Take Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

And after a given amount of time, those elevator doors at the end of the first-floor corridor open up; as it was last week, the ride down is smooth and quick-moving, even if there are less of you this week. (Technically, you're only down by one in the elevator; Bruce has ensured that Pearl is with you in some way, albeit unconventionally and by the grace of Ziploc.) However, when the doors open up to the podium circle standing in the middle of that black void of a courtroom, there's no mistaking the fact that there are fewer people present than there were last week – Kamui and Pearl have joined those with podiums draped in black, their framed profile portraits watching the proceedings in shades of grey. It's still impossible to tell exactly where the Kingmaker is watching the proceedings from, though it's obvious that he is; he'll wait until everyone is settled before he speaks, his voice coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "Devoted has been taken from you. All of you know what the stakes are now, but this happened anyway – looks like someone's determined. Whether they succeed or not is up to you." Twenty-four Survivors remain. We'll see how many are still standing by the end of the day.

Comments

[penduli]

That's too far, Miss Sigrun.

[garudynamic]

But then she got you wet and you fell. leaving the hand print and blood, right?

[lackinginfaith]

You're always thinking with the brute solution, aren't you?

[captainobnoxious]

[of course]

She's more than a little difficult, you know? And I won't kill her, just rough her up a bit.

[lackinginfaith]

I'm what's called a mermaid. The profile was right that I was secretly a princess. The Kingmaker just neglected to mention which country.

After all, nobody's supposed to live in Antarctica, much less in the ocean.

[amygdalae]

[He was just following Cherryblod's theory...

But yeah Mettaton, you have a point.]

[captainobnoxious]

She's not innocent anyway. We just have to get her to confess.

[lackinginfaith]

The incentive hit a lot of people, didn't it?

[captainobnoxious]

Your life or hers. That's not too far at all.

[ratingspoint]

[...]

If you think I'm discussing it here, you're mistaken.

[prismbloom]

...

Her title was Devoted. It must have been that person...

[notjustawriter]

Torture's never a good option.

[captainobnoxious]

If the brute solution works, it works. Keep in mind that I won't take any pleasure in it though, most people here do have someone they want to see again.

[notjustawriter]

...It seems that way.

[lackinginfaith]

It was a lucky shot.

[She grabs the winged shell pendant she's wearing again.]

It might've been heavy, but even I could throw it a short distance if she was down there too. Even if going for the pearl is unforgivable, she wouldn't even bleed, what else was I supposed to do?

[penduli]

That's not, but brutalizing her is. We could always gamble and just vote her in without a confession--there's a lot of evidence pointing to her killing Pearl, whether it was pre-mediated or self-defense, anyway--and not force her to tell us why.

Especially through such an extreme solution.

Re: EVERYONE LINE UP

[goingdigital]

[Beyond the shirt for his uniform? Everything is pretty much white and intact.]

[lackinginfaith]

That's one thing we had in common. The other was the pearl, and knowing just what that meant.

[prismbloom]

And what if she doesn't confess? What if Gabriel's right--and she gives a false confession?

It's too brutal--too much. Sigrun, please.

[garudynamic]

At that point even if you stopped, she wouldn't have. There was no going back...

[lackinginfaith]

I used to be like a lot of you, you know. Believing in all this happiness and having fun and playing around doing whatever I wanted. Has it worked in here?

[notjustawriter]

There's a difference between puttin' on a brave face and naivete, Caren.

I'm sorry you thought I was the latter.

[prismbloom]

[ ...? ]

What the pearl meant? Can you tell me? Please.

[captainobnoxious]

[So it's a secret. She'll chew on her lip before nodding, but she hasn't put the hammer down. Now it's for looks.]

So we'll talk later. See, I knew people'd be against it.

[lackinginfaith]

There shouldn't have been. I couldn't do anything but try and escape. Just like then... Even if it would take all of you down, at least I could save one person! That's more than enough, isn't it?