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Amelia Payne Location:Mess Hall(C)(M2) Skills: N/A

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Amelia was soon joined by Riley on the table and both of them began eating their chosen meals. The entirety of the court room had moved into the Mess Hall. There were a lot of people present and it wasn’t quite easy to spot people if you were looking for them. Amelia herself was just passively keeping note of movement around them, habits die hard after all. Even after weeks of not being in the wild, she was still prone to being on alert all the time, even when having a meal. She didn’t think it was a bad thing, it would likely save her life one day, hers and that of Riley hopefully.

“So… what do you think of the trial so far?” Amelia asked quietly, after noting that nobody was really listening in or paying attention to the two of them. She and Riley hadn’t really talked about the trial earlier on their way over to the Mess Hall. The reply from her lover was a bit dismissing, mostly because she thought it was just and corrupt or too biased. These people had their rules and those were explained right away.

“I suppose so...” Amelia mumbled an agreement to that opinion.” I’m personally glad for it too. It means that things are working here and they make sure to maintain that working. That said I’m hoping that later after the meal, the court doesn’t need us for too long. I don’t want to stay there for too long just to listen to what’s happening. Guess we will have to witness for the time in quarantine proper. We probably won’t be called much for that, we weren’t exactly interacting with Hunter much during the time.” She mumbled, earning a snicker from Riley.” Hey, I don’t like him much, can’t do anything about that!” Amelia defended herself, but smiled and then laughed lightly with Riley. Yeah she just wanted the official duties to end so they can go back home and enjoy the rest of the day.

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Lisa Mason Location: Hospital(B)(J4) Skills: N/a

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“Indeed. So far away she was that he’d have all the time he needs to eat through 3 iron breads and wear out 3 sets of iron shoes.” Lisa nodded sagely.” Now let me continue the story. Ivan was devastated and furious. He had lost the most perfect woman he had ever seen, the love of his life and he had lost her because he lacked trust and he was foolish. She had always supported him through the nearly impossible tasks, even as a frog always was there to welcome him home and reassure him no matter what. He became sullen, fell ill. After a few days of self pity and regret, he stood up in steeled resolve and marched to his father, explaining the tragedy he had caused.’ If you are certain, I will not stop you.’ His father simply replied and Ivan readied for travel. He took 3 iron breads and 3 sets of iron shoes. Picked up his heavy hunting bow and sharp steel arrows and went into the wide wide world to search for his wife.”

“Ivan walked long, walked far, through mountains, through plains, through forests and swamps. Through rain, sun, snow and winds, he never stopped. Words are fast to speak, but work is slow to do, took him months on the road before he found his first clues. 2 sets of iron shoes he had worn out and 2 iron breads he had eaten when he stumbled upon an old man herding sheep on a nice forest glade.’ Good day, young man. Where are you headed on this fair day?’ The kindly old man asked from the prince. Who became sad for a moment before he walked over and took a seat on the grass by the old man.’ Good day to you too, kind grampa. I’m searching for my wife...’ and he told his story to the old man, including his own mistake and what it led to.”

Lisa sighed heavily imitating the old man in the story.”’ Ai, ai, why did you have to burn the frog skin, young prince? Why couldn’t you have trusted her. Vasilisa the Wise was always smarter and better than her father Koschey the immortal. For that reason she was cursed to live as a frog by him. Now she’s likely back with him, punished once more.’ The old man’s words horrified Ivan as he prepared to get on the road once more to search for her, the old man stopped him.’ I see, young prince, that you love her indeed. So here, take this ball of yarn. Roll it and walk after it. By the time it unravels, you will find your princess. Now go on your way and may you have good luck.’ Once more Ivan started walking, but this time after the ball of yarn. It followed not the roads or the slopes as it should. It rolled across the densest of forest, up the steepest of hills, through swamps, through ravines and cliffs. The last set of iron shoes the prince wore out and the last bread he ate until the ball brought him to a beach. He was starving, having nothing to eat for days since the iron bread was finished. On the edge of the shore he saw a fish.’ Great, I will eat this fish!’ He thought and went to get it, only for it to speak out to him in human voice!’ Don’t eat me, Ivan, Let me go back into the blue ocean. One day you will have a need for me and I will repay you, you will see!’ What could he do, Ivan was a kind man, so he let the fish go and continued following the ball.”

“Followed he for a time before he saw a trapped rabbit. He decided to eat it instead because he was starving, but the rabbit too pleaded to the prince for merci and he let it go with the promise of future aid. Then he saw a duck, readied his bow to shoot it, but it too begged for it’s life and it too he let go. Finally he saw a bear, a huge majestic bear. He readied the bow, but before he fired, the bear spoke too.’ Let me live, Prince Ivan, I will help you in return when you need it soon. You will see.’ What could he do? He let it go and continued following the ball of yarn until it unraveled in front of a strange house in the middle of the dark forest. Tall it was, on two bird legs it spun around! He knew whose house it was! That was the home of Baba Yaga!” Lisa took on a mock horrified expression.” Yet the prince was brave, standing before the house he called out.’ Pretty house, turn around and face me with your back to the forest!’ And the house spun on the chicken legs and faced him. He knocked on the door and it opened, revealing an ugly old woman.’ Who disturbs me and what do you want?’ She croaked at him, but Ivan was unperturbed.” My greetings, Baba Yaga, however before questioning me, at least could you have fed and let me bathe? My story is long and the roads I traveled longer.’ He replied with a smile and the old woman cackled as she invited him in.”

Lisa was wondering if the girl would be able to stay awake for the entire story. There wasn’t too much left, but she looked really tired.” Hey, it’s fine if you don’t hear the entire thing now. I will come by later again to finish it if you wish.” She said with kind friendly voice.

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Alexander Polawski Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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The old and worn-out veteran knew Manny had taken his seat across from before he even looked up from his fishy bits. It was the telltale signs of some shuffling up to the table, the sight of someone in his peripheral vision and the sound of eating. More than anything though was how quiet the person was in his actions, no gaining Alexander's attention and asking for permission, nor the idle chatter that accompanied all military mess halls throughout Mankind's long history. So when he looked up from his bowl of fish chowder and saw the familiar face of Manny, Mugsy didn't seem surprised. On the contrary, the one-legged Baby Boomer smiled at his dental Baby Boomer and gave him a brief aknowledging nod, before returning to his fish.

While he liked Manny when his mouth ran like a monsoon, he found the silent company enjoyable as well. He was no Thalia nor Beatrice, but Manny was just as good.

Alexander ate a few bits of what had to be a meal cooked with not just fish, but a lot of love too reminding him of his wife's late cooking, a saddened smile flashing across his face. Good memories, bad memories, but at least in the safe enviroment of Camp Mexico Beach, Alexander felt it easier to find back to both of those. Freedman's words echoed in the back of his mind once again, eyes looking up at Manny as he saviored the moment just like he'd been told to. "If you're lucky and remain on my good side, Manny, I'll dish you up of my special Polawksi fish filets! Who knows how many varations on fish they can have, especially since this is some of the better Army food I've had. And believe me, I've eaten decade-old MRS' that tasted…well, like shit. Anyway, ever spent any time fishing on a boat? You always seemed like a landcrab to me, don't know many naval dentists."

His conversation with Manny was annoyingly sidelined by a certain voice calling from the stage, harking back to the events Alexander didn't want to think about as he ate. He shook his head, annoyed that he couldn't get five-fucking-minutes without his thoughts being dragged through some pile of shit, one way or another. He sighed, returning to the act of eating in relative silence, though waiting for Manny to respond. Perhaps he could never escape those dark thoughts, but at least he could get distracted from them.

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Nigel Cooper Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Nigel had been privilged to socialise with Thalia the one-armed Amazon a handful of times before, so her brief and stone-walled response didn't come as a surprise to him. She'd been a woman of few words the first week of quarantine as far as he could remember, and the brief conversation they'd had at the bar during the beach party had given him a lesson of her way with words. That was to say, her narrow and precise usage of words, like a Cretan archer firing his arrows sparingly during battle. He'd known this when he gave her an option of silence as he sat down to eat with her, so he had perhaps learned some social skills after all.

Which was more the reason he found her answer as intruiging as he did. First of all she answered him, and secondly it had not been what he'd expected. Then again, what did he expect? He'd learned the way of the sword through self-practice and reenactment, while others out of the neccecaty the world ending brought with it. Her dad insisting, now that was a tale worth penning to a Roman legend!

Nigel slowly ate his fish chowder as he listened intently to Thalia's words, giving a half-surprised response back to Shears as he took a seat as well. "Hmmpf…greetings." he mumbled through eaten fish, swallowing hard as he gave Thalia his mostly undivided attention again. "A priest of War, a war-priest? Seems Fortuna was partly kind to you then, and your father taught you well, Thalia." Nigel answered in brief terms, trying not to push his luck any further. At least she had answered, and their relationship was already established as dueling-partners, so he was happy with what he got. Still was interested in the card Shears handed to Thalia and what it read, more so the look on her face. He couldn't read it though, and continued to eat in silence. Like the Romans before him, prod the defences and know when and where to strike. Not before, nor after.

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Ash Holloway Location: Mess Hall (C) -> Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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"Hmm," intoned Ash in a contemplative manner. Thana's point wasn't something that he had considered; that they were reviewing witnesses giving repetitive testimony for the sake of those who were not present. That would mean that, in addition to the general application of justice, this Court Martial was also about letting the public know. It made sense. One of the lessons of an Officer concerned the application of authority, specifically two types: Granted Authority and Perceived Authority. Granted was easy. It was given to you, like a title. It was the way a career Sergeant would defer to a still-green Lieutenant, or the way a civilian employee would follow the orders of someone in a management, just because they were in charge. Perceived Authority was a little different. It was knowing that the person in front of you was capable of handling the task at hand and genuinely trusting that their judgement was bringing everyone forward. It was an issue of respecting that authority, even if rank was not a factor. Or that there were looming consequences for disobeying. The Council of Camp Mexico Beach seemed to be demonstrating that they possessed both Granted and Perceived authority, moreover wanted everyone to know it before they passed judgement. It struck Ash as the right thing to do. But to her continuing commentary about the initial meeting of Hunter, he responded, "Better safe than sorry these days. Curious on how this one turns out."

Ash's potentially too-indepth reading of the situation was cut short, his mechanism for introspection jarred to a sudden stop by Thana's comment about liking their time apart, citing that it kept her from getting bored with him. It took him a half a second to realize that she was laying on the sarcasm, especially when she brought up the bit about them proving the adage about absence making the heart grow fonder. Ash was not a fan of that saying. He'd lived it for almost a year and a half. He had to admit that it was funny, however. Ash wrapped an arm around Thana for a second and gave her a quick squeeze and half-whispered, "Oh, you're a tease," he said playfully. "And I wouldn't have you any other way."

Thana had finished her soup first, which was indicative that Ash was either losing his touch or that he was slowing down his usual Army pace of eating for the sake of demonstrating manners in front of Thana. She wasn't a whole lot ahead; just enough to make his last bites when she started counting down a hurried affair. The memory of the last time she counted down a minute rebounded fresh in his mind, prompting him to recover a mindset more suited to basic training. The last few spoonfuls of vegetable soup disappeared in a shovel-like fashion and he found himself scrambling to tidy up his area and get the task of putting his things away accomplished. Thana's count continued, the maddening cadence which dictated the next moments of his life, and he swore to beat it to its natural conclusion. Breezing past Thana on his way up to the front of the Mess Hall, Ash slowed to offer to take her dishes and flatware as well, then shook every leg he was capable of shaking for the purposes of outmatching the inevitable countdown.

