trusthell | Take Responsibility.

Take Responsibility.

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."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[You know. Since nobody has said it. And it's been on Lynne's mind.]

Isn't there chance that the duct tape thing was a dare?

[It's so dumb and literally the same night as the truth or dare party.]

Wouldn't somebody remember it?

If both people involved were Zagi and the murderer then who else would know the dare? It could be a reason they were alone together if anything.

[This is probably reaching.]

I'm not sure. Zagi was dared to follow my orders for the rest of the night. I would have known if he had been dared to do something like that.

But what if it wasn't Zagi who did it? I've been thinking Zagi interrupted someone else.

But what sort of dare would be so secretive--or dangerous--that someone would kill Zagi for interrupting it?

Maybe it's not the content of the dare. Zagi loved to fight and he wanted to get out. He believed that any of us could kill, and he's attacked a few of us. He didn't even care about his own people.

I think he ambushed someone looking for a fight so he could escape. He just didn't know they could turn into something else, and he lost.

That does sound like him, doesn't it?

It does. But even if this was self-defence, you heard what the Kingmaker just said.

There's no such thing as context in this game of his.

How awful.

Then the culprit killed him in a fit of desperation--I don't think anyone here, at least who I've talked to, would willingly engage in this game.

I don't know about that. But in this case...

Even if it was self-defense...the fact that whoever killed him is trying to play it off like this, like some kind of creature was responsible, still makes it terrible.

If they were really sorry, they would have fessed up by now. That's what Misa-Misa thinks. Especially now that they know it's all of our necks on the line.

I agree. Self defense is important and I feel bad they were put in that situation but there's no excuse for lying.

[Because even if she liked Zagi this sounds like the most logical conclusion. Sigh, crazy friend.]

Even a murder you can justify is still a murder. Whoever's behind this, they need to carry that weight, for sure.

[ .... ]

You're right. That fact isn't easily forgivable. We know what will happen if we fail, after all.

Even if Zagi did ambush him, and he had no choice but to kill him, if the murderer was really someone who cared about the group, they definitely should have said something by now.

The fact that they haven't yet is way more telling of their intentions.

[ She hopes she sounds a little bit like Light here. ]

Fear is powerful, but it doesn't excuse hiding the truth, especially if failure has such serious consequences.

(no subject)

happysweets - 2016-03-05 18:45 (UTC) - Expand

If they're a good person, maybe. If they're desperate enough to get out and don't care about the rest of us, it'd be easy for them to stay quiet or throw our eyes elsewhere.

Then they better not expect us to hear them out when we figure out who it is.

What makes you think it was self-defense at all?

[Just wondering.]

You mean to say that you think they both went into this to win?

Do you think it really could have been, like, a fight to the death?

It could have been a challenge of some sort.