unknownseas | Fourth Trial

[ After the evidence (and what a large batch of evidence it is, this time) has been gathered up, after actually patiently waiting a longer time than usual to make sure everything's been grabbed, the speakers over New Rapture crackle to life. ]

Time's up, everyone. You know where to go.

[ The lower number of bathyspheres, as you descend, is starting to become really notable, isn't it? The descent is the same as ever, lower and lower into the sea. The bioluminescence of those slugs on the ocean floor is almost brighter today, somehow, and some of them have even crawled up the cliff face around you as you pass them.

The dome approaches, slowly as ever, gleaming red in the darkness. The bathyspheres land in a row, doors opening one by one to reveal the familiar sight of the trial room, three more podiums now darkened. ]

Take your places, ladies and gentlemen. You've got a doozy of a situation to discuss. Ass Man and Silver Fox are dead. You know what happens if you can't figure out whodunnit.

[ Welcome to your fourth trial. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ As the majority vote rolls in, the barrier around the dome rolls shut. Same as ever. And, same as ever, Mayor Fontaine speaks up. ]

Correct on both counts. Good job, gang. You found your guilty parties. Let's get to the fun part.

[ Both culprits vanish at once, of course. Darkness and a woosh. The projectors turn on.

Lights up on Seo Dawon, perhaps the less surprising of the two currently on the chopping block. He’s in a space that… well, it would be beautiful, wouldn’t it, if it weren’t about to be the site of an execution? Perhaps it’s just a good place to be executed. All swirling purple and blue, with pricks of light like stars swirling through it.

Welcome to the void. Seo Dawon is very familiar with the void.

Seo Dawon does not like, it seems, the void.

He lashes out, and magic sparks around his hands. Great and powerful magic, cast by a great and powerful mage. And he is wonderful in that power, isn’t he? Everything he said he could be and more?

He laughs, testing it out. It works as intended, spiraling around him in the space. But is it worth anything, in a place like this? When it cannot find the edges of his prison to destroy them?

There’s something light, musical, in the distance. It’s hard to tell what it is.

Mayor Fontaine’s voice speaks out over the din. ]

Enjoying yourself, Seo Dawon?

[ The magic intensifies. The man’s response is voided by the noise. ]

Let’s test out your abilities, shall we?

[ There’s a hum, and very suddenly Seo Dawon is not alone in the void. ]

Two birds, one stone. Get your revenge and I’ll let you go.

[ It doesn’t take more convincing than that. Seo Dawon snarls - whether this man is real or not, does it matter? What matters more than even the slightest chance at vengeance?

He reaches out to cast, to destroy Bae Jaemin once and for all.

...

Failed to Cast.

The message hovers there. Seo Dawon stares at it, incredulous. Who wouldn’t be, in a situation like this?

Another spell, pure magic energy, rips through the notification from the other side, slamming right through Seo Dawon’s chest. ]

Well, if you ain’t up to the task…

[ The executioner lowers his hand. The murderer slumps to his knees. The void sings silently.

Seo Dawon bursts into another shape, of all things, bigger against the abyss, rising up with one final scream despite the hole in him…

And he’s gone. Seo Dawon is dead. ]

[ Lights up on… well, this seems to be another non-dramatic location: Some Guy’s Apartment. There’s a couch, a kitchenette, a record player bangin out the tunes, and… not pictured in that video: a maze of at least several dozen feet of plastic multi-color hamster tube, stretching from the front door to the far corner. And in that far corner, placed into the tube maze, is the familiar blob of Aiba’s true form. The camera is close in, letting you all for the first time see the world as Aiba sees it.

She sees, just as you all do, the other end of the tube maze that lets out right by the door, which has been opened just a crack - enough for her to escape, it seems, if she can manage it. Without missing a beat, the AI takes the logical step: she starts to make her way through the maze, quick as she can, towards the door. It’s not easy, without the ability to map the whole thing out, but from the first burst of speed it’s clear that this is a doable challenge for her.

Which is when the other half of the issue here appears: a massive man (at least from this point of view), who goes from lounging previously unseen on the couch to standing and walking through the maze. As he does, going about the normal particulars of his day, he tears effortlessly through the tubes of the maze, which seal closed behind him as he goes, destabilizing the entire structure and destroying many possible paths.

Upon seeing him, Aiba hesitates.

But it doesn’t take long to shake it off and keep going. There’s an exit to reach, after all! She’s been granted what no one else seems to have been: a chance. And she would be foolish, illogical, to surrender it.

As she progresses into the maze, hopping up and down, taking left turns and right turns with a startling confidence, even when she occasionally has to do a total 180, the man continues to walk around, seemingly completely ignorant of the situation. Eventually, his wanderings around the apartment take him back towards Aiba, almost following behind her without even really meaning to.

Yet again, Aiba hesitates.

But there’s no time for it. She picks up the pace, going faster but making more errors. Wrong turns, dead ends. Or maybe there are just more of them, as the maze goes on. Would you really put it past the Mayor?

Eventually, somehow, Aiba keeps ahead of the man long enough to near the end. It’s down to the wire - if the track gets obliterated as he walks, what’s going to happen to her? Certainly she can’t afford to get trapped in here. So she keeps running. And finally, finally, she does it. She manages to escape, to make that last jump out.

And she sees the way out.

And she looks back at Date.

And, one final time, Aiba hesitates.

It’s swift, when his foot comes down and crushes her. You can hope, watching, that it isn’t painful. But the noise makes it clear enough: Aiba is dead.

And life in the apartment goes on. ]

[ And then, finally, the lights come back on. ]

Good job, citizens. You're free to go about your evening. See you around.

[ And the bathyspheres open. ]

Fourth Trial

EXECUTIONS

EXECUTION - [This Space Intentionally Left Blank]

EXECUTION - time2dAI

WRAPUP