2022-10-07: Confoundry! NBTV Celebrity Trivia!

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<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

>In a way, this just isn't right. The whole concept of me doing this is absurd on its face, on the deepest possible level. It might even go completely wrong, like trying to use a freezer to boil tea. Am I even capable of this?
>
>I'm capable of anything. Let's not get ridiculous.
>
>But really...me? Asking other people questions? Absolutely ass-backwards. But I suppose limits will need testing in myriad ways.

        "Live, from NBT's Neo-Hammerstead studios, iiiiiit's CONFOUNDRY! ~*choo choo*~

        The spotlights swing in wide, festive arcs over Neo-Britannia Television's glossy circular stage, before unfocusing and revealing the set in full lighting to the sound of the studio audience's merry applause. A simple semicircle, around which several mock train-cars face the cameras, and a contraption resembling an old-timey train boiler in the center, all gussied up to look like an early 1900s rail station. A well-groomed host in suit, bowtie, and stovepipe hat announces the show and whips up the crowd.

        "Thank you, thank you! Can you believe it, season 8 already? I think this one's gonna go down in the books, we've loved the guest conductors that've come on board, but this time we've got a few special surprises, a few twists on the usual. And what better to kick that off with our first guest...!"

        The spotlights dim, and the host sweeps his arm towards the seemingly empty conductor platform...until a column of light geysers up from the center, and coalesces into the slightly oversized visage of a 3D-rendered girl, immediately making her entrance with a warm, cheery smile and blowing two-handed kisses towards the audience, to yet more obligate cheers. She's gone all out for the occasion, 'dressed' in a snappy gray and gold conductor's uniform, maybe one more fitting for the winter - with a long, draping overcoat and a taller, fluffy-brimmed hat.

        "Aaaah, thank you so much for such a warm welcome!~ It's a pleasure to see so many cheery faces. My name is Asciel Colette, the Virtual Sage, idol and advisor to thousands of adorable viewers on StreamOne, Wub, Outcry, and many more! ...hehe, while I've done a lot of streaming for audiences, this is the first time gathering that audience all in one place!"

        A flashy little v-sign over Asciel's glasses is followed by a twirl of her coat. "I'll be happy to go over the rules of the game in juuust a moment in case you're only now tuning in...but first! We don't have a game without our other guests, so let's go around and let them introduce themselves! Yaaaay~~" A slightly forced clapclapping follows, before Asciel's hand extends outward to each train car in turn...
Tieria Erde teleports in. 

<Pose Tracker> Nena Trinity has posed.

        The spotlight activates, revealing the glorious form of Nena Trinity standing in one of the contestant train cars! She's wearing a fancy red dress with more than a few ruffles on it, potentially reaching absurd ruffle levels. Her arms are crossed as there's a confident smirk on her face.

        Nena briefly brushes her hair to the side with a flourish before she stares towards the camera and begins, "Greetings, losers! I'm Nena. I'm seventeen years old and a Britannian university student currently studying economics. Which just goes to show how awesomely smart I am and how I'm obviously going to win this stupid show."

        Nena raises a pair of fingers in a V sign and gives the camera a wink, before finishing, "So you should definitely bet on me!"

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.


A spotlight activates, revealing--!!

Another schoolgirl! Rin Starking poiks her fingers together while smiling demurely, her bound-up hair immaculate and her glasses freshly wiped to optical transparency. She is in uniform, of course, as students should dress like students.

"Hi! I'm Rin, and I'm an academy student, preparing for life in the big wide world! I've been working super hard with my friends to master all fields of knowledge, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to make the grade! So please," big ingratiating smile, "cheer me on so I can crush the competition!"

She makes a little playful foot stomp after that.

When the camera moves Rin turns her head to look towards Nena, but the studio lights make her glasses gleam opaquely, making the little smile enigmatic and potentially menacing, due to the lack of ocular context.

<Pose Tracker> Tieria Erde has posed.

Another spotlight, revealing....!

An extremely grumpy man in a familiar pink cardigan, arms crossed and clearly not having bothered to dress up for the occasion. That damn woman keeps forcing him into these things...

"Tieria Erde. That's all you need to know."

He didn't even bother to open his eyes... 

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

THREE DAYS AGO:

"What do you mean, an invite to Confoundry?"

