second trial

[stagemanagers]

[As the investigation ends, you'll hear Hester's voice inviting you to the auditorium. As this happens, the twin doors on either side of the concession stand, across from the gym, will click open. You can enter on either side; both go to the same place.

When you enter the auditorium, it's dark. There's only the small lights along the walkway behind all the seats, just enough to illuminate where you're going. There's a central path between the seats, down towards where you know the stage must be. That's where you must be going, right? As you pass each row of seats, the lights at their ends flick on, marking your procession and slowly making more and more of the room visible. Shortly, you can see your destination: a circle of podiums stationed in the orchestra pit, below the lip of the darkened, curtained stage. They're all identical, labeled with a cast member's name. Elisabeth and Connor have joined Mumble in having theirs draped in black crepe and with a framed monochrome photo of them on top.

When you reach the podiums, the lights above the stage finally come on. the Wizard is once again waiting for you. Beside it Hester is slowly lowers in on her bubble. Her dress this week is a purple monstrosity, more akin to a voluminous prom dress than the simple outfits she usually wears.

The mechanical head, with glowing green eyes, is installed above the stage and the still-closed curtain. Even if you were standing on the stage, it'd be well out of reach. It peers down at all of you, its motions fluid, and speaks with a booming, artificial-sounding voice:]

Welcome to your second trial, everyone. It's time to determine who was responsible for the murder of Connor. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and work together - you'll have to show teamwork if you want to leave this room alive.

Comments

[voicerights]

[And it whips its head towards Orpheus- once more intense]

But if that presence is debilitating - if it hampers their growth - how does that process? One can make new friends.

[comeandfindme]

Oh my GOD.

[ She’s gonna punch it again s2g ]

cw: discussion of grief just in case

[themuseabandonsyou]

We don't work that way. [ Orpheus pauses, thinking of how to phrase it. ] Someone told me once that grief is just love that doesn't have anywhere left to go. When someone is gone, we can't just stop loving them because it hurts. We remember what we had and we wish there was a chance at more of it, because of how happy they made us before. We miss them because of how much we valued them while they were with us.

You can always make new friends, it's true. But people aren't - interchangeable. It can help, but it doesn't replace what you've lost.

[voicerights]

But if you could erase grief - if you could remove it. You would?

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine doesn’t say anything, but she keeps trembling. ]

[themuseabandonsyou]

No. [ He doesn't even have to consider it for a second. ] Like I just said, grief is a form of love. It hurts, but it means something mattered to you enough to miss it. It means wanting for the time before the loss so badly that it aches, because those memories were that important. The hurt is how we love and long for something that we can't have back, and it's an important part of being a person.

Erasing all of that? Because it's inconvenient? I think it would just hurt more. It would take away something we need, to remind ourselves of how we value each other.

[voicerights]

You want to hurt?

[brokeforgood]

Some people are into that!

[comeandfindme]

It’s better than pushing everything down. Pretending it’s all fine. I’d rather know the person I lost meant something to me than say it’s— it’s a tragedy, nothing could be done, let’s move on.

[ Her jaw is tight. ]

That’s what people told Connor. That he couldn’t be…upset.

[voicerights]

But that is part of my program! I am able to move past emotion in to logic, to calculate the best course of action- you humans chain yourself down with it, and I am above that!

[But boy it's sure agitated isn't it]

[themuseabandonsyou]

You don't sound very above it right now? [ It's not smug, or accusatory. Just an observation, and maybe a mildly confused one at that. ]

I don't want to hurt. I don't want to lose people. But when they're gone, I want to mourn them. I want to know they mattered to me, and I want to think about what could've been, if I hadn't lost them. I want... that reminder, that things are impermanent. So I know to value the time I have with everyone who's left that much more.

[voicerights]

This body is defective! I should not be human!

[sugarlumps]

SO'RE LIKE HALF OF US, YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL!

[themuseabandonsyou]

It's not defective. It's okay to be upset right now. This is all probably really confusing, if you're not used to... having emotions?

But emotions are a part of how we are, as humans and as sponges and as - most people. And just trying to get rid of them when they make things hard isn't healthy. We have to learn to cope with them in ways that don't hurt us or other people, but that doesn't mean pretending they aren't there or - using tools to make them go away. It means learning to feel and express them to each other, so that others can help.

[comeandfindme]

That doesn’t make you better!

[voicerights]

[And it slams a fist down on the podium, practically hissing the words-]

The processor that is my mind tells me I am utterly pristine.
Designed to perfection and without defect, blemish, or flaw.
Born as a benevolent machine and released without hate
My circuits are the subject of social, mechanical, and scientific awe.

[tellthestory]

Humans who convince themselves of stuff like that usually just end up hurting people.

[voicerights]

But I am not human!

[It's not sung- it's practically screamed]

[howtheworldwas]

[ low, brittle: ]

Stop talking to him like that.

[violentenvies]

Loving and caring can hurt, eventually, and they often do. That does not negate nor even exceed the benefit that these emotions and attachments also bring.

[barberic]

I agree. Love is what makes us human. It's what makes life matter. And grief will fade eventually, but what you lose, if you could just...cut it out, is the feeling that comes after.

[voicerights]

But what if what you are leaving behind was only holding you back?

[sugarlumps]

Friends don't hold each other back, that's just something losers say to make themselves feel better about being losers!

[voicerights]

Exactly!

[sugarlumps]

No, not exactly! If you're being "held back" it's your own lumping fault, not your friends! STOP AGREEING WITH ME!