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

DAY ONE TRIAL END

[al2955]

[ At 7PM on the dot, the ritual from last trial is repeated; the screens phase away, as if powered down without warning. The corpse is closed off, the door shut nice and tight, and the same is done with the evidence case. Should anyone attempt to get into either of them, they would find it wholly impossible: the trial is put on hold for some rest, once again. ]

It is 7PM, participants. As usual, the trial shall be placed on hold until the morning. Dinner will be held in this room, like last trial. Please do not stab the robots. They will take your order and bring it out to you. They cannot do this if they are damaged. To ensure that there will be no tampering with the evidence, all participants are to remain in this room. Blankets and entertainment shall be provided shortly, and should you find a change of clothes necessary, that can also be arranged.

[ A few moments later, the screens and tablets are on again, this time providing a selection of ocean movies, and retro gaming. Anyone who leaves will be accompanied by a robot, and then ushered back into the conference room. You're stuck in a sleepover with the corpse near you again, it seems.

Feel free to thread out any of the evening's interactions here. ]

[allout]

[ unlike the other trial day endings, minako won't be eating much or partaking in any of the entertainment. despite her relative hunger, she doesn't quite feel like partaking in any of that, considering today's events and circumstances.

she'll be sitting by herself away from most of the buzzing and action with her own thoughts, hugging her knees with a blanket draped over them. it's a little out of character for the usually peppy girl, but she's bared a lot about herself today that no one but SEES and other persona-users were supposed to know. it's... weird. ]

[thanatosincarnate]

{ During that whole display earlier, Arumat had probably began to quietly... well "freak out", but other people reacted before his own reaction could become suddenly more obvious (probably a good thing if anything). Granted, he was glad to see that nothing came of it, but he was feeling slightly soured from the experience. Probably understandably.

After the room search with Luke, it dulls down somewhat and he makes a movement to find her. }

...You're usually doing something.

{ He doesn't know how to approach this as ever, but he'll try. }

[allout]

[ she looks up momentarily to see who's speaking to her. she smiles, but her eyes fall back to being downcast just as quickly. ]

I'm just tired, I guess.

[thanatosincarnate]

Is it due to the display earlier, or a combination of the events within the trial itself?

{ He's not qualified to do cheerup squad, but talking it out could always help (what does he know about social things though). }

[allout]

Both. [ a pause. ] I think.

[ summoning her personas usually did take a significant amount of energy, but never this much. aside from that, being accused of murder doesn't exactly do much for one's psyche. ]

[thanatosincarnate]

{ ... }

After this, we can play one of your games... Keebry, was it?

{ He'll just fold his arms-- he has that much faith Minako will at least see it through to the end of the trial and afterwards. He's not sure how much this will do now. But.

Reassuring someone is also not a thing that has been a strong suit, but he did try in his own way. }

[mnasthai]

[ Well, that went better than he had thought it would. For dinner Kazuma orders hard boiled eggs with black tea (just a touch of milk). He should probably eat something else but ah, it's just for one night that he'll go back on scurvy watch.

Besides that he's also trying to organize his notes from the trial, as they're a bit of a mess. Eventually he decides to put on a movie as he's not one for games, and settles on Deep Blue Sea. It's probably not the best choice.]

[antietam]

[ Kazuma why do you gotta be a suspect again. Adam doesn't have any reason to suspect him, so he goes to sit with him like he usually does after the trial. ]

Hey. You doing alright?

[mnasthai]

Hi, Adam. [ He seems to be doing okay, and he smiles like usual.]

I can't say I like being in this situation again but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

[antietam]

No, probably not. You actually know what to expect now, and I don't think anyone suspects you. [ Why would they! Now that he's actually had a chance to look at the movie, though... ]

Uh, what are you watching?

[mnasthai]

It's nice to know that.

Oh, I just picked a movie at random-- the title made it sound like a nature documentary. [ He totally didn't even read they synopsis or even look at the box art really.]

[antietam]

[ All he has to do is watch for like a second more to know, nope, not a nature documentary. ]

This is definitely not a nature documentary that I've ever seen. [ Not that he watches a lot but. He can tell. ] I think this might be sci-fi.

[thanatosincarnate]

{ He disapproves, naturally.

He'll move towards the green-haired male with some chips at least and drops it nearby him. It could be he's not scolding Kazuma because of his position this trial, but his expression is still stony as ever. }

I see you're working hard at keeping notations. Good job.

[mnasthai]

Thanks. [ He takes the bag of chips but doesn't open them. Instead he finishes writing a note, then puts down his pen with a sigh.]

I'm afraid I really don't know what to make of all this.

[thanatosincarnate]

{ He huffs... if only because he knows jack shit what to make of this either lmao besides 'fuck this trial'.

But like hell he's gonna say the same as Kazuma. }

The way I see it, the killer saw Carta Issue at some point and took advantage of her situation to kill her off swiftly. It was a quick murder.

Figuring out the particulars...that would be essential. { But he's a soldier, not a damn strategist or a blasted detective. He works on reading an enemy through intuition to predict their next move. } Although, we may want to review an individual's motive in mind as well while we're sorting this all out. We need to know what the enemy was thinking.

He-- or rather, they -- were desperate. The motive itself was too great for them to ignore. Obviously, this item was not something they could easily discard -- if lost it could even maybe mean losing someone important to them forever depending on the individual's circumstances.

{ Either way, that's just his thoughts for now. He'll give a small, short dismissive wave of his hand. }

You can think this over, or choose not to if you want. Like I've said, some of the small details are left in the unknown, so thinking over what little evidence we actually have could reveal them.

{ But it's not like he ever figures them out himself so..... }

[mnasthai]

You really think someone killed for their item and not just to escape this game? [ It wasn't something he put much thought into until recently, but it had been brought up in prior trials.]