The words echoed out in Sousuke's Apartment room, her head tilting in that innocently curious manner. The TDD-1 was stationed and receiving the mail of the past two weeks, and in there...

"I've heard of the show somewhat, but I didn't expect an invite." Nor did she think she applied. She did mention it to others in Jindai;it was a fact that there was a small following. The most likely case was that someone filed in a name for her (and Sousuke, to boot) from Jindai, fake address and all. Well.

It didn't hurt to try, especially when the school itself was in the continual midst of coming down from DecuFes. Still. Maybe it was an excuse.

NOW:

The a lightly dressed up Tessa stepping out. All formal and ready for the occasion; earrings (possibly fake, possibly real), a necklace, a white evening dress reminiscent of these 1900s times. She even had her hair done up, all bundled into a bun with a thick needle through the top. Mardukas vetted and approved. 95%, anyhow.

No time like the present to invoke the past. A formal bow towards the camera, the Captain smiling brightly, taking a step...

And collapsing right on her face in a perfectly orchestrated stumble (as if fate had pre-rehearsed it).
...
...
"...Ehehe, sorry about that." Embarrsingly standing up and bowing towards the camera, maintaining a smile (even if she had the slightest red blemish on her forehead. Oops.) "Tessa Testarossa. I hope I can win you all, and win the competition."

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

THREE DAYS AGO:

Sousuke Sagara wakes up from restful sleep for the final time.

NOW: The Captain's will will be followed. As it happens, Sousuke does have an outfit for occasions like the Captain's dressed for, though he rarely busts it out.

When the spotlight comes up on him, he's in a full black suit including a slightly differently black (probably actually charcoal gray?) shirt, and a strikingly white tie. Crisp and freshly pressed - and, inexplicably for a studio environment, fully opaque sunglasses. This is the attire of a person who doesn't want to stand out, but also DEFINITELY needs to be recognizable as a person who is doing security, but like, at a totally different kind of operation than this.

He spears the camera with a look over the sunglasses in a way he doesn't realize looks like he's trying to be cool. "Sousuke Sagara," he declares. "The rest is classified." 

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

>Rin Starking. Request by 'Mr. Gold'. Invite presented due to possible links with insurgent organizations. Potentially useful contact if she proves adept at subterfuge, for future coordination with nationalist elements in Japan.
>Nena Trinity and Tieria Erde. Request by 'Mr. Thallium'. Potential involvement in what Amalgam is codenaming 'Project E', rumored to be some form of genetic engineering project by rivaling covert operations, one maybe decades ahead of the Numbers Project. Information is extremely scarce, only known through third-hand documents and ledger analytics. Assess thoroughly, but carefully - liable to be a dead-end lead.
>Teletha Testarossa. Request by 'Mr. Silver'. No further information given. ...Honestly, give me -some- sort of info here! She's cute, I guess.
>Sousuke Sagara. ...Not actually a request sent to me for this, but 'Mr. Iron' seemed a lot more interested in the whole idea once his name was on here. A plus-one with Tessa, it seems. ...yeah, this guy is 100% bodyguard.

        Rin and Nena elicit hand-over-mouth giggles from Asciel, a slight little orange flash of light in her slightly-translucent eyes. "We've got two fierce competitors here, I can tell you two are gonna be our biggest firebrands. Excellent, excellent...on the other hand..." A more pursed-lips and bent-forward pouting at Tieria and Sousuke. "Well, for what it's worth, you two are gonna need those poker faces! We'll melt down your shell pretty quick, don't you worry. ...And of course, you..."

        What exactly could Mr. Silver have wanted from a gentle, stumbling creature like Tessa? She's given so little that her curiosity is set ablaze, fingers steepled under her chin, one eye closed during that little TV-friendly stagger. Maybe if she had a physical presence here, she'd offer a hand...as it is, she can't actually -move- this projection too far from the podium.

        "Well. We've kept our audiences waiting long enough. It's time to establish tonight's rules!!" The audience cheers to serve as a segue for Asciel to sweep her arm up towards a central board, with seven currently blank slots. "The total 'Market' for tonight is 200 million Gilla! Who knows, our contestants seem plenty clever this time around...maybe they'll walk away splitting that entire pot?~ The basic rule of all games is this. Each round, I'll ask you all a question. But unlike a lot of other games...you all get to discuss the answer among yourselves! The twist is that after this part...you can bet 'for' or 'against' your answer. Let's get to the seven rules...!!"

