WEEK 5 - Trial

[al2955]

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

saturday TRIAL DAY ONE (32) 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

[chiseler]

[He's been taking all of this in and honestly he's only half-interested in what's going on. Didn't know the victim, don't care much for most of the suspects, but...]

If the dumbbells are about fifteen pounds each, that means whoever our suspect is had to carry them down three floors and then into the pool. Fifteen pounds doesn't sound heavy but if they're fifteen each that's still carrying a pretty substantial weight down. And if Carta wasn't that big, could thirty pounds really be enough to keep her down? I'm just asking.

[bloodbiter]

It does seem strange that they didn't choose heavier weights. Perhaps fifteen was the highest interval they could manage.

[chiseler]

That's sort of what I'm wondering myself. I know we have weights heavier than fifteen pounds, so why were those ones specifically chosen? Even if they didn't take the stairs, they'd still have to be able to carry them to move.

[bloodbiter]

I wonder if they're the closest to the entrance. That might explain it. I could ask the AI.

[antietam]

You can take the elevator to the pool. That'd be a lot easier.

[chiseler]

It's a good point, but the elevator isn't exactly right next to the water and I don't think it's right next to the rack of weights? [He hasn't exactly checked it out, he was a little busy doing other things this week.] You'd still have to carry them some distance and be able to move them once they were tied to Carta's body.

[antietam]

Thirty pounds all together isn't really that much, but it's more than enough to sink someone I'd think. So why not go for the easiest weights?

I'd suggest testing who could lift them [ other than THE OBVIOUS ] but it's probably too easy to fake.

[tevinteriscoming]

What was the point of weighing her down to begin with? It's an exceptional amount of effort for something that seems so especially pointless.

[chiseler]

What, you've never heard of dead man's float? [There's a small smirk.] If somebody wanted to hide the evidence right away that could be why. Even after a person dies they float for a while until the air's pushed out of their body, I think. In a pool it would take a while for water to replace air so to speed up the process there's no saying they wouldn't use the weights. Look at the window of time between her time of death and when Jason found her body.

[tevinteriscoming]

It was found at 9 am on the day of the murder. It clearly wasn't of much help, particularly with blood in the water. If you didn't want the body found, why not hide it literally anywhere else.

[antagonize]

I didn't notice the body immediately because she was weighted down. Granted, it didn't take long to spot something in the water once I got close enough, but it still took a couple of minutes to drag it out. Maybe our killer was stupid enough to think sinking the body would buy them some time before the discovery announcement went up.

[Not that it helped much. The window of time is still pretty hecking small.]

[tevinteriscoming]

I suppose. Would it have taken longer than even a passing glance to notice that something was amiss? Moving weights around is risky, and potentially loud.

[bloodbiter]

On the contrary, wouldn't the blood that seeped from her wound into the water make it immediately noticeable that something had occurred? Why not drag her into a corner instead?

[todorable]

It did buy them some time, didn't it? Maybe the pool thing wasn't to hide the body, but to call attention... Like, if the killer knew they couldn't get away in time, but they figured they could lay low a few more minutes since most people would check out the bloody water instead of looking around.

[douchemag]

Weren't they strapped to her feet? If she was still alive when they got tied to her, it could have been to try to stop her from swimming back up.

[chiseler]

...oh. [...wow that sure is a great point that he didn't consider.] But wasn't she also shot in the head? Then it becomes a case of which event happened first. We don't know the order that these things happened and I don't know about you, but if I was shot in the head I don't think trying to swim would be my top priority.

[parodeity]

This entire setup screams "overkill". Like every setup here. Everyone take ten fucking chill pills at breakfast from now on, please.

[ but yeah. ]

[douchemag]

Maybe they wanted to make extra sure she was super dead. Or maybe the killer just really freaking hated her for some reason.

[antietam]

Is there a way we can check if there was water in her lungs? [ Who's gonna cut up the body. ]

[muties]

Real question is why they didn't just bash her head in with the weights instead of botherin' with the gun. I mean unless they had planned to use the gun on her, I guess. But if they planned this shit beforehand, why didn't they pick one of the vulnerable peeps like other jackasses have?

[parodeity]

Element of surprise?

[ but yeah good question ]

[muties]

Surprise someone with their own gun? Unless like. Surprise as in, surprise I tied these weights to this dead body and threw it into the pool just to fuck with y'all.

[chiseler]

We're speculating that the gun might've been Carta's right? How'd her own gun get taken from her to shoot her? [And he snaps his fingers.] That is my other question. The last couple of weeks the people who've bit it have either been vulnerable or they were associated with vulnerable people. Where does Carta fit into this?

And didn't the autopsy show bruising on her arms? Could be from a struggle with...whoever.

[muties]

Unless she handed off her gun or left it lyin' around, if we assume it's hers, there had to be a struggle. I kinda wonder if maybe Carta approached someone else with an intent to shoot them and they wrestled the gun away then and got their murder on?

[todorable]

Maybe it was just some really weird workout that went wrong or something... Hiding a bleeding body in water doesn't sound like there was much planning going on.

[not that he's really sure what COULD have been going on...]