WEEK 5 TRIAL...?

[foundationmods]

TRIAL

Even though there's no guilty party left alive, The Lady ushers you all upstairs anyway. She looks...odd, her eyes glazed over in an odd manner, her motions a bit sharper than normal.

There's still the box, but for some reason it feels...ominous...?

And though she says nothing, music begins to play in the room...


VICTIM:
M̧̛̥͉̳̪͔͕̼͎̻͕͟Ì̤̝̩͇̝͖̠̬́͟͞͝ͅŅ̛̛͖̺͇́͜A̵̢̡̗̙͇̝̥̹͇̲̖̣̰̖͡T̶̵̸̗̼̼͍̘̞̠̀ͅǪ̸̸̨̞͇̪͚͇ ̨̼̪̖̯̻͙̤̬͉̟̭̙̟̗͡A̻̣̭̻̫͎͈̥͎̗̻͘͡R̢͇͚̻̦͟͝I̡҉̷̯̼̤̹̜̙̟̜̹̝̺̣͈̩̘̭͠S͏̶̜̬͔͈̭͉̯̪͙͓̪̻̖͉̩̕͜͟ͅͅA̡̢̻̥̠̭̯̻͇͖T̴̨̛͎̟͕̜̗̗̰̯̥̺̯̹͜O̧̧̭̥̺̱̺̠̞͜,̠̯͔̥̖̣͖̼̪͍̕͡͝ ͏͓̬͇̱͖̰̞̠̺͟R̵̡̛͍̰̯͔͖͚̣̼̼̲̻͡E҉̴̶̡͖͚͈͈̯̺̠̖̼Á͈̣̜̥̗͍̫̖̱̰̘͓̲̺̀̕͜͡N̴̸̵̨̰̭̖̰̯͖̩̺͇̟̱ ̧̖̱̣͖̲̙̲̖̟̩̭̩̬̝̟͚Ş̸҉̳̺͙͓̱̲̙̜͈̠̦̞͓͘͜C̴̵͙̫̰̫͕͓̲̬͔̯͝H̛͍̖ͅW̵̟̘̣̬͇̟̳̙̟͡A͙̗̩̟̣̥̪̮̯̮̜͙̮͎̗̳͎͚̹͘͞R̡̧̖̦̀̀ͅZ̹̺̙͕̰͘E͡҉̨̠͓̦͈̻̼̱͍́͝R̵̞͉͖̟̮͚̮̼͍̬͔̭̥͓̹̙̖̮̮͜


?̶̧͔̝̱́?̵̪̮̖ ̶̡̧͖̳͚G̖̬̳͜U̟͎͈̦̖̹̕E̗͈͚͎S̸͕̩T̷̲͖̬́S̩̝̻̲͟ͅ ͍̪̻R̯̟̩̲̻͍͡E̢̺̻͓M̫̦̲̲̼͡A̴̛҉̮̺̪̼̜̹̯Ị͘N͏͚͓̗͔̼̞̘.̙̥̮̳̩͘

Comments

[purrtagonist]

"It doesn't matter who wins, it matters who survives."

[swinging his gaze towards Kohaku at that]

Voting for Cinque ensures that Cinque dies, but not the Doppelganger, since we don't know the proper execution method anyway.

[dolleyed]

Point taken.

[ He nods. ]

I mean, if we play our cards right, we'll get our dead back either way... we just don't know how to play them and who we need for that.

[purrtagonist]

[a deep breath. . .]

[he closes his eyes, hands balled into fists at his sides]

. . . I hate this.

[he mutters, words harsh. he has an idea, but he doesn't want to say it aloud]

[dolleyed]

Anyone here who doesn't?

[ Out with it, Akira. ]

[purrtagonist]

[he doesn't want to comply, this game is shit, he wants to fight the rules, to rebel against them, to do his own thing to start a revolution to be Joker to be anyone but powerless and helpless Akira Kurusu who watches his friends die and his beloved thieves be possessed--]

. . . volunteers.

People who volunteer. People who aren't-- afraid to die. Who trust the rest of us to secure them new bodies through the Foundation.

[justfists]

[if you so much as think of volunteering, Akira]

[purrtagonist]

[IF YOU SO MUCH AS THINK OF VOLUNTEERING, MAKOTO NIIJIMA--]

[justfists]

... I don't agree with this, but...

[purrtagonist]

You think I do?

[he sure as shit does not]

[justfists]

... [she looks to be thinking.

and she can't really continue the conversation, sorry, Akira]

[purrtagonist]

[reaches for her arm, touching it gently]

[duskhound]

That's really our only choice here, isn't it...?

[purrtagonist]

. . . don't misunderstand. This suggestion isn't me conceding to the game rules, or admitting that we lost.

It's a hump we have to get over to make our way to the end.

[duskhound]

Obviously. I mean, we have everything we need to resolve things, except time.

[And that last box, but.]

[purrtagonist]

. . . I don't know if we have everything we need just yet, but I know we do still need time. No matter what.

[duskhound]

Okay, I admit, we don't have quite everything, but at this point there are only so many places the missing pieces can be, and they all seem to point in the same direction.

[purrtagonist]

The brain, right?

[he knows]

[maskarang]

... I don't agree with this plan. We don't need martyrs. If every single capable person here volunteers themselves, where does that leave us? We need to figure out who here can find a way to get through the rest of this game.

[purrtagonist]

And risk killing someone who is afraid to die, because we as a whole don't deem them "useful" enough to get us through the rest of the game?

I can't agree with that plan.

[maskarang]

And your plan would see Ripley perish. How many here actually agree she should die? Especially when, from where I'm standing, her motive for volunteering is guilt.

[ a sigh ]

I understand this isn't a permanent death, not if we succeed, but that's all the more reason to discuss each other's skills rather than blindly choose the first people willing to become victims.

[purrtagonist]

Nobody thinks she should die. But nobody here thinks anyone should die. I think this game is bullshit, and I'd love nothing more than to flip off the Resort and tear my way to the brain so I can give the Outsider a piece of my mind in perso.

But there's no good option, here. There's no right way to vote.

[maskarang]

No, there isn't.

... But I can compromise. You want a volunteer, I want to choose someone suitable. I can acknowledge I'm the wrong tool for this job—and better me than someone offering out of guilt.

[purrtagonist]

[kind of. taken aback by that]

Are--

. . . are you volunteering?

[rosebridled]

[ ... ]

[purrtagonist]

[HE LOOKS SO VERY UNHAPPY ABOUT THIS. . .]