FINAL TRIAL

[bathymetric]

Alright, that's enough snooping around for one day. There's a door in the underground tunnels that lets out beyond the vault door, just use that to get to the elevator. One of you has a damn staff keycard now, might as well just have you use it, since apparently I'm down both of my Assistants. The code is 020594.

[ As you head in and punch in the code, the elevator rises up to meet you one last time. And one last time, you take the ride down into the depths, evidence in hand. Something stirs in you - hope? Dread? It's hard to feel nothing at a time like this, don't you think? Even if it's just being really angry at The Professor.

When you reach the bottom, the dome is the same but you find the setup itself changed wildly. There's no sign at all of the original podiums or where they were, just a number of sleek new ones and a box of frosted glass. It stands out in stark contrast to the inky blackness of the sea outside. The lights don't reach out of the dome at all, and within the dome they illuminate the silhouette of a man, sitting at a desk, hands folded in front of him.

The Professor is here. You hope. Do you have any choice but to believe he's here? ]

Take your places, boys and girls. It's not what I think any of us anticipated, but it's time for your final trial. There are several questions I expect you to be able to answer, the largest being, well... tell me where you are and what you're doing here. Though I suspect first you'll want to talk over your... evidence.

[ Welcome to your final trial. ]

Comments

[bathymetric]

[ He laughs a little. ]

Opening branches of the organization in other dimensions... it seems like an awful lot of effort, don't you think?

[fivestagegod]

You're not actually denying anything, I notice.

[bathymetric]

I suppose I am not.

[ He finishes his glass of water. ]

Final extra credit question, free response: What do you think happened to the last group when the experiment was over?

[mouflon]

Considering the two you scrubbed and kept deserved special mention? I doubt the others were so lucky.

[nothingcanstop]

But what about the class photo? Since it doesn't have that guy in it, Therion's right, it can't be one from the start of all this...but why would they be smiling if they started killing each other?

[bolderfell]

...But Cassandra and Angel are in it. If they were treated differently after the experiment because they were the only ones who didn't die, would they all be together...?

[hardnosed]

Maybe they were only treated differently here. It's just that their copies are still alive here, and it would be a waste not to use them.

[nothingcanstop]

If...everyone else's copies were dead, then why bring them back? If they're the only ones who lived, then...yeah. That'd make sense.

[hardnosed]

We know the last experiment took place in this fake reality. But that picture of them isn't anywhere we've ever seen. What if they're the real ones, and that's the real world?

[nothingcanstop]

That's what I'm thinking too.

[philoxenia]

Even if they were dead.... They might have had some sort of use, right? Why waste that because they were targeted--if they were a victim, anyway?

[nothingcanstop]

Maybe because he found everything he wanted from them.

[mouflon]

I think we had the right idea before. One group copies, one the originals. If the others weren't deemed useful to his cause, after the first experiment ended... Well, I'd guess the best they could hope for was a memory wipe and a menial job, like that other guy.

[bathymetric]

I suppose I cannot blame you for thinking me that cruel. But I am a little sad you think me that wasteful.

[fivestagegod]

Then we're on the right track with our other theory, then. You wiped their memories, and you're still using them. Or... Well, either that, or you're just using their bodies - death of the mind makes them resistant to remembering that anything happened at all, wasn't it?

[bathymetric]

Very good, Doctor Birkin.

[ He takes out his tablet. ]

I can tell you where they're all currently assigned, if you like.

[nothingcanstop]

...You're disgusting. You understand that, right?

[hardnosed]

Spit it out.

[bogwife]

[Ancestors, this man sucks.]

Is that it? Are those answers enough for you to finally show us your face?

[fivestagegod]

I'm not opposed to hearing it, but I'd rather you tell me to my face rather than hiding.

[philoxenia]

For someone so opposed to being wasteful, you're sure doing a lot of it with our time.

[hardnosed]

Seems like an awful lot of effort to drag 50 people across dimensions for an experiment.