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

[paralogical]

[ Hearing that, he gives her a long look. She doesn't need to apologize to him, it wasn't like he cared, but... this isn't really about him, he thinks.

So he sighs and, as he does, some of the tension leaves his shoulders. He doesn't respond to her with words, rather he pats her gently on the head before waiting for everyone else to finish voting. ]

[firstaid]

[You know what? That makes her smile, but her bottom lip is quivering now. Like she had been holding a bunch in, but she won't cry. She knows she did wrong, she knows she verbally attacked people who didn't deserve it.

Granted, she felt her manic state was brought up by others who told her she was wrong (despite the fact she didn't have evidence, but this is Estelle...)]

If we made the right choice, m-may I speak with you alone after the trial? Um, maybe in the foyer or the library, or just somewhere that people won't generally go... I... just want a few minutes of your time.

[paralogical]

[ ... looking at her face now, she's absolutely going to cry. That's something he honestly doesn't want to see or be near. Maybe it's because of that, or maybe it's because of something else, he takes a look around the room before replying to her. Once he's done carefully gazing at everyone's faces, he looks back at her. ]

Is there a reason you're asking me and not somebody else?

[firstaid]

[Why is she not asking someone else? He's right, there should be someone she's asking above that, but... she really can't right now. That and she's afraid of some out comes. So she goes near him so she can softly tell him in a voice that ensures no one else will overhear.]

Because out of all the people here, I think you'll chastise me the least.

[She's basically saying Mikoto won't yell at her because that's the last thing she wants right now, even if she deserves it.]

[paralogical]

[ For her own selfishness and preserving her pride, then. Those are things he can understand. He's a wholly selfish person himself, which is why he really doesn't want to go with her.

At the same time, he doesn't have a real reason to refuse. ... no, on the contrary. He has more reason to agree than to not. His fingers twitch at his side as he closes his eyes. ]

... all right.

[ He'll follow her out of the room after the execution since that's what she wants. ]