WEEK FIVE - Investigation

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (5)

friday (?) survivors Friday comes, and with it, the return of alarms for all the late-risers out there; those up before 9:00 AM will have an alarm-free morning. This one thankfully is a pretty gentle duet, the soft keys jangling you awake. It's not as invasive as some of the previous alarms, as once it ends, it just ends. It doesn't keep playing until you leave your room. If you check your datapad again, however, it will play the song again. It seems it's beckoning you somewhere, somehow, and you feel drawn to explore the ship, however anxious you may be. Tentatively, you leave your safe haven. taken list profiles setting rulebook ENTER COMMAND_

Comments

[antagonize]

[Ughhhhhh. Why this????

Guess he has no choice but to bite the bullet and take a dip in the kool-aid. Goodbye, clean clothes. Time to grab that shit that shouldn't be inside the pool.]

[al2955]

[As he dives in and gets closer, he'll notice that the large object is a body. He'll have some difficulty pulling her out, as for some reason she's much heavier than she should be, especially towards the bottom. Unfortunately, the blood in the water around her is thick enough that he won't be able to make out much more besides her identity until he pulls her out.

Carta Issue is dead.]

[antagonize]

[Ah. So it wasn't kool-aid.

That's great.

He's just going to stare at the corpse for a second after pulling it out, and then—]

Aw, fucking hell. We couldn't go another week without murdering someone?!

[R.I.P. to the days without incident counter.

Because that is the true victim of this week, right??? Priorities. But he's yelling loud enough for anybody who's close to hear.]

[breakshot]

[ WHILE THIS IS HAPPENING

at the very same time Machias is high tailing it out of the art storage room. What's wrong? Did he witness something most terrible?! Is he about to meet a terrible fate?

Maybe. There's a giant snake chasing after him and he's yelling and cursing Jessie at the top of his lungs. He's going to run right down the lower deck, straight through the gym, and finally to the pool WAIT WHY IS IT RED HIT THE BRAKES

Yeah. He hit 'em too late, so he's going to topple right in like a giant bloody cannonball. Enjoy, Jason! ]

[poisonsting]

[FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, Jessie probably ordered Arbok to give Machias a big hug, so Arbok looks kind of happy! Jessie is his master and following her innocent order would be a great way to serve her, and also Machias has it pretty rough so maybe he needs a hug.

Arbok manages to turn instead of diving into the pool, though, and he's left there looking kind of embarrassed for Machias and looking over at Jason Todd with a look that can only be described as challenging.]

Chawbark?

[antagonize]

[Wow.

This sure is happening!

Jason is going to, uh. Watch Machias topple into the water like a cannonball. Glance at Arbok when he slithers in. Stare. Wave at Arbok like there isn't a corpse on the ground.]

Sup.

[And then proceed to inspect the corpse while he still can. No body discovery announcement means no perky robots carting our dead person away, right? Probably. Who knows. What can he even tell from looking over the body right now?]

[monsieurchatastrophe]

[hay guys what's going in this thread

adrien was minding his own business when he saw Machias being chased by Arbok (...why) and decided someone should proobably do something??? he's too late to help anyone when he runs in, but he does come in at just the right time to see machias, Jason, a kool-aid pool and a dead... body...]

Oh no. Are they--?

[why won't everyone stop murdering]

[al2955]

[The immediate thing Jason will notice is that there's a hole near the top of Carta's forehead; it looks like that must have been the source of all the blood. Two dumbbells have been tied to her feet using resistance bands from the gym. Her body is cool, though it's impossible to tell whether that's from the temperature of the pool or the time of death.

As Machias flounders around in the pool, he may notice that there seems to be something else at the bottom. Keep on swimming?]

[breakshot]

[ Yeah, Machias is surfacing up and holy shit there's blood everywhere it's all over him and he's going to spit out whatever kool aid he accidentally got a mouthful of and CURSE LOUDLY. ]

Son of a-- WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT WOMAN?

