Fifth Trial

[airlockedmods]

[You get a little time after your investigation is over, but not too long. PAL gets bored easily and doesn't like to be kept waiting, after all.

When everyone has gathered at the elevators, the one going down turns on automatically. It...it looks like you're taking a leap of faith into an elevator shaft, not gonna lie. But the first person to step in finds that it's a carefully-balanced anti-gravity field made to just shoot you down and deposit you gently at the end of a long hallway. Like a walk-through aquarium, the walls and ceiling are all made of thick glass, giving you an even better view of the stars outside.

You're led to a wide-open area, empty except for a circle of podiums in its center. They've changed from last week, with the three previously empty podiums replaces with greyscale portraits of everyone you've lost this time around, including Ardyn and the Doctor. If anyone remembers where Jamie's portrait was in the simulation, however, that spot is now where Xander is meant to stand. The walls here are equally transparent, and they seem to have lines of large hatches going along them, as if this is where one might park one's small short-journey craft when getting ready to go on vacation to a galaxy far far away. Shame you don't know anything about those.

You already know what you're here to do. You'd best be getting along with it.]

Comments

[ratherdoweddings]

[Yurika sets two bags on her podium. One contains a bunch of plate shards, the other, crushed cookies.]

We all have to be prepared. The motive was bad enough -- it would affect anyone in this room, and for good reason -- but we also have to think of the victim. I think Ardyn-san was chosen on purpose. He was someone we all trusted; last week proved that without a doubt. Not to mention that, even if we are united, we're all still following our own leaders, and the mansion group is the largest now -- losing Ardyn-san means leaving the biggest subsection of our group without one. Whoever's behind this one was desperate to win.

The announcement called it an overdose, but I think the drug might've been slipped to him in food. Specifically, these cookies. I found a plate of cookies tossed into the trash in the VIP lounge with red and blue icing, breaking the plate and wrecking the cookies.

[cyan_maid]

Red and blue icing? Like...

[Jane holds up the two icing bags she's brought with her.]

Would the color match these, Yurika?

[ratherdoweddings]

I think so!

[She brings the bag of cookies over. Does it?]

[airlockedmods]

[It’s a match!]

[ratherdoweddings]

Definitely the same. So they didn't clean up the kitchen?

[misanthropicprinciple]

There was red icing on the floor in the restaurant. And crumbs. Little pieces of ceramic. Could be from a broken plate.

[ratherdoweddings]

So the plate and the cookies were broken there, then just moved to the VIP lounge to cover their tracks.

[cyan_maid]

[Whenever Yurika is done with her icing comparison, Jane holds up the red icing bag.]

Would the color of this match the one you saw?

[misanthropicprinciple]

[I mean, probably? Mods?]

[airlockedmods]

[Yes!]

[shikosuki]

[ Well that seems to really aggravate him ]

You really think so? Was there even really anything to "win" this time?

That'd be low. Everyone liked Ardyn... who would even think to stoop that low that they'd target him specifically?

[ he's so tired of this week after week ]

[ratherdoweddings]

I don't know, but it seems likely. Besides, anyone here would have a reason to try and save their friends, and we already know that the trial process is mandatory.

[shikosuki]

All that was needed to save them was just a death. The trial might be mandatory but winning isn't. This isn't like last week. Until there's more evidence I'm just not as certain.

...Either way whoever did this is a scumbag, that's for sure.

[ratherdoweddings]

That's true. Ardyn-san might have said he used to be a bad person, but he was one of us. We're going to make it through for him.

[kingshaming]

True, but if the person wanted to be sure the dead weren't threatened again the best option is to end the game.

[tokencanadian]

Unless we can somehow make a claim that no one murdered Ardyn, we... have to look at the fact that someone might have plotted to kill him. I'm sorry, Choromatsu, I-I don't like this any more than anyone else.

[shikosuki]

Yeah...yeah, I know. Sorry...

[ he's being grouchy and he knows it, just the thought of it makes him so sick... ]

[tokencanadian]

You don't have to apologize. [Sighs, runs a hand back through her hair. Hoo boy.]

We just need to try and keep level heads and... and figure this out.

[daughterofthemark]

You remember Roland's trial, do you not? Or Sir Varric's. A "culprit" must go through the motions, even one who has no actual intention of escaping.

[shikosuki]

That's what I mean though. We could be dealing with that again, not necessarily someone who's "in it to win it". Maybe if there was some condition like "hey if you succeed I'll also bring all the dead back!" or it's someone again who believes they can fix everything, then maybe I'd consider Misumaru's theory more seriously. But there wasn't so right now we don't know which it was. Ardyn could have just been at the wrong place at the wrong time for all we know right now.

[everylittlesecret]

[She might be tired, but damn, Yurika, you ruffled her feathers a bit.]

I wouldn't call him my leader...

[ratherdoweddings]

Well, he had a lot of people who believed in him and would follow him, didn't he?

[everylittlesecret]

Yes, but he didn't like being called leader. It was.... shoved on him, and I see Noctis as more of a leader than I ever did Ardyn.

[Sorry, Ardyn, she loves you, but it's the truth to her.]

Besides, the man I would have gladly followed anywhere has been gone before we even got here.

[cyan_maid]

...It sort of feels like he fell into the roll, then denied he was there while a lot of people piled in after him. But that's not what we're debating right now - it's definitely something we can talk about later.

[myocordial]

That is certainly true...

[...

...He shakes his head. No. Getting sad isn't going to solve anything.]