guiltrip | WEEK 2; TRIAL

TRIAL

Whether you investigated or decided to take it easy, before you know it the speakers crackle to life instructing you to head to the beach. This is a demand not a request, and anyone who doesn't comply will find themselves forcibly moved there by the kitty bots—even if it takes a whole swarm of them.

Once you get there, you'll see that this isn't quite a beach party, instead a gigantic sandbar dotted with some type of constructs has risen out of the sea and tides. The path to the sandbar is solid enough even if it is relatively narrow, and once you arrive you'll find that you're far out in the ocean, way farther than it's comfortable to swim.

And once everyone is gathered, the pathway recedes back into the sea leaving you trapped here, all twenty-eight of you. At least there's ample seating, a kind of amphitheater made of sand with space in the middle for grandstanding or dramatic revelations. Though the area is mostly open, there are lone pieces of sand wall around the edges, maybe to dissuade you from tossing someone into the ocean without stopping you entirely. Thankfully, a lone outhouse rests again one of the walls just in case you need to use the bathroom, though it's not much in the way of actual privacy.

Settle in, get comfortable or just complain about all the sand you'll be tracking back, if you make it back that is. There's still another sacrifice to be chosen after all according to your administrators and—

Maybe you've noticed there's no palm trees or speakers here? It's just you, and the sand. For now.

(( OOC: Welcome to your first trial! You'll have 7 hours (8PM EST/5PM PST) to find the killer and send them off their death, if you believe in justice at least. Since this is scapegoat style, finding the correct killer is not mandatory!

Please remember to vote before then unless you've spoken to a mod, as votes are our stand-in for AC. ))

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If I may, petit chien, a question: when you become that enraged, do you remain fully in control of yourself? Have you ever been so furieux that you've blacked out and lost control of yourself?

...

Yes, I lose control sometimes. I don't remember a lot of this morning, outside bits and pieces.

Edited 2023-05-27 22:20 (UTC)

I see... What a situation difficile.

[Lobelia lets out a thin sigh.]

What is the last thing you recall doing?

I was in the kitchen last night. Wei Wuxian mentioned pork rib soup, and I got a real craving for something similar. But we didn't have any.

So I went and made myself twenty five pork chops. I'd finished all of them and was wanting to make some more when I blacked out.

I remember waking up, but all I remember was being so hungry that I felt like I was starving, and that I didn't care what I ate. I don't know how long I was like that. But I came back to my senses and the pantry was destroyed.

Oui, oui! You're quite skilled in the kitchen, petit chien.

[Just saying! Some people know their way around a kitchen better than others.]

Ah, and this isn't the first time you've felt such intense hunger while on the island, non? I seem to recall a certain incident that led to you ripping a speaker out of one of the cocotiers.

After that, you were so hungry that it seemed you'd lost all control. You were so hungry that you'd even shoved a handful of grass in your mouth!

[He exhales slowly.]

It's never been this bad while I've been here. This is probably the worst.

But yes. I've been pretty hungry before.

[This situation is becoming more and more unfortunate by the minute, isn't it? Lobelia slowly shakes his head. He's seen Beelzebub's temper firsthand, so it's getting more and more difficult not to look at him through a certain lens.]

I hope you understand why I'm asking you this, petit chien... but have you ever injured someone without realizing it?

Yes. I have.

[And he's not stupid. He knows where this is going.]

You're thinking I killed him, then.

I'd like to hear this theory in detail, because I simply cannot see it with how I witnessed you.

I haven't said that, have I, petit chien? Please don't pull such a sorrowful face.

[But the evidence has begun to mount against him, and with so little else to go on...]

...Regardless, all we can do now is look at the facts. I'm afraid those conspicuous gaps in your memory are telling in their own way.

[Lobelia is quite fond of Beelzebub, insofar as a person like himself can be. That's why, with another resigned sigh, he has another serious question for Beel.]

Tell me, Beelzebub... Are you afraid of the truth?

...

No. I'm not.

I just don't know why I would have come back to the kitchen, if it was me.

Edited 2023-05-27 23:00 (UTC)

I believe an obvious answer would be "looking for more food", you yourself said earlier that you don't--or can't-- go very long without eating.

I can't. But if I blacked out like that...

...

I'd be surprised if I left the golf cart behind, let alone the body.

So your blackouts are usually more destructive?

(no subject)

chosenwang - 2023-05-27 23:11 (UTC) - Expand

gravitys - 2023-05-27 23:13 (UTC) - Expand

gluttoning - 2023-05-27 23:16 (UTC) - Expand

gravitys - 2023-05-27 23:16 (UTC) - Expand

gluttoning - 2023-05-27 23:11 (UTC) - Expand

Your angry self did seem rather indiscriminate about what to eat... When I came across you, you were consuming raw flour.

Under those circumstances, it does seem strange that you would not simply remain in the candy area and eat your fill there, but...

[ Yeah, she's also not liking where this is going and she can't say this speculation is definitive clearing evidence at all. ]

Yeah, that sounds about right for me.

[He's just getting a little quieter now.]

I don't know what else to tell you. I know I blacked out, and I woke up.

[ Oof, that face... ]

But what about the cart? That missing part that Temenos found on the course... you wouldn't have done that while you were blacked out, would you?

dupiety - 2023-05-27 23:21 (UTC) - Expand

chrysaline - 2023-05-27 23:26 (UTC) - Expand

dupiety - 2023-05-27 23:28 (UTC) - Expand

gluttoning - 2023-05-27 23:29 (UTC) - Expand

dupiety - 2023-05-27 23:33 (UTC) - Expand

gluttoning - 2023-05-27 23:22 (UTC) - Expand

Yes... This does appear to be a dead end.

[ Not much one can do about memory loss. ]

I still do believe this crime to be too pre-mediated and complex for it to have been committed in your berserk mode. But... we will have to keep the option in mind, at least.

Because you were hungry, non? All things considered, it should come as no surprise to anyone that you returned there.

If I'd been so hungry I couldn't remember anything, I don't think most of that golf course would be standing... but...

I don't know what else to tell you, Lobelia.

C'est bon, petit chien. You've said all you can.

[If Beel can't remember, he can't remember. In a multitude of ways, that's an awful shame.]

Perhaps our gracious hosts will take mercy on us and forgive our indecision? I can't imagine they will, but as it stands, we've been left grasping at straws.

gluttoning - 2023-05-27 23:38 (UTC) - Expand

[ ...Man, he really doesn't want to do this, but -- ]

Beelzebub, you have the ability to create fire, right?

Yes. It's not very powerful, but I can do it. It's a staple for demons.

And you turned into your demonic form and broke one of the speakers before.

[ ... ]

Mn. Last week. I got angry.