the air vent—a necessary step that would ensure his survival as he watched the last 24-hours unfold.

As he watched the security footage from behind the screen of his laptop, a few things had become certain: the majority of convention-goers had been infected aside from the essential staff he'd ordered to quarantine in the lower decks, there would be unfortunate survivors he'd need to deal with when this was all over, and anyone responsible for the release of the infection would need to be punished. Or fired. Maybe silenced? He'd decide later.

Checking his watch, Dr. Han closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair. He kicked his feet up and set an alarm on his watch for five o'clock. Just before sunrise.

At five o'clock, that was when his favor would finally come into play. This would be nothing more than a terrible accident and he would be so lucky the coastguard "found" their ship. At five o'clock this would be a tragic story of science gone wrong—the horrors of faulty containment of toxic fumes. And at five'clock, this would all be over.

Though, in some ways, it already was.

~

THE TASK

Welcome to Semifinals! You're one task away from being in the final and feeling that sweet sweet glory. But first, we gotta get down to business.

For this task, you all have mostly the same prompt, except for one defining feature which is how your moral compasses from task two come into play. Listen carefully as there is a fair amount of flexibility but there is a specific requirement you will want to meet.

A sickly yet mostly coherent individual will come across your character and claim to have found a way off of this ship as the disease is spreading. Whether your character is coherent enough to understand his claim will be entirely up to you and the state of your character as you may just have them follow him to this alleged escape route. They will lead your character to the bottom deck of the ship where there are supposedly emergency life rafts. Alternatively, if it's more at your convenience you can come to the bottom deck of the ship at your own merit and on your own reasoning. However, you will still come across a sickly individual while you're down there.

As you are down there, you will recognize this same location to be the bottom deck from task two where the human experimentation took place. As you wander down the corridor, the sickly individual will do one of two things depending on your decision from task two:

Task A. If your character released the patient - congratulations, you didn't get payback. This stranger will follow through on their word on knowing how to escape, and you will escape together on a life raft. Tell me how your character is feeling throughout all of this. Are they relieved? Kind of already on their death bed from the disease so they have no idea they're even safe? Give me the details.

Task B. If your character did not release the patient - unfortunately, you get the dark ending. This sick-looking individual was one of the human experiments that managed to escape after you paid them a visit and they're not feeling too good about you leaving them to rot. They will not follow through on their word and will instead lock you in one of the polycarbonate containers. Whether they do this by tricking you or by dragging you in and leaving you there to die themselves will be up to you. How does your character react? Are they panicked? Scared? Too dead inside to process what's happening? Be as creative as you'd like.

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Word Limit: None

Ballots: None. Two byes will be given, with four at risk for elimination.

Deadline: Friday, June 26th at 6pm PDT

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As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, PM me or leave a comment below!