Cost of Truth

KirMir were very pleased with the tournament so far. Even after the panic they had experienced during the end of their truth or dare challenge with Jaxon. They weren't competing to win the tournament. Instead they were entirely focused on winning over their regalia- of which they had a significant number. They all promised to be extremely useful and several of them seemed to be likely candidates for friends in the longer term.

Of course they still needed to compete in challenges to help show they were desirable to their regalia so they were very active in trying to secure those opportunities. Which brought them to the space station that day. It was familiar and in many ways felt more comfortable than being on the planet's surface, even after spending months down there.

They did not really appreciate the art. They didn't think it was bad or anything- art was just more difficult to understand than a lot of other cultural artifacts. So they stood there with Kir and Mir watching separate directions. With them stood two others. One regalis, a very quiet girl of about 16 with long brown hair and green eyes dressed in a light summer dress, stood next to Mir and stared off as if she was seeing through everything and everyone. Her focus constantly shifted throughout the area at all the fantastic sights. The other regalis was a woman with dark auburn hair, just a little bit older than the other girl, maybe 18 or so, and she stood next to Kir with her hands in the pockets of her casual jeans. Her black coat lay open and revealed several pockets within.

KirMir was focused on bonding with the younger girl, Alette, at the moment but the other one, Aria, was fond of the same sort of challenges. Truth and Honesty were aspects that made a good pair- probably part of the reason the two of them seemed so much happier when they were together. KirMir were growing fond of both of them and planned to remain friends after the tournament.

Finally Alette spotted Jude and Annie approaching and tapped Mir to get their attention. Except the female body only glanced at Jude and then went back to watching their surroundings. And also making sure Alette was comfortable- the girl had not been on the station before and it was all new to her.

"Hello Jude," Kir called out

"Unless you need to refer to one of our bodies in particular, addressing us as KirMir is the most accurate. We are not offended by your uncertainty though," stated Kir as they shook Jude's hand. They did not actually care which body Jude addressed. Whether he focused on one or the other or even if he alternated between them it was all the same to them. While they shook hands Aria had stepped forward, though she kept one hand casually out of sight in one of her pockets. She wasn't worried but it paid to be prepared- KirMir had mentioned that it was helpful to feel like others were watching their back. Her weapons were actually in her pocket dimension but it drew less attention to draw from the concealment of a pocket than to create an opening in mid-air.

"Hello Annie," greeted Mir as they had already been looking over at Annie. Kir seemed mostly focused on Jude though both bodies kept an eye on their surroundings at all times. Watching for threats that more than likely wouldn't present themselves. "This is Alette," they said as they gestured to the quieter girl by Mir, "and that is Aria over there." Alette gave a small wave and Aria gave a friendly hello. Both seemed to be interested in the coming challenge.

"So you do not find out later and think we are cheating, Alette has the ability to detect people lying but she won't be using it during the challenge. You would be able to see her third eye glowing if she was employing that ability. If that is acceptable then we will play this game of truths and lies with you," said Kir as they stepped back a few paces and then gestured to a couple benches they could sit on if they wanted.

They were not overly familiar with the game but they had played it once or twice with Aria and Alette. They were glad that was they type of game picked and not another game of truth or dare. Before playing the latter they had needed to outline several topics from their past that were too dangerous to be brought up. They would be better able to control what they revealed in this game.

Mir patted Alette on the shoulder and gave her a small smile as they approached towards the others. Alette smiled back too and used a hand to make sure her hair wasn't blocking view of her forehead. "Three rounds each with points awarded in the way you described sounds appropriate Jude." Mir finished their response. They tended to talk with both bodies even if it was only one person they were conversing with.

Little did Jude know that KirMir were actually bothered by a lot of things. They just didn't show it in the same ways that humans did. It was probably more accurate anyway to say they were anxious about a lot of things- a result of their self-preservation instincts being turned up unnaturally high. KirMir tended to be less offended or concerned about social conventions. Which, to be fair, were things that they had the least experience and knowledge of.

KirMir sat on one bench with both of their bodies right next to each other. Alette quietly sat down next to Mir on the bench while Aria stood behind them, sort of leaning causally on the backrest of the bench. Whether intentionally or not she was a little closer to the side that Alette was sitting on.

