Jean blinked in confusion. "But normally a strongman just means they can kill someone even if they're being healed. It doesn't mean they get to kill a second person. And if it was separate, then why would she use it on the first night, when she had no idea who's important or who's going to get healed? I don't think she would've done that, not if she knows how the game works. And... and you said the same thing yourself before, so it's not like you didn't realize!"
Jean made a small canine whine of unease, ears flat against her head, averting her eyes from the Absol morph. "I don't like him. He's... he's not telling the truth." She cringed, heart racing horribly in her chest. "I'm... I'm sorry, Mr. Whiskey."
"Hmm?"
Whiskey raised a brow, then perused his memory of the discussion so far.
"No, you're quite right. I am well aware that the Strongman role is generally a one-shot modifier to the factional kill, as I showed awareness of to begin with. I did not believe that it was separate. Once we heard the claim that Stygian was a Strongman, my immediate assumption was that perhaps it had been configured as a separate killing role after all, and that the Mafia strategy – and justification for using the power early – was to get two kills early. Either selected randomly, or by some internal discourse about who would receive or not receive protection, and who was easier or more difficult to fool. I could not fathom the possibility of safeguarding the first factional elimination when the target may turn out to be a 'vanilla' Town!"
[[I've only been in a scumchat once, in Role Overdrive, and fairly briefly at that. It was a small, inactive chat, without daytalk, and one member was a factional traitor. I have no meaningful experience of scumchat discussion about this strategic choice, and I so firmly believe that I would want to save the Strongman kill for later, that I instantly believed that it
had to be separate, because if it wasn't a kill-rush strategy,
why do it? Perhaps that's naive, but that's what I was thinking.]]
Whiskey coughed, and had the nerve to look a little frustrated. "On further reflection, I suppose... the internal reasoning for using the Strongman role
immediately may have been to guarantee any elimination whatsoever, then spending the Day phase identifying safe targets going forward? Perhaps Stygian," [[Chibi, that is,]] "believed her odds of surviving long enough to deploy her power in a targeted way were low enough to justify attacking blindly on the first night. I simply find it hard to imagine making the same call, were it
not a separate elimination."
Perhaps he'd been right the first time, then, and a Serial Killer had indeed been present. A Vigilante, though? Heal clash? Unthinkable, surely.
Probably town?
Maressa - I think the stuff she asked about at the start of the day sounded like she was town.
Noel and Espurr - They didn't know about the role list, but Stygian did, so it would be weird if they were on the same team. They could have been faking it, though.
Dunno...
Loaf - He seems a bit confused sometimes, but also he could be faking being confused so he can try to confuse everyone else.
Theodore - He's only said a little! So I don't really know a lot about him.
Mmmmmm 
Whiskey - I don't like him, he's a Pokémorph but I don't! He and Stygian were always agreeing and saying good things about each other and he said some weird things, especially the thing about the strongman that's not the same as what he said before about the strongman. I have a really bad feeling! We don't have to talk about it now because we need to get rid of Stygian, and maybe I'm... Maybe he's okay and I'm wrong. But... but if I'm not going to be here for the next day in the game, I think you should be careful!
Jean sat down, hugging her knees, bracing for a retort from the Absol morph. She didn't want to make him angry. But he probably would be. The game was supposed to be
fun.
Whiskey stroked his chin thoughtfully. He didn't seem very much affected by Jean's anxiety.
"My intuition tells me that Noel and Espurr
could absolutely have been indisposed such that they were unaware of the roles despite Stygian understanding them..." He shook his head. "But it seems
less likely. Your assumption is reasonable."
He glanced at the dachsund.
"My intuition tells me that... 'Loaf'... Ahem. That
Loaf might reasonably be expected to flail to some extent. But the flailing earlier did seem like noting more than so much misdirectional waffle. I don't much care to avert my suspicion from him."
The vulpix girl was right about Theodore, of course, and there was little more to be said on the matter.
Then came the aspersions on
himself.
Whiskey gave Jean a stare that might generously be said to be... appreciative.
"...It's a fair criticism," he said, after a lengthy pause. "Inconsistency is suspicious, and overt mutual support implies coordination. In truth, I rather wish I
had been assigned the same faction as Blackest River. It would have been narratively compelling, would it not? The two absol, heralds of
disaster, collaborating in their deceit. But no, I am regrettably embarrassed to have been willing to assume that because I could not find fault with her assertions, and because I
preferred to believe that we would be aligned, that I am guilty of aesthetic bias."
The absol-morph sighed, and gestured vaguely with one hand, while the other went to rest in his trouser pocket.
"I... apologise. I should not let my guard down simply because I
like a participant." His jaw twitched, and he looked away. "And so I shall not let my guard down around
you either, young miss... though your observations
are promisingly astute for your apparent age."
After all, the danger of a Serial Killer was that they could convincingly 'play Town' with no interpersonal agendas, was it not?
Whiskey coughed again, harder – this time it seemed to be actual respiratory distress rather than a rhetorical hedge.
"Well, I suppose I should leave my opinion for the group in the event that I am eliminated during the second Night phase. In the event that I am removed from the game tonight, which is not at all impossible, then my 'posthumous' opinion ought to hold
some weight when my alignment is revealed, yes? Ahem. Not out of any particular confident suspicion, but simply because I associate
waffling with a Mafia agenda, then with my present mindset, I would vote tomorrow for the dachsund. 'Loaf'. Mm."
For a person named after a beverage, the absol hybrid sure didn't seem to like naming the bread dog after bread.
