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

[officerwilde]

Oh sure, why not. Cause I've definitely known that rabbit for more than three weeks.

[Nick'll just step down from his podium to go approach Judy's, then.]

Mind coming down here for a sec, sweetheart?

[officerhops]

[Judy had been writing in her notebook, but when she hears Nick calling for her, her ears seem to perk instinctively.

Oh boy.]

That depends. What do you want?

[officerwilde]

I just wanna tell you my little secret so no one thinks I'm a big, scary murderer is all.

[COME BE A GOOD SPORT JUDY you should feel special he wants to tell you in the first place]

[officerhops]

[SPECIAL IS RELATIVE...but seeing how Judy really doubts Nick would ever kill a man- just avoid taxes all his life- she sighs and steps down to the floor from her podium.]

And what might that be, then?

[officerwilde]

[Well since Judy is down from her podium, Nick is just going to bend over and whisper in her ear:]

Your ears are too big for your body and they make you look even shorter than you already are somehow.. and also blue's not a flattering colour on you. You should really ask the ZPD to change their uniform colour to red.

[And he straightens up again, a smirk on his face.]

Take care, now.

[officerhops]

[Honestly, Nick wouldn't have had to whisper for Judy to hear that.

...and anyone nearby to see the two small animals behind Judy's podium will see her punch him in the shoulder unceremoniously.]

[officerwilde]

Ow--

[Well he can't say that punch was undeserved, but he still looks offended as he rubs his shoulder gingerly.]

Lighten up, Carrots! It was just a joke.

[ITS JOKE]

Blue looks great on you and your ears only slightly make you look tinier than you are.

[officerhops]

[Funny, because the second she fired off that punch she looks like she hit a puppy or something.]

...jokes aside...I don't think Nick is capable of murder, secrets or not. There isn't any evidence of an animal on the scene, either. I would have been able to identify that if there was.