Take Responsibility.

[trustbound]

This investigation seems to have been difficult for many; while your time here hasn't been particularly easy on anyone, it's been eight straight weeks of people dying, of losing those you care about - or at least, losing those you had some sense of solidarity with. There's only about a quarter of your original number left. Either way, however, there are some things that remain constant, even if your numbers do not - the corridor down below the dorms, the way the door sounds when it unlatches, the gentle outward swing of the door. The darkened stairwell that it leads to. The courtroom. The podium circle remains in the center of the room, the spots marked out from the dead having increased in number yet again; Aligula, Hibiki, Sayaka, and Alex all have had their podiums altered, draped in black with greyscale portraits set atop them. They'll be keeping an eye on the proceedings today, for better or for worse. As always, the thirty-sixth podium remains blank. 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. "Attentive and Submerged are gone - and trust me, for at least one of them, it's better for everyone that way. Maybe you disagree with that, maybe you don't, I don't really give a fuck - and at least for the guilty party, their deaths might be their ticket out of here. So it's probably better for them, anyway. Either way, I'm pretty sure I don't need to tell you what you're here to do. Once again and as always, it's the innocent versus the guilty. Whichever side wins is mattering less and less every week, isn't it? Even so, you should still put some effort in, just to satisfy the dead - so you know what, do your best!" Nine Participants remain. However many leave here at the end of the day is up to you.

Comments

2/2

[chessturner]

[>PRAGMATIC]

...how curious...I must be starting to get mellow. Who'd have thought?

[Without another word for the rest, she turns around and walks back to the podium]

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda intends to leap through the crossbow hail there until she sees a glimpse of the drawing.

... Of course she was right ...

Elda... Smiles a little, maybe it's the adrenaline still in her system. But she's definitely smiling with relief as she makes her way over to Kyrie. ]

Treat my daughter well on the other side. That's your penance, for now.

[chessturner]

I'm going to have to apologize...to both Sayaka-chan and Alex-san.

They deserve more than just an apology.

[matchbreaker]

They do. Until your next life, your will is theirs.

[ And elda... reaches up to pick up Ditty off her podium, who had been cowering during all that, maybe have tried to put his goo over some other not-Kyrie buttons too. ]

[heritrix]

[Sayaka... Alex... Looking around the room again really makes it set in. There are still people she... Well, it's not like she cares, but maybe she likes them.

...She liked several of the dead, too. Between this week and the last, so many of them are gone now. The closest thing she had to friends. Not just those two, even. There was a victim of timing today.]

Kyrie. While you're making amends with those two, if you see Hibiki, can you pass a message on for me?

[chessturner]

Sure. I see no harm in doing that.

[If Hibiki isn't watching right now, she guesses she can pass the message, yeah]

[heritrix]

[Rin takes a deep breath to steady herself, and gives Kyrie her best smile.]

Tell Hibiki not to be scared, and to let Susan look after her for now. But I won't die. Someday, she'll definitely be the one to show me around Okinawa.

[chessturner]

You better not die, now that I'll have to go through the hassle of passing that hopeful message.

[Well, "hassle". This should be easy enough]

[heritrix]

[It worked then...? Rin breathes a huge sigh of relief, and picks herself up from the ground. There's more she wants to say to Kyrie, but she'll let her and Elda talk first. For now she's going back to her podium.]

> PRAGMATIC

[bloodisthicker]

[ohhhhhh god. it's okay. they're not all dead. things turned out fine. alright.]

...

What does everyone want to eat after this. Individually. It's been a harrowing enough day that I think I'm just going to be a short order cook tonight and make something special for everyone.

[matchbreaker]

Maybe some tea for me. Light on leaves flavor, but strong in aroma if possible.

[ She says this somewhat hesitantly. She does owe Tarrlok an apology. ]

[bloodisthicker]

Right, I'll jot that down, then.

[HE ALWAYS HAS A PEN AND NOTEPAD...! and honestly. he's less mad than he probably should be.]

[perpend]

....whatever you cook for yourself is fine. I never eat much right after trials.

[bloodisthicker]

Alright.

[what should he... make for himself... hmmm... he'll have to think about that.]

I'll... get back to you on that.

[heritrix]

[Rin feels exhausted and jittery. Too much whiplash of emotions today, along with everything else, not to mention the anxiousness of waiting for Jericho's reaction. But hell if she isn't still riding on this adrenaline rush, so she manages a smirk in Tarrlok's direction.]

Really? You'll make anything I want?

[bloodisthicker]

Yes. Precisely. Anything.

[because yeah. this sure is a coping mechanism.]

[heritrix]

[Then it's time to give Tarrlok's coping mechanism a run for its money.]

In that case, I accept your offer as an IOU. What I want would be far too difficult for you to make while also taking individual orders for everyone else.

For tonight, I'll either cook for myself or take whatever's left over. This will give you time to prepare for my meal next week. Whenever you can manage it, I'd like to have a perfect savory souffle, along with Baked Alaska for dessert.

[...THIS IS HEW OWN COPING MECHANISM.]

[bloodisthicker]

...

A baked what?

[OH GOD, HE GOT IN TOO DEEP!!!!!!!!]

[heritrix]

[SHE GAVE HIM A CHANCE TO BACK OUT AND EVERYTHING.]

I'll show you the recipe.

[Tarrlok, Tarrlok... That's hell you've walked into.]

[bloodisthicker]

Oh, well, good. I'm sure it'll be an interesting first try.

[hesperos]

Something with meat is fine.

[ So, like...whatever. ]

[bloodisthicker]

...How do you feel about kebabs.

[hesperos]

I feel like it would be kebabtastic.