Take Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

And once the allotted time for investigating comes to a close, those elevator doors at the end of the first-floor corridor open up; the ride down is fast, smooth, and understandably tense as far as atmosphere goes. You're down to less than half of your original number. The doors slide open and the podium circle comes into view, standing stark against the black-walled courtroom and encircling that pit in the center; Misa and Aqua have joined the ranks of the deceased, photographs in greyscale watching the proceedings from their podiums draped in black. Of course and as always, the deceased aren't the only ones watching; the Kingmaker will make his presence known once everyone has settled at their podium, his voice sounding out through the room for all to hear. "Resilient has been taken from you. Maybe this time the guilty party will actually succeed at fulfilling Rule Seven, seeing as this is the sixth try and all. Whether they manage it is up to the rest of you." Thirteen Survivors remain. However many will be down by the end of the day is up to you.

Comments

[isafraid]

[I... actually don't know how to answer this.

No? Probably not. I mean he was handling Aqua's device so there might be the barest scent of it?]

...Ah! This reminds me. [Once more, Speedwagon produces the toolbox.]

Found this under the piano, not a spec of blood on it. Might be worth a smell?

paging mods

[cherryblooded]

Might as well.

[At least sniffing toolboxes is not as awkward as smelling people!

Any peroxide scent?]

[trustharder]

[Nope, the box is clear.]

[cherryblooded]

Nothing on this.

[isafraid]

Damn. Strange it was underneath the piano though.

[amygdalae]

Aqua's device was nearby--perhaps the toolkit was used to try and open it up?

[isafraid]

I can hardly piece together what someone would get from doing that!

[amygdalae]

I'm not sure either, but clearly something happened - the outside was dry, after all, but the inside was not. Maybe they wanted to dry out the inside too but didn't manage to do it.

[garudynamic]

Makes sense- I managed it with the earrings, but honestly you need a small screwdriver to really do it.

[amygdalae]

And the toolkit probably has that.

[garudynamic]

Actually, speaking of the phones... are we even sure it's Aqua's?. I mean, we were wondering why anyone would wreak someone else's phone, but if the killer switched theirs after hiding any texts they had it's not like we could tell.

I mean, they wouldn't be able to get back into their own room... but after the trial that wouldn't matter anyways.

[amygdalae]

But why would they even switch them in the first place? Its not as if it will be useful in anyway.

[goodforsomething]

Not like we've ever looked through anybody's phone at one of these anyway, whatever they were texting.

[garudynamic]

Yeah, but after what Misa did it might have come up again. Now that we know the KM will interfere if it'll get him a kill.

[garudynamic]

Only if their phone had something on it they didn't want us seeing- but honestly we've never done a phone check before so I dunno why...

Wait! Like with Misa! She asked for something that could help her kill. If the killer did something like that they might want to hide it.

[ratingspoint]

...The texts, sweetheart.

If the killer is executed, people will have access to their phone. Perhaps there was a discussion on there they didn't want anyone to see.

[notjustawriter]

[.....]

Why would there be something they want to hide...?

[........]

Wait a minute, you're suggesting someone is working with the Kingmaker?

[amygdalae]

...I suppose so.

[If they're dead then it really doesn't matter as much, he think, but Bruce supposes there are things people just want to bring to their grave. It's a feeling he can relate to.]

[cherryblooded]

[He's back at his own podium by now.]

So we should confirm that our phones are actually our own? I don't mind doing that. Nothing I particularly want to hide.

[garudynamic]

I know there's a lot we... probably don't wanna all share on these things.

[He doesn't glance at Black, but just barely]

But if we can all find one harmless exchange at least-

[He plays on his phone for a moment, then holds it up showing his exchange where he asked about the klaxons going off wrong]

[cherryblooded]

There's no way I can read that from here, dear. Maybe someone nearer to you?

[As for his, he hands his phone to Sigrun.

Last text from the Kingmaker: Sorry that your little game isn't working out. Maybe your "children" can comfort you again if you get too bothered.

Definitely Cherryblod's.]

[sleepingkogoro]

...to be honest I can't say I have any exchanges with the Kingmaker. Well, there was one long ago in our first week here, but I gave up at trying to talk to him after being irreasonably shut down.

[Moui passses it to nearby Bruce. It's a very short thread - two messages from each - the very first asking about Zagi's metal arm. The Kingmaker's messages are pretty much 'it's none of your business', the second one being a lot blunter than the first.

Unfortunately none of the four messages hint Mouri is the owner of the phone]

[goodforsomething]

Ah, lemme see here...

[Stan scrolls until he finds an exchange that actually uses his name, then hands it to Gabriel.

It appears to be the tail end of a drunken Stan harassing the Kingmaker, ending with the words Go to bed, Charismatic. So still not really his name, but as close as anyone will get with this guy.]

[penduli]

[ ...thanks for not incriminating him, Yosuke. He appreciates it.

It's taking him a good bit time to find a text to show though; seems someone is having an impromptu trip down memory lane or something like it, frowning softly... but eventually he does, and he'll let Yosuke check it out since he's closest.

it'd be easier to live here if i at least had my sister.

...given Black's main concern has been White literally every day, there's no doubt that this one's his. It's a very old one—from their first week here, more or less—but! It's his. ]

[amygdalae]

[...Bruce looks a bit uncomfortable about all of this, but he knows that he can't not say anything since it'd just make him suspicious.]

I've only texted him a few times myself. Most of them are from much earlier--I haven't really bothered at all for the last few weeks.

[Still, he takes a moment to find... the best text which he'll pass it over to Mouri. It's pretty much a text all the way from the very beginning, where Bruce is apparently asking for tea and clothes from the Kingmaker. His name isn't on it, though.

...and he trusts you to not scroll down to see the others, Mouri, because, uh. There are some things in there best not seen by other people. Especially straight-laced people like Mouri.]