Take Responsibility.

[trustbound]

This particular investigation was likely a difficult one, for various reasons; whether through frustration or sheer disgust at the level of depravity involved, it's been a long day already. It doesn't seem like it will get any easier by the time the door to the courtroom unlocks, gently swinging open to allow everyone downstairs. As always, the stairwell is dark, but the courtroom is already lit up down below, a thin amount of light bouncing up the corridor to guide everyone downstairs; the podium circle stands stark and silent in the center, marking spots for both the living and the dead; by now, the latter far outnumber the former. Kirei, Milla, Angel, and Susan have all had their spots altered, their podiums draped in black cloth and their portraits set atop them; they'll be joining those watching all of you in greyscale as you work today. Do you think you'll do them justice? Either way and as always, the thirty-sixth podium remains empty and unadorned. Once everyone has found their place in the circle, Jericho can be heard over the public-address system; he doesn't seem to have settled any from the investigation. "Peerless, Edifying, and Adroit have all been taken from you - and hey, it looks like you found all of them, we appreciate that. But even if you hadn't, you'd still be down here, and I'm sure I don't need to tell you what you have to do as a result of everything that's happened. This is another one of those things that's either gonna be great or it's going to be terrible, though maybe I'll add in a third option of 'interesting' this time, just due to the setup. As always, you know what's going on here - the innocent versus the guilty. Seventh time lucky, maybe. As always, do your best!" Thirteen Participants remain. We'll see how many leave here at the end of the day.

Comments

[innocentloveholic]

[ Well, everything's a little damning, but apparently this is what's getting her, and Aligula laughs for a little longer before she slams her hands on her podium (ow) and pushes herself up onto it; it's just to sit, she likes being up, she likes being taller than people.

Gives her a better view, too. ]

You're all a bunch of stupid, dumb-dumb meanieheads! Picking on a poor little girl like me! [ How cruel! ] Sure, there's a lot I know how to do, but you really think I'd go ahead and do something like this? When I didn't even do anything to save my precious Brody and Hummer?

You think any of you is more important to me than them?

[ ...........BZZT, she's making a bzzt-bzzt noise. ]

Because you'd be totally, one-hundred percent wrong. So there's no no no noooooooo way it could ever be me!

[ So see, this whole thing sounds like a load of nonsense to her. ]

[matchbreaker]

[ Aligula... ]

Aren't those ones the sort you felt could be depended upon to survive their game?

[ Unlike James. She's... James must be the victim in the first case by now. Maybe he'll survive another week, at best. But all the same, she bites her nail because despite everything in the movement of the other woman upsets her. ]

[innocentloveholic]

Oh, definitely! But you know, Hummer's still just a human, and he's a lot nicer than Brody is... Like, nice enough to work with that stupid, ugly, mean-faced Klaus.

[ He's a good guy, essentially. ]

Brody'd protect him, sure, but he's the type of guy who wouldn't want to really harm anyone if he could help it.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . ]

It's still amazing that they got a two for one deal there, honestly. Though I guess some people have sentient bacteria, some people have sentient blood.

[innocentloveholic]

Nurturing's deal was more like a million-in-one, wasn't it?

[matchbreaker]

Yeah, a whole new world of bacteria.

[ Which is still gross.

But all the same, she glances back over to the ghosts (she's still wearing the Silph Scope) before she takes it off she can can better make eye contact with Aligula. ]

... Ah, wait.

[ An idea hits her, and she frowns a little. ]

So why was I excluded, does my writing stand out too much or did my attachments make me a more obvious patsy?

[bloodbiter]

If that were true, I'd like to hear a better explanation for all those bruises. After all...

[She glances towards her.]

Isn't it possible someone might kill just for the chance to escape and save themselves? That's an unspoken incentive each week.

[innocentloveholic]

Oh, sure! I mean, that's totally part of why I would've done it, but there's a bigger reason.

Maybe not a better one, though a hardass like you totally doesn't consider any reason a better one for murder, but a bigger one~!

[bloodbiter]

What would the bigger one be, then?

[innocentloveholic]

Why don't you figure that out for yourself? I'm not gonna hand you all the answers on a silver platter, princess.

[hesperos]

Pretty sure you had someone in mind to save. Hell, even if you didn't, how all of this happened has you written all over it.

[ ... ]

Let's talk about those bruises first, which I'm sure happened when you were fighting with Milla. You probably didn't expect her to give up that much of a fight, or have any skill in knowing how to disarm anyone at least. 'Course, the end result is why you tried to cover them up with makeup--so no one would catch on. And I dunno if you've noticed, but you're the only one here with injuries like that in here right now.

Then there's the whole thing with those notes. You were one of the only two people who didn't have anything from what you've written put together in one of those notes. You also have a way of phrasing things that'd be different from other people.

That's enough for me right there.

[ If it were Elda, the messages/notes would be more elegant sounding, he'd think. ]

[innocentloveholic]

Look at you go, Detective Dependable~!

[ Another laugh, and she kicks her podium lightly with her heels. ]

You're right, I got them fighting Peerless! I'm sure I would've been way more roughed up if not for... [ ...!!! She's clapping her hands. ] Do you know how I got the jump on her too~? Come on, come onnn~! Tell me how it all went down, my stupid, dense, dumb-dumb detectives!

[hesperos]

[ ... Detective Dependable, wow.

Okay, let's move along then, since apparently we're doing this right now. ]

Let me guess, you had the help of that stun grenade to help you get the element of surprise with her?

[innocentloveholic]

B-I-N-G-O! [ She even sings it, like you're supposed to. ] Good call, good call! What about Edifying and Adroit then?

[heritrix]

What does that have to do with anything? The past four trials in a row, none of our culprits went after the incentive in the end. Not the ones we tried.

[perpend]

Exactly.

The "incentives" doesn't need to have anything to do with this case.

[innocentloveholic]

Indomitable asked, that's all~!

[bloodisthicker]

Maybe we wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you didn't do it entirely for funsies.

[innocentloveholic]

But don't you want to be right for once, Assured? After getting a taste of that last week~?

[bloodisthicker]

Well, I'd clearly been wrong before this, given that I'd started thinking better of you. So it's a catch-22 if I'm right that you really just did this for a lark.

[innocentloveholic]

[ ......... ]

Don't make me laugh, Assured. I super totally doubt anyone's opinion was changing of me anytime soon, and even if it was, why would I care? [ A little wave. ] As long as I'm living the way I want to, what other people think doesn't matter! I said as much at Inquisitive's little trial, didn't I?

[notaccurate]

No, it's not for the motive. If it were for the motive, you would have only killed one person and definitely wouldn't have done all the things you did. It's a lot easier to say 'anyone could have done it' if your personal touches aren't all over the evidence.

[innocentloveholic]

[ that's cute, you think she still would've only killed one person— ]

Maybe so, maybe not. But if my personal touches are everywhere, why didn't you all just come right out and say it in the beginning~?

[notaccurate]

Because twice already I have been proven wrong about someone who I thought was a good person being anything but, and I wanted to make absolutely sure someone wasn't trying to frame you.

Though my question is, if this was all for fun and not because of anything in particular, why now? Why nearly two months in? That seems like a long time to wait for 'a little bit of fun'.

[innocentloveholic]

I got tired of being here, that's all.

[ ...It really is that simple. ]

I got super bored, so I decided to make my own fun, especially since someone said my parties were becoming pretty clockwork.