Accountability.

[explosivecombat]

There are all sorts of secrets to this place, really, ways to get from place to place reasonably unnoticed. Some of those ways involve the ability to shift one's appearance, some of them involve shadows and vessels and darkness; for those without those sorts of gifts, though, one has to rely on more conventional means. Panels and doorways, joins and seams that don't join up quite right; portions of the wall that will open up if you manipulate them properly. The Conductor himself tends to rely on the latter; he is, after all, entirely human. He's thin, as though he doesn't eat terribly much, but his clothes are immaculate and sharply-tailored, a suit and long coat all in white and shades of pale grey; his hair is long, trailing at least halfway down his back in a thin, tightly-tied ponytail, and his eyes are cold when he moves to stand at the thirtieth podium – it's not his, it never has been, but it's going to do for now. He doesn't seem anxious at all about being here; there's nothing nervous in his demeanor, and he's keeping his head up, perfectly willing to look everyone in the face. There's a definite arrogance about him, as is probably to be expected, though he'll certainly acknowledge everyone once he's there – when he bows it's enough to be respectful, but not nearly enough to expose the back of his neck. When he speaks, his voice is recognizable but it's quiet, far moreso than one would assume him to be based on the volume of the intercom alone; his tone is even, almost unsettlingly calm given the circumstances, though there's a hardness to it that never quite goes away. "It's a pleasure to speak to all of you in person; I'd say that it's almost a shame that the circumstances have to be what they are, but I'm not going to insult your intelligence like that." He straightens up then; the smile he's offering is understated, but it's not particularly nice. "I understand that we have a fair amount to discuss; shall we begin?" Your host for the evening, everyone; let's start.

Comments

[sunsong]

Yeah, but...look, we have no reason to believe this asshole will help us even if we convince him to, which, by the way, I don't think is goin' so hot. And by that I mean I think he's likely to do what the fuck ever he wants and he's not goin' to just go oh you got the better of me in that one trial tee hee now I'm not goin' to try to murder you guys any longer or whatever.

It's majority rules, probably, so we're allowed to disagree.

[openterrain]

No... I mean, he hasn't been honest, but I don't think he's ever outright lied to us. He's a bastard, but if he'll say he won't murder us then I'll believe him.

I don't think jumping straight to the execution is the best idea, is all I'm saying. Sort of like keeping Rick in mind as an option, you know?

[sunsong]

I feel like none of us are gonna agree on this point unless we learn somethin' new.

[openterrain]

Probably not.

[sunsong]

Greaaaaat.

[blazeit]

Yeah, I'm with Jean on this one. [ For once, he doesn't agree with Sol... ] I wrote him a lot and unless this is all a huge, elaborate farce... I don't think he's lied about anything once. He's like, a smarmy asshole, not a lying one.

It's not really about enjoying his company, I obviously think he's a huge bastard. It's about getting the best possible outcome out of this complete and utter shitshow.

[sunsong]

I'm not convinced that WOULD be the best possible outcome, so...prove it, I guess? It's a trial, someone fuckin' do somethin'.

[withabigsmile]

Even if he could be useful, unless we can figure out how to disable his alchemy, it's not a good idea to keep around a guy that can blow up cities.

[And by extension, them.]

[sunsong]

I'm against keepin' him, like I said. And that's another reason why.

[blazeit]

Well, there's one short-term solution. Rip his hands off.

[ ....

HE'S SERIOUS... ]

[withabigsmile]

[...]

Susan could patch him up afterwards.

[We are legitimately considering this.]

[ninehundredlives]

Do you have any idea how much that's going to bleed?

[Not totally against the idea, just...how survivable do you think these things are?]

[blazeit]

What about cutting them off?

[ BECAUSE

THAT'S BETTER THAN RIPPING THEM OFF ]

[ninehundredlives]

...wait, I'm sorry, you meant you were literally going to rip them off?

[She was actually already working from cutting.......]

[blazeit]

Well, I mean, if we're talking about getting rid of his blatantly obvious weapons, he's got this arrays on his palms. Like, thinking about how I would be most easily fucked in a fight [ seeing as he, uh, also sparks explosions from his palms ] it would be a matter of "how do you break this guy's hands as thoroughly as possible"?

... But maybe we should talk about, like... I don't know, something less hypothetical?

[blazeit]

I mean, he did say he uses the arrays on his hands or whatever. That's just disarming him of the obvious weapon, the rest would be dicier.

[sunsong]

Assumin' he couldn't remake the arrays elsewhere somehow.

[blazeit]

Yeah, that's why the rest of it gets dicier. Based off of those circles, I think they have to be drawn or... etched or something, so not having hands would probably make it really difficult, but not straight-up impossible.

[sunsong]

Uh, that's not the only reason this is stupid as hell as a workable plan, though. If you guys are dead set on makin' him work with us, this strikes me as a horrible first step?

KIMDUCTOR

[openterrain]

... Hey, Observant. Can you do alchemy without your hands?

[explosivecombat]

[...

]

Because that's surely not going to make me want to murder every single one of you.

[sunsong]

See!

[ she and susan were not wrong

but

WHY WOULD THEY HAVE BEEN ]

[openterrain]

Of course note, but I was just wondering.

[ Let's... ask a less stupid question, then. ]

I guess there's no point in discussing this unless we know if you'll even consider working with us.

So... would you?

[announcemyvictory]

Don't even start with threatening to amputate anything, it never helps. This is why I used to hate you all.

[openterrain]

I never threatened to amputate anyone! I was just asking.