California Trilogy: City of Angels - On Camera (Game Over)

[sottyrulez]

Yeah, everyone who hasn't casted at least a condercet needs to at least do that so that they have a preference on record.

I agree with Thok that it may be a better idea to decide this on condercet rather than allowing it to be hammered quickly a specific way.

[Talilan]

Vote: Don't push the button, Push the button

According to the last votecount Thok you're not even voting?

Tags removed. Only votes at the end of a post are counted. - Mod

[GoofballsAndBaloons]

Aren't you already voting, Ms. Talilan Fisher?

I'm not liking Thokster Godwin's fake vote, I mean, who forgets to bold??? It's as if he knows "Don't Push" is the wrong choice, and he's pushing it, but he doesn't want to write his name on it.

[GoofballsAndBaloons]

What good is a Condorcet with only two options?

[StarKiss]

Vote: Push The Button

[Talilan]

DGB: I believe the reason for the condorcet with two options is that it reduces the chance of there being an actual "tie" (which causes the worst outcome automatically) because if both choices receive the same primary number of votes it's more likely one will have fewer secondary choices, assuming not everyone has voted with a full condorcet. It's rather pedantic, especially as push the button looks like a clear winner, but as far as I'm aware that's the reasoning.

Vote: Don't push the button

, Push the button

[GoofballsAndBaloons]

Shall I hammer that button or wait for Wiggins_Faul to catch up in the next few hours?

[Thok]

If you are paying attention, you'll notice that the list of Condorcet votes corresponds directly to the player list of the first post. So the order

Angel, played by Gaspar
Carrie Fisher, played by Talilan
Clarence Odbody, played by PookyTheMagicalBear
Dweezil Zappa, played by Mighty Orbots
Glen Stewart Godwin, played by Thok
Huey Lewis, played by StarKiss
Mr. Green, played by sottyrulez
Tabris, played by GoofballsAndBaloons
Valentine Wiggin, played by zu_Faul

corresponds to the order of Condorcet votes. I'm listed fifth, and that's where my Condorcet vote is on every vote count.

At deadline, first we check if there is a majority for one decision. That means we need 5 votes (no less will do). Otherwise they compare the Condorcet votes and see which one has the most votes head to head. In a two way competition at the deadline, it does not matter whether my vote is a vote or a Condorcet (as long as I make a preference); it will be counted either way.

In fact, if you were paying attention, despite my not having an "official" vote, my Condorcet vote was what made there not be a Condorcet winner in the last vote count.

But since people actually want a vote for the record.

vote: Don't Push the Button

, Push the button

[Mr. Grey]

Deadline:

Approximately 13.5 hours from this post.

Vote Count:

5 to Decide.

Push The Button: 4 (Angel, Clarence Odbody, Dweezil Zappa, Huey Lewis)
Don't Push The Button: 3 (Carrie Fisher, Glen Stewart Godwin, Mr. Green)

Not Voting: 2 (Tabris, Valentine Wiggin)

Current Condorcet Winner:

Push The Button

To view the complete table of pairwise results, put the following information into this form.

1,Push
2,Don't Push

1:1>2
1:2>1
1:1>2
1:1>2
1:2>1
1:1>2
1:2>1
1:1=2
1:1=2

[Talilan]

Hold off on the hammer pls, my jetlaggled self is trying to catch up also
~Tals

[sottyrulez]

I really don't like the starkiss vote right now after stating an earlier leaning the other way, they have put DGB in a position to hammer AGAIN.

[StarKiss]

Good for you. You want a cookie? Read every post from my account this week and you'll understand.

[Talilan]

Firstly this is a crappy choice for town to try and figure out. First we have to decide who we think are scum (and we could easily be wrong), THEN we have to figure out whether those (possible) scum are voting for the choice they want to win, or the choice that is best for town (and we could very easily be wrong about this too). The chances of making a wrong assumption are enormous, and it's frustrating.

On the plus side though, we do at least have a chance of stumbling into the right choice by good luck rather than by correct reasoning. So each townie should make the choice that feels right to them and hope for the best.

I'm most comfortable with the DON'T PUSH choice, that we're currently voting for. My reasons are pretty weak but here you go:
1. I kinda like the company on the vote
2. I like that with most people now voting it's the least popular (I'd expect the choice that the scums want to have a bit of extra support)
3. If I were scum I'd have made PUSH BUTTON the bad choice, believing that most people won't be able to resist pushing a big ol' button.

~Tals

[Talilan]

I wonder who got lynched out of hewitt, ckd and MafiaJin

My money's on...........MafiaJin, who flips town

[StarKiss]

What can I say, my kissing side seems to be a bit more disinterested in this lately so I make the decisions.

I, the dramatic side, want to push the button, while my other half would rather not. However since my other side is bored he follows my lead, simple no?

[GoofballsAndBaloons]

"If I were scum I'd have made PUSH BUTTON the bad choice, believing that most people won't be able to resist pushing a big ol' button."

One more reason to push the button. If the demons had this thought, I bet they would assume we'd WIFOM ourselves into not pushing the button. So we should push it.

