“What’s that?” Poppy asked, returning me to the upsetting feeling and tone that everyone had adopted. She pointed at the box Liam was carrying, and he dropped it onto one of the tables.
“Ms. Aka and I had found a box of contraband items, and I feel it a good idea to share the items amongst ourselves to prevent anyone from easily accessing and using them.” He explained, slowly taking out the items, placing them on the table like some kind of showcase, “You may select your items now.”
…
While we all ate in relative silence, I thought about who I should try and cheer up next.. . .Seeing her sit by herself at a table, I made my way over to Mia’s table, sitting down across from her with a cup of my best attempt at vanilla tea.
I laid myself down in my bed, rationalizing the need for sleep to myself.‘These dreams that I’ve been having…’‘They’re much different than the old ones.’My body relaxed, and I felt myself growing more and more fatigued, readying myself. These new dreams were memories of a different time. No longer were they about my years as a child, but of my years of being an Ultimate.
Poppy and I entered the cafeteria and sat down, after I grabbed myself some breakfast, and we all sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking to ourselves about the motive. After those few short minutes, Liam took on his leadership role once more, standing up and clearing his throat.“I think now is as good of a moment as ever to bring up an ever increasing concern,” He began, getting the attention of most everyone, “The next motivation is going to be announcedtoday, if the Loudspeakers do not fall behind on their schedule.”
“Why are you trying?”Poppy's words hit me hard as she asked.“...What?” I asked back.“Why are you even trying anymore?” She continued, “There’s been so much death...and so much betrayal..so why?”…
Poppy was sitting on my bed, looking up at me with a half smile on her face.“Hey, what’s up?” I asked her, approaching and sitting in the chair, across from her.“I was wonderin’ if uh, I could stay the night in here with ya.” She stammered, “I’m still just a bit worried about the you know what.”“Oh, that&
I notice that one of the doors is wide open. It belongs to one of the kept up people in this whole group,Ceàser.My curiosity gets the better of me, and I check inside of his room to make sure he’s alright. Thankfully, it seems no one is home, so I assume that he’s just gone out for something and forgot to lock his door. Seems pretty in character for him. So as respectfully as possible, I leave his room and continue down the hallway until I make it to Mia’s room, to which I knock on the door of.
There was an undeniable feeling of dread and worry coming from two people in the room;Mia and Liam.They both looked different from usual. They had their heads hung, their arms crossed, and a strange look on their faces. Nevertheless, Poppy and I got ourselves some food, and sat down.…Besides occasional small talk between Urks
It was a weirdly comfortable feeling to me, having someone trust me enough to want to have me lead.“Would you be up for a short meditation session, Ms. Aka?” Liam then asked me, “It would help us get our minds off of the burdens of reality for a short while.”“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind at all.” I answered, joining Liam at a table. For the rest of the morning then, I returned to my winter forest, appreciated the calmness of the air, and the perfect cold temperature around my skin.
With that, we all exited the cafeteria, with me leading the way as usual. Most of the team followed, while people like chefs and most of the cleaning crew stayed behind to clean up everything so that no evidence would be left behind. Amber was the only exception, following us as I needed her to clean up specific areas.As we neared the crossroads for the different hallways, I made sure to inquire about something important to her.“Yo, Amber, you made sure you guys cleaned all of thefingerprints
…The hallways were finally silent.The only thing I could hear were my own footsteps, as I made my way through his familiar prison, on my way to the cafeteria.I was trying to keep my composure, walking in stride, and proper composition, but occasionally a small snicker or bounce escaped me as I neared the room closer and closer, thinking back on everything that had happened. Turning the corner, I could see the door to the cafeteria, and felt my excitement growing exponentially.&n
“...Congratulations!” The Loudspeaker called out in celebration,“You voted incorrectly!”… …
“I think that I might have theone piece of evidencewe need to convictour culprit.” I responded, feeling a sudden boost in confidence as the words started to form in my head, and the face of a culprit started to come into view. All we needed was one more push, and I had it.“Please do tell then.” Liam allowed, sounding a bit worried and excited at th
“Are you saying that she…sacrificed herselfto let us progress?” Urkstin questioned, seeming to get increasingly upset at the idea. Personally I was feeling the same way, but for a much different reason.“That… would explain why the handwriting does not match.” Liam responded, solemnly. Everyone seemed to be getting on board with the idea, which just infuriated me more, to the point where I couldn’t hold back.“B
“That means that it must be one of the two who were out during that period, which would beyou two.” Liam spoke, pointing at bothMia and Akira.… …… …Once again, the room fell silent, with a new ominous aura looming ove
“However, this also brings with ittroubling news.” Liam spoke, readying himself for this next phase of the trial.“Troubling? How so?” Akira asked. I most likely knew where Liam was going with this, but let him speak in his own words first.“Well, the more uplifting news is that we now have a
"Akira and I discovered somethin’ a bitstrange.”“Strange how so?” Liam prompted me to answer, while Akira sat back and let me explain away.“Well, this might sound a little gross, but I noticed somethin’ strange inside of Aka’s mouth, so I had Akira put a finger in there to find out what it was.” I explained, getting some varied looks from everyone in the room.
"I was looking for aweapon.” Mia responded, getting some questionable glares from her answer as to why she went towards the bathrooms, “Alongside that, I saw Natsumi heading down the bathrooms’ hallway at10:15 PM, so I followed her at10:20 PMand after seeing her in the bathrooms, got myself a weapon from ther