SECOND TRIAL

[bathymetric]

Time's up, boys and girls. Please gather up your evidence and make your way to the vault door.

[ The process of heading to the elevator and crowding in remains the same as last week - Angel leads you all to the elevator car, then stays behind as you make your slow descent to the dome below. You might not even notice if you aren't paying attention, but... the cart is already less crowded than it was last week. You certainly won't be able to avoid noticing it if your numbers dwindle too much further than this.

When the doors open on the trial room, it's just as bleak a place as last week. ]

Take your places, won't you? And this time, you all know what's at stake. No more... funny business.

[The number of podiums displaying that red light is higher now - Damien, Lif, and Piers are all represented by blank spots now, no tasteful covers or anything normal to mark their passing, just a red glow and a gap in your number.

Cheery!

The screens raise up to the ceiling to give you all room to see, and the Professor's final words before the trial begins ring out: ]

Find the killer, leave alive. And killer? Try a little harder to stop them from doing that than the last one in your shoes. Call out for me if you require anything.

[ Welcome to your second trial. ]

Comments

[snackooed]

I was careful when I cleaned up. I used fabric from the sewing room, so I didn't touch anything directly. But now you have me worried...

[fivestagegod]

You should be. Especially since we have at least one undead and several other inhuman things that are decent at masquerading, and we don't know what they are.

And before anyone jumps on me for that, let's not all insist on standing around acting as though everyone's ages are normal around here.

[nothingcanstop]

[ She scratches her head. ]

...I mean, there are a lot of reasons someone could be alive for a long time. Not all of them are dangerous.

[fivestagegod]

Oh, I'm sure there are. I'm not ruling out magical whatnot just yet. But we can't say for sure that that's what it is, now, can we.

[nothingcanstop]

[ A considering pause, and she nods. ]

Agreed. Long as we're not about to go on a...a witch hunt, here.

[precognit]

[god bless you della duck]

[fivestagegod]

Oh, I'm not accusing anybody of anything, don't worry.

[nothingcanstop]

Right, right. Just saying out loud, for everyone.

[ we had enough arguments last time, after all, without bringing something like this into it... ]

[precognit]

Undead...?

[She's just going to...ignore the rest of that.]

[fivestagegod]

Most people call them zombies, I guess. We don't consider that particularly rude or anything where I came from, it's just not as commonly used.

[...I mean his world's zombies are also caused by a whole bunch of stuff and not one common cause, so it's easier to just blanket-term it.]

[precognit]

Oh, you mean Brian?

[Sorry, Brian. She kind of forgot.]

That's true, I didn't really consider it from that angle.

[fivestagegod]

Yeah, bite marks that may or may not have come from a human are generally never a good sign in my experience. So while I'm not accusing anybody of anything, it's something to keep in mind, I'd think.

[archboxer]

We do not know if those ages are accurate, either. Why would the Professor give us accurate information?

[snackooed]

I can confirm that all of mine is accurate...

[nothingcanstop]

...Mine too. A little insulting aside...

[fivestagegod]

Absolutely. Mine's actually pretty rude if you know a few things.

But I'm not going to say it's not accurate, either.

[fivestagegod]

I have yet to hear people complaining about their profiles being inaccurate, actually, and the majority of us have admitted that theirs are correct. "We don't know if the Professor is lying on our profiles" is a weak defense that stopped being viable a while ago.

[archboxer]

Admittedly, that is true...

[baitless]

...well, it’s not as if typographical errors never happen...

[HE WAS SO FINE WITH THIS NEVER COMING UP. WHY DID IT HAVE TO COME UP????]

[archboxer]

[She... wasn't going to say anything but thank you, Seteth.]

[fivestagegod]

...By that logic, you're either 27 or 26 and you look a lot like neither. But it was a good try.

[mouflon]

Maybe, but Rhea told me that she's closer to a hundred than she is thirty, and she sure doesn't look like it.

[ Sorry Seteth you are now suspicious by association. ]

[hardnosed]

Not for everyone.

[ LOOKS... AT ROSE... ]

[bolderfell]

He doesn't just want us to run around in circles. He wants something out of this whole process--out of us solving these mysteries, playing these games. ...I admit everything on my profile's correct, more or less.

[archboxer]

That does seem to be the case, yes... I apologize, I merely wished to raise the possibility.