#d8trial

[dangan-infinity]

The Great Chicago Fire - Chapter 1 Execution

Darkness was all there was at first. Then a spotlight on the killer, Ms. Fenna Van Daalen. She stared straight ahead into the shadows, where the barest edge of light caught something or someone standing there--

"Mother?"

For a split second, Fenna believed it. That distant silhouette with its curly hair and limber frame, and that voice... But it couldn't be, right? She'd f-cked it all up. She'd killed a woman. The train was just mocking her now. And yet...

The lights came on.

She was in her club, the Sunflower Lounge, and it was quickly apparent to the spectators how it had gotten its name. Though the lights and the dance floor were modern, the décor was a quaint mix of the decades this building had endured, and the carpet up the stairs was covered with the yellow blooms.

In the distance, framed by the entryway, was a solid black cardboard cutout. A crude facsimile of her son, for whom she'd done the unthinkable, just to see him one more time. How did they know his voice? She laughed, but her own voice rasped with pain.

"I shoulda f-ckin' guessed, huh?"

She turned away and found herself at the bar, bottles and glasses strewn about after a long night's work for other people's play. The motion was automatic-- a relatively clean glass appeared in her hand, a bottle of wine in the other, and she poured. She watched silently as the dark liquid swirled and the earthy aroma filled the air. As good a last supper as any.

There was a spark, then a flicker, then a blaze. The shadow of her son lit up like a torch, and became the tinder that would soon engulf the room in flame.

She had regretted everything, of course, from the moment she'd pulled the trigger. Even without realizing that escape would bring punishment upon everyone else, well, it was still murder. Atsuko was a person like the rest of them, and Fenna had no right to decide her fate. The only winning move was not to play... and that wasn't much of a victory if she could never leave, when her son was in danger. Not that it mattered now.

The fire was raging now-- it had spread so quickly that the fire extinguisher behind the bar wouldn't have made a dent. Fenna would die, and the killing game would continue. All for naught in the end, like so many things in her life.

One last act of defiance remained to her.

Sweat dripping down her face, she raised her glass to the survivors. A toast to the living, with all their myriad problems and budding friendships-- may they get over their bullsh-t, end this terrible killing game, and escape the Infinity Train. She downed the beverage in record time and poured another. A toast to the dead, to a little match girl and a smiley-faced loner... and a washed-up bartender that would soon join them.

The flames drew closer all the while, disintegrating the sunflower carpet, feasting on turn-of-the-century wood and alcohol. Fenna Van Daalen raised her glass one last time, facing death with a smile...

All of her bravado evaporated in a second as she truly caught on fire. She burned like her victim, and her home burned with her, leaving nothing but a scorched husk of a building and the echoes of her screams.

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[dangan-infinity]

The Convening - Chapter 1 Trial Outcomes

It was hard to know who and what you could trust at this point, but after the confessions at least some of you could only come to the conclusion that you'd made a very wrong defendant nomination. Had Neko-Neko really expected you to single out the killer with only a third of the evidence available? The odds had been violently stacked against you, yet you'd be the ones to pay the price... or would you?

"THE DEBATE DRAWS TO A CLOSE... AND IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOU BELIEVE THE KILLER OF ATSUKO SAMUKURA IS NOT AMONG THE DEFENDANTS."

"I CANNOT CHANGE THE NUMBER OF DEFENDANTS THIS FAR ALONG INTO THE TRIAL. IF YOU WISH TO REPLACE ONE OF THEM, HOWEVER, YOU MAY CONDUCT A MAJORITY VOTE AND SUBMIT AN APPEAL."

Aha! Neko-Neko's threat for failing to find the killer could still be null and void, then. And they'd said they had paperwork for every eventuality, hadn't they?

"Of course! I'll get started on the paperwork right away, Your Honor."

Exactly how they managed to procure a few sheets, and from where, you weren't sure. But they placed them on the nearest bench and took a pen... Which they couldn't quite seem to get a good grip on.

"U-um, this might be a little tricky..."

"No thumbs and all. Tch."

"HMM... MUST I ASSIST THE COUNSEL?"

Happily accepting, Neko-Neko carried their things over to the judge with some difficulty. It was then that they ran into the hurdle of their paperwork-filler-outer being blind, but they did their best to guide her. Precisely how they'd managed to fill out the initial paperwork without her you couldn't be sure...

The odd duo (trio?) made it about halfway through the first page before one of Neko-Neko's heads cranked around to look at the jury.

"Say, remember what we said about makin' things more fun for us if ya made us jump through more hoops?"

"We'll be cashin' that in now. While we're busy over here, we're gonna have each of you get out your notebook and write down which of the current defendants ya like the least."

"We'll come around later to look at your votes and tally 'em up. What happens to the grand winner?"

"Well, you'll just have to see, won'tcha? Nyahahaha!"

With that last evil cackle, they turned back to resume fussing over the court paperwork. You had a little while until they managed to finish that up, you presumed... But it was hard not to open a blank page of your notebook and feel a little trepidation. What exactly were you voting on here? The killer was supposed to be executed if you identified them, but the least popular defendant? There weren't any rules in here about that. Just what were you condemning someone to?

Whatever their fate, you had to choose someone. At the very least, given the criteria, some of you wouldn't have to debate the rightful winner too much.

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[dangan-infinity]

The Funeral Procession - Chapter 1 End

Nemesis turned to the rest of you. With no other events to distract you, it was much clearer now that the exit door was visible again along all with the gridlines. She didn't move to block your path this time.

