The stench of congealed blood clung to the damp air. The Ram-Judge dragged rotting fingers across the bronze table, leaving trails of squirming maggots.
"Two deceivers now walk among you." Its goatish pupils scanned the nine of us.
The tattooed gangster slammed his dragon-inked forearm on the table. "Bullshit! There's supposed to be one liar!"
"Hush—" The Ram-Judge pressed a finger to its mask's lips. Black sludge began oozing from the ceiling, coalescing into a floating countdown: 07:59.
I rubbed the edge of my card where "DECEIVER" bled crimson droplets. The woman in the lab coat suddenly shrieked, flinging her card away. New text glowed on its back: MIRROR DECEIVER.
"You're cheating!" The housewife sobbed, her card now bleeding the same words as mine. The Ram-Judge gurgled with laughter. "When lies resonate, reality fractures."
Second Testimony:
The Gangster claimed he was disposing of traitors at the docks when seawater crystallized into geometric shapes. As he mentioned "three tons of heroin," his card spewed phosphorescent flames.
The Lab Coat Woman described lab rats speaking human tongues. The crystal embedded in her neck began sprouting coral-like growths.
Myself — When I mentioned the MRI chamber, my pen spontaneously engraved new words: QIXIA, THIRD-TIME PARTICIPANT.
The countdown accelerated abruptly. The gangster seized the housewife's throat. "Your card's glowing! You're the second liar!"
TRUTH card.