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

summary and theories

[antietam]

Alright, we don't have much time and we don't seem to have any idea about how this was committed. So let's look through everything again. [ He's getting nervous now. ]

The room access card would have had to have been burned while outside of the fire resistant pocket. When burned, it does look like the piece of plastic we found. It's possible it wasn't, I guess? When the fire resistant suit was tested with Dorian's magic, scorch marks were left but they didn't look like the original ones. The suit also would have been sliced with the scythe if it was used.

Anyway, Arumat was seen walking back to his room at 8PM, an hour after finishing talking to Machias at 7PM. He was coming from the elevator and had a book with him, though he was walking fast so further details can't be confirmed. In his room, let's remember the water had to be going between 8-9PM. The scorch marks in his room were along the walls and furniture, as well as on papers scattered around the room. The desk was pushed over and the bottom bed was cut with his scythe. We also haven't talked much about the mirror in his bathroom being smashed or the blood on the opposite side of the wall from the mirror.

We considered the possibility of him being poisoned although there were no marks on him to suggest that. To confirm, all the suspects were checked and no suspicious marks were found. The two flowers that were picked can be deadly, but we don't know what the kale was for. We suspect hiding the poison in some way? Arumat's teeth and stomach were checked for evidence of consumption, but we found nothing.

Most importantly: The place where the, uh, medical mystery book would have been was replaced by a fiction novel. Under the book, the shelf was scorched like the markings in Arumat's room. It was on the end of the shelf so the back cover of the book next to it was singed too. The replacement book itself was fine—although Yuno noted that she had been reading it and left it on the table at about five. It was clearly meant to look like nothing was off about the archives, so I think we can assume that something definitely happened there. But we're having trouble piecing all of this together.

Luke and Grell also fought for some reason. Luke lost.

[qundercover]

Don't think they had to fight to prove that outcome.

[you ALWAYS bet on the redhead]

[antietam]

No, definitely not. I guess they got bored.

[erythristic]

Luke wished to see my skills. I was merely obliging.

[they are adults, clearly.]

[antietam]

Uh huh. I think we've established asking to see people's skill doesn't typically work in trials. [ He's not sassing Grell he's sassing Luke. ]

[chiseler]

Shut up, Parrish. [Luke the loser is sitting here and he's procured a tablet by asking real nicely from the robot in the room. The kale's been bothering him since they found out it was missing and he's poring through books that may be on the tablet. He's reading through things, flipping through pages...and he stops suddenly. While Adam's still explaining he'd been looking over something on the page and he frowns lightly.]

...so hey. Let's go back to the kale for a sec. We know it wasn't for Arumat, but what if it was for somebody else? [He taps to something on the tablet.] Did you know kale can be used as a liver detox? Helps for hangovers, supposedly. I'm not sure how it relates, but. [...there sure was just one person who was drunk as shit that night.] Could be that the kale was just an addition that wasn't tied in at all when somebody picked the poisonous flowers for something else.

[antietam]

[ Adam is quiet and he purses his lips at the clear implication. ]

They could always be entirely different circumstances. [ No ok he has to try here. ] ... But that's a good find, Luke. It's an explanation that we didn't have a minute ago.

[todorable]

That would explain why it doesn't fit with the others...if it's not supposed to fit...

What about the poison, then? We never found where it was supposed to have been used.

[tevinteriscoming]

I see where you're going with this, sad old drunk that I am, but I should hope I'd have noticed and pointed it out by now if I'd been fed a large helping of garden greens at any point this week.

[qundercover]

"Gross Lettuce helps with hangovers" is a new one to me. Sounds like something you'd read in some bullshit tips for hosting an Orlesian Dinner party book.

[douchemag]

Uh...but the killer would have already been in the medbay for the syringe, yeah? If they needed to help a hangover, why not just grab the painkillers there? Sounds a lot simpler than salad.

[tevinteriscoming]

Personally, I'm not necessarily sold that Arumat accepted a garden plant salad on a day he was vulnerable. Seems a mite reckless.

So we know Arumat was in the archives between, give or take, 7 and 8, correct? Likely after 7:30, considering Grell claims to have been there starting at 7. Something made him leave, and he brought a book with him when he did. Can it be that the trap set was to send him back to his room, not to harm him? Otherwise, seems a short span of time to stop by the archives for.

[antietam]

No, I think there would be some sign he ate something poisonous.

So do you think... something was around that shelf and caused him to use his magic in that area? Then he left with the book that was most damaged. Of course, they'd be waiting in his room with the key.

[qundercover]

Some sort of fake trap in the archives that flushed him into a real trap in his room sounds plausible. Made him waste some magic firing there too - makes him less dangerous in the room.

[missmaladroite]

Did we confirm whether the keycard was used or not?

[Marinette's trying to make sense of this plan]

[antietam]

It's not confirmed but we haven't found anything that suggests another item. When the card is melted, it looks like the plastic we found. I think we should just assume it was.

[socloverit]

So the shelf situation is weird, right?

[let me put cappy's masterpiece diagram here]

We found volume 12 of whatever in Arumat's room, right? And it would be one thing if it was just volume 11 next to it and the end of the shelf that were all burnt up; like, for whatever reason, a fireball got thrown into the empty space. But the back of volume 11, the spine and the back but not really the front of volume 12, and the empty space on the shelf where volume 12 should have been are all burnt pretty badly. So what gives? Does that mean it had to be more than one fireball or whatever?

[parodeity]

Maybe the dude saw a cockroach.

[ ok jokes aside: ]

Idk. It's not like we have Arumat here to show us what one fireball does damage wise, you know?

[todorable]

Maybe there really was something in there...or on it or something. Something that made him wanna go back to his room.

[bloodbiter]

There's one thing that is still bothering me... Why put the room access card in the pocket? Assuming that they had so much time, they could have put it in the incinerator if they wanted it to be more difficult to find. Perhaps they wanted us to find it so we would assume it was someone who did not know him well and would need the card to enter his room?

[antietam]

Something must have happened with that, yeah. It was definitely out for some reason and it got in the crossfire.

So you think someone might have been invited in with Arumat after Marinette saw him?

[monsieurchatastrophe]

I mentioned this yesterday for a different reason, but... The killer going in against Arumat with only a wire and possibly doing everything around the room themselves might mean they didn't expect a fight. ...Or at least not a physical one.

[last minute shade throwing at dorian?? is it??? no it's just THROWING WILD THEORIES I GIVE UP]

[missmaladroite]

But how could he have been killed so easily? We don't have evidence of poisoning.

[breakshot]

If that's the case, it would have had to be someone Arumat trusted and knew well enough to let them into his own room...!

[ UGH WE'RE DOWN TWENTY MINUTES ]

Just what are we missing here?!

[antagonize]

If they attacked Arumat at an hour where everyone is expected to be asleep, going in with only a syringe and a wire is pretty weird. Either they thought they could get the jump on him, or they were overconfident for some reason.

[Either way, he's grimacing. They have 20 minutes left to vote and they don't know shit.]

I checked Arumat's wrist again, by the way. It looks like it was yanked until it broke. Dunno what that could mean, but...

[They're going to scapegoat someone again at this rate.]