Fifth Trial

[bathymetric]

[ There's a long while of examination before the Mayor speaks up. There's plenty of evidence to pick up yet again this week, after all. ]

Annnd that's going to do it. Wrap it up and head to the bathyspheres, kids, you've got some business to attend to.

[ The bathyspheres take you all down, down, into the now-familiar dome below the city. The similarly familiar red glow persists until the lights properly turn on - the projection of Fontaine's silhouette is gone, of course, replaced by that same flickering "please stand by" message. But your mayor's voice is still the one that speaks over the increasingly empty circle of podiums. ]

If you somehow need a reminder of why you're here, three of you are dead. Get away with it, killer or killers, and the execution room gets to really work overtime today. But I guess if you wanna live, you should find who murdered three people. Could be important for you guys.

[ Welcome to your fifth trial. ]

Comments

[asymptotes]

Okay. Anything else?

[ He raises an eyebrow. ]

If you can't figure out my involvement, how are you going to find the other killer?

[asymptotes]

[ Looks around. ]

I'm not here to do your homework for you, Pink R- Forrest. If you're going to defeat a monster, do it properly.

[sastruga]

...The pitchfork was giving you trouble, huh?

[asymptotes]

You're right, I'm familiar with robots. Though mine are different than whatever Misfire is.

[visiblepattern]

No, I'm within my right to ask questions. In situations like this, questions are often all we have. Am I to assume you have no answer?

[inaclearing]

[Brett's just. Bitterly disappointed here.]

.....what was the point of telling me any of that, last Friday?

[asymptotes]

It's not my preferred weapon. I don't use polearms too often. That was Billy's thing.

[allatonce]

So you miscalculated. You thought it would be enough, but it wasn't. He managed to escape and well. You just had to finish the job. Right, Thomathan? It's all or nothing with you.

[asymptotes]

You're actually the only one who might understand why this was necessary.

[sastruga]

Did it take very long?

[She's not too concerned with the proving it part. Everyone else is on that. Just.

Well.]

I think... I liked him. So...

[asymptotes]

You found two others, didn't you? Gaius and Nandor?

Let me ask you something in return: how much of this do you intend to pin on me?

[honeyedtea]

As I thought. You might be the only one here who wouldn't cause that sort of bumbling mess. You're too... decisive.

Do you know who they are?

[asymptotes]

I did pick him, but... it was either him or Gaius, I think.

[onemillion]

We will come up with something. We always have before, and we always will, for however long this continues.

Thank you for confirming that there was a second killer, but you don't need to drag this out any longer. You've made it clear by now - you killed Misfire. Will you at least tell us why?

[allatonce]

Well, of course. Still a little heroism buried in you somewhere, huh? No sense in it if it's not a fair fight.

[howveryglib]

You did play at being friendly and helpful for long enough that I could easily see Jonathan writing a pleasant note about how much he appreciated you.

[asymptotes]

[ He's quiet, for a long moment. ]

... No, Bla- Mafuyu. I mean, each thing I tried was going to be quick. Him getting away from the chipper was... unexpected.

[visiblepattern]

I believe that there's likely another killer. I also believe that you killed Misfire.

In the end, what I believe doesn't matter. What I intend to pin on you doesn't matter, either. What matters is what the group believes. We could vote you out right now, without playing your game, if we wanted to do that - especially since you've more or less admitted to your guilt already. You're going to die either way; my question in response is what you gain from trying to test us like this.

[asymptotes]

No. I have... thoughts, but I wasn't planning to voice them so long as you were focused on the other two bodies.

[asymptotes]

Something like that. Really, I was almost hoping to be stopped.

[honeyedtea]

And do you feel like sharing those thoughts? It's not as though you've anything to lose at this point.

[sastruga]

...He's pretty stubborn. Honestly.

[She still manages to sound exasperated, even though she isn't, at all.]

That's... I'm glad. And, well. He probably wouldn't be satisfied about going out too easy, anyway...

[inaclearing]

[Brett recoils, pale and starting to get angry. And hey, you gave that other exposition in song form, so:]

I thought you told me the story,
Told the whole story for a reason.
Like you were moving past it all, maybe cared just a little.

A man who'd let himself be saved.

[asymptotes]

[ He takes a long breath. ]

I have nothing to go home to after this. Reality rewrote itself without me. I no longer exist or have a place in it. All I have is the lot of you and a desire to see the Mayor destroyed. I just want to know you can before she makes someone I've killed stab me in the back or whatever it is she intends to do.

[asymptotes]

Maybe, but poison? Come, now. Not my thing. Not for someone as frail as Jonathan Harker.