cradleproject | WEEK 3 - TRIAL DAY TWO

WEEK 3 - TRIAL DAY TWO

the pygmalion. . .

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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

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[There are several things about all of this that are bothering him, even though he's, uh. Kind of a suspect right now. But here we go.]

Have the pieces of fabric been compared to anybody's clothes yet? [Also:] Just to clear up any doubt — it'd be interesting to get a live demonstration of how an "orbal" shotgun works. It still uses shells, right? And Regnitz said it's no different than a normal shotgun.

[So who knows if it would leave the same marks as gunpowder shotguns? He just wants to check that out before discarding it, since it's the only shotgun they've got.]

Isn't it more likely our dead guy was trying to dig a grave for the dog tags? He must have requested them with some idea in mind.

No. I imagine the rest of the garment was burned because it had bloodstains on it... That is likely where the ash came from.

[she nods]

That would be a good idea. Machias has said that when it is in his room, he leaves it unloaded. How would another person know to load it with the red pellets instead of normal bullets, unless he has explained the weapon to someone before? In that case, he was most likely the one who loaded it, either in self defense, or...

If there were bloodstains on the clothes, it's possible traces of blood might've been left elsewhere on the ship.

[And they have a shiny bottle of luminol at their disposition. Aw, yeah.]

No idea as to how someone else could have loaded it, unfortunately. But Machias's memory isn't exactly crystal clear right now. Since the access card is out of the equation, he must have left his room with the shotgun at some point. Could have even loaded it himself, without remembering he did it.

[Which is another point that needs to be cleared up. If he loaded it himself, it must have been for a reason.]

If he loaded it himself... Do you know how long it takes to load a shotgun?

[pauses]

Before that, let me go fetch the luminol.

Edited 2016-06-26 19:21 (UTC)

If you're good? Seconds. Maybe four. Maybe five. Longer if you're not used to that type of gun.

[And he'll give her the time she needs to go fetch the luminol, of course.]

[coming back with the luminol, and then pausing]

If he loaded it to defend himself after sensing danger... In the space of that time, is it not likely that he would have been disarmed, or that his attacker would have done something to stop him? Would that suggest that he loaded it prior to entering the area?

If you were close or moved fast enough, yeah. You could disarm someone with a gun. It's not impossible.

[Hmm.]

He could have loaded it before or after leaving his room. Or — he could have discreetly loaded after entering the garden and spotting Allen Walker there. He could've seen him as a threat, and we don't know if our dead guy was facing his attacker at first.

The wounds were on his front, weren't they? Wouldn't he have been facing the attacker when he was shot?

Yeah. But was he facing the entrance when the attacker came in? Or did he turn around right before getting attacked?

[Man, they really need a murder timeline.]

The shovel's usually kept in the shed, right? Really makes me wonder when our killer got the chance to grab that, too, if they shot the victim first.

I would imagine it would have to be after the other two in the room were incapacitated and incapable of stopping them.

So they incapacitated two people, but didn't bash them in the face with the shovel until they were dead? Or shoot them in the face. Still had that shotgun and all.

[The fuck is this case.]

If Machias was an intended victim as well, then our killer chose two of the slowest methods they could have picked. Not all overdoses happen quickly — and brain hemorrhages don't exactly kill someone in a manner of seconds. That's not efficient. That takes time. Time that someone could have used to get them help, if they tripped over them.

[Which is what happened with Machias...?]

So...maybe the killer actually got the cloaking device after Allen bit the dust, specifically to clip to his corpse? And just. Went in for a double murder in order to get it because why the fuck not?

Maybe they thought hiding the body would make it so they weren't put to trial. The rules did say we'd only have one of these shindigs if we stumbled over a corpse.

[Which turned out to be bullshit, but.]

Yeah, only "in a manner of speaking" finding it apparently counts. Lame.

No way around our weekly scheduled executions, it seems.

(no subject)

parodeity - 2016-06-26 21:07 (UTC) - Expand

Let's think this over.

[pausing a moment]

A theory. Machias left his room for some reason... He may have had the gun already loaded, and there's one reason I can think of for that. He went to the garden, and Lavi and Allen were already there. If he was targeting Lavi, he would have access to the cloaking device. However, Allen stepped in to protect him and was shot. This would make sense, since Machias knew about the correct projectiles to use. Lavi attacked Machias with the shovel to stop him, and that knocked him out. Then he went to get bandages for Allen and painkillers to drug Machias with to try to kill him. Then he came back, bandaged Allen, and...

[frowns.]

Would the wounds on his shoulder, arm and chest be fatal on their own?

Yes, but not immediately. If you want to kill someone with a shotgun, you aim for their face. Otherwise? They're gonna exsanguinate unless someone gets them medical attention.

[And that's not a bad theory, but there's still something that's bothering him.]

That's still not accounting for Allen's head injury. If Lavi had the shovel, that means Lavi personally tried to crack his skull open.

That was my thought. If the wounds were fatal regardless, maybe... He didn't want him to suffer any longer than he had to. That would explain the bandages - he tried to help him before realizing it wouldn't work, perhaps...?

(no subject)

antagonize - 2016-06-26 21:11 (UTC) - Expand

Seconding the request for a demonstration, honestly.

[ Pretend Frankenstein or another science nerd was busy looking him over and that's why Machias couldn't speak up until now!! He clears his throat. ]

If you'd like a demonstration, I don't mind providing. Although we'll probably have to find someplace else to test it.

[ Machias pauses for a moment, looking grim. ]

... Although there was something I've been meaning to ask: someone here said they discovered a red looking pellet?

Great. Then we can ask Alice which room we're allowed to use as a firing range.

[Maybe they can even bring out the dummy with the wig, for authenticity.]

Yeah — the guys that checked out the garden said they found something like that. Why? You know what it is?

I'd have to see for myself, but... One moment.

[ He's gonna rifle into his pouch real quick and take out one unused shell, holding it out before Jason. ]

... If it's what I think it is, they may or may not match up to the pellets inside of this.

[ The more he hears this, the more he doesn't like where this is going and it's subtly reflected in how pale he's beginning to look. ]

[Well. This isn't looking good for Machias.]

You won't mind if we crack this open to take a look, right?

[JUST ASKING. But is there really an option at this point? They have to confirm everything all the way.]

Is there anybody else on this ship that knows how to work your gun? Or does it load and fire the same way any other normal shotgun would?

It... loads the same way a normal shotgun would, yes.

[ Machias is looking grim as fuck, what with not actually knowing for himself what the fuck happened. But he'll hand the shell over to Jason without much resistance. ]

... The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better. Go ahead.

[Alright. He's taking that bullet from him, giving him a nod.]

Believe me, I think everyone wants to get to the bottom of this. [Well.] 'Sides from the killer, of course.

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