V4 Announcements

(Insert introduction here)

First Announcement
In spite of it being the crack of dawn, the HQ of the terrorists was already bustling with activity. The game didn't wait for the night and there was always plenty of nocturnal action to be monitoring. Shifts of Danya's henchmen were watching cameras at all time, making sure nobody got up to anything, whilst the techs ensured that there wasn't anything untoward going on with the equipment. Since last year, the screws had really been tightened on that count.

Achlys stifled a yawn. He'd been up all freaking night watching a screen with the same set of diagnostics, barely fluctuating. It was boring as hell and didn't get any easier with tiredness. Were he not worried that one of the serious toadies would spot him at it, he would've been tempted to take a snooze. But no, bad idea with people like Cecily about, that bitch was cutthroat...

In truthfulness the veteran didn't really see the point in all of this. The reason the kids had managed to get their collars off last version was the result of a monumental fuck up by somebody at HQ, not because the kids had been particularly smart or adept. If the cameras hadn't been knocked out, they would have blown the collars in the blink of an eye. Achyls had seen the work Lourvey had done on the new models this time, he'd tested the technology himself. They were foolproof.

Yet Danya was Danya. Achyls hadn't navigated three entire versions of the game by not following his orders. There was a reason he was still alive when so much of the original crew was gone, and that was because he kept his head down. McLocke, Kaige, Rice, Grossi, Garnett...

"Sup?"

Achyls couldn't help it, he jumped. He looked around into the smiling face of Jim Greynolds, blue eyes bright and inquisitive behind his spectacles. Greynolds looked like your typical geek... and he scared Achyls shitless. Forget guys like Wilson (and to a lesser extent, say, Baines). Those guys were physically intimidating, but that was simple stuff. Greynolds was just... disturbing. He smiled constantly, no matter what manner of blood and gore was on the cameras, he...

The tech shook himself out of it, now wasn't the time. "Just..." he yawned. "Just finishing my shift off, Greynolds."

Jim continued smiling amicably. "Bet that wasn't too exciting, huh?"

Achyls managed a sheepish half grin, not expecting Greynolds to sympathise. "Yeah, pretty mu-"

Greynolds seized Achyls by the shirt and practically hauled him out of his chair. He was still smiling. "It's not designed to be exciting," he hissed. "Suck it up."

"Y-Y-Yeah! Sure thing G-Greynolds!" the other man immediately let him go, allowing Achyls to sink gratefully back into his chair.

"Go get some sleep," Greynolds told the tech, idly running a hand through his hair. "Lourvey's gonna be along in about five seconds anyway."

"R-right," said Achyls, gratefuly for any opportunity to get away from Greynolds. He hadn't seen any of the so-called 'big four' for some time up until then, figuring they'd be busy with other things. As Achyls scrambled to leave the room, he found himself wondering what had changed, for Greynolds to be back all of a sudden.

Heading out into the corridor, Achyls very nearly bumped straight into Mr. Danya, the large man looking rather tired himself.

"Watch it," Danya growled. "Just because you're a vet doesn't mean I can't toss you onto the island."

Danya moved on, heading for his 'control room', whilst Achyls surpressed a shudder and reminded himself for the upteemth time that he needed to find a better job.

--

For the very first time, the students from Bayview Secondary School were treated to the screeches of feedback that heralded the public address system coming online. All across the island, speakers were powering up, their number (and volume) ensuring that they would be audible almost everywhere. The sound that emerged from them once the noise had died down; a slow, deliberate clapping.

Then, Mr. Danya spoke. "Kids, I have to say that I'm truly impressed with your first day showing. Blood! Tragedy! Explosions! Mayhem! You've utterly smashed the record for first day kills; it makes an old man proud to see you all taking his instructions so thoroughly to heart! Congratulations to those of you that are still alive, because you've already outlasted 19 of your classmates."

Sitting at his desk, Danya smirked, knowing that the figure would cause considerable distress. This run was their biggest yet, and it seemed that the number of students was preventing as many hiders as they'd had previously.

"Our first elimination for the day was frankly a favour for the genepool. Children, remember when I specifically told you not to tamper with those flash little numbers around your necks? Well... the terribly intelligent Remi Pierce elected to try and remove his collar. Needless to say, it worked... just not without taking his head off along with it. Next up, we had score one for mother nature after Dallas Reynolds was stung by a hornet and had such a bad allergic reaction he freaked out and blew his collar too! Sorry Dallas, I told Dorian to leave you with that epipen, but you know, his little joke."

There was a slight choking sound behind him and Danya chuckled to himself. Right now he imagined that his lackey was in the process of turning green.

"Third to die, as a shining example of why you really ought to keep good hold of your weapon if you were lucky enough to get a half-decent draw, was Warren Brown. Omar Burton shot him in the chest with his own gun, which would really have been quite embarrassing if he wasn't dead and all. Anyway, Eric Lorenz was next to meet his demise, taking a tumble at the hands of Alex Rasputin and winding up getting impaled on a fence. I guess the stakes were too high for him."

