second trial

[airlockedmods]

[Like last week the announcement sounds, the Champions with their gathered evidence file once again to the teleporter where the courtroom waits for them.

The a circle of podiums has changed since last week. The Griffin, Toby, and Angelica's floating portraits have joined Chintanda's above their respective podiums as well as the bright green having been changed to a glaring red.

The Overseers are waiting on their floating platform when the first group of Champions arrive. They're back in their black suits, side by side. Jamie's expression is grim but he looks more mentally present than the last trial. Bolton, on the other hand, looks stern but not grim, arms crossed over his chest. Once again, he's the one who makes the announcement.]

Welcome, Champions, to the courtroom. Sixteen of you have entered, but - in the best case scenario - only fifteen of you will leave. Compile your evidence and figure out who the killer is. If you vote correctly, the culprit will be executed and the rest of you will be allowed to go back upstairs. If you vote wrong, however, the killer goes free and the rest of you take the punishment in their place.

Remember, there is no time limit but keeping things interesting is in your best interests.

Comments

LET'S DO THIS

[fatherofsin]

[ Seth is eerily quiet after the scraps of handwriting are analyzed. He keeps his frown, but there is something decidedly off... ]

..You truly believe that evidence? When we already have a forgery present? Other people had access to the same handwriting samples. Now, then...

Where's your actual decisive evidence and why would I even kill her?

[ Let's start. ]

[yukionna]

Maybe you were just bored.

[ Rukia looks him straight in the eye. ]

There wasn't even a real motive this week. No one would have a good reason, so maybe you just wanted to stir things up, you slimy bastard.

[ Someone's mad ]

[fatherofsin]

Come, now. I'm far classier than that. She reminded me of my very precious daughter.

[ He's not even flinching. ]

[damnfourthemerald]

[Shadow does not like this he does not like this at all, but...] Maybe your daughter is not so precious...

[refusedtoleave]

And you'd react to your daughter dying like this?

[Because even if it was just a resemblance, she'd expect more of a reaction.]

[yukionna]

Bullshit! You didn't feel anything towards Ainsworth at all, did you?!

[ She may be talking out of her ass, here, but she's so completely furious she doesn't stop to acknowledge that and calm herself down. ]

Was she just another experiment to you?!

[cyan_maid]

So is that how you treat your own daughter, Mister Twiright?

[cyan_maid]

[Ah, he finally reacts. Okay. If it's the case that he really did do it, then...they have to get him to admit it. But if not...they'd just be digging their own graves.]

...Other people had access to Angelica's personal notes? That's the most likely candidate for the origin of the forgery.

[ratherdoweddings]

That's true. Angelica-san was closed off from almost everybody else.

[cyan_maid]

And it's not as if she'd leave her notes out for everyone's perusal. She could have been taking them in the library, sure, but she would have brought them back with her if she had just gotten the chance to finish!

[voltrounds]

Jane said it a minute ago. Angelica was really only close to two people. And I couldn't have set up the body.

[fatherofsin]

And how do you even know I had access to them at all? Anyone could have gotten them once her room opened.

[stitch_in_time]

Then why were the unsuccessful attempts up in the diner? If the killer only had access once they were in her room, why put them back up there, with more evidence? Even swallowin' it yourself or tossing it in the trash'd be less likely to be found.

[cyan_maid]

Anyone, maybe - but the killer would have been waiting for her to die and her door to open, especially if it was specifically part of their plan.

[She frowns, crosses her arms, straightens her stance.]

And that note Miss Lightning found - it was torn up and shoved hastily in a booth cushion. Were you perhaps trying to see if you could mask your own handwriting before you went ahead and killed her, hid your attempts, and then conveniently took advantage of her personal notes once she died?

[overears]

People don't need reasons to kill. It's a trick question.

[bylight]

[....... Just a theory]

An experiment. Your profile says you like those. [Plus-] Angelica wasn't human. You could have always wanted to test that out.

[fatherofsin]

Hardly. Come, Lightning. What did I tell you earlier this week?

[bylight]

[There was a lot you said.]

... You were looking for a solution. Was this it?

[stitch_in_time]

You said it yourself. You avoid getting attached to anything because it just opens you up to a world of hurt. You've been doin' that long enough that when you started feelin' something again, you had to get rid of the source the only way how, didn't you.

[A pause, thinking.]

Your daughter. The real one. Did she make it off your planet, when you had to evacuate.

[fatherofsin]

...Irina wasn't even born until well after we evacuated. I thought you were smarter than this, Doctor.

[ He left so many clues to something... ]

[stitch_in_time]

That's not answerin' the first part. Emotional attachment was a weakness, something that needed to be removed. I think that's exactly what you did.

[kingshaming]

All I can say is this: if what you said about your world is true, then it would make no sense for you to grow attached to her. It would be going against exactly what you claimed, that 'those who hope and pray and try to cling to friendship tend to suffer'.

I don't see why you would have knowingly put yourself in the position to feel that pain, unless it was for some purpose.

[fatherofsin]

You can't help growing attached to people, can you, Xander?

[ratherdoweddings]

Twiright-san, when you were theorizing with us, you said Angelica-san was an easy target and most people wouldn't miss her because she was so closed off and was never very nice. That means you too, doesn't it? You don't want to get attached to us, so you want to be "evil" like always.

[kingshaming]

It is a flaw my father has tried very hard to scrub out of me. But I've known people that are born unable to feel much of anything.

Still, I'm starting to wonder if this is even worth discussing: you've practically already walked us through what happened this whole time, haven't you?