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

[clearasmud]

Well... An "S" was all I could make out. He was... trying, the best he could.

[perpend]

...I see.

[Ugh, how depressing.]

[openterrain]

If we only consider people with S's in there names a the culprits, that only leaves... uh.

[ .... ]

Most of us.

[ SIGH... ]

[withabigsmile]

If there's just an S, wouldn't it be more likely that it's the first letter in a name?

[blazeit]

Or it might not be a name at all.

[openterrain]

You mean like a direction? I don't know what a D pad is, but what Hibiki left looks like a compass to me.

[blazeit]

It has to do with video games. I think what Sol's suggesting sounds likely...

[openterrain]

Even if you go by that, it still leaves Elise, Katsuki, Sol, Sukuyo, Susan, and Weiss.

[ He pauses. ]

But if it's left by the murderer... that makes it more likely to be you, me, Cabanela, Giovanni, Rick, Tabby, or Youko.

[zomgboom]

I dunno, like. Rick's last name starts with a "s." Mine does too.

[openterrain]

I dunno... would Mordecai really go for a last name if he was trying to write a dying message? He calls everyone by their first or full names,

[zomgboom]

It's, like, way easier to write an S and not screw it up than, like, an R if you're, y'know. Dying. T is probably pretty easy, though, so.

[SHRUG.]