THE THIRD TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE THIRD TRIAL

[As soon as the final pieces of evidence are collected, Bottson just looks at everyone through his sunglasses and huffs, before rolling off.

Several moments later, the alarm sounds.]

ATTENTION! IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN!! EVERYONE COME TO THE ELEVATORS IMMEDIATELY FOR THE TRIAL!! AHAHAHAHA!!

[Once everyone comes down to the trial room, once more powers and weapons disappear when they enter the force field. The table has been updated to reflect those who are now, unfortunately, gone.

Bottson, meanwhile, hops up on the table, looking completely disinterested in what's happening, even as he processes and uploads the evidence given. The suspect list appears on everyone's wrist communicators.]

THE GLOW

THE TECHNO

THE DRUNK

yEAh! heRe's youR StUpid suSpeCt liST! YoU doN't liKe it, TuFF! AnD yEah i spELl it t-U-f-f 'cuZ i aM CoOL!! i sPeLl eNUff thE sAMe wAY nOw tOo! so ThERe!!!

[From the ceiling, outside of the force field, is Marie, looking very pleased with herself.]

THERE!! THAT STUPID ROBOT IS FINALLY WORTH SOMETHING! I'M SUCH A GENIUS TO FIX HIS PERSONALITY CORE AND PROGRAMMING, HMM?? AHAHAHAHA!!

OK, NOW GET GOING! SOMEONE AMONG YOU IS TOTALLY A KILLER AND NEEDS TO BE PUNISHED!!

Comments

[backuphero]

The transport you keep saying is going to take you...

[The same rules as scapegoat killing, then. Huh.]

Hey, Red? What'd you lose when they put you here?

[commandurr]

WHAT DID I--

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?? I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!!

[backuphero]

You sure you do? I didn't say memories.

[commandurr]

YES!! I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!!

[Her face darkens.]

OH, RIGHT, LET ME GUESS, MISS CALL ME THE B-WORD DIDN'T TELL YOU?? BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER, THAT HAPPENED YEARS AGO AND THAT CAN'T BE REVERSED!

[backuphero]

Miss call you WHATNOW?

[Yelling makes his head hurt worse, but that's... he should know what that means, damn it, he should, but he just can't...]

What did they do to you they can't take back?

[earietale]

[…slowly raises hand]

I...I called her a bitch.

But it was only because she was laughing at that Cheol guy being miserable!

[commandurr]

WHY WOULDN'T I LAUGH AT HIM? AHAHAHA!!

[earietale]

[And she's pissed again.]

Because, even if he did kill your brother, you didn't say the girl-Ivy, I think-did anything wrong! Why do you think she deserves to die?!

[backuphero]

Barbara, pardon my choice of words but what the hell is going on?

[Yes, he's using the silly West Texas accent, it's become reflexive to try and make people laugh when he's afraid, now.]

[earietale]

A lot that I don't really understand, honestly.

[At least they have a bit of comedy mixed with tragedy.]

[theserpentsmiles]

...Actually it'd be helpful if you shared what you learned during that. Maybe after all this, unless it comes up.

[earietale]

Sure. I was going to tell you all before, but...things...happened.

We went past all the floors, even one we haven't gotten too yet, until we were in a throne room. She turned on this...hologram, I think it's called? It played a video through her eyes. She was in a hospital, I think, but it mostly because there were two guys in doctors coats that talked about her like...she was close to dying.

Then a guy came in, I think they called him Cheol, and he was going to try saving Ivy, the girl genius, but...they weren't going to let him, and he was starting to cry.

Then she [pointing a finger at Marie] started laughing. I called her...that word, she said the guy killed her brother, but after that she wasn't making sense. She made it sound like we knew each other before, and that I failed the one mission she gave me. Then I just left. I didn't want to deal with her after that.

[theserpentsmiles]

This scans... I think we must be inside her body. That must be why the base feels so....organic.

...Commander-san said this universe will end soon - do you think by the universe ending, she meant the girl dying...?

She also seems to think we forgot something about coming here...

[earietale]

...okay, I don't care about everything else. If this future has us trapped in a girl's body like a parasite, it's the worst.

[Just...admitting that.]

If your right about this being her body, I'd say yeah, she means Ivy is dying.

Maybe she's delusional? She acts a lot like a little kid, maybe there's actually something wrong with her head?

[backuphero]

And I thought I got hit in the head when I woke up here... man, what a mess....

[He can't even start to process it all. How could they be inside someone? And someone dying?]

Okay, okay, but what if she's not delusional? I don't want a future where that's possible either, but... if she can mess with our memories, what if we were here before?

[earietale]

Jonathan, we're both from the twentieth century, while this place has lasers and holograms and robots and all sorts of things. If she wanted people for a mission, why bring us?

[And she's not even going over the detail that she is not built for a battle or anything.]

[backuphero]

Didn't say she was smart. Could be she just grabbed whoever she could find, which... that raises the question of how she found us in the first place...

[theserpentsmiles]

I've seen worse things...

[Kayano, surrounded by flames, blackened sclerae and her brain rotting away...]

I think....we'll need a chance to put together everything we've all found about the base.

[earietale]

That's not helping my thoughts about it.

[You are legitimately terrifying her??]

Is there anything you guys have figured out? Or should we wait until later or something?

[theserpentsmiles]

If she's dying, and I'm right, we might be in the best position to save her.

[Wait til you hear about the rest of his canon. Actually, let's spare Barbara that, she's a good bean and doesn't deserve any of this.]

I... I'd need to go over everything I know... Unless it's immediately relevant to the trial, maybe we should save it for later, when we can put our focus into that alone.

[earietale]

...oh god...are you saying we...

[She shivers for a second, before shaking her head quickly.]

Later. W-we'll talk about it later.