WEEK 9 - Trial

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (9)

saturday TRIAL DAY ONE (19) survivors At 9 AM, a klaxon alarm begins blaring in every area of the ship. The alarm will continue to go off until everyone has gathered in the conference room. Should anyone be running late or avoiding the trial for whatever reason, a robot guide will appear wherever they are and gently but firmly escort them into the room. Once all the living players are present, the conference room doors will lock shut; anyone who wishes to leave for whatever reason will need to ask AL-2955 or one of the robots. Anyone leaving for non-investigative purposes, such as bathroom breaks, will be accompanied by a robot escort. The large round table in the center of the conference room has been set up to help the trial run as smoothly as possible. Three holographic screens hover above the center hollow of the table, visible from every angle. The first screen displays the pictures and profiles of the suspects and victim; the second displays the autopsy report; the third displays a blank word processor. Each of the chairs comes equipped with a virtual keyboard which can be used to type information directly into the third screen, such as theories and updated information; they can also be set into privacy mode, which will transfer whatever notes someone writes directly into their datapad instead of on screen. There's also a tablet function for those who wish to draw charts or pictures on screen. The keyboards will detect the DNA of whoever's using them and record who's typed what - simply press an area of text and the name of whoever wrote it will pop up. The area to the right of the table has been temporarily sectioned off with a glass partition and sliding door for hygienic issues. Inside, the victim's body has been laid out on a metal autopsy table, covered by a plastic sheet. Above it is a holographic screen that displays a close-up color photograph of the body when it was found. A hand sanitizer dispenser has been considerately attached to the wall nearby for anyone getting up close and personal to the body. To the left of the conference table is a display case. Any evidence found during the investigation will be carefully collected by the robots at some point the previous day and placed here before the trial starts. Beneath each piece of evidence is a small tablet where players can type up information, such as a short description or where it was found. There are also empty areas left over for any evidence that may be found during the trial. The shelf at the very bottom of the case has been reserved for an extra rulebook in case anyone needs it. Food will be served throughout the day by the robots, who will take individual orders whenever you're feeling hungry. The trial will end at 9:00 PM, at which point all players will have been expected to cast their vote.

victim



suspects



Character Statuses
Setting
Rulebook
Voting

Comments

[toprotecttheworld]

We need to find out who was killed first, don't we?

[Jessie's been reading over the evidence lists so far.]

Why does Minako have both gunshot wounds and stab wounds? She wasn't that unpopular, was she?

[baptizer]

The only things I could think of are an accomplice kill or a coverup. Machias has a shotgun but...

[ She wonders, thinking back on the last time Machias was put up for trial. Was the shells similar? ]

Would that imply Machias was apart of this and then killed?

[chiseler]

Possible. [He's reviewing the rules really quick.] But that would mean the accomplices would need a vendetta against both Minako and Machias. If Machias was originally an accomplice...how would that work? He killed Minako first and then was overpowered and killed? I mean if he blew up, there's really only a couple of ways on the ship that could've happened. Hard to imagine how they got him to do that if he was working with someone.

[baptizer]

We haven't really seen accomplices work together until - [ Awkward look at Dorian. ] However, is it too hard to believe people are looking for their own self-interests now?

[ Debbie Downer. ]

By killing Machias, it complicates things and ties loose ends.

[tevinteriscoming]

[Smiles right back.]

There's really very little incentive for accomplices to cooperate with one another. The accomplice rules state that, even if two people are killed, the accomplice will only receive a reward if they betray the culprit.

On the other hand, perhaps the culprit's plans for using this week's reward was something an accomplice might agree with? Time magic is powerful. Perhaps they meant to use it to do something to change the status of this game. For that, an accomplice might have agreed to help.

But perhaps that accomplice had plans of their own?

1/2

[baptizer]

Please don't be mad at me.

[baptizer]

It's a viable option... If Alice can threaten entire races, reveal secrets to different worlds across time and space - is time "magic" truly that hard to believe?

[tevinteriscoming]

[Why would he be angry. I mean, she's not wrong.]

If anyone has questions about accomplice theories, I'm happy to help. You can be sure I scrutinized the rules. [There, maybe a joke makes it less awkward.]

More believable than some, to be sure. And for the right use of it, anyone might have been tempted. The only question I'd ask is, why Minako of all people. There was no vulnerable list this week, and far less sympathetic targets to persuade someone to kill with you over.

[baptizer]

Wrong place, wrong time? Um... - Or perhaps someone had a role...

[ She shows the frustration in her voice. ]

God, there's just too many variables now!

[chiseler]

While I get people looking out for self-interests, it makes you wonder how our true culprit managed to hide all of the weapons used to also kill Machias. It's too bad there isn't a way to tell just how long the gravity's been turned off in the zero-grav room. That would give us a hint as to who died first and everything.

[toprotecttheworld]

Machias' shotgun is obnoxiously unique, don't you think? Wouldn't it make sense for Machias himself to have fired first? ...Again. He sort of has that history, after all.

[chiseler]

So what, Machias shot Minako and then for extra measure he and somebody else also stabbed her?

[toprotecttheworld]

We know a third person is involved at some point, otherwise there wouldn't be a trial. We can't vote for dead people.

[She's ruling out both of them killing each other.]

What about that wound on Machias' shoulder? Did you get a good look at it after Todomatsu and I left?

[baptizer]

What I don't understand is why there was an explosion on the ceiling... That would imply the mine was up there and - hm? What? Machias just floated into the room to his doom?

[chiseler]

No...we also don't know how large of a blast the proximity mine can create. If it's big enough, it could probably be on the ground and cause a crater in the ceiling. Once Machias was dead, they could've turned off gravity to clean up the scene or whatever. But that's just a theory. We won't know until we know how the mine works.

[tevinteriscoming]

Proximity mine. According to Alice, once activated, it goes off when someone is within a foot radius.

It seems to me, leave the active mine on the ceiling...it won't go off until the gravity turns off, and someone finds themselves on the ceiling with it.

[baptizer]

That just - that's just outrageous then.

[ If she thought this was outrageous, she should have seen Machias' body. ]

[antietam]

So the mine would be able to latch onto the ceiling?

If that's true, it sounds like a good theory.

[antietam]

Or they killed him first and took his shotgun.

[toprotecttheworld]

I never should have given it back to him. That annoying twerp.

[antietam]

Wait, when did you take it? And give it back?

[toprotecttheworld]

I stole it during Lavi's execution, and I left it out in the armory for him to find right after it opened up. I wear gloves, so it was no problem for me.

[She sounds a little proud of that, but she has a resigned, pathetic laugh.]

I thought for sure if he had it, he'd get himself killed somehow. Looks like I was right.

[antietam]

... That was you. [ THEY WERE COMING UP WITH CRAZY THEORIES FOR NOTHING. ]

You probably should have just kept it, yeah.

[toprotecttheworld]

That's right. No one even noticed.

[Again. She sounds broken up about this.]

Looks like Team Rocket really messed this one up, didn't they? Next time I steal a weapon, I'll just hold onto it.

[antagonize]

Judging from the trail of blood we all found... Maybe Minako was killed first, and then the killer headed to the zero gravity room to kill Machias.

[And another thing that's bothering him—]

Is there a sign of a struggle anywhere? We're theorizing Machias could have helped, but we don't even know if they were conscious when the two of them were murdered.