laughing in the face of fear

Free to not come feels like a taunt, so of course Yuki does come, if only to show that they’re not going to miss out on information by playing to expectations. As it turns out, it isn’t just information they would’ve missed out on if they hadn’t shown up in the Hotel Lobby after the call, and now they kind of wish they did miss it. 

At first it doesn’t feel real. Maybe that’s why they all just stand there and watch it happen - it’s fast, sure, but it’s not like everyone here is slow a slow thief is a dead thief or like they haven’t all seen enough shit by now to react instead of freeze. Yuki doesn’t feel frozen. They feel more like - like Kai is a Danger now, has started beeping on their Threat radar ever since the trial and the later disastrous encounter in the Kitchen and wow they’ve never hated being right so much. Yuki’s pretty sure they could take him, but they’re equally sure they don’t want to get in range of someone stabbing wildly when it’s obviously too late to save Alexandra anyway and it’s - it’s not like they even like her, they don’t, they’d been planning to do some kinda prank with Morgan and huh that’s not gonna happen now but even if they didn’t like her, even if they’d thought about socking her in the mouth pretty frequently, this is still a whole ass murder happening in front of them.

How many times are they going to have to see someone die…? They’re pretty sure they’ve surpassed the average Zero by a solid Three at this point. Their mother, then Souko, now Alexandra. They at least hadn't seen Vyolette die, though seeing their body so soon after the fact might count. Did it count? It still felt pretty fucking bad. Worse than this? Yeah, probably, but this also sucked.

“What the fuck…?” Yuki says slowly, and they should do something, maybe get the knife away from Kai? Or would that just be another risk? They could do it, but they might get hurt in the process, might get cut, might get an infection, and for what? Alexandra is already dead. 

Someone else is doing something now, anyway. A stranger, some creepy woman who looks like a Lord of the Rings extra with appalling vibes and fucked up eyes drops from the ceiling, of all places, and Yuki isn’t scared of spiders but that silhouette looked like a really fucking big spider, so they have to take a moment to re-evaluate the situation.

Of course it hadn’t worked. Not for a second did they think it would or maybe, they have to admit, they would’ve done it themself days (weeks?) ago. But it didn’t take a genius to know it wasn’t that simple, and they’re less than impressed with Kai’s reasoning if he really thought it was. Was this him acting out of spite? Was he just venting some rage? Or did he really believe Alexandra was the one in control and that killing her would make it all end?

Bea’s introduction and her explanation of the motive are background noise that Yuki has to replay in their head, but they’re not completely distracted. It’s only when Bea tugs the weird Doctor guy into the Office (used to be Alexandra’s but not now) that they move, to the dead body on the floor, stepping nimbly around any blood that’s pooled or splattered around it and squatting down to rifle through the pockets with quick, efficient movements, hands darting to and fro as whatever items they find are swiftly transferred into their own pockets. Then they stand and move over to the webbed Kai on the floor. 

…On second thought maybe they should just leave him there. He’d just killed someone, after all, and he still had the knife. Probably he could cut himself free just fine. Yuki isn’t the type to kick someone while they’re down, not unless the person’s been even more of an asshole than Kai’s been, but they don’t feel like they want to help him, either. Not anymore. And as a general rule Yuki avoids doing things they don’t want to do wherever possible.

But…

But…

They’re still in this together, aren’t they? All of them? Trapped in this stupid ‘game’ and this impossible situation? You don’t have to like someone to recognize when you’re in the same boat with them. 

Yuki curses under their breath and whips out their pocketknife to start sawing at the silken strands, trying to cut Kai loose. 

“Anyway, On to the Motivation to get this round of the Ritual goin! The good doctor.” She Motions to the doctor who just stood there and watched Alexandra Die.

“The good Doctor has offered to Fix you all up nice ‘n pretty! Any possible cosmetic or health related issue adjusted to your exact specifications! Chronic illness gone! Never liked the way your face looks in the mirror! Your dream face could be yours! And all for the Stunningly low price of someone going to meet the inevitable end.”

She giggles once again throwing her arm around the Doctor’s shoulder like they were best friends.

