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

[paidinblood]

[...

He doesn't resist being cut. He can't, really.

The wound lasts a few seconds, then closes up immediately.

What's more is that his eyes have gone from a shade of blue to a very bright slitted yellow from the injury.]

I can't believe you came up with that.

[cherryblooded]

[Well then.]

If it works, it works.

[paidinblood]

I guess it does.

[...He is literally too fucking... Impressed? Confused? Who the fuck can be mad at this.

You're all god damn nuts, he's impressed.]

[cherryblooded]

...I can't argue with your reasoning for it, so instead I'll just ask about the duct tape.

[What was that about?]

[wokeupdead]

[...You can't just do that and then NOT EXPLAIN?]

Wha- How'd you do that?

[paidinblood]

You already said it. I'm a vampire.

[...]

A few of the details were wrong, though.

[prismbloom]

A "few" of the details?

[penduli]

Well, I did say it could differ between worlds. [ He tried his best given the circumstances, pretty boy. ]

[isafraid]

[HE'S KEEPING AWAY FROM YOU KAMUI

....no offense]

[wokeupdead]

[This bullshit trial found something and it was through bloodletting. Lynne will feel absolutely horrible about that later but mostly Lynne just looks horrified that he's so damn calm about this.]

[captainobnoxious]

[Ah-ha.]

It's an easy way to find out things, broody. [Though she seems a little disappointed he could be it.] You're a serious suspect now, on that train of thought.

[paidinblood]

It's pretty optimistic to call me a suspect.

[captainobnoxious]

Was it a fun fight?

[isafraid]

It... it closed right up!

[Yes, thank you speedwagon]

[amygdalae]

[.........]

Was it you?

[Just asks this very, very quietly.]

[paidinblood]

There's no point in denying it.

[amygdalae]

Would you answer if I asked why?

[He's. Well. It'd be a lie if he said if he wasn't disappointed.

He didn't know him much at all, but still...]

[prismbloom]

...

[ Ugh. She doesn't feel good about this at all. ]

[goodforsomething]

Holy shit, that actually worked.

[paidinblood]

I can't believe you all came up with something like that.

[notjustawriter]

J-Jesus!

[pokexplorer]

Remarkable...!

[What a useful skill!

...Obviously it was something of a downfall in this case, but still useful!]

[happysweets]

N-no way...

[ DID THEY REALLY JUST...SOLVE THE CASE LIKE THIS... ]

[goingdigital]

[Of course it worked. The dumb plans always do.]

Wow. You wouldn't happen to have claws too, would ya?

[paidinblood]

[...Well, if that's still a question, he'll pull out a hand and slowly extend some bigass claws.]