SHI QING XUAN

[aubins]

Comments

[shiftingwinds]

...last week was the first time I voted.

[she, uh, may have panicked a little. a lot. (yuri knows this firsthand.)]

To be honest, the best chance we'd have of making it through a week without a vote would probably be if someone killed in self-defense and admitted it right away.

[aubins]

[ he shrugs. ] I think a lot of people did.

...

But the killers would probably vote for that person if there was more than one murder and only the person admitting to a crime of self defence was caught.

You'd need at least three or four people with an agreement, a person and a plan to vote for someone else to balance it, and you'd be potentially sacrificing someone innocent of any crimes here anyway.

[shiftingwinds]

...right... it would only work if that was the only death that week.

[and considering they've had an extra body every week... yeah. good luck with that, gang.

she sighs.]

I wouldn't want to vote for someone innocent on purpose, anyway. [although last week has demonstrated that she probably could rally enough people into voting for anyone. what the heckie.]

[aubins]

Even then, we've got enough killers we've missed now that there's a chance they'll vote just to avoid getting belatedly caught themselves.

... It was never going to be simple, but now I don't know if not voting is the right option going forward. But without being sure, I don't necessarily like condemning someone. Not unless I know they're already guilty of something here.

[ sqx is powerful. ]

[shiftingwinds]

...I agree with you on that.

[the past is... well, it's not necessarily all just in the past, but -

it's not necessarily an indication that they're going to do something awful here, either.]

[aubins]

[ plus so many of them would be bunged in that execution room if past crimes mattered. ]

I think we forget that, sometimes.

[shiftingwinds]

...

[she nods one]

...yesterday was... an example of that, I think.

[although, like. his attitude hadn't really helped.]

[aubins]

...

It was.

[ ... ] It was also an example of our failings to sort through all these trials and find an answer. It's an example of how high our emotions run during these trials. And it's an example of how easily influenced we can all be.

[shiftingwinds]

[she's quiet for a few long moments, and then she nods at that, too.]

...I'm sorry we weren't able to figure out what happened to Luca.

[she'd really wanted to do that.

but really, the only thing she'd managed to do was make sure ming yi was safe. she doesn't regret it, but she does regret not finding the truth of what happened.]

[aubins]

I might as well apologise to you for the same thing. We both wanted to figure it out, and we both couldn't.

[ and now they're none the wiser to any of it. ]

[shiftingwinds]

...we'll keep looking, though.

[who cares if the evidence vanished? they'll figure it out, one way or another.]

[aubins]

Right. There's no harm in that.

[shiftingwinds]

I think there'd be more harm in letting it go unsolved.

[aubins]

... Don't get so wrapped in it you can't focus on any future cases though. It's not fair to the people who suffer those, if you do.

[shiftingwinds]

[she nods]

When we have trials, we should be focused on those cases. But - outside of the trials...

[...she just really wants to get to the bottom of this.]

[aubins]

What we do outside of trials is up to us. Solving these trials is probably an indulgence somewhere, if you really want to get technical and make things fit in the guidelines.

But it's for you too. So it's important.

[shiftingwinds]

...that's what they keep saying, right? Our choices matter.

[aubins]

[ he nods. ]

Literally the choice between life and death, as it turns out.

[shiftingwinds]

[she sighs]

...I think someone also said it was like a race, and that it would be over when we'd all indulged enough? [...] There are some indulgences I've been avoiding - maybe I should just do them and get it over with, if that might help us finish this "race" faster.

[aubins]

[ they've had this very serious and sad conversation but--- hearing that...

if yuri had cat ears they would be slowly popping up. ]

Oh?

[ hehehehe. ] Shi, have you been avoiding ... more... base indulgences? [ :3 ]

[shiftingwinds]

[


oh she feels like she might've stepped in it now. she fans herself with her fan and looks away.]

Ahaha... well, not entirely, but... to an extent, yes...

[aubins]

[ oho

ohohoho. ]

Not entirely? How scandalous of you.

[shiftingwinds]

[


fans herself a bit more quickly and looks off to the side.]

...let's talk about something else, shall we!

[aubins]

[ oh. oh no no no. ]

You can't coyly hint like that and then not gossip with me, Shi. C'mon. Let's have a look around at some of these shops as well, so you've got something to hide in if you're getting too flustered.

[shiftingwinds]

That wasn't what I meant to...

[aaaaaa, she just meant maybe they should be more willing to indulge in things they've been avoiding...?! but she'll nod. they can look around.

she points at him with her fan, though.]

...I-I won't be the only one talking about this. You go first!

[this is a paltry attempt at turning it around on him]