unknownseas | SIXTH TRIAL

Alright, same as every week before this - gather at the Vault Door so my Assistant can let you in. And I can start hoping to salvage at least the aquarium.

[ The Assistant, nee Failsafe, stands in her armor at the ready when you arrive, not saying a word and simply unlocking the door and elevator for you to head on down to the trial room. Second verse, same as the first five verses, but a whole lot quieter and a whole lot meaner.

The elevator is a lot emptier now, isn't it? Your number has fallen yet again since the last time you were here. Feels like yesterday, or maybe forever ago? Time's feeling pretty weird right about now, but trial days are for getting locked into the moment. You're here, you're present.

You're running out of allies.

The screens are the same as ever, though, and lower as you enter. ]

I see you haven't decided to continue to increase the number of bodies this week. Perhaps something to be thankful for, in all of this. Hotshot is dead, and the responsibility of finding his killer falls to you. Hopefully this is all old hat to you by now, no?

[The screens rise.

Welcome to your sixth trial. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ So Zerinda is no Ema Skye, but she is from a fantasy world.

The wound on Vincent is way more in line with a smaller blade than any full-on sword. ]

[!!!]

Wait...it's too big. A regular sword is too big to have made the wound he had.

Huh? Then what about the broken case?

A red herring? I've seen a few stab wounds in my time and his makes more sense coming from a smaller blade.

Wait, so was the sword taken as misdirection? Meaning we might actually be looking for one of the vending machine knives, or...

[ ...

You know what? She's just going to look directly at Kirei. ]

...The Black Keys you gave me have not left my room since you handed it over, Rin. Do not look at me like that.

No offense, but we only have your word on that. You mind at least showing us the inside of your cassock? That's where you people keep them, right?

Edited 2020-05-23 19:04 (UTC)

Right about here, yes. [He took off the long purple coat worn by most Executors; sure enough, it was empty of Black Key handles.]

I should mention I wouldn't appreciate being framed twice, should anyone have had such a thing in mind.

To be fair, what happened was probably way too chaotic for someone to have deliberately framed you in the middle of it. It's just a funny coincidence that the poisonous plants weren't hurt while someone was fighting off a monster that might have been a vampire, and that said monster just happened to be killed by a thin blade.

Yes, it's rather funny how those things work out, isn't it.

Oh, and here's another thought: If someone was trying to make it look you did it, why did they make it look like some other weapon was used? That wouldn't do anything but throw us off your scent.

Edited 2020-05-23 19:13 (UTC)

How should I know? I don't claim to understand the mentality of anyone around here, least of all now.

Still, you have to admit. We only have circumstantial evidence to work with, and right now, all of it looks like it's pointing toward you. Nothing to say in your own defense, Kotomine?

Rin, if I had even the faintest desire to kill anyone here, I would have long since done so and this conversation would not be happening.

I feel there is no need to hide the truth: I have killed quite a few people in my time, and feel no shame in admitting to such. But I care nothing for whatever the Professor has offered, and these trials are only a tedious waste of time.

But we aren't talking about a case where you were looking to kill. We're talking about a case where you probably acted in self-defense. Didn't you basically just say earlier that the best way to defend yourself from a threat is to make sure it's dead?

I did, and I stand by that fact.

But I have been killing heretics and demons since I was ten years old. Do you actually think me so stupid that I would fail to make absolutely sure one was dead?

We don't know what Vincent was. We're all saying vampire, but last time I checked, vampires don't usually have acid blood or whatever it is we're discussing over there. [ She jerks a thumb in Therion's direction. ] It's entirely possible that... whatever his anatomy was like, it was something you were unfamiliar with. And that might cause you to slip up.

If you're going to say it wasn't you, then you could at least have the decency to stop taking everything so damn personally and contribute an alternate theory.

I knew what Vincent was no more than I know what the rest of you could be capable of, and so I can scarcely provide such an idea.

Besides, I feel I've been doing the majority of theorizing these past trials. It's grown...very tiresome.

Really, the majority? You helped out last time, I'll give you that. That's the whole reason I gave you back those Black Keys in the first place. But if you can't provide me with a better answer than I'm going to take my ball and go home, then I don't see any reason to remove you from the top of the list of suspects.

I don't care what you do or do not see reason about, Rin Tohsaka.

[There was a sharpness to his voice then, something annoyed and perhaps a little strained. With it, the same brief trick of the light that had been seen in his argument with Rhea; a dark shadow, just for an instant.]

You're the one who isn't seeing reason! [ Rin's own frustration breaks; she slams her hands down on the face of her podium. ] I'm giving you an out, Kotomine, and instead you're going to stand here and dig in your heels?

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...Rin, we need to figure out what happened as much as we can before we start accusing people. That's why it took so long for us to get Nova that time. You said it yourself, it could've easily been a knife from the machine.