WEEK TWO - Trial

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (2)

saturday TRIAL DAY ONE (38) 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

let's talk robots

[jackhole]

Okaaaay, so that happened.

[ room searches. whatever. who cares. let's talk about something else. ]

But hey, so, I want to talk about the robot. Which I guess was like, the murder weapon? Can robots be murder weapons? That's so... uncouth. [ rhys, seriously. ] So, I wrote up what we saw from the robot in my report and Hancock over there... er, shoved it over which was really rude, by the way! Robots are people too? No. Robots are better than people. Don't do that again.

[ solid true facts from rhys ]

So, here's the thing. The robot's wires were cut and I don't really understand why? No one on that suspect list has any experience with robots. Well, Fiona does but she's from Pandora so it doesn't count. Someone could have broken it in a variety of different ways if that was their goal was just pure damage but trying to cut the wires as carefully as it was cut kind of implies... purpose? Super weird. I mean hell, even if the robot saw something and they want to stop it from ratting them out, breaking it way more than this would keep anyone from fixing it. Like I said, if Alice gave me some tools, I could fix it myself. I don't really get it. Thoughts?

[tevinteriscoming]

I admit I know nothing about these things or how they work. But why would the robot "rat anyone out"? It isn't as though killing one another isn't precisely what this place expects to happen.

[jackhole]

If the robot was at the scene of the crime and someone asked it who did it, they'd have the knowledge. No assurances they couldn't be ordered to give it, even if they probably wouldn't have. The killer wouldn't want to take that chance? If we're doing the whole sneaky murder thing.

[tevinteriscoming]

I suppose. Given that we aren't offered access even to the security cameras, it seems doubtful anyone would believe we'd be allowed to question the robotic help.

[douchemag]

Stabbing a knife into the thing counts as careful? Maybe they were just trying to break it.

[jackhole]

Why didn't they just smack a chair into it or break off the limbs or ... anything else? It's still in good shape, the wiring is just damaged. If you really wanted to break it, why stop at the wires?

[douchemag]

I dunno, maybe they weren't strong enough? They're made of metal, it's gotta be pretty tough taking one down with your bare hands.

[or maybe judar's just A WEAKLING...]

[refactor]

[ rhys fucked the robot: confirmed ]

[ But no, Jack actually won't dick around with this, since it's the part he's pretty interested in too above everything else. ]

Could be the point. Well, not intentionally, but so far as I can tell? Most of the people here barely even know what a robot is, much less how to disable one. Could've been wishful thinking.

[jackhole]

[ shut up jack ]

But why stop at the wires? If, if me and Loader Bot were just hanging out, right? And I wanted to make LB kill something which, I mean, I'd just use his guns but if I wanted LB to crush someone to death and not be able to tell, I wouldn't just... disable his wires. I'd break him beyond repair.

[refactor]

[ He shrugs, though he does lean back in his chair thoughtfully. ]

Could be a couple things. Timing? They coulda only had a short time to act before our buddy here would have ran off and spilled the beans, so they just went for what was convenient. Even someone that doesn't know much about robots could guess that cutting the wires might do something. But even without that, we're talking four in the afternoon here. Spend too long beating up a robot and someone is going to notice.

[parodeity]

Yeah, I mean - we have to figure the timeframe was pretty narrow, right? This was all done while most of us were out of our rooms dicking around, so they had to have taken the time to see where people go most afternoons, timed it out to what might work, and booked it. Even with their distraction, it's not like they had a huge window to get shit done.

[refactor]

Nope. We're talking, max, forty-five minutes judging by our little autopsy. Granted, plenty of time to off someone, clearly, but you're not going to be doing elaborate stuff unless you've- Okay, unless you've really got your shit together.

[ There was a partial chuckle in there, but he moves on smoothly. ]

Point is, Occam's razor could definitely apply here. Simplest solution? Just cut the damn wires and hope for the best in one scenario, in another, they know what cutting the wire does. Either way.

[ He looks to Rhys ] Could test the theory to see just what cutting the wires does, but I have a feeling someone might object to that little test.

[parodeity]

What if we asked for tools for Rhys to fix the test bot back up right after we did it? There's no reason to waste another robot.

[refactor]

[ He shrugs, complete with a pfft noise ]

I mean, I guess. It's just a friggin' robot. Don't let Rhys's fetish get in the way of doing what's necessary, just saying.

[parodeity]

Dude seems to be highstrung enough today without specifically jabbin' him in the gut, I guess?

[ RHYS NEEDS TO FIND HIS NONEXISTANT CHILL. ]

[refactor]

Today?

[ Jack looks to Rhys, then back to Dave before shaking his head. ]

Nah, he's always like that. I mean, sure, today's a little worse than usually but that's probably because he talked himself into being a suspect like an idiot.

[parodeity]

I mean, at least we can reasonably say the dude obviously didn't fuckin' do it since he just sassed his way onto the list.

[ SHRUGS. ]

[thanatosincarnate]

Cutting the wires still serves the purpose of making pushing the robot around and doing whatever they wanted with it easier, doesn't it?

{ Sure they could've just smashed it around too but in a way he figures this way could be just as simple to get it done. }

[jackhole]

Ehh, I guess but you can still do that depending on how you break it. Take off its head, can't be repaired but it can still be used to crush things?

[allout]

Maybe it was the best way to keep things clean? Not ripping off limbs and stuff means that there's one less piece of evidence to hide.

[ shrug. ]

[muties]

Maybe they just hate robots? Or didn't need a robot so much as a big heavy metal thing to put atop the body, and didn't want it to protest?

[jackhole]

Obviously they hate robots, that's not in question.

[ just establishing that fact ]

But they still could've hurt the robot more. Cutting the wiring doesn't really do much more than disable it and none of these suspects knew that and it can still probably be repaired. If the priority was just having something big enough to crush someone, why just cut the wires?

Re: let's talk robots

[tacklefordwhimsy]

I think the purpose was to make the robot stop moving. I know these robots are kind of pushovers and all, but it doesn't seem to me those would simply let themselves be thrown or pushed around unless Alice the AI wills it. I don't think she would let it happen just like that.

[Robots have self-preservation instinct, don't they? The robots Shelley knows do]

[jackhole]

Still don't understand why you wouldn't just do something other than cut the wires. It seems weirdly specific?

[tacklefordwhimsy]

It seems logical to me. To make a robot stop moving you cut whatever seems vulnerable. Wiring are what makes the robots work, if you cut enough of them it should damage the robot enough to force it to stop.

At least that is how it would have worked back at my world.

Besides the culprit intended to use the robot to crush Raleigh. Maybe the culprit thought that if it was all kept mostly intact it'd have more chances of killing him?