FIRST TRIAL

[bathymetric]

[ After a while, once all the appropriate clues have been found, Mayor Fontaine calls out again over the speakers. ]

Alright, citizens, pack it in quick and head to the back of the Hall of the Founders. You have business to take care of.

[ When they do reach the Bathysphere station, Eleanor is manning the controls, gaze quiet and even over the crowd. The hatch at the front of the strange elevator is open, and everyone is gestured inside. A series of small submerisbles are lined up, waiting to be ridden. ]

Just hop into the bathyspheres one or two at a time, and the system will get you where you need to go.

[ It's a long, cramped ride from here, but Fontaine's word is true. At least you can tune into the radio in the pod?

The bathyspheres take you down until even the few lights of Rapture are out of sight, down until lights of a different kind are visible - the reds and blues of bioluminescent sea creatures, a little too out of your way to make out what they are, blending to a strange sort of not-quite-purple as the bathysphere reaches its final destination: a glass dome built into the sea floor, about the size of an average house.

As one by one the bathyspheres arrive carrying the new citizenry of New Rapture, less natural lights than those of the creatures around you begin to click on in the dome. In the center, most of the space is taken up by a circle of podiums, each with an image of one of you engraved into it.

A projector of some kind kicks on, which combined with the lighting allows for the familiar silhouette of Mayor Fontaine at his chair to appear on the side of the dome, watching over you. ]

Time to do your best to figure out who killed the Diamond in the Rough. And do yourselves a favor: keep it interesting. I'm here if you have any burning inquiries.

[ And here it is.

Welcome to your first trial. ]

Comments

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan is more or less carried to the submersible by Dandy. He didn't want to play the game, as horrible as the murder was, none of it was as horrible as the fact that hit was being facilitated by this monster.

But as he stands behind his podium he speaks aloud, with purpose.]

I abstain from participating in this trial, for I already know who is responsible for this crime.

[He's shaking, but his voice is firm.]

The only criminal here is Fontaine. While it is likely that someone else pulled the trigger, they were coerced by this monster by threatening our loved ones. Any real judge would tell you that the only man truly at fault is the one who forced the murderer to kill.

[dullshooter]

Look, Jonathan, mate, I want to skip out on this as much as anyone, but it’s not like Fontaine grabbed them and made them bash Adaman’s head into a rock. Or whatever happened.

[hotpaprika]

He threatened our loved ones, Misfire. Surely you must know that he is as much at fault as the culprit, possibly even more so.

[dullshooter]

Well duh. He kidnapped us and put us in this sadistic psychological experiment. No one’s doubting this is all his fault. And I’m not saying whoever did it is necessarily wrong for it - but let’s not kid ourselves. They made a choice here.

[sixthnonsense]

[Gods, the deja vu is so strong Hagakure can barely stand it.

But he will respond to this real fast.]

Jonny, that's not gonna fly and you know it. These trials don't work like that.

[hotpaprika]

[His voice quiets, and he is unable to look at Hagakure.]

I have to try. I don't want to give this madman what he wants.

[sixthnonsense]

[Having gone through this many times, Hagakure's temper is a little short on this matter. But he won't forget that he was in Jonathan's shoes at one point.]

None of us do! But now that someone's acted, we don't have a choice!

[bathymetric]

See, I thought one of you would trot that out. Funny thing about running your own sovereign city-state? "Criminal" means whatever you want it to mean. So no, as far as you're all concerned here? I'm not at fault.

[sastruga]

I suppose when you're the one making the law, you can choose to make yourself exempt. Right, Fontaine-san?

[bathymetric]

Perks of being in power.

[pairtner]

You'll hardly find anyone who disagrees with you on how the Mayor's threat pushed the culprit into murder -- however relieving the culprit of all fault won't do, given our situation. We'll have to do this.

[Aiba for one sure would like to help solve a murder, yup]

[visiblepattern]

No.

[Forrest's voice is surprisingly harsh at that, a far cry from the usual delicate, gentle tone.]

Do whatever you want, but I'm interested in knowing who murdered one of our own. Adaman was nothing but gracious to all of us, he was a friend to all of us, and while you can stand there upon your highest of horses, I want to seek whatever justice we can in this place.

Mayor Fontaine laid the foundation, but one of us chose to act on it. You can behave as though Adaman didn't matter all you like, but I won't think well of it, nor will I think well of you for the duration of our stay here.

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan is shocked by this response, but it quickly turns to anger.]

Don't you dare act as though I didn't care about Adaman, or that I don't know a damned thing about justice. He was a dear member of our group and his death is more than a tragedy. But this man threatened to torture 25 innocent people. People who are dear to us.

Fontaine didn't pull the trigger but I am not on my high horse for saying that none of this wouldn't be happening if this madman wasn't torturing us.

[visiblepattern]

If you're abstaining, shut your mouth.

[sixthnonsense]

Yeah... I really wanna know who did this.

[They don't have a choice BUT to figure this out, but Adaman...he was such a cool dude. This sucks so hard.]

[onemillion]

Surely you understand that we can do nothing about that at the moment. Should you choose to abstain from participating in this trial then so be it, but this is not helpful right now.

Someone made the decision to act, and I believe we owe it to Adaman to determine what exactly happened here.

[hotpaprika]

I am aware that someone murdered Adaman, and I would like to know what happened as well.

But I do not want to find out by participating in this farce of a trial.

[onemillion]

Then do not participate and leave the rest of us to it.

[giddyundertaker]

[ The Undertaker doesn't seem too amused right this moment. Maybe it's because he got the podium across from the empty one... Nah, he's facing Harker here. ]

Say what you will about your moral reservations, Harker, but some of us are curious about how Mister Adaman ceased to be. Get a chance to do some investigatin' yourself?

[hotpaprika]

[He shakes his head, feeling somewhat unwanted.]

I have not, I was distracted by the horrors I witnessed.

[kninja]

...There's no real judge here, Your Honor. That's the problem. It's because I agree with you about our dear Mayor's character that I'm gonna go through with this. He could hurt us if we don't. He could hurt the kids.

If you can't do this trial thing, don't worry about it. The rest of us can take it from here.

[hotpaprika]

[After his fight with Forrest, Jonathan feels himself wanting to hide from all the judging eyes he feels on him.

He was really only alive because he was useful, huh.]

Thank you, Obi... I'm sorry I'm so selfish

[vholran]

[ Vholran doesn't bother wasting his breath.

Instead, he just popcorn.gif's this for a bit, including reactions. Not exactly the best entertainment, but a guy unfortunately is lacking in options. For now. ]

[howveryglib]

We do not exactly have the luxury of allowing ourselves to be self-righteous here, Jonathan Harker. If you do not plan to be helpful, at least do not make yourself a liability by wasting time for the rest of us.

[it’s maybe a bit more snappish than intended but he’s kind of Tired!]

[hotpaprika]

[The fight in him has left after his fight with Forrest, so he just shrinks instead.]

I... I'm sorry. I know I'm only alive thanks to my usefulness. I'll try to be better.