"We appreciate the warning about your abilities as well. We might very well have tried to use part of our abilities or species in this game," said Mir as Kir seemed to be not paying attention at all to Jude and instead watching their surroundings. When Jude said he would go first they nodded and waited to hear his statements.

Weapons were an excellent subject for KirMir, as it turned out. Unfortunately their expertise in handling firearms wasn't overly useful in helping to determine things like what Jude's favorite gun was or what he might or might not have fired before. They considered the three options, running through possible reasons why they might be true or false. The M1911 was a very popular handgun model but for many people the larger caliber, smaller magazine and occasional jamming issues were not ideal. Miniguns were rarer but having just fired one did not seem overly unlikely. Having used a sniper rifle wasn't that far of a stretch, though he had said 'practiced with' instead of fired. There was also the fact that the first one was specific and the others were not.

They did not yet know how tricky Jude was able to be in a game like this so any of the options could have been lies. "We believe the lie is that...," Mir began and then Kir finished with, "You practiced with a sniper rifle."

As they waited to hear whether they were correct they started planning which statements they would use. Throwing out any that could be easily determined based on knowing their species or powers.

As Jude explained how they had been wrong and went into detail about the various statements he had offered as options Kir seemed to be focused on Jude for a change and Mir was the one keeping a close eye on their surroundings. Alette and Aria seemed to be paying attention to both the game itself but also the reasoning given by Jude.

Kir nodded at Jude. "You are correct that a minigun can be difficult to handle properly. We too would refrain from choosing that type of armament, mainly because exposing ourselves as a target like that would be foolish. We had reasoned though that you might have just fired one at some point. We selected the sniper rifle because you had only said you practiced with it and not that you had fired it."

They had learned from that first round. Jude was well-acquainted with firearms and it did not appear he had been trying to weave any tricks into his truths and lie. He also used a lot of reason to explain why his lie was not something that he would do.

KirMir sat for a moment before deciding on their statements for their turn. "Very well, our turn," stated Kir, "our most frequently used weapon is a knife, our favorite earth gun is the SIG Sauer P226, and our first weapon was given to us by a romantic interest of ours."

KirMir were quite fond of weapons too. They adapted well to them and they usually felt significant discomfort when they had to be unarmed. It made them feel less safe, even though rationally they were relatively safe on the station or on the island. Firearms were excellent to have when so many creatures could easily kill you without any trouble at all.

"You are incorrect, Jude," answered Kir. They weren't celebrating or even looking all that excited. However the faintest smile showed on their face. They continued with an explanation of their statements, though for no apparent reason Mir did the rest of the speaking.

"A knife can be quite effective in close quarters. It also is not loud and does not run out of ammunition. We have used a knife to..." They was just the briefest pause as Kir turned to glance at Alette while Mir was talking. The girl seemed maybe a little uneasy at the subject. "... We have employed the use of a knife far more often than we have shot someone with a firearm." There were other reasons they had used a knife more often, and more recently, but they were not lying about the knife.

Mir patted Alette on the knee and then continued, "We actually a set of P226s with various modifications and one set chambered for .40 S&W if we believe 9mm isn't enough. They are excellent firearms. Especially with the trigger replaced for short reset ones. We did have to specify earth weapons though because some of the weapons from our home would be far more efficient. they just are not accessible here."

While the talk of firearms was going on Aria actually seemed fairly interested too. She didn't interrupt but she was definitely taking notes in her head about the weapon preferences mentioned.

Finally Kir took over speaking again as they got to the part that probably was the least expected truth. They were aware that many people would be quite surprised to find out that yes, they indeed felt attraction to people and could develop emotional connections. "A romantic interest of ours did try to sneak us a weapon once, though it was unsuccessful. The first weapon we were actually given was a knife to be used during testing, though it was collected afterwards. We do not know the name of the lab assistant who gave it to us." They were content that they had explained things properly, though some of it might have raised a few questions to mind. They did not reveal much in the way of emotions about their story except the faint smile definitely disappeared.

Alette very casually moved her hand to pat Mir's knee. A small token of comfort, mirrored from the one which had just occurred moments earlier.