By the time they met outside of the Mess Hall, Ash was smiling with a cocky confident air about him. He stood to attention and threw a spot on salute, relating in chipper tones, "As ordered, Ma'am." He was only too happy to accept his prize, holding it to the same regard as any honor bestowed upon him in recent memory. It occurred to him that he really, really wasn't accustomed to smiling this much. It was something he looked forward to getting used to.

Returning to the Auditorium, Ash took up the seat that he was sitting before their meal break. Like Thana, he made sure to see where she was sitting, way up on the balcony, before turning his eyes to the gathering group of people filling seats. There wasn't much for him to do now except bear witness to the remainder of the trial unfolding, and he was going to do so respectfully, observing as much as he could and taking mental notes on the entirety of the situation.

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Mess Hall (C) -> Education Center (M) Skills: Stealth

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"Catholic," Thalia enunciated, in response to Nigel's summary that her father was War Priest. Looking at the history of the Church, it wasn't a completely unfair comparison. In the case of Father Benicio Gonzalez though, it wasn't wholly accurate. She shuffled back another mouthful of bread, adding to her statement while chewing, "Wrong Horseman." While the horseman of War was an interesting choice out of the Four, her family served a different master.

The joke that Shears made about Joaquin being a barber didn't exactly hit Thalia's funny bone. She did give the man a deferred bob of her head and a quiet, "Nnn," as he mentioned that her brother was a more than fair hand with a knife. Yeah, that sounded like him. And her, once upon a time. But she couldn't bring herself to force a laugh at the idea that the guy should have been a barber. A more natural bit of mirth did escape her when Shears mentioned Atticus knocking out a tooth and blessing it, though it sounded more like a misplaced snort than anything else. Thalia rarely laughed pretty. Or laughed, period. Maybe she should loosen up some. Take up a hobby. Socialize, maybe. Open up to others. The directed thought of that almost made her snort again. Not today, and probably not tomorrow.

A couple more ideas as to what answered the riddle on the card came to mind, but they all seemed off. Thalia gave a sigh and flipped over the card so that Nigel might see it, then stuffed it into a pocket. It was frustrating enough dealing with this semi-domestic goose chase, and she was fresh out of ideas. As soon as attention was diverted elsewhere, anywhere but on her, Thalia gathered her things on her tray and quietly rose. Hopefully, she could just disappear into the movement of people and find her way back unnoticed. Unfortunately, the same curse that was upon her once godly ability to be quiet asserted itself again. The tray slipped off of her metal hand where she had tried to balance one side of it and clattered back onto the table, drawing more attention than she liked. Exhaling with acceptance and resignation of her own failures, Thalia walked her tray up to the dump site and handled her affairs accordingly, then hit the bricks outside.

It was a quick enough jog back to the Education Center. And the same measured amount of time to find her seat, again. She tried to mull over the meaning of the next clue, throwing any kind of euphemism or colorful, cliched phrase into it to see what might logically stick, but it was of no avail. Then she took a different approach, considering which person in Camp might fit those words. The idea now being not to figure out the riddle but to apply the words of the riddle to someone she had met in here. A lot of hands messing things up. Too many hands. Thalia was not operating out of her wheelhouse with this. Then again, her usual wheelhouse was apparently cut off from her, so this was just par for the course today. She could figure it out later. The trial was about to begin again.

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Hank Wright Location: Mess Hall (C) -> Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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"You know there, Maldonado, being in charge of balls is way too easy a dig to get in. Standards, sir. Standards." But even that was intended to be it's own piece of snark, as opposed to an actual admonishment. Hank gave a shrug and returned to his food, hesitant to admit aloud but fully aware of the fact that life wasn't, for the first time in a long while, particularly awful right then. The kind of not particularly awful that made him start to think to the future. Specifically, his future in this place and how he might make himself useful. This idea was not to be confused with the initial plan of his and Wayne's, involving retiring on a boat someplace and fishing until they died of boredom and/or cardiac arrest. That might yet be possible, although no one here was going to hand them that retirement boat unless certain criteria was met first, not the least of which would involve, well, them being useful. So he thought to this point almost exclusively.

That exclusivity was shattered when Wayne fired a tiny crustacean out of his nose. Hank raised his eyebrows with some surprise, regarding the act as one might a missed putt on a golf program. "Ooh... almost, buddy. Though (and this is just me, personally), I might lay off the nose candy unless we pull sentry duty. Then, I say we bring on the Colombian Pixie Sticks. Like, by the handful." Hank was a fan of purpose over pleasure, unless that pleasure involved steak and beer. Then again, that was its own purpose.

On the subject of serenading Ash and Thana, Hank was in full agreement with his nuthouse associate. "You know, pick out their window and I'm all for it. The pipes might be a little rusty, but... Wait, there is no 'but'. It's gonna sound ass-awful. I'm in. You want to see if Sportacus wants to join? Get the band back together, huh?" Hank was having way too much fun with the idea.

Ordinarily, the idea of joining someone on a "potty break" might have seemed a little odd. There were two glaring facts that were appropriate to the situation, though: Anyone who spent more than a couple hours out in the world might realize, if you had to cop a squat or even just water a bush, you were in a vulnerable position and it was essential that you had someone on standby to man a rifle while you took care of business. And secondly, Hank really did have to relieve himself. "Yup, keep those more aggressive suitors off of you. Gotcha, let's go." So after their moment ditching excess fluids, Hank walked alongside Wayne, opting to discuss what songs might be appropriate for a moonlight serenade until they eventually found their way back to their seats. Sure, it wasn't Court TV, but it was the next best thing.

"Hey, Maldonado? How do you think Judge Judy would have called this?"

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Mess Hall --> Education Center Skills: N/A

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Manny's attention diverted towards Alexander as he spoke. It was a bit funny as normally Manny's dialog heavy persona tended to get the conversations going. But this time Alexander had taken the moment to get things going. Manny found that comforting, he figured an environment where people felt comfortable talking to one another had to be a good one. Even if they decided to not talk in that moment. "Oh my that does sound good. Land crab is a good term for me though. I know next to nothing about fish, and little about the ocean." Despite living in Florida nearly his whole life, he had spent little time on the beaches. Always full of tourist except a select few weeks in the late fall where there was no spring breaks, less people avoiding the northern winters, and the populace of what seemed like the whole country arriving to the beaches in the summer. "So I will say, The Polawksi fish filet sounds rather good." This nice conversation reminded him of his final year of school when he had finally found a social circle he didn't feel the need to constantly watch his back with.

Alexander described the MREs that he used to have to eat, with that though Manny had a visible cringe to his face. Though he had been forced to eat some in the last settlement he had been apart of, the cooks they had were normally able to make it seem pretty edible. The talk of going boating got Manny's attention though. He asked about Manny's past with boats and Manny found himself unsure. "Never anything deep water. Went once or twice with my father before I hit my rebellious phase. After that, my father and I never got along well enough to go out again." There were other factors in place. Manny in his 20s had made a strong effort to cut out a large portion of his family and heritage. Though he regretted his choice later in life and attempted to correct it, his surviving family made it clear he was not welcome back. "My late Husband wanted to get a boat, he enjoyed that out doors stuff a lot more then I did. Recent years have helped me warm up and respect them a lot more. Never ended up getting one though and after he passed I saw no reason to get one. Now though, it's definitely something I am more open to trying." Manny took note of Alexander's frustration with the side show going on. He looked over and Wayne and Hank and understood Alexander a bit.

Though he hadn't spoken to either men much, he had spent time with Wayne as they shared chores in quarantine and the man was gracious enough to not bring up Manny's inability to keep up after his body had rejected the meals from the first day. He did a half decent job explaining Manny's mood when he was at his near own personal breaking point that same week. But he didn't know the man too well on a personal level. "How about you? Any time with boats?" He paused realizing that was a bit of a silly question. The man had been deployed on the other side of the world, and as far as he knew the army wasn't flown into Vietnam across the world. But then again, he knew next to nothing of military logistics. For all he knew of how any modern military worked, there were hidden tunnels across the planet military forces used to transport soldiers and material. "I guess outside of military purposes." Manny would finish his soup and bread while Alexander replied, paying close attention to all of his words as he spoke. When done, it would be time to make their way back to the trial. Manny would wait until Alexander was ready to leave, then at that point make his way towards the education center to continue things.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Mess Hall --> Education Center Skills:N/A

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Cage commented on Hunter's follow up comments. And it left Hunter with plenty of new questions. "Social lessons? And what the hell is a LARP?" Hunter had never heard of it before, and it was another thing to leave him confused. "Did do a play once. Got a lead part, fucked it up so badly I wasn't allowed to get a speaking part ever again." The first time he went up on a stage in front of a crowd. "Who knew people could be so critical of a third grader. Sure I panicked and ran off stage but damn. Third Grade." The main reason he never found himself in a play of any kind again was more to do with the lack of wanting too after how badly that went. Though the drama teacher was definitely hot happy to have to replace a lead part the day of the play. "I don't know, wouldn't mind a social group though. Not sure if there's a group I'd enjoy but not the worst problem I've worked against."

To Hunter's surprise, he had indeed nailed it. He had successfully gotten a none hostile conversation going. Or at least the start of one. Or at least he thought he did. The preacher had mentioned doing something like what Thana and Ashton were doing and Hunter had a visible thinking face as he processed that information. Looking at couple across the room, then back to Atticus and Joaquin. If he was thinking any harder on it there would be an audible sound of gears struggling to turn in opposite directions and smoke pouring out of his ears. He decided he would figure it out later, but now he was determined to figure out what the man was talking about. Hunter was good on picking up on material details with his years of taking things apart, but when it came to people he had next to no understanding of how to understand them.

As the conversation continued, Atticus made some more of his intentions clearer and Hunter found himself at a loss of words. He mentioned about Hunter's reaction to Nikki's testimony. Hunter debated how to respond to that, or if there was even a response he could give. "It's there. The remorse is there just..." He paused. "Just what?" He asked himself. He wanted to say something now that he started, but he wasn't really sure what? "I don't know." He let out with a defeated sigh. Part of him wondered if it was suppressed by his general fear and mistrust of others or if it was something else. "What else was I going to do? I compared her to the biggest fuck up of my life. I compared her to a person who I failed over and over, let get hurt over and over, until she was a husk like those fucking corpses outside the walls." What Nikki had said stuck. Had he realized how badly he fucked up, he would have found her sooner. Jobs be damned, camp be damned, all of it be damned. Under normal circumstances he would have tensed up on sharing information he had worked to keep hidden for so long. But it appeared much of it was already out, and with everything else it fell rather low on his proities.

He was offered Aspirin and reminded what would be coming next. He didn't care what came next though. He knew he fucked up then too but his mind was so far in thought about Nikki and Lucy that nothing could beat that. Nothing they could bring up could be worse then what was already brought to light. He took the aspirin anyways because if it might help, then great. If not, then oh well. Nothing lost. When asked about restroom he just shook his head, he was ready to get this over with. He got up and returned to the education center to continue his own trial.

