yuggoth | ( TRIAL

At exactly 11:30 am, all residents who are still asleep will be jolted awake by a sharp, burning pain that spreads across their whole body. A simple look will reveal no visible injuries, oddly enough, and the pain will fade away as soon as they're properly awake. Those early birds who are already up and about will feel nothing — except maybe a strange, mysterious sense of relief as they go on about their business. Lucky them.

Moments later, an announcement will come through the static-filled PA system:

"This is Craftly speaking. My apologies for the rude awakening [not really], but your presence is required in the Dining Hall. Our second trial is about to begin. Please do try to be there before noon. My staff members have simply too many duties to tend to, to be escorting each and every one of you out of your quarters. Good day."

And true to his words, anyone who doesn't make their way to the Dining Hall before noon will be dragged kicking and screaming regardless of where they've sequestered themselves. Sucks to be you, huh? Upon arriving there, however, residents will be given the menu, one copy of the rulebook, one pencil, one notepad, and a cheque folder. Lunch and dinner will be served at the appropriate times, and appetizers, desserts and beverages (of the non-alcoholic variety) will be available throughout the trial. All you have to do is ask one of the faceless men, and your food will be delivered to you in ten minutes or less depending on what it is.

The Dining Room itself looks about the same as it does any other day — save for the fact that the lights have been dimmed. Why this, you ask? Because the projector is now in use. Transparencies containing each resident's profile will be displayed on the pull-down screen, with one of the staff members rotating through the images every minute. The profiles of the deceased are included, and if current discussion deems it necessary to focus on one particular resident, anyone is free to ask the faceless man to pause on the appropriate profile for a while.

A small area has been sectioned off with a transparent, plastic curtain right next to the pull-down screen. Its use will become rapidly apparent once the victim's corpse has been wheeled in. Anyone who wishes to step into this area will be asked to wash their hands, and will be given a pair of latex-free gloves and a hairnet by a staff members who is stationed nearby. Residents are required to dispose of both items before returning to the dinner table; a trash bin is available outside of the curtains for this purpose.

Evidence found during the investigation, on the other hand, will be displayed in the back of the room. Two, long tables have been taken out of storage for this occasion, and any items found by the residents on Friday will be displayed here for further examination.

Finally — a clock above the pull-down screen displays the current hour. Please do remember you have until 9:00 PM to figure out whodunit and cast your vote.

( victims )

Characters will be given nine (9) hours to discuss everything related to the investigation to hopefully solve the mystery behind this week's murder. No one will be allowed to leave the Dining Hall, and all characters must cast their vote before 9PM EST. You may do so on this week's voting page.

If you have any questions or doubts, shoot us a PM or a PP over at

yuggoth.

( quick navigation )
voting | profiles | menu | locations | ic rulebook

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Well. He can't argue spite as reasoning. Not that he would be stubborn about this in particular but he's done at least a few very stupid things out of spite.]

I know I argued against it but I am curious what would happen or if we should consider it. I just... didn't think the environment at the time was the best to discuss it.

[Since the ones on board for it were 90% on it because they wanted to brutally murder Mira themselves. It just did not seem like it would get well-reasoned arguments?]

What does it feel like to kill someone? Um, in case... tomorrow, it's me. I just... I don't know.

[Was it a bad environment? Mira didn't really consider that. In all situations, she always observes things from a rational standpoint. No matter how heated, or how intense something may appear to others... it never really clicks for her. She'll laugh at inappropriate times, or act sad only to realize there was no reason to. Some social cues just always get missed.

To his question, she taps a couple fingers on the table in thought.]

Can't say. Whenever I kill someone, I don't really feel anything from it. It's just a means to an end for me, in order to get what I want. I've killed a lot of people though, so maybe the novelty of it has just worn off on me.

However... I remember the first person I killed. I selected her at complete random in a park. Killing her, and taking what I wanted from her, made me understand the fragility of human life. How... simple it is. You just do it and then it's over with. The only difference afterward is the absence.

[That does actually make sense to him in a strange way.]

