Final Trial

[cartesio]

Final Trial

It takes a few minutes after everyone talks with the generic mannequin. The easygoing conversation, the bragging from Gant, Keith's exasperation, it all stops when a very heavy and ominous presence fills the room.

"I think it's about time this circus stopped"

It's the Sergeant. He's standing on the doorway, arms crossed. The shadows on his face wriggle, he seems to be rather furious, but is restraining himself from lashing out

"I should have guessed you bunch would take advantage of all that noise and ruckus to sneak in here. I was careless, I admit. 'Oh, this is over in like four hours, it will be okay if I step away to deal with that'. Careless."

Slowly the Sergeant enters the workshop. Behind him, the door slowly disappears, fading away, until where the door was now there's only a smooth wall. The Sergeant raises an arm, the entire room shakes.

All the mannequins fly up to the ceiling, the one that was now Damon Gant turned back into the empty husk the mannequin was before. The one with a t-pose has the same fate. Once all the mannequins are up on the ceiling, the operation tables are uprooted, bolts and screws flying around. The tables are twisted in the air, formed into knots, disassembled and assembled all over again, until several rustic podiums are formed and deposited on the ground.

Seven podiums, with him at the center. The Sergeant crosses his arms and speaks:

"Get on those spots. Tell me... ...how much do you know?"

Is it a rhetorical question? Who knows. You still have to answer, though

Comments

[quickpersuader]

[Kino continues to stand exactly where she is, hand hovering over the revolver on her right once more even as she otherwise remains outwardly calm.]

...Why should we?

[cartesio]

Because you don't have an option. I figure you know in what kind of world you are in, don't you?

[He's pretty confident because he figures he has everyone's lives in his hands. Whatever he says, goes]

[marmoron]

[And here's another armed fool, still holding his bayard-sword. Sarge's little magic trick here doesn't seem to have impressed him much at all]

What were you taking care of?

[cartesio]

Everyone in town, of course. I can't let everybody make a mess like that.

[marmoron]

What did you do to them?

[Stated while nudging Cosmo back. No need to get the space wolf hurt here.]

[quickpersuader]

I suppose that is a problem.

[Hmm... Still not moving though.]

But I also have a medal. You were going to honor that, weren't you?

[robitussin]

[If she’s caught off guard by him manipulating the items in the room, she does a good job of hiding it. She raises an eyebrow as he speaks.]

What, you don’t know? Didn’t you tell me once that you’re omnipotent here?

[clearities]

[ there's just a little bit of guilt in her expression, just slight, but... there's a determined glint in Sakura's eyes, too, her hands clenched tightly onto the podium. ] I'm sorry— [ she means it, she really, truly does ] But I think that we really needed to know the truth. [ and now that they, do... well. ]

[cartesio]

[In the center of the room, several screens appear. When they turn on, there's the town of Cartesio. The streets are completely empty, the pavement is dirty with residues of fireworks and other stuff.

For several seconds each screen shows different areas of the town]

They're all in timeout while I deal with you guys. I was about to make some...corrections when I noticed you guys were sticking your noses where they don't belong.

[cartesio]

Yes...unless you give me a reason not to. You shouldn't be in here. To be frank with you, Kino, I'm very upset.

[Is he bluffing? Who knows. He sure as hell doesn't sound pleased at all, that's for sure]

[cartesio]

I could find out by myself, I admit. See where you have moved, what you have touched...

...but I thought I should give you guys a chance to come clean. I like giving chances.

[cartesio]

Couldn't you have lived without knowing the truth? It's much easier that way.

[quickpersuader]

Are you really?

[Poor, poor Sarge - not really.]

[cartesio]

You're all sneaking in here and messing with things you don't understand. That's plenty of reason to be upset!

[As if to punctuate it, Kino's podium crumples a little, like it's being crushed]

[relieable]

[so. okay. this scary... Osomatsu gulps as he moves to the closest podium and clings to it so that he doesn't fall on his face. he's terrified, but also he wants to get out of here. he has a medal, but what about the others that don't?]

We... we found the lab.

[marmoron]

[He's looking at these screens with an impassive expression.[

"Time out." That what you're calling processing now?

[There. That's an answer of sorts, isn't it? He's not moving any closer to a podium though.]

[cartesio]

I see. [Sarge seems to like the compliance] You didn't touch or take anything from there, did you?

[If he had eyes they sure would be staring intensely at Osomatsu]

[robitussin]

Yeah? Or you'll do what, exactly?

[quickpersuader]

[Good thing she's not standing there!]

Does it matter? It's pretty much over anyway.

[marmoron]

Sakura's not a coward.

[cartesio]

Those who were granted the right to stay in Cartesio are on processing. The other hundreds of people are...

...let's say asleep and away, for the time being.

[Sergeant takes the word Keith used as an indication he's aware of the inner workings of what he does. Oh, darn it...this bunch have gotten deep into all this]

[clearities]

[ they say "ignorance is bliss", and in many ways, Sakura thinks that she's lived that life for long enough. however, she shakes her head. ] Of course not, Sergeant-san. Maybe the truth might hurt. It might hurt a lot, and it might be easier, but... I think knowing the truth is more important. Since we knew that maybe it could have had the potential to help everyone. If I wanted to run away from the truth, I would have just pretended that nobody died, that nobody was murdered-- And I can't do that. I never could. Too many people have... been hiding things from me. Even Syaoran-kun. [...] But he trusted me with the truth, even if it was hard for him. You heard what he said, didn't you? [ after all, it was in that video. ] And I still believe that even if this town, [ she shakes her head ] this world is like this, it still holds meaning to everyone here.

[relieable]

[OH DEAR...

his eyes shift to the handwritten papers on his podium. he doesn't know if he should give that away yet. no one else seems to be doing what the Sergeant is asking. but, finally, in a small voice, he reads off the title of the report he has]

Radial Imaging and Personality......

[cartesio]

I suppose at this point you understand everyone's entire existence is something I decide the fate of, don't you?

[cartesio]

If there's something I hate is when something doesn't go according to plan. This whole thing you're doing now is way off the rails, to say the least.

[He huffs]

You could have waited in the motel until noon, and it'd all would have ended nice and peacefully, but no! Now you're here.