trial #3

[judgejudy]

DAY 6 (afternoon) Complex Population: 27 At noon, the same tone from the morning rings out, and Judy's voice filters out over the intercom. "Good afternoon, residents. As per Safety Protocol 6227-A, it is time to conduct a trial to bring justice for the victim. Please proceed to the courtroom on the first level." Just as at night, if you don't go to the courtroom, you'll be treated to an electric shock of increasing strength until you go to the courtroom or are unconscious. Though considering the ominous penalty for not participating in a trial, you should likely just go rather than risk not voting because you've been knocked out by your own stubbornness... Once you're in the courtroom, you'll find that bottled water and light snacks are provided, but otherwise you'll have to bring anything else you may need. As you come to your conclusions about who to vote for, you can step into the judgement theater to cast your vote at the terminal. You may change your vote as many times as you'd like, but at 7PM, your vote (or lack thereof) is locked in. You have until 7PM to discuss and vote for who you think the murderer is. — ic rulebook character statuses character profiles Voting will close at 9PM EST on 10/22. voting

Comments

[antietam]

Mhmm. I asked her who she voted for yesterday as I did with a few other people. I thought it'd be informative to hear.

[grimdeity]

I don't know if I heard that conversation, but I would have thought the same. Particularly given how... sure of herself she seemed to be.

[ full of herself. she means full of herself. ]

[selfdenying]

Great. Not at all helpful. Back to square one with that one.

[GRUMBLE GRUMBLE THAT SUCKS GRUMBLE]

[and wow Bigby this is his first trial???? GIVE HIM SOME SLACK]

Also, while you're here...what did you do during the last trial? You didn't accuse anyone yourself, did you?

[antietam]

I am thinking of me. [ Ugh he hates sympathy, don't mind him exploding. ] Do you think I'm just sad about Luke dying?

There's more to it than that and you don't know anything about it so I'd appreciate if you didn't act like you know me.

[liven]

I heard it and assumed she was simply being overconfident. We did not learn about the six until after, during the execution. When we heard about it, a few people put forth that she might be among their number, but I believed her to have simply been overconfident as I assumed...which I told you all as much later that night.

[ OBVIOUSLY, SHE WAS WRONG? ]

I hadn't figured someone with that kind of presumed advantage would give it away so easily. I suppose she meant well, but it was idiotic.

[tearable]

I brought it up publicly. I had a hunch she could have been staff member... one acting almost too tellingly.

[ She sounds a bit sad, honestly? They lost someone valuable and as much as Liz cites her inability to think people were petty and grudgy... she let that get the best of her. ]

Looks like we need to start trusting people in private if opening our damn mouths are working against us.

[onepunchgirl]

....I can't promise you that. I mean, I could, but I would be lying.

[tearable]

I assumed something was wrong before the six were announced. A woman who fought so valiantly and with such passion has reason to. I don't doubt her intelligence and drive, but I believed she was claiming to offer such a safety as a staff member. Lure out a lamb so they can slaughter it easier.

[ Boy was she wrong! ]

[onepunchgirl]

Oh, they will. It's just up to us to see through it. I rather they blabber than stay quiet because it's easier to detect falsehood then.

[puffing]

I didn't. Learned my lesson with the Diva witch hunt, so I... tried to not be so quick to judge this time around. And like I said, I didn't like the prosecutor's reasoning for Luke or Lara.

[ part of it had to do with the fact that she was also suspecting him during the beginning, and Lara was made seemingly more guilt in the process of defending Bigby. still pretty salty over that, tbqh. ]

[onepunchgirl]

Hm, fair. Thanks for your honesty.

[grimdeity]

Quite. Like a good sale at Walmart, except stupider and deadlier.

[liven]

Ah. Given the way she drove the trial forward, I presumed she was a well-meaning fool who simply overestimated her abilities. It seems she did have the abilities she claimed to possess, but her overconfidence led to her revealing them.

[ a frown. ]

However, even without that "promise", I believe most of us had already figured she would be the next target...it can only be detrimental to have someone capable of naming names and pushing all of us to organize around, can't it? We never would have even managed to get so many votes for Luke if she hadn't pushed everyone to consider a narrow list.

