the first trial

[airlockedmods]

[With the announcement, the Champions are free to decide amongst themselves what order the groups leave in. Once that's done the process of teleporting is automatic and happens in the blink of an eye. Once second they're in the center of the cafeteria before a soft blue light surrounds them and then they're standing in the middle of a circle of podiums.

The room itself it the same shiny, chrome-covered atrocity as most of the rest of the ship save for the sections of floor that aren't the teleporter: those are thick clear glass that show nothing but empty space and stars beneath the Champions' feet. As for the podiums they're the same sort of garish chrome with a digital screen facing toward the center of the circle. The screens each have a name and title associated with a Champion written in green block letters, all save for Chitanda Eru, the Champion of Curiosity. Hers are a striking red and, floating above her podium, is a greyscale portrait framed in some kind of bold, mechanical-looking frame. She smiles out at the group, her eyes wide and sparkling even with the noticeable lack of color.

The Overseers are waiting when they all arrive, standing on a floating platform just high enough to be out of reach and back far enough toward a far wall to have a full view of the court room. Both are dressed in pressed black suits, standing straight and tall. It's hard to read their expressions clearly with the height but Jamie looks particularly rigid in his posture. Bolton, on the other hand, looks more at ease, though he's standing close to Jamie.]

Welcome, Champions, to the courtroom! Nineteen of you have entered, but - in the best case scenario - only eighteen of you will leave. The goal here is to compile the evidence that you've gathered and figure out who the killer is. Once you think you have an answer, we'll call a vote where you'll use the podium in front of you to vote on the title of the Champion who you all agree has broken the peace. If you're correct, the culprit will be executed and the rest of you will be allowed to go back upstairs. If you're wrong, however, the killer goes free and the rest of you take the punishment in their place.

There's no time limit, but remember - I hate being bored. Now let the first trial begin!

Comments

[curdle]

What is -- no!

[ WELL, THIS IS HAPPENING. She couldn't move a muscle even if there weren't a physical barrier involved; she is horrified, stock-still in the face of this. Thomasin doesn't understand the mechanics of what is happening or why, and to her it looks like magic, repulsive and impossible to tear her eyes away from.

She can try to tell herself that this is not her fault, that Toby committed murder and deserved punishment, both here and in the afterlife. But as frightening as she initially found him, the Griffin was kind and civil to her. He's done nothing to merit any of this but not want to see someone die, and now it is as if they were equals. When it ends, and her bubble comes down, she still feels paralyzed. ]

[damnfourthemerald]

[This is going to all be really fucking awful for the people who aren't from developed enough world to understand, y'know, space. There are several of them here, with some similar reactions.

But someone's got to usher Thomasin out of here before she passes out or gets sick or gets left behind. It seems like that's something that would normally be Xander's or Jane's job, but...]

Miss Thomasin. Remaining won't change what happened. Let's go somewhere more comfortable. [Where someone else can comfort her and maybe explain what happened, somewhere that's not staring into the yawning abyss of space, and also two dead bloated gross bodies.]

[curdle]

[ Comfortable? She could almost laugh at that. Why should she seek comfort when this is what's become of two living beings? But she doesn't laugh, and lets Shadow guide her from her podium to the teleporter, following him rather limply. ]

He did nothing.

[damnfourthemerald]

He didn't follow instructions. [Maybe that sounds cold.] He was determined not to let anything happen to Toby despite all the evidence. It's...unfortunate.

[For all the cold anger he showed the Overseers while threatening them, he's more restrained now.]

[curdle]

They fashion their own commandments. [ She'd thought that when Ricky first explained the rules, then forgot about it, and now thinks so again. ] The Griffin followed the desires of his own will, and not theirs. But their authority lies on nothing but fear and slaughter. It cannot hold.

[ She doesn't sound like she believes it so much as she's regurgitating religious rhetoric she's heard so many times before. ]

[damnfourthemerald]

No. It can't. [He sounds more sure than she does. Whether it's arrogance, honesty certainty, or putting on a front for her sake, who can tell.] Their rules are restrictive, but we'll push back. The more we learn, the better we can work to take this apart.

[curdle]

Aye, we will. [ She looks at her own feet and shivers. ] But how long will it take us? This will sate them for but a brief time.

[ She shouldn't be concerned with that. God has ordained all this already. She ought to worry about the fate of her own soul, whether she dies here or years from now. ]

[damnfourthemerald]

I don't know. But it can't last forever, and not everyone wants to kill. Not everyone will let themselves be pushed toward the obvious goal. Resistance sometimes takes a while to work.

[curdle]

I pray it comes to pass.

[ They're at the teleporter now, and she looks at it, then down at Shadow. She had been so confounded and frightened when she first saw him, but now here he is, helping her. And Toby, who had been outlandish but not nearly so threatening... she feels all the worse for that panic a week ago. ]

And that this room will be gone from our sight.