WEEK 8 - Trial Day Two

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (8)

saturday TRIAL DAY TWO (22) 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]

[...wait a second.]

Machias, can I ask you something? Did you and Arumat talk about this week's motive at all?

[breakshot]

... No, not that I recall. He really just wanted to see how I was doing.

[ and machias would have immediately shut down all attempts to talk about the motive because. fuck you jusis. ]

[chiseler]

[Well there goes that idea.]

All right. It just seems pretty strange that he left because he had to take care of something. Like we've actually got schedules on this ship or something.

[breakshot]

Some of us do have schedules, you know.

[ machias you are literally the only person who cares about strict schedules ]

Damn it. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have asked him...!

[chiseler]

Must be a military thing. [Luke don't be a jackass.] Look...you couldn't have known this was going to happen. Arumat was pretty set on being by himself and being able to take care of things by himself.

Just wish we had any sort of clue what direction he was going when he left your place.

[breakshot]

That bastard always did insist on doing everything himself...

[ machias don't riff your dead friends ]

Maybe we should consider something else: just where did he go after that? Did he arrange for a meeting with anyone? The least we can do is try to retrace his steps after he left and before he-- before that happened.

[chiseler]

That's what I'm thinking as well. But in order to find that out we'd have to cross-examine everybody on the ship probably and who knows if we'll get a real answer. It might be a better idea to ask everybody who saw Arumat during the week and spoke with him to narrow it down, and then we can try to retrace his steps.

[breakshot]

Right. We need to know where he was in-between the time I spoke with him and when Marinette saw him return to his room. Something must have happened around then, but what...

[ He literally has nothing, but. Hmm. ]

He was vulnerable, wasn't he? If someone had their sights on him, it'd have had to be something planned well in advance - at least enough time to get a tool and use it. If they hadn't planned to target anyone else, anyway.

[chiseler]

Which brings up why Arumat specifically? Why not somebody like Minako who would have been way easier to take down? You think maybe they might have had a different vulnerable in mind?

[breakshot]

I don't suppose there's a rule in place that you necessarily have to target a specific player in mind after getting a tool. I never exactly told Alice I was targeting Rhys specifically when I asked her to give Jason the sword...

[ Time for some hand to chin pondering! ]

As much as I don't like the idea, that's a fair point. If you're to target someone, why someone who could actually hold their own in a physical confrontation? Why not someone like Judar, or-- [ or the kids, but he doesn't want to scare them either. ] Or Dorian, even. He even said he'd been drinking that night, hadn't he?

[ wait... ]

[douchemag]

[um looking highly offended here???]

Uh, what do you mean, 'can actually hold their own in a physical confrontation'? I'm a mage. Maybe I can't punch someone to death, but it sure as hell isn't gonna be easy taking me out. Especially if you come at me in a straight up fight.

[breakshot]

Hence why I said physical. Perhaps I didn't phrase that one correctly - I'm not doubting your magical prowess, mind you, but could you really say the same in a hand-to-hand confrontation?

[ YOU SPENT A HALF HOUR CRAWLING IN THOSE VENTS, JUDAR this is legit shade being thrown. he'll legit fight you if you want, judar. ]

... The point I'm trying to make is that there's no saying they couldn't have changed their target halfway into the plan, could it? Especially when considering we actually have another vulnerable player up there as a suspect - it can't be entirely unrelated.

[chiseler]

I don't think we have to have a specific player in mind, no. That wouldn't make enough sense because it doesn't allow room for plans to change. The thing is--[...he recognizes that ponderous look and he stops suddenly.]

...what're you thinking about?

[breakshot]

[ give him a moment. he's piecing it together. he's not even sure he's on the right track, but maybe it might account for that one piece of evidence they've all been boggling over... ]

You mentioned kale could be used for detoxification, didn't you?

[monsieurchatastrophe]

He talked about it with me. Why?

[he's told adam this, but he hadn't made it public knowledge since it didn't seem too relevant]

[chiseler]

...did he tell you what it was? [Hi Adrien you just became more interesting suddenly. He has a thought, but it's slow-going until he says it out loud stupid though it may be.]

[monsieurchatastrophe]

... Yes. [he's reluctant to share it again even tho he told adam, but he can hazard a guess why it's coming up:] It's nothing he'd have killed over.

[is this adrien being a stubborn sunshine again???]

[chiseler]

Adrien. [PLEASE don't do this to him right now. He's pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes to focus because he needs a real answer and not. Adrien. Being Pure.] I need you to try that again. Are you sure it's nothing that he may have considered killing for? Maybe something someone else might have known, too? Be honest with me.

[Luke's not nice enough to say please but pretend he's saying please.]

[monsieurchatastrophe]

He didn't even mean to tell me. It slipped out when we were arguing. [he gives a long sigh but shares since... again, he told Adam already] Arumat's secret was that he was dying. He was sick, and he had a couple of weeks or months at most. That's why he didn't care that he was vulnerable. He told me-- he told me he'd rather be the target than anyone else who had a chance at living.

[THANKS FOR MAKING HIM RELIVE THAT, LUKE]

[chiseler]

[....oops. He's not sure how to respond immediately, considering, but at least his expression's neutral as he thinks of a way out of this one.]

Oh. I see. [Yes good that's great. He peers out from between his fingers then.] ...and where were you when he told you that? One of your rooms?

[monsieurchatastrophe]

[that's a good fucking question let me check the private convo adrien sighs]

Yeah. If anyone decided to kill him because of that, they didn't overhear us then, so he'd have to have told them directly. I talked with Adam about this yesterday and he agreed it was unlikely. He didn't want anyone to know, since he thought it was a weakness.

[chiseler]

Yeah, and I'd agree with him on that. If anybody was desperate for a kill, they'd go after somebody who was weak or who was dying already. That's how lions hunt wounded animals. [What the fuck.] It just doesn't make sense that somehow he left Machias, came back and Marinette saw him about 8pm and then...he was killed in his room?

What if it wasn't Arumat?

[monsieurchatastrophe]

... Then how did his corpse get there? [it's meant as a joke but also] I'm not sure what you're getting at. Someone would've disguised themselves as Arumat?

[chiseler]

Or one of the aliens got ahold of his body. He didn't talk to anybody when he went back to his room, right?

[...that makes even less sense though because somebody out of the five of them still had to be the actual killer. Unless he was killed, then possessed, and then the alien killed him further? Shit man.]

[monsieurchatastrophe]

What makes you think he was the alien? We saw with Rhys that if someone [read: Jack] kills someone possessed they can reanimate the corpse. Whatever possessed Rhys was in the vents for nearly a week before it was stopped. Besides, Arumat's the victim.

[are you getting confused luke. here's a hint. you're the one on trial???]