Somebody somewhere, Danya considered, just took a shot.

"Fifth wasted was, uh... hold on, let me make sure I get this one right. Reika Ishida, you heard that kids? Reika, the one nobody really cared about. She made the mistake of startling Kris Hartmann, who took her out like a pro. Moving right along, the next of our femme fatales, Clio Gabriella, shot Chris Davidson right in the head. Needless to say, that was the end of the line for him, if not his corpse."

Danya grinned again, recalling the antics of a certain student and the body in question. Points for creativity, most definitely.

"Right after that, the other Ishida twin proved that the incompetence doesn't run in the family and scored not one but two kills. First, Reiko wasted Sally Connelly with a little assist... then she promptly rubbed out her helper, Cyrille LaBlanche too. It was all very emotional, I very nearly shed a tear. And by 'shed a tear', I mean 'fell asleep'."

The man in charge had a whole lot of experience behind him at that moment in time. Twisting the facts came naturally to him now. How he'd framed the kills of Reiko wasn't untrue... just not quite a hundred percent by the book.

"Hold on just a second kiddies, I'm placing an order. Hello? Is that the Nick Reid take out? Yeah, I'd like to order a number 23. That's right, the extra crispy Daniel Vaughan in the molotov sauce. Alright, thanks a bunch. Now, where was I? Oh yes, tenth to be wiped off the map was Petrushka Ivanova as Miss Gabriella chalked up her second kill of the day. What an utter lack of fighting spirit that girl showed, it was really rather disappointing."

Danya's eyes went to the next name on his list and he let out a little snort. This was priceless.

"We then had score two for mother nature. Apparently Megan Nelson picked the wrong cave to spend the night in, because she ended up having an encounter with our resident bear. I guess somebody didn't get the 'do not feed the animals' memo. Everett Taylor was our next victim, he died at the hands of Janet Binachi after a healthy dose of hockey stick."

He stifled a slight yawn. Jeez, he had to get used to getting up early for the morning announcements again. Wouldn't do to seem tired to the children now, would it now?

"Unlucky number thirteen was Keith Christoph. He got beaten to a pulp by Ivan Kuznetsov and trust me folks, it's one for the highlight reel! What do they say about the quiet ones, eh? Fourteenth was a true tragedy as our resident Nazi, Rob Jenkins, broke up a happy lovers' reunion by shooting Paige Single... which I guess is what her boyfriend is now!"

Yep, somebody somewhere was definitely getting seriously drunk.

"Alex Rasputin proceeded to notch up his second head of the day after going all Texas Chainsaw Massacre on Robert Lerger. That'll make sure our ratings stay high, though I'll imagine that youtube immortality isn't much of a consolation for the deceased. Sixteenth to pass on was Brent Shanahan, who really picked the wrong guy to wind up. The track record of our hockey players has been pretty good over the years, and it looks like Staffan of the Kronwall brothers intends to maintain that streak. He shoots - he scores!"

Danya looked to the list again. Almost finished, great. This was a lot of carnage to wade through. It was pleasing, sure enough, just tedious to announce it all. He'd watched the deaths first hand, after all.

"After giving us something of a show this morning, new fan favourite Maria Santiago was the next on the executioner's block, going down to Jackie Broughten's saw. Don't worry Maria, we'll remember you! Well... your body, at least. Eighteenth down was Tony Russo after Colin Falcone finished what he started with an 'accidental' injury."

You could hear the air quotes in Danya's voice. Twist upon twist.

"To round us off for the day, Kris Hartmann became the fourth person to join the two-kill club after gunning down Amber Whimsy. Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Trying to make nice with somebody pointing a gun at you ain't such a bright idea. Well, that's it for the kills, but stick around kids, this next part's important."

Which wouldn't nonetheless, stop some people going on to entirely ignore it. Idiotic danger zone deaths were almost obligatory.

"To keep you all on your toes, it's time for the dangerzones! Since a lot of dummies don't seem to understand this, let me put it simply: You go in zone. Collars goes boom. Got that? Okay children, listen close. As of this announcement, the Lighthouse, the Groundskeeper's Hut and Greens are now danger zones. If you're in any of those places, you'd better clear out pronto! Tick tock, folks!"

Almost as an afterthought, Danya continued.

"One last thing. We've been running our little poll and the runaway winner of today's best kill award is the one and only Ivan Kuznetsov! Congratulations kid, we'll be leaving your prize on the greens for you to collect. Don't worry, we wouldn't blow the collar of our MVP!"

Again, Danya barely stifled a yawn.

"Well, that's it for today. See you all in twenty-four hours! Well, those of you that are still alive, at least..."