Um, when I was little, my grandma died. And, um, it was... a complicated situation, but— I was the one who had to take care of it, because I was alone at the time. So I thought... I'd seen in movies that you could burn a corpse? And I remember, when I tried to move her... it was really strange, because she was just so heavy. Like a sack of bricks. [While the memory is painful, this part isn't one he usually shares with the story.] You know, corpses in movies, they never really look as dead as real ones, I guess. Or move like them. In movies you can always sorta go, "That person was alive" you know? They still feel like a person. But... that absence, I guess, what made them alive... when it's gone, it doesn't seem to leave anything at all behind. Just... literal dead weight.

[Since it isn't something he usually mentions, he doesn't quite know how to word it.]

[After a long moment, she nods.]

People weigh a lot. Even a lightweight adult is still usually over a 100 pounds. When someone dies, all that weight becomes stiffer due to rigor mortis. [Her hands fold on top of each other.] It doesn't sound like an easy task. Did you bury or burn her? ...Is it insensitive for me to ask that at all?

[She doesn't know. She isn't sure how to react to all him saying this.]

Oh, no, well— [Actually, is it?] Maybe? I'm not really the best at social cues myself. But it doesn't bother me. I burned her. It took forever. They really lie about that in murder movies. Burning a body is a terribly long way to get rid of it and you can't really afford to let the fire die out for the duration, either. I guess I just meant... I get what you mean? I don't know what makes someone human but I know... when you see their body and you can vividly see that it's gone.

Yeah, you need a large fire or a powerful machine to get it right. But it's probably easier than digging a giant hole and just rolling her into it. [So yeah, burning may have been the best route depending on how young he was when it happened.] I don't think there's such a thing as someone "being human" though. There's too many interpretations to humanity for anyone to subscribe to. That's why I live as I wish.

[And, well, she's a serial killer.]

[He nods at the first part. He considers telling her he wanted to have his grandma stuffed as per family tradition but that doesn't seem relevant.]

Really? Do you have an interpretation then? Or just that everyone counts?

[for the record, she would have gotten a huge laugh out of the idea of a person being stuffed.]

Hm. ...I guess my interpretation is that we should be honest with ourselves. I think if we were more honest as people, the world wouldn't be so messed up. We wouldn't have to worry about peer pressure, or conforming to a societal norm. It'd just be... maybe anarchy? But at least an honest one.

[At least someone appreciates Jake's ideas??]

Hmm, well, I admit, coming from you, it's hard to swallow. Then again, maybe you wouldn't have felt compelled to kill if no one thought you were really so different as you were.

[She makes a grumble noise from the back of her throat.]

I don't know about that. Maybe if things were better explained to me... my mother told me where emotions came from, and that's where it all went downhill. She didn't have ill intentions, but I don't think she ever realized I wasn't a normal child.

Did she ever realise it?

If she did, she never told me. I like to think I was smart enough to fool her, but she might have just kept it secret for my sake too. Guess I'll never know.

Why do you pretend? I mean... if you don't care what other people think, you don't have to act like you feel anything for them.

[...]

Hey, Jake, why are you even asking me all of this?

Oh... You'll probably think it's stupid. I'm certain it is. But I still like you, even with what you did. I don't... think you deserve whatever is going to happen tomorrow. And I guess... I think even if your emotions work in a very strange way, it doesn't mean you deserve to be hated. But I don't understand you, either.

...Yeah, it is kind of stupid. [She shrugs.] But it's fine. People have their reasons. You told me you lived on an island before, right? That must mean you never integrated into society. You got to live alone and in isolation.

[She huffs a little. What's this feeling she has? It feels like anger, but not at him directly? What's it called... ah, right. She knows the word.]

I'm kind of jealous honestly. If I could be in your position, I wouldn't have to worry about trying to make my face look a certain way, or why my heart doesn't function the way everyone else's does.

[He almost says he's sorry but he doesn't think that's something she'd like to hear.] You would have done much better at it than me, yes. In fact, I think you would have been perfect at it. [He's pretty sure a person like her would have been great at a game like Sburb.] It was too lonely for me. When I finally did get the chance to socialize, I had no clue what I was doing and fucked up a lot of things and hurt people.

Actually, in a hilarious and ironic twist, I think you would have fit in just fine with me and my friends growing up. None of us knew what we were doing. Maybe that's why I like you. I dunno.

( TRIAL - WEEK 3 )

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject