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

[lackinginfaith]

[Pause.]Thanks.

>AQUEOUS

[garudynamic]

Is there anything... anything we can do? Anything you want before...

[lackinginfaith]

[Caren opens up her shell pendant again and tugs the piece of Pearl out, leaving the purple lowercase-p pearl inside. The white piece goes onto the podium.]

Keep that with the sandwich bag. She should go with all of you.

[garudynamic]

[He nods, and makes a vague gesture at the smaller pearl.]

What about...?

[After what she said it was he's not sure the Kingmaker would even allow it to be saved. If that'd be cheating.]

[lackinginfaith]

I can die even if he doesn't get it. But I don't deserve to have the choice to save myself, even if it's just part of me.

[also if you took it around she'd be haunting you. and so would the next Caren, nagging you to take her back to her world and let her be born. do you really want that.]

[garudynamic]

None of us deserve any of this, Caren. But it's... it's your choice. I'm not gonna fight you for it.

[Aw he wouldn't mind it]

[lackinginfaith]

[say that in a week when you've got a ghost Caren and a hypothetical ghost child judging your robot nurse magazines from the machine]

[garudynamic]

[LOOK HIS MAGAZINES ARE PURE.

Okay no, he finally puts her down and shuffles away, not wanting to get caught in case the same thing happens that did to Kamui.

He should say something. Yu would say something]

...good luck.

[ Nailed it]