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

[explosivecombat]

If I were trying to "take one for the team", as it were, I believe I would have spoken up already...?

[bloodisthicker]

Exactly. I was thinking more about regrets, though.

[explosivecombat]

Oh...? I'll agree that I'm not one to have many, surely, but did you have something else to say?

[bloodisthicker]

Well, I'm honestly back to wondering just how relevant that little carrot and stick scenario Jericho gave us earlier in the week is to this matter.

[sleepytimegal]

The incentive? ...I think we've all got some kind of regret, so that's kind of...a hard place to look.

[bloodisthicker]

Well, obviously, yes, but our other possible leads have sort of... fizzled out.

[explosivecombat]

Ah, so you believe I was tempted...

You all know my secret by now, and I can tell you that I regret none of what I've done in my pursuit of it. It's been my life's work for many, many years now. I can also say that it's the worst secret I'm carrying.

If I don't regret any of that, what does that leave? Certainly not enough to be proper temptation...?

[ninehundredlives]

It leaves getting the fuck out of here. [Just. Saying.]

[explosivecombat]

I'm doing well enough for myself here, actually, compared to other places I've been.

[perpend]

.....other places?

[explosivecombat]

I spent seven years in solitary confinement. Seven years in the dark, with physical restraints on my body to restrict my movement, at that.

Compared to that, this place is nothing.

[perpend]

[...........]

That explains some things.

[ninehundredlives]

.......don't take this the wrong way, but I'm shocked you're still functional. [insofar as he is, anyway. this kinda explains a bit.]

[destage]

The "place in the world" portion, but even then, you said it yourself, right? That you would want to make your own place.

[explosivecombat]

Precisely. There's no merit to having something like that handed to you.

[blackmass]

...I agree. Any conclusion is worthless without effort put into gaining it.

[ninehundredlives]

They'd have to put in some effort, to kill someone here and hide it. Probably not exactly an equivalent amount...

[But, like, still]

[blackmass]

Equivalence is important to consider as well, in my own opinion. A disproportionately large reward for little work would seem hollow.

[explosivecombat]

I do like my Equivalent Exchange.

[kimblee, no.]

Are you accusing me, or just making an observation?

[brandnewday]

Maybe...

[She hates talking to these scary army guys, for the record?]

Maybe you would regret not doin' it right? Isn't your secret kinda vague?

[explosivecombat]

What are you saying...? Do you think that we failed in our endeavor, then?

Because if that's the case, I don't know how things turned out. As far as my memories are concerned, the Promised Day hasn't come to pass yet.

[brandnewday]

Yeah. I do. I know you wouldn't be able to wipe out the entire human race.

[How does that feel coming from the group's crybaby?]

Isn't that a regret itself? That you haven't seen it? That you might not? My secret's pretty clear...so are a lot of the others. But yours says may. Anythin' could happen.

[explosivecombat]

[Actually, about that.]

If we failed in our endeavor, that's fine with me, actually. If anything, I'm hoping that the human race will prove me wrong and emerge victorious.

[bloodisthicker]

It does leave survival, I'd imagine. An unwillingness to leave it up to chance that you wouldn't be the next to go.

But I don't think the evidence properly connects you to the crime, honestly. I'm just throwing it out there, generally, since Mr. Archer was the last lead we had.

...

[...he does allow his glance to stray over to Susan, though.]

[explosivecombat]

If death chooses to take me, then it does. I've lived alongside death my entire life; I know better than to think that that sort of lifestyle it won't catch up with me eventually.