[Arachnophobia warning]

Everyone’s reactions were amusing but little later than Alexandra’s body hit the floor did Kai also hit the floor. A sticky net of spiders silk descending from the roof coming down to Trap them. Following the net’s trajectory upwards reveals a blonde woman in a lovely flowing outfit slowly descending on her own strand of silk. When the woman touches the floor the silhouette of a large 8 legged creature scuttling into the shadows of the ceiling.

“Now now Darlin that simply won't do. I know Alexandra was a crotchety old bitch but did you have to go an do a murderin on her poor soul?”

She saunters up to Alexandra’s corpse, her bright pink heels getting coated in blood, She gently nudges Alexandra’s body with the toe of her shoe.

“Sweetpea.” She addresses Kai in the floor. “I haven't Decided what to do with you yet. But honey, Y’all Need someone on your side to get you through the rest of this ritual and y’all just went and stabbed the nicer woman.”

She then stands up and Addresses the group.

“Oh well never mind that... It’s a pleasure to meet you all my name is Beatrice Cromwell, but you can Call me Bea, Or Ms. Cromwell if you please. I’ll be y’alls new… Well Guide is a bit gauche but that’s about the best i have for you, before you go gettin the idea i’ll just be letting you out of the ritual just cuz you’ve gotten rid of the behodin’. No hon y’all ain’t got a choice in the matter. Hehe.”

She Giggles, like she just told a wonderful joke.

Alexandra’s Expression is one of knowing as Kai Approaches. Of course she knows. She can see everything in the hotel as clearly as reading the news on the front page of the sunday paper. As Kai places a hand on her shoulder she smiles a thin smile at him and says

“I forgiv-” Her Words are cut off as the knife plunged into her stomach with force but she doesn't scream, she simply Grunts as it’s inserted and withdrawn.Several times in fact, That she hadn’t accounted for as the air leaves her lungs and blood begins to pool in her throat. This hurt but to show weakness now was….unacceptable so she continued not to scream as Kai Laid into her.

Then She was let go and She crumpled to the floor. Even if she could summon Juniper to her side She was dying. She knew that. And Quickly. Her lungs stopped inflating thanks to the puncture wounds. She knew that.

Soon her heart would stop, she knew that. Then her brain would die shortly after. That was the last thing she knew as the interior of the hotel swirled around her and her vision went dark.

Alexandra had died.

“Dear guests please at your earliest convenience make your way to the lobby. I have another motive to share with you all, of course you’re free to not come but i would recommend it.”

Alexandra Says to you all through your mind. When you arrive there’s a figure standing next to her chatting away. Some of you may recognize Dr.Bogomolov from the hospital. Once a fair number of you gather Alexandra begins.

“The good Doctor has offered….”

She stops and looks at Kai. She nods at the good Doctor who takes a step back.

“Mx.Hua… I believe you have business with me?”

Kai has just been standing there, with the others, hands in his pockets and looking neutral as ever. There’s no way of telling if he’s surprised by being called on by name or not, aside from his silence, which stretches on for a good minute, long enough to make some wonder surely if he’s just not going to do anything. Maybe something was planned and he got cold feet…? But then, he takes a step forward, then stops and closes his eyes for a moment. After he opens them again, another step follows, and he is simply, very casually, walking towards Alexandra, in fact he seems focused only on her.

Once the verdict, if it can be called such, is handed down, there’s… not much to say, is there? Yuki has never been the quiet type, but they just don’t really have any words. Anger, dismay, frustration, all the emotions are there, but what can they actually say at this point? Nothing that matters.

It sure sounds like they were right, that Souko did it, but… she’s not saying anything. Not even to Kimiko or Morgan, who are bidding her perfectly civil, sympathetic farewells. Yuki thinks even if they tried to do that it would just come off sour and performative. They’d made it pretty clear what their vote was, after all, and Souko’s going to die now, so even if they wanted to give her a more vocal piece of their mind, that’d feel too petty. 

When the weird sludge stuff swallows her up, and proceeds to form a screen on the wall, they’re actually really glad they didn’t say anything harsh. Because holy shit, no matter what she did to Vy, or what might’ve happened to anyone else who wandered in at the wrong time, she doesn’t deserve that.

