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]

I drink blood to live. I've killed a lot more people than are in this room. What's one more? What's Twenty-six more?

[amygdalae]

I...

[It's hard to speak. Bruce has done his fair share of killing - intentional or not. They're still lives, in the end. Lives worth much more than his.]

Nobody's life is worth more than another's.

[As terrible as it is he can't blame him, exactly, but--

God.]

Did you have somebody to go back to?

[paidinblood]

[...He's not here to wax philosophical on the value of a life today.]

Doesn't everyone have someone to go back to?

[amygdalae]

[There's only a faint, weak laugh, and a tired smile from Bruce.]

Not me.

[Normally he wouldn't say that, but--well.

He doesn't know if that'll help in anyway, but he just hopes that the other can understand.]

I can't say I forgive you... but I'm sorry things turned out this way.

[neverafters]

[ The King looks to Bruce sadly, then to Kamui. ]

You remind The King of someone. That someone was... dear to him, for a time. The King is sorry, too.

[paidinblood]

I made my own decision. I took things into my own hands.

[At least he understands that he shouldn't forgive him for this.]

I don't want or need your sympathy.

[amygdalae]

I'll still give it anyway.

[Because YOU CAN'T STOP HIM and look, Bruce has a lot of Issues. It's Complicated.]

[penduli]

Not to defend Kamui here, but like he said vampires do kill to eat, and I'd say that someone's own life is personally more important to them than a bunch of strangers'.

[ JUST... putting that out here. ]

The reason could just be as simple as that.

[sleepingkogoro]

When you put it like that it does seem like it was unavoidable this was going to happen at some point.

[As much as Mouri hates to say it, of course]

[amygdalae]

I suppose its just me.

[Just... quietly here.

Yeah, this isn't something to discuss now. Or possibly ever.]

[devastation]

... It's not just you.

[ladies and gentlemen, behold the first words that Megu-nee has actually spoken since this trial began]

Kamui-san... he could have told us, couldn't he? We could have tried to come up with a way to help keep him sated without killing anyone here...

[right?]

[captainobnoxious]

No, I think we would've lynched him or kept him locked somewhere for our own safety from the start, seeing as if there's a different way to sate I'm sure he would've done it.

[paidinblood]

Whether or not I had to feed had nothing to do with it. Even if I had stuck around, I wouldn't have told any of you.

[Just to make that clear enough.]

If you must know, there's a man after me and my brother. A hunter. We can't stay in any one world for long, or he'll find and kill us.

Being in here is leaving him to die.

[notjustawriter]

....I'm sorry.

[Sorry it had to come to this, sorry that this is about to end terribly.]

[goodforsomething]

[Hm.]

Yeah, okay. That makes sense, then.

[penduli]

[ ...well you know, this is a little easier to sympathize with than "he's a vampire of course he would."

Not like he WANTS to, necessarily, because Kamui seems very confused and put-off by people being nice to him, but-- ]

If that was the case for my sister and I, I think I would've done the same thing. [ Being a coward is fine as long as you stand up when it's necessary, huh? Yeah.

...and there's no way he's losing White, even if the state he last remembers her in isn't the best. ]

[devastation]

[... well gee, that sounds pretty horrible.

she probably shouldn't feel any sympathy for the person who killed zagi-san, and yet...]

I'm sorry. [...] ... But I still wish we could have tried to find another way to resolve this.

[bloodisthicker]

[you know what, he was ready to be a piece of shit and then you go and say something like that

fuck you, buddy, he's just going to try not to look at you instead]

[amygdalae]

I don't know what we could have done -or if we could even do anything at all - but just for me, I don't think anyone would appreciate killing an innocent for their sake.

[It's just as simple as that.]

[devastation]

I wouldn't think so either...

[She certainly wouldn't appreciate anyone killing someone for her sake, that's for sure.]

... But there isn't anything we can do about it now, is there?

[it doesn't matter how they feel about it, it's not like they undo what has happened and bring Zagi back from the dead...]

[penduli]

[ well buddy, if you want to starve for the good of the group instead of trying to get away with murder, you go ahead and do that.

black's not the type to willingly take a life either, but his is still more important than the rest of you. he likes living, thanks. ]

[paidinblood]

Nothing personal.

[This is kind of your fault, but you know what, he likes you.]

[penduli]

[ this is because he called you pretty despite your strangely proportioned body, isn't it. ]

It's fine. ...well, I mean, it isn't fine, but-- [ err. ] It would've happened eventually, seeing as we don't have a medical room that could have blood packs for you to feed off of as a replacement, and going by other people's accounts, Zagi seemed like the type of person who'd want you to go all out in a fight if you fought him.

[ ...so it kind of feels natural this happened? Maybe not this soon, granted, but yeah. ]

[wokeupdead]

[Black no.]

No matter the reasons or rationalizations there is no excuse for murder, Black.

[ESPECIALLY IN UNDER A WEEK.]

[paidinblood]

[well actually--]