Obviously I'm not an imposter

“Who turned off the lights?!” Mary wailed, looking around in the darkness.

“It’s okay. Stay calm. I had a feeling something like this might happen,” Dawn urged her.

“What do you mean?” Kim asked. “What feeling?”

“Think about it,” Dawn said. “The saboteurs have a fairly big disadvantage in this game. If all of us group up together in a large group, it’s going to be difficult to tell who stabbed who when the lights are off. So I figured that they would have some sort of trick like this.”

“You mean we’re going to be attacked?” Mary asked. Her voice sounded tense.

“It’s possible,” Dawn admitted. “But on the other hand, our group is pretty safe from an internal squabble, which is good.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kim asked.

“If there’re three people in one group, then it’s too risky for the saboteur to try anything,” Dawn explained. “For example, if you were the saboteur, Kim, and you used your syringe on me, even in the dark, Mary, since she knows that SHE isn’t the saboteur, would report immediately and you’d be kicked off. And that’s the case even if I’m the saboteur, or Mary is.”

“So turning off the lights is only useful if it’s in a group of four or more, I see,” Mary nodded.

“Of course, it certainly disrupts our ability to do tasks,” Dawn noted. “We should go see if we can repair the lights in Electrical. Luckily, I know the way. Even in the dark.”

Kim nodded, not that anyone could see in the dark. “Okay, sounds good.”

The trio fumbled through dark hallways, barely able to see anything. But Dawn led them with a surety that was very admirable.

“Are you sure you don’t have cat eyes to go with those ears and that tail?” Kim joked.

She couldn’t see Dawn rolling her eyes, but she had a feeling that’s what happened.

“It is a bit frustrating that the saboteurs can just do this, though,” Mary grumbled. “Makes things way harder. I’m already having difficulty doing my tasks.”

“How are the saboteurs able to do this, anyway?” Kim asked. “I thought Sylvia said that it wasn’t possible for them to sabotage anything directly; they had to sabotage by making us come.”

“That isn’t what she said,” Dawn replied with just a faint hint of annoyance in her voice. “Sylvia’s exact words were ‘the saboteurs cannot do anything to directly impede the repairs. You can’t break things someone is trying to fix’. Get it?”

“…No,” Kim said bluntly.

“Not really,” Mary agreed, shaking her head.

“Sylvia couched the saboteur’s restrictions in very specific language,” Dawn clarified. “Saying that the saboteurs can’t directly impede the repairs. They can’t break things someone is trying to fix. That doesn’t mean they aren’t free to sabotage in other ways. The lights aren’t one of the things we’re repairing. So that means they can mess with them all they want. That’s my theory, anyway.”

“Ugh, that’s so tricky!” Mary grumbled. “I never would have thought of that.”

“In that case, they might be able to sabotage other things on the station, too,” Kim pondered. “We need to be careful.”

“There’s something else we need to worry about,” Dawn said, lowering her voice as they got closer to the Electrical.

“What… what is it?” Mary asked.

“This could be a trap,” she explained. “If I was the saboteur, the first thing I would do after turning off the lights would be to go to Electrical and stake out the switch. That way, I could kill anybody who came to turn them back on. If that’s the case, then we need to assume that one of the two other teams has both saboteurs on it. And they’re waiting for the other groups to come, in order to get a double kill.”

Dawn kept knocking it out of the park in terms of strategy.

“That’s good for us, then,” Kim said. “Since there’re three of us. If they try to kill two of us, then the third can report it.”

There was just enough light to make out the faces of those close by. Even in the darkness, it wouldn’t be hard to identify the attackers.

When they got to the door of Electrical, they could hear the shuffle of footsteps and the whisper of voices.

Dawn took a deep breath and threw open the door just as the lights came back on.

“Waaaaaah!” Rose nearly jumped out of her skin. She stumbled away from the control panel and turned to the door with a wild gleam in her eyes. “I’m sorry! I just wanted to turn on the lights! Please don’t kill me!”

Dakota, who was leaning against the vent, rolled her eyes. “It’s Dawn’s group, you moron. Even if one or two of them are the saboteurs, they can’t just kill us and get away with it. At least one of them is a worker and would report.”