        -ANSWER RULE: After discussion, players place bets for or against their answer, and then that answer goes onto the wheel, where the final conclusion is decided by roulette. This phase is skipped if all players submit the same answer.

        -TOTAL SHARE RULE: 100 total shares exist. Each is worth 1% of the market.

        -SHARE DISTRIBUTION RULE: Each player is given 25% of those shares - meaning 5 for each of you - before round 1 and round 2 - then 10 before round 3.

        -SUPPORT CORRECT ANSWER RULE: Anyone who supported a correct answer gets their shares converted into winnings as per their value.

        -AGAINST CORRECT ANSWER RULE: Anyone who went against a correct answer loses all shares they invested into it.

        -SUPPORT INCORRECT ANSWER RULE: Anyone who supported an incorrect answer loses all shares they invested into it.

        AGAINST INCORRECT ANSWER RULE: Anyone who bet against an incorrect answer gets to keep those invested shares for the next round, and receives half of all shares converted into winnings from those who bet in support of that answer.

        "And of coooourse.~ Once per game, I have the authority to switch one of these rules on their head for rounds 2 and 3. I'll keep that as a special surprise in my back pocket. With all that out of the waaaay...here's the first question of the night for you to discuss!!"

        "When George Glenn left Earth to explore Jupiter after famously broadcasting the existence of Coordinators in UC 0043...what was the name of his ship?" 

<Pose Tracker> Nena Trinity has posed.

        Yes yes. The rules are simple enough. This is hardly as complicated as piloting a Gundam...

        Not that university economics student Nena Trinity does that kind of stuff.

        The first round approaches! Nena leans forward as she listens to Asciel...

        She stares for a moment as she thinks...

        She then goes, "Oh!" She jumps up and down a bit, "I know this one! It was the Sudkovsky! I remember because it was named after that famous Russian painter guy who painted naval stuff. So ships and such." Nena grins, looking at her fellow contestants.

<Pose Tracker> Tieria Erde has posed.

Tieria adjusts his glasses as Asciel explains the rules. So, far from a simple trivia game, it was a game of deception. Sure, you could just posit a correct answer and simply win your shares, but there was potentially more gain in convincing people that an incorrect answer was true and betting against them. And, no offense (much offense), the other contestants didn't seem quite as...sharp. Fine, I'll play along with your game.

"The answer is Minovsky. Of course such a pioneering vessel would be named after the father of most Universal Century science."

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.


Rin adjusts her glasses.

(Internally there is a momentary storm. She SHOULD know this. Shouldn't she? Hasn't she read enough of the random crap on Biglobe? HAsn't she seen enough videos, secretly cheering on the other side? Hasn't she remembered enough distant stories, seen the handful of saved photographs?)

"You're both wrong," Rin says, confidently. "George Glenn struggled to name his ship after one of the first Britannian exploration vessels, but since there were seven in that initial flotilla, he named it after the colony itself - Virginia!"

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

Simple division sparked in her head: 200 Million Gilla...Which means 2 million per share, which meant 10 million per round. 20 million in the final round. Quite the sum to win or lose. The sheer amount lightly boggled the mind for a few moments, an eyebrow raised as she tapped her chin.

"200 million isn't impossible to get, so I might as well give it my all." Foolish words for a captain who didn't know what she was dealing with.

...For the way she lightly tensed up on hearing the question, she didn't know at all.

<<George Glenn, George Glenn...Coordinators, huh? We're more worried about the Coordinators rather than the actual name of the ship.>>

The smallest tap of the chin as she lost herself in thought. The important part was to...convince others!

"It's the Journey. He didn't want his ship to be beholden to any one nation or government." 

<Pose Tracker> Nena Trinity has posed.

        Nena looked so confident in her answer! But then Tieria spoke up.

        Nena blinks.

        She moves a hand to scratch her head, "Really?" Pause. "I could have swore it was Sudkovsky... Though now that you mention it. That does make more sense."

        Then the others start to answer. Nena shakes her head emphatically, "No, I definitely remember it was a Russian name... Hmmm..."

        "You know what. I think you're right, Mister Stuffy!" Nena grins at Tieria, before going to enter her answer in...

