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

[pokexplorer]

That's true...yet I find it hard to imagine they could come out of a battle with him completely unscathed. Unless they somehow had the upper hand the entire time?

[wokeupdead]

I bet we could tell if everyone wasn't so bundled up. These jumpsuits and things are pretty covering.

[Is this the beginning of the... strip search?!]

[goodforsomething]

.....so you're sayin' we should all take our clothes off.

[LET'S GO]

[captainobnoxious]

No one wants to see you or dilly-dally naked, gramps. Slow down.

[goodforsomething]

Hey, I'm just cooperatin' with police investigation!

[Stan your profile literally lists federal authorities as one of your dislikes]

[captainobnoxious]

You're a perverted old man who's gonna get his kicks off these young people stripping. Turn around.

[penduli]

No.

[ LET'S NOT. ]

[happysweets]

N-no way! I'm not doing something so perverted!

[neverafters]

... The King refuses!

[captainobnoxious]

... You kind of have to, birdy. Your talons could make a mark if you wanted them to.

[prismbloom]

Absolutely not.

[paidinblood]

I have some dignity, thanks.

[ignorantly]

No.

[wokeupdead]

[LYNNE THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA...]

Maybe not everything but we could check arms? Places that would normally get hit during a fight, you know?

Although everything might be good too.

[goodforsomething]

Arms makes the most sense, maybe around the shoulders. Hell if I know how they didn't get hit on the head, that's the first place you'd aim for.

[pokexplorer]

Yes, arms at the very least could be helpful.

It could even be possible that the killer's clothing would be torn during the fight if they were covering themselves up, though they could have easily worn something else for today's events.

[notjustawriter]

Checkin' arms does sound like a good start, I suppose.

Better than just strippin' in front of everyone.

[LIKE STAN]

[amygdalae]

There is also the point that we haven't been able to find what was used to wipe away the blood on Zagi's neck.

[He's... not going to be talking about the stripping just yet.]

[amygdalae]

...what?

[WHY ARE THEY JUMPING TO STRIPPING.]

[isafraid]

[what]

I... I can see the point, but maybe not.

[notjustawriter]

....why?

[Stan, no

You're right next to him, he doesn't want to see you naked.]

[garudynamic]

...

[Everyone is resisting this really hard, but it really is the fastest way to get that question out of the way.

So yep, Yosuke's shirt is coming off. Though interestingly his scarf, which has been missing all week, finally returns: tied around his bicep under his shirt and jacket- acting as a makeshift holster for a set of throwing knives]

Not like half this place hasn't seen my half naked already.

[ No injuries]

[lackinginfaith]

...Really?

[isafraid]

[Yosuke if you start this....]

You're still carrying those knives around?

[lackinginfaith]

[s i g h]

It's going to have to happen anyway, at this rate.

[Caren shunts off the jumpsuit, and for good measure, the tiger-print bucket hat and furry belt. Because it's not like hats have ever hidden a murder before.

In this case, it hasn't; no injuries.]