“What the fuck!?” Yuki’s voice comes out high and strained and rough from shock and incredulity and fury and they slide off their podium, both feet planting firmly on the floor for stability. “Stop - stop that!” Of course it doesn’t stop. It’s not stopping, not until Souko is a dead lump of flesh and Yuki feels a scream clawing up their throat, or maybe that’s nausea, but whatever it is they stubbornly swallow it back down and round angrily on Alexandra.

“What the fuck is wrong with ya?” They bellow, slamming their hands down onto the top of their podium. “That was sick! Ya can’t just do that to people!”

Completely incensed and deeply unsatisfied by the casual reactions of Alexandra and the other ‘hosts’, Yuki lets out a rough shriek of frustration and kicks their podium hard enough to rattle it before they stomp over to the elevator, flushed and trembling with anger so strong it makes tears bead in their eyes. They’d thought they’d known what to expect from the end of this trial, they’d thought they’d understood what it would mean, for one of them to be executed.

As the Execution ends the sludge falls down the wall and the glass above you all seems to seep inward as if it were made of a clear molasses.

"We never did get this part quite right did we?" Luca questioned as the room dissolved.

"Dear Guests. I'd explain what was happening but the short version is that the trial room will cease to exist so if you'd like to exist past the next five minutes, Get on the elevator. " Alexandra called the elevator and the doors slid open. she entered with expedience. Holding the door open so that her guests could follow her. Cody waved from beyond his podium.

The Black tar like substance surrounds Souko's podium and in an instant encases the nail artist and as the substance sinks into the floor you think of how impossible it would be for Souko to have disappeared yet when the sludge clears she is nowhere to be seen.

The sludge climbs the wall and forms into a screen in which you could see Souko in a room. Alone.

Statement begins..... The lights flicker off, just for a moment. A dimmer light is turned on pretty quickly, revealing Souko sitting in a chair that wasn't there before.

It’s the same style of chair one would find in a hair salon, and the source of the light is a vanity mirror.

From the darkness around her, shadowy hands reach forward, holding Souko down in the chair, claws digging into her skin. The material of the hands hardly seems to be tangible, but they're real enough to draw blood from the places they're grabbing Souko.

“Sit still, darling!” A voice hisses from within the darkness. “We're gonna make you look real nice.”

There's a cacophony of giggles that follows, and some of the voices sound a bit familiar.

She's yanked back by her hair, and some strands are ripped out. The voices in the darkness chatter to themselves in amusement at her pain, and it's easier to tell why some of the voices are familiar - it's your voices, all of yours.

More hands reach out from the darkness, ripping into her arms and legs, drawing even more blood. Souko whimpers and bites her lip, the first reaction she's given in a while.

The hands continue to claw at her, scratching up her arms and torso. It certainly looks painful, but isn't until a hand grabs at her face that tears form in her eyes.

“No, not - ”

[CW Gore]

Her protestations are cut off by a hand covering her mouth, then gripping into her cheek and pulling at her skin. The rest begin to follow suit, going from scratching at her skin to ripping at it, skinning her alive.

[End CW]

The pain is too much for even her to ignore, and she finally screams. She screams and screams and she doesn't stop, not until her throat is too sore for her to scream anymore.

Not until the blood loss and the shock from the pain is too much, and her life fades away.

It wasn't fair, This wasn't a real court and this wasn't a proper trial. Was it fair for Vyolette to die? Probably not, but neither was this kangaroo court. After some discussion, Luca cleared their throat. Their Scuba Mask causing it to sound Raspy and weak.

"U-uh.....Alexandra....It's....The room."

As they say that you notice the shimmering black paint of the walls begins to collect and congeal and run towards the floor.

"You're correct Mx.Abe...." Alexandra sighed.

"Its time dear guests. The trial is over. I will now reveal the conclusion that you have come to. The Tally is as follows."

Souko: 5 Morgan: 1 Default: 7

"You have identified Souko Toersi As the killer of Vyolette Latham."

"Souko if you have any final thoughts now would be the time to share them. Otherwise we will move on to punishment shortly."

