THE SECOND TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE SECOND TRIAL

[Soon after the failed attempt to contact the dead, the tell-tale alarm suddenly rings out, rattling everyone's teeth alongside Marie's voice.]

ATTENTION! EMERGENCY ALERT! PLEASE GO TO THE ELEVATORS IMMEDIATELY!! HMHMHMMM! I WILL NEVER GET TIRED OF SAYING THAT...!

[And so, once again, the elevators bring everyone back down to the trial room, where the table has been...altered, slightly, color-wise, to reflect those who are no longer among you. And once more, upon entering the force field, weapons disappear - and powers fail to work.

Bottson hops up onto the center of the table, transmitting the evidence found.]

heRe yOU Are eVerYBOdy! THe sUsPECt lISt!



YoU cAN Do THiS!


[Above everyone once more is Marie, floating around in her hover platform.]

WELL, WELL! FANCY MEETING YOU ALL HERE AGAIN! I GUESS YOU ALL FAILED TO KEEP THAT GUY ALIVE, HUH?? AHAHAHA!!

WELL, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN GET WHO DID IT THIS TIME, HMM??

Comments

[backuphero]

You're not protecting somebody, or something, are you?

[He's absolutely hit the end of his rope.]

[crouching_sin]

[Nope, nope, he's fuming.}

How dare you bring him up into this!

[Never mind that Naoya kind of brought him up first... he looks about ready to reach over to the next spot.]

[crouching_sin]

There's no evidence to suggest that it was me. Show proof, or back down.

[crouching_sin]

Perhaps. It's definitely possible that she did.

[crouching_sin]

... Do you really think I could protect someone, Jonathan?

[fashionfever]

[they're standing pretty near each other according to the chart so Angela just

steps over and grabs his wrist

to see if the palms of his hands have any water on them]

[backuphero]

Given cause, anybody could. Even a useless coward like me....

[crouching_sin]

[No, but they smell faintly of coffee.]

[Naoya pulls his hands back.]

Consent, Angela.

[crouching_sin]

... You're not a coward. You met me privately despite having reason to believe I would kill you. That's not a cowardly thing.

[backuphero]

Yeah, and it's possible I could wake up tomorrow knowing what my father never taught me, and how to go home, and do that and live through fighting the Dark Lord. Possible doesn't mean anything, Naoya, come on!

[He is pleading, not accusing.]

[fashionfever]

Oh, sorry, bit of a generation gap there, I don't really understand how that's supposed to work outside of the bedroom.

[she draws back her hands behind her neck and preens, thinking]

As hard a kick as Rosenkreuz got should have left the person who did it tired if they weren't very strong, but you said from the beginning coffee was the first part of your day you were willing to tell us about.

[crouching_sin]

I've told you the truth, and nothing more.

[theserpentsmiles]

[Nope. We need to get back on track, and avoid a second murder today. Nagisa vaults up, dashes across the table, and scoots around to press fingers against the pressure point in Naoya's neck.

The whole thing is one fluid movement and takes less than a second.]

You've been asked a question, Naoya-san. Anger isn't going to do much of anything right now. So hold onto it for later.

[crouching_sin]

[It's. Strange. His normal wavelength is still 'anger', but at least the spike has stabilized. He jerks his head to the side and lets out a long breath.]

There is no evidence that I killed him. And clearly none of you are going to listen to what I say.

[vividsins]

[ Thanks, Nagisa. He's going to keep staring at Naoya with those piercing, void-like eyes. ]

...Naoya. That isn't answering the question. Did you kill Rosenkreuz?

VOTING

[commandurr]

[As time goes by, Marie is looking bored.]

UGH, SOMEONE KISS OR PUNCH SOMEONE ALREADY, THIS IS BORING!! YOU GUYS AREN'T STRIPPING AGAIN, THOUGH, SO I GUESS THAT'S OK!!

[So she takes out, from her platform...a giant...Toblerone?]

YOU REALLY SHOULD HAVE KICKED THAT STUPID ROBOT. AT LEAST THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUN!! ANYWAYS, I THINK IT'S TIME TO VOTE!!

[She shakes her giant candy at them.]

REMEMBER, USE THE TITLE!...OH RIGHT, YOU CAN USE THE SUSPECT NUMBER TOO, I GUESS!! BUT GET GOING!! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!!

[om]

[crouching_sin]

Cultural things as well, but...

Because it tends to be the first thing I do in the morning.

[crouching_sin]

[Not gonna bother him!]

There's no evidence to suggest that I killed him. And hard proof is the only thing that matters.

[vividsins]

Naoya. You refusing to answer this at all speaks volumes when you've insisted you'll tell the truth. When asked directly, you just won't answer. ...You did this. And you want someone else to die for your sins.

[theserpentsmiles]

That's not the case, Naoya-san. Someone dies whether they're proven guilty or not. Hard proof isn't all that matters when whoever seems the most suspicious is the one who's going to die.

[backuphero]

Then what aren't you saying?!

[Or, at least, that's what he'll wish he had time to cry out before Marie called the vote, later....]

[losergod]

There's no evidence because you probably got rid of it. You can eat or drink anything, after all.

I did find it strange we had a surprising lack of it.

[fashionfever]

[in the awkward silence as nobody wants to speak first, Angela starts putting her clothes back on again. she ends with the same sleeve as the communicator on her wrist, and then taps a button.]

I voted for Naoya.

It's not because he's "cagey". It's not because he said creepy things about murder way before this motive ever turned up. I don't play favorites suspecting people, but if I did, Naoya wouldn't be the one to go. It's because he's the person we saw dodge attacks with our own eyes, and the person we didn't see with any kind of alibi while Rosenkreuz was still alive in the onsen.

You can blame me when you vote for him. I just tried to say what evidence painted him in a corner, maybe I stopped saying the other types of evidence, maybe I didn't see the real evidence. I'm not very good at this practicality thing, you know? I'm not taking it as far as Rosenkreuz would want, picking the best suspect to die according to the big picture. I just want the person who killed him to have a bad time. But I'm always going to listen to you. Like I've said before, you can tell me anything.

Whoever did it for real... Whoever moved the knives or some weird junk like that... [She makes a little gesture with both her hands like she's plucking two eggs out of a carton, then crushing them.] I hope you never wanna have kids.

Damn mobile made me mispost

[backuphero]

[Aaaaaaaaand Jonathan's no less nauseous than he was last week. He's pale, and leaning heavily on the table, and... digging in one of the front pockets of his coat?]

Hey, Angela?

[He's not going to puke on you, honest.]

[fashionfever]

[her brow furrows intensely; she doesn't see an immediately obvious reason "why now", but ignoring jonathan isn't an option at all. she turns to him like a sunflower, openly, and even puts a hand on his shoulder]

Yes, Johnny?