WEEK 11 - TRIAL

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (11)

saturday TRIAL DAY ONE (13) survivors At 9 AM, a klaxon alarm begins blaring in every area of the ship. The alarm will continue to go off until everyone has gathered in the conference room. Should anyone be running late or avoiding the trial for whatever reason, a robot guide will appear wherever they are and gently but firmly escort them into the room. Once all the living players are present, the conference room doors will lock shut; anyone who wishes to leave for whatever reason will need to ask AL-2955 or one of the robots. Anyone leaving for non-investigative purposes, such as bathroom breaks, will be accompanied by a robot escort. The large round table in the center of the conference room has been set up to help the trial run as smoothly as possible. Three holographic screens hover above the center hollow of the table, visible from every angle. The first screen displays the pictures and profiles of the suspects and victim; the second displays the autopsy report; the third displays a blank word processor. Each of the chairs comes equipped with a virtual keyboard which can be used to type information directly into the third screen, such as theories and updated information; they can also be set into privacy mode, which will transfer whatever notes someone writes directly into their datapad instead of on screen. There's also a tablet function for those who wish to draw charts or pictures on screen. The keyboards will detect the DNA of whoever's using them and record who's typed what - simply press an area of text and the name of whoever wrote it will pop up. The area to the right of the table has been temporarily sectioned off with a glass partition and sliding door for hygienic issues. Inside, the victim's body has been laid out on a metal autopsy table, covered by a plastic sheet. Above it is a holographic screen that displays a close-up color photograph of the body when it was found. A hand sanitizer dispenser has been considerately attached to the wall nearby for anyone getting up close and personal to the body. To the left of the conference table is a display case. Any evidence found during the investigation will be carefully collected by the robots at some point the previous day and placed here before the trial starts. Beneath each piece of evidence is a small tablet where players can type up information, such as a short description or where it was found. There are also empty areas left over for any evidence that may be found during the trial. The shelf at the very bottom of the case has been reserved for an extra rulebook in case anyone needs it. Food will be served throughout the day by the robots, who will take individual orders whenever you're feeling hungry. The trial will end at 9:00 PM, at which point all players will have been expected to cast their vote.

victim



suspects



Character Statuses
Setting
Rulebook
Voting

Comments

[douchemag]

Seriously, good fucking riddance. [He's snickering right along with her. Yeah, maybe they're all fucked without Alice, but whatever it's still better than when she was around as far as he's concerned.] I'd thank whoever did it if they weren't a [vague handwave as he makes a demony face] Sowhatevershit.

[He actually hums in thought before shaking his head.] Nah. Think we got a better chance now than we had before, actually. And even if we're screwed...a giant eye demon monster's simple, y'know? If we're stronger than she is, then we take her out, and if not, we die. That's it. No need to worry about hostages or trials or executions or the ship blowing up if we don't follow the rules or any of that bullshit.

[socloverit]

[She's trying to imitate his demony face and giggling, because giant eye monster trauma becomes a little less terrible when silly faces are involved, and she definitely cannot make a serious demony face.]

You're probably right. [She'd like to hold out hope that they can get this ship moving yet, or someone—the Nuwa, maybe, if they've really lucked out—will stage some grand rescue if they don't find something in the ship themselves. Long term thinking has never been her forte, though, and she's still reeling over everything else, so she hasn't considered where they'd go from there.] If we're gonna die, this is probably the way to do it.

[But he's definitely not getting out of a conversation about death without getting fucking doxxed.] I'm really glad you made it out of there okay. [For...given values of "okay," given. Everything???? But he's here and laughing and alive despite it all.]

[douchemag]

[Considering she's talking about them dying, he probably shouldn't be grinning as eagerly as he is now...but there it is anyway.]

It's about fucking time. That fight with Fiona was sooooo disappointing. I want an actual challenge this time.

[But ugh!! If he was sober right now, he'd be grossed out by this blatant doxxing, but alas he just looks ridiculously smug and cheerful about his survival, even though he didn't do shit to cause it.]

Whaaaat, don't tell me you were worried! No way was I gonna die from something that lame.

[you literally walked into the trial going KILL ME you fucking asshole]

[socloverit]

Sorry, I spent how long yelling at you before you decided to quit trying to hurry up the voting? [harrumph!!! She can't even really be mad about it, though, when he's so stupidly cheerful and—and here. The queen had made her relive all those deaths and forced her through more she never thought could be worse than what she'd imagined, and she still feels small and scared and helpless. Her brother is dead, Arumat and Machias are dead, Junpei is dead and Alice's prospects are slim—and despite what she saw, despite everything working against it, Judar's still here. It's almost like hope, if anything is anymore.

And okay, this was happening whether or not he was gonna be a dick about friendship as usual—the good news is that she's mindful of his cool new bullet wound because being shot up isn't fun, dealing with physical contact after being shot up is super not fun, and she relates enough to actually be something close to careful! The bad news is that this asshole is getting a goddamn hug.]

[douchemag]

I don't remember--[But then he's cut off by her hugging him? Rude.

Actually, while he certainly will never admit to needing a hug and it's something that would never even occur to him, she'll be able to instantly tell just from touching him that under all the cheerfulness and 'who the fuck cares' attitude, he's shaking pretty badly. It's the combination of a lot of factors: general stress and exhaustion, relief from escaping his execution, rage and terror from the vision the Queen showed him.

It's the last thing that gets him to not only tolerate the hug for more than a split second, but even unconsciously lean into it as his breath hitches for a moment. Because that wasn't just a potential future the Queen showed him; it's his past, from when he was too blind to realize just how much he's been controlled, how he's never made a real choice in his entire life. And more than death, more than execution - the thought of ever being forced to go back to that, to be shackled again to someone else's decision on his fate, absolutely terrifies him down to his core.

