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

[schrodingers_man]

Say what, that the real Loyalty Officer didn't write it? You can't figure it out?

They told me that themselves.

[decrees]

Right, and we're supposed to believe you without any evidence. For all we know, you're a Communist trying to frame another one of our own.

[schrodingers_man]

Hey, don't shoot the messenger. If this is a Communist distraction tactic, it started with the guy who talked to me. But, personally, I'm willing to take them at their word.

[decrees]

What exactly did they tell you? Can you at least tell us that much?

[schrodingers_man]

Nothing really useful. They looked into me after last night's fiasco, and I came up clean as a whistle. The night before that, they picked Greed, so, unfortunately, I was the only person they had to turn to. They haven't investigated Phi. Whether she's one of them or one of us, the only people who know are Phi and the Communists.

They don't want us to repeat yesterday's mistake. That's what it comes down to.

[decrees]

Hmm. That's interesting.

[He doesn't look like he believes you, Yomiel.]

Is there anything else you can tell us about it?

[schrodingers_man]

What do you want, a physical description? They trusted me, I'm not going to say anything to give them away.

[cantarellacookie]

[Anthy looks thoughful.]

If Mr Yomiel is a Communist, it might explain why he'd want attack Mr Puppington for not being eliminated instead of his friend.

[decrees]

He's been very adamant about getting us to vote for someone during these trials. It could be that he just wants to get these over with as quickly as possible, and there was reason to vote for Moge-ko, but...

[It doesn't look good, let's put it that way.]

[cantarellacookie]

[Anthy nods.]

And he was very adamant that Mr Puppington was the other Partner, wasn't he?

[decrees]

Yes. It is possible that he's been given information, but it seems odd that he's the only one who knows all this.

[cantarellacookie]

[Anthy nods.] I don't think he was faking how upset he was in the food sector. But...

[decrees]

It's certainly something to consider at least.

[cantarellacookie]

[She nods again.]

He said he didn't know for certain Greed and Clay Puppington were partners until Greed died, didn't he?

[schrodingers_man]

...I won't apologize for what I did this afternoon. But if I was a Communist, I wouldn't have cared. All the Citizens die in the end, anyway.

[cantarellacookie]

Mmm. That's true. If either side wins the other side dies. But people can still be upset if their friend dies by accident, even if that friend was going to die later anyway.

[schrodingers_man]

...If I killed a friend of mine, even by accident, I wouldn't run away from that. I won't deny the blood on my hands. But Greed's and Seryu's, they aren't there.