The black Tar like substance sloughing itself off the wall begins sluggishly moving it's way towards Souko's podium. It would be over soon.

If this were a real trial, in a real court room, then it would be a failure. Yuki doesn’t actually know much about genuine legal procedure, they’ve been fortunate enough never to see the inside of a court room that wasn’t a set for a movie or tv show. Still, they know that there’s plenty of reasonable doubt here, which is a thing that comes up a lot in American movies and stuff. 

But this isn’t a real trial or a real court room, or anything approaching legal. The only thing real here is the murder. That’s for sure real, unfortunately, and the sight of Vyolette’s body is definitely going to be a recurring image in their nightmares for the foreseeable future. Thanks for the new trauma, killer. Anyway, the point is…

“I don’t believe ya.” Yuki says finally, in Souko’s direction. They were definitely hoping for something more concrete. It would’ve been great if someone else happened to remember another clue or if Morgan had a rock solid alibi, or if Souko had confessed. Yuki doesn’t know for sure if this would’ve felt easier if she had, but she hadn’t, and it feels real bad, actually. Their anger is present but uncertain, untargeted, they know they’re far from the smartest person around, but they’re not indecisive and it doesn’t seem like the smarter people have a better answer, so. Instead of getting to denounce a killer with righteous fury, they’re having to denounce a suspect with a kind of dogged frustration and a lingering, underlying anxiety about being wrong about accusing someone they didn’t even dislike, and what that might mean.

“Sorry, uh. I just don’t.” They shrug, frowning in Souko’s direction and shooting a quick evaluating glance around the room to try and gauge what other people are thinking. The old lady’s warning prompts them to roll their eyes and scoff, but Yuki does slide off their podium and move to scowl at the mysterious tablet on top that they’re totally very sure wasn’t there before, but whatever. Hardly the weirdest shit about this place. 

“If it’s down t'her or Morgan, then… I think it’s gotta be Souko-chan. I know that’s not the best argument or nothin’ but it ain’t like we got anythin’ else t'go on. I guess we could just like… not vote anyway, let it be random. But I’d rather know, an’ I am pretty sure it’s her. Like, she was in the Convenience Store at the right time, nobody’s confirmed her alibi after, an’ the ring fits. Plus it jus’ makes more sense for the ring t'belong t'her since she’s wearin’ ones that look like it, an’ I never seen Morgan wearin’ a ring so I ain’t think they’re lyin’ ‘bout that. Or about not havin’ a motive - they could be lyin’, I just don’t get that vibe. They’re weird, they really ain’t seem t'care 'bout dyin’ or none a’ that.”

There’s actually nothing indicating that Yuki thinks this is negative. Weird, sure, but hey it isn’t hurting them so who really cares? Morgan can not fear death all they want, as far as Yuki’s concerned.

“That’s where I’m standin’, dunno 'bout the rest a’ ya.” Yuki squints at the tablet for another few seconds, though whether they’re hesitating or perhaps just waiting another beat to see if anyone jumps in with a last minute alternative after all, it’s hard to say. Ultimately, however, they do tap the screen, indicating they probably input a vote.

For a few minutes Yuki seems fine with sitting and letting the first volunteers come to them for testing. They don’t announce the results right away, figuring that just in case the ring fits multiple people it’d be better to check all possibilities first before shouting out anything that might lead to instant dogpiling. So when Morgan, Ashley, and Alexa come over, Yuki just nods in approval of their willingness and attempts sliding the ring on their fingers. Probably also best to check multiple fingers, to be sure.

While this is happening they’re also keeping an ear on the ongoing conversation, though they’re mostly only half-listening in case it sounds like something important comes up. It’s a bit of a surprise that no one is berating them for their little stunt, but hey, it wasn’t like they’d hurt anyone and now they all can at least use this evidence, so it’s… kind of nice that people seem to understand. Even Kai isn’t yelling at them or anything, and they’d braced themself for that. 