So it's Clover's touch, here and now and real, that he latches on to as an anchor. Because - he made a choice, and he chose her, and this is the result. More than Kougyoku, maybe even more than Hakuryuu; she's someone who never thought of him as 'Magi' first and 'Judar' second, who he never had to consider as a potential king candidate, who doesn't look at him and see the power he can provide her before anything else. He chose her and she chose him based on nothing but the people they are and - that's a fucked up way to view friendship or their relationship, but it's the best frame of reference he has. He doesn't need friends, but proof that he can somehow matter outside of his fate as a Magi? That's pretty damn important.

So yeah. He's not far gone enough to actually hug her back, but he does let the hug linger for a few moments past plausible deniability before he starts weakly trying to shove her off.]

Ugggh, get off me, you're making me all sweaty and gross.

[socloverit]

[It shouldn't but it surprises her when she feels him shaking and she immediately feels ashamed for it, for having assumed that things were...not okay, she's not that stupid, but close. She's trying to be careful but she hugs him a little tighter like she's trying to steady him, her face buried against his uninjured shoulder. It's not entirely selfless because goddamn does she need a hug, and it means so much to her that she can be so close right now to someone who was supposed to die, but she's been so worried and with the threat passed for now, the next focus is on getting better, and that means both of them—that means him, mostly. Even if she's struggling to keep herself afloat, she's tired of drowning in her grief so completely that she leaves behind everyone she cares about, too. She doesn't want the Queen to be right about her, always shrinking away and never helping, and it's a small thing, but the fact that he isn't immediately throwing a temper tantrum, never mind that he's even leaning into it, is as much an indication as anything that he could probably really use a hug. So here she is.

And she's...not going anywhere when he tries to shove her off?? Nope. She's not a squishy mage and she's uninjured he's just gonna have to deal right now!!!] Ugh, no. [Don't make friends with chihuahuas, she's just as aggressively affectionate and clingy and she's not letting him go just yet.] Gimme a hug, you ass. [It is very hard to sound demanding while on the verge of tears. That's totally not going to work anyway and she'll let him go in a moment when he inevitably continues trying to writhe away from her, but first, she adds, quieter:]

I'm just—I'm really happy you're here right now. [Here and alive and grounded and grounding her and in her arms and breathing and still having come to find her in spite of everything, and it's almost like hope and it almost makes forcing enough faith that she could move on worth it and for once, she's not so alone.]

[douchemag]

[Wow, taking advantage of the wounded, he sees how it is!! He'd protest harder, but honestly he's actually pretty used to tiny pink-haired limpets clinging on to him, so he just winds up grumbling.]

No waaaay, do I look like Adrien to you? [But one hand will come up anyway and just...awkwardly pat her on the shoulder twice. Listen, this is the first hug he's ever been in that isn't a dumb 'sling one arm over the shoulder of someone who definitely doesn't want to be touched' gestre, baby steps.

Her last comment startles him though - enough that he's too taken aback and drunk to hide the flustered and ridiculously pleased expression on his face at it. It's incredibly pathetic, but yeah...he likes to feel needed and valuable, even if it's just for his power. It's why he chose Hakuryuu to be his king, and why he actually stops trying to shove her off now.]

Well...yeah, you totally should be. Imagine having to be stuck with all of these super boring people for who knows how long. It'd be soooo awful.

[socloverit]

[He's definitely just doomed himself by just kinda resigning himself to being clung to, now she has no reason to leave him alone!!!]

Ugh, Adrien would hug me without whining about it. [don't be a stinker!!! But she'll take an awkward shoulder pat, and since she's pretty sure too much affection is going to kill him and she doesn't especially want to start bawling all over him and she's totally gonna if this keeps up, she gives him one last tight squeeze before she lets him go, only backing up a little bit, because she's still clingy.

She's got to move to wipe her eyes right away, like if she's quick enough her tears will go unnoticed, but she's making an effort to roll them while she's at it in hopes of sass overcoming sniffles.]

Some of them aren't so bad. [Like, two of them.] But it'd suck. Dunno what I'd do without you. [It's way harder to sound snarky when she also really means it??]

[douchemag]

Exactly. That's why he sucks and I'm way better. [this is definitely how it works

And normally he'd make fun of her for crying, but this conversation is already getting emotionally too real, it's gross? What the fuck. Not that he doesn't love being flattered, but not when there's actual emotions involved. So now he just looks kind of awkward and ready to get back to being executed.]

Probably go crazy and kill all the morons on this ship. That's what I'd do. [WHY DOES HE SOUND SO CASUAL ABOUT THIS, GOD....]

[socloverit]

[AN INTENSELY DUBIOUS SQUINT AND IT IS ONLY INTENSIFYING AS HE CONTINUES...... JUDAR WHY.........

except. listen. casual murder talk aside, this is an opportunity for bullying if she's ever been given one, and this has definitely gotten too real and they've got a status quo to return to.] Aww, you'd miss me that much? [stop]

[douchemag]

[IMMEDIATELY MAKING A FACE] If I were you, I mean! I wouldn't care at all. Not that I wouldn't kill everyone here if I had to, but it wouldn't be because of that!

[socloverit]

[ah good everything is as it should be]

Liar, you'd so care, that's not even funny. [maybe not "murder everyone" care but HMPH HMPH HARRUMPH THAT'S THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR FRIENDSHIP ASSHOLE] Besides, you'd get bored without me. [less attempted murder to babysit, more doors left intact, what would be the point]