WEEK 1 - Investigation

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (1)

friday (?) survivors Friday careens around the corner soon enough, much like every day preceding it does. This morning, however, is greeted with a surprise — your datapad is making a strange noise. Perhaps it's buried under the duvet you're sleeping under, or at the far corner of the room, maybe you're the forgetful type and left it in the bathroom, or maybe, just maybe, you have it right next to your ear when a song blasts at full volume. Upon inspection, you'll find the accompanying video is playing as well. The song seems to loop, this time being overlain with a voice recanting the history of the band in a steady, robotic tone. Was it the AI? You probably didn't care, and, instead, decided to leave your room. Once you do, the song finally ends. You are free. You may feel rather manipulated right now, or you are just satiated to be away from the music. Either way, it's clear your day has only just begun. ENTER COMMAND_

Comments

[brooches]

[ Going to go ahead and pull a few of those balls up - one in each hand. She runs her thumb against the red flecks as if examining the texture. Her breath nearly escaping her lungs out of fear. She's naive, but not stupid. ]

[toprotecttheworld]

What's that strange Ponyta doing? It's...stuck.

[What an odd sound.

There's only one thing to do. Jessie steps around the Merry-go-Round, trying to see what's on the side opposite from them. Her hand is resting over Arbok's pokéball, even if she doesn't call him out quite yet. She wants to be ready.]

[breakshot]

Something's not right...

[ That much is clear enough?? Machias is going to go around the opposite side of Jessie, just in case. Covering all bases and he’s keeping a razor sharp eye out in case someone tries something. Anything out of place on the way over? How about the front? What's up with the merry-go-round? ]

[al2955]

[ The texture of the specks could be best described as 'wet'. That's because it's blood. When Elizabeth looks at her fingers, she'll notice that they've been stained with the same red specks.

Machias and Jessie will see the same thing, just from opposite ends — the reason for the merry-go-round being stuck, that is. There's something in between a rabbit and a wolf, preventing it from continuing on its tracks. Whatever it is is rather blue. Blue pants and a blue jacket, presumably attached to a head that's obscured by the rabbit and wolf. ]

[brooches]

[ Elizabeth stumbles back, pushing her hands apart in the ballpit - as if looking for someone or something. Anything noteworthy besides bloody balls? Either way, she yells out, unaware of what Machias and Jessie are encountering - ]

H-Hey! I've found something!

[ Oh sweet summer child, there's much worse. ]

[toprotecttheworld]

Elizabeth! Investigate that! Whatever you do, don't come over here!

[And she's going to do it. She's going to do it, because she's the strongest, because Team Rocket is the best at everything they do. She steps between the bizarre Wigglytuff and what looks like some sort of Arcanine and tries to pull the obstacle free before Nerd can get his hands on it.]

Don't look! It might not be...

[Please don't be dead, she'll scream.]

[breakshot]

Stay where you are! [ And then Jessie runs off, causing him to reach out towards and-- Ugh! He's right behind you, Jessie. ] Wait, be careful! We need to see if this is--

[ That looks like a body?! Say it's not a body. No time to fuck around, let's get a closer look. Anyone they'd recognize from the profiles? ]

[al2955]

[ It's dead, Jessie. She'll notice that the lovely blue suit the body is wearing is accented in red — the buttons, the piping, the shirt underneath, the two holes on her torso. It's quite a couture but professional look, one appropriate only for a woman who means business.

Calisto Yew is dead. ]

breaks tag order just for this

[toprotecttheworld]

It's...it's you!

[She screams, but she's going to set the body down once she's pulled it away from the merry-go-round.]

I don't know her name!

[brooches]

[ Insert scream? Why the hell would Liz ignore that? She drops those bloody balls, immediately heading over and - oh.

Oh no.

No.

She's frozen, but despite what others have perceived of her, she doesn't seem fearful of it. Far too many dead bodies seen. Her voice cold: ]

We need to go get help... Is - is she... is she really dead? Check her breathing!

[breakshot]

Damn it.

[ It's a woman. He can feel the pit of his stomach turning at this display. Someone actually killed someone - someone actually sank that low for this - just how unbelievably sick can someone be...!

No. He had to stay calm, and not lose his composure. He'll turn to the two women, then back to Yew. ]

I'll check. One of you go get help, and tell them what's happened!

[ No time to waste, so let's do just that. Let's check for some vitals. He's not so sure considering those are two holes (??!) in that torso but #justincase. ]

[al2955]

[ The blood pooled under Calisto smears against the floor as her body is dragged.

