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]

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!

[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.

[cherryblooded]

Not human, hm...

[Before anyone asks, Cherryblod shows his hands. They're completely ordinary, and his nails are short.]

It's true that shrimp do have claws in their animal form, but I don't have one of those - and if I did, I doubt I'd be able to do much harm to Zagi while I couldn't breathe.

Did you notice any kind of pattern to the scratches?

[prismbloom]

[ She didn't suspect you for a moment, Shrimpdad. ]

The scratches came in sets. Like Misa said, they appear to have come from claws.

[cherryblooded]

Sets of how many, exactly?

[He's trying to rule out his fellow clearly-not-human here.]

[notjustawriter]

The vending machine gives out weapons, so it's possible.

[prismbloom]

Can everyone confirm what they've received from the vending machine?

I've received a ukelele, a black notebook, a mobile phone, potpourri, an arrow, some sort of training sword, a bouquet of cherry blossoms, my Wayfinder, a tuning fork, salt, a fur muffler, a straitjacket, a poster of some sort of celebrity, a glass replica of a diamond, and a thermometer.

[goodforsomething]

Look, I get where you're goin' with this, but I doubt anyone's gonna say if they got a set of claws or whatever.

[cherryblooded]

I honestly haven't kept track - at this point I've received about fifty coins. I don't think any of them could have created marks like those?

[lackinginfaith]

I have a few weapons from the vending machine, but just a sword and a hammer. Bruce can verify that I wasn't used to lifting or handling them, and I doubt any would have left marks like those. I doubt I need to list all the other things from there. Nobody's killing anyone with a hat.

[amygdalae]

The only weapon-related items are I have are throwing knives, an arrow, and what I assume is a decorative sword.

[clubleader]

I haven't gotten any weapons.

[notjustawriter]

Unfortunately Stan's right, I don't see anyone admitting if they got a set of claws from the machine.

I've gotten a set of lighters, a wooden sword, and a couple bottles of arsenic from the machine, in any case.

[isafraid]

Can't say I've gotten anything of the sort out of the machine. Only went through it with a handful of coins I'd gathered.

[neverafters]

... The King has not used his coins...

[lackinginfaith]

You haven't at all? ...You were scared off by the... contents, weren't you.

[neverafters]

The King said, he likes shiny objects. They feel like... home.

[goingdigital]

Haven't gotten anything yet.

[wokeupdead]

I know people got things like knives and sword but was there anything that could have made scratches like that?

[Not like anyone would share if they got something like that.]

[isafraid]

Unless some unfortunate soul pulled a special claw weapon of some kind from the vending machine, it doesn't seem very likely.

[wokeupdead]

That's what I think too. [Why the fuck you lying, murderer?]

[ratingspoint]

Even if there wasn't, who knows? Maybe someone had a lot of duct tape and a little bit of creativity on their side!

[goodforsomething]

[Hm]

Yeah, that'd be a pretty easy thing to rig up. Get us to talk about what instead of who.

[wokeupdead]

...Is it possible to make cuts with duct tape?

[That is what he means. Obviously.]

[prismbloom]

There was the duct tape in the library, but it was clean. Neither roll seemed to be running low.