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

Sousuke is, of course, extremely read up on the military technology of the modern day, being the Weirdest Weapon Nerd Anywhere. But...

It wasn't a gunship, after all. He cups his chin in obvious thought. The social deduction component of this is fully out of his depth, but...perhaps an idea.

"You're right about it being Russian," he says, firmly, finally. "But you're off on the source. It was named for one of the ancient Tsars who forged the Russian navy into the force the REA still benefits from today. It was the Peter Romanov." 

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.


"Pffff," Rin says with a flip of her hand. "Why would he name anything after an old Russian? If you were going to say a space guy I might buy it, but not this kind of thing. You've been watching too much Zaftra Today."

Rin jots down her answer, meanwhile, and hands it in.

<Pose Tracker> Tieria Erde has posed.

Tieria raises a brow. He got Nina, but the others weren't going to be so easy. He's obviously got to start thinking even lower to get on their level. No matter, he knows he's got at least one hooked. 

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

One tap of the chin in thought. Two. To stick to another, to go for it, to accept the probable answers.

"I don't believe that he would name something after a person. Even if he did go away, he renamed the ship. I don't think he'd want any biases."

A jot of the answer. Submit. 

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

All through the discussion round, Asciel's elbows are propped up on the counter of her podium, beaming away at the fruits of sown chaos. (maaaaaybe clipping through, just a little bit). It's one of those delightfully fuzzy questions that sticks just vaguely in the back of someone's head, but which is easy to forget specifically - and the kind of name whose sound is just splendidly un-catchy and so easy to genuinely persuade another of it being something else.

        So she can only emit a tongue-clicking noise (it kinda sounds more like a mouse-click???) as they come in at a soooorta predictable pace. "Well well~ All our contestants have placed their answers on the board, so let's see that wheel...!" The five submitted answers arrange on fifths of a roulette: Minovsky, Minovsky, Virginia, Virginia, and Peter Romanov. It spins and spins and spins - it's physical, juuust because digital roulettes make people subconsciously assume a little more rigging is happening, even though it's completely doable to fudge a physical roulette just as well. At last, it lands on...!

        "Well, it landed on Minovsky, but I think we don't have to pretend all five of you didn't know what you were doing, becaaaauuuuuuse: not a single one of you actually bet in support of any other answer!" Two of Asciel's fingers prop up a wry little smile on one side. "Just as a liiiittle reminder, to actually get money you'll need to genuinely convince someone, or actively submit and support a correct answer. So the result is: Nena and Tieria, who both submitted against Minovsky, get the 3 shares they put in returned, so they're back to 5 each! Sousuke is down to 3, Tessa is at 2, and Rin's got one share left! Onto the next round, and five more shares for each of you, to debate on our next question!!!"

        "Who is most famous as the director for 0080's Tarabaman REBUILD, bringing Tarabaman to the forefront of modern mainstream appeal? 

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.


Rin's expression is, for a fleeting moment, intensely exploitable. Hopefully a camera wasn't pointing at her face just then as Asciel reveals that --

THEY ALL BETRAYED!!

Rin's hands come up to clutch on either side of her head. My God, she thinks: We're a total nest of vipers! Everyone saw that gambit, and it didn't even work! The computer is reminding us! Helpfully! I don't want the computer's help!

She straightens up, though, letting out a little "oho," as she pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Now it's getting interesting...~"

****ING TARABAMAN?? Rin thinks.

"Sausage Mizushima," Rin says confidently. Her hands go on her hips afterwards.

<Pose Tracker> Tieria Erde has posed.

Of course Nena wouldn't be THAT easy to trick. Tieria drums his fingers along his arm. It seems that everybody had had the same idea as he had. Perhaps the best course of action was to step back and focus on building shares with correct answers.

But of course, it would be hard with a question like this. Tarabaman? Such frivolity. Tieria of course, didn't know anything about this...He'd have to gauge which of the other contestants seemed like they knew. As for his answer, he had to think of something. He wracked his brain for any Japanese directors he could name offhand...

"Toshiki Inoue. I believe he also wrote the screenplay as well as providing motion capture for Tarabaman." 

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

...A shot in the dark was a shot in the dark. And since everyone bid for another, that meant two things. To continue, or to hedge. Simple.

...Combined with another question. Ah, was this a mistake? No, this was something to learn. Hedge.