She has no pulse. She's definitely dead, though besides the two stab wounds on her torso, she doesn't look too gruesome, almost as if she's sleeping. There is one hole in between her chest and one in her stomach area, as well as stains flowing from the wounds and cascading off the sides of her body, leading to the pool beneath her. ]

[toprotecttheworld]

She's not breathing, Elizabeth. It's too late. It looks like someone really went through with this stupid thing!

[She looks down at Callisto Yew as she gets to her feet, her clothes stained from the blood.

It's time to do a quick sweep for physical evidence, but otherwise they have to split up the work, don't they?]

We need to tell everyone. And the less people who come in here, the better. Twerp, are you okay with the body?

[There might be a HINT of sympathy to her voice if Machias wants to believe it.]

[brooches]

I'll go. I need to wash this off, first.

[ She's distant, not the first time she's seen blood on her hands. Of course, it won't be the last. Elizabeth finds this time to give a thoughtful look to Jessie and Machias and exit, on her way to the med bay. ]

[breakshot]

[ So they're not gunshot wounds. He's going to look a little closely, kneeling down and being very careful while checking. Anything else of note besides the stab wounds? ]

There’s no pulse. She’s dead. [ Machias shakes his head. ] I'll keep checking, but see if you can get someone else in here to have a look at the body, Elizabeth.

[ His tone's very firm, but not without some grim to it. He doesn't like having to do this, but someone has to. Machias looks up at Jessie, nodding. For once they're actually getting along. Remotely. ]

I'll be all right. For now, neither of us are leaving this room. Sweep around the place and see if you find anything else of note.

[al2955]

[ The rest of her body appears normal. ]

[toprotecttheworld]

[And while we're waiting for Jessie or Liz to fetch a doctor, what of physical evidence? Jessie is going to start at the Merry-Go-Round, but she'll be moving to the door slowly before people flood in as well.]

[al2955]

[ Besides the merry-go-round and ballpit, everything else seems untouched. Jessie will only find a lot of dust. ]

[breakshot]

I don't see any bruising. Aidios, what happened in here...

[ This still doesn't sit well with him, the first victim being a woman. Still, there might be something underneath, so let's have a look under the body. If there's nothing there, he'll be checking the stab wounds closely. Do they look uneven, jagged or are they clean? Anything that may have broken off? ]

[al2955]

[ How naughty, Machias, you didn't even ask her.

The back of Calisto's suit is wet with blood from it slipping under her, but otherwise seems normal. The wounds on the front of Calisto's body are deep, but clean, as if whatever went into her slipped right out.

That's all Machias will be able to surmise before two robots come and hoist Calisto by her feet and head, dragging her away. ]

[allout]

[ and the flood will start with minako, who comes in just in time to see the robots take calisto's body away. she watches silently, bowing her head when they pass by her.

once all is said and done, she'll turn her focus to the investigators. ]

Machias and Elizabeth... right? [ she'll approach, her smile soft. ] If you guys need any help, I can definitely pitch in.

[ astonishingly, she isn't phased by any of the blood. ]

[breakshot]

Wait, don't--! [ RIGHT before they could get someone more qualified to do some body poking. Now it's gone, and he pounds his fist on the ground. ... The non-bloody parts of it. ] Damn it!

[ Anyway, Machias is inside with Jessie, still frustrated and still looking a bit grim. It's just those two, but welcome aboard Minako. ... It's enough a woman's been killed; he doesn't like the thought of more young women having to see this. It just doesn't sit well. Still, he won't stop her if she knows what she's doing. ]

Ugh... [ He looks up from the pool of blood, shaking his head and keeping his tone firm. ] I won't stop you from investigating, but be careful not to disturb anything.

[allout]

[ she gives a somber nod before looking over to the ballpit, getting on her knees to inspect the punctured areas (and being careful to not get any blood on her knee socks). they definitely look like they were done by something sharp...

she turns to the both of them. ]

Did you guys know her?

[breakshot]

... No. I can't speak for the others, but I've never actually spoken with her.

[ He's not sure about Jessie or Liz. Okay, obviously they're not going to get anything done by leaning over this pool of blood. That's creepy. He already checked under the body, so nothing of note there unless Minako wants to take another look. Machias stands up, heading over to Minako and glancing over to Jessie - Okay, good thinking standing guard. They definitely don't want too many people in here at once. ]

If you've any questions about the body, I'll try to answer them as best I can. [ adjusts frames ] Unfortunately as you saw, I didn't have enough time to have a closer look.

[allout]

No... I actually had more questions about her, actually. From when she was alive.

[ she thinks for a moment. even if nobody knew her, did they have a way to figure out the basics about her?

as a matter of fact, they do. she stands back up, smoothing out her uniform skirt. ]

Is there a datapad in here?