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]

Ripley-san--

[a kneejerk NO!1 reaction from this guy]

[xenoqueen]

No. Listen--for God's sake, listen to me. My entire job is to fucking take the fall for someone else!

[purrtagonist]

[a long pause, and he's thinking back to the conversation they had right outside his door, the week Iwai and Shirou and Inaba were killed]

-- that doesn't make it right or okay!

[xenoqueen]

[She lets out an absurd laugh.] Do you think they care about it being right or okay?! If it means that someone else doesn't have to die, so be it!

[She shakes her head.] I should've fucking died weeks ago!

[purrtagonist]

No. . .!

There is no should've! If we're talking about "should've," then nobody here should've died at all!

Ripley-san. . . you're part of the reason I'm still alive, aren't you?

[xenoqueen]

...

[She looks away from Akira, crossing her arms.]

Yes.

[purrtagonist]

. . . then you didn't fail in your job. You didn't. Just because you didn't die for someone doesn't mean you failed.

[she kept him alive. and while he would've rather died over Shirou or Inaba or Iwai. . . that counts for something]

[xenoqueen]

[...]

I know that.

[She exhales sharply.]

Dammit, I know that. But I didn't come this goddamn far for someone else to die in my place when I know I can do something to prevent that. [Pause.] If that means dying myself, I'll take it.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . her resolve is strong, that's for certain. and Akira swallows thickly, eyes slipping shut]

Are you sure, Ripley-san. . .?

[xenoqueen]

[Ripley gives Akira a curt nod. Her expression is stoic, unwavering. A soldier.

A knight.]

I'm sure.

[purrtagonist]

[she's so strong, he thinks to himself. sturdy and reliable, someone they need in whatever is to come. she doesn't deserve to die. no one here does, but especially not her]

[especially not when she kept him alive during the period he was most vulnerable]

. . .

I hate this game.

[xenoqueen]

[She lets out a humorless laugh.]

Buddy, you can fucking say that again.

[purrtagonist]

. . . I hate this.

You don't-- deserve to die.

[xenoqueen]

None of us do. But it's not like the Resort fucking asked us.

[purrtagonist]

[ha. . .]

And it's not like we remember if the Foundation asked us, either.

[. . .]

. . . Ripley-san.

Thank you.

[xenoqueen]

[...

She looks away from Akira.]

It's just business, kid. Just doing what had to be done.

[purrtagonist]

["just business" kept him alive. he doesn't. . . think he can ever repay that]

[so instead, he just nods curtly at her]