The Sixteenth Trial

[advisories]

Who: trialgoers
When: Day 37, afternoon
Where: The Hermit's Tent

[With the usual jostle of the train, the Hermit’s tent appears in the clearing. His deep, cheerful voice rings out:]

That last Trial was a bit of a mess, wasn’t it? Well, rest assured our dear Vampire friend is very sorry about it.

Of course that doesn’t make you feel better, but how about a mood booster? “Come hither”, and let’s think positive!

[Upon entering the tent, you’ll find yourself on a round, black-tiled platform at the bottom of a clear glass elevator. Look outside and you'll spot the other two groups in their own elevators, facing you on the other walls of a triangular pit. You can't reach or hear them at the moment, but they look safe enough.

In your own elevator, you’ll find a podium with a speaker and a push-to-talk microphone. Taped next to them is a laminated paper containing the rules, titled:

Raise Eachother Up

Time for some cheer and positivity!]

Comments

[schrodingerscockroach]

True. I guess you gotta be really good to be that. And maybe fifth out of fifty people. Or forty-nine? I think Carolina was both states.

....well, I guess we'll know when Crow stops seeing whatever made him shoot people.

[He considers, then finally nods.] Yeah, probably.

[awakenerd]

...States?

[Is that what y'all are?]

Or when Rufus stops being twelve inches tall.

[That last part just gets a nod. He figured Dusk would see it the same if the roles were reversed.]

[schrodingerscockroach]

Our codenames are based on the United States of America. It's a country. It has fifty states. There's just a North and South Carolina along with a North and South Dakota. Not sure why one got split and the other was just Carolina.

Maybe she was just that good.

That too. He kind of looks like a doll right now.

[awakenerd]

Fifty states? How big is that country!?

...He does but don't tell him that.

[schrodingerscockroach]

Stupidly big. Texas is bigger than a number of countries and that's just one state. One of the bigger ones, but still.

Of course not.

[awakenerd]

Holy cow.

[A country that big has got to be incredible.]

That's kind of mind boggling... I mean there have been countries which absorb states but, fifty?

[schrodingerscockroach]

There's a whole thing where they were just colonies and then got independence and I guess states still wanted to be separated? Something like that. I think that was almost a millennia ago?

[awakenerd]

...Huh. So they became independent but stayed a country?

[schrodingerscockroach]

They got Independence from a bunch of European countries.

After stealing land from the natives and acting like it was brand new. Because white colonizers were just all pretty major assholes. It's a whole thing about racial power struggles.

[awakenerd]

[???]

So basically a nation did some shady conquest and then the colonies went independent after all that to make a new nation that was pretty big a thousand years ago?

[schrodingerscockroach]

Basically. There's some stuff about religion and some kind of massive tea party, I think?

[awakenerd]

[??????]

A... Tea party?

Is that religious for Ancient United Statesians?

[schrodingerscockroach]

No, but that might be religious for the British? They were a big colonizer.

[awakenerd]

Huh.

[Clearly he should see if there are history books on this to be bought because he's a nerd.]

So you're named after the independent--colonies or states? Or is it the same?

[schrodingerscockroach]

States. United States of America was the whole country.

The Director had a southern accent. So it was probably because it was where he was from and also it was forty-nin codenames right there.

[awakenerd]

Makes sense to use an easy theme that doesn't necessarily mean anything about each agent.

[schrodingerscockroach]

Yeah. Not unless they were born there.

....

You know, it occurs to me it's a very real possibility I wasn't born on Earth. [And boy is THAT a thing to think about.]

[awakenerd]

.....? Where... Else would you be born?

[schrodingerscockroach]

.....that planet in my memory?

That wasn't Earth.

That was a whole other planet. Colonized planets are a thing.

[awakenerd]

Whoa.

[Whoa that's a lot to think about buddy.]

That's... Wow. So why is Earth a big deal then? I know Eliza is from there but if you're not...

[schrodingerscockroach]

Earth is the home planet. Where humans are from. It's where the UNSC and UEG are stationed, the major military and governmental power.

[awakenerd]

[??]

Huh. I've only heard of Earth at all from people here. Must take a lot to govern across planets.

[schrodingerscockroach]

I think it's a collaborative effort between all the nations on Earth and the outer colonies.

[awakenerd]

Your civilization must be incredibly advanced.

[schrodingerscockroach]

Well, you saw the spaceships. And power armor.

And me. [Human experiment and all.]