THE SECOND TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE SECOND TRIAL

[Soon after the finals clues are found, there is a beep on everyone's watch. Then, the Conductor's voice echoes through the jail once more.]

Attention. All passengers of the Eventide, please come to the building in the courtyard. If you are not a passenger, you must have a ticket to enter.

[A ticket? Oh boy. And everyone's suspicions are confirmed when they come to the courtyard and find people-many of them who had been fleeing the prison that very morning-queuing in line to enter the building. Not the Strangers-they are immediately escorted in.

They find themselves in a courtroom, with them sitting at podiums in the center. Above them in the ceiling is a retractable dome; all around on the walls are large screens, so people can watch the proceedings no matter their location. People are filing in, even as a recorded voice drones that the jail isn't responsible for lives lost during the trial-or the sentencing.

Hm.

Lilac is in the judge's seat, the pangolin in her hands. Nearby, the captured animals-sans the rabbit, for some reason, and the sheep-are inside another pen that has been set up. The force field seems to have been quickly erected. After announcing the court proceedings and registering her right to magistrate, as she did the previous week, she clears her throat.]

THE WATCHFUL	THE CAVIAN	THE BRITTLE	THE FORLORN
				THE ENGINEER

You all know what you must do. You have your evidence, and you must decided who is responsible. Remember-every vote counts. And...just pretend you're alone again, if it helps, I suppose.

[There's not much else to do. There is the option to ask for the concessions they are selling to everyone, though its mostly water and popcorn. Otherwise, you are once again on a time limit. This time, the audience is watching. Their eyes stare hungrily at every action.

The trial for the murder of Atsushi Nakajima, the Rushlight, has begun..]

Comments

[technicolourdifficulties]

[He'd had a suspicion from the beginning, but he hadn't wanted to believe it. He'd wanted to think that she had intended to respect the wishes of the brother she had spoken of. And yet...

...Damn this place for making him care.]

...Your little brother. Luce, was it? If I see him, I'll be sure to let him know you died protecting him.

[It's not a lie. That is what she's doing, after all. The full picture is just... terribly sad, and painful.

He knows now. He won't inflict this kind of pain on Hero.]

[telecosmetic]

I...I have a note for him, actually. In Room 8. But...that should be fine. I don't want him to know the full extent of what I did, exactly. Not yet.

[technicolourdifficulties]

[He nods solemnly.]

Then he shall not hear it from me.

[...]

...It is the least I can do, given the circumstances.