I don't get the sotty DGB-hammer hate. But if someone else wants to do it, by all means, help yourself. I do want to be on record for pushing the button. Weak reasons yes, but enough to lean in that particular direction. Not to mention how I just can't bring myself to vote with Glen Thokwin.

[Mr. Grey]

VP Baltar has been appointed Stuntman.

[GoofballsAndBaloons]

The cough lozenges worked at last.

[zu_Faul]

Valentine starts to sing:

'cause you woke up in the mornin, with the mission to to move, so why make it harder...
don't hold back...
if you think about it, so many people do, be cool man, look smarter....
don't hold back...
and you shouldnt even care, bout those losers in the air, and their crooked stares...
don't hold back...
cause there's a party over here, so you might as well be here, where the people care...
don't hold back...

World! The time has come to...

Vote: Push the Button

, Don't Push the Button.

[Mr. Grey]

Final Vote Count:

5 to Decide.

Push The Button: 5 (Angel, Clarence Odbody, Dweezil Zappa, Huey Lewis, Valentine Wiggin)

Don't Push The Button: 3 (Carrie Fisher, Glen Stewart Godwin, Mr. Green)

Not Voting: 1 (Tabris)

[Mr. Grey]

Scene 4.4

March 5, 1918...

An alarm buzzes nearby. There is a groan from an unseen man. The alarm continues, though abruptly the volume is cut in half for some unknown reason. After another few moments, there is a creaking, and the room suddenly comes into view, the camera acting to give a look through the formerly-sleeping man's eyes. The room is well-lit, though there is no obvious source of light. A hand tosses aside an eye mask. The other hand slaps at the alarm clock, which is unusual in that it has a rotary display which is showing an apparently arbitrary sequence of numbers unrelated to the time. The man sighs and flops back onto his bunk, and the camera swings to point at the ceiling.

Eventually, the camera view shifts to a third person point of view. The quarters are cramped, suggesting a ship of some kind. The man remains on the bed, but something is... off. He appears blurry, and there is a shadow covering part of his face. The man yawns - or does he? - and finally gets up...

At least, a man gets up. The same man remains asleep on the bunk, and it is now apparent that the blurriness previously seen has been caused by the superimposition of two different possible timelines.

The man who is awake dresses. The actor playing this man is instantly recognizable as Scott Bakula, perhaps leading the audience to leap (pardon the pun) to the conclusion that Scott Bakula's character has replaced the actual man, who, judging by the uniform, is a high ranking military official.

The man walks over to a mirror. Scott Bakula's face stares back at him, dispelling that notion. He stifles a yawn, slaps himself in attempt to wake up. In doing so, he clears his head enough to realize that there is still an alarm ringing out in the distance.

"Oh boy."

[Mr. Grey]

Scene 4.5

Present Day...

The group outside Mr. Grey International, Inc. headquarters is arguing about whether or not to push the button while the sun sets in the background. There is a faint whisper - something like "Hurry up, we're running out of daylight!" - but that will surely be edited out of the final film.

Mr. Green:

Ok, let's take a quick count. All in favor?

Some hands go up.

Mr. Green:

Opposed?

Some other hands go up.

Valentine Wiggin:

That's five for pushing it. Let's get this over with.

Valentine grabs the box and gives the button a firm press. There is a sound effect like something futuristic powering down.

Carrie Fisher:

Did the button do anything?

ALICE:

If it did, then I will be surprised.

[Mr. Grey]

Scene 4.6

March 5, 1918...

While one Scott Bakula lies still in the silence of the small cabin, the camera follows the other out and through the body of the ship to the bridge.

A voiceover informs the viewer that the USS Cyclops is, to those without security clearance, a bulk cargo ship headed for Baltimore carrying manganese ore as well as passengers. This is largely true. However, what only those very high up in the government are aware of the importance of manganese to a particular top secret research project.

Strange lights and futuristic devices seen in the ship as the Scott Bakula character rushes through the ship leave the viewer wondering what the secret project is, but the voiceover falls silent. Is it related to the war effort, some WWI version of the Bomb? Is it an early space mission? Are aliens involved? Have the leaders of the free world been replaced by zombies?

The actual crew of the ship is small, owing to the anachronistic technology automating various functions. And of the two crew members on the bridge, one is sound asleep.

"Lieutenant Binkley!"

Lieutenant Binkley fails to give any response other than drooling on his station.

"Commander, he's been like this all morning."

"And you didn't think this was something I should know about?"

"Sir, the alarm

has

been going off for six and a half hours..."

"You should have woken me personally. Ah, but I suppose you couldn't leave the bridge unattended. Very well. Status report, Lieutenant Beckett."

"Sir, current status unknown. These infernal machinations refuse to give any hint as to why the alarm is going off. It could mean any number of things."

"Such as? Let's narrow this down."

"Aye aye, sir. Alien abduction?"

"Of who?"

"Whom, sir."

"If I had anyone else to navigate this ship, I would put you in the brig for that, don't think I wouldn't."

"Sorry, sir."

