Taking Responsibility.

[trustbound]

A while after that space behind and above the game room has been accessed, after things have been looked over, Jericho can be heard over the intercom; apparently, it works over in that area as well. "Wow, you guys really are having a great time going through our stuff, aren't you? Good for you! Seriously, look at all of you go, utilizing Rule Four and everything. It's cute as hell. I'm guessing you want something out of all of this, though – I mean, we absolutely could leave you there to just sort of mull things over until somebody else dies, but that seems like a waste of everybody's time, and believe it or not, I'm not too crazy about wasting tme. So if you're all happy with what you found, go ahead and head down to the courtroom – as always, we'll be waiting for you." And as he's said, the door the courtroom below is unlocked and open when you arrive; as always, feel free to follow that darkened stairwell down to that familiar room made of concrete and steel. There are so few of you now. Kyrie's photograph has joined the others in the circle that have their pictures in monochrome, their podiums draped in black – but notably, the podiums have all been rearranged. There are definite patterns to it, if you look; either way, feel free to find and take your place. The pit in the center of the circle remains darkened, but it isn't as though it matters much for the time being, given that there would be no one in it; after all, the thirty-sixth podium, across from all of you, is occupied. Hilda is standing there, dressed in black as always, a notebook folded tightly against her chest – not the notebook that killed Aligula, but a nice leatherbound one. She looks at everyone expectantly as they walk in; the implication is incredibly clear. It's you against the guilty. Take control of your fate, and hold them responsible. When she does speak, it's simple and straightforward, especially as compared to Jericho's rambling. "Let's begin, shall we?"

Comments

[matchbreaker]

Rachel is mentioned over and over and over in all these notes. Alena comes up far less than that, but more over...

I suppose it does mean less people would talk with you. Which could mean... well it could mean you'd have less memory problems, for one.

[trustbound]

It had nothing to do with my memory issues. Though it was nice having less of you to keep straight.

But fine. So I killed Rachel in front of you guys, not Alena. Once again - and I suspect this is just going to be a theme today - so what?

[matchbreaker]

The fact that you guys went to such lengths to disguise a person is clearly - there's something there! [ Why can she hear Kimblee smirking in the back of her mind. She exhales sharply, trying to calm herself down. Okay... ]

The fact remains, how you talk, those times we've spoken... Alena is still dead, I'm sure of it. There's no way that's not the case unless you've just lied about everything, but I don't see that as plausible.

[trustbound]

Of course Alena is dead. I killed her. I've never hidden that fact from you, I've admitted to it every time.

[hesperos]

[ ... ]

When did you kill her then?

[ If Rachel had been killed at the time the rules were broken happened, then... what. ]

[trustbound]

[...]

Before you guys got here. When we were trying to select people to draw here in the first place.

[bloodisthicker]

...I take it she was considering a selection you or Jericho didn't approve of, then? Or was she simply refusing to be a team player.

[trustbound]

She was never a fucking team player. Alena hated this entire thing. She was on board when we were younger and didn't know any better, and she's a pretty simple person for all the brains she's got going on. So we just kind of held her hand and put her in a corner to tinker with things until she figured out what was actually going on. We had her build stuff but didn't tell her what it was for, stuff like that.

[She hesitates for a moment. Clutches that book a bit closer.]

Even after she worked stuff out, she stayed because she didn't have much choice. But she wanted us to play fair. She and Jericho had a fight about who we were going to be working with, because Jericho decided "fuck fairness," I guess. After that, Jericho sent me to kill her.

[bloodisthicker]

...

Why did you kill her and not Jericho?

[honestly? he thinks he knows why. but you fuckin' know.]

[trustbound]

Because Jericho is in charge here.

[bloodisthicker]

...so rebelling isn't even an option, then?

[trustbound]

[She pauses for a moment, before just...]

No?

[matchbreaker]

[ A reminder...

... Oh. Okay, okay- ]

... What's in that locket that Luca couldn't open, Hilda? Wanna open it for us?

[ It's got to be that or Ziska, right? What else could it be? ]

[trustbound]

[Hmph.]

And what will opening that prove?

[matchbreaker]

I think that's the reminder that the other note mentions. I have two suspicions about who might be in there, and I think that both of them probably looks fairly similar.

[ And both of them would make for different reminders. ]

[trustbound]

Both of them...?

[Oh, that's amusing, actually.]

Who do you think's in there, hm? I want to hear this.

[matchbreaker]

I suspect that the person in there is either Alena herself or your mother.

[trustbound]

[......]

Alena is one of them.

[matchbreaker]

And they're the ones who - they're the reason that you're involved in this madness.

[evilfrenzy]

[Rideaux goes over some things in his head...]

"So what"? I would think it rather important that Jericho would decide to have Rachel taken out of the game, or at least a position in the game that involves direct interaction with us. In the note Rin found, there was concern that she could grow close to us subjects, and that could end up becoming a problem. After all, she is apparently the one who is capable of destroying us in that way that you people want.

[trustbound]

I don't see why it's so significant. After all, you know why she was taken out. Unless you're implying that we somehow manipulated Tenacious and Crystalline's actions, too?

[evilfrenzy]

...I cannot confidently imply that, no. [He has to admit that the whole fiasco with Weiss has him stuck.] Truthfully, I still have no idea what was actually going on that night. The only people who would are Weiss herself and potentially Jericho if he's able to view our actions. Rachel obviously didn't- how could have that mistake have happened otherwise?

But I'm sure I'm not the only one who has questions about that series of events.

[heritrix]

...I can share some insight on Weiss's actions, at least. I went to the foyer when I heard Jericho over the loudspeaker. Weiss was killed before I could do anything, but it looked like she'd been trying to break into the office. She'd set the tools down though.

Knowing what we do now, it seemed like Rachel got scared and confused her for Terumi trying to break in.

[heritrix]

[Just to add onto that:]

Concern that was founded. Alena—or Rachel rather, give what we know now—told me outright she had favorites. Like when Tabby died. She said if anyone was going to be taken out by the timer, Tabby wasn't one of the people she would have hoped for.

[evilfrenzy]

Perhaps it was around that time that Jericho started to become concerned that she could end up "screwing it up", as the note said.