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

[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.

[douchemag]

[UGH STOP DOXXING HIM ABOUT THE VENTS IT WAS RIGGED!! (no it wasn't he's just terrible) But he laughs lowly anyway, flicking his braid over his shoulder.]

If my magic was actually gone, sure. But my barrier's not just for show, you know. Kind of hard to get into a hand to hand confrontation at all if you can't hit the guy.

Who knows? But other than Blondie and MuriMoriMari, everyone on that list was dangerous. Me and Dorian are both skilled mages, Arumat had his whole scythe fire shit going for him, Minime's got her weird...demon transformation or whatever that was. [actually the furries are pretty dangerous too but HE STILL HASN'T FIGURED THAT OUT YET] They would have had a fight on their hands no matter who they decided to target.

[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?

[erythristic]

...are you implying it was there as an antidote?

[hm. now she's thinking too.]

[breakshot]

Or... a fake antidote of sorts.

[ can you even make phony antidotes?? ]

Assuming Dorian would have taken it to begin with, but who knows. Perhaps that's where things went wrong.

[erythristic]

You think Dorian was the original target.

[just to clarify.]

[breakshot]

It's one idea. I can't see any other reason as to how the plants fit into all this. On top of that, he's also a suspect and I really don't think that part's just a coincidence here.

[ and we all remember the time we had two vulnerable players as suspects. except this time, we're looking at one possible target and one actually dead target. ]

[erythristic]

It never is.

[Dorian's death failing, though. why not follow up and finish the job?]

They could, however, be a distraction.

[breakshot]

I suppose they could. But if going for a distraction with poison involved, why not go all the way?

[ nightshade is one thing, but spinach mixed with poison isn't exactly. what he'd consider alarming. ]

I suppose that's really a matter for Dorian himself to confirm. If he'd noticed anything off that night, specifically during window of time he was out on his own.

[chiseler]

Yeah, that's what I read anyway. But as you can see everybody's not sold on that theory. [Huff.] Why do you ask?

[breakshot]

I'm going out on a limb here at this rate, but... what if Dorian really was the intended target?

I don't think he would have deliberately poisoned himself, anyway, so perhaps someone intended to kill him. We all know of his preference for alcohol, so it might be why they picked up the kale and the other plants to begin with. [ He pauses, glancing over to the sectioned off corner of the room where Arumat's body is. ] ... But as we can see, it must not have panned out that way.

[chiseler]

If we're going with that, then we've gotta think about what went wrong to change targets completely, and who would have been targeting Dorian in the first place. Dorian and Bull are...Dorian and Bull, I really doubt Adam would try to hurt someone he respects so much, and that leaves me and Grell.

[breakshot]

... I don't like this any more than you do, but we really do have to consider everyone, Luke. Even the people we don't want to suspect at this point.

[ Elizabeth certainly didn't intend to kill Hancock or Light either. ]

For all we know, whoever it was could have tried for both of them. [ Like what happened with himself and... Allen, albeit unintentionally. ] Assuming it did go wrong, where exactly? Perhaps whatever it is they planned to give Dorian wasn't potent enough, or perhaps they just couldn't manage to get close to him. ... But if that were the case, they'd have had a short window of time to get to him, wouldn't they?

[ ... Ugh, maybe he really does have this backwards. Or maybe Dorian isn't related at all. ]

[chiseler]

I know. Trust me, I know. [He's very unsettled about it but at least he seems to understand that.] The timing's always the thing that throws us off. I think it's not something to get rid of right away, but I do think Arumat was probably the intended target. We just don't know why. The window's too short to suggest otherwise unless they immediately jumped from Dorian to Arumat in the span of what, fifteen minutes?