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]

How do you mean...?

[He isn't...quite following there, Elda, try again?]

[matchbreaker]

Honestly, I don't think even you would give us this much runaround. But if I'm trying to look at it from your perspective [ Or as close to it as she can get- ] If there was a case where the culprit was simply the victim, would that really put your soul on the line?

[ ... God, she feels so foolish. There's no way this can be right, but hey - she doesn't loose that much by looking barmy at this point. ]

What I'm saying is that we've been assuming it's a faked suicide. It's possible that it could also be a faked murder, along the same lines.

[explosivecombat]

So you're saying I tampered with the crime scene - that I'm doing all of this to raise the stakes. Is that it?

Again, I quite like being alive. If I did that and you all believed it, then I would die as well when everyone misvoted.

[matchbreaker]

Yes, like I said, I can't imagine a being that doesn't want to survive. That's why it all sounds to crazy to me.

[ Exhale. ]

Still, I know I'm missing something.

[explosivecombat]

...It's as I've said. I won't openly act to my detriment.

[matchbreaker]

Mage-girl! The blade was in Sigrun's hand, right? To plant it convincingly might be hard, perhaps- moving it around with her hand?

[heritrix]

[She's not sure she's following this, but whoops I forgot to note one piece of evidence before so:]

It was in her right hand, yes, though her grip on the handle was loose.

[matchbreaker]

... Given when she died that's too soon for rigor mortis proper.

[ So does that tell them anything? She's not sure. :T ]

[chessturner]

Do you think he's trying to get everyone here killed?

[...]

He does want to destroy everything and everyone, and he doesn't care about he dying. He likes living, but he knows he is expendable.

I guess he faking a murder is a possibility more.

[matchbreaker]

Honestly, no I don't. [ At least, if "everyone" includes him ] But I'm trying to think outside the box as much as possible here. Because I also feel like if we figure it out this man is the sort to confess.

[bloodisthicker]

Do you really think he's going to stand here and say "Good job, you solved my insanity puzzle."

[matchbreaker]

[ Honestly, maybe she's shitfucked but, ]

I don't think it's impossible, no.

[destage]

...perhaps he wants to see if we can overcome it, then...?