Once it seems like everyone who’s going to come over on their own has, Yuki hops up to make a circuit of the room to get the rest. Or most of the rest. They go to Teddi first, since he’s closest, then on to Souko, where they linger for a moment, squinting down at her hands, then they hum a bit and skip right past Shiori and Shiloh Lee - evidently they can either tell at a glance that the ring won’t fit those two, or just don’t consider them worth checking. Neither of them really looks like skull rings would fit their aesthetic. 

Occam is next, followed by Keisha - who says something that makes Yuki grin and wink at her, and then Yuki makes a quick stop by Kimiko, who is still standing with Kai. They do glance briefly at Kai, like maybe they’re seeing how he’s doing, but they don’t say anything to him or attempt to test the ring on him. 

Last but not least they move on to Flint, do a quick comparison, and finally head right on back to their own podium, perching atop it and idly tossing the ring between their hands, a faint furrow in their brow.

“Well, there’s only two people it really fit.” Yuki announces, seeming uncharacteristically hesitant for a beat or two. They’d been expecting things to get narrowed down, of course, that was the hope, but now that it feels more like they could be personally Dooming someone it doesn’t seem like such a great thing. 

Still. Vyolette was dead. And Yuki could’ve died, too, if they’d arrived at the Arcade just a little earlier, or if Vyolette hadn’t triggered the bomb before they’d got there. Hell even more people could’ve died if anyone else had happened to decide to play some games that morning.

So Yuki squares up their shoulders and lets their naturally loud tone take over, “Morgan an’ Souko can both wear it. Most everyone else seems t'be too big or too small, like, enough it wouldn’t make sense for ‘em, slips off too easy or won’t go on. I could kinda get it on Occam but it didn’t look real comfy and took some tuggin’ t'get it off again, so I ain’t think it’d slip off if it were hers. Also, uh…” Feels a bit like a moment of truth. Yuki can’t help a glance in Souko’s direction before they continue.

The answer comes from Ashley, which at least confirms that the ring isn’t something Morgan was making up. Not that Yuki had really thought that, but if no one else had seen it that would’ve been weird and hard to use as a clue. 

Pretty small, had a skull on it… that’s definitely a style choice, but it’s not like it’d be an unusual one for most of the group. Actually there’s maybe only three or four people here Yuki thinks a skull ring would look out of place on, and even then, you never know. 

“Might fit more'n one person, but s'worth tryin’, at least. Or maybe somebody’ll have seen it before.” Yuki’s pretty good at clocking accessories, fashion’s one of their Interests, after all, though they’ve also been avoiding people for most of the motive so it’s not like they’ve got a full inventory of everyone’s wardrobes. 

But even that faint possibility is dashed when Kai refuses to show the ring. And he is refusing, Yuki’s bullshit detector immediately starts screaming when he says he lost it.  

Which is kind of jarring. Kai hadn’t struck them as the type to just flat out lie like that. But nope. A little sliver in Yuki’s chest goes cold and hardens.

Teddi calls him out immediately, and Yuki sees what Kimiko apparently doesn’t - that it’s not a real accusation, it’s just an attempt to get Kai to come clean and actually show the ring. Even now, Yuki doesn’t really think he killed Vyolette - though now that he’s proven himself a liar and an asshole they no longer think he’d be incapable of it. It’s just that, like Kimiko and Ash said, the timelines don’t match up. 

But it was still kind of a mean gambit, and a useless one, since Kimiko was already speaking up in his defense. 

Yuki isn’t going to waste time on words, there’s been enough pointless arguing already. So they just vault off their podium, dash over to Kai’s, do a neat pivot around the back of him, hands flicking out with deft, practiced precision, filling Kai’s pockets alongside his own. Without losing any momentum they’re abruptly moving right past, whipping by Kimiko in the process as well, and leaping in a neat arc up onto one of the outer podiums. Juniper’s, in fact, and then jumping over to Adrian’s, then one of the empty ones, then Alexandra’s, before dropping back to the floor and racing back to their own podium.

They’re balanced on top of it again in a blink, cross-legged this time. Yuki non-chalantly holds up the ring they’d plucked from Kai’s sweaty palm, squinting at it briefly then shrugging and glancing around the room while holding it up.

