Take Responsibility.

[andexecutioner]

The door at the northwestern corner of the foyer is open. It's hard to say when it opened, but the fact of the matter is that it seems to have; it leads to a separate hallway that seems to run alongside the dormitories. The hall is long and dimly-lit, but it's illuminated well enough to make it plain that the walls and floor in here are different; they're far less designed to give off an impression of grandeur - if anything, it's claustrophobic back here: the walls are close and darkly-colored, and the entire area is barren until it opens up into the room serving as your destination. The room is circular and high-ceilinged, covered in more of the exposed wood that lines the rest of the building; there aren't any visible lights, however, which is...odd, given how bright the place is. It lends the entire area a sense of unreality; it's easy to distract yourself from it, however, once you notice this place's centerpiece. In the center of the room is a circle of podiums, thirty in total, arranged so that everyone standing at them can see each other. So everyone can look each other in the eyes, if they so choose. The podiums are interlocked - there's no cutting across the center of the circle, and for good reason, it looks like there's a lot of nothing down there where the floor should be - and each is bearing the title of the person who's assigned to stand at it. No names, just adjectives, emblazoned across two brass panels on the very top and the front of each podium. Affixed to the podium itself is a panel with buttons on it, and again, there are thirty in total; next to the buttons are smaller strips of engraved metal to serve as labels, bearing the titles of everyone that's been present in the facility, living or dead. All of the podiums are identical, except for the one intended for Sayaka. The podium that should bear Attentive's title has had a black cloth draped over it, and a copy of Sayaka's profile photo is sitting on top of it, framed and colorless, an image in greyscale. Juri is nowhere to be found in here, but that doesn't mean you're alone down here; the feeling that you're being watched is strong, and he'll wait until you've had time to take in what you're looking at before he addresses you - over the public-address system again, from the sound of it. "Attentive's dead, and somebody's to blame for it - but you guys get to decide whether Rule Seven's carried out or not. It's your job to hold them responsible for what they've done. Good luck in doing it."

Comments

[gorira]

[ Not the end of the world. What's the edge of that knife look like? Jagged? Straight? ]

[middaymoon]

[ Curved, but smooth! No serrated edges here. ]

[gorira]

[ Hm...she may need a second opinion on it. ]

Hey, Aligula? You've seen the wound, so could a knife like Mahiru's work for it?

....MODS, YEAH, CMERE

[innocentloveholic]

[ HELL YEAH SHE'S BEEN CALLED ON— ]

Let's see! [ ...mahiru why you gotta be all the way down the fuck there— let's see!

If it's a straight edge I'd assume yes, but just to be totally sure: Could a boning knife work for Sayaka's awful tracheotomy? ]

[trustfelling]

[Yes, it could work!]

[innocentloveholic]

[ aww thanks for coming so quick ]

Yep, it totally could! [ ...so like, ] Why do you have a knife like that anyway, Detached? People don't usually have stuff they gotta debone for breakfast.

[middaymoon]

Isn't it obvious? I didn't even take a week for someone to give in and commit a murder. I wasn't keen on leaving myself defenseless.

[gorira]

She does have a point, but if the knife fits the description, then we can't rule anything out, can we?

While I don't want to make you out to be a suspect, would you mind if I checked you for wounds really quick? ...I'll make sure one of the bigger people covers us, so you won't have to worry about anyone else seeing.

[middaymoon]

If you like.

[ Once properly shielded from the rest of the group, she'll rather calmly let Chitoge check her over, revealing that there are no visible wounds on her. ]

[gorira]

[ Thank goodness we have so many giants here? Seriously. ]

Ah, phew. Sorry about that, didn't mean to accuse you. You understand, right?

[ She seems pretty relieved! ]

Mahiru's good, guys! No wounds whatsoever.

[middaymoon]

Of course. No apologies needed. As I said [ Brady ] it's important to consider all our options.

[meanttobe]

[He is not going to say anything but he is going to look very grumpy about it all.]

[gorira]

Especially if it's our necks on the line, we have to be as thorough as can be here. ...Though I still don't want to think that list of Sayaka's was a hit list...

[ She and Sayaka were...well, maybe not friends, but, she liked her, for sure. ]

I guess we have to consider that, too. No sense in closing our ears off to the truth, right?

[meanttobe]

[His face falls.] Not you too... Come on, can't we focus on something else and come back to this if it's the only thing left?

[innocentloveholic]

[ ....well like, looking at this group, ]

You've totally got a point. Boning knife's not really the type of thing I'd think about first grabbing though...

[gorira]

Gotta make do with what you have sometimes, right?

[middaymoon]

I'm far more used to using far longer blades. If I couldn't have one of those, I wanted something small enough to be a bit inconspicuous.

[innocentloveholic]

[ long blades... ooh! ]

Like swords and stuff? Neat! I didn't know anyone still used those in this day and age. [ ALIGULA RIGHT NOW ISN'T THE TIME— ] Okay, okay!

[ ....other people with their priorities on right can take over, Aligula's going to go back to her podium proper... ]

[middaymoon]

Most people don't, actually. My school was a bit of an oddity.

[losthisflower]

...I have seen swords being used in recent years where I am from. [I guess we're talking about swords now??]

[seventhprogenitor]

[... Hmmm. What are the pros and cons of stepping in, here. He'll watch to see what happens.]

[middaymoon]

[ You really want to start an arms race, Ferid? ]

[seventhprogenitor]

[You seem to be handling yourself well enough! No need to sway this way or that, he's content enough to wave.]

[mylanceisbiggerthanyours]

[...How long's the blade?]

[middaymoon]

[ Right at six inches. ]