"It was person who rose from the internal ranks from cameraman to cowriter to director. Mizuno Akeyama."

<Pose Tracker> Nena Trinity has posed.

        The answer is provided. They all lied!

        Nena looks smug.

        Sure, she didn't actually get any money from it. But at least she got to keep her shares unlike some!

        Nena scoffs, "Of course! That was an easy answer. I was just trying to get a feel for how the rest of you play." She smiles deceptively sweetly, "Now is when the real game begins!"

        The next question comes in! Nena looks to be pondering it. And she's taking a while... Could it be she doesn't know?

        Nena glances up in Rin's direction, then Tieria's. She doesn't look convinced...

        But then Tessa speaks up. Nena's eyes focus on her for several long moments, before she nods slowly, "I think I'm going to have to agree with Miss Cutie over there."

        Nena gives Tessa a wink with that comment.

        Then explains, "If I remember, this was his first debut as director, right?"

Leina Ashta has arrived.
Leina Ashta leaves for Lagrange Point 5 [CTD].

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

One of the people here knows Sousuke and knows him to be just, THE WORST liar. He was able to play that cool thanks to the power of burying himself in facts, but if he has to bold-faced lie--

The young man with the scar on his cheek watches the others pipe in. Asciel chides them for Improper Play. Fortunately, the early rounds of a skirmish can be played a bit loosely to get a sense of the enemy. Conservative plays work well. He glances to the well-dressed woman he makes himself think of as The Captain, barely shifting his attention until she's answered.

Sousuke looks up. "Daisuke Sawazaki," he says, hands thrusting into his pockets. A tell...? "He received particular praise for a directing style highlighting the physicality of the suit actors." 

<Pose Tracker> Tieria Erde has posed.

Tieria holds his hand to his chin and looks around. Hmm, hard to tell...Nobody seemed sure. Why did this question have to be about something so stupid?! A conservative bet would be helpful here. He nods and submits his answer.

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

...The years between Sousuke and Tessa were not to be in vain. A sigh coming from the poor teenage girl destined to be followed around by a stoic bodyguard, the gal smiling at Sousuke like any other. Innocent, beaming, certainly a demeanor suited for the stuffy attire.

"Daisuke Sawazaki, Sagara? It's Akeyama, but confusing the two isn't anything new. I heard the two kept on collaborating together afterwards. THe new spinoff series this year has one of them, I believe..." Tap, tap, tap of the chin.

A jot down, a submission.

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.


Rin makes her notation at this point, after a long look at Nena and a glance around at the others. Her expression remains stoic as she does so.

<Pose Tracker> Nena Trinity has posed.

        Nena continues to watch Tessa for a moment, before turning her attention to Sousuke for several moments after. She then giggles quietly at herself for some reason. What's that about? Who knows, this chick seems a bit cray cray.

        Regardless, Nena types in her answer and submits without another word.

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

Sousuke's face is an intentional blank. He can, at least, attain that. He glances to The Captain's chiding. ...he starts sweating a little for some reason. Looking just a little stricken.

After a quick breath, he submits.


 <Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
<poem>
The answers hit the board! Daisuke Sawazaki - Daisuke Sawazaki - Mizuno Akeyama - Daisuke Sawazaki - Daisuke Sawazaki. Asciel mimes a slightly camera-exaggerated shock backwards, hand flying over her mouth. "Dear oh dear-! I'm a little bit surprised, come to think of it...well. You never know what the odds will bring. Not quiiiite a total consensus, so we'll still spin, and maybe discover if lady luck has it in for you tonight.~"

        The wheel spins...and gratefully for most everyone at the board, it doesn't land on the single whammy. Indeed, it hits Nena's submission, and with bated breath, Asciel lets the tension hang over the room for juuuuust a little long, the slightly industrial low-key music pulsing... "...And the answer iiiiiis...indeed, Daisuke Sawazaki! Rin and Nena both put down 5 shares apiece - Sousuke set down 4, and Tessa went all in with her 7 shares! Sadly it looks like Tieria invested in a sour bet, and is down 2...now we're going into Round 3, with a windfall of 10 shares to put down...and I'll quickly put your scores up on screen!