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Amelia Payne Location:Mess Hall(C)(M2)-> Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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The meal was an extremely pleasant experience since she had it with Riley form the start to finish. All in all it passed way too quick for her to not be disappointed when it was time to take the trays to where the used trays were left. The old saying that time flies when you are having fun seemed to as always be true. With a sigh and a bit of reluctance, she stood up and accompanied by Riley, dropped off the trays before leaving the Mess Hall without hurrying too much. They had time and they would arrive in time even without rushing.

They exited Mess Hall without much fuss since they avoided the flood of people leaving by waiting a bit and then proceed to walk over back to the Education Center. People were gathering there, but with a bit of patience they were inside the building soon enough. She all the familiar faces taking their previous seats and she and Riley went back to theirs. Amelia smiled when she saw Chase return. She was one of the last, but she was in time, she wondered what she had found out while performing her duties during mealtime. Hopefully the weather will be good from now on. The rain as enjoyable as it was, wasn’t the most nice thing to walk out there in, so she hoped when they were back to work it would be back to sunny or at least not raining during the delivery times.

In any case, she refocused her attention back in front of them as the trial was starting anew. She wondered who they will be calling for the next part. The whole group was in quarantine proper so they might call everybody to testify again for what they’ve seen, heard or experienced during that period. It would be kinda awkward if they did call her for it only for her to say she didn’t really pay him much heed or attention during that time, but whatever happens happens.

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Lisa Mason Location: Hospital(B)(J4) Skills: N/a

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“Hey the past when those fairy tales took place was a magical time!” She smiled.” They say that magic likely faded and we were left with the world as we see it, but hey the stories remain!” Lisa added with a kind expression. Yeah the world of fairy tales was a better one. A more beautiful and magical one.” Sure you can, Lucy. Here.” Lisa replied and quickly brought a glass of water over, carefully handing it over and waiting to make sure the girl drank as much as she wanted and then put the glass away.

“Baba Yaga is an interesting character, Lucy. Sure she’s often described as an evil witch, but at times she’s not as evil for the sake of evil. Who can really tell what she was like originally. In any case, Baba Yaga welcomed the prince at her house, she set the bath for him, let him dine with her until he had his fill. Then they began talking. The prince explained his woes and mistakes, how he had found the frog after his father’s advice on how to find a bride. How the frog had done the impossible tasks and how he had foolishly burned the skin causing Vasilisa to flee into the night. He retold his meeting with the old man and his journeys following the yarn until he found her home.’ I see, I see, foolish thing you did, Prince Ivan, foolish indeed. Vasilisa the Wise is smarter, kind and in time will be stronger than her father, Koschei the Deathless. It is for that reason she earned his ire and he cursed her to live as a frog for 7 years. Now that he’s taken her back and imprisoned her elsewhere, you shall not find her as long as he draws breath!’ The old witch cackled and Ivan became sullen. He looked at her with pleading gaze.’ Can he be killed, Baba? Can I save my bride from his clutches, if he’s deathless?’ The princess asked, holding into hope that there was a way to accomplish the impossible for at least one last time.”

“The old woman cackled for a moment and looked at the young man.’ Ahh, you can, you can. Koschei feared his death more than anything, so he took it and sealed it away from his body and as long as it’s hidden away, you cannot kill him! However despair not, I know where his death is! His death is hidden at the tip of a needle! The needle is in an egg! The egg in a bird! The bird in a rabbit and the rabbit in a chest! As for the chest, it’s hidden on top of a millennium old tree in this very forest! Tomorrow come morning, I will show you the tree, young Prince. From there it’s all your responsibility!’ She cackled and went and prepared him a bed for the night. Ivan rested well and indeed in the morning after giving him breakfast she brought him to the ancient gigantic tree and left. The tree was truly beyond all reason! He tried to climb it, but always slid back down, for hours he tried and never reached even a single branch! Finally after the sun had passed the peak of it’s path across the sky, he sat down and began thinking. Suddenly he recalled the bear.’ If only my bear was here now to help me, I am sure it would have rocketed the tree and make the chest fall!’ He uttered and as if by spell the bear roared in the distance and charged through the forest. The huge bear slammed into the tree! The ground shook, the surrounding trees trembled and the impact deafened the prince. Then the ancient tree also trembled and swayed and as the bear left the chest came crashing down from far above. It hit the ground with huge thunderous impact and moment’s later a rabbit faster than any he had seen jumped out of the smoke and ran!”

She put her hands on her head to imitate the rabbit as she continued the story.” The prince called onto the rabbit that promised him aid and the rabbit came as fast as lightning and wrestled the fleeing one. The rabbit holding Koschei’s death burst like a bubble and from it came the duck as the flew far into the sky. The prince chased after it and called upon the bird who old him a favor. It flew over like the wind and descended onto the duck yet the duck burst like the rabbit and there fell an egg, right into the sea the duck had flown over. Ivan despaired as he fell on his knees by the shore and watched into the endless expanse of water and the waves. Then something came from the water! It was the fish he had encountered first! It had kept it’s promise, even as he had forgotten, and brought him the egg. Now that he had it, Ivan broke it and from it took the needle. At the very tip of the needle he saw a tiny white glowing grain. It was Koschei’s death! He hurried and broke off the needle’s tip and a horrifying sound spread far and wide as the deathly throes of the sorcerer filled the skies.” Lisa smiled at Lucy.” With the evil Sorcerer dead, the illusions over his palaces lifted and Ivan could see them in the distance. He rushed there as fast as his legs would hold him. There at the front gates awaited him his bride. Vasilisa smiled at him and embraced him, having seen him for the first time in so long. He kissed her and apologized for everything he did, for not trusting her when she helped him so much and that he will never doubt her again. Then they went into Koschei’s palace. They found the fastest horse in the stables, filled a sack with the best riches in the treasury and returned to Ivan’s kingdom. “ The woman spoke, her voice slowly growling less animated and more soft and kind as the story was reaching it’s end now.” Ivan’s father welcomed them back, welcomed Vasilisa into the kingdom properly this time and proclaimed that a true royal wedding would be held, fit for his heir who had returned from a most grand and perilous journey. And a wedding and feast were held, for whole two weeks the festivities went on… and I too was there, ate, drank and danced and this is how the record for Ivan the Royal Prince ends, as written by the scribes and passed down into legend and myth.” She finished the story softly, checking if Lucy had fallen asleep.

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Alexander Polawski Location: Mess Hall (C) -> Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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The low-rumbling ambience of chatter, feet stepping on the concrete floor and cutlery scraping against plates and tables, felt all to familiar to the old veteran again. Only Manny's voice managed to hold Alexander back onto their plane of existence or whatever the hippies back in the 60's used to og and on about, holding the mental line against a barrage of small-arms fire from a very known enemy, yet unseen and unnoticed to the naked eye. Only Manny managed to keep him in his old, yet sane shape, not the broken down soldier who served for too fucking long.

He was still broken, but Old Mugsy had one thing Young Polawski did not. Hope.

Alexander lifted his gaze up from his platter of fish, chewing quietly with his mouth closed, unlike some miserable idiots he'd eaten with before. He couldn't remember name, only faces and the sound of teeth chewing violently on a beef jerky too much like rubber. Thankfully Manny continued where Alexander had left off, answering him about fish filets, boating, fishing and…husband?

Then you'll be glad to have an old Illinois seaman by your side, peg-leg and all! I'll teach you the ropes, whether you like it or not." Alexander joked initially, scooping in another spoonful of fish grub into his mouth as he continued to listen to Manny's answers. He listened closely, friendly to what little experience Manny had with the ocean, not failing to see the parallels between his father's relationship and that of his fellow Baby Boomer. He was ready to get some experience under his belt, now that the world had ended and it seemed like a good opportunity to get a good sea-leg, so to speak. Then again, Alexander found a question he felt an urge to ask, as innocently as he possibly could. "Wait, husband? You had a husband, Manny?"

It wasn't meant in the way it must have come out as; gays and homosexuals, he'd spent his fair share of time around those through his life. Honestly he didn't care about whoever you loved, Catholic or not. He'd spent so much of his life pushing away those who loved him and vice versa, that he'd reconsidered that part of life by now. He just…hadn't expected Manny to have had a husband. Then again, he probably missed him as much as Alexander missed Judith…

Alexander cleared his throat after that awkward question, turning to what Manny had actually asked about. "Outside of the Army? My father and I spent many summers out on Lake Michigan back in my youth. We used to fight like Hell back in those days, neither understanding the. But when we were out fishing? Was the only place we could get along…before I went off to 'Nam back in '70. Afterwards I didn't sail until I met Judith. We'd spend many a summer outside of the Coast of Florida actually, those were the Good days…I miss it, you know?"

Time was up though as dinner was over, and Alexander followed Manny's suit to clean up and head back to the trial. Fish shoveled into his mouth and chewed on like Hell as he limped over to deposit his tray, Alexander wobbled after Manny out of Mess Hall, following by his side until they got back to the Auditorium and found their seats. "And for the sake of argument, I was in the Army, not the Navy. Never spent any time on boats over there, neither blue nor brown. Not sure if they had it worse than us or the other way around. At least we could take cover, but they could only duck down in their river boat and pray to God they'd get back alive. Probably something you could ask Thana about though."

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Nigel Cooper Location: Mess Hall (C) -> Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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It was a most interesting conversation to have, even for the lack of verbal elaboration which Thalia decided to give to either Nigel or Shears about the origins of her armed prowess. The settlements designated Tender of Hair had a fair assessment of Thalia's origins, connecting her fairly well to the man Nigel had unexpectedly become aquainted with earlier; The Shakespearean Joaquin who now was destinied to cross blades with the Neo-Roman scholar. Now that was still an event which the chronicles had yet to put to paper. After his little skirmish with Thalia, Nigel wondered how fighting her kin would fare him.

He didn't comment on it though, fairly certain that the spectacle they'd made in the Mess Hall a week earlier had been far enough. Quoting Shakespear and promising to dual with a CMB native, that was sure to stick to your memory. No, Nigel was far more interested in Thalia and her legacy, only giving Shears a brief look of acknowledgement and a "Now that is what I call an Athenian Sacerdos Dente. I hope I never end up at his arm's opposing side."

Again Nigel focused on Thalia and their brief conversation, still curious as to her background and what little historical documentation she gave him to work with. Catholic? Checked out, her name sounded befitting one of Peter's Flock from Rome, though her mention of him being another Horseman intriuged Nigel. What else would he be? The only one he thought fit, was Conquest. He didn't voice his mental musings however, simply giving Thalia a silent nod of approval and continuing to eat his meal. Perhaps Thalia's demenour was rubbing onto him as well, or he was getting back at reading people. He thought it best not get on the One-handed Amazon's bad side either way, or better yet get on her good side before they met for an armed duel. He looked forward to having her as a proud sparring-match, and to fight by her side.

It was at this point Thalia decided to show him the card, giving him the briefest of time to deciphere it's coded content before he could give an answer. "…many hands make for easy work, yet this one…Forgive me for asking bluntly, but have you asked Cook about this? It sounds like a phrase connected most fittingly with those inhabiting the Cantine. Too many cooks, you know? If not, I'd like to help if I can, Thalia."

