Season 1 / Yoshida Sisters - "The Show Must Go On" [The First Trial Projection]

MILGRAM

Seeing a warden approach their cell, the Yoshida sisters both have a good idea of what to expect. Looks like it’s their turn to be put in the projection seat, though how exactly that’s going to work with two people is anyone’s guess.

It's Warden Ei this time, who clears his throat and knocks on the door. "Prisoner 012… er. Prisoners 012, plural, I'm here to take you to your projection. May I ask you some preliminary questions?"

At the question, Shiori’s eyes dart to her sister, expecting her to take the lead in this situation just like always.

And she does, smiling as usual and giving a polite bow to the other warden. “Of course! Feel free to ask what you like, neither my sister nor I have anything to hide.”

"So you say. But something here seems to believe you have committed murder, otherwise you wouldn't be here. I wish I could be more specific, but…" He sighs. "Anything you'd like to say for yourselves before we move on to the courtroom?"

Shiori narrows her eyes, wringing her hands behind her back. “We are not murderers. I would know if I killed someone.” One would certainly think that, wouldn’t they?

“I have to concur.” Nobuko says, a look of concern playing across her face. “I’ve made it my calling to improve the lives of others, the idea of taking a life is simply preposterous. I would never do such a thing.”

Ei pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "...We'll take that into consideration. Now if you'll follow me…"

Ever obedient, Shiori bows and takes a step forward, glancing back to make sure her sister is coming too. Ultimately, no matter how much authority the wardens held over them, Nobuko’s orders are her highest priority to follow.

Nobuko saw no need to resist. After all, if they were truly as innocent as she claimed, wouldn’t the projection show that? Better to see matters sorted than resist. She nods to Shiori, and follows where the warden leads them.

---

Despite the promise (implication?) that the rest of you would be free to watch, Ei shoos you away so the chosen prisoner can be guided down the long hallway alone. Once they reach the courtroom, though, the wardens are too occupied having the prisoner sit in the lone chair(s, plural) properly to keep you away.

So a few of you make the trek yourselves, finding the hallway only marginally less lonely with your company. The walls still seem stifling, their silence somehow out of place.

But the courtroom is wide open, if barren, and there's not much to be uncomfortable about until the prisoners of the day are secured in place. A strange...—machine? Somehow enough of it remains in shadow to obscure any useful details—emerges from the wall to hover around the prisoners' heads, then everything but you and the wardens is swallowed by utter darkness.

It only lasts a moment, though. Once the shadow subsides, you find yourself seemingly somewhere else...

Shiori Yoshida

You all find yourselves seated in the front row of a theater in comfy cushioned seats, looking forward onto a stage currently obscured by a large black curtain. The entirety of your surroundings are black and white, the color entirely drained from everything in sight, yourselves included. A slight static noise fills the air, the sound emanating from a vinyl record player set just below the stage. Whenever you try to speak, you find your words are completely inaudible and instead manifest as written words on a caption screen that appears in front of your head after you’ve finished talking, almost as if you’re in a silent film.

What do you do?

Emmy | Akemi

Akemi didn't necessarily want to return to this hellish room, especially not so soon after her own ordeal, but two things spurred her to follow. Firstly, one of those siblings had attended Akemi's projection, that alone seemed like fair turnabout. Secondly, though she would not be saying so aloud, she did not trust most of the others who seemed to be following as well.

As the projection starts, Akemi blinks and looks around. This is an odd setup, but it is far preferred to the last encounter she had.

She will check her seat first, along with any empty surrounding seats. She sees no reason to engage in friendly banter.

Shiori Yoshida

Emmy | Akemi

The seats you all are sitting in are perhaps the plushest you’ve ever felt, their elegant wooden design and silky cushioning reeking of opulence. They feel reminiscent of those you’d find in a vintage theater, with the seat backs unable to be moved and no gaps to be found in the chair for anything to slip into. There is, however, space under the chair, where you can just make out a few flat objects underneath the seat.

Hikaru Suzuki

Hikaru is a very nosy person, and not having the space or time to peek at one of these projections has been absolutely killing him. At last, he has a chance - and this is a two-for-one deal too, it seems. His eyebrows raise as he's taken aback by how immersive it is. Not being able to hear himself speak is… freaky.

What interesting company he's here with, too. He nods a greeting to the motely crew that's gathered, but is too distracted by what's going on to talk. He heads towards the record player, curious as to whether there's anything it should be playing.

Shiori Yoshida

Hikaru Suzuki

A vintage vinyl record player sits on a small table just below the stage, the pin of it currently cycling on an empty platter. In a shelf under the table, a single vinyl record sits in its sleeve, waiting to be played.

Bow-wow

Bow-Wow was… a little afraid of these projections, to be honest.

Whilst he didn't even remember what had happened in his own, the way it had made him feel after the fact left a lot to be desired.

And yet… he found himself in a projection. Ah, shit.

Who else was trapped in here with him…? Ah, Hikaru and Tatsuko? They are two people he'd rather not be trapped in here with! Akemi, however, is much better.

"Um…hello, everyone!" Bow-Wow waves sheepishly, already feeling bad for intruding on someone else's projection without asking.

