The Human Game: A Shrine for a Fake God

Posted by Benedict

;O

But consieder this: whether they'll share or not might depend on what the truth is.

Option 1: Truths are tailored specifically to the people entering, to cause maximum drama possible. In this case, three people that come to my mind:
Kate gets 'everyone (else?) helped setting this up'. The game is horrible and it might prompt her to sabotage others For Great Justice! ...but there might be enough time for her to calm down and think more clearly. As a bonus, Kate would be able to remember the message word-for-word, i.e. not just the gist of it and the emotional response. And, of course, she could also get shocked in the meantime.
Thalia could get 'Jai Parikh died in a game'. Yes please start planning a murder spree out of self-preservation.
For Connor 'You caused this' (either because wasps don't scream, or just as an (ex?)member of achronicity)

Option 2 - in retrospect, much more likely - is that the truth is predefined and static. For instance: How many times the game is played, what year is it, since when null exist, purpose/existence of the marbles, how many people are left, stakes of the game. ...of course, it might line up with the above.

The description implies that while groups prance around looking for clues, whoever goes alone will be stuck thinking about the revelation - that in and of itself can change how they react to it.

Now, as for keeping/telling the above. There is also a possibility of that person either lying or telling something they already know, but not from cancel. From the digetic standpoint, we - the player-readers - might go through one or two puzzle rooms and then be left wondering just what was the truth. Moreover, if the person who goes in keeps their trap shut about it, it may sow distrust regardless of what the truth is or the reasons for withholding it.

So of the remaining people, who would keep the information, and who would tell? Camilla could make her own decision of keeping it to herself and just. not. budge. It seems likely that Daniel, upon being questioned, would just answer with flailing of arms. Or not, given his unpredictability - which just makes him even worse of a candidate. One of the explanation for Joe's behavior could be progressing nullification process, i.e. keeping/lying/telling aside he probably shouldn't be left alone with any shattering revelations.
Which leaves us with Abigail and Connor. On top of Benedict's arguments, Abigail should be less practiced/more obvious about lying, and it would put her in a spot that doesn't require a lot of fiddling with things. The puzzle rooms themselves, may or may not have something Abby would solve more efficently than others, and it may or may not be in only one of these rooms.
...come to think of it, while others are puzzling things out, whoever is left will be stewing in their own thoughts, possibly broadcasting their position to (a?) null. hmm. This does raise the question of how do we check if this exact scenario happened, unless we explictly ask Abigail and/or the opportunity arises in the first place. And, of course, it may not work on internal types all that well, given that nothing pinged with Joe.

As for the two groups, the weakest link would be Daniel and Joe. A confrontation wouldn't work well, so they should be either split or in a larger group (if only to stop any aggression). For dividing others, let's think back on how everyone split last time. Seth+Connor+Thalia, Kate+Joe+Camilla. We already know that Cami keeps an eye on Kate, but is stopping her really that good of an idea in the long run?
Also, consieder this: if we keep pairing Thalia with Connor, she'll just become more... insular? in her opinions. She's not really a wildcard, more like a ticking time bomb. Connor seems trustworthy, but others? she just hasn't interacted with them, and neither did he for that matter.
If we try to keep these three pairs separate, we're left with question which half goes where. We already have a good handle of how Kate and Joe interact, so Daniel could go with Kate and Camilla with Joe. This could provide them with an opportunity to talk, but it's unlikely, especially depending on who else will be in the group.

If Thalia joins Joe and Camilla, Thalia could talk him down. Connor in the Kate&Daniel group could create an opportunity not only for them to talk (since Thalia seems more willing to jump on anything suspicious in sight - figuratively or no), but also for Daniel and Connor to interact.

The locations' names might not be as indicative as they sound, but we also don't have much to go on. Thus - Joe group goes into the Bridge room, Daniel group goes for the Shrine.

TL;DR: Abigail goes alone, Joe+Camilla+Thalia for the Bridge room, Daniel+Kate+Connor For the Shrine room.