THE FIRST TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE FIRST TRIAL

[Almost as soon as the investigation is over, a loud DING echoes through the mall.

The elevator doors in the food court, before completely inaccessible, have now opened for the Titled. It will not close until every last Titled has gotten in. Nor will everyone have to wait long for potential stragglers; a thought comes to everyone's mind, a realization that they need to get into the elevator. They need to go.

They need to find out who did this.

The elevator is a small freight elevator inside, and its just big enough to fit everyone in it. After a short ride, the elevator opens...

And they are on the roof. Despite it clearly not being that late in the day, the roof seems to be surrounded by an air of cool, perpetual sunset. Beyond that, good luck making out what's beyond the roof - there seems to be a city, but it's utterly unidentifiable. Not that anyone can jump off the roof to try and get closer - there is a translucent barrier surrounding the roof that is utterly impenetrable.

The main attraction of the roof, however, is not the fuzzy landscape beyond. It's the large, stepped circular platform which is a mere ten paces from the elevator. On this platform are 15 podiums, surrounding a large, empty, circular floor. Instantly every phone pings, giving everyone their platform assignment based on their bedroom number. And - upon arriving at their designated podium - they will find a dock for their phone to slide into. As soon as they do so the XAMINE app will pop up, revealing everyone's findings regarding the murder.

Not Wake, though. His podium is lower, and bare save for a white cloth.

Still, everyone - including Ren, who will find that whoever arranged this whole deal has given him a chair to sit in - will need their strength. Which is why each Stranger also has a bento box lunch, carefully prepared, waiting for them at their podium. Each meal is tailored to every Stranger's specific tastes and allergies, as best as a bent box meal can be. It even comes with a cup of their favorite drink.

So, take a few bites, take a few breaths, and get ready, Titled.

The trial for the murder of Wake Archus, The Feeling, has begun.]

Comments

[notgentle]

No, I understand exactly what you're saying. And I'll repeat myself. I hate greedy, violent people more than anything in the world. It's my calling in life to make sure they don't get in the way of good humans' entertainment. Just like my father, and my father's father, and my father's father's father, for four generations, ever since our great-great-grandfather gave us our mission. So I'm going to have no hesitation voting for a person like that and sending them to their execution.

[pinnately]

[ Hmm.................... ]

But didn't you say you were far from home?

[notgentle]

Oh, yeah. To be quite honest I've probably never been further from home than this in my entire life. Especially not alone. Not without my troupe, you know? They probably miss me a lot. It's hard to find a ringleader as handsome and crowd-pleasing as me.

It'd be bad publicity for them if I committed a murder, though, now wouldn't it?

[foolishjustice]

[Wait a minute...]

A mission? That sounds as if it must be something quite important to you, would you mind telling us what it is?

[notgentle]

Yes I fucking would! I have gotten this far not telling you jack shit, detective boy! I am not slipping up now!

[foolishjustice]

And why would telling me anything qualify as 'slipping up', unless you have something to hide? Tell me this much, is your mission something that your presence here impedes?

[notgentle]

[Dio's eyes dart away to the skyline like he's considering making a run for it again. He pretends to have been listening to someone else.]

I mean, not having a mission that's harder while you're stuck here would be pretty pathetic, right? What would that even be. Writing a novel?

[foolishjustice]

Carrying out justice against those who think they can harm others and get away with it, evidently, is quite possible here. So please do not insult my life's mission.

Now then, wouldn't such an important task be worth fighting to return to? We've been focused on the provided incentive as a motivation, to the point of ignoring the obvious one: we've been here for nearly a week already. Someone may have simply grown desperate, or given up on escaping any other way, and acted however they deemed necessary to return to what was truly important to them.

[notgentle]

Oh, a vampire who only feeds from other vampires, huh? That'd make such a great young adult novel.

[Dio has no... counterargument... since this is basically exactly what he said at the beginning]

[foolishjustice]

[You are making him so mad right now, Dio. If looks could kill, we'd have another trial to go through.]

Don't compare those who seek justice against criminals to those we hunt! There is quite a large difference between deliberately harming others for personal gain, and seeing to it that those people are punished for their actions.

[theirmagic]

[ Ursula is giving Akechi a glance. ]

... If he turns out to actually be innocent, I'll kick him in the face for you later. Right now we have to figure out what we're missing. Don't get distracted by his terrible personality, detective. It's okay.

[foolishjustice]

[Deep breath. Deeeep breath. Well, he's not calm, but he's not looking about ready to punch someone?]

You're right. Thank you, Ursula-san.

[theirmagic]

I have complete faith you can help us bring Wake's killer to justice.

[ She smiles. ]

[beguiledcard]

[ He'd rested a hand on Goro's shoulder, muttering for him to calm down. He remains quiet, aside from that, as Ursula gives her encouraging words. ]

Don't listen to him... because I think he's just trying to rile you as a distraction.

[ His touch softens. ]

Besides, he doesn't know the first thing about you.

[foolishjustice]

[He takes another deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. Of course, Akira's right. He has gotten distracted.]

I'm sorry...I just tend to get worked up when people belittle my profession. The idea of having it compared to justifying heartless behavior by preying solely on those you could claim as acceptable targets...

[beguiledcard]

[ He's averting his gaze for a moment. ]

... He pissed me off, too.

[ So... yeah. ]

You've got every reason to be angry, but you know what you stand for. [ He slides his hand down to rest against Goro's upper arm. ] ... not him.

[beguiledcard]

[ Deep... breaths... ]

You're worried about publicity, and not about the fact that someone would have died at your hands...?

[notgentle]

Okay, obviously the person with the most to lose here is Wake, who died, tragically. But given that we're already talking about a cold-blooded person who wanted to get out. Wouldn't a famous person have even more to lose?

[someone never played dr1]

[pinnately]

But none of them would know if you did something bad here.