cradleproject | WEEK 7 - Trial Day Two

the pygmalion. . .

ONLINE

CAPTAIN'S LOG:
WEEK (7)

sunday TRIAL DAY TWO

(24) 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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

'Course, if one of those things is what was burnt, it would mean the vent map wasn't used. Which means we're right back where we started.

Yep. Nothing to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside like knowing we have to start from square one if this turns out to be right.

Except we wouldn't even be at square one, we'd be at square zero. We've been thinking this whole time the killer left the room using the vent - but if they didn't have the vent map, how'd they manage to escape? What, did they just crawl around in there for hours hoping they'd get lucky and come out somewhere no one would see them?

Maybe they hid inside of a cabinet until everyone was done inspecting the body.

[#sarcasm.]

[...sarcasm though that may be, taking into account what Adam just said, too...]

If they had the cloaking device and burned something to fool us into thinking it was the map instead, they could have hidden right in plain sight.

No. There's something wrong here!

[Shelley seems to have an idea!]

Luke, I think there's a flaw...if the killer wanted to make people want us to think the map was burned, wouldn't they need to know how the map looked like to create a convincing fake?

[...that's a very, very good point. HOWEVER.]

Unless our killer's maybe like Hancock and they're part of the third party. Would they have access to the same items that killers have access to do you think?

Maybe they do, I don't know. That seems like the kind of thing you'd have to ask Alice.

[Hmmmmm...]

Then you think the killer was a third party, huh. I wonder what role they could have...

I'm not ruling it out. They get put on trial just like the rest of us so...[A shrug.]

[Is this a real consideration... Hm.]

I mean, yeah. Then all they would have to do is walk out the door you opened.

It'd give them plenty of time to walk right past us while we're busy looking around the kitchen and give them time to walk down to the incinerator and burn the thing. That almost makes sense.

Anyone could have gotten there in time if that was the case. Jesus, if you guys forced me into a vent and it wasn't even involved...

[She's going to be so peeved.]

Okay look the vent races weren't my idea, you can't get mad at me about that. [But at the matter at hand...] Emily you're smart aren't you? How much could you tell me if I asked you a physics question?

[It might not even be physics but what do you want from someone who dropped out when he was 9.]

Well see after this trial wraps up.

[Emily will never lie about being smart so... good question, Luke.]

4.0 GPA smart, bitch, so pretty much anything you ask me will be a cake walk.

[Ah yes, this is why he likes Emily. Give him a second to take a piece of paper and he's scribbling out the crime scene.]

If you had a monitor that's maybe 15 pounds strung up on twine and angled from the ceiling, how likely is it that it could swing and strike somebody in the back of the head to kill them in one shot? In terms of speed and velocity and how big our kitchen is and all of that.

[Looking this over and-]

All we got for rope was the twine, yeah? Wouldn't support the weight even if this worked. It would snap and drop straight down before it could begin to swing.

[She had to climb up the vent, okay? There was a vertical drop before it got to a horizontal place the monitor could theoretically sit on. It would drop straight down.]

[...hm.] Which means that the idea that the thing was suspended to drop on her doesn't work at all so...what? They bashed her head in while standing right behind her?

Maybe instead of it being a pendulum the monitor was straight upwards from her head.

['The twine would snap and drop straight down'. That makes sense, in Shelley's opinion, and since the twine was frayed and snapped...]

Edited 2016-07-24 22:27 (UTC)

(no subject)

chiseler - 2016-07-24 22:45 (UTC) - Expand

Not to mention, it'd explain how the scene changed while you were all looking away. No elaborate set up needed if you're right there to operate it.

If it was the cloaking device, that'd explain why my dumb ass is on the suspect list?

[ bc invisibility nonsense ]

Exactly...to frame you. [Which fuck that.] Everybody knows you have invisibility powers. It'd be like if somebody used the key card and tried to frame me since I can break locks.

Well actually, if they didn't use the vents and they barricaded the only other exit, then.. Huh.

It's an option for a locked room murder, I guess. The vent was a pain in the ass.

The cabinets aren't that small, are they?

[does he look like he fucking cooks to you he can't remember shit about them]

Plus there's no way they'd be able to make it to the incinerator in time if they had to wait around until people were done looking at the body.

If they had a cloaking device, then why even hide? Why not just stand in the corner or something? The whole point is that no one can see you.