Planet Genesis -- The Capitol

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She chuckled, "It is, trust me I been there." Softly her face faltered before returning back to normal. "anyway... i uh have no clue what else to ask." Thaila said sheepishly.

(Can do, haha. Uhhh... maybe we should make a thread and brainstorm some awful questions?)

(ahahahah, sure? I assume they take character statements at one point, then cross examine the character witnesses to get more context or something? I dnno, all my courth knowledge comes from court room dramas ahahaha)

The prosecution gave their opening statements, then the Inquisitor called on the defense to begin giving their statements, after they took an Archean Oath to tell only the truth.

Kay could write his oath phonetically on his tablet. Apparently that worked too? Huh.

Kay didn't like these oaths, they felt an awful lot like supressing free will, but he did it.

Matt shrugged, he'd tell the truth anyway, he was like that. He gave his damn oath.

Kay's statement would be carefully worded, well thought out and ommitting anything that could be seen in a negative light. He talked about how Merith had saved their lives, aided them in battle, been an ally in hard times. How he'd given himself in in a bid to help the others, how he'd ensured Heny's safety on multiple occassions including this one, and how he'd discharged Vanessa to spare her his guilt.
These, he argued, were not the actions of a man who cared only for himself, these were examples of how he'd changed over the lifetimes he'd lived. He was not the man he once was, and he should be given a chance to atone. His crimes were great and horrific, but surely, the guild had in them compassion and believed people could become better. He may never fully atone, but they had to give him the chance.

"Has he acted toward you or your companions in ways that have made you fear for your safety?" the prosecutor asked Kay.

Kay frowned, thinking about that. [He's never threatened me.] Damn this oath. [He has acted in ways that could be seen as irresponsible and potentially could cause injury, but that's not been out of malice.] He flinched, the oath compelling him to elaborate. Oo he didn't like this. [The only times he's been a direct threat he hasn't been fully in control of his actions. He wasn't himself and I don't believe we can hold someone responsible for acts they commit when they're not in command of their faculties.]

"You say he has acted in ways that could be seen as irresponsible. Do you see those actions as irresponsible yourself?" the prosecutor asked.

Kay nodded. What else could he do? He thought back to all those times he'd argued with Merith about his stupid bullshit. Argh, that man was so frustratingly immature.
[I am however convinced there's no malice of forethought, simply thoughtlessness. ] He winced, this wasn't going so well was it?

"Please give us an example of what sort of actions he has carried out without forethought," the prosecutor said.

Kay frowned. [He let his pet roam the ship freely, then allowed it to chew his arm repeatedly until he passed out from the neurotoxin in its saliva. We had to get Vanessa's help to round it up and contain it after that, in case it took it into its head to bite someone else.] Kay looked pained. [Vanessa insisted it wasn't a real threat.]

Asher winced at the memory. Oh, that had been a bad day.

"Why was he allowing it to chew on his arm?" the prosecutor asked, sounding ever so slightly disbelieving.

The Inquisitor frowned. "We must move on soon, this is your last question with Mr. Freidmann for now."

The prosecutor nodded.

Kay shook his head. [I'm not entirely sure. To make us uncomfortable I assume? Or simply because he could? I believe he thought it was funny. ] He looked relieved when the inquisitor called an end to questions.

(Would someone else like to interrogate Ellie? haha)

The persecutor nodded and sat down, looking thoughtful.

"Ms. Thomas, would you please offer your statement now?" the Inquisitor asked.

Ellie began her statement by saying that Merith was a fun, friendly guy for the most part, and she had never felt personally threatened by him. And she felt sure that once he had been magically cured of his battleaxe addiction, he would be a pretty darn decent person. Besides, he’d done so much great stuff! Like saving some of her friends from a group of Fundamentalist Humanists and not hurting the Humanists except to knock them all unconscious. The Humanists by the way were nothing like Ellie because she was an Isolationist Humanist, so please don’t hate her for being a Humanist too, omg.
So yeah, Merith didn’t deserve to die, at least in her book. Could they please not kill him?

Kay sat down and burried his head in his hands at Ellie's rambling. At least she hadn't totally put her foot in it. Eugh.

The prosecutor listened and rose, approaching Ellie and asking "Ms Thomas, as you have stated you don't think he deserves to die, what would you say would be a suitable punishment for one accused of such crimes as Merith Sol?"

"Uhhh..." Ellie looked uncertain. "Lifetime imprisonment?" She paused, frowning, as she recalled Merith was immortal, "No, that'd be a really long time. A hundred years and community service?"

There was a rumble of protest amongst the assembled, the inquisitors raised their hands to silence everyone.

"Would you care to elaborate on what you call this, battleaxe addiction?" They undoubtedly knew about that weapon and what it did, but this was for the masses.

