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

[emberserker]

And that's it, isn't it?

[precognit]

I don't know what else to say. I...I know how it looks.

[nothingcanstop]

[ surprised pikachu face- no, okay- ]

Alice. [ ...her podium's next to birkin's, sorry alice. ] I understand this is scary...but if you didn't do anything, there's no reason for any of us to jump to conclusions. Can you tell us what happened last night? Where you were, what you remember?

[ good cop! ]

[precognit]

[Della. Okay, Della is here, Della is her friend. She can do this. She exhales a shuddery breath.]

I delivered all the bowties, to everyone. And then Zerinda came and asked if she could stay in my room, last night. We talked, and then she went to sleep, eventually.

[hardnosed]

You told me you didn't sleep much. It was a lie, wasn't it.

[precognit]

Not a lie, just....a half-truth.

[nothingcanstop]

...So you didn't go to sleep. Do you need to?

[precognit]

[She shakes her head.] I couldn't if I tried.

[snackooed]

Well, no, not quite. I don't think we'd be doing our due diligence if made our decision based on that alone.

[ Though it isn't good, that's for sure... ]

If she has an alibi, for example, we're back at square one.

[fivestagegod]

Alibis are only good if they can be corroborated by someone else. I don't think a lot of people have that just because of how things like that tend to go.

[bogwife]

[dis someone say alibi?]

I stayed in her room last night. I'd found the gift she left on my door so I ran to her room before lights out to give her the shawl I made for her. [The one she's wearing right now in fact.] She invited me in to chat a bit and I just ended up sleeping there.

[bolderfell]

...How light a sleeper would you say you are?

[bogwife]

I don't usually wake up at the crack of a branch but I feel like I would have woken up if she'd left the bed. [She purses her lips for a moment, her fingers nervously playing with the ends of her hair.]

But...I haven't been sleeping so well here. My dreams are, ah, different from what they usually are and I suppose I could have slept through her leaving but I don't- [Want it to be her.] I don't feel like I would have.

[precognit]

[This hurts really, really bad!]

You did, Zaza. [I'm so sorry to drag you into this.]

[snackooed]

Zerinda...

[ She sighs. ]

I don't blame you for not being able to sleep well. I've been sleeping like crap, myself, but...you don't have any recollection of her leaving and coming back in the room later at all? I know it's hard to tell time here, but...

[ It's a token effort. She wants to go down all the avenues she can... ]

[bogwife]

[She chews her lip harder, pawing through her sleep fogged memories but Alice is already answering for her.]