“O-oh, yeah, right,” Rose said, calming down.

“So it’s just the five of us, then?” Kim asked, looking around. “Where are Morgana and Dani?”

Dakota shrugged. “Dunno. Dead, maybe? Have all three of you been together this whole time?”

“Yes,” Mary said, nodding adamantly. “This whole time.”

“Well, that’s good, at least, right?” Rose asked hopefully.

“Not necessarily,” Mary said, shaking her head. “It means that one of the five of us is almost certainly a saboteur. If Morgana and Dani were both saboteurs, then they probably would have tried to kill you both before you made it to the lights, right?”

She glanced pointedly at Rose.

“…Hey! Why are you looking at me?!” Rose protested. “I just turned the lights ON!”

“Or were you trying to deflect suspicion from yourself?” Mary narrowed her eyes.

“Get your own house in order first,” Dakota replied. “You’re the one traveling with two people who have a penchant for stumbling over dead bodies.”

“Those were just coincidences!” Kim protested, her face getting hot.

Dakota narrowed her eyes. “Sure.”

“Well, look, we’re all together now, so let’s just get along, okay?” Dawn asked hopefully. “We’re wasting time trying to figure out who the saboteur is out here. What we should be doing is focusing on our tasks. Does anyone have anything they need to do in Electrical?”

“I did my Electrical tasks when the lights were off,” Dakota replied.

“I did mine last round, before Morgana’s bathroom break,” Rose asserted. “You can ask her later, she saw me.”

“I didn’t get any Electrical tasks,” Mary admitted.

Kim nodded in agreement. “Me neither.”

“So… where to next, then?” Dawn asked. “I already did my Medical tasks…”

“Allegedly,” Dakota added.

“You SAW me!”

“I saw you type some things into a keypad and look at specimens with a microscope,” Dakota replied. “Who knows if that was actually a task, or if you were just faking?”

“Wait, you can fake tasks?” Mary asked, her jaw dropping.

“I mean, I assume you can,” Dawn sighed, shrugging. “After all, how else would they expect the saboteur to be able to fool everyone? It would be obvious when someone hasn’t done anything this entire time.”

She paused. “...I didn’t, though. Fake anything.”

“Not even an orgasm?” Kim joked.

Everyone stared at her.

Right. Gotta cut back on the out of place humor. Understood.

“Wait, so when Dani was swiping her card over and over at the beginning and complaining about how it wasn’t working… do you think she was just faking so I’d alibi her?!” Rose looked completely flabbergasted. “That manipulative bitch!”

“It’s just the game,” Dakota shrugged, giving the faintest of smirks. “Don’t take it too personally.”

“I will ABSOLUTELY take it personally!” Rose snarled, with zero self-awareness.

“Anyway, guys, we should probably get going,” Mary urged. “We all have more tasks to do, right? Kim?”

“Yeah, I’ve still got a few,” Kim nodded. “Which way’s the telescope?”

“I know where that one is,” Dawn said. “Should we all travel together? Safety in numbers?”

“Yeah, safety in numbers… unless the lights go out again,” Dakota said ominously. “Then there’s so many of us, it would be hard to tell who did what.”

Nobody seemed thrilled with that thought. So they all headed down the hall, towards the Observatory.

They didn’t even make it halfway before the alarm started going off.

“DANGER! DANGER! OXYGEN LEVELS DROPPING. PLEASE ENTER THE APPROPRIATE OVERRIDE CODE INTO ALL THREE SITES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN A LOSS FOR THE WORKERS. HAVE A NICE DAY.”

“What?!” Rose nearly fell over. “Wait, we’re going to run out of air?!”

“I don’t think Sylvia’s really going to kill us, no,” Kim said dryly. “This must be another sabotage attempted.”

“It said we had to enter the code into three sites,” Dakota said, her eyes running along the hallway. “And judging by that timer counting down, we don’t have a lot of time to do it in.”

There was a pretty fast timer running down. They only had a little over five minutes to resolve the issue.

“Don’t worry guys,” Dawn said. “I remember the sites of the oxygen panels. There’s one in the O2 Room, one in Admin, and one in the Greenhouse.”

“Those are all over the station, though!” Mary cried.

