Orion: part 7
James
What I'm proposing is a game for our lives.
You give us a chance to live.
If we lose, we die.
If we win, you'll let us leave, uncontested.
Caroline
WHAT?!
Detective–in the most respectful way possible–WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!?!
James
If we don't beat him here, we're gonna die anyway, so it's not like we're really losing anything.
If anything, this is better for us.
Caroline
Still, there's no way he'd–
Poor Man's Poison
Sounds fun.
Ok James Spectre, what kind of game do you have in mind?
James
A game of chance rigged entirely in your favour.
Caroline
Detective!!!
What are you doing!?
James
Saving our lives, what does it look like?
Caroline
…
KILLING US!!!
Please don't take him too seriously, despite his reputation, he's an idiot.
I'm sure we can reach a much more…uh…reasonable conclu–
Caroline gets held by the neck by Orion
Poor Man's Poison
It's rude to interrupt.
As you were saying.
James
Put her down first.
You can't play the game unless we're all there.
James and Poor Man's Poison have a stare down
Poor Man's Poison
Fine.
Orion drops Caroline
Caroline
Hack!!
Ugh, I'll get you this time!!
Lacerta catches Lyra's fist
James
Doc, please be patient.
Caroline
But–
James
Trust me.
Caroline
…Are you sure this will work?
James
Sure enough.
Caroline
Really inspiring confidence.
James
I know.
So, Poor Man's Poison, here's the deal.
James pours 3 glasses of water
James
We'll each take a drink from one of these glasses, the catch is you'll use Orion to put a sleeping drug in one of these glasses.
Everyone will have to take a sip of their glass, then whoever gets drugged loses.
The odds are completely in your favour.
It's a 2:1 chance that you'll win.
You also get to decide who gets drugged.
If either Doc or I get drugged, the other will have to willingly surrender themselves.
Caroline
Wait, you want me to just give up!?
Why would I do that!?
James
As long as he follows the rules, we'll follow them as well.
Poor Man's Poison
I appreciate the sportsmanship James!!!
Sounds like a good game to me.
And you promise to surrender?
James
We do.
Poor Man's Poison
Great!
Orion appears
Poor Man's Poison
(Now, I need to pick my target carefully…)
(of course I won't choose myself, which only leaves two options.)
(I won't put anything too potent in there, he's definitely got something up his sleeve, I can't take the risk of poisoning myself.)
(I believe the detective would follow through on his word…)
Poor Man's Poison looks over to Caroline, she's scowling while James tries to calm her down
Poor Man's Poison
(I believe James would follow through on his word, but I'm not so sure about that woman…)
(I should probably poison her glass to ensure my victory.)
Caroline
…
(What am I doing here?)
(I get into a fistfight with some random guy, we both almost die, then he puts me into a death game.)
(But so far, this morning has shown me that no matter how hopeless something seems, you can't just give up…)
(Of course I'll never tell him that, cause that's the lamest thing ever…)
(...But I just really hope our luck hasn't run out.)
Poor Man's Poison
I'm done.
I've poisoned one of the glasses.
We can all take a sip now.
Caroline
Wait a second, how can we be sure you only poisoned one of our glasses?!
How do we know you didn't decide to poison both of our drinks?!
Poor Man's Poison
I would never do something that cowardly! (lie)
What do you take me for, a child?
Caroline
…
Poor Man's Poison
…
An awkward pause fills the air
Poor Man's Poison
Anyways, my point is I didn't poison both glasses, only 1 of them has the poison. (lie)
James, I really don't understand, I thought you were smart, but this isn't really a "game," now is it?
Afterall, why would I poison myself–
!!!
Poor Man's Poison sees the water in his glass is shaking, as is the water in the other glasses
Poor Man's Poison
(Did…did he switch the glasses around?!)
(What am I saying, of course he did!)
(He never planned to give up in the first place!!)
(Fine, have it your way!)
(I'll just use Orion to remove the previous poison and poison your glasses again!!)
(So much for that–)
As Orion starts to emerge, it gets grabbed by Lacerta
James
Now, now Poor Man's Poison.
We agreed no cheating, didn't we?
As long as we play by the rules, you'll do the same.
Isn't that what we said?
Poor Man's Poison
B-B-But you cheated first by switching around the glasses!!
James
…
What are you talking about?
I've just been standing here, then I saw you were about to bring out your Manifesto.
How do you know I switched the glasses?
Where's your proof?
What's your evidence?
You can't go around accusing people based on just your gut, y'know.
You need to have some kind of facts to back it up.
Did you see me switching the glasses Doc?
Caroline smiles
Caroline
No, I didn't.
It looked to me like the glasses are just as they were before.
James
See?
Now, let's all take a nice big drink.
Poor Man's Poison
I-I don't believe you!!
James
Whatever will we do.
Well, I guess I could always change the rules slightly…
How about this…
James takes all three glasses and lines them up in front of Poor Man's Poison
James
We each have to choose which glass we want to drink from.
And no Manifestos of course.
This way, it really is a game of luck.
So, what do you say kid?
You feeling lucky?
Poor Man's Poison
(This guy…)
(I can't believe I let myself get suckered into this…)
(I let my guard down…)
(It's my own fault things turned out like this…)
Fine, I'll agree, on the condition that I get to decide the order we choose glasses.
James
Sounds good to me.
Poor Man's Poison
Great.
(Of course I can't let James go first, there are two poisoned drinks and only 1 safe.
I know he'd just take the safe one to drink, which means I need to make sure that he gets a poisoned glass)
(Now, would it be better to go first, or second?)
(By going first, I have a 33% chance of getting it right, whereas if I were to go second, I'd either have a 50/50 of getting it right, or I'd be forced to take a poisoned glass…)
(Given these odds, I feel safer going first, with that the order is decided!)
James, I've decided I'll go first, followed by your friend, and you'll go last.
James
If that's what you want.
Poor Man's Poison
(Which glass should I choose?)
(James would obviously keep the safe one close to him…)
(Or would he?)
(Maybe he never intended to take the safe one for himself, and he might have wanted to save his friend instead!)
(If that's the case, then his friend would be the one with the safe glass…)
(then again, what if he anticipated that I would see him moving the glasses, and in reality he didn't actually move them at all!?)
(What if this whole thing was just an elaborate set-up to psych me out!?)
(In reality, then I should just choose my own glass!)
(Yeah…yeah that has to be it!!)
I've made my decision, I'll be taking the glass closest to me.
James
You sure?
Poor Man's Poison
Certain.
James
Great, then Doc, choose your glass.
Caroline
Okay
Caroline grabs the glass closest to her and James grabs the last one
James
Poor Man's Poison, why don't you take a sip first seeing as you're so sure you chose the safe glass.
Poor Man's Poison
Maybe I will.
Poor Man's Poison's hand shakes as he raises the glass.
He takes a sip…
Poor Man's Poison
Ahh!
There, looks like you two have lost!!
With this, my Orion has triumphed once again–
Poor Man's Poison collapses to the ground
Caroline
Oh shit!!
Is he alright?!
James
He'll be fine, it's just a sleeping drug.
James lifts him and puts him onto the table
James
Now, we really ought to leave before he wakes up.
Caroline
That sounds like a great idea!
James and Caroline turn to leave, but a voice stops them
???
So, Orion failed.
Not unexpected seeing as he was merely a child.
Though I did warn the doctor against sending a child to do this job, he placed the utmost confidence in him.
It appears I must dispose of you myself.