Before he knew it, dinner was over and their presence was required back at the Trial. Nigel hurried to finish his long-sought after meal, clearing away the tray and making his way back to the Education Center and Auditorium. It seemed like most others arrived around the same time, and Nigel did his best to find his previous seat besides Ashton, giving him a polite nod as he scootched past others to take his seat. There wasn't much to say between Nigel and Ash, so an eire silence commenced as he waited for the Trial to recommence.

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Mess Hall --> Education Center Skills: N/A

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Manny Enjoyed his conversation with Alexander. The man had a whole world of experience that Manny couldn't even begin to understand. He had a stronger understanding of what it was like to handle blue collar jobs, where Manny cleaned teeth. Alexander went to war, where Manny went to school. When the apocalypse hit it was his skill with a rifle that proved his most useful, and Manny's skill with a scalpel that was his most useful. Manny avoided asking too much about Alexander's early life, as he knew others who were in his war that struggled a lot with those memories. It appeared Manny hadn't shared too much of his early life with Alexander either, as the old vet asked about Manny's former Husband from years before after following up Manny's comment about fishing and boats. "I look forward to be dragged kicking and screaming into a nice comfortable boat." He said with a joking ton about it. Then the question came he wasn't sure how to answer at first. But with some thought, he put the words together. "Two actually. Technically, legally we weren't allowed to be married. But for all intents and purposes we were. Then once after the world fell apart, and I don't think anyone really cared about those rules anymore." Though legally he was never allowed to marry him and his partner did everything they could to work around it with... mixed results.

He finished his food with that on his mind. "To be fair, the second marriage was rather short. But I knew the him before things fell apart, so it's not like it was an on the whim thing. I think at the time we were both just..." He paused thinking of the right word. "Lonely." Looking back, he wasn't sure how much he actually felt love in that relationship. In that case, it was more a desperate attempt to get some joy out of his life in a time where any day could be their last. Alexander explained much of his life involving sailing, his struggling relationship with his father which Manny could understand rather well. But there were good moments, and Manny was glad to see his friend was able to get some familiar happiness with his wife years later. "I think Id o know. Yeah." Manny nodded a little with his words, though those days were long gone he still felt good looking forward on things. He made note of Alexander's comment about his time int he service and stayed focus as he explained it. "My mistake. I can ask her about it when we got some time." Manny took his seat near where he sat before, but not 100% confident it was the same seat. A part of him was worried it was age again, but he had to remind himself that it is likely just a case of it's a big room, and all the seats look alike. Though something to pay attention to, he'd need to hammer out those thoughts as best he could over time.

The trial continued on to a point that was arguably the lowest moment of quarantine. The moment Hunter had snapped on the Russian Mother. One at a time they were called up to explain their sides, even the guards who were on duty gave their perspectives. Though they gave justification for their inaction, he was still frustrated with it. When his turn came to give his statement he stepped up to stage attempting to give everyone he made eye contact with a nod of Acknowledgment. "I didn't see what led up to first contact, but I recognized the sounds of it pretty easily. Things escalated verbally, then calmed down. Moments after is when Hunter has his moment. I was personally hoping the guards would have gotten involved before things got out of hand, but thanks Beatrice while she was still here he was pinned and restrained before things could have gotten worse. He spoke a lot of things, that maybe could have made more sense if I understood what Tatiana said in full context, but he seemed frustrated to a rather extreme degree." Frustrated was the wrong word. He lashed out at her, lost all sense of self control, and he clearly was not completely together in the head. "He seemed to hesitate before he snapped at her. I remember noting how odd that was, and can't personally figure out why. Maybe he had second thoughts he ignored, or maybe he wasn't able to process what he had just witnessed." Remembering back to Beatrice was harder, she had been gone for a little over a week now, but it felt like lifetimes ago. "Beatrice had pinned Hunter after a few people had attempted to verbally put him in his place. He seemed to resist a bit, then slow down, then picked up rather drastically soon afterwards. She let him go soon enough, and reminded him to back off. He isolated himself afterwards near the coffee machine." He tried to be detailed without going over the top, but he wasn't really sure what they were looking for, so he hoped he didn't miss anything. When he had the chance in the future, he wanted to push for different responses from guards. Though looking at him now, he didn't seem like he could be threatening to anything other then by being loud and maybe a stern look. But in that moment, he seemed like he could have escalated things quickly, maybe quicker then the guards could have reacted if he went that far.

Manny returned to his seat, giving a glancing look at Hunter who seemed to be having trouble focusing on things. He even took note of the nervous swallowing the boy did as he was doing from time to time. Assuming his theory about the boy being some conscripted scout was wrong, he wondered when the last time the boy had interacted with a real person was. Part of him wondered if there was anyone after those first few months. No, he didn't seem that far lost. Five years was a long time, and anything could have happened in that time. But that still brought up the question, when was the last time he had an actual conversation with another human being? Manny sat down after breaking his glance towards Hunter.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Education Center Skills:N/A

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His question about what a LARP was never answered, to that it was a shame. But he had gone this far without knowing, so no harm he guessed. Despite his mind being occupied with countless thoughts, he took the moment to respond to Cage. "If the only thing I cared about was being alive I wouldn't have come here in the first place." If just staying alive was his main concern, he would have stayed home five years ago when things first started going bad, or when he last returned from being in the military. He wouldn't have gone south, he wouldn't have returned to the safe zone that wanted nothing more then to shoot him, he wouldn't have gotten on the chopper to first get into camp, and if staying alive was his only concern he'd have taken the offer to leave when the trial first began. He didn't know how to word what he wanted. But there was more to it. Cage was uncomfortably close to Hunter's wants. Every time he had made a move to do what he wanted, he had found himself at gun point in some way shape or form. Sometimes by his fellow soldiers, sometimes by those he'd share shelter with later, sometimes by scared and hungry people who had no idea how to view him, and sometimes it was just a wrong place at the wrong time. Ironically, the last event that started with shooting before he even realized there was a gun on him probably ended the best for him.

The trial was harder to handle at the moment. A lot of it was overwhelming still, much of it was stress built up from before, stress from the shame of his actions, and the new stress from worrying about how things would end. The part of the trial they were at didn't help. He avoided eye contact with everyone at that moment, especially Tatiana. In the moment, he panicked and his panic within his first couple words had escalated into him exploded and lashing out rather quickly. His intention when he started was meant to be good, but it quickly went out of hand as he lost control of his temper and ability to think of what he was saying. Though his understanding of Russian was rusty and broken he could recognize what was said. He sighed unsure what to do now. At this moment he was thankful for the Advil he was given before. He took it realizing his mistake after he put the tablet in his mouth. No drink to follow it up. Shit. He let his spit collect to swallow it, but all he ended up doing was swallowing multiple times as he tried to down the tablet. "Fuck, fuck, fuck" were the words that went through his mind. He struggled but got it down enough that it just left irritation in his throat. He thought to himself, "Congrats fucker, you can't even take a fucking pain killer without fucking it up". He did his best to follow along with the statements given, but he found himself struggling to stay focused again.

Too many people watching, too much attention on himself, too much was going on for him to keep staying focused. He tried to hold up to it before but the longer it went on the more it wore down on him. He took a deep breath, then another swallow as he tried to remove that irritating feeling in his throat. Then another breath to try and calm himself down. Hunter knew how to handle a lot of problems, but not a single one involved how to handle people on a personal level.

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Amelia Payne Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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“Good to hear.” Amelia nodded to Chase as they were given the possible weather conditions tomorrow. Rain was nice and all, but good weather was important too. Without it, late afternoon walks by the beach with Riley were not really possible to have and she wanted her strolls.

As the trial resumed and the next witnesses were called for the specific questioning, Amelia’s smile kinda fell apart when she realized what they were going to be talking about, especially with Tati and Jack’s retellings of the events.’ Fuck...’ She groaned inwardly in a rare moment if desire to inwardly curse. People were called, versions were told and eventually it was her own turn to go up there and she really didn’t feel like doing it, but duty was duty and she’d only get in trouble if she didn’t. Not like she had much to say about that event, she was mostly on the sidelines back then and honestly very distracted with inner turmoils and stress. Still when they called her she stood up and moved to testify.

“Well… I honestly didn’t pay too much attention on what happened back then. Like I saw it happening, but my mind was preoccupied with other things at the time to actually realize the details of the happenings. Still and argument was had and a punch was thrown, but I don’t recall Hunter reacting at that point.” She explained. Details were kind of eluding her right now, but she wasn’t quite in the right state of mind back then. She hadn’t even realized what had happened until around the time of the punch.” He spoke out a bit after the punch after the things had started to settle down I think. It wasn’t long a time, but I hadn’t paid that much attention.”

“I wasn’t paying much attention...” She fidgited a little before steeling herself.” Tempers were flaring and it was unnerving me. I was too stressed and on edge at the time to spot any details or make out what was being said. All I know is that once he started his rant, tempers flared all around once more and moments later Beatrice tackled him to the ground and held him there. More words were hand and eventually she let go of him and that was that.”

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Lisa Mason Location: Hospital(B)(J4) Skills: N/a

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Lisa’s attention snapped at the little girl, hearing the last whispers leaving her lips as her eyes closed. She was there with her, she saw it as the little girl finally drew her last breath and the monitor flatlined by them. The monotonous sound filled the room. If Lisa had been holding a book, she’d likely would have dropped it, but since she didn’t she just stood there for a moment. Her eyes darted to the clock on the wall, noting the time.” Sleep peacefully in eternal rest, Lucy.” The woman spoke softly as she caressed the child’s head.” You are certainly at a better place than us now. Hmm, you might even meet Vasilisa and Ivan, hmm?” She muttered, closing her eyes and with a sad smile she pulled her knife.

The pharmacist’s movement was quick and precise as the girl couldn’t struggle after all. It had to happen before the worst fate could arrive. She made sure to be as clean as possible and once the body was secure, the knife cleaned and sheathed she pulled her radio, eyes locked on the girl who look like she might as well be sleeping with that innocent smile on her face. Lisa glanced at the handheld radio for a brief moment before activating it.” Lisa Mason to admin. Lucy has passed away. Time of death...” She proceeded to say the time she had taken once it had happened.” Her body has been secured against turning. I will be in the room waiting for the team.” Lisa finished her report and put the radio away again, before walking over to the monitor and shutting it down, making the room fill with the utter silence like it hadn’t been in a very long time. She turned back to Lucy and gently pulled the blanket over her completely covering the body.

Lisa was smiling, but she wasn’t really happy. She was glad the girl wouldn’t be suffering anymore as it was the only positive about this tragedy. She was smiling yes, but it was hollow. Her eyes fell onto the picture that Lucy drew and named for her, carefully picking it up and holding it to her chest as a few tears ran down her face, but she silently wiped them out, the hollow smile still on her face as she knew this outcome was for the best after all. The girl would have suffered even more if this had continued onwards… her mind knew it, but her heart refused to just accept it silently. She knew the girl, visited her often enough during her cleaning rounds back when she was the intern. After taking a few more moments, she rested back in the chair by the bed.” I guess we can go through another story while we are waiting for the team… What about the one about the ‘Palm sized man with an elbow long beard’?” She spoke quietly to the silence.” There was once in a land far away a man who had 3 sons and 3 daughters...” She began another story in the quietness of the room, wiping a few more tears off her face.

