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

[amygdalae]

And then what? Did you even consider to think how that person would feel about you sacrificing the lives of others for their sake? What would they think?

[And Bruce understands. He understands so well, but god, no. Sacrificing lives is never the answer.]

You won't be the one to carry those lives on your shoulders - that person you 'saved' would bear that responsibility instead. Could you bear to see that happen? See them shoulder that guilt that you put on them every single day? That's not saving them at all.

[penduli]

They wouldn't have to know.

[ ...SOMEONE had a chord struck in them with Caren's confession, God. ]

[prismbloom]

... Caren wouldn't have to tell them. Someone else could.

[ KINGMAKER. ]

[goingdigital]

Or he would just make it a condition to return to the world.

[lackinginfaith]

There's always a twist, isn't there? I thought it was worth it.

[goingdigital]

Always.

[isafraid]

He would. He'd make sure of it.

[speedwagon's shaking a bit. It's rage, mostly.]

[penduli]

[ ...that's true.

The Kingmaker could say something. ]

...I suppose so...

[amygdalae]

[Sorry, Black. Bruce just has a lot of feelings about things like these.]

Something like this can't be kept a secret forever.

[penduli]

You'd be surprised how long you can keep a secret, Mr. Banner, especially when it concerns someone you love's opinion.

[amygdalae]

I'm not a stranger to that - but it never ends well.

[He knows that for a fact.]

[lackinginfaith]

...[She looks up at him.]

I don't know. But it's better than always running away. I followed rumours for a year and got that radar by chance, and now...

[She gestures to a broken radar that fell on the floor after Yousuke's Wet T-Shirt Contest Adventure.]

It came out of the machine broken and unusable. I can't even track the moving castle with that, and that means I can't find Noel on my own, even if I did go back. But with the incentive, the Kingmaker could have found Noel.

Even if it were a trap, even if it would hurt, what else could I do? Tell me that. Who else could I honestly believe?

[amygdalae]

Even if you can't bring yourself to believe in the people here, murder is never the answer to anything.

[He may not know Pearl well, but she was still here, trapped just as all of them. All of them thrown into this terrible situation - and look what's happening now. It's probably everything the Kingmaker wanted.]

There is always another way, Caren. You know we would have been more than willing to try and help you if you let us.

[lackinginfaith]

I couldn't. I know you were all just trying to keep your happiness afloat, but I just saw people ignoring the issues. And even if I did ignore the incentive, where would that leave Noel?

[amygdalae]

[Where would that leave him, indeed.

Bruce wishes he could have an answer to that question, but he's just as lost in the dark.]

Was that what your dream was about? [...is what he asks instead. After all, comparing between how she was last week and now...

Maybe he's wrong. But he just wants to know.]

[lackinginfaith]

My dream was about finally tracking down the three others who escaped. But they were barely more than kids, splashing around and laughing when I'd dedicated everything I did to trying to save Noel. I couldn't join them. I definitely couldn't trust them. I had to save her on my own.

[amygdalae]

[...well he can see the parallels now, and why Caren decided to do what she wanted to do.

It doesn't make anything easier, though.]

...I saw somebody close to me being reported dead on TV. There was footage of terrorists attacking and bombing his house.

[It's the first time that Bruce is actually talking about what he had dreamt - much less sharing it. But he just hopes that she can understand too that she's not the only one in a desperate situation. They all are. He knows it doesn't fix or help anything, but.]

I don't know if he's really alive or dead. But I want to try and at least trust that he'll make it through - just as with who you want to save.

[lackinginfaith]

...I hope so, then.

[amygdalae]

...I wish we could've talked more.

[You seemed like a decent person, Caren. And you are, probably. It's just this whole thing that's forcing everybody to be something they don't want to be.]

[cherryblooded]

[He could say 'you could have believed us' but it's too late at this point. But, even so...]

There was always something else you could do.

No one made you make this choice. It's not like the Kingmaker's trials where you're guaranteed to die if you don't condemn someone to death. You could have tried to escape with the rest of us, found out if there was a way from any of our worlds to find a missing person. You had a decision, and this is what you settled on.

It's not one I don't sympathize with. Far from it. But you did have the choice.

[lackinginfaith]

Noel is the only family I have. If I couldn't save my own people and I couldn't trust my own kind or the other captives in here, then maybe I could take a chance on the incentive and maybe that could at least save her.

[cherryblooded]

I might have done the same, in your place.

[No one knows better than him how important family is.]

...I'm sorry things came to this.

[lackinginfaith]

I shouldn't have. I didn't know what else to do.

[cherryblooded]

[He knows. But there's nothing else to do now, really.]

I hope it's over quickly.

[lackinginfaith]

[She can't even give him an answer, just shutting her shell pendant (still with the piece of Pearl wedged in beside her own pearl) and clutching it.]