fourth trial

[airlockedmods]

[As the last of the evidence is gathered, the voice chimes in with a call to come down to the courtroom.

In the slowly swindling podium circle McBurn and Shadow's portraits have been added and the green in their scrolling names replaced with red.

Jamie and Bolton are waiting on their floating platform, back in black and ready for a trial. Jamie still looks tired and his posture is a little more slouched than usual but he's here and there's not much else they can ask of him right now. Bolton's put on his usual showman's attitude despite the dark circles under his eyes, and he spreads his arms to make the announcement.]

Welcome, Champions, to the courtroom. Eleven of you have entered, but - in the best case scenario - only ten of you will leave. You all know the drill by now: 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.

Remember, there is no time limit but I'd advise you to keep things interesting.

Comments

[stitch_in_time]

Any more puddling on the floor in there?

[yukionna]

No. [ putting her hand up to her chin ] Is there craft glitter in the art room, or was all of this from the glitter cannon? I'm in there quite a bit, so I could have stepped in it, there.

[stitch_in_time]

Maybe.

[Yurika already all but asked, so deep breath-]

I'm sorry. Rukia, did something happen between you and Shadow last night?

[yukionna]

Like I said to Misumaru, no, nothing happened. I went to the Holodeck with my sketchbook and relaxed a bit before going to bed.

[stitch_in_time]

So you don't actually have an alibi.

[yukionna]

For given value of the word, I suppose not.

[ She doesn't look upset, though. In fact, she looks strangely calm. ]

[stitch_in_time]

For a given value that includes corroboration, yeah.

[He doesn't like doing this. A lot.]

You seem a bit calm for someone being accused of murder.

[Maybe this is another case where the physical body isn't what matters...]

Might be a bit off topic, but I've got to ask. What exactly happens if a soul dies?

[yukionna]

I've been falsely accused of a crime and sent to the executioner before. I know how to keep calm.

[ She shrugs. ]

Like I said to Twiright a few weeks ago, we're reincarnated as humans. It keeps the balance of souls between the living and the dead intact.

[bylight]

That sounds very much like how the dead used to move on in my world.

[It's a pity.]

So you're confident you'll be allowed to be reincarnated?

[yukionna]

Not really, no. I haven't a clue how the afterlife works in this realm. For all I know, we could just cease to exist entirely, or maybe hang around as lesser souls.

[bylight]

Neither do I... but it might be much kinder than what is happening back in my own home.

[Now she narrows her eyes.]

Was it the "motive" Bolton gave us? What would a soul possibly have to lose.

[stitch_in_time]

So it's not death, not exactly.

But it is someone else gettin' up and walking away in the space where your life used to be.

[Or afterlife. Whatever applies here.]

No memories of who you were, not at least for another eighty or ninety years, if you're lucky. And that's under normal circumstances. The way things are here, it might be a little more final, yeah?

[yukionna]

It's as good as death.

[ Her voice is firm, and just a touch angry. She seems confident about that. ]

If you're theorizing something, just say it. Don't beat around the bush.

[stitch_in_time]

Yeah, I can understand that, probably better than you think.

[The punchline is that regeneration is terrible.]

Alright, then. I think whatever happened, you've got a pretty radically different perspective on death than the rest of us. Maybe different enough to keep calm in the face of your own execution, or in the face of ours.

So far, you're the only one that fits the evidence we've got, and no one to confirm your whereabouts last night except the lovely people in charge.

So I'll ask right out - did you kill Shadow or not.

[yukionna]

[ About that ]

[kingshaming]

There was a puddle in the storage room. It didn't have any glitter that I saw though. To be fair I did not know to look for it. The puddle was next to the first aid kit so it's possible it dripped from their hands or they stood on the shelf to reach the aid kits.

[stitch_in_time]

The water in Shadow's room had enough t'catch my eye when I wasn't exactly looking for it.

[kingshaming]

Then no, it was clean but it did have the foul scent of pool water.

[refusedtoleave]

What do you mean by foul?

[kingshaming]

The... chemical smell?

[he looks a little helpless. He doesn't know chlorinated water Natsuhi, help him]

[stitch_in_time]

That'd be chlorine, like Ricky said. It gets added to swimming water as a disinfectant, keep people from getting sick when you've got dozens of 'em going in and out of the same water.

[kingshaming]

Yes, that.

[Look he's learned a lot about space, but this is outside what the library could teach him]

[voltrounds]

Like chlorine, right?

[kingshaming]

[LOOK, HE'S OLD TIMEY]