Aoide’s voice is so soft that Yuki almost can’t catch what she’s saying, even though they’re relatively close, compared to some of the others. They frown briefly, confused by the question - what is exsanguination? - but she doesn’t seem to be offering any new evidence, and from the timeline established so far they don’t think she would’ve seen anything, so.

They turn their attention to Flint, considering his theory for a moment and then shrugging.

“Guess that’d make sense. Sounds like ya got a better idea how it works than I do, but I did think that the fishin’ line was prob'ly some kinda trigger or trip wire, like ya said.” Yuki at least knows what those are, and had inferred from there. 

And, damn, Souko hadn’t seen anyone else? So much for narrowing the suspect pool by testimony. Depending on when exactly Souko had arrived at the Convenience Store, that probably still left enough time for most people to have made a quick trip in and out before she arrived to see… unless of course she’d picked up the foil herself, and Ashley just hadn’t noticed. But that’s a pretty big conclusion to leap to.

Ugh, this would be easier if they had anything else to go on at all! Yuki’s never tried to solve a real life murder before, but they’ve seen plenty of movies and TV shows and they’re pretty sure there’s usually more evidence than this. 

As if that thought were a cue, Morgan then mentions something new.

“Huh? What ring?” Yuki’s attention shifts in that direction and they perk up. “Like jewelry? I didn’t see nothin’ like that there.” Weird, they thought they’d checked the area pretty well…

“D'ya have a pic?” They pull a very crumpled, rolled up manila folder from their back pocket and dig out the photo of Vyolette’s body, dropping the rest of the file and paper inside and squinting at the picture. It’s hard to tell, what with the bits of broken glass and the loud cluttered pattern of the carpet, but… “I ain’t see a ring or nothin’ near ‘em. Where was it exactly? What’d it look like?" 

A ring! Wow! Now that sounded like a real clue! Just like on TV!

“I was in my tent, but my tent’s in the field, not on the beach.” It’s actually closer to the elevator than the sports storage, too, but whatever, semantics. Yuki does nod at Occam over the clarification though, and then…

God, it’s suddenly hard to even look at Kai. Irrational as it is, Yuki feels angrier at his reaction. They have no idea what’s going on in his head, so all they see is him throwing a tantrum and crying because he got called out for yelling at everyone and talking to them like they were stupid or horrible people. Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it, that’s their opinion. But for better or worse that at least puts an end to that topic, hopefully, so Yuki re-crosses their arms, pointedly looks away, and starts restlessly bouncing a foot against their podium as they listen to everyone else and consider what’s being discussed.

Morgan’s suggestion makes them blink and tilt their head.

“I guess… I dunno, really. Ain’t like we kept it a secret or nothin’, an’ I wasn’t really payin’ attention if anyone else was around. Was hard t'focus on stuff with the whole crushin’ an’ hard to breathe feelin’, y'know? So I guess someone else coulda heard or found out from Vy, if they mentioned it.” They shrug, reaching up to tug at a loose lock of hair - and then freeze briefly as something else Morgan said calls up a thought.

The reaction I described is not the most easily predictable in terms of timing

Wait… 

No. Or? No.

Yuki feels a mix of discomfort and guilt at the thought even occurring to them. But no, if no one had seen Vyolette on the second level, then it wasn’t possible.

All this really meant was that whoever had planted the bomb might have known they’d be killing two people, not just one. Which was something Yuki had already suspected could’ve been the case, but still, Yikes.

Anyway, more importantly, Ashley and Keisha are filling in some gaps, sort of. And Kimiko seems like she might be picking up on a lead. 

“Hm…” Turning what’s been said over in their head, Yuki decides to see if they can coax out some more testimony to work with while Kimiko addresses Alexa directly.

“Yeah, me an’ my group found a roll a’ fishin’ line missin’ from the Sports Storage, so it for sure came from there.” Yuki starts to confirm Ashley’s theory, though then Kai decides to berate them all some more, as if anything about this situation is somehow their fault.

