week 4 - trial

[productions]

week four trial



[At 9 AM precisely, the old grandfather clock chimes once again, and the doors to the drawing room are opened. They will remain open until everyone has come inside, after which they will shut behind them. It is not possible to leave on your own, although perhaps if you have a specific purpose the hostess will allow you to go, as long as you are accompanied by a partner.

The room is set up comfortably, with several tables by the fireplace set out to assist with the trial. The Hostess will also remain in a seat near the fireplace, next to the scales on the mantle. At lunch, the doors will open to bring in a large meal on an automatically rolling buffet, and at 3 PM, tea and finger sandwiches will be served. You'll be able to enjoy the trial in comfort, of course, but the information cards set out on tables will not allow you to forget your true purpose here.

At 7 PM, the trial will adjourn for the day. Players will be escorted by the Hostess to the ballroom, where dinner and wine will be served until 10 PM, at which point players will be required to return to their wings in groups with their wingmates and will be locked in their bedrooms until 8:30 AM the following morning.]

victim



suspects



Character Statuses
Setting
Manor Rules
Cheat Sheet
Voting

Comments

[notyetlost]

[If Poland wasn't totally tangled in the tablecloth he would be launching peas at him.]

Why can't you just get my attention like a normal person you jerk?!

[pasodoble]

( Sticks and stones! )

Gracias, I'm a very trustworthy man. ( It sounds like someone totally just had selective hearing and didn't catch the first part. )

[pasodoble]

I called your name. Is that not how you get someones' attention at your house?

[godwhisperer]

[Looks...flattered???]

I see...thank you.

[inthebones]

I told you to think about what you say before you say it.

Random accusations based on how much you dislike me aren't helpful in the least.

[allice]

To chime in: theoretically we could. All her data up until Tuesday morning is in the computer, so it would just need to be uploaded into a functioning robotic body. The philosophical debate on whether it would be the same Rin or not is another 'food for thought' issue.

[speakveryclearly]

I've never really understood what "nice" or "bad" mean on Earth as personal qualities. To me they seem arbitrary and vague. Why is it superior to choose your own life over that of a stranger? Or for that matter to choose the life of one stranger over that of another stranger? And to what extent can that be outweighed by altruistic actions that don't have such high stakes? [Her words are getting almost lyrical here in their philosophical quality.]

If they accuse me based on anything other than evidence, I'll use that vampire speed of mine to fashion nooses for all of them out of the curtain cords.

[humanic]

Hey, if some girl wants me to be the Dark Lord Vampire Goth to her Queen of Nightmares, I'll play along. I can't promise I'll do it unsarcastically, but there's only so much a normal human being can stand.

[souredsweet]

...To be honest, Miss Sto Helit, that is why I had suspected you initially.

But your alibi has been corroborated, and no one else has a tracking ability, I believe. Still, it is... a massive risk to take, without being entirely certain that she would not be present.

[speakveryclearly]

True, by the time months have passed there wouldn't be much of a cast left anyway. [Somewhat genuinely worried by this thought because even if Kaoru weren't a suspect in today's trial there are plenty more trials to remedy that oversight...]

[allice]

So you're a runaway of some kind. Interesting. You certainly seem a lot more lax than our other resident magic types.

[inthebones]

I had the same thought. Golems can be repaired to an extent, far more than humans.

But if her memories are in there.

...And her body is... here.

Can't we put those back in... this?

[???]

[pasodoble]

Even if we can be sympathetic, I'm afraid this is a black and white jury.

[notyetlost]

[You know who takes naps all over this damn house? You Spain.

Poland will have his revenge.]

What?

[vytis]

[Stop guilt tripping him this is the second day now! But Lithuania feels sufficiently guilty so he will not respond.]

[humanic]

No, that'd be my best friend. Is there a character that shakes his head at everyone's terrible life choices and constantly has to wonder why hormones seem to suck every trace of common sense out of their brains? Because that'd be me.

[souredsweet]

So it would seem. Likewise, though, I did not notice anything unusual about Miss Maryam when she returned...

[vytis]

Maybe it was easier for her than facing the alternative? [Can robots go crazy?]

[notyetlost]

[That is basically the same thing as telling Poland to shut up.]

I'm just explaining why other people might not like you and would totally want to target you.

I don't like you for completely different reasons.

[pasodoble]

( Poland and Rapture should team up. )

Why does Miss Kaoru call you Lord Polska?

[souredsweet]

[Kaoru also is pretty much constantly concerned about winding up a suspect again, but with enough luck, that won't happen. ...though "luck" and "murder manor" together...]

Indeed. ...Well, we will work to eliminate that possibility.

[pasodoble]

( Opens mouth. Shuts it. Goes quiet. Thinking. )






I think that makes you the father.

[speakveryclearly]

When you and Poland were investigating this room you didn't make any progress on finding a "source", did you?

[aozaki]

That's better than nothing, thank you. I'll take it.

I was out for a smoke and see if I couldn't scavenge more loose wood pieces to kill time with later, if you must know, but that's moot when I can't well prove it by myself. So between 3:00 to 3:15? Taking in account of the secret passageway, I suppose it's plausible even with my constitution. It'd be cutting very close though, and I'll have to insist that high heels are very unpleasant and dangerous to run in.

[a beat.]

How about going back to revise the motive? You must've heard everyone's explanation.

[inthebones]

Fine.

Stiles and I will sit in the corner and converse about our favorite mystery novels while the rest of you solve the next case.

[Susan drops the almost theatrical outrage now and speaks more seriously.]

I have no sympathy for anyone who thinks to kill. None whatsoever. You can excuse it all you want, but at the end of the day, it's that attitude that will result in none of us leaving this house alive. We cannot allow it to take root. All of us are capable of rational thought; the only reason anyone dies is because someone else chooses to do it. Being paranoid isn't a reason. Being afraid of something isn't a reason. Wanting something isn't a reason. There is no good reason.

The enemy isn't them, as much as we'd like to think so. The enemy is us.

We've inflicted all of this upon ourselves, and we're only going to continue down this slope if we don't stop it.