Take Responsibility.

[trustbound]

And once everyone has done what they need to do and gathered at that bottom of that stairwell in the dormitory, the door before them once again seems to unlatch and swing outward, lightly and of its own volition. It's the fourth time in the span of about a month; perhaps there's some strange, dark sense of familiarity in it. Perhaps, too, that stairwell leading further down is beginning to feel familiar, dark and unwelcoming though it is; the courtroom is still illuminated at the bottom of it, sending a slight amount of light up the stairs and guiding everyone down to that stark room made of concrete and steel. The podium circle stands still and silent in the center, waiting for everyone to take their place around the darkened pit below; once again, there's been a change in the circle itself in the form of three more podiums joining the ranks of the deceased. Fern, Tabby, and Sigrun all have their places in the circle marked with black cloth and a photograph in greyscale, keeping watch over all of you in a manner both unseeing and vaguely judgmental. As always, the thirty-sixth podium stands blank and unoccupied among you. Once everyone has found their place in the circle, Jericho can be heard over the public-address system; he seems to have collected himself at some point during the investigation, it shows in his voice, as little as anyone really wants it to. "For better or worse, Boundless is no longer among you. I'm sure you guys all know what that means by now, what you're here to do. And before you ask, because I know it's going to come up eventually and now's as good a time as any - yeah, we'd have you down here if someone tries to be a big damn hero for the group, because someone's still dead because somebody fucked up. It just means the dead person and the guilty person are the same person. So you know what, the game's the same, no matter what happened here - innocent against the guilty, fourth time, let's go! And as always, do your best!" Twenty-six Participants remain. However many leave this place is up to you.

Comments

[heritrix]

Not on her, but...

[Well, Rin's still right by your podium, Elda, so you're going to have the first look at this as Rin removes it from her pocket, and unfolds it.]

There was a suicide note, a bit away from everything. There wasn't even blood on it.

[matchbreaker]

... You had a note the whole time? Doesn't that mean this is all a lot easier?

[ she'll be taking the note to glance over it. It's... a little sloppy? But it sure has the woman's name on it. ]

MODS

[introspects]

A note...

Marker-san, does the handwriting match what you saw in Sigrun-san's room?

MODS (?)

[matchbreaker]

I mean there's a difference between a note and something carved into a wall, but I guess I can try'n compare based on memory?

[ She knows "VERN" was written very poorly, and this is a bit messy, but is there any worthwhile comparison to be made? ]

[trustfellows]

[Well, there is a difference between a note and something carved into a wall, that much is definitely true. But while the words in the note are definitely messy, they generally look like they belong to someone who probably writes well - while they seem unnaturally rushed, everything is at least formed properly. Whether Sigrun can write worth a damn is a different argument, but it looks better-formed than the letters above the door, if that tells you anything.]

[matchbreaker]

[ After thinking for a long moment... she taps on the note ]

Okay, I think the writing here seems neater than what I saw in Sigrun's room. The "VERN" was written really poorly. Anyone seen Sigrun write before?

[introspects]

So...it's possible it could have been forged. I guess it's hard to compare a carving on the wall to a note like this, but...

[evilfrenzy]

Mind reading aloud for the class, Elda?

[Because a note sure sounds convenient.]

cw: suicide note

[matchbreaker]

[ Okay, time to read with the class, then! ]

Ahem - "I'm pouring one last one out, and then doing this to reset the timer. This note is so you don't tear each other apart at the trial, if they make you have one. I'm taking responsibility for my actions now."

[ . . . Eeesh, she shakes her head and carries on, ]

"Keep trying to get out of here. You'll make it, just don't give up."

Then she signs it off as Captain ... well, her name.

[ She waves it around, willing to pass it off if anyone wants. ]

[destage]

...Taking responsibility...

[Jesus christ, that's a hell of a way to put it, even if she knows that's just...verbatim from the rules.]

...Her telling us not to give up, even with this happening...that...does seem at least somewhat like her, even if this...

[She was always so bright, and she honestly doesn't want to believe it.]

[notaccurate]

I still stand by what I said. We had eight hours. She probably would have spent seven of those hours trying to find another solution before doing something like this.

And that isn't even going into the fact that the setup for all of this would have had to happen well before the timer ran out.

[destage]

...That's the thing, Luca-san. We didn't have a clear cut view of when the timer was going to run out, beforehand. They never saw it fit to give us an exact time.

Eide-san may not have wanted anyone else to get hurt.

[heritrix]

He means what happened after Tabby was killed. They said we had eight hours before they would kill someone else.

[perpend]

I think we've all been under the assumption it would run out sometime on Friday, without actually knowing.

[Since that is when the murders have been taking place.]

[notaccurate]

Honestly, the timer itself doesn't really matter much. The evidence we have points towards someone else doing this to her.

[explosivecombat]

I don't know, actually. She seemed determined to get us out with minimal casualties, not with no casualties at all.

She had several thoughts on this situation that I didn't agree with, but she wasn't unrealistic. It doesn't seem out of line to think that if we didn't find a method of escape within the first entire month of being here, we certainly weren't going to find one within eight hours.

[notaccurate]

A suicide note doesn't sound like something she would do, though. Admittedly I did not know Sigrun well, but she seemed to be...well, someone who wouldn't give up.

[sleepytimegal]

I agree. We can't jump to conclusions.

[ninehundredlives]

She really didn't.

[firstaid]

That's what I think. She would have looked for a solution given we had eight hours and not give up. That's not her personality, I think.

[matchbreaker]

[ to be fair the framing of the letter isn't quite "give up." ]

[heritrix]

Too easy, don't you think? In the mage world, suicides that look like murders and murders that look like suicides are commonplace. I was ready to give up when I walked in here; if I lead with the note, who knows what would have happened?

[A couple of other people seemed equally convinced this was open and shut too. But that said she's here for Orihime's suggestion, that's what she's most interested in.]

[matchbreaker]

... Probably less confusion earlier on.

[ I mean, she's with the chucklefucks over here a little, even if she gets where Rin was coming from. ]

[bloodisthicker]

Well, I suppose I get your point.

On the other hand, with all the twists and turns of the past few cases, I think we probably would've tried to see if there was anything that ruled out a suicide first, especially with the apparent inconsistencies here.

[heritrix]

It was self-centered of me, I'll admit. [Sigh. Fine.] I apologize.

[She doesn't think she held up things too long, but still.]