Take Responsibility.

[trustharder]

And after all has been said and done and all clues have been found, those large steel doors at the end of the hallway open up. The elevator both is and isn't a particularly nice one; it rides smoothly and quickly and it's obviously been kept-up, but there's nothing on the interior walls, lending a claustrophobic feeling to what's already a relatively small space, particularly with all of you in there. (Well. Almost all of you.) No distractions from what just happened, nothing to take your mind off of considering what might, just you and your fellow Survivors in an unadorned steel box. There's no visible panel for buttons, either; looks like it's pre-programmed; at least the ride is a relatively short one, though it's difficult to tell the distance traveled before the door opens again. You would be forgiven for your initial thought being that it opens into a void. It isn't complete darkness, but it's enough of a visual shift from the elevator that it probably takes your eyes some time to adjust; instead of the usual concrete and steel, the walls are a dark, heavy black, making the room look far smaller than it is. There aren't any corners to it, either; the room is tightly circular, complimenting the setup in the center of it. In the center of the room is a circle of podiums, twenty-seven in total, arranged so that everyone standing at them can see each other. So everyone can look each other in the eyes, if they so choose. The podiums are interlocked - there's no cutting across the center of the circle, and for good reason, it looks like there's a lot of nothing down there where the floor should be, just a massive black pit in the center - and each is bearing the title of the person who's assigned to stand at it. No names, just adjectives, emblazoned across two brass panels on the very top and the front of each podium. Affixed to the podium itself is a glass touchscreen panel; it's dark for now, but it'll probably be relevant later. At least the glass is shatterproof, in case things get heated. In general, though, all of the podiums are identical, except for the one intended for Zagi. The podium that should bear Adaptable's title has had a black cloth draped over it, and a copy of Zagi's profile photo is sitting on top of it, framed and colorless, an image in greyscale. It's hard to tell where the Kingmaker's voice comes from, when it does; it seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, like it's being piped in from someplace you can't see. But he's very definitely audible when he does speak. "Adaptable has been taken from you. Looks like the guilty among you is attempting to end the exercise by carrying out Rule Seven. It's up to you whether they're held responsible for their actions or not."

Comments

[garudynamic]

[Yosuke can't get out of the cramped space fast enough, only to bounce from foot to foot for a second as his brain tries to convince him that there's no floor]

W-what the hell is all this?!

[cherryblooded]

[Cherryblod is silent throughout the elevator trip, and silent as he takes his position behind his podium. He's chosen to wear his suit today - the jumpsuit is too gaudy and anything else would be disrespectful. It has the effect of making him feel like he's attending a funeral, more than a trial.]

About all I found out from investigating was that the crime was fairly recent when we found him - the blood trail was still wet.

[happysweets]

[ Well, that elevator ride was certainly cramped, and she definitely doesn't like standing next to the one with the darn effigy, but she supposes nothing good can come from that huge abyss down there and she most certainly would not like to be caught on the inside of this circle, so, the outside will have to do.

Still, this setup...it's not like any trial she's ever seen. That much is clear. ]

So we have to discuss who we think the killer is?

[amygdalae]

[...well Bruce wasn't sure what to expect, but he certainly wasn't expecting this.

Still, solving the murder of Zagi takes precedence now. He grimaces slightly when he sees the 'Titles' emblazoned across the brass panels. He still doesn't know what they're for, and he's really not fond of it.

But again, this is something for later.]

...we can discuss that later. [Quietly.] For now, let's focus on trying to figure out what that we can solve.

[clubleader]

[ Mion sighs. She doesn't like this at all. ]

Looks like it.

[prismbloom]

[ She's quiet, too, until Cherryblod speaks up. ]

Pearl, Shirazu, Black, and I investigated the library. The only thing we really found was a lot of duct tape.

[garudynamic]

[He stops bouncing slowly as his instincts calm down from the scary visuals.]

Yeah... we can't get distracted right now.

[notjustawriter]

I found a knife in the dining hall, away from.... away from the body.

It was probably the murder weapon. It was one of the kitchen knives.

[goodforsomething]

Duct tape? What, like they tied him up first?

[prismbloom]

It won't be easy.

[ Aqua doesn't feel good about this, but what she can do is stay a steady presence. Especially for Misa--she feels a pretty strong attachment toward her, after all. ]

[amygdalae]

Speedwagon, Detectives Mouri and Lynne and I took care of the dining hall. [...as well as Zagi's dead body...]

First, let us go through respectively on what we've managed to find.

[neverafters]

... It really couldn't have been someone from outside, could it? That makes The King... scared...

[prismbloom]

That's the strangest thing: The duct tape was completely clean.

[wokeupdead]

[Lynne is in her real detective clothes that she arrived in. They're still bright primary colors, but it makes her feel a bit more official. Although this set up is nothing like a real trial and she doesn't like it. It feels too much like the kingmaker's game and not a proper trial to solve the murder of a Great Person.

She's not really expecting an answer but she looks a pretty damn miffed.]

So we're playing judge and jury too?

[happysweets]

Misa-Misa ran back to her room after we found the body, but...in the hallway along the way, she found a bloody chair? It was all dented and mangled, like it hit something hard! And in the metal, there were biiig scratch marks! Like they came from claws!

[amygdalae]

[Bruce gives a nod.]

We'll figure this out. [He's not fond of having to go with what the Kingmaker wants, but they can't just let somebody who can kill like this get away. Not when it puts everyone else at risk.]

[isafraid]

[This isn't what speedwagon expected in the slightest.

It's a sight to behold... and freak out about, it seems.]

It's lunacy! I've never seen anything like this!

[ratingspoint]

...Why, though?

[Mettaton seems more interested in the floor than the people, given that he's leaning way the hell over his podium to take a look at it, but he'll straighten up a bit after a second.]

Really, somebody's dead and I have no idea who did it. Didn't they win? This should be over by now.

[goodforsomething]

Sounds like it. And then he gets to be the executioner.

[prismbloom]

It's obvious that whoever did this was not human--or they used some sort of tool obtained, most likely, from the vending machine.

[happysweets]

But how are we supposed to do that? There are only a few detectives here! The rest of us are just normal people...or, well, not-people!

[ Sorry, Cherry and King Birdie. ]

[notjustawriter]

This is pretty sick.

[goingdigital]

Where was the duct tap exactly? Like on the doors?

[wokeupdead]

[Lynne will pop up here.]

I'll leave the technical description up to Bruce but it's pretty obvious that there was a big fight in the dining room. Zagi had been cut multiple times by what looked like claw marks and his neck was... slit.

[She falters a bit on the end because it's so horrible to think about.]

[happysweets]

And what's gonna happen when we do find out?

[ Or, well, if we do. ]