third 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. Some of you have a detour to make beforehand- Hester lets you in to her office to drop off the precious cargo without incident. She then slips off to in the direction of the scene shop.

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. The SQUIP, the Balladeer and Rina now have 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. Either she was magicked up there or the catwalk repair had a very impressive turnaround time. The Dad Squad and Peregrine have already seen this week's look but those who haven't might notice the braid bun her hair is in has half-fallen out and her little white heels are covered in dirt.

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

Comments

[feudalladyshandmaid]

....That doesn't matter here.

[Poor Spongebob... Cassandra almost wishes she could be checked out of this trial without having to deal with it. But there's no sense in that now, not with Varian so close to the center of it. Her shoulders are tight, head forward. She's forcing herself to stay focused.]

We can all die here. That's what the Wizard wants.

[employeeoftheyear]

But... why are so many people here so eager to kill for a "maybe"? To kill a child for a maybe?

[He doesn't get it that people would want to murder at all, much less when they don't know if the Wizard would ever fulfill on the promises.]

[disharmonizes]

Oh, I'm very eager to hear the explanation from whoever did this.

[and........ have a casual chat with them. definitely.]

[sugarlumps]

If this was an accident, someone better come forward right the lump now.

[disharmonizes]

With the way all this evidence is shaking out, that would be one hell of an accident.

[sugarlumps]

...ugh, if someone stole my brilliant plan and did it alone even after everyone said it was dumb I'm gonna be even madder.

[And why Rina, seriously?]

The idea was to LUMPING DO IT TOGETHER!

[violentenvies]

[his hand tightens on Discord's]

...as am I.

[his brow furrows, though]

I don't know why, Spongebob, but we're going to find out.

[disharmonizes]

[...Discord maybe

calms slightly.]

Exactly.

[brokeforgood]

[Whispering]

Rip them the fuck apart.

[disharmonizes]

Can do.

[chaos dad is fucking pissed]

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob actually nods in agreement.]

I just can't imagine how anyone would do this and feel like this was the right thing to do! How could anyone think that killing Rina, killing all of us would be worth the possibility of the Wizard granting a wish.

[He choke back tears as he yells.]

I thought we were all family!

[comeandfindme]

[ Well that just breaks her heart, huh? ]

I don't know. [ Her own voice shakes, like Spongebob's. ] Some...sometimes... People think they're alone...when really they're not. And they can't see that until it's too late.

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice nods in agreement. Her own voice is soft, hollow. ]

Sometimes — sometimes people turn on you, just like the wind.

[violentenvies]

[hhhhh boy, Salieri's expression goes a bit pained at that]

[employeeoftheyear]

It's not fair.

Why would people be nice to you if they would kill you given the chance. It's just cruel.

[howtheworldwas]

[ oh, Spongebob. Eurydice's tone doesn't have any anger in it, not anymore. Instead, she's just sad. ]

People...want things. Sometimes they can get them by being nice. But other times, it's more -- [ Eurydice grips the podium, knuckles going pale. ] -- advantageous, to remove an obstacle.

[employeeoftheyear]

I-I can get people being mean to get what they want, but... I just don't get why they would lie to it. How could someone be so heartless...

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus just... edges closer to her, at that, sliding an arm around her shoulders even as he's unable to meet her eyes. ]

[howtheworldwas]

[ she leans close, in a wordless thank you. ]

[sugarlumps]

What? No, we're friends. Mostly.

[discord.]

That's way better, family sucks.

[disharmonizes]

[rude.

fair, but rude.]

[employeeoftheyear]

Family's great though. A family is when you have each other's back no matter what, to take care of each other no matter what.

[His eyes read "but I guess I was wrong about that".]

[sugarlumps]

...No that's definitely what friends are.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[A small glance towards Varian.]

So am I.

[howtheworldwas]

[ discord gets a small, curt nod. eurydice can’t say if she’s heard him make a decent point before but this? this is right on the money. ]