trusthell | Take Responsibility.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That........ is super suspect. Lynne will stop for a closer inspection.]

Did you search the laundry room with Yosuke and Aqua earlier?

[She stiffens and frowns at Lynne.]

I didn't. I just got out of bed at the siren and saw that everyone was going, so I took some of my things down.

[ .... ]

How did the dust get onto your hands, Caren?

[She's starting to shake a bit now; with her free hand, she takes a swig of the Ramune as if it were alcohol to calm down.]

Why don't you tell me?

[ Aqua's shaking, too, but she clenches her fists hard.

This is her friend. This is her friend and she's... ]

Did you carry the gem pieces upstairs?

...I should have known. After that fight in the last trial saying nobody but us cared about the storage room, I thought it might be safe to put that towel from the laundry room in there.

What do you think, Aqua?

....

[ She hates this. ]

I think there's someone you care about enough, who you wanted to see enough to--

[ Aqua can't bring herself to say it. ]

To kill someone, [Sigrun'll finish, leaning the sledgehammer to the side so she can cross her arms.]

You really don't play around, do you, Caren. You're not my first guess to someone who could swing a sledgehammer, that's for sure, so why don't you tell us what happened?

...[She's trapped. Caren looks around. There's one thing in that evidence, and she doesn't want to be desperate enough --

Who has the full washbucket?

Because you might want to get in here.]

(no subject)

garudynamic - 2016-03-12 18:57 (UTC) - Expand

lackinginfaith - 2016-03-12 19:01 (UTC) - Expand

garudynamic - 2016-03-12 19:02 (UTC) - Expand

lackinginfaith - 2016-03-12 19:05 (UTC) - Expand

You weren't investigating the body with us, either. And if you didn't see the body -

Exactly how did you know that Pearl was killed with a sledgehammer?

[Oh.

Oh.]

...I'd like to know the answer as well, Miss Caren.

Sigrun was carrying one into the elevator, it wasn't hard to guess.

You lugged an entire sledgehammer down here on a guess. And that dust on your bandages...

Miss Caren. I'd like to believe in you, but I have another question.

That secret you made me promise to keep.

Would you kill someone over it?

...Not over that.

Alright. That's a relief. I don't think I could have respected you any longer if that were it.

[He sounds... tired, mostly.]

So it was the Kingmaker's incentive?

amygdalae - 2016-03-12 18:51 (UTC) - Expand

[Ooooooooooh.

Ooooh. Is it wrong to want popcorn.]

....Caren.

No way...

[He's a number of podiums away, so she just frowns at him.]

[He doesn't want to believe it. Can't believe it.

She's his friend. He likes her.]

[It's a good thing that Lynne has no personal boundaries when it comes to investigating cause she will try to take Caren's hand to turn it over and look closer. How much of a sparkle is there on that dust?]

You didn't handle any of the evidence either, right?

[It's... well, pearlescent.]

I got on the elevator with all of you, that's it.

It was all in a bag, Caren...

[Case in point: the ziploc now sitting at Pearl's podium.

And yeah, Bruce doesn't look very happy with this, either. His expression is... unreadable.]

Oh, Caren...

[Lynne just sounds. sad.]