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Ash Holloway Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Ashton looked up from his seat to view Nigel retaking his seat next to him. He gave the man an accommodating expression and returned to his time-honored habit of staring mostly straight ahead, blankly waiting for the trial to continue with the one exception of turning back around to see if he could meet Thana's gaze for a moment. He was not an overly garrulous man, and this wait was nothing compared to sitting motionless in a transport plane, crossing an ocean, debating upon whether it was worth it to risk traversing the uncertain footing of a forty-year-old aircraft aircraft not built to the comfort or stability of commercial standards for the purpose of relieving his bladder in an hastily arranged bucket and/or tarp setup. Not a glamorous existence. Nevertheless, an existence he knew well.

When things finally did get back underway, Ash was keen to note elements of Tatiana's testimony. She was being more than a little evasive, which was something that gave him concerns. Mostly, those concerns were for her. At the same time, Tati's hesitation to speak was due in part (he assumed) to the fact that the incident was a personal matter between she and himself. Nobody's business, and moreover she was correct; it had no bearing on the facts of the Court Martial. Ash gave Tatiana a supportive look as she stepped down and went back to her seat. She was, as she had stated earlier, family to him. Jack's testimony was likewise terse, though he did do something interesting: He repeated Tati's speech word for word, and in front of a native Russian speaker in attendance. Of course, that same Russian was there when the words were originally spoken, so there was nothing new there. And surprisingly, the Major did not reveal what was said, either.

When it was his turn to give testimony about the events in Quarantine, Ash went against his instincts to be as open as possible with these people. He remained honest, but he stood by Tatiana's decision to keep their personal affairs personal, as backed up by Major. Upon being asked why Tati hit him and what was said, Ash responded, "Respectfully ma'am, this is a family matter. I cannot in good conscience answer when it has been established through testimony that this has no bearing on the trial." He continued with a straight face, "Plus, I don't speak enough Russian to give an accurate accounting of what she said, ma'am." All true things. If it was important, the other Russian speaker would have reported it in detail. This felt like a fact-finding expedition for the sake of curiosity, not the pursuit of justice. And it was an interesting point that these people seemed to want to know more about how he got his ass kicked by a Prima Ballerina. In his old life, Ash might never have lived it down.

He maintained accurate testimony as to the events which followed, detailing the gap of time between the end of the incident and the beginning of Hunter's rant to Tatiana. He related to the best of his ability what Hunter had said to Tati, though the exact wording of it had to be taken with a grain of salt. The delivery was straightforward and without messy things like deviation of emotion. What he recalled to the utmost of detail was, upon being asked, his reaction to it. That reaction was less than endearing. His relating it to the court was toneless and direct. "I told him that Tatiana was a gem. I then told him that if he did that again I was going to, and I quote: 'feed you to the fucking corpses myself'. Following that, I asked if he understood what I had told him." The lack of direct response at the time of the incident was expected. Though if Ash were being completely honest, in that exact moment he almost wished that a move were made. Taking another hit that hour to remove what he perceived might be a threat to his people was a strategic risk that he was willing to take.

Concerning what came later, he didn't have a lot to add to what was already related to the court. "I cannot say much about the incident between Hunter and Beatrice. When Miss Decker first restrained him, my attention was on Tatiana. Afterward, I witnessed her give a warning about his behavior, followed by a possible consequence if her warning was not heeded, as the others have testified."

When dismissed, Ash rose and again, respectfully, assumed the role of a military man exiting a formal proceeding, as this was the closest thing to it that he had been party to in years. He settled into his seat and waited for the next time he might be called up.

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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The words Nigel shared concerning the latest clue rattled around in Thalia's head for a while. Ask the cook? She was familiar with the phrase "too many cooks spoil the broth". It had even occurred to her when she read the note the first time purely because of the vaguest of similarities between that expression and the one referenced in the note, but had dismissed it almost at once. It failed to make any sense to her. Sitting there in the Auditorium, she began to mull over the idea again. It wasn't exactly the Riddle of the Sphinx in terms of clarity, as if riddles were meant to be very clear in the first place. Objectively, the first time she read through Oedipus she had no fucking clue what the answers were, either. So much for her fancy Boston college education. With a mental shrug, Thalia figured that she'd check in the with cook anyway, when the opportunity presented itself. It wasn't like she had a great idea of her own.

Testimony was entertaining at least. Thalia even cracked a smirk when Tatiana was answering questions. The woman was strong. A different kind of strength than to which she was accustomed, certainly different from what she was exposed to growing up, but it comes in many forms and she had it. What was more, she had friends willing to risk their safety and security here to back her up. Thalia was not one to make friends with a lot of people. More than half of the time, she wished she was far away from everyone else, maybe up in a tree someplace or on a rooftop, tending to her own needs purely. The last couple of years had her becoming more open to being chummy with a select, small group. Looking at how Tatiana had people willing to back her like this gave Thalia some pause for thought. There was yet another type of strength here, too. Like La Familia, but if any of these people were blood relation then she was the Queen of France. Glancing down at her artificial arm, she knew that she had to diversify the assets which kept her alive and gave her strength. But building one's self back up seemed much less difficult than making connections like that. She looked around the room, trying to find her "Eden" group, or what was left of them. Alexander, Manny, and Thana. Did they have that same kind of interpersonal loyalty? Thalia hoped so.

When called up to the stand, Thalia wasn't particularly sorry that she couldn't offer up much insight. She was not opposed to getting to the bottom of the situation and having this trial over with, granted. There simply wasn't enough motivation for her to feel one way or the other about it. Perhaps this is why her answers were very neutral and direct.

Concerning Ash and Tatiana: "I don't know. I don't speak Russian."

About her take on the exchange: "Ballerina drahpped the Captain. Kinda funny, but I wasn't watching them. They weren't a threat. I was watching everything else." And she was, after the initial assessment of the two of them. Thalia was watching their guards, the exits, potential problems, ways to leave fast and quiet if necessary. She was the very spirit of survival for herself and her people.

She was keenly aware of the space of time between Tatiana hitting Ash and the noise from Hunter. "Yah. A little time passed. I guess he wanted to be heard. I couldn't say why." Thalia did remember putting a token barrier between everyone else and Alexander around this time, as the older man had gone through enough right then. She was defensive even from Tatiana, even as she started to pick up Alexander's broken coffee cup.

But as for Bea? "Ah hell, I was helpin' Mugsy find a place to sit. Rough day." She remembered as much as anyone what happened, but didn't see the very start to it as the was literally just turning in the other direction. Beatrice had her back, and she was between Thalia and the potential threat. She did have a front row seat to the fallout, though. "Bea said she gaht this, then went and gaht it. She wrapped it up simple. More generous than I might have been. It was still impressive." Thalia didn't like talking about Beatrice. So far as she was concerned, the woman abandoned them. her actions prior were still very cut and dry, and deserved reporting as such.

Otherwise, Thalia told the truth, whole truth, and nothing but, relaying from her point of view with short, to-the-point responses. When it was done, she rose and returned to her seat with a dull expression on her face. Inwardly she was brooding, letting a little of her family's darkness of thought and action wash over her. This was all just a hair too civilized for her tastes. When she sat back down, Thalia gave a sigh and wondered when this would be over. Patience for matters like this was not her strongest point.

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Hank Wright Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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"Yeah, hey, I saw what happened. Same as everybody else say what happened. It was ...whew... one of the funniest damn things I've seen in my life. Multiple ass-kickings in a six minute period, I mean, yeah. Don't get me wrong, best as I can figure there was a lot of steam that had to be blown off. I guess you people get that all the time here with new blood. Ah, but what do I know? Well okay, I do know that if there was a movie based on the events of that day in Quarantine, it was going to really need that song, 'Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting' in the soundtrack somewhere. But not the 70s version. Get another recording done, you know, bring things into the new millennium." Hank saw, and reported what he saw, but just couldn't help making various points of social commentary from time to time.

"Look, you want me to break this down psychologically? I can do that. Make a puppet show for you if you like. Haul out the various verbal charts of needs and isms" that fueled that blood-and-coffee Bacchanalia back there. Stuff like that. It isn't going to change a thing from what everybody else is saying. The coffee was great, though. Spared no expense for the refreshments."

Upon the application of a sterner tone or insistence of relating the basics of what he witnessed, Hank was able to make a no-nonsense summary of the events in question, from his point of view. Summarizing was something he did well. But so was bullshit. This had a scoop of each, hopefully with a pearl of cranky wisdom atop.

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Nigel Cooper Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Iustitia fundamentum regni. Justice is the foundation of a reign. That and other phrases so well uttered in the foundational language of Latin rang through Nigel's mind as the trial recommenced. Throughout the week or so they'd stayed at Camp Mexico Beach, Nigel had gone through the opposing extremes of his attitude towards the military settlement. At the one hand he'd been cautious following Erica, Hank and Wayne into that bus and through Quarantine, not certain that the militaristic nature of a modern citadel would suit him and his morals. On the other hand, his time spent inside the protective walls of a Bastion of civilisation had given him reason to stay, integrate and even assimilate into the larger population.

Now as the trial continued its due course, he just hoped their conduct towards Hunter would be founded in justice. Right makes might, or Might makes right.

The following lines of questioning aimed at the row of witnesses made him reconsider that hope, more specifically the insistance on what Tatiana the Scarred had actually told Ash. Again and again people were asked what the Russian woman had spoken, and none elaborated. Nigel was no different, well mostly. "Ibidem. As stated by those testifying before me, I do not speak Russian. I assumed it was an internal matter between Tatiana and Ashton, and with the absence of intervention of our guards, I'm not certain that single event alone can explain Hunter's following outburst…"

The image of Tatiana's scars running down her back gave him reason enough to not push on what he thought about the case. Like he said, he didn't speak Russian, so his subjective opinions weren't solid enough considering this was about Hunter. Looking seriously at the Professor as she continued her questioning, Nigel the neo-Roman took a deep breath as he tried to construct a mental timeline of the events that followed. "How much time passed? Not long, only a few moments between the aforementioned scolding and Tatiana tending to Mr. Polawski's broken cup of coffee, then Hunter iniating his dramatic monologe of a Greek nature. I found it…should I say, ironic in the greatest truth of the word? Worst of all I found it being all bark, no bite, but threatening to worsen the already tense situation the Quarantine room found itself in. And then…the fight between him and Beatrice. From what I understand and could see, she incapacitated him, warning him to…well, behave I suppose. He took it to heart, in the end at the very least. As mentioned by my fellow witnesses, it de-escalated after that. In my opinion, it sounded as if she was protective."

Nigel returned in the end to his seat, his eyes rising up as the old veteran rose from his own seat. Alexander Polawski, the same person Tatiana had gone over to clean up his cup, sure looked shaken as he took the stand. And like that, Nigel once again found his whole presence intriguing.

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Alexander Polawski Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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To say Alexander was shaken, was an understatement. His demeanour had been calm, collected and quite cooperative back in the Mess Hall when he spoke with his fellow Baby Boomer. With Manny, Alexander allowed himself to smile, laugh and sigh in understanding sadness as the two old men exchanged tales of their past lives. Boats, spouses, what made them happy. Alexander would nod in agreement, sad agreement to everything Manny told him. It had been then he realised how much he didn't know about his friend, perhaps as much as he didn't know about himself. And yet Alexander couldn't help but chuckle at what Manny had said first; that he looked forward to being dragged onboard a nice, comfortable boat. Yes, even through all the pain both of them had experienced, they could share some good times together. Alexander looked forward to that.

