God's Imitator

When Lu Bingjun finished, everyone in the room exchanged uncertain glances.

Zhou Wanlin looked around, then said, ”Brother Lu, I do support you on this. Having an Imitator in the community is genuinely unsettling.

”But what exactly do you want everyone to do?”

Ye Lin’s brow was furrowed, ”Yes. Everyone wants to find the Imitator, but how?

”Do we all watch each other and live in a constant state of suspicion?

”Do people report to you privately?

”Or does everyone simply point fingers at each other out in the open like this?

”And once we find someone we suspect, what do we do with them?

”If you’ve decided to bring this into the open, I hope you already have a clear plan.”

Huang Shengjie looked between Ye Lin and Lu Bingjun.He could tell that before today’s meeting, Lu Bingjun had spoken with Ye Lin, but not in any great depth. Not all of it had been agreed upon.

Most likely, Lu Bingjun had told Ye Lin he intended to reveal the truth of ‘Remorse Poker’ to all the new players, and on that point Ye Lin had agreed. But he probably hadn’t told her he was planning to reopen an investigation into the Imitator.

Those two things were not the same.

Shen Bowen considered for a moment and also looked toward Lu Bingjun, ”This is a topic that has come up in almost every community, I imagine.

”After all, the fact that there’s an Imitator in the community is something everyone finds out on day one.

”But in most communities the initial conclusion is probably the same: don’t disturb the situation unnecessarily.

”So, Brother Lu, I’m with Ye Lin on this. I hope you’ve thought it through carefully and have a concrete, workable plan.”

Lu Bingjun gave a nod, ”The concerns you’re raising are fair, and I understand the gravity of it. I have thought about it at length.

”When we first discussed the Imitator as a community, we did reach a consensus: there was no need to make a large public effort to find them.

”But that was based on an assumption: that the Imitator was either neutral or acting in good faith.

”We would avoid provoking them unnecessarily, to prevent them from deciding to fight to the death with us, or from being replaced after their death by an even more dangerous Imitator.

”That assumption no longer holds.

”This Imitator has been systematically targeting and killing members of our community, and doing so successfully, again and again.

”I believe both ‘Remorse Poker’ and ‘A Single Word to Settle a Case’ were their work, and the ‘Jury Game’ in all likelihood was as well.

”All three games were ultimately aimed at the core of our community.”

This produced visible surprise in the room. Including the ‘Jury Game’ in this was somewhat beyond what people had expected.

Lu Bingjun continued, ”Think carefully about what all three of those games have in common.

”‘Remorse Poker’ appeared to be targeting Gao Teng, but was really aimed at Wei Changfeng.

”‘A Single Word to Settle a Case’ appeared to be targeting Deng Xiao, but was really aimed at me.

”And the ‘Jury Game’ was very likely aimed at Lawyer Lin, something Lin Sizhi himself accepts, since none of the other three roles in that game carried the same scarcity or specific direction.

”The three of us are all core game players in this community. Any one of our deaths would cause serious disruption and irreversible damage.

”This Imitator has had one goal from the beginning: to destroy this community entirely. First cut off the leaders, then break down the community’s structure, and finally reduce us to a scattered, helpless group with nothing left.

”If we continue to force ourselves to look away from what is right in front of us, once their plan reaches completion, organising any meaningful response will be far too late.

”So we have to act. Even if we can’t expose them immediately, we need to constrain their behaviour and make it harder for them to operate going forward.

”Of course, we also need to be careful about how we do it. We can’t cause serious damage to the community’s cohesion in the process of trying to find one person.

”If anyone has a critical piece of information, share it privately with a player you trust. I know that kind of private communication risks creating factions, but putting everything in an open forum is the same as handing all our secrets directly to the Imitator, and that is absolutely not acceptable.

”It has to be the lesser of two evils.

”Private information can be brought to me, or to Lawyer Lin, or to Ye Lin.

”Beyond that, I think it should be mandatory for all players to speak during debriefs and when discussing important matters, and to say something of substance. Even if there’s nothing particular on your mind, say more. The more people speak, the easier it becomes for the Imitator to make a slip.

”If we arrive at a strong suspicion about a specific player, my proposal is that we put it to a community-wide vote and remove them from the community.

”And if we obtain evidence that is impossible to dispute, we will conduct a public trial within the community. If guilt is established, the community will vote on a death sentence.”

Lu Bingjun paused briefly and added, ”I know this will fundamentally change the atmosphere in this community. From that point forward, this will no longer be an unconditionally safe space, and that step cannot be taken back once it is taken.

”But I also believe it is a step we can no longer avoid.

”Treating this community as an absolutely secure refuge is a reasonable ideal, but it cannot be an inviolable rule. Even in the real world, there are laws, there are trials, and there are death sentences, because they are necessary for dealing with people who cause serious harm to others.

”It was the Imitator who first broke the safety of this community through brutal means. We are simply being forced to respond.

”Of course, we will still hold to one absolute principle: any resolution that could permanently alter the community’s character must ultimately be decided by a vote of all members.

”And any vote that involves directly taking a member’s life must be approached with extreme caution. For instance, it would require the unanimous agreement of all other members to take effect.”

Huang Shengjie looked genuinely taken aback, ”Are we really going to pass a motion that allows us to take a player’s life? Would the community’s rules even permit that?”

Ye Lin thought carefully for a long while, then said, ”Something this significant deserves very careful consideration.

”At least one to two weeks, I think.

”I know the Imitator could strike again in the next game, but we’re not going to lose another week over this.

”Whether or not the Imitator is found, we’ll still have to play through whatever games come our way. There are Imitators from other communities too.”

No one else spoke, and it was clear that reaching any firm conclusion today was not going to happen.

Lu Bingjun looked around the room. The debrief had already run very long, and many faces were visibly worn out.