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

[breakshot]

[ After dinner, Machias returns to his room for a brief moment then returns. You can find him looking over the collection of retro games - he's had another bad day, and frankly he needs something off his mind. Eventually, he finds something, but it's a bit unlike the other games they've seen thus far.

Welcome to ZORK.
Release 12 / Serial number 990623 / Inform v6.14 Library 6/7
WEST OF HOUSE
This is an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.
There is a small mailbox here.
A rubber mat saying 'Welcome to Zork!' lies by the door.
>...

... Okay? Just text then and no flashy bright graphics? Well then, how hard could this be?


> up
You can't go that way.

> down
You can't go that way.

> right
That's not a verb I recognize.

> DO SOMETHING
That's not a verb I recognize.

Nevermind. His eyebrow's already twitching. He's clearly at a loss of what to do here as he enters a bunch of commands, and even a couple irritated exclamations. Dare you soldier forth with this young nerd and risk being eaten by a grue? ]

[parodeity]

Type "open mailbox".

[ sup ]

[breakshot]

... All right?

[ thx dave ur a pal. machias does just that. and look, it worked:
> open mailbox
You open the mailbox, revealing a small leaflet.
Whoa. One look at Dave, then right back at the screen. ]

It worked! It-- [ Ahem, composure. HE'S SIGNIFICANTLY LESS frustrated now. For now. For now. ] So, uh... it only takes certain words?

[parodeity]

Yeah, just think of it as a really simple thing. IIRC, direction wise you wanna go west south east north not right left. you can go up or down only if there's like, shit to go up or down.

You can take the leaflet and read it.

[breakshot]

[ Okay, he does that. For brevity's sake, pretend he's gone through the instructions and is now heading north twice and smth.

FOREST
This is a dimly lit forest, with large trees all around. One particularly large tree with some low branches stands here.
>... ]

I see, that sounds pretty simple enough. This game does seem pretty different from the rest - I mean, I wasn't expecting it to be just text only. [ He'll stop typing for a moment. ] So, have you played this?

[monsieurchatastrophe]

[has he played this. probably not. does he care. no]

Try "go left". Or "turn on the light".

[breakshot]

[ One look at Adrien, frowning but nodding along. It sounds like he knows this, so he'll go ahead and type!

> go left
You can't see any such thing.

> turn on the light
You can't see any such thing. UGH, drops keyboard!! Now he's just venting. ]

It's not working! What is this, is it broken? Am I just missing something?

[monsieurchatastrophe]

Maybe there's a secret code? Try up up down down left right left right B A.

[...adrien that's the konami code]

[breakshot]

[ After a swarm of "That's not a verb I recognize." and "I only understood you as far as wanting to go up." ]

It's broken. It's definitely broken. Does anything on this damned ship work right? Unbelievable...

[ Actually, he's going to frustratedly type some more as a last ditch effort!!

> hit the mailbox
What do you want to hit the mailbox with?
Machias stops. He blinks before setting the keyboard down and glancing at Adrien. ]

--Oh! Finally, something new. ... But with what? Did we even have anything to begin with?

[monsieurchatastrophe]

Your fist? Or just look into it, maybe there's something in the mailbox.

[breakshot]

As much as I'm curious to see if it actually works, I think I'll just go with the latter.

[ He'll open the mailbox - oh, look. A leaflet. It contains instructions to the game, and typing in "help" provides clearer instructions. Machias sets the keypad down, glancing away from the screen while rubbing a temple. ]

Well, now. That's not so hard. I think. [ Probably? He groans, shaking his head. ] Though really, would it have killed them to just offer those instructions from the beginning?

[muties]

[ ohhhh my goooood video game nerd mode activated time to harass machias again ]

Open the mailbox, or walk in a direction.

[breakshot]

[ Machias glances at Roxy, with a sort of puzzled look, before doing just that. ... Oh, would you look at that. It opened. Cue sigh of relief. ]

So that's how it works. ... Why didn't it just say so from the start?

[muties]

That's part of the fun of the game, figurin' out how to play it. It's like a puzzle. You're a nerd, don't you like puzzles?

[breakshot]

I-- [ SIGH. Don't call him a nerd! ] Stop that. Besides, I'd prefer something with a bit more intellect to it. A little strategy doesn't hurt either.

[ Just keep typing on that keypad, Machias. Oh look, it's a forest. There's a tree. What do we do when we find trees?
> jump
Are you enjoying yourself?
> climb the tree
Which do you mean, the tree or the large tree? ]

Really. Cute remarks now? Don't tell me Alice wrote this during her spare time.

[muties]

Hey, there's lots of strategy and smarts in Zork.

[ why do you want to climb the tree machias ]

Alice didn't come up with this, Zork has existed for eons. It's legit ancient.

[ that sounds like bs but in roxy's defense it literally is over 400 years old to her ]

[douchemag]

Set the house on fire!

[yeah this is gonna go great]

[breakshot]

[ exasperated sigh but okay!!! he'll do it, judar. ]

Set the-- I really don't think that's going to work, but fine.

[ > set the house on fire
You can't see any such thing.

> hit the mailbox
What do you want to hit the mailbox with?]

... Would you look at that.

[douchemag]

See? Told you it'd work! [yes this was definitely his plan all along!!]

Uh...what do you have on you? Your fist? Your staff? Freeze the mailbox and then shatter it!

[breakshot]

[ Absolutely none of that works. Eventually he just throws the keypad down, removing both glasses and dragging both hands down his face. Slowly. As he lets out the most frustrated sigh ever. ]

This is stupid - nothing is working! Who the hell came up with any of this?!

[douchemag]

Probably the same people who trapped us on this stupid ship and just wanted to see you suffer. You're not gonna let them win, are you? Show that game who's boss! Keep going! Beat that mailbox into a pulp!

[why is he so much more invested in this than he is in the actual trial]

[breakshot]

I-- [ Open mouth, immediately shut it. ] ... Seriously? Are you for real?

[ Machias just stares for a moment, with a disbelieving eyebrow. Damn, kiddo, you're way more into this than he is! And for convenience's sake, let's assume Machias has actually made some progress through this game up until...
> up
It's pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
>... ]

Okay then... [ He trails off, fingers lifting from the keypad with a sort of lost look. ] I don't know what a grue's supposed to be, but what now?