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

[pokexplorer]

Indeed...

[Colress doesn't look very pleased about it, either. Not really for himself, but for those close to him.]

Some very personal and painful things were revealed during the course of this charade...and we've just discovered that it also served as entertainment and "drama" for an audience.

PAGING KM

[captainobnoxious]

[... Sucks for you guys.

Wait.]

Did the audience like our bloodletting?

[sorry it's a useless question, again]

[kingmakereffect]

[SIGH]

What have I told you about useless questions, Boundless?

[goodforsomething]

I wasn't listening - what did you tell her?

[STAN DON'T ANTAGONIZE THE MURDER MAN]

[kingmakereffect]

[WELL THAT ONE'S NOT GETTING AN ANSWER]

[goodforsomething]

[Just gonna keep working on making his comatose body flip you off, then!]

[captainobnoxious]

[it wouldn't be her if she wasn't interested in her own fame, km]

That you won't answer them. [SIGH] Okay, well, I'm guessing that this won't get an answer either, but I've been surprised before! So.

What kind of questions will you answer?

[Please tell her "relevant ones". Please. This is the same one she asked Glory and got an answer about.]

[kingmakereffect]

Relevant ones, obviously. You've heard which questions I've answered.

[captainobnoxious]

Your AI was a lot more helpful than you. Who's your boss?

[kingmakereffect]

What makes you think I have one?

[captainobnoxious]

Everyone has a boss. Even a boss has a boss. Aren't I right?

[pokexplorer]

[Colress ponders something. Perhaps it's relevant...?]

Might I ask if you are currently in a pod like the rest of us, then? Or...is Glory the one taking care of things on this end?

[kingmakereffect]

Interesting question and one I'm not going to answer now. You all still have a lot to figure out.

[pokexplorer]

Noted.

[Man, now he's really curious.]

[amygdalae]

[...to be fair Bruce isn't as bothered about it as he knows he should

but

yeah its certainly a hard pill to swallow.]

And the fact that we have records of previous people somehow...

[This clearly has happened a lot more than just once.]

[notjustawriter]

...and aren't they actually all dead?

What's changed? I keep feelin' like we're missing something.

[amygdalae]

...what happens when the show ends? What happens to us?

[notjustawriter]

I'm worried if we don't "win" this correctly, we're all gonna die.

[amygdalae]

At least in that part, Glory isn't wrong about it.

paging kingmaker

[cherryblooded]

Alright, then. Relevant question, gracious Kingmaker.

Is there a way for us to now 'win' the game without 'killing' anyone else?

[kingmakereffect]

You don't really think I'm going to tell you that, do you?

[pokexplorer]

[It's...not sitting well with Colress at all, obviously. He's still frowning pretty severely. Not directly in regard to Bruce, of course!]

Not to mention the many different vault setups that we discovered on-camera in the surveillance room.

For all we know, there could be multiple of these programs going on at once.

[amygdalae]

We could easily be one of many.

[Just thinking about it has him pressing a hand against his mouth as he feels bile at the back of his throat. Jesus, how could people be this twisted?]

[pokexplorer]

At the very least, it would tell us the sheer amount of resources that are going into this.

[And Arceus, he can only imagine just how many people are lined up in pod-coffins like theirs...wherever they happen to be.]

[amygdalae]

[Certainly not a pleasant thought.]

If they can manage many at once, then they must be already incredibly streamlined with this process.