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

[prismbloom]

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

[ratingspoint]

And we've got plenty of it elsewhere - those aren't the only two rolls we have.

[lackinginfaith]

There's a sign-out sheet and a consistently updated tally of our supplies. We'd know if something were gone.

[prismbloom]

Caren and I made a list during the first few days we were here, and I believe Tarrlok made a list, too. I checked over the items every night.

It may be possible that someone took something after we all went to bed. The rooms are soundproof, from what I could tell.

[lackinginfaith]

Yes, and with that, we could subtract everything we already knew about.

[ratingspoint]

[...Caren, seriously?]

Right, because a murderer is just going to sign out their supplies like a good kid.

[lackinginfaith]

That's not what I'm getting at. I mean that, if there's a mysterious third duct tape roll, it wouldn't be accounted for, and so we'd know about it. So we don't have to run around trying to prove that.

[ratingspoint]

Or they did as Aqua said and did it while you were asleep.

And they ignored your sign-out sheet like everyone else here does in the process. Simple.

[lackinginfaith]

[g r o a n]

It's called responsibility. Maybe you've heard of it. It's not like we haven't heard the word overused all week.

[ratingspoint]

It's called "not being an idiot while you murder somebody" - I'd say that maybe you've heard of it, but you're the one suggesting all this in the first place, so I'd assume not.

[captainobnoxious]

Who'd use a sign out sheet?

[ratingspoint]

Right.

[goodforsomething]

Nobody.

Like, literally no one.