"It seems to me that systems are reporting the entire crew is accounted for. Unless aliens have abducted Binkley's wakefulness, I think we can rule that one out."

"Asteroid, sir?"

"Why did that include that in the list of things that could set the alarm off? It's not as if we could shoot an asteroid down, or send a crew up into space to blow it up. That's ridiculous."

The Lieutenant yawns. Lt. Commander Worley notices that he is yawning too.

"Maybe the Germans have invented some sleeping sickness. Is that in the alarm book?"

"No, sir. There is

Return of the Great Zarquon

, whatever that means."

"This is useless. Aren't there any more normal causes in your book there?"

"Well, before the alarm started going off, we encountered a strange smell as we passed into the so-called Bermuda Triangle."

"What sort of smell?"

"Something between a rotting corpse and a kumquat. Sir."

"That's very descriptive of you. What did you do?"

"Lieutenant Binkley sealed off the ship, and the smell went away. But perhaps whatever caused the smell melted through our hull, and..."

"Wait. You sealed off the ship?"

"Yes, sir."

"You idiots! No wonder Lieutenant Binkley can't wake up. We're running out of oxygen! Quick, undo whatever you've done!"

But Lieutenant Beckett, yawning yet again, faints at his post. The Lt. Commander panics, then feels a tightening in his chest as his lungs fail to provide the oxygen required by his pounding heart. He tries to relax, but not too much, and his eyes dart around for some inspiration as to how to open the air vents.

He presses one button at random, immediately regretting it as he recalls that it is the automated telegraph service to his mother-in-law. After hammering out a quick apology in code that he will no doubt get hell for later, he presses another, unknown button.

With a hiss, air rushes through the bridge.

[Mr. Grey]

Scene 4.7

Present Day...

Moments after Valentine presses the button, a man in a post office uniform walks up to the group.

Postal Worker:

Excuse me. I have a letter.

ALICE:

You're excused. How much did it cost? It.

Carrie Fisher:

Never mind her. Who is the letter for?

Postal Worker:

I don't know.

Huey Lewis:

What do you mean you don't know? How are you supposed to deliver a letter if you don't know who to deliver it to?

Postal Worker:

I'm sorry. That's not what I meant. I know who I am supposed to deliver it to. I just don't know the names of the people I'm supposed to deliver it to.

Glen Stewart Godwin:

People?

Tabris:

Obviously he means that he is supposed to deliver this letter to us. Though that leads to so many other questions...

Postal Worker:

Then I will try to anticipate them. This letter has been with us for many years. We were left strict instructions to deliver it on this day at exactly this time, to a group of people standing right where you are standing.

Angel:

How could anyone have known we would be here?

Postal Worker:

That I do not know. Though I suspect that the answer is in the letter.

Mr. Green:

Well, let's have it then.

Mr. Green takes the letter and opens it. He frowns. His eyes widen in surprise.

Dweezil Zappa:

What does it say?

Mr. Green:

I don't understand how this is possible. But...

"Dear Mr. Green,

If you are reading this letter, it can only mean that you have chosen to push the button. I regret to inform you that this has had terrible consequences, though since these events have already occurred in a linear timeline, perhaps that was inevitable..."

---

March 5, 1918...

We return to the Lt. Commander's cabin. Scott Bakula Number 1 is just now clawing his way toward the alarm. As his hand reaches out, the scene freezes. A mysterious blue light envelopes him. He vanishes. The alarm goes silent, and the more distant ship alarm can once again be faintly heard.

The camera follows the path that the Lt. Commander would have taken through the ship had he not disappeared. It reaches the bridge, where Lieutenant Beckett is frantically flipping through the instruction manual trying to figure out what is wrong, yawning constantly. He finally succumbs.

Switch to an external shot of the USS Cyclops. The ship cuts through the water silently, a lifeless hulk passing beneath the camera and toward the horizon. It disappears in the mists of time.

---

"Your decision may have collapsed two alternate universes into one, or perhaps there was only ever one possible choice and everything is pre-determined. It doesn't matter. Whatever the case, the time has come for certain individuals to come to the island.

Enclosed is a schedule and manifest for a cruise ship headed into the Pacific tomorrow. A number of the passengers have been... eliminated. You will replace them. The ship will bring you to the island, where... well, we'll get to that later. Others may join you. Some of you may not make it to the island, or even the ship. But you will try.

Regards,
Mr. Grey."

[Mr. Grey]

Scene 5.1

A camera watches as a cruise ship - of unknown affiliation, as all the identifying information on the hull is blurred until Mr. Grey Enterprises reaches a sponsorship deal with one of the major cruise lines - eases into its Los Angeles port of call.

The sun sets on the Pacific horizon behind it.

Dramatic music plays.

And in the shadows cast by the great ship, the silhouette of a tiger lurks, waiting for something. The head of the beast jerks upward just as a shout is heard and a figure - bald and orange - comes flying over the railing of the cruise ship. Before the figure splashes into the water, never to be seen again, a shout is heard:

Tony Kornheiser:

Do you know who I am??