Take Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

For the third time, those elevator doors at the end of the first-floor corridor open up at the end of the allotted investigation period; the ride down is, as ever, smooth and quick-moving. You're down by five. When the doors slide open, the podium circle still stands in stark contrast to that now-familiar black void of a courtroom, and once again, it's changed to reflect your losses – Caren and Mion have joined those with podiums draped in black, their framed greyscale profile portraits staring out at the rest of you. (The portrait of Pearl hasn't been removed from her room, but it seems the Kingmaker has replaced it with another; either way, her photograph is in the courtroom along with the rest.) As before, the Kingmaker waits until everyone is settled at their podiums before he speaks; he still isn't visible, but he can clearly be heard, his voice coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "Capable has been taken from you. I'll confirm one thing for you so no one will waste time asking – the killer wasn't me. Looks like the guilty decided to take a shot at Rule Seven after all – and whether they succeed or not is up to you." Twenty-two Survivors remain. We'll see how many the group has lost at the end of the day.

Comments

[penduli]

[ Okay, okay, Black's laughing--or he's trying not to keep them quiet, covering his mouth to help with that. This is the most inappropriate thing ever.

...White was right, he should definitely be less serious sometimes. ]

Shhh, what if he hears us? [ Black, he probably has more of a chance of seeing you laughing at something during THE VOTING PORTION OF A MURDER TRIAL. ] He doesn't really seem like the type of person to uugh either. More of a errrrrrrrrgh guy.

[garudynamic]

[Yosuke bites back a laugh too, his face twisting up. It's a strange expression, teeth too bared to be a smile, eyes bright with grief and a kind of manic enjoyment. This is so wrong. Everything is so wrong, but he's so damn giddy with what is probably adrenaline. It's not a nice look at all. But it's not exactly an unpleasant one either.

He wonders if he's going insane.]

Let him hear.

[penduli]

[ Maybe they both are. He leans against his podium, shaking his head. ]

No, no, he'll skip the pleasantries next week and target us if he hears. That's how children are. [ HE SHOULD KNOW, HE GOT BULLIED ENOUGH. ]

[garudynamic]

AH, but if he did that I think Cherry might dig right through the floors to get him. So better not.