“Then we’ll have to split up,” Dakota said grimly. “It’s the only way we’ll get there in time.”

“What about Morgana and Dani?” Kim asked. “Maybe they could get to one, while we handle the others.”

“Unless Morgana or Dani is a saboteur, or both of them are,” Mary pointed out. “Dani could have killed Morgana, then sabotaged the O2. The only way we can do this is if all of split up.”

Which meant one of them would have to be on their own.

“I’ll go with Kim to the Greenhouse,” Dawn said. “We’ve already worked together.”

“Oh, both saboteurs working together on the same team?” Dakota raised her eyebrow. “I see how it is.”

“If they were both the saboteurs, then I’d already be dead!” Mary exclaimed. “We don’t have time to bicker about this, guys! We need to handle the emergency, now! Dakota, come with me!”

“Wait, but then I’m left all alone!” Rose wailed.

“I’ll be fine on my own,” Dakota said, shaking her head. “You four are a liability at this point. I’ll be in Admin. The rest of you, do whatever.”

“…Fine. Rose, come with me!” Mary yanked her arm with surprising ****. “We’ll handle the O2 Room! Kim, you and Dawn do the Greenhouse and then meet us there!”

“Right!” Kim nodded. “Come on, Dawn!”

The two girls raced across the space station as the alarms blared in their ears and the clock ticked down. Things were getting pretty tense. But they managed to make it.

“Luckily they put the code right next to the panel,” Dawn said, typing the authorization code into the keypad.

“OK” blinked on the keypad, and both girls let out a sigh of relief.

The alarm was still going, though.

“You think the others made it in time?” Kim asked. “What if they ran into the saboteurs?”

“Then it’s probably game over,” Dawn shrugged. “Nothing we can do. We can’t make it to the other places in time.” She was practically out of breath as it was. I really don’t want to run anymore, the cat girl though.

But luckily, the alarm went off without a hitch.

The two of them sighed in relief for a second time.

“So what now?” Kim asked. “Should we head back?”

Dawn smiled. “Ha... Getting nervous now that it’s just the two of us? Don’t worry, if I was the saboteur, I’d have killed you before you could report Gina’s body.”

“Fair enough,” Kim agreed. “Still, if it’s just the two of us, there’s a chance we could be ambushed by the saboteurs. It would be better if we get back to the others.”

“Agreed,” Dawn nodded. She pressed the side of her hand into her stomach to even out her diaphragm and moderate her breathing. “Just… give me a second.”

Kim waited patiently for her to cool down. While they waited, Dawn sighed and looked up at the schoolgirl.

“Okay… confession time. I didn’t just group up with you because of the Gina thing.”

“Oh?” Kim raised her eyebrow.

“Don’t get me wrong, that’s the reason I trust you,” Dawn said. “You could have gotten me then, but you didn’t. That’s why I wanted to get you alone. So I could talk privately.”

Kim could hear the conspiratorial tone in her voice. “About what?”

“About who I think the saboteur is,” Dawn said. “What you and Mary were talking about earlier, that thing, about how the saboteur would eliminate someone they’d like to pick as their buddy…”

“I think she was just going off what Rose said before, in the meeting,” Kim said. “You know, when she accused you and Mary of being the saboteurs because it was your buddies that were eliminated first?”

“Rose’s logic was poor,” Dawn said, frowning. “But… she had the right idea. I think it was the wrong motive, though.”

“What do you mean?” Kim asked, surprised.

“Think about it,” Dawn said. “It wouldn’t be smart to eliminate your buddies immediately. That might bring attention to you, and if you’re the saboteur, then you don’t need to do it anyway. After all, if you win, you’re guaranteed to be in first place and get a rose.”

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I didn’t realize it!” Kim groaned, slapping her forehead. “Mary’s rationale is totally wrong! Dani and Rose can’t be in this together… I don’t think any of the buddies can both be saboteurs!”

“You’re right,” Dawn agreed. “Because both buddies can’t get a rose. So the saboteurs have to be two different sets of buddies… or something else.”

That was the crux of her little theory.

“Something else… you mean…” Kim caught on immediately. “You think Morgana is one of the saboteurs, then?”

