Give in! Maybe it's some kind of memory transfer and we can learn his schemes from it!

Resist and quickly let go of his hand. what Roy said.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 5 2011, 11:09 pm by NudeRaider.

Resist while pretending to be subdued.

Through the descending mental fog you are able to recall some of the notes you made while writing your dissertation - a particular branch of the Mayan religion was supposedly interested in arcane magical practices. One such practice was a form of drug-induced hypnosis used to gain temporary influence over the actions of another, sometimes as a form of entertainment or to demonstrate the "power" of practitioners. According to the book you read, a priest would first take an antidote and then cover their hands with the powdered drug before touching their victim, who would undergo almost immediate hypnosis and suffer hallucinations. In order to enhance the immunity provided by the antidote, it was said that priests were able to exert great mental discipline by going through certain rituals in their head.

As you feel your concentration failing, you attempt to perform one of the simpler rituals you remember reading about. You picture a burning candle in your head and focus upon it with all your being. Your intense focusing blocks out any hallucinations or attempts to hypnotise you. You let go of Sean's hand and begin to feel normality return to your body and mind.

"Excellent work!" exclaims Sean. "So you do know about mind control techniques. Your talents will be greatly useful in the days ahead."
"Can we stop with these stupid games and tests now?" you reply with some irritation.
"Not quite, Tom. I find George has rather disappointed me, letting himself be overpowered like that while he was holding a gun. I want you to shoot him."

You feel your ruthless streak struggling to get the better of you.

"If you give me the gun then what's stopping me from shooting you instead?"
"I trust you enough to know that you won't do that. I know you're curious about what it is that I actually do - I don't think you'd kill me now."

Sean hands you the gun.
"Go on - shoot him. Right in the forehead."

It seems you have another dilemma on your hands.

Focus: 5/12

Don't take the gun and sit down.

We can still find out what he does if we take the gun, get some distance between ourselves and Sean and point the gun at Sean.

WAIT. GUYS.

What if this is some sort of mind-fuck a la inception?! What if he's testing our loyalty?

We're not shooting George in the head...

hehe...I think my suggestions seem to annoy you regardless of what they are...

Please? Okay okay I get it...we're roll playing as the hero of all heros. Fine. But...I'm just saying...there's nothing wrong with getting results.

Back up and point the gun at Sean instead, and ask him what he does.

Pull the trigger to gain a new trait: BADASS.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 7 2011, 11:14 pm by lil-Inferno.

George is one of them, we have no particular loyalty to him. Do it.

Maybe it's just another test; the gun could be unloaded for all you know.

Just do what Sean expects for now. He was saying something about you being intelligent and analytical; shooting George just sounds rash and foolish. Besides, George will technically be in your debt if you don't allow him to die.

I vote refusal. Or at least shoot him in the arm or somewhere where it wouldn't kill him, and then tell Sean, "What? You just said shoot him." Yeah I skimmed.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 8 2011, 1:20 am by Roy.

...no he didn't, he said in the forehead.

Say you missed

Going with first action.
----------------------------------
You shake your head and push the gun back into Sean's hand.
"No way. Take your gun back. I'm not shooting George."
You sit down on the floor again. George's face relaxes into a look of relief.

Sean looks angry.
"That's unacceptable! You have no problem battering one of my men almost to death yet you won't even shoot someone who betrayed you?"
You are silent.
"Perhaps", says Sean, taking a bullet from his pocket and loading it into the apparently empty gun, "I misjudged you. You're not cut out to work for this organisation after all. Carlos was stupid but at least he knew what was required of him."

Sean approaches you with the gun and sticks the barrel in your forehead, which is still covered by the mask. He tears the mask off and it clatters to the floor.
"Now, you die." he says, as you sit in resignation.

Sean suddenly chops at your neck with his gun arm, striking you hard. Your vision explodes with white and as feel your head hit the floor the whiteness fades to black and you lose consciousness.
-----------------------------

You wake up in complete darkness and a lot of pain. You are lying on your back and you can feel slight vibrations underneath you. You hear the sound of a truck engine idling faintly.

Focus: 5/12

Lost trait:
Ruthless: Your refusal to shoot George was inconsistent with prior actions. This means you are no longer considered ruthless.
Gained trait:
In Pain: Tom has suffered a head injury which is affecting his ability to concentrate. He will need to find some painkillers. While this trait is active, Tom's focus will not recharge.

Try to find a door or a loose cover or whatever to gain a glimpse of the outside. Find out if you are trapped and search the truck for anything useful.

------------------

I swear the next time someone does something needlessly violent we gain the chaotic trait: Our character is jumping randomly from calm to enraged state. While calm he acts normally and while enraged focus regeneration is halted and the character is killing everyone around him.

You start to move and your hand comes up against a soft, flexible surface that feels like plastic. Moving your hands across the surface you realise that it is covering you completely from head to foot, encasing you in a sort of bag. On the centreline of the surface in front of you, you can feel a metal ridge which runs all the way down - probably the track for a zip(per). Unfortunately the zip itself is on the other side of the material. It seems that you are, in fact, inside a body bag.

Wondering how you haven't suffocated yet in the humid plastic confines of the bag, you notice a sliver of light above you - a small airhole. Perhaps these bags were designed originally for BDSM use, or maybe someone didn't zip it up completely, but at least air is getting in in small quantities.

Inventory: Camera, bread, sunglasses, $275, manifest, licence, phrasebook, wrench, small knife, knuckle-dusters, medallion, unidentified piece of paper.

Focus: 5/12