[injectors]

Since trying to discover who knew about Franziska's role doesn't seem to be leading us anywhere, I would suggest we pursue a— another— achoo!

[There goes snot, all over her hands. This is disgusting. She is going to die. But she is just going to carefully clasp her hands together and pretend that didn't just happen. Kill her. Or find her some tissues. Either one works.]

... I'm sorry. As I was saying— we should pursue another route. Perhaps think about who we suspect to be staff at this moment, or who we believe could have armed Kei, if we choose to focus on that murder as well.

[grimdeity]

[ resists urge to make tasteless joke about franziska being foolish. resists. ]

[alittlemaster]

Bigby's story and injuries match fairly accurately to being attacked and using self-defense.

[There's a small shrug of his shoulders.] The probability of finding someone who had been injured by Franziska in a struggle is high, unless she had been drugged. Did it seem like she moved?

Otherwise, we'll be exactly as we had been last trial.

[liven]

Obviously Bigby didn't arm Kei. It's obvious, but may be worth saying. I find it unlikely that any of the rest of us in room 7 were the ones to arm him, either.

[ because they would have made damn fucking sure he killed someone away from their territory, in her opinion? ]

[injectors]

I find it unlikely, too. Telling Kei to murder someone in your own "home turf" seems a little... short sighted. And messy.

[That blood won't clean itself up??? Shout-out to whoever thought arming Kei and siccing on him on Bigby was a good idea.]

[tearable]

Let's be honest, Shijima... we're not voting for the most suspicious, we're voting for the loudest. The ones who draw attention to themselves raise the most concerns.

[ Not just voting, but for being killed as well. ]

The least she did was bring Luke down, but it wasn't flawless. Lara's blood is still on her hands and by relation? Mine. I will never forgive her for putting me into that situation.

[ She frowns herself. ]

She did her job, but once again: what cost?

[liven]

Ugh...if we discover who armed him, they have to swap rooms with us.

[grimdeity]

[ stares at angel's hands. at least wipe it on someone unlikable, yeesh girl. ]

If we wanted to be here for a week, I'd say we could go through everyone one by one and list off why they might or might not be staff.

Presumably, at least one staff member went about arming Kei and at least one other would have been responsible for Franziska's murder. Assuming they know how to divvy up duties, anyway.

[injectors]

Assuming they survive this ideal. At this point, they're equally as culpable as the staff of murder.

[selfsufficiency]

...you fell in the water too, huh.

[Alice recognizes the symptoms... she looks a little like she might throw up, herself, but at least she's managing to stand and lug Leo around.]

Anyway. I'm sure whoever armed Kei is going to say that they thought they were doing a good thing by making it possible for him to defend himself against who he thought was a staff member, but the fact is they're not innocent in this at all. If Bigby had died, they would have been just as responsible for his murder as Kei would have been.

[liven]

Not exactly. Luke was who I found most suspicious last time. He wasn't the loudest, but he was the person my instincts least trusted. Things that didn't add up, false or not, and how he reacted when questioned about those things. I do not think all of us will simply vote for whomever is loudest.

[ but, whatever. she tbh does not think...they are unified enough for it to matter... ]

I did not see her reasoning towards Lara as holding water...I said so, I think, or at least said I found it more likely Luke was the staff member in her list. But it is true it persuaded enough people. And very likely some of those were staff, taking advantage of the way the wind was blowing.

I do not think it likely we will avoid the deaths of more innocents. If we simply choose to abstain or vote for the least likely culprits every time, to make ourselves feel better for not being certain, then of course we will often damn those who are innocent by the rules here to death, time and again. It's obvious by now that we will never be certain. Lara's blood isn't only on Franziska's hands, but also on all of ours. Luke's, obviously. But all of those who wasted their time saying only true hard evidence would earn their vote and then split things a thousand ways.

Some of those who didn't vote for Luke said they thought he was likely, and yet they voted elsewhere because they were not certain. The cost is one we must get accustomed to if we are unwilling to change our ways.

[liven]

I'd rank it as staff, that weapons-arming brigade, and then everyone who refuses to vote for whomever they think could have done it out of a sense of morals, and then everyone who votes incorrectly.