“I don’t like suspecting her, but it’s the most logical conclusion,” Dawn explained. “Win or lose, Morgana is still at risk of being eliminated, right? Sylvia is the type of person who would put her in such a sadistic position. All the time she spent making friendships with everybody will be jeopardized, because she has to kill them, or their buddies.”

Kim nodded. That sounded like Sylvia alright.

“But still, that’s just speculation,” Kim pointed out. “It could still be a pair that aren’t buddies, like Rose and Dakota, for example.”

“Also valid,” Dawn agreed. “But think about who’s gotten eliminated so far? Gina and Carly. Mary’s buddy, and my buddy. You get it?”

“…She’s killing the buddies of the people who are most likely to give her a rose,” Kim said.

Dawn nodded triumphantly. “Exactly. When Gina got eliminated, Mary’s position is secured. If the saboteurs win, then she’s getting a rose, whether she’s a saboteur or a worker. And the same goes for me, now that Carly’s eliminated. It’s Morgana’s best path to victory. If she’s the saboteur, winning the game itself won’t guarantee anything, so she’s using the position to benefit herself like this. If I was the auditionee and had to play saboteur, it’s the move I’d make.”

“I can see it…” Kim nodded. “But that’s assuming she really is a saboteur. It could just be a coincidence that those two were the first eliminations.”

“Of course it could be a coincidence,” Dawn agreed. “But when you combine it with the fact that she had that ‘bathroom break’ earlier, it starts seeming a lot more suspicious.”

The facts were all pointing in one direction it seemed.

“In that case, Dani is probably dead,” Kim sighed. “And Morgana’s on the loose.”

Dawn shrugged. “Could be,” she acknowledged. “On the other hand, Morgana might want to keep Dani alive. It depends if she thinks the tomboy is more likely to pick her than Rose or not.”

“Dani might pick Carly though,” Kim pointed out. “Morgana might decide it’s too much of a risk.”

Either way, it was pretty clear that Morgana was someone they needed to watch out for.

“If I had to guess, I’d say Morgana’s going to go after Dakota next,” Dawn said. Her breathing had finally stabilized. “After all, you’re more likely to pick her than Dakota is, right?”

Given Morgana’s suspicion of Dakota, that was a fair assessment.

“And she’s alone right now…” Kim said, biting her lip. “We should find her. Before Morgana does.”

“Agreed,” Dawn nodded. “But it might be better to report to Mary first. Or hold a meeting. We can go push the button and that’ll solve all of this. …Or both, we can do both. O2 is on the way to the meeting room.”

“You’re right,” Kim nodded. “Let’s go.”

The two girls rushed out of the room and headed down the hallway. They ran as fast as they could, which was bad for Dawn, since her legs were shorter. Kim had to slow down several times for her to catch up.

“Hah… fuck… hate… running…” Dawn panted, holding her side. She used to be in such great shape back when she was a gymnast. Maybe she should take Dani up on her yoga idea.

“Dawn, you coming?” Kim looked back at her.

“Just… go ahead…” Dawn panted. “I’ll catch up.” She picked up the pace and started running again, following after Kim.

Kim burst into the O2 Room, where Mary and Rose were waiting patiently for the others. She had to grab the table to stabilize.

“Dawn’s… right behind me…” She panted. “We ran all the way here.”

“What’s the matter? If the emergency’s over, why are you out of breath?” Mary asked.

“Needed to get here fast… before…”

“Dawn?” Rose headed to the hall. But then the door to O2 slammed shut and locked, causing the three of them to jump.

“Shit! What the fuck?!” She stumbled back.

“It locked itself?!” Mary sputtered.

“Crap… it must be another saboteur…” Kim groaned. She pounded on the door. “Dawn! Can you hear me?”

No response.

“I think it’s soundproof,” Rose said, scanning the thick metal. “It reminds me of the door in a studio.”

“Leave it to Sylvia to soundproof the doors so we can’t communicate,” Mary grumbled. “And we probably can’t unlock it, either. We’ve gotta go around.”

“This isn’t good…” Kim bit her lip. “Guys… Dawn’s in trouble. She’s all alone now. And… she said she knows that Morgana is probably one of the saboteurs.”

Mary and Rose gasped.