YTSK II: Chapter V
In Universe Date: 15 April 2021
The sun rises, and a new day begins in the nuclear silo. The gang gathers in order to have breakfast. Borysk talks first: "So, DRM, remember those screams last night? You told us you'd investigate them, right?" DRM laughs. "Well, Fourthirds was basically being a total dramaqueen. The screams were really over nothing. It all just turned out to be nothing but a manic episode." Zed is suprised by this. "That's weird, i shared a cell with Fourthirds for quite a few months and i don't recall him ever just screaming out of nowhere. Also, where is Fourthirds?" DRM: "Well, i suppose he is still in bed. Probably tired from staying up too late." Zed: "Well, whatever. I'm going to grab a beer. Shall i take some for you?" DRM: "No, i don't drink." Zed raises his voice: "Do any of y'all want a beer?" Suomi is the sole person to raise his hand. "Alright Suomi. I'll head downstairs and i'll be back in a minute."
A minute passes, and a terrified Zed runs back to the table: "FOURTHIRDS IS DEAD!" Shock ensues throughout the room. "What?" "I saw his dead corpse in a closet. There was blood splatter all over the floor. Come see it!" The gang follows Zed into the basement. Oak examines the corpse. "Both legs are cut off and disjointed from the rest of the body. The eyes smell of vinegar. Much of the skin has been destroyed. A strong cut has also been made into the neck, likely the fatal blow." "Who the hell did this?" "I think it may have been... Yan." "That doesn't make sense. Yan blew herself up to kill Neutronex, remember? She's dead." "I'd like to believe that, but you know, it's just... Khey Pard, one of Yan's intended victims, disappeared in the midst of a senate hearing. I was accused of making Khey disappear, but that just wasn't true. At first i thought the senate was playing tricks on me, but i considered, what if Yan is still alive, and finally took Khey's life by teleporting him away? I mean, they gave his location away by televising the hearing, and that could've been the trigger for Yan to get back in action." "Okay, even accepting that idea, what makes you think Yan killed Fourthirds?" "Well, do you all recall the Tigerstar case? He had all his limbs cut off and was torn in half by his torso, after being confronted one-on-one in the bathroom. Here we see the same signs: limbs cut off during a one-on-one confrontation. This seems to be Yan's modus operandi. There's some differences though: Tigerstar had ALL his limbs cut off, and was killed by being torn apart. Fourthirds only dad his legs cut off, and he was killed with the much simpler method of knife-through-neck. Furthermore there are no signs of cannibalism. This points to a much less thorough mutilation. I believe that Yan may have been giving Fourthirds the Tigerstar-treatment, but was forced to hurry up the process."
Suomi arrives at the scene. "I just checked Fourthirds' room. I can't find him anywhere." Oak affirms this and begins further questioning: "DRM, you said you encountered Fourthirds yesterday right here. Do you recall seeing any blood splatter?" "Well, if there was, i couldn't see it from up the staircase." "I see." Oak pauses for a minute, before continuing: "Well, i have come to a conclusion. Yan must have somehow followed Fourthirds into the basement in order to murder him, which is what caused the screams. The 'manic episode'-excuse is clearly bogus given what Zed told us at breakfast. Then, when DRM knocked on the door, he forced Yan to hurry the execution and shapeshift into Fourthirds as part of a coverup" "So Yan can shapeshift?" "The evidence does point in that direction, yes. And since Yan knew Fourthirds' location, that means that she probably impersonated someone else prior to the death of Fourthirds. In other words, there is an impersonator in our midst." Borysk laughs. "Don't you mean to say that there is an imposter among us?" Oak shoots Borysk dead. "Unfunny meme."
DRM chimes in: "I think the impersonator is Kailan. Remember, he guided everyone to bed yesterday, and was supposedly the last to go to sleep. If he wanted to stay awake and walk around the building, nobody would have noticed because everyone was in bed. Then, when Fourthirds left his room, Yan stalked him. Fourthirds wasn't focused on her, and nobody else could've stumbled onto her while she was doing this." Pleb disagrees: "You know, i disagree with this whole premise that Yan can shapeshift at all. Nobody here has seen Yan do that. We do know that Yan can teleport. Consider this possibility: What if DRM has been lying and been colluding with Yan this whole time? DRM has told me that he hates Kailan for killing his father. He could have told Yan about Fourthirds' location via a radio signal when he heard Fourthirds leave his room, waited for Yan to kill Fourthirds, then 'investigate' the screams by himself so he can give false testimony in order to frame Kailan."
Kailan screamed "THAT'S ENOUGH! I'm not going to tolerate people accusing eachother of being Yan or being aligned with her. We don't even know if Yan is even alive, for Christ's sake! It could've been fucking gremlins for all i care! Let's just accept that Fourthirds is dead and move on to other things." Aegea objects: "What's with the need to shut down this conversation? Perhaps you are Yan after all." "I am not Yan." "DRM is convincing enough. We're going to eliminate you." "No, no, no. Don't do this to me. You agreed to help me." "I never agreed to help Yan. Well, in the off-chance that you're not lying through your teeth, we can sort out a deal. The real Kailan would know the nuclear launch codes. If you show to me that you know them, i'll believe you and tell the PAVN to spare you. Besides, you still owe me for saving you, so i don't appreciate you keeping secrets from me." "You don't understand. These are weapons of mass destruction. I can't just carelessly share the codes." "You're only saying that because you don't know the launch codes, Yan." Kailan grabs Aegea by the wrist, saying "Don't do this to me". Kailan and Aegea then teleport out of the room.
DRM shouts: "I WAS RIGHT! IT WAS KAILAN AFTER ALL. If only you had listened to me, we could've saved Aegea." Pleb is cynical. "You're lying to your teeth. If people had listened to me, Kailan wouldn't be in danger right now." "Pleb, you still believe your theory? Your whole point that nobody has seen Yan shapeshift is now moot." "I don't care, i still smell collusion. You orchestrated Kailan's death together with Yan, who has been Aegea this whole time."