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

[kingmakereffect]

If you all refused to attempt to determine who the culprit is, then eventually I'd call for a vote. Obviously you all would most likely be wrong in your answers, so the culprit would win. They successfully murdered someone and got away with it.

...But you really don't want to do that.

[cherryblooded]

What exactly would happen if they did?

[kingmakereffect]

They would get to leave the Vault, as I've said. The rest of you would die.

[cherryblooded]

...ah.

[Cherryblod takes that fairly stoically.]

I see.

[ratingspoint]

...Well, that's good to know.

[...HE SAYS, LIKE THIS IS LEGITIMATELY A GOOD THING TO KNOW AND NOTHING ELSE.]

Thanks for the answer, darling.

[amygdalae]

You clearly left that out.

[Not an accusation, but. God.]

So its all of us against the culprit.

[kingmakereffect]

Indeed. Good luck.

[...you're probably going to need it...]

[lackinginfaith]

...of course it's not that easy, is it?

[kingmakereffect]

That depends on your definition of easy. How easy is taking someone's life and covering it up?

[paidinblood]

...Why didn't you tell us this sooner?

[kingmakereffect]

You didn't ask.

[this fuckin' guy]

[neverafters]

............ The King doesn't like this game...

[pokexplorer]

My, what a catch. How nice for that to only come to light just now.

It's a good motivator as any, at least.

[Haha...ha...]

[goodforsomething]

Eh. Kinda figured that.

[isafraid]

[Oh no]

But that's savagery unthinkable!

[happysweets]

S-so what is it, then?! We vote for the culprit and if we get it right, they die, and if we get it wrong, we all do?!

Just what is the point of it?! What are you getting out of this, huh?!

[kingmakereffect]

That's right. As for the point of it... well, I'm not the one on trial, now am I?

You might want to focus on what happened and figuring out who the person responsible for Adaptable's death is.

[isafraid]

Grr.... It's a joke! He's having a laugh about this all along, and sitting back while we sort out the damnable mess!

[goingdigital]

Figures.

What's the point in holding more trials after the one person gets out, right?

[notjustawriter]

....I figured as much.

[clubleader]

...I had a feeling that it was something like this.

[ All this talk about responsibility clued her in. ]

[wokeupdead]

[She was always going to figure out who the murderer was because #justice but GOOD LORD. She can't let innocent people die over this!]

This is horrible...

[captainobnoxious]

[Well shucks, maker, she likes you but that's a bit much.]

Makes sense. So they'd be your chosen favorite, so to say, and you'd just abandon the rest of us?

[isafraid]

[There's a chill creeping up the back of Speedwagon's neck, and he's not sure why.]

Oi! And what do you mean by that, then?

[kingmakereffect]

[WELL THAT SURE IS A THING]