Back in the Auditorium and the trial of the young soldier, Hunter, Alexander sat silently but squiemishly on his seat as questions were asked, witnesses called and more people brought forth to answer an never-ending barrage of questions. The worst part of it wasn't how much shit was being brought out of the woodwork on Hunter's character, or how the Professor seemingly decided to focus in on what the Russian lady had or hadn't said. Perhaps Alexander time growing up during the Cold War should have prepositioned him against Tatiana by default, being a "dirty commie" like in the good old days?

No, the worst part of it was how little Alexander could actually say.

Limping up to the stand and clearing his throat longer than he had done so far, Alexander struggled to find the words he wanted to say, any way of answering the questions asked to him. He'd collected enough information from the others answering to possibly give a bullshit account…but he couldn't.

"I…your honour, I…don't speak Russian, so I…I don't know. I just, I just wanted it to stop. The screaming…I didn't see, couldn't see anyhing of what was happening at that time. Like Thalia…Mrs. Carmichael said before me, I…" Alexander felt his heart beating like a racing car engine inside his chest, his pulse increasing and breath growing short as the images of that day returned to him. With great strength Alexander attempted to remember what Freedman had taught him, finding happy memories to keep him going.

"Sorry, let me rephrase. I…what Hunter said, I thought something…something bad was gonna happen to him, you know? Charlie gonna get him…" Alexander reached for his head, an intense pulsating pain shooting through his body taking hold of him as he slowly remembered what he had seen…thought he'd seen. It had been a memory, just a vision, right? He struggled to catch his breath, his old and worn fingers grasping tightly around whatever he could find to stable himself as he forced himself to continue. "I don't know, I cannot recall. Thalia helped me find a chair…long day…very, very long day…Exhausted." At this point, Alexander's face was pale as a sheet, sweat running down his face as he struggled to stand upright. His past was catching up to him, like it had been waiting nearly fourty years.

Everyone looked at him, and for good reason. He was giving his testimony, but to Alexander it was quickly becoming too much for him to handle. Everyone looked at him, judged him, his words and actions, everything. This was the trial he'd never had, though one he deserved to have had since he fired those shots…Mugsy's old lips quivered, struggling to hold back the tears swelling in his eyes. "I don't know anything, I cannot recall…May I be dismissed…please?" His voice trembling, his entire frame trembling, the old veteran wasn't taking being on the stand as easily as before. Something was wrong, very wrong and troubling him. It was moments away before he revealed what he knew, what he'd done and what crimes he himself had committed...what he should have been court-martialed for himself. If he hadn't already taken a piss, he would have pissed himself right then and there.

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Education Center Skills: N/A

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Many of the testimonies started to sound rather alike. No one really paid the young soldier much mind until he lost it, and things fell apart. It was overall a rather big mess from start to finish, and as things continued on things were looking worse and worse for Hunter. Manny had spent time with a lot of people in his lifetime, many of them deemed as the most violent and unlawful people imaginable in some ways. Though the statement wasn't true, the rumors didn't start from nothing. Hunter's impression was that of someone who would give all of those people second thoughts on their actions in life. It made him question exactly what Hunter had done to survive in the world out there. Part of him wondered if Hunter was like so many of those people who mentally couldn't comprehend that the world was ending the way it was, but unlike the others had gotten through the initial chaos and somehow survived past it. Manny had seen a few of those people in the first year, maybe two years. People who had mentally either shut down, or had been unable to process what had happened and were only functioning at the cost fragmenting their mentality. That was the extent of the old dentists theories though. Though he had the most basic understanding from his own experiences and a few areas that he got introductions to from schooling, he was no expert. Seeing how things went though and other conversations he has had with people since he arrived he wondered if he should have gotten into microbiology or into psychology in some capacity. It was too late in life for him to ask those questions now though and expect answers. But maybe he could ask them for future generations to solve.

Most of Manny's thoughts were cut short when Alexander went up to testify. He was struggling, the memory of the situation taking a strain on him as he spoke. When Alexander returned to his seat Manny was there to greet him as best as he could. He wanted to reach out, ask if he was doing alright. But he clearly needed some room to breath and collect himself. When the old vet sat besides him Manny reached out and firmly grabbed his shoulder in a reassuring manner. "You did good." He kept it short and sweet. The man had a lot on his mind, but he was hoping the small reassurance could help. When this was over, he was going to try and get the man a cup of coffee and a chance to relax. Maybe they could take that fishing trip soon and take that as a real good chance to forget the crazy of the old and new world for a moment or two? That sounded good.

The next portion of the trial was at least as much of a mess as the last part if not more so. The boy clearly had some kind of confrontational issues, jumped to conclusions, and seemed to hold more then a healthy dose of hostility towards everyone around him. Between the events that took place with some of those in charge, and those who where present with him while in lock up it was clear that the boy had more then a couple issues. From what Manny could tell, he had some remorse to him. But the way he was handling things, that had a tendency to get blotted out by his urge to face every problem no matter the size or how serious it was with everything he could throw at it. And here, he had nothing but the words he could think of in a moment's notice. Manny wondered how much of those thoughts were just lashing out with anything he could say to cause damage, or were genuine thoughts of the boy? Somewhere between maybe? The events showed did not look good for the boy at all. Social was a low on any skill set he had. He wondered how Hunter handled things before they feel apart? Did he have any severe issues then or was this all new developments caused by the stress of the end of the world? He supposed that didn't matter now. Now, it seemed everyone was an enemy to Hunter until proven otherwise. And even then, it didn't take much to go back onto that list.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Education Center Skills:N/A

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Hunter had a lot of trouble staying focused as everything that was going on. Though he did his best to follow along, much of it he found himself leaning forward eyes locked to the floor if open at all. His hands held together by wedging his fingers between one another to keep from fidgeting anymore then he already was. It did little good as his he still found himself fidgeting with his foot tapping the floor rapidly, or his hands coming undone and him attempting to adjust his fingers, hand, wrists, or even elbows as if they were parts to a machine slowly falling apart and he was attempting to put them back together. Only stopping when he realized he was doing it, and would eventually go back to locking his fingers together, and return to tapping his foot. The attention was getting to him. His fears of integrating back into society had led to the worst case he could imagine, ironically by his own hands and fears. And now he was nearing another breaking point. Unlike past times, it was easier to notice it coming as there was no singular even that was pushing the few limits he had left, but rather the collection of the trial as a whole was starting to take it's toll. With each person who came up to testify, he willed himself to sit up and try again. The only calming factor being the quiet between the statements. But as they went on he regressed more and more into this state, each time taking less and less to get there.

Something that helped was that the statements were getting shorter and shorter as people came up. Most saying the same thing, adding less per statement, and others just stating they had nothing new to offer. A couple more unique perspectives came into play. Others who needed to do their own thing while Hunter got pinned to the floor. The one that stood out the most to Hunter? The man with the very heavy limp to his step that broke up the usual statements between each other. It was an odd sensation, the heavy thuds as the man walked. Alexander was the name that came to mind. His statement was different in the sense that the man was clearly struggling in his own regard. There was a mix of guilt and reassurance with that thought. Guilt that more were suffering from everything that had happened, yet reassurance that in some fucked up way he wasn't alone in his struggles. And more guilt with the last one. He hoped the man got a chance to recover from this mess. No matter how this went, damage was done to a lot of people. No matter how it went, it was going to end up being a lose-lose situation. Part of him regrets not taking the offer to leave, but he didn't. So it he needed to make it worth something to make up for the damage that was done.

Alexander went off, and Nikki came back up. Her statement was short and simple. And with how the day had gone, and what had gone on with Nikki earlier, it was unsettling to hear her say anything positive about him now. Next, was another rather harsh nail in the coffin. Gunny and Hunter's many less then great interactions. Hunter wasn't sure what he felt about that one. He lashed out, a few points were made attempting to justify them. But at the end of the day it was still them trying to take away his dog. It could be spun any way they wanted, but they were trying to take away the only thing he had left he still cared about. No justification would ever change that for him. There were few emotions Hunter had that were stronger then the guilt and remorse he held. Hate, bitterness, spite, and anything that happened to be attached to those when they showed. Unlike previous times where Hunter would attempt to hold contact with those giving the testimony and then fail to keep it as the stress, guilt, and remorse. This time, he held the gaze the whole time still struggling with the previous emotions, but the bitterness of the justification barely making him hold his gaze. He still regretted losing it, but the continued justification seemed to hold no purpose other then to humiliate him and to keep hammering the point that had been made. Maybe if it wasn't concerning Izibell, or it was following everything else that happened through the day he would have been able to face it more. But at that moment it felt like nothing more then a violent jab then a testimony. It still didn't stop him from fidgeting with his hands and foot as it continued.

It ended soon enough, and Hunter took a moment to try and calm down hiding his frustration. He wondered how much of it was frustration from the events that took place back then, or how much of it was the built up stress hitting the breaking point. Cage came up soon, and by that time Hunter was feeling more burned out then anything else. The fidgeting slowed, his gaze and overall pace slowed, but he did his best to continue to try and focus. Hunter learned a few things, the main ones beings that his cell was recorded with a half decent video recording system. Nikki made contact at some point, mouthing something he couldn't make out. His conversation with Ashton stood out. The man was probably the first person to give real hope of the place to Hunter. Sure, there were individuals that held his attention, but the place as a whole never seemed to connect until Ashton had talked about it. It didn't stop things from getting worse from there, but it was one of the first key starting points he remembered. There was one of his many rants about Cage, which Cage took the time to make eye contact with during. That's around the point where Hunter's guilt won out again and he broke eye contact. The man had gotten the leftover spite from the Izibell situation and the emotions that followed it, their first interaction wasn't the most pleasant either, and everything that could be taken as a negative from that point on was a negative in his eyes.

Then came the part he thought he would dread the most, but now seemed to be rather mild compared to what had happened. One of the older woman took center stage to speak primarily to him but in a tone so everyone could hear clearly. What she stated seemed true as it could be. When addressed he did his best to not seem as defeated as he felt. The time came for him to be questioned. There was no telling what they would ask. He had no idea what of his past they would ask, what of his intentions they would ask, or if they would just stick to his time while in camp. He had no idea if they would throw him curve ball questions meant to throw him off to see if he'd get confused, or if there would simply be vague questions to see how he would answer. When it was his time to answer he stood up and looked The Professor with a deadpan expression that read of remorse, regret, and an ever so slight tone of bitterness expressed as "Do your worst". "I'll answer whatever you want to ask me." He wasn't sure if the bitterness was towards the people here, though he figured unlikely. Towards himself or how things played out? Maybe. Likely a general bitterness and acceptance that things were fucked now. They had little room to get any worse then they did. He sat, completely still for the first time in hours.

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Amelia Payne Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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The trial continued on with the rest of the events that transpired into quarantine and eventually proceeded to the ones past. She noted that Nikki was asked why she had kissed Hunter and Amelia didn’t really think that was a question that needed to be asked in such a public place and event. The answer wasn’t too unusual all things considered and the girl was soon told she could step down. The one who came up afterwards was Gunny.

