WEEK 11 - TRIAL

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (11)

saturday TRIAL DAY ONE (13) 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

[chiseler]

[Sometimes he actually can be a decent person. It's just unusual at this rate.]

Yeah, about that. Any ideas so far? It didn't seem to be reacting to any of the attacks from anybody and that's probably our main concern.

[tevinteriscoming]

It's not reacting to attacks because it isn't actually there. It's managed to plant itself in the core somehow, but the source of its power lies elsewhere. Without being able to attack it there, we're helpless, but I should be surprised if it were actually, physically, anywhere on the ship.

[He thinks for a moment. The great thing about him is, he spent most of his academic days drunk, so he thinks pretty well a few shots in.]

There's that terminal, with the coordinates. I wonder if we couldn't somehow find where she came from? If we could get that information to the Nuwa...

[chiseler]

Another hologram then. Functioned the same way as Alice. [He won't exactly elaborate how. That's not important here.] Guess it's safe to assume it took over Alice's powersource and that's how we're being controlled.

[He takes another drink.] The terminal might be worth looking into. And if we look maybe we'll figure out where she's taking us, too. "Home" doesn't sound that reassuring. The problem with contacting the Nuwa is if we don't have electricity will all of that power back on?

[tevinteriscoming]

[He doesn't know exactly what a hologram is, but.] There had to be some means of getting her here. Installing a piece, or opening up a path. Otherwise, she'd have done it sooner.

The dead might be able to contact Nuwa. They were still able to contact us; perhaps the connection is still open on the other end.

[chiseler]

I tried to ask her. Didn't exactly answer, charmer that she is. If any of us are brave enough we should maybe go back to examine Gaea, too.

[The dead is one option, however.] It depends how much effort was expelled to get them to us in the first place. I wish we had a chance to ask them how they contacted Nuwa. If we were to send messages to them, think they could get them to Nuwa?

[tevinteriscoming]

I've no idea. I didn't hear from Bull this past week, save for a brief pre-recorded message, and, well, earlier today. [He's had enough drinks that his voice goes soft.] I wonder what they've been up to, that they couldn't get in touch otherwise. Maybe it is an ordeal, but it's our best hope.

Before she vanished, River told me something interesting. She said the AI on Nuwa was more advanced that she; had developed emotions and the capacity to feel. That seems odd to me, but something to keep in mind. Perhaps unlike River, bound by the dictates of her programming, she can be reasoned with.

[chiseler]

I always thought maybe it was a faulty connection but after everything we've seen lately...well. I was really wrong about that. We know they at least found a way to contact the other ship. That means it can't be too far from us either.

[He schools his face into a look of indifference, but it's clear he's interested anyway.] Oh yeah? I thought AI were just like robots and couldn't feel a thing. Maybe the AI isn't really an AI?

[tevinteriscoming]

[Considering this for a moment. No. No, he's far too drunk to consider this for a moment.] I have absolutely no idea. But if there's something more human to her, then I give the Nuwa better odds getting through to her than we ever did with Alice. [Correcting himself - he remembers he started trying to use her real name.] River.

[chiseler]

So you think maybe the people on the Nuwa are okay after all. [That's something to take a short amount of comfort in.] River's never exactly been incredibly helpful but if that's also because she lost her memories and maybe had her programming tampered with that explains a lot. But it makes you wonder why we ended up on this ship and they ended up on Nuwa.

[tevinteriscoming]

It isn't certain, but I don't think it's impossible. It's at least better to hope they are than to assume they aren't.

[He considers that.]

We all had a counterpart on the Nuwa, yes? They seem to have taken us in pairs, and then separated the pairs onto different ships.

[chiseler]

I noticed that. Pretty much everybody freaked out once we saw someone from home on Nuwa. Still doesn't explain what the criteria was for separating us the way they did. Why did the Pygmalion get mostly kids and the Nuwa got mostly adults? I want answers to stuff like that.

[tevinteriscoming]

Mm. I wonder if it has anything to do with their suspicions over who was infected? Harder for adults to deal with an infection when the victim is a child.

[chiseler]

River says that she didn't know the ship was infected but I'm starting to question that, too. You're not wrong though. It's been easier in all of the trials when so many of them are close in age. Between you and me killing kids still isn't something I'm looking forward to if it comes to that again. [But he's voted on the kids before, too.]

The good news is we only have to deal with this one more time. Then it's just taking out the queen. Should be totally easy, right? [No.]