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

[cherryblooded]

...Actually, that might explain where he got the guns from, if that pit's dealing with holograms anyway.

[amygdalae]

...I still can't link it, though. We all saw him get blown up right before our very eyes.

[Holograms definitely are not supposed to be able to do that.]

[cherryblooded]

If it's a virtual reality, then visibly getting blown up is as simple as a few lines of code, isn't it? - Well, alright, it's not that simple, but you understand what I mean.

[captainobnoxious]

[All this stuff is so above and beyond here. She's giving Cherryblod a small look of distress.]

[cherryblooded]

[Oh, right.]

A virtual reality is when somebody takes your brain and makes you see and experience things that aren't there.

[captainobnoxious]

... I have experienced some pretty real things, Cherry. Pain is a very real thing. But does that mean no one's really dead?

[Is her boyfriend still alive. Somewhere.]

[cherryblooded]

Pain is something your brain tells you you're experiencing, same as anything you see or hear. As long as your brain is under someone's control, you can experience basically anything.

...I don't want to get your hopes up, because this is still just a theory.

[Even though he's desperately hoping, himself.]

[captainobnoxious]

[There's the smallest hope for her, too, but the larger part of her has accepted that he's not coming back.

... Even if she'd really like him to, obviously, though only Black knows just how quick she was to leave the first room to see the second.]

I see. It'd be cool if everyone was still alive, somehow. I want to see Aqua and Misa again too.

[amygdalae]

No, I understand that. What I meant was its not as if the Kingmaker could predict what we would do as 'holograms' down there. Any why even put up such a display in the first place?

[cherryblooded]

...That's where I'm having trouble. The game is more fun if we think it's real, certainly, but...

[amygdalae]

There's still no sense to it.

Unless it was to make us believe it was all real.

[Shocking things always have an impact on them.]

[cherryblooded]

If you knew there was no danger to begin with, would you have played along?

[amygdalae]

...no, I wouldn't have.

[A pause.]

So these executions were to... what? Keep us in check?

[notjustawriter]

Maybe it has to do with believing what you're seeing is real?

[Like The Matrix. Except not, because that movie hasn't been made yet in Gabriel's world.]

[goodforsomething]

Like The Matrix!

[Here to help, Gabriel.]

[amygdalae]

[...Bruce barely remembers the Matrix at all, dear god.]

At least we're not stuck with flashy sunglasses and leather coats.

[sleepingkogoro]

I would take that over the jumpsuits any day of the week.

[notjustawriter]

The what?

[goodforsomething]

It's a movie about the world bein' a fake computer thing!

[amygdalae]

As far as I can tell this does seem to be a complete immersion, except...

[A pause as he glances at Gabriel with a pained expression.]

You still don't remember anything from last week? [...when Black, uh, attempted to off you.]

[notjustawriter]

[He shakes his head.]

I think I remember being strangled, but not much else, unfortunately.

[amygdalae]

[A frown here now.]

I'm not sure about you, but personally, the memory of being strangled tends to stick on pretty strongly.

[Of course, it could be a self-defense mechanism... but still.]

[notjustawriter]

Not if it catches you by surprise, right?

[He's just.... guessing here.]

Besides, it's not like I'd think something like that wouldn't hurt.

[amygdalae]

I'm not saying it wouldn't, but the gap in your memory is still something I'm trying to figure out.

[He might be thinking too much, honestly.]

[goodforsomething]

Yeah, I'd say that.

[Some of his street fights have gone poorly.]