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

[garudynamic]

What's he talking about, not being able to kill if he didn't hate her? Is this some monster thing?!

[ratingspoint]

You'd better believe it is, sweetheart! Our ability to fight drops along with our will to do it - so if I didn't hate her, I couldn't have killed her like that! Simple. As. That.

[garudynamic]

... does that even still apply here though? I mean, the Kingmaker wants us to kill, why would he keep you like that? We already know he'll change things to allow someone to kill.

[ratingspoint]

Unfortunately, darling, it's something that can't be changed - my soul itself would have to be altered. Sigrun has seen my soul and can confirm that it's white, as monster souls should be.

[captainobnoxious]

[doooon't do this to heeer]

... Would it still be white if you showed it to me right now?

[ratingspoint]

Of course it would.

[isafraid]

[...]

You're saying a robot can't just pick up a damn wrench and do someone in with it?

[ratingspoint]

That's exactly what I'm saying.

[isafraid]

Well... excuse me if that sounds like a load of hogwash!

[ratingspoint]

So does smelling people and discerning their morality, gorgeous, but you don't see me complaining!

[goodforsomething]

You can be willing to kill people you don't hate.

[ratingspoint]

You can! But I have no reason to be willing to kill her, especially not now.

[captainobnoxious]

[Hnnnhnhnn. She doesn't want to say anything.]

Yeah. They can't hurt anyone they don't want to. If he really didn't want to hurt Aqua, he couldn't have, much less kill her.

[garudynamic]

Shit. I'm sorry Sigrun but I need to know everything you can tell me about how monsters work.

[amygdalae]

[THIS IS BRUCE LISTENING IN.

He only knows bits and pieces but they're going to know the whole picture here.]

[pokexplorer]

[Ditto here.

It's...probably going to be needed in order to proceed.]

[captainobnoxious]

[Sigrun isn't leaving Mettaton's side anytime soon, and she really doesn't want to say anything, really really, especially not in front of so many people who're looking to pin the blame on someone.]

I'm not telling you anything because he didn't do it.

[Something she wants to believe so much.]

[garudynamic]

Then if it IS because of his biology that he couldn't have done it... then this will prove that. Sigrun, please...

[captainobnoxious]

[She's mum. Talk to Mettaton, honey.]

[isafraid]

Sigrun...

[Look over here at your podiummates. Hey.]

We only need to know for sure. If he's really not innocent, then lend us a hand in figuring it out.

[What else can they do?]

[amygdalae]

You call yourself a leader, Captain Eide, and we've trusted you to get us this far. I know this hurts, but all of us will die if he is indeed the one and gets to go away with this scott-free. As a leader, can you bear that kind of responsibility? The weight of all our lives on the line?

[She's said so many times how she's a great leader, how she can never be biased, and all that jazz.

Now is the time to walk the walk.]

We don't need anything else, just the basics. We'll figure out the rest ourselves.

[ratingspoint]

She wants to be left out of this. Leave her out of it.

If this is truly about your own survival, your fight is with me. Don't try to lay some sort of stupid guilt trip on her.

[ratingspoint]

You know, I am right here, and it's a major jerk move to make her sell me out. She can confirm or deny any actual questions you have for me.

[garudynamic]

Fine, then tell me how monster souls work... and what's all this about souls and changing colors for one thing.

[ratingspoint]

Monsters are weaker than humans are, fullstop!

[And that much does seem entirely genuine and at least vaguely less...all of this.]

If a human with a strong enough will - to survive or to kill us, either/or - tries to fight me, I'll die. And if I don't want to fight them, I can't; my soul is what keeps my body functioning, it's what ties me to this world, and if it doesn't want to respond to something, I can't disobey it.

...As for colors, mine is white. If I absorbed a human's soul, which I could do if I had magic but I don't right now, it might not stay that way? I've never done it, so I wouldn't know.

...Yours is purple, by the way. It's pretty. Aqua's was yellow. If I had the soul of a human all of a sudden, mine wouldn't be white anymore, is the point.