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

[garudynamic]

...

[There's something almost comforting about this set up now. Horrible, terrifying, but it's something they know.

It's over now, one way or another. Still-]

You think he'd explode me if I tried to climb up there?

[pokexplorer]

[YOSUKE FOR THE LOVE OF-]

I wouldn't put it past him.

[notjustawriter]

[.......]

Let's not risk it.

[captainobnoxious]

There's no rule against it. I'll help you out if you want.

[... Because god knows she's not fucking climbing in her dress and bitchin' boots, thanks.]

[garudynamic]

[He grins at Colress, obviously not really intending to do it]

But man, if I managed it and caught him by surprise it'd be pretty great.

[cherryblooded]

[Cherryblod settles at his podium, at Sigrun's right-hand side, as always. It's been that way from the very beginning, and he finds it couldn't be more appropriate.

It's... better, this way, being closer together.

After all, aren't they all much closer now?

Let's begin.]

My group found what looked like the surveillance room. There were three screens - one of which displayed every other room in the vault besides what's missing from the first floor now.

...Didn't show the bathrooms or the sauna, in case anyone was wondering.

[Just gotta clear that up.]

One screen displayed the three hidden rooms - the one we were in and the two you investigated. It mentioned broadcasting when we turned it on.

One screen, though... Showed rooms similar to our dorm rooms that looked like they were from a different vault. They looked lived-in, and they had a different layout, but we didn't see anyone in there.

It also showed a city that none of us recognized. An inhabited one.

...Yosuke, Colress, am I missing anything?

[garudynamic]

Awww, Gabriel is no fun at all.

[cherryblooded]

That depends how sensitive he is. It's not an attack, technically speaking.

[penduli]

[ ...Black hates this set-up, primarily because he recognizes it as the same one from his trial and boy was that ever the most unpleasant shitshow, guys.

Anyway. ]

You're welcome to try, but you'll probably fall back on your ass before you get too far. [ There's no clear way up after all. ]

[sleepingkogoro]

Surviving kind of requires not being fun.

[In other words: get to your podium, you silly teenager]

[garudynamic]

Be ready for a boost if it turns out this turns into a brawl.

[Unlike his responses to the others this actually seems 100% serious]

You know, if we get permission or think we can take him out in one hit. [... honestly he's probably the best bet for get one good ranges hit on the guy if she can give him the air]

[isafraid]

...Doesn't exactly look climbable, if you ask me.

[pokexplorer]

...I cannot disagree with that.

[garudynamic]

We could human tower it.

[It's okay Black, he's clearly not serious]

[captainobnoxious]

[Don't worry boy she's got your back.]

I'm ready for anything, sweetheart. [...] Mostly anything.

[Some Shit Happened and she's more or less feeling fucking put off as hell, but she'll be ready for that anyway.]

[goodforsomething]

I fuckin' knew this was some kinda sick reality show.

[garudynamic]

Technically.

[garudynamic]

Probably not, but man the idea is nice, huh?

[sleepingkogoro]

[Since Cherryblod spoke of what his ground found Mouri may as well talk about what he found]

My group found a place resembling the conference room we all know, but instead of whiteboards of any type there was a large screen. Eide-san and Black-kun should be able to give more detail about that.

Meanwhile, Speedwagon-san and I found another room. In there we found a podium and a shiny large circle on the floor. After experimenting with it we got to the conclusion it's some sort of hologram machine highly reminiscent to the executions we have seen all this time.

We also met Glory, who...wasn't of much help. She seems to be under some sort of rule to not to reveal much information, at least not to us or without the Kingmaker's authorization.

...in hindsight it doesn't seem like I found much, but there you have it. That is all I have to report.

[penduli]

[ ... ]

Or we could call, "Kingmaker, Kingmaker, let down your long hair" and see if he'd Rapunzel it for us.

[garudynamic]

[He sticks out his tongue at Mouri a little, but does as ordered. Serious face time]

[cherryblooded]

That's a theory. Wouldn't surprise me, at this point.

If we can see other vaults, it's also possible that we're broadcasting to the people in charge of those vaults. A network of murder, essentially.

[garudynamic]

...I'd dig yanking on his head a little.

[isafraid]

A city? You're being serious! [well that's some awesome news.]

What'd it look like?

[cherryblooded]

...Don't actually risk your life betting that the Kingmaker has thick skin.