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

[missmaladroite]

[Marinette listens carefully to all of this] Thank you, Adelina! That was great.

[it does raise some questions, though]

How would they have gotten hold of his gun? Surely, if he was armed with it, they couldn't have taken him by surprise...?

[bloodbiter]

That's something I'm wondering, too. Additionally... Machias has said that normal bullets do not work in his gun. The bullets found in Allen's shoulder were red pellets, which would seem to confirm that information. However, Machias has said that he leaves the gun unloaded when it is in his room. How would anyone but himself know what kind of projectiles it's meant to fire, and load it correctly? Unless he has explained the weapon to someone previously.

[missmaladroite]

Or Machias drugged himself non-lethally and gave himself a concussion for an alibi. Everyone is already dismissing him, no? Perhaps that's what he was counting on.

[dun DUN DUN]

[bloodbiter]

Additionally... Do you know how long it takes to load a shotgun? If he was truly targeted and tried to load the gun then and there to defend himself, wouldn't the killer have been able to take the gun from him before he could finish? That may mean that he had to load the gun prior to coming to the garden.

[she frowns, though]

In that case, though... How would he come upon the cloaking device? Allen was not on the list of vulnerable individuals.

[chiseler]

Vulnerables can go after other vulnerables according to our AI. Think about that for a sec.

[A lot of people seem set on Machias being the true victim here, but things still aren't adding up yet to him.]

[bloodbiter]

...You think he tried to target Lavi, but Allen was killed instead? Why wouldn't he have come forward with that information? I doubt any of us would be angered with him for injuring Machias to save his friend.

[chiseler]

I'm not ruling it out yet because the shotgun thing is way too specific. [He frowns lightly.] There's something Lavi told me about Allen that might make sense why he didn't say anything. Especially if he was hoping he'd drugged Machias enough to kill him or something.

[bloodbiter]

Would you care to share what he told you?

[chiseler]

[Sorry Lavi...]

Lavi told me that Allen's heart's been destroyed before and regenerated. That's why he didn't believe Allen was actually dead. Specifically he said...something like if Allen was attacked, he could be hiding somewhere because he doesn't trust anyone and that's why nobody found him yet. He also said he didn't think Allen would contact him if something was wrong.

How do we know maybe the device was purposefully planted with Allen with the hopes he'd regenerate?

[bloodbiter]

...So you think the device was planted there by whoever was protecting him to ensure that the killer wouldn't come back and finish their work?

[chiseler]

Maybe. [A huff.] That's where the whole thing gets sort of messy to figure out. Alice said that punishment wouldn't occur if the killer's attack was potentially lethal and yet their intended victim survived.

Let's follow this for a second. [Luke, no.] Let's pretend that Lavi's the intended victim and he and Allen are in the garden doing whatever with Raleigh's dog tags. If Machias was targeting Lavi, he would have received the cloaking device right? Let's pretend the gun was fired to hit Lavi but Allen stepped in and took the blow. That would explain the gunshot wounds coming from the front at a long range. With the paranoia set in, you can imagine everybody probably freaked out and a struggle occurred. With the evidence we have we know that both Lavi and Machias have shoes that are the same size as the footprints in the garden, but Machias's match best. For all we know, Allen attacked with Crown Clown, Machias attacked with the shovel and that's how the two victims wound up the way they are. If Machias was knocked out enough to have a concussion I don't think he'd be in any position to stop himself from getting poisoned if Lavi wanted to finish the job to protect himself and also with the belief that Allen would just regenerate and Machias would maybe go after Allen. So then Lavi could have taken the device from Machias to shield Allen so nobody would else would find him and trigger the body announcement while he went to work on bandaging him up and trying to kill Machias instead.

...it's a long shot, but still worth thinking about anyway. We didn't think taking Adrien for a walk would reveal the body, did we? We've gotta think this way.

[bloodbiter]

I still don't understand why Lavi wouldn't have told us, in that case. It isn't as though Machias could run back to the scene to finish the job upon finding out what happened. There are enough of us here to stop him.

[chiseler]

Dunno. Why didn't Alita tell us right away that she was one of the last people to see Calypso Mew?

[bloodbiter]

That is different. That directly implicated her. This would only implicate Machias.

[chiseler]

I don't know, Adelina. I wish I knew but we're still putting everything together. I'm just not sold on ruling Machias out completely yet, that's all. Especially with how Alice specified the rules. Gunfire's pretty lethal if you ask me. Just because Lavi survived doesn't mean the requirements weren't met.

[But he knows there're holes in his theory and that's why he's actually glad people are questioning him. Please help, people.]

[parodeity]

Wow excuse you I totally thought taking Adrien for a walk would help with the body finding, that's why I did it. Are you judging my plans, Luke.

[chiseler]

I would never judge you, Dave. [Except for the times he would.] Good call, by the way.

[parodeity]

I def earned my scooby snacks yesterday, y'all can be proud.

[ he Tries ]

[erythristic]

...but then in this situation, why would Machias attack with a shovel if he had a gun with him? If he wanted a blunt weapon, the end of his gun would do.

[she's liking this train of thought, Luke, but she has to question parts of it.]

[chiseler]

Depends on how Allen's arm works. Think he could have disarmed Machias when he first attacked? Lavi did mention that Crown Clown basically controls all of Allen's moves for him like he's possessed.

[erythristic]

If he's already far away, then disarming would become a problem. If he was close, that'd be a different story, but even Allen's arm only goes out so far...so it depends on where the shot was fired from.

[chiseler]

[Looks like this theory's starting to fall through. But he's used to instigating things, not really solving them.]

According to the autopsy two shells were found about fifteen feet away from the scene. But that doesn't mean Allen wouldn't already be on the move by the time that second shot was fired to get in close enough range either. But good point. Even his arm only goes out so far.

Where do we go from here then?

[todorable]

The thing about hiding the body makes sense to me... Why wouldn't they just finish Machias off with the gun, though? If they were keen on killing him, why not just kill him?

[chiseler]

[...point.] If Lavi was trying to get rid of Machias but also trying not to out himself, using Machias's own weapon's probably a bad idea. But if it was staged to look like a suicide and someone didn't know Shelley was in the cell, too, when Machias was dropped there...could almost be the perfect set-up. Machias would still technically be ruled as the true killer of Allen and since he'd be dead from drug overdose we couldn't really have a trial if it was suicide.

But that would only work if the drugs really killed him, which...they didn't. So here we are. It's a thought.

[todorable]

They're always watching...you can't commit suicide here.

He could've beaten him with the shovel, or made it look like Allen did it in self-defense. He could've hidden Machias's body somewhere no one would ever go until it was too late, like his room.

Honestly? The more I think about it, I don't think anyone was trying to kill someone for real. I think Allen and Lavi had some kind of plan to get out of this, and Machias was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.