        -Nena Trinity (15) - 100,000G
        Tieria Erde (13) - 0G
        Rin Starking(11) - 100,000G
        Teletha Testarossa (10) - 140,000G
        Sousuke Sagara (14) - 80,000G

        "But!~ Before the very last question...I'm using my one rules change to spice up the incentives just a tiny bit!" Asciel sweeps a heavy-sleeved arm up towards the seven decrees...and the first slowly rotates over, revealing anew:

        -ANSWER RULE: After discussion, players place bets for or against their answer. The answer that will be chosen is the pick of whoever has the most shares leftover after investing.

        "Fufufufu..." Asciel looks a little bit too pleased with herself on that one. "Mhm, I think that's what this probably needed from the get-go. Fortune's a little bit unseemly for my liking, after all..." That flash of orange from her irises makes a show of illuminating her glasses. "I'm looking oh so forward to a little bit more of a dramatic showing of risk vs. reward. Our final question for the night...!"

        "What species of dinosaur is most prominently displayed upon the Dinosaur Empire's flag?" 

<Pose Tracker> Nena Trinity has posed.


It seems that yet another round of attempting to trick the others into the wrong answer has failed to succeed. These are indeed some crafty opponents she is up against.

        But they're up to the last question now. Nena will have to decide whether to deceive, or perhaps play against their expectations and tell the truth...

        ... Assuming she knows the answer to the question...

        'The Dinousaur Empire's flag? Who the hell gives a crap about that!?'

        Nena tries to recall... She rubs her chin in thought... Perhaps... Could it be? Maybe. But the question still remains whether she she go with that or something else...

        Nena lets out a laugh, "Another easy one? Really. Come on, it's obviously the raptor. After all, they'd want the most intelligent of dinosaurs on the flag. And everyone knows how clever raptors are!" Nena smiles triumphantly.

<Pose Tracker> Tieria Erde has posed.

Tieria grumbles a bit at the scores. This is embarrassing. Why does he even care? This is stupid, television is stupid, trivia is stupid.

The Dinosaur Empire...

Admittedly, he didn't know much about the Empire, but this seemed pretty obvious.

"Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Tyrant King. Seems perfectly fitting, no?" 

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.


Triumph fills Rin as she is rewarded MONEY. A LOT of money. New car money, or new server money. She does a little fist-pump, and then she takes a deep breath as she leans her head forwards. Thinking.

Rin reaches up to take her glasses off. "That's why they call it trivia," she answers Nena. "And raptors are an artifical category! They're more accurate to real birds. Birds are like the dinosaurs that turned good," she concludes, before --

Saying with a smile as she puts her glasses back on, "That's right! I agree with Tieria. I don't remember if there was a second one, but there was definitely the Big Bitey Boy!"

<Pose Tracker> Nena Trinity has posed.

        "Hmph. That's too obvious. Mister Stuffy and Miss Teacher's Pet are just trying to mislead us." Nena eyes Tieria and Rin before crossing her arms, "Besides, who's going to believe the guy who hasn't won anything yet?" Nena grins at that barb launched Tieria's way.

<Pose Tracker> Tieria Erde has posed.

"Yes, well, my talents have always lied elsewhere. Though I suppose you excel at such meaningless pursuits, Nena."

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

Work was more important than trivia. Work was more important than trivia. Work was more important than trivia.

The chant did help smooth over the feeling of...Apprehension, the smallest bit. (Wait, she had the most money. She was winning. Placing faith in Sagara was always the right call, even if his reports were uncertain. Or concerning. Or rather benign.)

A final rule, a final thought. To win, to win, ten shares, whomever has the most...considering her current shares, the best plan would be to...!

"I concur with both of them." Quick, snappy. Commanding. "If the Dinosaur Empire wants to show off their force, there's little more than a raptor or a T.Rex. I'll back up the T. Rex answer."

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.


"Ehehehehe~ Even a university student isn't going to have ALL the answers," Rin simpers at Nena, complete with a little cupid-bow smile. "That's why we're all still studying, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Nena Trinity has posed.

        "You're making a mistake~" Is Nena's reply to Tessa's choice to back the other two. She explains, "After all, I'm the only one here who's won both previous rounds." Even if the first one didn't actually result in money... "You're better off backing me!"

