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

Voting Time

[bathymetric]

[ Once the shock, outrage, and other emotions surrounding Hodaka's confession have died down some, Mayor Fontaine speaks up. ]

There you have it. Pretty straightforward, but you still have to vote.

[ The surfaces of the podiums slide open, revealing a set of twenty-five buttons, each with the name and title of a citizen next to it. ]

Go on, neighborhood watch. Vote out who did this. Majority rules, one vote per podium.

[vholran]

> Hodaka Morishima

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan stares the podium blankly. He knew now that there was nothing he could do. He could yell and fight all he wanted, but he couldn't change anything.

Automatically, he puts in his vote.]

>Hodaka Morishima

[He couldn't even save himself...]

[honeyedtea]

[ After a long moment, Mielle raises a hand. ]

And if we abstain from voting?

[bootyhunter]

[He's not going to say words but he is going to shake his head silently in her direction!]

[bathymetric]

It won't count as correct, but the vote goes through when you hit a majority. I can't make you push the button if it hits it without your vote.

[capreelcious]

> Hodaka Morishima

[buriedstar]

[ Seo Dawon's been mostly listening considering well, all of that. He takes one quick scan around the room before entering his vote without pause. ]

>HODAKA MORISHIMA

[visiblepattern]

Seo Dawon.

[He says from across the circle, because he promised not to leave Hodaka and it is becoming exceedingly important to him to keep that promise.]

Might I ask you to input a vote for me? Vote correctly, I just...

[...don't think I can get up right now.]

[dullshooter]

>Hodaka Morishima

[bootyhunter]

[It takes him a long time to push the button, but after a good deal of waiting with his jaw clenched, Dandy slams his fist down on the button with Hodaka's name. It's a hasty action, and he is not happy about it.]

[onemillion]

[There's no reason to hesitate, because his mind was made up the moment he saw the blood in the elevator. Someone would have to die for this so he can keep living. It isn't the first time such a thing has happened. Nothing has changed even though Hodaka was responsible.]

>Hodaka Morishima

[Perhaps this is what Father Magin felt every time Adai village's population exceeded fifty people.]

[sixthnonsense]

[The same song and dance... He can't even be sure if Fontaine won't do something completely tacky to display the results at this point since he likes taking from Junko Enoshima's playbook so much.]

> Hodaka Morishima

[kninja]

[Obi stares at the buttons quite a while with an icy expression on his face. He doesn't look confused or obstinate about it, he's just. Definitely still trying to calculate a way out of this.]

[kninja]

[But he can't. And if Hodaka's brave enough to vote for himself, he can't do any less than face what they're doing here with open eyes.]

I've done a lot of bad things in my life, but this? This is the worst.

> Hodaka Morishima

[fuckingguy]

[ The path forward is clear. Nonetheless, Nandor makes one of those disgusted "yeeeeee" noises under his breath as he looks through the names, then inputs the correct one. ]

>Hodaka Morishma

[ And for a guy who very much doesn't give a shit about death and has no filter about it, he sure isn't looking at Hodaka right now! ]

[giddyundertaker]

> Hodaka Morishima

[ After voting, he'll go back to Jonathan's side and just... Stay with him, at least. ]

[withagun]

[ This is it. This is what Hina felt. Except it's not something like praying for sunshine, it's darker, even on the outset.

He trembles, afraid. But just like last night, his body moves without his mind knowing. He presses the button, and then, he does something he never thought he'd be able to do again, something that's terrified him every time he sees it. ]

>Hodaka Morishima

[ He brings his hands together and prays. ]

[pairtner]

[One of the Laws of Robotics she's compliant with states she cannot bring harm to a human. That's direct harm -- indirect harm such as voting for someone to be executed is possible for her. The other laws, such as the one for self-preservation, are far more stringent, this one isn't so she has leeway in certain situations.

Aiba is pretty sure that leeway wasn't meant for times like this:]

Hodaka Morishima

[sastruga]

[It's autopilot, that makes her push the button, more than anything.]

> Hodaka Morishima

sigh......my turn, cw dissociation..........

[inaclearing]

[As the voting starts - as Hodaka leaves and goes to sit with Forrest - Brett doesn't move. He does fold his one leg, so that he ends up entirely kneeling in place on the floor, but he makes no effort to rise and go back to his podium.

For all that, he doesn’t protest or cry out, either. He just looks...thoughtful, maybe? He's not really looking at anything.]

[hellaethics]

[Jason's hand hovers unmoving over the button. Normally he's the first one to slam a button at the drop of a hat but the weight and reality of Hodoka's sobs and the memory of Adaman's body in the pond are freezing his free and loose impulses in their tracks.

Part of him wishes Chidi were here to offer some kind of philosophical advice but...no, that's actively just make things worse. That part is quickly replaced by wishing for Eleanor and Tahani, who'd be throwing a fit and cursing the Mayor to the Bad Place and back. Or Michael and Janet prying for any type of loophole in the rules.

But it's just Jason, hesitating to condemn a kid to death even it means killing everyone else.]

Man, ethical philosophy sucks sometimes.

[howveryglib]

>Hodaka Morishima

[...he just kind of looks at the podium for a while....]

[allatonce]

[Joy's been staring off into the distance since Hodaka confessed, but she seems to jerk back into the moment when Fontaine asks them to vote. She looks down at the podium for a long moment before—]

>HODAKA MORISHIMA

[buriedstar]

[ He was asked, so he walks over to Forrest's podium and votes. ]

> HODAKA MORISHIMA