Final trial

[grimgrinningghosts]

[After everyone is done investigating/disabling an alien, they will hear a quiet click near the staircase. When they approach the staircase, they will find that there’s a whole new set of stairs, going even further down.

The stairs go deep down, and it takes while before there’s any end in sight, but eventually they reach door. Behind it is a large, completely gray room. If it weren’t for the massive table and strange podium sitting in the middle of the room, the guests would be instantly shocked by how empty it is otherwise. But the feeling of emptiness grows the longer they stay in the room.

The door closes behind them when they all enter the room. If they look, there is a similarly gray tv set sitting at the end of the table, right in front of the podium. Despite it’s age, there is a VHS player connected to it.

Well it sure is lucky you have a VHS tape on you, right?]

Comments

TRIAL OBJECTIVES

[candlelightsflicker]

1. What was EPCOT, and who were the people who lived down here?

2. Where is the Tower of Terror now located?

3. Why was Rod selected as the host of this program?

4. IS ROD INNOCENT OR GULTY?

[darnsitall]

[hay guise don't mind Sally, she's just carrying her own fucking head.]

Where in the world are we?

[coulombslaw]

Deeper into the basement places, I guess -- with a very gray room. It kind of reminds me of the Narrator guy, he was all gray too.

[theduck]

If whatever's inevitably waiting down here wants to hurry up and just kill us all now, that'd be fine by me.

[nocasetoobig]

[well he was GOING to show off his awesome flying machine he's piloting but right now he's kind of ASFJGASJFAF]

Sally!?!

[darnsitall]

Chip! You're okay! I was worried.

[She's also covered in green slime.]

Aw, look at your cute little machine!

[tadaishi]

[Well, that's convenient, there's a place to put Rod's tape already. He'll just do that now, since he doesn't want to carry it around forever.]

[yourghosthost]

Oh, yes. Insert random VHS tapes into random VCRs. Most astute thinking, Tadashi. There is no way this could be a trap at all.

1/2

[keyofimagination]

[It takes a few moments to boot up, but soon the tv flickers on. Rod appears on the screen for a few seconds, but when he registers that Tadashi, and by extent the other guests, the screen flickers and suddenly Rod's hologram is in the room with them.

For once, he doesn't stick out like a sore thumb thanks to the gray of the room.]

Well, that's one problem fixed at-

[keyofimagination]

[...

Suddenly he looks around the room, very quickly locking eyes with the podium. It's hard to describe his the expression on his face beyond vague discomfort. In any case, he seems to be familiar with this room in some way.]

Where did you take me?

[nocasetoobig]

Okay- now that we've gotten all that out of the way, did anyone else find something interesting?

[forgottenfounder]

...Oh, right.

[They sure did get side tracked. Oswald reaches into his pocket and produces... a few notes and letters]

While we were checking out that room, I found these. They're letters from Rod.

[They're not fun.]

VOTING/DISCUSSION

[candlelightsflicker]

Now that we’ve got some other matters out of the way, it’s time we move on to our last point...

[He gestures to a small pad and paper in front of each juror’s seat.]

Your host, Rod, has been charged with crimes of kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, aiding in murders, making deals with devils...amongst other things. If you decide him to be GUILTY, he will perish and you all will go free. If you vote him INNOCENT then...I can’t vouch for your safety.

[He taps the fishhook against the podium.]

Act fast, now.

[keyofimagination]

[Terror starts to fill his eyes as he looks between the Hatbox Ghost and the guests. He's not going to say anything but he's very clearly afraid right now.]

[lusito]

... Except you were the one who brought us here, so shouldn't we be charging you with the crime of kidnapping?

[coulombslaw]

[Virgil eyes the paper. He doesn't even try to take them, instead trying to stall for time]

You haven't proven we're going to be okay if we vote like you want us to.

[There has to be a way to make this so they all will be okay and they don't vote Rod guilty, but how...?]

[hallotween]

[Marnie scratches out a quick answer, rips off the paper, and folds it neatly in front of her. then, she stands, clearing her throat.]

Rod... is a jerk.

I've always hated him, since the start. I still do. Innocent people died because of him, some more directly than others. He made one of us betray the others. He's always been sarcastic and rude and probably would've punched me in the face way before now if he wasn't basically an illusion. He is a total jerk and deserves not only whatever's happened to him, but whatever's coming to him.

... But, the question isn't whether or not Rod is a jerk. It's whether he's guilty.

Is he guilty? Of this? Of all this happening? He didn't put us here. He didn't plot and plan this. If he's guilty, we all are-- after all, we voted for people to be put to death, right? Because it was all part of the game. We played the game to get what we wanted, too; we all wanted freedom, and even if not all of us were willing to kill for it, we all still wanted it. He did, too. He just played the game. And as a wise man once said, "Don't hate the player. Hate the game."

[crosses arms] Innocent. The game stops here.

[forgottenfounder]

[without so much as a thought,]

Innocent. I'd feel a whole lot safer knowing that he's here with me then without him.

[He eyes the hatbox ghost with visible scorn.]

I think you're the only devil making deals around here.

[theduck]

...Regardless of how this started, Rod’s been trying to help us. And it doesn’t feel right killing anyone else, not when there’s so few of us left.

[He scribbles his vote down as he’s talking, as if trying to convince himself of it.]

He’s never been the one behind all of this, anyway. He’s innocent.

[nocasetoobig]

[When Chip eventually finishes reading the letters, he's going to go back to reading them. To himself.

Over and over.]

[tadaishi]

[Tadashi grabs the pad of paper and writes INNOCENT in letters filling the whole sheet.]

Like Marnie said, Rod isn't the...easiest to get along with, but he's not guilty of any of the crimes you've listed. He's just as stuck here as the rest of us, there's no reason for him to kidnap anyone. He hasn't helped with any of the murders that have gone on and actively stopped at least one.

[Okay, so he actually killed Stitch, but there was a good reason for that.]

Having personal issues with someone doesn't make them guilty of anything.

[darnsitall]

[INNOCENT]

Mister Rod is as much a victim of all this as the rest of us! And from what we've heard today, I think you are the real guilty party!

[A pointed stare at the Hatbox Ghost.

...Literally, she's pointing her head directly at him.]

[candlelightsflicker]

...

[hahaha.

hahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Hatbox disappears, fishhook in tow. The door behind you seems to lock itself tight.

You hear footsteps, along with something heavy being dragged on the ground. It's not entirely clear where it's coming from.]

[hallotween]

... It was nice knowing everybody. I guess.

[keyofimagination]

[Oh.

O h.

That does not sound good.]

... Maybe you should have left me to die after all.