What led to the charges it seemed was a rather big case of problems that hunters had piled on himself. His attitude by the sound of it really needed work, now Amelia was self aware enough that if they had separated her from Riley, she’d likely have gone unhinged and unstable as well, but his attitude even before they took the hellhound, beast, creature of terror from him also needed a lot of work. She also recalled their party night after the end of quarantine and well the drunken stupor he drank himself into.

Following that was the most unexpected turn of events that Amelia could have imagined. They brought out a video recording, so they had them under observation via hidden camera there. Made her think of there was a hidden camera at Supply. Well it would make sense to have the workplaces monitored or at least ones of greater importance. She didn’t actually mind that too much, it meant more security overall and made her feel safer. The things she heard and saw however made her look to the side and close her eyes, muttering underneath her breath, seeking Riley’s arm for comfort. He was uncomfortable to listen to even though she didn’t really wish him harm. Amelia was pretty certain they weren’t ever going to be getting alone even if they had a chance of interacting more. Every word he spoke, made her want to either hit him or just ignore him.

As finally hunter was called to testify for himself, she knew that it likely wasn’t good. Even now his way of speaking rubbed her the wrong way. She squeezed Riley’s hand tightly. She hoped that she’d be better if she was in his shoes. If nothing else she wouldn’t have antagonized anybody and she tried to always be on point with her tasks. Now all that was left to see was his own words to the questioning her approved of and the result of the trial. She didn’t wish him harm, but honestly didn’t expect them to let him stay, at least not without heavy restrictions.

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Lisa Mason Location: Hospital(B)(J4)→General Housing(X)() Skills: N/a

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Lisa gave a silent nod of greeting and acknowledgement to Mary when she arrived in the room. It wasn’t the best of scenarios, but she continued to quietly retell the story as a barely a whisper, waiting for the team that would bring Lucy away from here to arrive. Minutes stretched, time seemed to collapse on itself or mayhaps stretch to eternity? She was used to death by now, pretty much everybody was if they had survived to this point, but a situation like this still hit you even if you could just bash somebody’s skull in for survival. This wasn’t a struggle for dear life with walkers all around, nor was it a bandit raid or other undesirables. It was a little girl who only wished for better life and dreamed of magic and the fantastical stories. Lisa fell silent and caressed the picture the girl drew for her with the tip of her fingers as if she might damage it otherwise.

“I will, thank you, Mary.” Lisa replied, standing up from her seat as the other woman pulled the table away, causing the crayon to fall. Her eyes locked onto it like a hawk. Right away she leaned down and picked it up, carefully placing it with the others, quickly lining them up on the table and giving a nod to the other people in the room. She walked to the door, still holding in her arms the picture that was named for her and looked a final time at Lucy.” Goodbye.” She muttered and with a frail smile left the room. Lisa knew that Lucy’s body was in capable hands now. They will do right by her.

She walked out of the hospital, noting the rain had stopped. How time flied when she was telling that story. A sad smile graced her lips again and she shook her head, heading towards her apartment. Nikki was likely still at Court, so she’d be alone and that served her for the time being. She walked down the street, without hurrying too much and was thinking about many different things. It was bound to happen sooner and later and it at least saved the girl a lot of suffering she’d have in the future and Lisa was grateful she was there! Lucy wasn’t alone when it happened and she was spending the last moments with a happy memory. That was the most important thing one could want, to not be alone when the time comes. Her sad smile was also a happy smile, a contradiction she didn’t care to think about.

Walking up the stairs and eventually to her door, she barely realized when she had walked the entire distance from Medical to the General Housing without realizing when she had crossed the distance. She opened the door and entered, walking to her bed and placing the picture on the nightstand by it and then sat down, tossing a look at the papers she was preparing for her proposal for the engineering/trap competition. She thought for a moment and grabbed a few empty sheets( She needed to get a notebook later ) and after a moment started writing.

‘Prince Ivan and Vasilisa the Wise...’ With the title written, she began writing down the story just as she had retold it to Lucy. It had given her a bit of a perspective today. She wasn’t the best writer, but she didn’t have to think the stories from scratch. She just had to write what she remembered and she knew quite a few, not the entire several hundred pages worth of stories she had as a child on that specific book, but she remembered more than a few. Lisa now decided to transcribe as many as she could. She’d still arrange the competition, but this came as a bit of a priority for the moment. Fairy tales were important, doubly so in a world like this. She glanced at the drawing of flowers on her nightstand.’ Yes… now where was I? Ahh yes, they drew their heavy bows...’ She thought and returned to writing. Later she was going to try to use contribution points to get a notebook to write into instead.

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Nigel Cooper Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Nigel noted the brief, yet emotional testimony of the older soldier, Alexander, feeling a sense of sorrow simply watching him as he clearly didn't feel comfortable sitting up there. Why? The Roman scholar couldn't tell, simply observing him silently, but with an understanding look as the old man finished and limped back to his seat beside his fellow old man. He didn't know it then, perhaps never would, but he could only imagine what old Alexander had gone through to be moved in such a way by Hunter's outburst of Greek theatrics.

The trial wasn't about Alexander though, but Hunter, and Nigel sat patiently while he observed intently what testimony followed. Nikki was call forth, questioned about her relationship with the troubled youth. Nigel remembered how the two youths had socialised back then, and contemplated how far Hunter had fallen since then. Games of Pool, relatively friendly conversations and drunken words of encouragement, how was his story going to wind up? How would the Golden Yarn of Fate be spun?

Then the heavy charges were put forth against the accused Hastati, in the words of none other than Macsen, who told in great details. While the events were told, Nigel found himself digging his face deeper and deeper into the palm of his hand. To him the reprucations for his negligence seemed fair, but Hunter's reaction had been…well, Nigel didn't have words really. It didn't help when others came forward to continue this Greek tragedy, not to mention the following evidence.

Televised footage.

At every turn and crossing, Hunter had made critical strategic mistakes in the battle for social inclusion. In short, Nigel thought Hunter had done everything in his power to make things worse, even if he didn't think so himself. Everyone he met, perhaps aside from Nigel himself for some strange, divine reason, Hunter had managed to insult. To say the least, the young soldier had a Herculean feat before him if he was to convince them he wasn't a danger to their small society. Even Nigel was having second thoughts to Hunter now, the pragmatist taking hold of him like before. Perhaps it was for the best if Hunter was simply thrown over the city walls?

Only time and Hunter's words would tell, and Nigel waited with baited breath.

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Alexander Polawski Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Alexander's hand shook uncontrollably, struggled to not show itself in a position of weakness as the old veteran was finally dismissed from testifying before the court. He got back up on his one good foot and good peg-leg, limping determindly back over to his old seat beside Manny. It had been hell, a kind of hell ol' Mugsy hadn't been exposed to for years at this point. Years of trauma had been dug up, and in a matter of mere minutes it had played itself out before his tearing eyes as he had tried to answer their questions.

As he tried to not think about the traumatic flashback Hunter, Tatiana and others had unknowingly brought upon him by causing that scene back in Quarantine. His fleeting eyes crossed Hunter's for a moment, two soldiers from different times meeting in a world not made for them. Or perhaps made perfectly for the two of them?

Alexander shuffled hurriedly back to Manny, quickly seating himself as his good hand gripped tightly around the one shaking, as if in the middle of an enemy mortar strike that just would stop. Ol' Mugsy's mind was so focused on the trembling occupying him that he didn't see Manny reaching out for him. When he did, his face shot up and stared wildly at Manny, but grew calm and comforted once he recognized the familiar face looking reassuringly at him. He did good?...perhaps he did?

The old veteran's face grew less stiff, frightened, and began to take the deep breaths he so desperately needed to keep going through the trial. He had done good, answered to the best of his abilities…if Manny said so, then he would try to believe that. "I…thanks Manny, thank you." The words were equally short and thankful, glad to have Manny by his side as the trial kept dragging on.

Things only kept turning from bad to worse with every single word spoken up against Hunter. People might have gotten a really, really bad impression of Hunter at this point, but Alexander? He couldn't force himself to think he was a horrible human being…because he had to believe that he himself wasn't one. It was to awfully easy for the old soldier to see himself in the young soldier, decades apart but still suffering from a trauma that hadn't fully healed. Only difference was that Alexander had been coping with it since the 70's and had a wife to help him, and Hunter had not.

It was still painful to hear the testimonies of those who'd witnessed Hunter's outbursts and himself watch the footage of him lashing out. Honestly Alexander didn't know what to think; was he a sorry piece of shit who desperately needed CMB to recover, or was he a sorry son of a bitch who deserved to be thrown to the wolves? He…he didn't know, desperately wanting to find some redemption for the young man. Or was it redemption for himself he sought?

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Ash Holloway Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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It had been some time since Ash had given thought to Beatrice and Froggy. It was strange, seeing as he and Victor had been a trusted adviser for some time. There was a sort of kindness about the man that Ash remembered fondly. He barely remembered a time when he so much as raised his voice. But then seeing him again in Quarantine revealed a changed man. Ash was unsure as to why he did not give more of a fuss when Froggy was removed from CMB and sent out on his merry way. Or, maybe not quite "merry", persay. He looked like a shell of the man he was before, more animal than not, unpredictable and dangerous. He hoped it would be a temporary thing, a rough patch smoothed over by the passage of the week behind walls and regular meals with people he once considered friends and family. But apparently he was too far gone. It was a shame and a pity.

Beatrice, on the other hand, he did not have such a close relationship with. It was interesting for him to note that, out of everyone who knew her who made it down to CMB, the only ones who appeared to note her departure were those in the Eden group. Some people weren't built for society. Others voluntarily removed themselves from it, by choice or by reckless action. Ash supposed this very philosophy was why he was thinking of Victor and Beatrice. Both left because of choices they made, though one was a little more voluntary than the other. It seemed much like Hunter, in this regard. The thought persisted that he might yet be a productive member of a community, were it not for certain choices made in the heat of stresses imagines from past experiences, without giving this place a chance yet.

Then, the continuing testimony caught up Ash's attention, full and rapt. He was not witness to a lot of what went on. To his eyes, the sins committed could be explained away by various means; new position, sudden shock of being in a place where the Dead were not potentially lurking in every doorway and abandoned automobile, and mostly the suppression of instincts thereof. These additional pieces of information were not the best for his case. And the video. Especially the video. He would have liked the opportunity to see the entire, uncut video, to fast forward through or to reference earlier bits at his leisure, rather than just look at the highlights reel. But admittedly, there wasn't a lot that one could do from a jail cell to make up for ...the things he did in the jail cell. It didn't look good to Ash. Somewhere deep down, and probably because of his own lapse into darkness, he hoped there was chance that the kid might be able to say, or not say, that which was needed to allow this community to help him. Everyone needed people now. It was just how things went. Without people, left to his own devices out in the world with this paranoid and aggressive mindset, he would die. Period. Exile might as well be a death sentence.

But the question Ash was sure these people were thinking (as he was thinking it, too): Was there a risk to the community if he stayed? They all knew what would happen if the answer was yes. Ash kept his thoughts to himself, sitting in his chair. Though now that Hunter himself was give the option of testifying, things got a lot more interesting. And urgent. This might save or damn him. Was his speech or his silence a batter strategy? More than that, did he even want to stay? Had anyone asked him? It looked like someone was about to.

