trusthell | Take Responsibility.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Of course it would.

Then show me it.

[Like she wouldn't ask it of him.]

...Right, in front of everyone. Why the hell not.

[Well, we're about to prove that he can, in fact, do this standing; that panel at his waist will slide open, and he doesn't send his soul out very far, granted, before he retracts it - he is in a room full of people who are varying stages of "pissed off" and he'd prefer to not let anyone get within grabbing distance of the damn thing, but it is, in fact, white.]

[There. See. It's fine, Sigrun, it's as warm and vibrantly white as it always was. There's no way he could've done it, and she's standing by it.]

Why do you have to be so difficult, you stupid robot? Is that what makes this interesting to you?

Something like that.

You're a real dick.

[But she'll still fight for him.]

...It doesn't matter.

[He lifts his head, and it's obvious he's been crying, but he manages to keep his voice from shaking too much.]

B is wrong. You've told us from day one you were awful to your family, abandoning them for personal gain - there's no way you wouldn't remember that when choosing your words. You'll drop people if you need to get ahead in life, and here that means surviving no matter what.

If Aqua attacked first, you wouldn't still care about her nearly as much as you did the minute beforehand.

Besides that, you kill people for TV. There's no way you absolutely hate someone just because you're an entertainer with a show to put on. You don't need to hate them.

....That's right.

You've told me yourself you don't like your cousin, Mettaton.

[Cherry, please, don't.]

You of all people are turning your back on him? Don't you have any faith at all?!

Don't you think I want so badly to be wrong right now? Don't you think I want this all to be a terrible act he's putting on?

But I have two children here. If he's innocent then he can be honest about it and we'll find out who did this, but I can't - I can't just dismiss the idea. I can't...

[Sigrun's got no words. She knows if he's putting on this much of a show about it, the chance that it's him is... up there. But she doesn't want it to be.]

Cherryblod....! [What can he even say]

We can't simply turn away from this just because of what we feel.

[Bruce doesn't like it as much as anybody else, but he's steeling himself well - the time where his control comes into play.]

I truly hope he isn't the one, but if he is... [A pause.] Then we need to find the truth. No matter what it takes.

I know that. I know.

[It's the only reason he isn't just crying on his podium still.]

[He shoots Cherryblod a sympathetic look.

It's all he can do.]

[Ah- ]

Well, well, well. That was a nice try, sweetheart! It was a valiant attempt, and maybe I'll give you points for moxie.

That still doesn't negate A and C, though, which are the most important - I'd be so easily defeated it'd be pointless to even try.

C is irrelevant. You don't need an incentive to defend yourself, if that's what happened, and you've told me that you think about killing people even without one - if it was really impossible, would it even be under consideration?

I think about killing people, sure. That doesn't mean I could do it if put to a practical test, so C still stands.

A then. You say that a human with a strong enough will or hatred can easily kill you?

But Aqua wasn't that kind of person. Even if she'd tried to kill you out of desperation to save her world, she wouldn't have hated you. You could stand against a conflicted soul like that.

I probably couldn't stand against someone with that much determination to not die, though. Unless you're saying she sacrificed herself, but nothing is consistent with that.

Are determination and desperation the same thing?

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Soul business or not, I am having a difficult time with your claim that you would be easily defeated. You are [a Steel-type] made of metal. It is not as if one hit is going to do you in.

If a human hates me enough, or wants to survive enough in a fight against me, I could absolutely be killed in one hit.

Some of the strongest monsters in the Underground had that happen to them. I would know - I've seen the recordings. A human child has killed the strongest we have.

[Wow, that's, uh...

This must be what it's like when someone gets completely confounded by the information he spouts about Pokemon.]

And you believe Aqua would be able to fit that description? You're already assuming that her soul is stronger than yours, after all.

I know for a fact that hers is stronger than mine - all human souls are. It's said that it'd take the soul of every monster in the Underground to equal the strength of one human soul, actually.

So you see? It follows perfectly logically - I couldn't have killed her, even if I wanted to!