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

[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?

[clubleader]

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

Looks like it.

[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. ]

[clubleader]

We just have to really think about all of this. We're lucky we have a few detectives.

[neverafters]

[ He doesn't want to be involved either, he understands...! ]

[ratingspoint]

They're people, darling, they're just not humans!

[There's a difference.

...namely we eat the not-people but the not-human-people can stay]

[happysweets]

Oh, is that the right language to use, then? Misa-Misa just wants to be PC!

[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. ]

[happysweets]

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

[ Or, well, if we do. ]

[captainobnoxious]

Well, back where I'm from, we kill them. There's no room or resources to keep prisoners for long periods of time.

[So.]

[happysweets]

That's...

[ Well, an efficient way of doing things. ]

[isafraid]

It's madness for one thing.

[And that's another.]

Seems that's the gist of it though.

[captainobnoxious]

It's just what's best. In my world, anyway.

[neverafters]

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

[happysweets]

Unless something found a way in when we couldn't find a way out, I don't think it's possible...

[neverafters]

The King... and all of the ones here. They have only known each other this long; he cannot imagine a motive. So... this is about that bad rule...?

That one's death can lead to another's freedom?

[happysweets]

It must be. Misa-Misa can't think of any other reason why someone would kill someone else like this...it definitely wasn't an accident.

[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.

[captainobnoxious]

[Mettaton's not the only one interested, though Sigrun's more focused on trying to see if she can see anything in it. Even after he straightens up.]

Yeah, basically. When you take people to things like this you already know who's done it and then you kill them.

[simple as that]

[bloodisthicker]

I suppose you're not really murderer royalty until you clear one final hurdle.

[...actually, yeah, why does the kingmaker want them to do this. He wants to find out out of spite, but...]

[lackinginfaith]

He wants to give us a chance, I suspect. Though who knows with someone like that.

[goingdigital]

"Rule 9: One way or another, all Survivors are expected to take responsibility for their actions."

[ratingspoint]

And? I'd think winning counts. No one said taking responsibility was a bad thing.

[lackinginfaith]

So if we lose, we take responsibility for that. If we win, we take responsibility for... whatever the result is.

[goingdigital]

It's not just that it's a bad thing.

[He was having trouble saying it.]

Whoever wins or loses...how can they take responsibility of their action, if one really knows what was done. Or we take responsibility for not noticing it?