“No one fuckin' forgot!” Already riled up by literally everything else, Yuki’s snapping a bit, their hands clenching into fists where they’re pressed into their upper arms. They like Kai, they do, and they even sympathize with his perspective to an extent - but they don’t like the nasty self-righteous stance he’s taking, as if he’s some kind of moral authority, or like they’re all trash for not wanting to die or for just wanting to at least know who blew up Vyolette.  “How the hell could we? We were all goin’ through it, too! It wasn’t jus’ one person, if it was then we wouldn’t even need t'be talkin’ ‘bout it. Everybody was sufferin’ that shit, but only one a’ us decided t'kill someone over it. If it wasn’t a choice, then we all woulda started killin’ each other, but we didn’t. One person did, an’ it wasn’t some impulsive sudden attack outta panic or whatever, they planned it out, they set up a trap. An’ I was plannin’ t'meet Vy in the Arcade, what if it’d gone off later an’ killed both of us? Whoever did this thought it through enough t'make an’ plant a fuckin' bomb, but apparently didn’t give a fuck how many people it coulda hurt or killed.”

This is stupid, there’s no point arguing about it, it happened and they’re stuck with it. But Yuki’s already spitting mad and Kai’s being a very unneeded distraction. They slam a fist down against the top of their podium, eyes narrowed, and continue fiercely. 

“If ya don’t wanna help then don’t, no one’s forcin’ ya, but don’t start railin’ on the rest a’ us for jus’ tryin’ to figure out what t'do here. We ain’t responsible for this situation, we jus’ wanna get through it. How’s this - that old crone said any a’ us could die if we don’t figure it out, so by ya own logic we ain’t got a choice either. Either we don’t, or the killer did. Ya can’t cherry pick this shit. God, we ain’t even decided how we gonna vote yet, we jus’ wanna know everythin’ 'fore we make a decision, but ya weren’t listenin’ t'that part I guess. Or ya ain’t give a shit. I thought ya were better than this, but ya jus’ another asshole that cares more 'bout moral superiority than people’s actual lives. Ya ain’t care which a’ us dies so long’s ya get t'feel like ya didn’t have a hand in it, right? Fine then, let everyone else handle it an’ jus’ stand there. Then no matter what happens, ya can pretend it ain’t ya fault.”

Even with as angry as they are at Kai right now, it doesn’t seem to have even occurred to them that his being so adamant about not finding the killer might be suspicious. They just can’t imagine him being capable of that.

Taking a deep breath, Yuki forces themself to stop glaring at him long enough to address the other things being said.

“I was never on the beach last night or this mornin’, so I ain’t know who Occam saw but it weren’t me.” They say flatly, though they suppose it’s possible she misspoke or simply mistook who she saw. “Anyway, yeah the bomb was made outta stuff put in some kinda bottle with aluminum foil an’ drain cleaner. The neck of a bottle was tied t'one a the arcade games with the fishin’ line already brought up. I didn’t even know ya could make bombs like that, but I tried t'ask the Doc,” They pause to wave vaguely at Juniper, “About it an’ they said they couldn’t say much but that apparently ya can make bombs outta all kindsa shit. There was a bottle a’ drain cleaner in the kitchen that was mostly empty, an’ it smelled a lot like the way the Arcade did after the thing went off. There was also some folded up bit of foil in the trash in the kitchen, an’ it smelled like drain cleaner, too.”

Good job sniffing chemicals, Yuki.

Feeling like they don’t really know a whole lot more than they did when they started, Yuki shuffles into the elevator moodily, bouncing lightly on their toes and eager to get off again as soon as the doors open. They dart into the new room, having listened on and off to the explanation given on the way, but whatever they got the gist.

And the room is… fucked up and spooky. Yikes. Yuki edges around the podiums, squinting warily at the nameplates and the symbols. If this were a comic there would be question marks floating above their head. Once they find the podium designated for them, they move to sit on top of it, because why not, and cross their arms, staring up at the ceiling now. 

“Th'fuck…?” Yeah they’re a bit distracted. What is up with those stars? Are those stars? Is it even nighttime right now? Hello? 

No one else seems to be paying too much attention to the bizarre nature of their surroundings though, so Yuki reluctantly drags their attention back to the more important matter at hand. 