He seems most interested in the large black curtain and by extension, the stage.

Shiori Yoshida

Bow-wow

A large black curtain hangs before you, rising high above into a seemingly endless ceiling. The material is silky smooth, but also pretty heavy and dense. It may take some effort to get these opened.

The stage’s contents are currently obscured by the curtains, but should you peek through them, you see only darkness. Perhaps the show isn’t ready to start yet?

Tatsuko Onizuka

While Tatsuko had never been in a projection before, she couldn’t say that it never sounded appealing. After all, it was an opportunity to get out of this prison and stretch her legs, even if it was technically inside someone else’s head and she never actually left the building. It certainly beat sitting around and doing nothing.

She raises her hand in a form of greeting in response to Bow-Wow. “Woof woof!” Ok. “Huh? Hey, what the hell? Why can’t I talk? Who thinks they have the right to try and shut me up?” she fumes. This might actually be a good thing. For everyone else, that is.

Well, whatever. What’s under her seat?

Emmy | Akemi

Akemi is going to grab those flat objects if she can and examine them.

"…there is something under the seats, here." She announces, feeling grateful she does not have to listen to the grating voices of people like Hikaru or Tatsuko.

If these things are able to be taken, she will hold them up for the others to see.

Shiori Yoshida

Emmy | Akemi

Looking under your seat, you’re able to find a selection of eight different cardboard signs, each attached to sticks that allow one to hold the sign up like one would in an auction. A set of these signs can be found under each and every seat, in fact. Each sign has a specific individual command written on it, which are as follows:

Clean his house
Prepare his medicine
Administer his medicine
Cook his meal
Serve his meal
Take him for a drive
Discover his secret
Finish the job

Hikaru Suzuki

Hikaru is a modern man, but he's also sufficiently pretentious to have used a record player and vinyls. He takes a look at the record and nods over to Akemi as she shows what she's found.

"There's this record here, too. Any objections to me putting it on to play?"

Shiori Yoshida

Hikaru Suzuki

Picking up the vinyl record, you can see that the sleeve containing it is green and blue in color, depicting a man and a woman standing in a rice field, their faces blurry and indistinguishable. The actual record itself is rather unremarkable, with no identifying labels or colors on it. Who knows what’s on this thing? The sleeve design certainly doesn’t give too much indication as to its contents.

Bow-wow

Bow-Wow is grateful he isn't forced to take off the mask or resort to interpretive dance. The… weird caption screen was certainly distracting, though.

"I dunno if it's important- but I ain't seein anythin' on that stage there! I think we gotta do somethin' ta get those heavy curtains ta open!" Captain obvious… I'm sure the caption … thing is having fun translating him though!

Emmy | Akemi

"If I am interpreting this correctly, starting the music will likely cue the 'show' to start. From there, I would imagine these signs will influence what occurs…"

Akemi responds to the both of them.

Tatsuko Onizuka

Household tasks… her greatest nemesis. At least she just has to hold the sign and not actually do any of them. Hopefully. And at least for everyone else, they don't have to listen to her complain about it.

She calls out to Hikaru. "Put on something good! It's so quiet and boring here!"

Bow-wow

Bow-Wow leans over to look at the signs, squinting almost like he was having trouble reading them- that's on having fursuit vision…

"Finish the job…? Y'all… don't think that means…?" He's watched way too many action movies to not immediately associate the phrase with killing someone.

Hikaru Suzuki

Hikaru laughs soundlessly, amused by Tatsuko's attitude. "Sure thing, I'll put it on."

He's not sure why he expected it to be anything he recognised, but he studies the sleeve nonetheless before taking out the record and putting it on the player.

At Bow-wow's question, he simply raises his eyebrows and shrugs mysteriously. He's of the same opinion, but he's also kind of enjoying the mystique here.

Shiori Yoshida

Hikaru Suzuki

When you play the record, a soft melody begins to play, one that turns into a full-on song that repeats as long as the record is still in the player. As the song plays, the curtains parts on their own, the lights come on, and the stage is now revealed.

A large cardboard cutout of a beautiful manor stands near the back of the stage, taking up the majority of the background. In front of the entrance to the manor stands a cardboard cutout of an elderly man in a fine suit, a tired and annoyed expression on his static face. A cardboard cutout of a sleek black car stands to the side of the manor, large enough to completely obscure the cutout of the elderly man were he to be positioned behind it. High above the stage hovers an enormous pair of disembodied hands clad in white gloves, and extending down from the fingers of these hands are strings on its right and chains on its left.

As your eyes trail down these chains and strings, you find that at the end of them are two wooden puppets, the one with its limbs attached to chains resembling Nobuko Yoshida and the one attached to strings resembling Shiori Yoshida. Their faces are painted and static, the Nobuko puppet retaining a permanent smile while the Shiori puppet sports a permanent frown. You see the lifeless puppets onstage begin to move, the fingers of the hands above it twitching to life to control them. The Yoshida puppets bow to the audience before standing at attention with their arms at their sides, ready to receive their next order.

The show has begun. What order will you give them first?