WEEK 3 - TRIAL DAY TWO

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (3)

saturday TRIAL DAY ONE (34) 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

[bloodbiter]

It is clear that the killer bandaged at least one of his wounds. After his head was injured, I highly doubt he would be able to bandage the injury himself. It seems as though it would kill him quickly.

[thanatosincarnate]

Hardly, as in I'm not sure of the validity of the theories I'm putting forth as of yet. But I figured it was worth discussing.

{ He should've been clearer in his wording, though. }

Finding out why the killer bandaged up Allen's wounds could be important... hence why I asked. What would they have to gain from it?

[bloodbiter]

I think so, too. I don't see why they would take the time to do so... Covering up a blood trail is a possibility, but we already found blood in the garden. I suppose it could be that they didn't want us to be able to follow a trail to where his body was located, since a cloaking device wouldn't hide blood leading to the bench.

[thanatosincarnate]

{ He nods. }

If they were able to hide a trail to where his body was, it would delay the trial as well, leaving us without a body to work with, on top of them obscuring it with that cloaking device to help.

[toprotecttheworld]

...Adelina, what would you do if you had a head injury and couldn't move but were still alive?

[bloodbiter]

It depends on how much the blow had stunned me. I doubt I would be capable of thinking clearly at that point, if I could think at all.

[toprotecttheworld]

If it were me, I'd have sent Arbok to fetch bandages for me.

[bloodbiter]

But Allen didn't have any companion such as you do, did he?

[toprotecttheworld]

Hm. I wonder. How many people were in the garden, do you think? We need to know that, don't we?

[bloodbiter]

You think he would have asked someone else to get him bandages? But... If that were the case, wouldn't that mean someone else who didn't commit the crime was in the room at the time of the murder, and could have seen who the killer was?

[toprotecttheworld]

No, I think there were only three people in the room. Obviously, a gun was fired...Machias had to be in there. And since they hid the body, I think it's safe to say Allen didn't go anywhere. So who got rid of Machias, who killed Allen, and who bandaged Allen's head? Why can't they all be the same person?

[bloodbiter]

I understand, but if it's as you say and Allen asked the killer to bring those supplies... Who would deal a fatal blow, and then heed the victim's request to find them bandages?

[toprotecttheworld]

Maybe not asked, but...what if the third person, the killer, thought they could still save him?

[bloodbiter]

I suppose. It's clear they were targeting Machias initially, since they had the cloaking device...

But there's something that bothers me. If Allen was an accidental casualty, that would very likely mean that he would have seen what happened before his death. In that case, why would they attempt to save him? He would be able to speak of their guilt later.

[tacklefordwhimsy]

[Shelley frowns]

Could Allen have been a killer or an accomplice in a plan to kill Machias?

[Wild thought]

[refactor]

Yeah, that part is pretty messed up. I mean- You kill a guy, just leave 'em to die, don't rub salt in the wound like pretending you're some kind of good person for it.

[ just ignore jack's asides here ]

Point is, assuming the killer is the one that did that? To me? Implies that they care about the guy. Because if you don't give a shit, you don't go through the effort. But you care, and looking at that is probably going to be a little harder. Either guilt or they just don't have the stomach for it, but I could see that.

[bloodbiter]

It's also possible that they wanted to avoid leaving a blood trail that would lead us to finding the body sooner, but... While I see the point of that, they had to know that we would find it eventually, especially since there was blood already in the garden.

Perhaps after he was killed, the murderer came to regret what they had done?

[refactor]

[ Jack nods ]

I mean, think about it. Sure, someone could've killed because they wanted the big bucks, but me, I think it's just as likely that it was paranoia gettin' the best of someone. And in that case, yeah, you'd probably feel pretty guilty about bashing someone's head in because you're out of your mind.

[bloodbiter]

Maybe...

[pauses for a moment]

They only could have had the cloaking device if they were trying to kill someone on the vulnerable list. Perhaps they were going after Machias, and Allen happened to be in the way. Especially given the fact that Machias' shotgun is different than most, they may have misfired and killed Allen instead when they didn't mean to target him at all.

That doesn't explain the head injury, though... Tell me. The gun wounds on his shoulder, arm and chest, would those be fatal on their own? Perhaps if he was already dying, the killer didn't want him to suffer any longer than he had to, and decided to speed it up somehow.

[refactor]

I think you're onto something there, kiddo.

[ He crosses his arms, but he does occasionally gesture with his hand as he explains. ]

Hell, our killer could have been using the cloaking device themselves for all we know and just stuck it on the kid to get rid of it and conveniently hide the body. But for the wound? Yeah, you're askin' for a nice, slow, painful death there, especially now that all our mystery healing materials are gone. You don't hit a guy in the head or in the heart? They're gonna bleed out. Having gotten shot at before more than a few times, I can tell you, it's not the way you wanna go.

[ He shrugs ]

So, yeah, could've been an accident, and that's why the bandages are showing up. You'd kind of feel like a dick for killing the guy you didn't even mean to, I guess. But, hell, then that brings up a secondary point. Who knows the kid enough to feel compelled to do that? Or to feel guilty about it in the first place?

[bloodbiter]

If they were absolutely willing to kill Machias, it does seem strange that they would feel so badly about killing another unless they knew this other person better.

One thing I am unclear on is whether the bandages were put there to avoid a trail of blood leading to the hidden body, or whether they were put there as an effort to save his life. The second option seems unlikely... Unless the head wound was accidental, it seems strange to cause a fatal blow and then bandage it for any reason other than to hide their tracks.

[refactor]

Which, we're dancing around it, but I'll just say it. If that's the angle we're looking at, absolutely the redhead. [ a pause, and then: ] The redheaded guy, I mean.

[ He's pretty casual about just calling him out, since it doesn't actually seem to matter to Jack too much. He just continues on smoothly without missing much of a beat at all. ]

As for that, could be both? Get the bandages for the shoulder to save his life, realize that it's not gonna do the trick, bash his head in, but now you've got a mess. Use the bandages to prevent a mess and to also make it not stand out quite as much that one is bandaged. But, I mean, weird either way, since that's what we're stuck on.

[douchemag]

Wasn't the medbay all messed up? Kinda weird for it to be in that state if they were just looking for bandages. Unless they've never set foot in it before, you shouldn't have to overturn the whole place just to get them.

[refactor]

They might not have been looking for bandages. Or that's not why they went there. We had all our healing stuff just up and disappear on Wednesday, right? Our killer might have missed that memo, so they could've torn the place apart looking for even one.

[douchemag]

Because they wanted to hide the wounds or because they wanted to heal Allen?

[He looks thoughtful for once.] I don't actually know anything about "hotguns" or whatever they're called, but it seems like people are saying the guy might have been mercy killed to stop him from dying slow. Could a hit to the shoulder really have killed him?