Take Responsibility.

[antitrust]

And when the door at the bottom of those stairs unlocks and it swings open gently of its own accord, allowing everyone back down into the courtroom, there are decidedly fewer of them than there were just a few days ago. The change in the podium circle is massive this time; Dio, Logan, Marty, Yuuri, Hibiki and Mordecai have all joined the ranks of the deceased, their podiums adorned with black cloth and greyscale photographs. Furthermore, the mass of shadows in the pit at the center seems agitated again, shifting and breaching upward toward the glass if one looks at it long enough. It's been something of a bad week, to put it gently. Not that it's evident from the Conductor's behavior; as usual, the proceedings are being watched from behind that panel of translucent glass behind podium 30, and he'll speak as soon as everyone has found their place in the circle. His words are a bit more rapid than usual; he seems interested in this one. "Temporal, Lucent, Vivacious and Universal...all four of them have been taken from you. Does whomever is responsible for this really deserve your compassion? There can be no hesitation; you should offer no mercy. It's you against the guilty. Take control of your fate, and hold them responsible." Thirteen Participants remain. You've lost five people this week, and eight since the last investigation; we'll see how many more you lose today.

Comments

[openterrain]

I think so. I don't know much about farm animals, but it looked like they were trying to be efficient.

I don't know why they didn't do it in the kitchen, though...

[sunsong]

'Cause Hibiki'd be furious?

[ like. not even just her. ]

And half of the rest of us...Hell, we've been takin' care of those things since Tabby got 'em, I don't think I would want to eat 'em. They made people happy, you know?

[openterrain]

You think they killed it in front of her?

[ That's pretty fucked up... ]

... you said you found a message in blood, right? There wasn't much blood on the chicken's body when I found it, even though it got sliced up like that.

[sunsong]

I don't know if they did or didn't. I think that'd be a good reason to avoid killin' it in the kitchen where everyone tends to go, though...I don't think those of us who can't drink hang out much in the bar.

[ OR SHE DOESN'T. SO SHE HAS NO IDEA WHO ACTUALLY DOES. ]

But yeah, it was. Old man Cabanela over there found a message in blood, too, apparently. You think it was all chicken blood? 'Cause if that's the case, the messages could've been done before the murders...?