trusthell | 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

[Now that the excitement of the trial is dying down, he's... not sure he can actually do this]

We... this isn't right. At all.

It's not.

[Cherryblod will readily admit to that.]

But the alternative is worse.

[He trembles. Before (or so he thinks. It'd be an awful night's sleep and another memory before he realizes he's already done this before. But that was different, wasn't it? That was Saki. Nanako. This is a near stranger, so it's so much easier to play the higher moral ground) he's always had someone to *fight*. Some way to resist just going along with things and accepting the way things were. There's no other option, and that's almost worse then sentencing Kamui at all]

It's not *fair*. He shouldn't have been in here at all! None of us should have!

I agree with you. It's not fair at all.

[Despite that, Cherryblod is calm as he speaks.]

But, suppose that you don't vote for him, and the majority goes a different way. If that happens, then you'll be partly responsible for the deaths of the rest of us. Every other person that you've met here will be dead.

Can you really do that?

... no. I know that.

But if we just do it and don't even argue it... isn't that as bad as agreeing with it?

[He slumps, clearly giving in. There's was never any real question on that front]

Arguing wouldn't lead anywhere. We're all trapped in the Kingmaker's conditions.

But it's good to adhere to your principles. Well done, Hanamura-kun.

He's still going to die, whether you hate that you had to do it or not. And if the Kingmaker won't be swayed, then... it doesn't make as much of a difference as it should.

I'm sorry.

It's... it cruel. It's not right to do any of this at all.

But at this point, we don't have a choice.

[Bruce hates it even more than you do, Yosuke. He really, really hates it.]

No, it isn't.

Neither is any of this. But he isn't innocent, is he?

That doesn't matter. Yeah, he's gotta pay for killing Zagi, but it's not right to make murderers out of the rest of us either!

Please. You're not murdering anyone - you're indicating who you think did it, that's all. It's not like they're handing you the-

[...]

...We aren't going to be expected to jump him or anything, are we?

[Yosuke winces. God, he knows he can't do THAT, so hopefully not]

Don't... don't try and make it sound like we have nothing to do with it.

[There's no heart in his words though. But he's upset, and has to take it out on someone, even if it's weak and half-assed]

But we don't.

[And that's...detached, incredibly so, even if the usual conviction is still there behind his words.]

Isn't that what you've been saying, Yosuke-darling? None of us would be here if we could be anywhere else, right? Is it really our fault if we don't have a choice?

...

[Not any more then a gun has a choice but to be shot.

He shakes his head, but it's clear he's not arguing. It's more just a vague resigned expression. He doesn't want to hear this... but at least it's an acknowledgement that he *does*]

...I wish I could think like you right now.

We don't got a choice. Either we vote or we die.

You're right, it's bloody madness in a nutshell.

[He sighs.]

And we don't even have a choice in the matter.

Take Responsibility.

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