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]

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

[prismbloom]

No, not on the doors. It was on the walls, floors, and chairs. There were also books attached to the wall with duct tape. As far as I could tell, there was no pattern in what books were taped up.

[penduli]

There were books that were open, but... they weren't open to any passages that stuck out to me. [ There goes any hopes of clues from literature. ] It just seemed sort of random and unnecessary.

[lackinginfaith]

Sounds like a whole lot of distraction to me.

[neverafters]

M-maybe the culprit didn't have time? If there was a plan that didn't go through...

[lackinginfaith]

You mean they were using the books for something else and were interrupted by their plan to kill Zagi. ...Wait.

[goingdigital]

Well...what if that is what it actually is?

[This little thing with the odd duct tape pratice...reminded him of what Diaboromon did.]

A distraction to keep us from figuring out how much duct tape was actually used in the crime?

[sleepingkogoro]

If there was no blood and nothing shows they fought in there I don't think it matters.

For all we know Zagi-san may have been intending to play a prank on us.

[lackinginfaith]

I'm going with the theory that something was happening in there, but it derailed into a fight when Zagi showed up.

[prismbloom]

Initially, I'd thought it was nothing more than a distraction--but Zagi made it clear he was a good fighter. I'm not sure anyone would intentionally seek him out.

But what exactly was the culprit trying to do?

[lackinginfaith]

I'm thinking it's more what Zagi was trying to do. But as for the duct tape... wouldn't it be some kind of escape plan, or a test of what powers still worked?

[prismbloom]

Maybe he taped the books up and attempted to use them as some sort of target practice?

[lackinginfaith]

Or in some kind of spell. You'd be surprised what some people can normally do.

[prismbloom]

Some kind of spell... do you have any thoughts?

[lackinginfaith]

No idea. I don't know how your worlds work.

[bloodisthicker]

...are we entirely sure that Zagi wasn't interrupted while doing some sort of art project? I don't mean to insult the man's memory, but from the little I knew of him he... seemed like the kind of person who would do that.

[prismbloom]

I can't be sure. That may be true, but it's hard to answer, since...

[captainobnoxious]

If I'd do it, so would he.

[and she should]

[goingdigital]

What.

[That was really odd, especially considering that the library is at the other end of the building.]

Zagi was found in the dining hall right? That's a bit far from the corpse, isn't it?

[prismbloom]

I'm not sure, either. The library is far out of the way compared to the dining room.

[goingdigital]

The only thing I can think of is if they were trying to hide evidence there or distract us really.

[prismbloom]

But the duct tape was clean--no blood or anything. The library was completely untouched, other than the tape.

Caren did bring up that Zagi may have been doing something. But if he were, would that really make him a target?

Unless he found something he wasn't meant to.

[ignorantly]

Something he wasn't meant to? Like what?

[prismbloom]

Some sort of plan? The library does have a lot of hiding places.