[ WEEK THREE – TRIAL ]

[sheriffexe]

TRIAL

In the morning, the town comes back to life. Birds crow overhead, a snake nearby hisses, a lingering coyote dips behind a shop before disappearing into the wild. It's a frightening contrast to the stillness of yesterday but it doesn't mean it's over yet. After all, today is the trial. The Sheriff stands on the porch of the Town Hall and brings his hand up to his mouth to let out a whistle. He'll thumb back to the Hall behind him and very clearly state -- "Trial time, folks. Get in here and figure out who did it." And then he'll turn to leave before pausing and adding on, "Bring a snack or somethin' too. The Town Hall is set up more like a court house, a Judge's bench at the front but instead of at center, it's off to the side as if more for observation than participation. There's a table at the front of the room already holding a small box and a pad of papers and pen, for voting apparently. A side room containing only a metal gurney is next and today it's obvious why there's a gurney there at all with the corpse, resting right on top of it. Aside from that, there are rows for everyone to take a seat and it's only after everyone is inside and settled, that the doors close and the Sheriff speaks. "Well, have at it. You've got till nine." And then, he points to a clock on the wall that reads 12:00. Good luck. Welcome to the trial post! Characters are free to discuss everything related to the trial here. They won't be let out of the room until 9PM when voting ends. Every character must vote and the voting post can be found here. If there are any questions, please shoot a message to this journal or to robowest.

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Comments

[thatsthespirit]

[she contemplates this for a moment, before deciding that answer is fair]

All right. I'll ask this later if we still haven't found the answer for ourselves.

[flippity]

I was in my room too.

[ she actually takes the cereal because food makes her feel better. everyone will have to sit with papika sadly munching. ]

[insincerely]

...

[He watches Xion as she speaks, but he says nothing. He won't approach her.]

[sating]

[ He opens his mouth in mild offense or distress (possibly both), but with a shake of his head, he regains his composure as smoothly as possible. It seems like this is something Hannibal is rather private about, since he seems to be a little embarrassed by having it pointed out so bluntly. ]

Intimacy is... [ He trails off, since he doesn't want to explain this, so he just adds after a small breath of quiet exasperation: ] Will and I are quite close, so naturally I prefer his company after an unexpectedly long day.

[thatsthespirit]

Ah?

[curiosity washes over her expression]

About what part of what I said?

[bittybat]

I don't understand the point of it in the first place if he's merely going to keep hiding it from the rest of us. It's useless.

[But maybe that's why.] It's just another fear tactic. He's trying to make things seem hopeless if nothing else.

[thatsthespirit]

That's one reason why we decided to stay with Natalie.

[since. missing half an arm?? also an easy target]

But I assure you, we were safe. Someone locked the clinic door before midnight, so we couldn't leave and investigate the gunshot noise when we heard it. We had to wait until morning.

[and then poor Ezio and Elizabeth almost got bowled over but you know]

[hydrokinetics]

That's a good point. So we just have some really trigger-happy crazy people running around who're still sitting in this room. [And that's the part that disgusts him.] How are we supposed to even pinpoint that?

[impulsiveness]

A complete psychopath, that's who.

[Let's be real, Jason would agree to do the same at this point. An eye for an eye, man.]

[sating]

[ As soon as she finishes speaking and relaying her information, Hannibal will definitely approach her to place a hand on her shoulder and give it a comforting squeeze. She's having a rough weekend, and the gesture is only meant to convey that he's here for her. ]

I had not heard about the camera.

[ He pauses, considers his words, then adds gently: ]

For what it is worth, I'm glad that you are safe, Xion. And I am sorry about your friend.

[insincerely]

According to him, he left Annabeth with his pistol so that she could defend herself. It wasn't on the scene, though.

In other words, we have no idea what happened to it.

[hydrokinetics]

Who says they should even be allowed to participate anymore? If participation means they're getting rewarded, maybe it's best to let them die painlessly.

[thatsthespirit]

[Milla doesn't pick up on the embarrassment because why would??? a human??? be embarrassed about intimacy??? says the spirit who was flustered when trying to explain spirit-to-human intimacy to people]

Of course. I understand how that works. I've read the entire "Men and Women Beneath the Sheets" series, after all!

[she's so proud of herself]

[hydrokinetics]

Probably. [This is not helpful omg. But speaking of her leg, he pauses to look at her carefully.] ...how are you holding up after yesterday?

[...yeah they're in trial for the murder of his girlfriend and a few others, and that's the question he has.]

[feminitis]

[REVENGE. This execution is going to be fun if they actually manage to catch the killer(s).]

This goes far beyond killing because they were required to. Whoever did this probably enjoyed it.

[bittybat]

Not necessarily.

If other people know you have it, they will take it for their own benefit. It's likely they used it to record what happened, but the Sheriff won't let us view it now; otherwise, the "trial" will be too easily solved.

You both should have set it up to record where no one could find it.

[cherrypuncher]

Don't worry, we'll be careful. [Yuna nods, slight and sad.] Natalie didn't get a choice about where she was going to sleep, though, so I'm glad we decided to stay with her. [Because she would have been even easier pickings.]

Besides, as long as Milla and I stay together, I'm not worried.

[feminitis]

...

[The question takes the wind right out of her sails and she glances down at the ground, where she's standing on the one foot that she has and using her katana to keep herself propped up.]

...I'm trying not to think about it until we catch whoever did this.

[Not great, in other words. Poorly enough that it'll be a distraction if she allows it to.]

[impulsiveness]

What, and move on to greener pastures without getting cut in return? To hell with that. They killed three of us.

[sweats]

[ A bit of a hesitation here because, well. Emotions.

But he will quietly say to Percy -- ]

I'm sorry for your loss.

[ceded]

No one knew! [ she busts out, abruptly frustrated. It's not really directed at Damian, but there you have it. ] I didn't tell anyone where I was going to be that night, and Tarvek didn't, either! He and I didn't have the camera together last week, so how did they figure out where I was going to be?

[ She simmers down, bitter and unhappy. More quietly: ]

I won't keep it after this. It's obvious now that I won't be able to hold onto it even if I want to. Your idea might be best from now on.

[thatsthespirit]

[ugh. his phrasing makes the anger bubble in her stomach again]

We try to find out who might be this week's "Bandits." That's the one role we know whose job is to kill.

[thatsthespirit]

[aha]

So unless we can confirm it was the rifle that was shot at midnight, then it could very well have been her pistol.

{INTERESTING. . .]

What if the killer took Annabeth's pistol with them?

[insincerely]

Yeah, he's a pansy.

[hydrokinetics]

[Sorry about his protag life.]

Understood. Sorry. [No?] We have a lot of ground to cover today. It won't be an easy catch. [So, that is to say, they have plenty of time to be distracted by this.]