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]

[...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.]