[Cult Leader's Trial] Stand accused of cold seduction

[thepull_npc]

Who: A Judge and 12 Jurors, an OPEN gallery of onlookers.
The Defense: (Poor DAs), The Defendant (The Cult Leader known as "The Prophet", Miss Sylvia C. Alcázar)
The Prosecution: Franziska Von Karma (backed by an AGI Legal Team)
Testifying Witnesses: Ciel, Alois, Liquid Snake, Allen Walker, Magneto, Fratley and Veser.
When: Monday, April 4th -

Comments

Liquid

[dancing_pierrot]

This morning's first witness was the cynical man who had responded to the network broadcast had made when she had first been assigned to this case. After the occurrences of the day prior, Franziska was certain that she had enough convincing witnesses lined up for the day to ensure that the leader of the despicable cult received a guilty verdict. It would be interesting to see his conduct in person and compare it with what she recalled from the network.

"The prosecution calls this morning's first witness to the stand."

[ysobritish]

Cynical was probably the most capable way to describe Liquid, when you didn't know much about him. 'Grumpy' was a little better right now. Being here was bad enough, but the fact he had to wear a shirt - he'd called ahead and checked - was far worse. Pure and utter discomfort. Why he couldn't just have worn his coat was- well, alright, letting a terrorist into your court with a long black coat buttoned up was asking for trouble. It didn't mean he'd have to be graceful about it.

Coolly, he vaulted up onto the stand - literally - and waited, shifting awkwardly.

[dancing_pierrot]

She scrutinized the man for a moment before speaking; he seemed nervous -- perhaps it was his very first time in the courtroom? For Franziska personally, such a milestone had seemed like another lifetime ago, and it almost was -- a world away, so to speak -- but in the end, this was nothing she couldn't deal with; nervous witnesses were part of her profession, after all.

"The witness will state his name and age for the court."

[ysobritish]

"My assigned codename, or my actual name?" he asked, fidgeting with his sleeves unconsciously. He was not afraid of the court, far from it, but he disliked bureaucracy and politics in all of its forms. Being here was like betraying an ideal of his. Not that it would be the first or the worst time.

[dancing_pierrot]

There was a slightly raised eyebrow at that -- Franziska wondered why some witnesses had to make even the most simplest of routine question complicated, but after a brief moment's pause, clarified. "Whatever name you go by most frequently in the community would have been fine, but now that you've mentioned that you do indeed have two different names, you might as well state them both for the record."

At the end of the day, after all, it didn't really matter what the man's real name actually was; newcomers weren't brought here with nametags identifying who they had been back in their own worlds. It was a testament to human sentimentality, to human foolishness, that more did not grasp for the opportunity to reinvent themselves once it presented itself.

[ysobritish]

He made a slightly annoyed sound. There was no way he was using his entire real name. Even in the outside world he never would have. In a sense, he had reinvented himself when here by changing the surname he used. A little step further away from Big Boss. A little more sanity lost. "James Moriarty," he stated clearly, folding his arms over his chest. "Also known as Liquid Snake, 34."

How annoying. Such formalities as trials were unnecessary in his eyes.

[dancing_pierrot]

Franziska, personally, considered the idea of such codenames rather ludicrous -- surely it aroused more suspicion, acting as though you most certainly had something to hide -- it would make more sense to use a name that sounded like a real one, that no-one would contest its validity. The best maintained lies were the ones closest to the truth, after all -- that, or the truth distorted just enough to be convenient for one's purposes.

"Mr. James Moriarty, then. Please inform the court as to your relation with this case." Once he was established as another one of the victims, they could move on from there to properly examine his eye-witness testimony.

[ysobritish]

Liquid's codename was everything to him. His identity, far more than his real name. It was not a name that he had created, that he had chosen, but it was one he identified with. His codename was not to be valid, but to simply cover his real name. No one could discern that. Not even here, not when he'd changed it. As far as this or any other world was concerned, he did not exist. That he had used a different name at all was proof of how far he'd disconnected. 'James Miles' or 'James Moriarty'... neither were who he considered himself to be. They were the codenames. That was the cause of his flinch at her choice of name.

He barely glanced at the rest of the room. "I was one of the people captured by the cultists," came the cool reply.

[dancing_pierrot]

She'd noticed the flinch, and for a fleeting moment, she almost felt second-hand discomfort for him, but she pushed it aside; it was hardly her fault that she couldn't bring herself to say his codename of choice without sounding completely foolish, and she wouldn't be distracted by these unnecessary niggling feelings. Her eyes flitted very, very quickly over the jury, just to make sure they were following along, before she continued to look at the witness again, although her line of sight had never deviated from him at all.

"And where were you when the kidnapping occurred?"

fffff brain died on this sorry /gets to!

[ysobritish]

"On a street named Wilson Street, in Sector 4. It was deserted at the time," he replied. His own gaze never left her, trying to read her. Liquid was a lot of things, but unobservant could never be stated as one of them. This entire situation was an uncomfortable one and it was better to focus on her than on the room. While he did well under the eyes of others, he didn't exactly enjoy these formalities.

Don't worry, it's okay! I pretty much stopped tagging after that point yesterday anyway.

[dancing_pierrot]

She looked right back at him, never averting her own gaze for now as she was confident that the jury could see where this was headed. "Obviously not as deserted as you thought it was." There was a slight pause of exhalation. "When and how did the offenders make themselves known to you?"

/relieved, thank you

[ysobritish]

He nodded at her statement, adjusting his glove absently. "It was February 27th, approximately 4:30 in the afternoon. I heard them before anything else. They came up behind me and addressed me - although not by name. I found them suspicious, so I asked them if there was a problem and when they didn't answer, I attempted to leave."

[dancing_pierrot]

She nodded once, slightly, and then ushered him to go on. "Then what happened next?"

[ysobritish]

He made a slightly annoyed sound, reliving the scene in his mind. "My body simply stopped responding to me. I couldn't move even a step further. I tried to speak, but it was impossible. I heard someone speak, though I couldn't tell who. Then one of them grasped me by the shoulder and I passed out."

[dancing_pierrot]

"Some possible use of powers, then." Perhaps they would be looked into later, but then Franziska's gaze unwittingly travelled in the direction of AGI's legal team. They looked bored again, as though being forced to sit through another day's worth of testimonies was more of a chore than watching paint dry. Perhaps not, then. They would probably start complaining, soon, but Franziska was not going to tolerate any sort of criticisms when she was preforming her duties perfectly. "In any case, let's move on. In what circumstances did you regain consciousness?"

[ysobritish]

Possible. Of course it was. Liquid had no doubts about that. Just like a lawyer to need to investigate what was obviou. "A considerable while later, I awoke to find myself on the floor of a dark room - a boathouse in Sector 6, I later found out. There were others there. Three prisoners other than myself and the cultists themselves. I was still unable to move, for the most part, but I was able to speak."