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Most of the testimony seemed predictable, from Thalia's point of view. Like she had seen all of this before, repeated ad infinitum, both before and after the uprising of dead people. But that was the funny thing about points of view: They tended to change with the onslaught of life experience, and the past five years had given everyone (who was still alive) more life experience than they really wanted. So when Gunny's testimony got to the portion where Hunter reacted to having his dog removed from his care, Thalia's more recent life experience colored the statement accordingly.

Petty. Breaking people. Abuse them as they wished. Sick. Thalia took the testimony in, her head pointed squarely at the man speaking. Her eyes slowly moved to view Hunter, looking for any kind of reaction or confirmation. Thalia had seen people like the ones Hunter was describing, with traits which he attributed to the authority in CMB. She had sunk a knife into several of them, swung a short machete into others, and shot so very many more. Thana was present and could vouch for many of the horrors that Thalia had witnessed - the blood, the viscera, rooms specially set aside for the mutilation of human bodies. Torture rooms. Zeds hung from the ceiling in a macabre mockery of tapestries, moaning and snarling at the living below. Thalia saw he cages where prisoners were kept, too. But more than this, the one thing that stuck out in her mind was a bucket. It was chock full of gouged out eyeballs, some with the optic nerve trailing along behind, all sloshing about in some dank and fetid fluid. Thalia took the opportunity to punt it as hard as she could to provide a gruesome distraction before filling the air in front of her with 9mm rounds traveling at high velocity.

Maybe Manny could better educate them in the ways of a petty, abusive, sick collective of sub-humans who treated people as they wanted. That's where they found him. Eden. Hunter's reactions might have been more in place there, were he to have ever been a guest of theirs. Of course, that kind of reaction might have gotten him flayed, or his nonvital organs peeled out of his body, or his manhood split and quartered back like a hot dog stuck in a microwave for far too long. His screams would have been legendary. Maybe his dog would have been forcibly fed to him. Maybe they would keep the dog alive for a long as possible as the process went on. At least then, a piece of it would be with him for as long as they allowed him to draw breath. Yes, Hunter in Eden. That might have been a sight. Instead, he had the opportunity to speak ill of his hosts while given regular meals and his canine well treated, albeit not in his presence for some of that time.

So Thalia looked to Hunter surreptitiously, not tipping her hand that she was sizing the guy up yet again. She was still not a huge fan of organized civilization, nor the rules which imposed on her freedom to do certain things just because she might feel the need to do them. She might wish to leave the place, climb a tree, or sink a float hook into water to catch something for supper. She may want to feel the wind on her face from someplace high, smell pine sap close up and personal, perhaps. Keep her weapons on her at all times, certainly, and train whenever she felt like it. While these things were inconvenient to her, things like regular meals were certainly not. By the time the recording of him in his jail cell came about, Thalia was only looking at it to catch the highlights. She had seen and heard enough. Her opinion meant nothing in this instance anyway, and she was not testifying at this time. There were too many similarities between herself and Hunter; glaring ones at that. The one thing that made them very different were the choices made. Thalia knew that she was damaged and probably always would be. It was no reason to fall to pieces. Deep down, she hoped Hunter would turn a corner here, that maybe all he needed was time. But in the end, whatever decision the community came to, it wasn't going to affect her in the least.

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Hank Wright Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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While the phrase, "This is better than pay-per-view," might have been uttered by Hank from time to time since their inclusion in the Camp Mexico Beach community, he truly meant it this time. Hank didn't give a more or less decent rat's hindparts about reality TV back in the day, preferring a good WWII documentary or anything Western, but damn if this wasn't some good, old-fashioned, family style entertainment. Not the parts where things were mentioned in monotone voices and points got repetitive, but the shiny, new bombshells that were dropped every so often really gave Hanktholomew Patrick Wright a deep down sense of unfolding drama, and right in front of him, too. Every so often, he would give Wayne a quick nudge and point out little nuances coming from people on the stage, defendant, council, or witnesses, as they spoke or reacted to the speech of others. It felt good to flex his intuitive nature again, and in a capacity that was not life and death.

But it was when the video played that he leaned forward in his seat and clapped once, giving a quick exclamation that he cut off out of a sense of propriety, "Hey! - <coughcoughcough> ...um, sorry." It was pretty obvious that he got a little excited by the novelty of video evidence and not exactly the content therein, seeing as it had scarcely begun. Hank would have to apologize, or at least something like it, later on. When he found out to whom it should go, of course. But the real moment of suspense came when he waited to see what Hunter's answer was going to be when called upon for his own defense, or keeping quiet and letting them pass judgement. If he was in the kid's shoes right then, Hank would probably have opted to remain silent, but this? This might wind up being both edifying and diverting, both. He just wished he had some popcorn. Or a beer. Some Chex Mix might do in a pinch, but not the kind with those dark brown, dehydrated pumpernickel bits (or whatever the hell they were) in it. The good stuff. Ah, but it was as much a pipe dream as any other. So he settled back and let the trial continue without further distraction on his part. When he saw the actual content of the video, he only had one thought on it, which he voiced significantly quieter than his first outburst. "Oh, shit..." It seemed to fit the situation well enough.

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Education Center Skills: N/A

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To Manny, Hunter gave the impression of someone who saw an enemy in every person he met. Someone who was legitimately hostile, people who were total strangers, even those who were potential friends were seen as an enemy to some degree. The boy seemed unable to relax, and unable to completely trust anything or anyone. The boy had opted to speak during his trial which didn't surprise Manny at all. The boy seemed to yearn for the chance to be heard. Maybe he might have learned from what had happened so far, but it's hard to say now. Though Hunter seemed to be slipping from time to time he hadn't had any real outbursts during the trial. But looking at him, he seemed only moments away from some kind of mental break. He was struggling, but Manny had no way of knowing if it was the stress of being confronted with what had happened here, in the past, or the setting of the court alone. Watching his posture change when Gunny went up and soon after himself caught Manny's attention. Though not hostile, he seemed to hold a grudge in his worn state. The boy clearly needed help, but it was impossible to say if this was the place to do it. Or if it was worth the risk of what he was now.

Alexander brought Manny back from his deep thoughts on the matter. Manny had to be careful with that, he was letting his thoughts spiral to the point of conspiracies and it was only a matter of time before they could control all of his thoughts if he wasn't careful. What helped? Seeing Alexander able to relax a little bit more now. He was stressed, and struggling. But he was the strongest man Manny knew, and he was holding on despite everything. "No problem." He spoke with a reassuring tone and smile. Even the strongest needed to be reassured sometimes. He wondered what thoughts were going through the old veterans head at the moment. What he thought of Hunter's situation. Was there concern what the boy was capable of doing? Was there some connection with their military history he couldn't hope to understand? He'd like a chance to get some of this cleared up with the Alexander later. Right now it was just a fight to get through the day.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Education Center Skills:N/A

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Things continued on and by the looks of people on stage and a few in the audience many had seemed to think he would have opted to stay silent during his questioning phase of the trial. He had no idea how many exactly as he had to refocus his attention on things rather quickly. For all he knew, they could have been surprised because this was entertaining to them. But he needed to speak now, things had gone wrong fast for Hunter, and only worse as things went on. He felt alone and isolated again. He felt he had no allies left after he had burned what few bridges might have remained at that point. If he didn't let himself speak, it would be a repeat of the retreat to Buffalo. It would be a repeat of the Guard Base when the National Guard broke apart. It would be a repeat of what happened with Don and his gang.

His own thoughts held him up a bit. He had to remind himself that these people were not Don and his gang. They weren't the worst of the worst of the Guard. They weren't some selfish Colonel that got the bulk of his unit killed. Hopefully. hopefully. He felt sick. Though he had no reason to believe anyone here was as messed up as those people, any comparison that could be possibly made was made. Each small comparison adding more and more to the distrust he felt towards those around him.

He had things explained to him. He watched the professor with a tired look as she explained how things would work, replying with a simple nod alone. His first question, did he deny? He thought about it for probably longer then he should have. He debated calling a couple redundant, but assuming the woman meant what she said he'd get a chance to say something later. "Nope." It did him no good to deny any of it. Even with the evidence presented, he would have given a similar answer with the exception of likely speaking out about the redundancy immediately, or trying to defend some of it in the moment. He'd decide later if it was worth approaching at all.

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Amelia Payne Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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“...” Alright, whatever Amelia was expecting when Hunter was asked if he denied any of the accusations, the answer wasn’t that! She looked at awed, a bit confused and a bit shocked. Granted it was kind of hard to deny given the proof given so far, but still. Amelia supposed that she was too used to the TV shows and movies back in the day and expected him to deny to the very end like a villain. In the end she concluded that she shouldn’t be that much narrowminded and use by now old TV tropes as basis for reality, besides he was antisocial, not completely stupid. Instead she briefly wondered if the way he said that could be considered sarcastic or not and honestly couldn’t reach an answer to that question. In the end she realized that she was maybe more surprised to the fact he didn’t put his foot into his mouth with his reply on this.

She was now honestly not sure how this will go. He was either aware of the problems that had happened so far given the trial they were at, or he was playing it. Amelia was aware she didn’t really know him well enough to conclude anything on that. She never did try to get to know him after all, though that was partly the dog’s fault. Alright it was a huge part the dog’s fault and then the fact she also wasn’t overly comfortable with his personality. She wasn’t completely objective when it came to him and she wasn’t going to apologize for it.

Amelia squeezed Riley’s hand for comfort and threw side glances around the room, studying expressions and reactions for a moment, returning her eyes on Hunter a few moment’s later and silently prayed that he doesn’t fuck this up. Despite everything, he still was here and was alive and sending him away would be very unpleasant. Maybe they will just punish him in some lighter fashion and allow him to stay with an additional restriction or two. Better that than dead after all.

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Lisa Mason Location: General Housing(X) Skills: N/a

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Lisa wrote and wrote, the words coming to her since she had just spoken them not too long ago. She wrote like woman possessed and paid all attention to it until about the halfway point when she stopped and looked up from the paper, eyes unfocused as she felt tears well up in her eyes. Who was she fooling? Not herself, not really. She was going to write this story, write every other one she remembers, but she for the moment allowed herself a brief stop, letting the pen down and walking over to the bathroom, letting the sink run a bit as she washed her face, doing away with the tears.

After that she didn’t return to writing, she just went and found a seat on a chair in the living room, looking at the window as she rested her back completely. She didn’t think it would be so soon, she knew this was the best way it could have gone, but it did make it better, even if it didn’t help with the emotional pain. She reassured herself that Lucy wasn’t hurting anymore, there was no more torment for her and she went peacefully with company, listening to a fairy tale about magic and fantasy.

Her mind wandered a bit, eyes unfocused as she wasn’t looking at the room she was in right now, but at her memories instead. Lisa was recalling the first time she met Lucy when she was doing her cleaning duties, the time she was spending with the girl later and topics they chatted about. The girl certainly was a bit of a high point in her memories of her early days at the hospital. It was always nice to spend some time after her tasks were complete to chat with the girl and keep her company. She closed her eyes and finally let out a tired sad smile. She felt like tearing up, but held it in, instead letting herself just submit to the emotional fatigue and memories. She needed to rest for a bit, grab a quick nap and then return to writing. After all the story did say it in a way -’ The morning is wiser than the evening.’