WEEK 1 - Trial

[al2955]

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

saturday TRIAL DAY ONE (40) 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. At 7PM, the trial will adjourn for the day. All players will be escorted by the robots into the cafeteria. From there, they're free to head into the lounge, the viewing deck, the chapel, or back to their rooms. All other areas of the ship have been locked off, and every player will be accompanied by a robot until they return to their room for the night. Any attempts to enter a locked off room or physically interfere with the trial or evidence outside of their room will cause the robot to raise a ship-wide alarm.

victim



suspects



Character Statuses
Setting
Rulebook
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Comments

a less accurate trial summary

[antietam]

[ He remains impressed with Judar for that amazing transformation of everything they've found into some strange crow metaphor. ]

Um. Judar is close? [ ??? ] From what I can tell, the weapon was something small like the key or possibly a dagger, but the key was hidden in such a way that would make it more suspect. The key itself wasn't the weapon, but a blade that could only be accessed through a small catch on the handle. As for the other piece of evidence, a small amount of congealing serum was taken from the medbay. Given that and the mess of the daycare, there was probably a fight between the murderer and the victim. The murderer likely used the serum—which has instructions on it, by the way—to make a small wound disappear. The serum can only be used for cuts or scrapes, so it doesn't seem like the murderer was hurt too much during the fight.

[ Taking a breath. Why did he decide to do this. He's becoming unsure and therefore his southern accent is coming out despite him trying to hide it. ] So we have some theories. One would be that the victim was planning to murder someone, the most likely of which would be Alita given that she has no combat experience or weapons. It's possible that she targeted Alita and got her to leave her room in the middle of the night. This would explain how the murderer could have known about the blade inside the key—because the victim switched it then and there. Somehow, she would have gotten the key away from a trained martial artist. I'm having a hard time believing that right now, but it does make sense up to that point. Essentially, it doesn't seem like the murderer planned this, or could have known about the blade from information on the victim's card.

There are some things that still need to be discussed. For example, the victim's body was found on the merry-go-round, but there was blood splattered in the ballpit. The ballpit, also, was deflated with some of the balls crushed. This could have been where the body fell—and there are bruises on her back to suggest that—but why move it? That would probably be difficult for someone without a lot of upper body strength.

Right now... there's no definitive evidence pointing to anyone.

[thanatosincarnate]

{ He thinks the same. }

I find it hard to believe Alita could have overtaken a skilled martial artist, move the body without there being a trail, and place it on the merry-go-round. In addition, her being able to only come out of that with a minor wound against someone more capable seems unlikely.

{ ... }

Looking at it logically, the murderer would be someone who is actually skilled in combat.

[bloodbiter]

That does leave the question of why any such person would move her to the merry go round, though. Why not just leave her corpse where she fell?

[thanatosincarnate]

The killer could have panicked and made a move to try to hide the body. So they began to move her body -- only to realize it wouldn't have worked out. Then, they decided to deposit it onto the merry-go-round.

{ This is the only thing he can think of. }

[bloodbiter]

That would fit with the idea that they may have been acting in self defense... If they were panicked over what happened because they hadn't meant to kill her, that is.

[antietam]

I agree with that. The question would then be, why would the victim target someone with more skill? Unless she was just waiting for someone to come in. If not, who would she target?

[bloodbiter]

She was 5'5" and 120 pounds... It seems unlikely if someone much taller than her came in, she would try to attack them. She had knowledge of martial arts, but all the same, would she go for someone who could overpower her?

[antietam]

Only if she was desperate. If she was camping out and waiting for someone to kill, she must have been. But this is all probably too speculative.

[douchemag]

...my explanation would have been way more interesting. [JUST GETTING THAT OUT OF THE WAY...]

If she fell into the ballpit, wouldn't that leave...ball bruises? I mean, if she fell into it that hard to leave bruises at all, you'd think we'd be able to recognize the shape.

[muties]

Maybe it wasn't her who fell, but the killer? During the scuffle. Heck, the blood on the balls could be theirs, rather than Crystal's, from their small wound.

[douchemag]

Maybe? If Cawcawto was stabbed in the ballpit, there'd probably be blood all over the floor when the killer moved her anyway.

[muties]

That'd make sense, since I think it was said Jessie got all bloodied when they moved her from beneath the carousel? So, she probs didn't get dead-- or fully dead, anyway-- there, or else there'd be a lot more blood.

It's too bad we can't, like, test DNA or blood type or anything. That'd fuckin' help.

[antietam]

Where do you think she fell, then? Against the merry-go-round? Which I guess could have been after she died as well.

[douchemag]

I've got no idea! [why does he say this so proudly] It just seems weird to me that the bruising's that light if she just straight up toppled over.

[breakshot]

[ machias seems to be listening to the summary at first, but then as it goes on, his expression looks as though it's drifted off. he's very clearly lost in thought about something. ]

It's strange. That expression I saw on her... [ hmm. that's some heavy duty handchin ruminating! ] I wonder.

[antietam]

[ He's practically out of breath after that, why weren't you listening man. ]

... Yeah?

[breakshot]

[ sorry adam, you did do a good job! but look, he's got a thought! he's gonna run with it. ]

Hm? ... Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. [ he gently clears his throat before continuing: ] When we found the body, I couldn't help but notice how... peaceful her expression looked for someone caught up in a struggle. Like she was sleeping.

[ is this important? who knows for sure. ]

[brooches]

I don't quite understand something, however. There are splatters of blood - no pool or puddle. I first thought the balls had a red pattern on them until I smeared them with my own fingers. If the attack happened here.. I don't believe it would have reflected the wound - a stab. It would have been more akin to a slice... I would say.

[ She's not quite sure if it'll help, but she tries anyway. ]

Maybe some of the crushed balls were from previous usage and unrelated to the case. There was a lot of activity prior in this area.

Just a thought.

[bloodteller]

This has been bothering me.

[ yuno shyly raises a hand. awkwardness with liz aside (who isn't she awkward with at this point) ]

Elizabeth is right. Wouldn't there be traces of blood from the ballpit to the merry-go-round...? If she was stabbed, and then moved.

[antagonize]

This seems pretty damn likely. We have proof that the killer was injured during the scuffle, don't we? And no evidence Calypso moved or was moved after she got stabbed. Injuries like those would leave a noticeable trail.

[brooches]

So then it becomes who is capable of fighting back to a woman who was armed and has enough skill to fight a trained martial artist...

[muties]

That's why I think maybe the ball blood splatters are from the killer gettin' injured, since we know they were since they used the goop to heal their injury.

Cawlisto stabs-- or slices, the killer at the ball pit. Blood splatters, some balls get crushed but the killer gets stabby by the merry-go-round. Hence no bloody af trail between the two.

[breakshot]

That's right. Let's not forget she was stabbed twice, yet the only actual pool of blood we found was near the carousel.

Had she been stabbed once in the ball pit, surely we'd have seen more blood than what we've discovered. But I also can't think the balls from there are entirely unrelated; remember, a single ball had somehow found itself just outside the daycare. Would that really have happened before the murder took place?

[brooches]

That's right. [ Maybe the person had to rush out? ] But... perhaps it was used to lure the victim, much like it lured us?

[antagonize]

Maybe there was a scuffle during the initial attack, and both the killer and the victim fell in causing a ball to roll out. It would explain the puncture on the pit, if one of them tried to stab the other over the pit and failed.