"Uhhh..." Ellie winced at her hesitation, THAT was a verbal tic she needed to stop right now. "He has this magical weapon that, like, eats a bit of his soul every time he uses it, and it's turning him evil so sometimes he loses his temper, like what happened with that planet he blew up a couple months ago. But if he gets the axe taken away, he should get better, or at least not go on rampages any more?" Even Ellie realized how bad that sounded, oh dear.

Asher tried to not show any emotion. This wasn't going well.

Kay keep his head in his hands.

The prosecution nodded, looking a little too pleased. "Tell us Miss Thomas, how many times has Merith lost his temper since you've known him?"

Ellie was silent for a bit, trying to count. "Uhhh... that time with the planet, after his daughter got killed. That time when Esk and him got in a fight... The other times he just pulled out his axe, he didn't actually got nuts. I don't think he did, anyway."

"And how long have you known Merith?"

Kay bit down on his lip. He wanted to protest, this wasn't fair! that axe controlled merith, blaming him for the corruption of an external force wasn't justice, it was petty and cruel and unfair!

Ellie thought for a bit. "Almost a year," she said. "He joined Vestia a bit after I did."

"Thank you Miss Thomas, that will be all." The prosecution went to sit down.

Ellie sat, looking relieved. Her hands were shaking, that had been terrifying.

"Mr. Ackermann, will you please offer your defense now?" the Inquisitor asked.

Matt stood up.
He hadn't taken notes, nope, he straightened his glasses and began.

"So... Merith is a dick. Like.. a massive dick."

Kay facepalmed.

"I mean." Matt continued. "He's irresponsible, he's immature, he's pretty fucking selfish. He's done some horrible things and his crimes are massive. But, he's also done some good things.
And is sucks to have to admit that, but he has. He saved Heny a couple of times, he sacrificed himself so we could come here and seek asylum and help from you guys. Without him, we'd probably be dead or worse, captured and enslaved right now. " He sighed. "I hate what he did, but I also know that was hundreds of years ago, when he was someone else. He's fought by our side so many times and.. at times he's almost been a friend. I won't say he's a good person because he's not, he's an asshole, but.. a lot of us are right? And last I checked, it wasn't okay to execute people just because they're assholes. And I get it, I mean, for a while I wanted to smash his fucking head in after I learned what he'd done, I don't blame any of you for wanting to just hang him or whatever the hell it is you do, but what'll it really achieve? It won't... it won't change what he did, it won't make it better, it'll still suck and it'll still hurt only now you've got blood on your hands too. Thing is, he knows what he did was absolutely disgusting, and would someone who was really a monster feel guilt? We owe our lives and our freedom to this man, so.. I kinda have to believe he's trying to make things right, or that he's decided not to be a piece of shit any more. Where I grew up, they believe in rehabilitation unless the accused is deemed beyond help and.. I... I don't think Merith's beyond help. Not yet. He freed Vanessa to save her, as final acts go, that shows a glimmer of decency right? A tiny shred of good and we should.. try to embrace that. Try to nurture it. He's probably always gonna be a hugely annoying prick, but at least he's on our side yeah? I don't regret having him as an ally and I wouldn't be standing here defending him if I didn't think he was worth my time."

Ellie gasped.

Asher winced at the opening statement, but had to admit that the argument was actually pretty good.

The prosecution frowned. That wasn't exactly an angle he he had expected Matt to take, and it threw him off. "Mr. Freidmann considered Merith to be irresponsible. Do you consider Merith's irresponsibility to be part of his, I quote here, 'annoying prick' qualities?"

Matt shrugged. "Well, depends what he's doing. My little brother hasn't got the same sense of humor as most people, so he doesn't find it funny when you like, fill his room with condom balloons. he basically seems to think anyone who doesn't spend their time doing crosswords and being boring is irresponsible so..."

Kay was trying to beat his head against the table in front of him. They were soduku puzzles not crosswords!

"Merith's annoying for a lot of reasons. I mean, it's a dick move to abandon your girlfriend with two newborns, and he has a tendency to sulk when things don't go his way which is REALLY annoying. He and Vanessa seem to start a lot of arguments for no obvious reason too... but then so does Third so... maybe they just like arguments." He shrugged. "He doesn't like telling people things even when we SHOULD BE TOLD because he forgets we're not all immortal and all knowing... A lot of keepers do that though.. it's like a species trait or something. And yeah okay he did let a giant toothy monster roam the ship when there were kids around but, being irresponsible isn't the same as being a monster. If it was, we'd be dragging every dead beat dad and drunk in here right? He's not always irritating though, I mean he's pretty fun when he's drunk."

The prosecutor didn't seem to know what to make of that. "His lack of regard for others could well be a sign that his disease has already progressed too far, don't you think?" he asked Matt.