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

Sousuke sails through. His posture relaxes just a bit. He reviews the scores with a serious look in his eyes, thoughtful. "So the new rule encourages wagering conservatively, despite the fact that anything still on the table after this round is lost. I see." He's an out-loud thinker, apparently, in addition to his other NUMEROUS flaws. His eyes scan the group, thoughtful, as they speak...and then turn back to the hostess, and the display of the question.

And tilts his head back down, shaking it. "It's the Ankylosaur," he says. "A powerful mixture of defense and attack, an enduring body - none of the many noted flaws of the Tyrannosaurus Rex - and a powerful natural weapon in the form of its tail, representative of the many arms and armors they have augmented themselves with."

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.


Rin starts writing something on the tablet. "Do you think they'd just go with an armored herbivore? No way," she tells Sousuke, before pausing and scribbling something out. "They'd absolutely go with something powerful. Tyrannosaurus, at most, left those guys alone."

<Pose Tracker> Nena Trinity has posed.


Nena glances at Sousuke as he makes a compelling argument... But now she's dedicated to proving these three wrong. She shakes her head, "Nope, you guys don't have it. I'm sure of it. And thus, I'm going to be the one to come out on top!" She enters in her answer, "You'll see!"

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

Sousuke pushes his glasses up his nose like a cool guy. "Merely an armed herbivore, you say," he says...but doesn't proceed to Pop Off, instead just tapping in his answer.

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

        Asciel can't help but grin ear to ear at some submissions - it's just much too enjoyable stoking just that little bit of adversarial influence, and seeing people get much too excited about the prospect of money...or pretending not to be. There's a lot she's writing down about each contestant internally...

        "And all the submissions are in!~ Since we're not doing it by the wheel...I'll just go answer by answer!~ Miss Testarossa put down...all 10 of her shares, betting against the Raptor. Rin, with her 11, set down 10 investing in the Ankylosaurus, leaving her with just 1. Tieria, who had 13, set down just 5 for the T-Rex, leaving him with 8 shares, which could put that answer up as the final one...fufu. Mr. Sagara bet 9, also supporting the Ankylosaurus, with five shares on his side..."

        Asciel can't help but laugh just a touch in preparation for the final announcement. "However- Nena's submission is going against the Tyrannosaurus Rex...without a single share actually put forth into it, leaving her with all 15 of her shares...and thus, the answer we'll go with for the last round is indeed, the T-Rex! But that begs the question...is it on their flag...?" The drums pound, as the rules display at the back fades to white...and in its stead, a single image thrums onto the screen. It's a colorful, shield-shaped emblem, divided up like a stained glass window, one that clearly stands for endurance and diversity. ...but the projecting spikes off the side, and the long, ball-shaped tail...it's most clearly an Ankylosaur. "Mmmm, so it'd appear Mr. Sagara was on the right track! After all, we dub the T-Rex as the king of all dinosaurs - but I suppose that's just our own society's naming of these most ancient of creatures!"

        "In any event, it's decided!~ For our final answer...Nena Trinity will be recieving Tieria's shares halved into winnings, adding another 50,000 to her total of 150,000G...just slightly bringing her up above Tessa, leaving her the biggest winner of tonight's game!~" The audience bursts into cheer, and an adorable little toy train soon comes tooting and chugging along the tracks to deliver everyone their winnings in a shockingly fancy old-timey suitcase. (...the suitcase itself may have to be Tieria's consolation prize-)

        "That's it for our opening game of Confoundry! for season eight - - but! To all NBT+ viewers, don't change that channel! After a brief word from our sponsors at CocraTec we'll be right back to see about getting to know these adorable contestants a little bit more!~ For everyone else...!"

        "Wake up to tomorrow's smile!~"

        ...the suits probably had wanted her to say the show's actual closing words, instead of her own channel's outro...

<Pose Tracker> Nena Trinity has posed.

        Nena's eyes go wide, "Wait what? I won? I was right!?" She is of course referring to her mini-crusade to prove Tieria, Rin and Tessa wrong about the T-Rex. She's completely forgotten about her raptor idea, which was just a throwaway bluff.

        "Hah! Take that!" Very humble in victory, Nena is. She raises her fingers in a V shape, even going so fast as to speak it out loud, "Vee!"

<Pose Tracker> Tieria Erde has posed.

Tieria, for his part...does not react to Nena's outburst. He had long since learned not to. Instead, he just stoicly walks off the set. "Whatever."

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