“I ain’t a snitch.” Is, for some reason, the first thing they feel the need to announce to the group at large. “But this don’t seem like that kinda situation. Not like anyone here’s a cop, far as I know, an’ anyway whoever killed Vyolette…” They pause to take a breath, a flash of anger in their sky blue eyes. 

“It ain’t right. The people that trapped us here an’ are doin’ this bullshit to us are definitely at fault too, but they didn't force no one t'make a bomb an’ put it where it’d go off an’ kill somebody. I don’t wanna execute no one, that seems like bullshit, but I don’t wanna die neither, ‘specially not for someone that’d kill Vy when they ain’t even did nothin’ to deserve it.”

The situation sucks, no doubt, and if Yuki thought it’d do any good then they’d punch that old white lady in the face before playing along. But right now they’ve got some semblance of priorities.

“'Fore we decide what t'do though, we oughta at least figure out who did it. Vy deserves that much, that we at least learn who did this to 'em an’ all that. I don’t really know the answer, but I’m gonna do my best, 'cause they were cool an’ nice to me. So.” Yuki punches a fist into the palm of their other hand. 

“Here’s what I know. I was sleepin’ out in the field on the second level last night, got myself a tent set up there. Before all the motive stuff I was sharin’ a room with Flint, but I started stayin’ outside after 'cause I didn’t like the weird crushin’ feelin’ from bein’ near people, y'all know what I mean. Anyway I was out there, an’ sometime around uh… I think it was 2:30am when I checked my phone… I got woken up by someone wanderin’ past. I poked my head out an’ saw Alexa, but she didn’t stick around or get too close, so I jus’ went back t'sleep. Got up a little after sunrise an’ went an’ hung out in the Lighthouse for a bit, Cody was there too." 

Yuki points at Cody now, aka Mx. Swanson, so that people know who they’re talking about.

"Anyway, I was actually s'posed t'meet up with Vyolette this mornin’ to play some games in the Arcade, so I was on my way there, headin’ through the Bar where Shiori an’ Shiloh Lee were, when I heard the explosion go off an’ ran into the Arcade an’ found 'em like that. That was right around 9am I guess.”

After Alexandra’s announcement those that heeded and assembled at the Elevator bank watch as Alexandra presses the call button on the elevator Marked “T”, Despite it previously opening to a solid brick wall it instead peels it’s door open to reveal a large dimly lit freight elevator, inside is a young man with white hair and a Lichtenberg Scar running across his face and shoulder.

“I came up to see what was taking so long, i got boooored.”

Alexandra enters the Elevator, Motioning for all of you to do the same. Once everyone who was going to be in was in the doors slid shut with a creak, and the rattling metal began to ascend.

“Yes, and now you can explain how the trial will be conducted.”

Alexandra smiled that dry vindictive smile.

“Do i have to?” Cody complained “Yes.” Alexandra confirmed “Alright listen up because i’m going to lay it down. The trial room is this big spooky room with podiums and shit in a circle. You guys stand at your podium and like, Talky talk about who did the deed and offed poor sweet Vyolette. Once you’ve all come to a conclusion you’re happy with you just punch in a vote by….uh…” “Don’t worry i’ll know who they think is guilty.” Alexandra confirmed. “Anyway, Once y’all got who you think did it on lock, the trial is over and well… Terminus gets it’s due i guess. Life for a life and all that, Which sucks i guess but like???? Don’t murder, Or be really good at lying I guess? Is that really how this ritual works Alex?”

“Mr.Swanson you are entirely too comfortable with me, boundaries please. Regardless, you are correct. After a discussion whomever is voted as guilty will be sent for terminus to deal with, Usually this means death in some form.”

Alexandra Went to continue but the elevator came to a complete shaky stop. The doors pulled back to reveal a large room with 2 sets of podiums, a tight inner circle Marked with the names of those of you considered guests, and an outer circle of podiums with strange symbols etched into the material. The black walls shimmer with Wetness as if they had just been painted, and the ceiling domes to show a dark sky filled with blinking, writhing, stars. 

 Such Familiar Faces as Adrian, Luca, and Juniper can be found behind their own podiums. Alexandra and Cody Take their places as well while you all settle into your places.