Take Responsibility.

[wordsmithery]

The ride up to the courtroom occurs, as before, after an allotted period of time for investigation; the elevator waits patiently for you at each floor - third, second, first - before sending you upwards and on your way to the courtroom high above. As always, the trip is a smooth one; granted, after everything that the morning had been, any small comfort that fact may bring is likely not helping much. There are three less of you this time around, a fact reflected in the podium circle standing in the middle of the room; Alani, Milla and Chiyuki have all joined the ranks of the deceased, their podiums draped in black and their portraits in greyscale keeping a watchful eye over the rest of the trial circle. There's still no one present in the lectern above; however, once everyone has found their place in the circle, the Wordsmith's voice can be heard throughout the room. "I can see that matters are beginning to seem dire for you, Apprentices. I am sure that you all cared for Sympathetic in some measure—all except the guilty party. And now it falls to you once again to determine who that is. For your own sake as well as Sympathetic's, hold her killer accountable and have them take responsibility for their actions." Twenty-four Apprentices remain. We'll see how many remain at the end of the day.

Comments

[modernmedicine]

I suppose it's best to start with the condition of Chiyuki's body. It was unusual in that it was more like a mannequin than a human body. There was evidence of an explosion near where her body was found. I believe that was the cause of death.

[introspects]

So...those shards surrounding her body really were from Chiyuki-san...?

[modernmedicine]

They were the same kind of material, yes.

[quadruples]

...What? Chiyuki was a mannequin?

[ WHAT THE FUCK ]

[modernmedicine]

It was a shock to me, as well. I had no idea.

[feistytrader]

...That's what the bandages were for.

[He says that much, but he's a little reluctant to say anything more. It doesn't feel right to blurt out all of Chiyuki's secrets just because she died.]

[officerhops]

A...a mannequin, doctor?

[WELL Judy almost regrets not going to where the body was, but not just through sheer, morbid curiosity.]

[modernmedicine]

A mannequin or a porcelain doll. I checked the inside of her body as best I could, and everything appeared hollow.

[plentyfriendly]

A mannequin? Was she a robot this whole time?

[An explosion, though...]

[oyashiromama]

[Hanyuu speaks up, first quiet but then voice raising.]

No, it... That wasn't her original body. It was a temporary one...so it makes sense it was like that.

[Like Silver she's hesitant to say much more.]

[modernmedicine]

She must have been. I can understand why she wouldn't necessarily want that to be public knowledge.

[feistytrader]

There was a pretty strong chemical smell in the room. The whole place was a mess, and one of the pool tables took a pretty hard hit.

But there was also this- [He holds up a broken cuestick-] and some broken... Pool balls.

[He's pretty sure that's not what they're called.]

None of them looked like they were part of the explosion.

[modernmedicine]

[She nods.]

The chemical smell was rather strong. I think that perhaps the chemical scent was from the explosion itself.

When you say the billiard balls weren't part of the explosion, what do you mean?

[tsugomori]

A broken cuestick? That is quite odd.

[ ... ]

I suppose it'd be difficult if she had been hit with it at this point, hm?

[ Or someone else, for that matter... ]

[acherontiastyx]

...wait, so that freaky ghost story she told the first week we were here was about her?

[iaspis]

That's....

[...]

I guess that makes sense, in a way.

[modernmedicine]

I believe it was.

[neverheardofhim]

[He's with the rest of the crew here.]

A mannequin? [It doesn't help that he... really doesn't know what that is.]

[modernmedicine]

A doll, like you would see in a store window.

[uncouthhatcher]

She's a doll.

[... That's all. He looks uncomfortable saying it, but. She is. He's also notably at Silver's podium today, because though he promised Guzma to look after Lusamine, Watanuki and Silver are surrounded by death and that is not cool.]

So, well, fire's my damn specialty, see? And that explosions was definitely her cause of death -- there was an area of the room that looked like it'd been scorched, basically, not just some stream of it either. More like a big flare. I found some glass around there too, even in the walls.

[Which he will take out! of his... jacket pockets, very carefully, I'm sorry. Just a few.

It's notable that there's two kinds of glass he's setting out; a thinner one, that's certainly reminiscent of a cocktail glass base and a little of the connecting bottom, and pieces he arranges to show they've got a rounded shape.]

[officerhops]

Explosions...

[Judy echoes Gold's words, whipping out her notebook and putting it on the podium in front of her. She doesn't say anything else, just writing something quickly onto her paper.]

[oyashiromama]

[Gold... Hanyuu stays where she is but quietly resolves to speak with him, if- ...when this is all over.]

[modernmedicine]

I can confirm what you were saying about the cause of death. I don't think anyone would have survived that blast.

[foundfate]

[Oh hi Gold. That's one less worry for Watanuki, since Silver has someone there with him.]

There's not really any materials for bomb-making here. Whoever did this, they definitely would have had to improvise. Maybe the glass was part of a makeshift bomb?

[alchemicals]

[That just gets a soft noise out of him, nothing else; he's...actually playing with one of the smaller pieces from the billiards hall between his fingers, because like hell if he was going to leave that alone and not go see the crime scene for himself once he'd heard she'd died.

No comment on anything, just...she was a mannequin because of fucking course she was. Why the fuck not. God, he's so fucking done with today and it's just starting.]