[ At least he can actually swim. Thanks, Instructor Neithardt and your crazy Manway Method. He's splashing, splashing, and cursing the fact his military uniform is ruined YET AGAIN and-- Holy shit, Jason. IS THAT THE BODY. ]

... Oh. Oh Goddess, tell me it's not really... [ Let's wipe off those frames and squint is that really-- yes. yes it is. ] What the hell happened in here?

[ He's about to swim over and check except something catches the corner of his eye, leading him to look down. Wait. What's that? ... Ugh, does he have to? Time to dive in. ]

[poisonsting]

[No, Jason, not 'sup. Arbok look away pointedly because he hates you as much as Jessie does, it's only natural.

But he'll nod at Adrien and offer a 'chaw!' before slithering into the pool. He likes Adrien, after all, but now he's worried about Machias. Why is he diving back in? Is he going to drown? Whatever. Arbok slithers right into the pool and disappears beneath the red color to help Machias with his efforts.

It's not creepy at all.]

[antagonize]

[Wow. Rudest snake ever????????

While everyone else freaks out over the dead body or goes on a scuba diving expedition, Jason is going to take a closer look at that hole on Carta's forehead. Is there anything he can tell from it at this time, or...?]

Yup. She's dead as a doornail. [Seriously, people. Stop murdering.] And our killer of the week is going to pay my dry cleaning bill.

[You know. With their life. They're going to pay for his dirty clothes with their life.]

[monsieurchatastrophe]

Arbok, no!

[its belated because the snake is already in the water after machias, and adrien just winces. he's... pretty sure... arbok wouldn't hurt machias, and Jason is right there (albeit with a dead body) so ... he looks around the pool to see if anything else is obviously off before offering:]

Do you need help getting her out?

[he doesn't want to touch a dead body ... at all... but between the dumbbells and the "corpses are fucking heavy"/fucking pool and whatever machias is doing, he should definitely offer]

[al2955]

[With Jason's experience in firearms, he'll likely notice that the hole in Carta's head is consistent with a bullet hole.

Machias and Arbok will discover a gun. It's lying a few feet away from where Carta's body was found, towards the middle of the pool rather than the edge.

Adrien will notice that there's a dark patch of blood by the edge of the pool, almost right above where Carta's body was lying within the pool.]

[breakshot]

[ Machias is just getting around to picking up that gun when

He realizes he's not alone. And immediately starts to yell only to realize he's still underwater. Enjoy accidentally inhaling more kool-aid, Machias. He's just going to quickly surface now quickly scramble away and start hacking out that bloody water and shouting in Arbok's direction. ]

Don't do that! You're going to kill someone!! Ugh... [ Is it over. He's just going to hold up what he found to Jason and Adrien. Carefully. ] I found something.

[ What kind of gun is it, anyway? Let's have a look. And... let's take another glance around the pool bottom real quick, because if he's going to check whether or not it's been used it'd probably be better to check after getting out. Unless Arbok wants to take the job and search around!! ]

[antagonize]

[He's shaking his head at Adrien's offer.]

I'm not making you touch a body, but thanks. How about you take a look around and see if anything else is off?

[Look. He might be a douchebag, but he's not going to make a 15-year-old kid help him move a dead body. That's just Too Much.

That said, Machias is holding up the gun just after he identifies gunshot on Carta's forehead. That's... convenient.]

She got shot in the head. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that's the gun her killer used.

[Come to think of it, didn't Carta's profile list a gun as her item? Could that be it?]

[monsieurchatastrophe]

[he's definitely relieved at being freed from touching dead bodies (ew), so he just nods and goes to check out that blood puddle. is it just the puddle? is there anything else remarkable about or around it? a single shoe print???

he does question:]

Why would they bother to sink her if they'd already shot her?

[like... it's a pool not a lake they'd find her eventually??]

[al2955]

[The gun looks like a semi-automatic pistol.

No shoe prints, just a patch of blood. There's some water around it as well, but the blood's darker here than it is in the pool.]

[breakshot]

While we're at it, our killer won't be covering just one person's expenses now. This is a mess.

