I'll answer that: 7 VT means bastard mod who wants mafia to win, assuming one of our roles is axxle's rolecop
So you think we have 2 protective roles? Not doing such a good job so far...
Or maybe we have an exotic protective role? Something like, instead of fully protecting a target, it would deflect the kill to an unfortunate VT. Or maybe the power roles, including Axxle, have a built-in deflection... do such variants exist? It would help explain why Axxle wasn't targeted. The alternate explanations I can think of:
1. Axxle is mafia. Don't even want to consider this one. He's done enough to warrant trust. Plus, no counterclaim. And even if he is Mafia and we lynch him, it leaves us completely lost after that.
2. The mafia thought they could cast suspicion onto Axxle and get him lynched. Nobody has really tried. Several of us have mentioned the possibility (Dsell and Morgrim, I think, and I have as well, and probably some others) but nobody has pushed it.
3. The mafia were worried about protective roles and preferred to go after a safer NK. Knowing who Axxle was planning to investigate might help with that (e.g. if Axxle happened to target a Mafia power role, that would have been a blow for them and they might have gone after Axxle immediately).
4. The mafia legitimately wanted to take michaeljb out of the picture, for one reason or another.