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

[goingdigital]

I wouldn't say the dining hall is close to the library though.

The kitchen is though.

[lackinginfaith]

You know none of that makes sense.

[wokeupdead]

[You know. Since nobody has said it. And it's been on Lynne's mind.]

Isn't there chance that the duct tape thing was a dare?

[It's so dumb and literally the same night as the truth or dare party.]

[kingmakereffect]

Necessary or not, this is your current situation. So what will you do? Will you continue arguing with me or will you focus your attention on finding the person responsible for Adaptable's death?

[isafraid]

[...He sighs.]

Strewth. I figure it could be worth mentioning before someone else does. vampires are on my profile in 'dislikes'.

[lackinginfaith]

I think it started in the library. Not only is it the end of the complex, somebody was clearly busy with their duct tape art project for a while beforehand.

[clubleader]

...I had a feeling that it was something like this.

[ All this talk about responsibility clued her in. ]

[lackinginfaith]

Wouldn't somebody remember it?

[garudynamic]

Hey Gabriel, you said you were hunting a monster. Can you think of anything that would have claws and drink blood like that?

[sleepingkogoro]

It all actually started in the Library. The culprit and Zagi-san went from there to the Dining Hall, where the fight and the murder happened, and afterwards the culprit bled all the way to the Hallway.

[Mouri is quite confident he has cracked the order of events]

[cherryblooded]

The chair in the hallway was from the library, I believe. So whatever happened in the library, the fight started there, and the chair was the best option for a weapon in self-defense until Zagi could get to the kitchen knives.

[wokeupdead]

[She was always going to figure out who the murderer was because #justice but GOOD LORD. She can't let innocent people die over this!]

This is horrible...

[lackinginfaith]

...Fine. But none of us here are done with you.

[captainobnoxious]

[Well shucks, maker, she likes you but that's a bit much.]

Makes sense. So they'd be your chosen favorite, so to say, and you'd just abandon the rest of us?

[prismbloom]

I'm not sure. Zagi was dared to follow my orders for the rest of the night. I would have known if he had been dared to do something like that.

[cherryblooded]

Naturally. Do you know any way of identifying one?

[sleepingkogoro]

It is closer than the hallway, at least. No other place than the hallway had blood or signs of anyone getting attacked.

[penduli]

[ It's definitely not his area of expertise, but let him try and think of something... ]

Not really? They can't be seen by the naked eye, usually... unless they're possessing a corpse.

[ What else? ...oh, duh. ]

They also have a distinctive crimson aura, but you'd have to be a pretty high-level Caster or something equivalent to that to see it. I can't say I qualify, especially since I'm not even supposed to be a Caster...

Sorry if I wasn't much help, Mr. Cherryblod.

[wokeupdead]

If both people involved were Zagi and the murderer then who else would know the dare? It could be a reason they were alone together if anything.

[This is probably reaching.]

[notjustawriter]

Well, the possibility of vampires has already been brought up, but I don't know anything about clawed monsters.

I was lookin' for a werewolf.

[He's been doing this for a year!!]

[cherryblooded]

Let me think about that first one. If they were possessing a corpse, would it still be cold to the touch?

[kingmakereffect]

That's an interesting way of looking at it. My thoughts on it aren't important, however. You all have more important things to do right now.

[lackinginfaith]

But what if it wasn't Zagi who did it? I've been thinking Zagi interrupted someone else.

[ratingspoint]

This doesn't change anything, then, does it?

[Don't think he didn't notice, not like he cares. You singled him out! Attention. c: ]

We already wanted to know who did this, right? All this means is that we have to try extra-hard to not screw up.

[isafraid]

I don't remember seeing any bloody vampires before! [That doesn't help him, does it.]

[But... he thinks about it, rubbing his neck.]

It's said vampires dry and crumble away in the sunlight. Holy items can also mess with em. Can't say how much of it is just superstition, but neither of those are in large supply right now.