[ Machias is hauling himself out of the pool and much like Jason he's utterly drenched and looks like bloody murder. And his uniform? Is once again ruined. While he's at it, he's going over to Jason first and offering some help with the body before examining the gun. He's old enough to poke bodies. Unless Jason wants to go for a dip with the victim, but holding onto them like that in the pool can't possibly be comfortable. ]

... Let's help her out of there. [ There's a quiet, serious look at the victim for a brief moment. Then he offers a hand to help them out. ] If she's been shot, we should confirm that was the gun used too. There should be empty casing present if so.

[antagonize]

[He's spent enough time in the nasty ass pool to last him one lifetime, so no thanks. He'll let Machias help him out, and hopefully they'll be able to put the corpse down somewhere they can take a better look before the robots come collect the "evidence".]

The body's pretty cold, but I've got no idea if it's from taking a dip in the pool of it's because she's been dead for a while. Obfuscating the time of death might be the reason they sunk her. Or, it could be something else.

[No way to tell at this point. Assuming they've successfully set the body down somewhere, he's going to want to quickly check for any additional injuries on Carta.]

Unless the killer picked it up or kicked it into the pool. [But if this is the murder weapon, there should be some evidence that it was discharged...] Carta Issue's profile listed a handgun as her item. Even if it's not the murder weapon, this might be it.

[monsieurchatastrophe]

[adrien crouches as he looks at the puddle of blood resists the initial urge to touch the puddle. he resists. is it straight up a puddle or does it look splattered at all? how much water is there? enough for it to be caused by the splash of someone falling in/being pushed in for example...]

Is there any way to check if it's hers?

[al2955]

[Jason has just enough time before the robots take Carta's body away to see that there are thin bruises on the inside of her forearms and stomach.

It's more of a puddle than a splatter, though the water isn't helping much in that regard. Still, Adrien won't see anything indicative of splatter marks - it looks like the blood's collected mostly in one place. There's quite a bit of of water around the blood and the edge of the pool, certainly enough to possibly have been caused by splashing in.]

[breakshot]

There's one way to find out. For now, we should confirm whether or not it was actually discharged - we don't want to jump to conclusions.

[ He's going to check right now and he's going to do it carefully, which means keeping it pointed in a safe area. First, let's examine the gun's exterior for anything notable, such as who made it. Even Reinford made orbal guns have their own means of indicating their brand. This one might (or might not) be gunpowder based, but supposedly it should be no different either way. Supposedly.

Next, let's check for the safety. Is it on or off? After that, let's remove the magazine and pull back the slide. Is the magazine still full or does it show signs of being used? If so, any shell casing popping out when pulling back the slide? ]

[antagonize]

[GOOD BYE, CORPSE ISSUE.]

Two ways, actually. But only if one of you know how to perform a séance.

[Jason, somebody just died. Don't be an asshole??

But now that the corpse is gone and he trusts Machias can do a pretty thorough inspection of that gun, it's time to see if there's any other evidence around here. Are there any casings in the water? Or if he takes a look around the shed, will there be anything missing?]

[monsieurchatastrophe]

... I don't know a lot about gun shots outside of movies and videogames, but-- head wounds wouldn't usually make a puddle like this if she was standing up, right?

[it's said with all the hesitation of someone trying really hard not to consider the logistics of this on a... real human being... aaand since Adrien is pretty useless here and he can't deal with staring at this blood much longer after all that he's going to do a tour around the pool since it's OLYMPIC SIZED so there might be something around or far away that isn't immediately obvious?? though ALSO:]

You're awful, Jason.

[SHE LITERALLY JUST DIED YOU PEOPLE??? it sounds more like a mild admonition tho since he didn't... know her... and he's more annoyed at the murderer UGH STOP KILLING]

[al2955]

[Machias won't recognize the brand of the gun, but it seems to be a standard semi-automatic pistol. The safety's off and it looks like it's been fired once.

There's a shell casing at the bottom of the pool near where the gun was found. Nothing's missing from the tool shed aside from the pool net, which is still floating in the middle of the pool. There doesn't seem to be anything else off around the pool.]