"This is a nation of monkeys with the throat of parrots."
~ Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
Day 2
A relatively less intense day of discussion suddenly became a lot more interesting after the shock death of Arakhor, with a few people decrying the action - apparently orchestrated by Manasi - and others resorting to gallows humor as a coping mechanism. What was most noticeable, though, was that the votes moved around very quickly and fluidly after Arakhor's death.
Eventually, after much debate, the vote coalesced around two unlucky suspects: NotACop, who was around for the later period and seemed to be actively discharging his duty as a Convention member and looking for Royalists (emphasis on seemed to be, according to some), and atheotes, who conversely appeared to be taking inspiration from the Stoics when facing his possible impending death. After a final flurry, everybody looked to the President to provide closure.
"Citoyens," he said, "the final count has been tallied and it is a tie." Everybody gasped. Surely one of the emergency measures passed during the Terror would have provided for this eventuality, right? After all, these were all learned men, educated lawyers and politicians and some even merchants, and they had studied their philosophy, and were deeply invested in the matters of justice, and about a thousand other different things which all pointed to a sensible yet just solution in matters such as these. So what was it to be?
"Keeping with the true spirit of the Revolution," the president continued, "We will honor the great tradition of our republican colleagues and forbears and keep their wisdom in mind when resolving this issue. The most just, the most natural, the most fair way of breaking this tie is..." - everybody held their breaths...
"Random chance!"
"WHAT?!" The shout was unison, from all of the supposedly enlightened Convention members, to a couple of shocked guards, to NotACop and atheotes themselves. Weren't they supposed to defend themselves before a special tribunal or something? Appeal directly to a smaller body, maybe have the president himself cast the deciding vote? Apparently the rules of the Convention provided for nothing for this.
What they did provide for, however, was fantastic theater. Everybody gathered in close as the president fished a coin out of his pocket and showed it to the two possible victims.
"NotACop, atheotes, this coin, mined from ore in the Alps, struck in the mint of Lyon, is a true Revolutionary symbol, and it will decide your fates today. This is heads," showing them a side displaying the image of Marianne, a popular figure representing the people of France and the Revolution, "And this is tails," showing them the reverse, an engraving of the storming of the Bastille. "NotACop, you have the honor of calling it in the air."
"Wait, why does he get to call it in the air?" said atheotes. "What determines this? I want to call it in the air! Let me decide my own fate!"
"Now hold on a minute," NAC responded, "This doesn't get to be decided like this! He doesn't get to call it in the air just because he wants it! I demand a preliminary coin flip to determine who gets to call the ultimate coin flip while it's in the air!"
"Yes, agreed! Although... who gets to call *that* one in the air?"
"Oh for the love of-" the President sighed, before cutting himself and everyone else off. "I will deal with the preliminary coin flip. NotACop, you're heads. atheotes, you're tails. Whichever side the coin lands face-up on gets to call the big one. Agreed?"
"Agreed," both said.
"Very well," said the president, and flipped it. The Storming of the Bastille faced the crowd.
"YESSSSSSS!" atheotes visibly cheered, gloating over his preliminary victory as NAC swore loudly. The celebration went on entirely too long, as atheotes started an elaborate victory dance routine.
"Dude, the real coin hasn't even been flipped yet!" someone in the crowd called out.
"I know, but now that I control the call I can't lose!" atheotes replied. "I was so happy when I was assigned tails, because tails never fails! And now I'm guaranteed to stake it on tails, and I couldn't be happier! This is as good as over, I say! Toodle-oo, Royalist scum!"
"Alright, settle down," the president said. "This is the final flip. atheotes, you have the honor of calling it in the air," he finished, flipping the coin.
"TAILS!" atheotes called.
Marianne's face greeted the crowd. atheotes had indeed gotten to decide his own fate, with all of the consequences attached to it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
atheotes has been lynched! He was:
Day 2 tally:
atheotes: 6 | Choxorn (741), ATPG (744), autolycus (759), Lewwyn (767), Zack (805), NotACop (840) 
NotACop: 6 | Snerk (771), BSmith (780), Renata (798), Csargo (801), Dp101 (825), Montmorency (839)
Dp101: 2 | seireikhaan (689), Al Sipsclar (716)
El Barto: 1 | Manasi (702)
Winston Hughes: 1 | atheotes (811)
Not voting: 2 | Winston Hughes, El Barto
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is now Night 2! Please send in your orders.
Night 2 ends 1:00 PM US Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 14 (GMT-4).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still alive (17):
Al Sipsclar
Askthepizzaguy
autolycus
BSmith
Choxorn
Csargo
Dp101
El Barto
Lewwyn
Manasi
Montmorency
NotACop
Renata
seireikhaan
Snerk
Winston Hughes
Zack
Killed:
Fenn
Monstrdude
Logic
Kagemusha
Arakhor
Guillotined:
Jabbz
atheotes
Bookmarks