FIRST TRIAL

[bathymetric]

Alright, that seems like more than enough time to poke around the crime scene. Gather at the vault door, won’t you? It seems that for many of you it will be a short walk.

[ Once you’re all gathered at the vault door, Angel meets you there and quietly taps a keycard to the side of it. There’s an enormous whirring and grinding from inside as various mechanisms within the door move and whir - until with one last shuddering thud, the door starts to swing inwards, revealing a fully-glass tunnel leading off the side of the plateau the base is built on. Small lights built into the floor illuminate as you walk forward, until finally they light up an enormous elevator, perfectly capable of holding the twenty-four of you.

Angel comes too, putting a few numbers into a keypad just outside the door and inserting her card key once everyone is inside. She’ll gestures to get in if anyone seems unsure, but doesn’t really speak or enter the car herself. ]

Going down.

[ And down the elevator goes, leaving the lights of the facility behind - from here everyone can even see some parts of the facility you don’t have access to, it’s bigger than you realized. But it’s a long and uncomfortable ride to the depths, at least a minute or two before the elevator stops.

When the doors open, enough lights flash on to show that you’ve reached the ocean floor, some distance below even the depths you knew before. Lights around the outside of the massive glass dome you've found yourselves in illuminate the barren depths of the sea, with little if any ocean life to currently disrupt it.

At the top of the dome, among the lights, is an outward-facing circle of five or six different screens, each showing the telltale spiral that indicates The Professor is as present as he ever is.

Below them, of course, are the podiums, a circle of simple metal stands with some kind of video screen embedded into each, though they’re turned off for now. Each of your names is carved into one of them, though the podium constructed for Aela seems to have been just set to display a blank red light.

The screens lower down until they’re too close to eye level for anyone’s comfort. ]

Welcome to the trial room. You have as long as you need to discover who among you killed The Huntress. Once you have, I will explain further action. Take your places.

[ The screens rise back up - welcome to your first trial. ]

Comments

[snackooed]

She would need to be thrown hard on her right side down, such that the impact would bruise her arm, ribs, and break her wrist. It is possible that those injuries all come from the same impact, against the ground, but it would have to be a pretty powerful impact. It almost seems like it would be less out of place for a fall than a throw.

[archboxer]

[... She has an idea.]

What if the throw or fall came from some distance?

[emberserker]

What, like off a bookshelf?

[archboxer]

What if someone very tall picked her up?

[bogwife]

So you think someone picked her up and threw her? That could explain her broken wrist and all the bruising.

[archboxer]

We... unfortunately do have two rather large people who might not understand how many of the facilities work.

[She prays that Jasper won't yell in her ears again.]

[fivestagegod]

...We would be talking about Jasper or Rose, then. They don't need to sleep at night, so they would be up at that time. They're tall enough to throw her down with enough force and from enough of a distance to mess her up pretty badly. And they don't bleed. That's what you're getting at?

[archboxer]

Yes, that is exactly right.

[mouflon]

The problem with that is that I don't think either of them match with the footprints I saw. They were large, but...

[ ... ]

Does someone want me to check their feet?

[philoxenia]

I think... it might be necessary, at this rate.

[archboxer]

[She glares. Yes, of course she wants you to but she's not about to ask. You do it, Birkin.]

[fivestagegod]

[oh my god why is he getting the "tell them, naegi" treatment today]

[lovelikeyou]

You can...check my feet?

[She'll, uh...lift her dress up? She is, as always, barefoot.

What, uh. What're we doing here.]

FOOT CHECK FOOT CHECK

[mouflon]

[ Rin's going to put her foot next to Rose's, to see if it lines up the size she got when she almost certainly did this exact thing to estimate the size of the footprints! ]

[bathymetric]

[ Rose's feet are just a little too large! It's also worth noting that whoever left the footprints was definitely wearing shoes. ]

[mouflon]

Yeah, no, I was right. The prints weren't eight-foot-tall giant-sized.

[philoxenia]

While we're at this point... Should we check everyone's?

[mouflon]

It doesn't seem like the prints went any farther than the bathroom, but... Honestly, we may as well.

[ And since she's already doing it... ]

[nothingcanstop]

[ Honestly a bit of a relief. Della likes the gems. ]

[hardnosed]

Obviously. So, who's going next?

[hardnosed]

Ch. Do what you want.

[ AND I GUESS SHE'S JUST... GONNA LIFT A FOOT UP?? I GUESS? get in here rin ]

[mouflon]

Put your foot down. I want to see how large it is next to mine.

[ Which she will do as soon as Jasper complies! ]

[hardnosed]

[ She stomps her foot back down, not particularly quietly. Jasper's feet are as ridiculously huge as the rest of her, and this isn't an exact science, but as far as Rin's eyes can be trusted it's not a match. ]

[hardnosed]

[ No worries, Rhea, she's not going to yell! Just snort derisively. And loudy. ]

[archboxer]

[She holds her nose and very quietly:]

Mother, what have I done for you to turn your gaze?