Taking Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

And a while after that strange, dark floor is accessed, after you've had time to look things over and get some idea of what's happening...well. There won't be any sort of official announcement to tell you to get downstairs, nor will there be a personal invitation for you to do so. Instead, the doors at the end of the corridor (were they there before? You find that you don't remember. It doesn't matter anymore, though-) slide open, as they always do, and the elevator ride to the courtroom is probably the first familiar thing that's happened all day. It's smooth and quick, though it seems to take a bit longer than it usually does. And when the doors open at the end of the line, the courtroom looks different. The dark, weirdly cylindrical room is largely the same in and of itself, but the usual twenty-seven podium circle is gone; instead, there's a smaller setup in the center of the room - ten podiums total, and you'll likely find the way your spots have been distributed to be very familiar indeed. Of further notice is the balcony - there's a structure that wasn't there before in view of the courtroom, situated high above, barred-in by a railing that'd probably be at about waist-height on your average person; there's no one up there just yet, however. There are so few of you now. It seems that today there are no speeches to give; maybe the Kingmaker is absent, maybe he just doesn' have anything to say. Either way, however, the implication in the fact that you're here at all is clear. For one last time, make the guilty take responsibility.

Comments

[amygdalae]

[Hmmmm.]

It's at least still something to keep in mind.

texting... kingmaker?

[cherryblooded]

All the folders are empty so I doubt it, but I'll try.

[He texts something like 'if you can read this, you are a dick, and also if you can't read this']

[captainobnoxious]

[.................]

Oh. Huh. I see. Thanks.

[goodforsomething]

I've had some bad ideas, but they're usually better than this. And I stole 300 gallons of radioactive waste from a government warehouse.

[amygdalae]

No, there were no names that we could find. Only the photographs were what remained.

[captainobnoxious]

That was a fantastic idea and I'm still punching your brother if I ever get the chance to meet him.

[trustharder]

[...Well, wouldn't you know it, there's a text notif that pops up.]

[amygdalae]

Possibly.

[Especially if its supposed to be 'simple'...]

[cherryblooded]

Why does he have separate phones for calling and texting? How obnoxious do you have to be with your phones?

[Reading his own text. Now he's the dick.]

[amygdalae]

...did you at least wear protective gear?

[sleepingkogoro]

Why would you even do that?!

[penduli]

[ ALL OF THIS POSITIVE ATTENTION, WOW.

just. give him a second, um. ]

...well, he asked me what I'd do if I lost the people important to me, right? [ He's mentioned that in his notes.

And he's going to set his notebook on his podium so he can actually number his idea as he writes/talks them out. ]

One: maybe he had nothing left to lose and decided it'd be a good waste of time.
Two: maybe he lost someone important to him here and decided that people needed to know what it felt like to lose someone important, too. [ A beat. Black taps his pencil on his paper. ] I... told him that I couldn't do that—cause other people pain just because I'd been hurt.

[ After another moment, he's back to write/talking. ]

Three: maybe he's done everything he wants to as king, but the only way to pass it on is to run a game like this, so that's what he's doing.

[amygdalae]

All the same, at least we would have had knowledge of others beyond ourselves.

[And clearly they did not.]

[pokexplorer]

...It required that much?

[Good lord. That portal sure is something.]

[notjustawriter]

That's..... strange.

I suppose that means it's possible he's still got his other phone on 'im.

[captainobnoxious]

You don't usually have two separate ones for it?

[goodforsomething]

[...okay, point.]

It was a good idea, but I could've planned a better heist with more time and resources. The part where they came after me for it was real inconvenient.

[cherryblooded]

No. Usually one phone does both.

[captainobnoxious]

And he's just not picking up because he's an asshole or otherwise busy?

[...]

I wonder what'll happen if we all call him at the same time.

[garudynamic]

Well, now we know why it got emptied- so we can't read everyone's texts.

[Texts 'Hi Cherry']

[notjustawriter]

Unless the drugs made us forget.

[amygdalae]

They're all just put together into one phone, usually.

[Though of course, that was when technology had developed enough to that point.]

[cherryblooded]

[Waves at him! Hi, son.]

[goodforsomething]

Iiiiit's a big portal!

[Look he doesn't know]

[goodforsomething]

[Ah geez, the fuzz]

I needed it to get the portal on. Ford couldn't just power it on electricity or somethin' like a normal person, that wouldn't be nerdy enough.