TRIAL 02

[thecomputer]

Attention, Citizens! You have ten minutes to proceed to the Loyalty Chamber. Anyone who is late to the Loyalty Chamber, or who brings any weapons into the Loyalty Chamber, will be immediately executed.

[Once you arrive, you will find a large chamber, with twenty podiums spaced around the room in a circle. On the ceiling, a massive screen showing the digital eye of The Computer, turning to look at whoever is talking.]

You have one hour to come to a consensus about who to eliminate. Ties will be broken randomly.

[The floor of the chamber begins to split apart, eventually only leaving the twenty podiums as safe places to stand, above a seemingly bottomless abyss. Each podium lights up with a touch screen showing twenty user IDs (the dead are grayed out), plus the word “ABSTAIN”. However, ABSTAIN has now been grayed out as well. The trial begins now!]

[[Vote here.]]

Comments

[stinkingdeadendjob]

Hmmm, while it's against my better judgment, I'm just going to put this out in the open: yes, I was Greed's partner, and yes, I did talk with Yomiel about it... at the cost of one crushed foot, mrdr..

[Clay's been keeping his mouth shut for a good while, just listening on in. But if there's any way he could help flip the bird to the Commies, then so be it.]

... Really, I don't think I can trust any of you. And what my Partner told me about seeing this whole game of ours not as an "us against them", but a "me versus everyone" made sense, like nothing has in so many wasted years.

[He takes a slurp of FunFoods.]

If Greed, whose very name implies a good, righteous me for me attitude, thought he could trust Yomiel by even so much as hinting at him that I wasn't a communist when he could've kept his own share of traps shut... I think that says quite a good deal. I don't like him, but hey, he's no commie.

... I've really got nothing else! This could just be my last night here, and I could just take this all to my grave. But if it'll ruin the Communists' plans a bit more, hey, at least I can go out knowing I did Uncle Joe proud, right?

[standbyrival]

[who the hell is uncle joe]

[why does this guy keep drinking weird things??]

. . .good to know.

[stinkingdeadendjob]

It better be. I'm risking my neck out here like this.

[FunFoods crawls down his gullet.]

[alchemicals]

...I don't know if this is going to be your last night here or not.

They know you're one of ours, sure, but if the going theory is right, they knew you had a role, just not what it was. Your role is now completely useless now that Greed's dead.

Kill you now, kill you three nights from now. Does it matter? You're not going anywhere. Were it me, I'd be focused on larger threats than you.

[...]

Good on you for telling us, though. I guess.

[stinkingdeadendjob]

... Oh, yeah. And they might be more preoccupied trying to after the head honchos than citizens like us.

[He pauses...]

But, I... [Was this just a big mistake after all?] Okay, well... Then... Did I damn myself even more for this?

[alchemicals]

...Look at it this way: They already knew.

Now all of us know, and we all might be a bit less willing to decide you have a really punchable face for it. It's not like we can vote for you.

[stinkingdeadendjob]

Heh, that's aaaaall I needed to hear.

[There's a tinge of disappointment somewhere deep inside of him, but even he can't explain it.]

Well, I'm glad that I spoke up! Even if it meant risking God's 30th lost commandment, "thou shalt not be a snitch".

[alchemicals]

[......................]

How many lost commandments are there?

[stinkingdeadendjob]

Glad you asked! Not many people know this, but there are a total of 63 Ten Commandments. 53 of them were lost after Moses smashed those tablets.

[Yeah.]

[alchemicals]

...I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but if this is supposed to be divine word you'd think it would have been protected a little better.

[fullonbraced]

THAT'S BEAUTIFUL MAN!

[...Admittedly, she's a little weirded out by Clay's... everything. But good on him.]

[stinkingdeadendjob]

[Whoa, the volume! Clay tosses his FunFoods in the air, but manages to catch it.]

Heh, well, I try.

...

But I will be cross if we don't kill at least one communist in return for ol' Greed.

[schrodingers_man]

...

...Thanks.

[ Did you have to mention the foot-crushing part? ]

[stinkingdeadendjob]

Don't get the wrong idea. I just want to see a Communist burn for putting me at a precariously vulnerable situation here.

[...]

We... have to do something for Greed, don't we?