If I'm to be honest, I think Hancock is suspicious just due to the fact that he was at the pool potentially during the time of murder. It seems every week these trials get more difficult...

[brooches]

one
[ Elizabeth, per usual, is having trouble sleeping. She can be seen clutching onto a tiny piece of a paper as if her life depends on it, laying on her side and lazily watching this animated cartoon about a siren with an overprotective father. She seems into it, especially at the parts where the girl sings.

She's not too fond of the seashell brassiere though.

She also has half a box of pizza left over. Help yourself. ]

---

two
[ Near the morning, Elizabeth awakens when she should be asleep. It was only around 3 solid hours and her body tells her to get up. She's worried - Hancock was her friend and he could be at the receiving end of a mistrial. Faith, she keeps repeating, makes her believe him... but... the piece of paper she holds in her hand is tucked against her sleeve.

Instead, you can find her off in a corner, concentrating and straining. Slight winces and grunts of effort heard as she actively attempts to "pull" apart the space in front of her. The motion is similar to the moment she opened a tear in a conference room, but there's no tear happening. Not yet. ]

two

[refactor]

[ Jack never exactly sleeps on Saturdays, since he's a bit too paranoid for it. He doesn't like sleeping around all of these people, since he feels far too vulnerable. He may not exactly have reason to be, since there's hardly an incentive to murder him (today, at least), but he hadn't made it to the top of Hyperion by anything less than seeing daggers behind everyone's backs.

But. Luckily this means those grunts don't actually wake him up, as he was already awake. He looks over to the corner, expecting to see something inappropriate, if he's honest, but... Thankfully, no. Because it's Elizabeth, he doesn't even make a comment to that effect. Instead, he'll just head over, though there's definitely still blood in his hair from his swim earlier. ]

So, this what you do when you can't sleep? Make those, uh-- [ He waves a hand vaguely ] Your card calls them tears. I assume that's what you're trying to do, anyways.

[brooches]

[ She can't feel anything. This is different from before - back in Columbia. Not only did she not see any door or any possibility, she's .. kind of fumbling around in the dark here. Hoping to grasp onto something like she had that first few weeks here. In the privacy of her own room, she opened a second tear the following week, and a third the week after. Nothing special - visions of the parlour (which is how she knew it was empty and she could steal the bottles) or something vague like the offices.

If she could summon something once a week.. maybe practice would return them.

Elizabeth tries and my God, she feels the pressure. A cold sweat dripping from her forehead and her teeth clamping down so hard on her bottom lip she may draw blood. It's obvious why she's trying so hard. Until Jack startles her and she looks over her shoulder. ]

Mr. Jack!

[ :) ]

Y-You should be sleeping.

[ Not use hiding it, right? She wipes away a stray curl from her forehead (and the sweat too) and whispers to him. ]

Trying is correct.

[refactor]

Can't.

[ Though that's a surprisingly brief answer for Jack, who rarely gives brief answers to anything. He takes a seat comfortably nearby, though he at least does keep his voice lower out of some kind of respect to the people sleeping. Or probably more likely, he doesn't want to get a lecture about being loud. ]

No luck, huh. Don't exactly have the first idea how this works, but, y'know, beats laying awake. What's the issue?

[brooches]

Oh, I get to explain something to you now? The tables have turned!

[ There's a jovial tone in her voice, mostly amused that Elizabeth - finally, despite being stuck in a futuristic time period - can teach someone something. He can see Elizabeth's nose crinkle as she thinks, trying to make sense of something she barely understands herself. ]

I don't know, really. My best guess is that... hmm... think of it like a hallway. An infinitely long hallway.

[ Hallways are universal, right? ]

I never thought of them, but the more I used them with Booker... it made sense. I could open all of the doors because I knew they were there. Here...? It's like I'm walking around blindly in the dark. I don't know what could possibly be waiting.

[ But she pauses, taking a sigh. ]

It's discouraging - I could have gotten everyone out of here.. so I need to keep trying. I've tried every week and only barely get something opened. It's a start. But you can't get through a cracked door.

[erythristic]

[one. earlier in the evening, she's taken to trying to sort out the matter of these "games". it's...interesting, to say the least, and she's not very used to anything like this. but...the game with the adorable pink thing is at least colorful enough to capture her attention. she's not doing great, and she seems to be occupied with making the pink thing fly more than actually defeating the bosses, but give her time. or talk her into a different game if you honestly want to see a Victorian woman attempt this.

two. but after (probably most) everyone has gone to bed, she's awake at one of the room's seats with a cup of tea and her notebook, a blanket around her shoulders. the nightgown speaks to her attempt at sleep, but it wasn't working. instead, she's putting pen to paper, trying to instead do anything other than sleep for the time being. nightmares aren't fun, and she'd rather shove down her exhaustion while she clears her head - sketching, or writing, both were different courses of action that might pass the time.]

one

[thanatosincarnate]

{ Before Arumat meets up with Minako, the sound of Keeby being boot up and played catches his attention, and he draws closer. More attention drawn to the pink creature than anything, and the fact that Minako's the usual one playing it... but no. Someone else entirely unexpected was utilizing the game this turn.

He'll release a scoff, almost quieter than his usual, but not by much. It's not mocking, because Arumat may or may not have played this game while he's been here...

Then, his lips curl into his usual frown, thinking about certain events. }

Having fun, aren't you?

{ Well, that's a start. }

[erythristic]

That depends on what someone defines as "fun."

[poor Keeby. already low on health and she's not even past the second stage. at least for now he's in a safe zone where the enemies patrol underneath.]

It's not the easiest experience to understand, but I thought I should see what the fuss was all about...