"CONSUMMATUM EST," she said, sweeping an arm out towards the door. "THE JUDGMENT HAS FINISHED. ONTO THE NEXT CAR WITH THE REST OF YOU."

"I'M SURE WE'LL ALL MEET AGAIN. UNLESS YOU CAN STAY OUT OF TROUBLE..." She clearly didn't think you capable of that.

Neko-Neko, leading the way, waved cutely at her.

"Until next time!"

"We're sure it'll be just as much fun, nyaha!"

Nemesis half-waved back before moving toward the other wooden door. But she was still watching. You had a feeling hanging around much longer wouldn't bode well.

The exit door opened without struggle, onto the same wasteland as always. The bridge to the next car stretched out ahead, as always. And, as always, you moved along and through the next door.

Funny how anything stayed the same when your party had been changed so irreparably.

Within the new car, the candy-powder scent of cleansers mixed with faint exhaust hit you first, and you had little time to process the cars lined up before getting shooed into one yourself alongside a few others. As you debated whether you ought to be buckling up or hopping right back out, you pieced together more of the scene. A hearse in front, and a handful of cars besides your own with their hazard lights flashing. A parallel set of conveyor belts matching up with the tires. Archways of nozzles and an array of brightly colored soft things gallivanting about the well-lit tunnel. None of it seemed threatening, at least.

Or perhaps you were just too exhausted to care, as your ride shifted into neutral on its own and began gently lurching along the car wash track. Not much for you to do now but sit and wait—or talk, if you were still on speaking terms with your co-riders.

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[dangan-infinity]

The Judgment Car

Speed - Express

Format - Megathread

Travel Time - A few hours

Points of Interest

Jury Box - Has one specific seat for every Passenger that enters the car. There doesn’t seem to be any way to get to the rest of the courtroom from here, oddly enough.

Benches - Iustitia is at the judge’s bench. The defense and prosecution stations stand empty, but Neko-Neko will frequent one or the other depending on their mood(s). There seems to be a scrap of something by the defense’s bench, but it’s impossible to tell what.

Punishment Chamber - A room on the opposite side of the court, guarded by Nemesis until the trial has concluded. Has a vaporwave feel to it until it begins the execution, which only seems to really physically affect the statue herself and the punished party.

Denizens

Iustitia (Amelia) - A large, cracked sculpture of Lady Justice, standing solemnly beneath the court seal with her traditional sword and scales. Can ask guiding questions during the trial and deliver the final verdict. A slice of her head is missing where her eyes should be.

Nemesis (Roadie) - Another large, cracked sculpture, though this one’s eyes seem to be perfectly intact. Severe-looking, but keeps to herself. Enthusiastic about lex talionis punishment. 

Special Notes

Sitting somewhere besides your labeled place will result in electric shock. Neko-Neko may intervene if too much roaming outside of this occurs, but “too much” is highly subjective. There’s not that much space to walk around in the jury box, anyway.

Anyone who does not participate in the proceedings will be unable to vote.

Trial 1 defendants: Haruka, Jack, R.N.A. 

Trial 1 seating chart:

[dangan-infinity]

The Lady of Justice - Chapter 1 Trial Start

After all the strange things you've seen thus far, it's some kind of cruel irony that you should wind up exactly where you expected.

A large, antiquated courtroom sprawled before you, spartanly decorated with simple benches and dour wood trim. Fourteen chairs sat in the jury's box—each bore a metal plate labeled with your chosen names. There was no sign of a defense or prosecution at the empty benches (except... was that a scrap of fabric on the floor?) At the head of the room, though, just below where the courtroom seal should be, stood an enormous statue of Lady Justice.

Neko-Neko strutted in before you, gesturing at the seats before marching straight ahead to the body of the courthouse. If any of you tried to follow them, you'd find some strange invisible barrier preventing you from leaving the jury area—a box indeed. But even if you escaped there, the only other (wooden) door you could see was blocked off by a different statue.

Neko-Neko cleared their throat, however that may have worked for a robotic cat.

With an echoing creak of stone against stone, the statue of Lady Justice moved.

"FIAT IUSTITIA RUAT CAELUM. WHAT MANNER OF CRIME STANDS BEFORE US TODAY?"

"The cold-blooded murder of a Passenger, Atsuko Samukura, Your Honor."

She grimaced as the cat-halves spoke.

"THIS IS... UNORTHODOX. WHO ARE YOU...?"

"Neko-Neko, Your Honor, here to press charges against the defendants for this heinous crime."

"And I'm, um, The Conductor! To... help defend the innocent?"

The white half looked at the other as if asking for their next line, but none was provided.

"I mean, at least one of them must be, nya..."

"And we've got a few other Passengers here to contribute, yeah?"

They looked over to the jury box, silent in case anyone felt the need to comment.

"I HEAR... A DEFENSE AND PROSECUTION? AND A JURY..."

It was hard to read her expression with half of her face missing, but she looked a little... lost, as though she only half understood what was happening around her. She held a massive hand up to silence the Passengers.

"SPEAK ONLY OF THE CASE AT HAND, FOR I AM UNWHOLE. WITHOUT PRUDENCE, I CANNOT SEE. WITHOUT VENGEANCE, I CANNOT ACT. THERE IS NAUGHT I CAN DO BUT RENDER A VERDICT... FORGIVE ME."

She struck the tip of her sword against the floor with a resonant clang.

"SIC INFIT. COURT IS NOW IN SESSION."

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