Take Responsibility.

[trustbound]

And once everyone has finished their investigations of the building, the door down at the bottom of that stairwell in the dorms seems to once again have been unlocked; it opens slowly and as though of its own volition, swinging outward lightly after an audible click of the latch. Hopefully everyone knows better than to stand in front of it by now, but if not...well, it's gentle enough to provide some sort of encouragement to move without straight-out hitting anyone. For the third time in as many weeks, the stairwell that door leads to is dark; the only light visible is what managing to get in from the courtroom below. The room itself remains as unforgiving and imposing as ever with its walls made entirely of concrete and steel; the podium circle stands starkly in the center, wooden structures ringing the darkened pit below. Again, there's been a change in the podium setup; Blue and Walt have joined those with podiums draped in black. Their profile portraits are arranged atop them, greyed-out and observing the proceedings, along with the rest of those that you've lost. As always, the thirty-sixth podium stands empty. Once everyone has found their place in the circle, Jericho can be heard over the public-address system; he seems to have gotten himself together a little more since morning, though he still doesn't quite seem up to the usual. "Methodical's been taken from you; almost all of you know why you're here right now, and even if your secrets aren't safe anymore, I'd still suggest doing your job to the fullest - unless you consider those secrets worth dying over, even if they aren't worth killing over. As for the guilty party...your secret's safe with me, but unfortunately? You're not safe at all just yet. Whether you manage to actually ensure that you are by the end of the trial is a different matter, I guess. Innocent against the guilty. Let's go round three, see how well you all come out. As always, do your best!" Twenty-nine Participants remain. Let's see how many remain at the end of the day.

Comments

[greenmamabear]

Of course I am.

All of them.

[matchbreaker]

All of...

[ ... All of them-

Aliens. Green. A child with an impossible illness. Her eyes go wide as she connects this. Her hand shifts from her side and she - bites down on her nail, grinding her teeth there. No way, no way, that's the sort of things you hear about in cheesy pulp scifi books. That's... ]

-All of them, of course.

[greenmamabear]

That's right. And I have to keep them safe.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . Hah. ]

You and me both. So come on, it's tacky to use tat stupid face of hers. Why don't you pop our of her stomach or however this is going to work?

[greenmamabear]

[Oddly enough, her grin turns more natural.]

Oh, you want a duel? I shall have you know, I'm known throughout the lands for my talents with the sword.

[...uh]

[matchbreaker]

And I couldn't care less!

[ She draws a line across her throat, her long lady fingernails seeming to flash a bit as she snaps ]

Because I just want to see your own face before we drop you in that damn pit and move on. Because Green's already dead, isn't she?

1/2

[greenmamabear]

[greenmamabear]

Well it wasn't my fault!

[chessturner]

...was White-san successful, then? Did he manage to kill Fern-san, and then you took over since she wasn't alive anymore?

[evilfrenzy]

...Yes, that is my first thought as well. She may have ingested some of that poisoned drink after all.

[heritrix]

Whatever Walter used killed her then. You came out after the fact.

[matchbreaker]

[ Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, that stupid woman. That stupid, idiotic, overbearing heavy ass stupid woman ]

Assigning blame doesn't mean squat! She's dead, and you killed Walter White in the aftermath! You made sure that secret was safe, and now you're going to die for it!

[greenmamabear]

SO I WAS SUPPOSED TO LET THAT STUPID BASTARD GET AWAY WITH IT?!

[Her eyes flash yellow again and there's an odd pulse of red]

[matchbreaker]

[ She- ]

Who cares?! What's done is done, and I'm not dying for you vengeance, or for any of your damned children!

[greenmamabear]

[She spits.]

Maybe you're human after all then.

1/2

[matchbreaker]

[ Fury flashes through her eyes, burning as she extends her long lady fingered - clawed, really - hand, as if she intends to strike at the thing she's talking to. She won't hear that out. ]

[matchbreaker]

[ but she stops, and her expression turns cold. ]

I'm not. It's normal to want to live. Maybe you took actions to ensure that's the case. And once the vote comes up, I'll be doing the same.

[introspects]

...Marker-san is right. You don't need to be human to have the desire to live.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . She's still so charged up she won't spite at Orihime, but wow. Didn't need that defense. ]

[introspects]

[ she's speaking from experience this isn't for you GOSH ]

[greenmamabear]

Then what about us?! Don't we deserve to live?

[evilfrenzy]

That isn't up for debate, not in this situation.

[heritrix]

If you hadn't killed someone, you might have. Were you unaware of the rules around here?

[greenmamabear]

All I bloody knew was that someone killed Fern. I didn't have time to gauge my surroundings!

[ninehundredlives]

He would have been executed, you stupid thing! This wasn't for her at all!