FIRST TRIAL

[bathymetric]

[ After a while, once all the appropriate clues have been found, Mayor Fontaine calls out again over the speakers. ]

Alright, citizens, pack it in quick and head to the back of the Hall of the Founders. You have business to take care of.

[ When they do reach the Bathysphere station, Eleanor is manning the controls, gaze quiet and even over the crowd. The hatch at the front of the strange elevator is open, and everyone is gestured inside. A series of small submerisbles are lined up, waiting to be ridden. ]

Just hop into the bathyspheres one or two at a time, and the system will get you where you need to go.

[ It's a long, cramped ride from here, but Fontaine's word is true. At least you can tune into the radio in the pod?

The bathyspheres take you down until even the few lights of Rapture are out of sight, down until lights of a different kind are visible - the reds and blues of bioluminescent sea creatures, a little too out of your way to make out what they are, blending to a strange sort of not-quite-purple as the bathysphere reaches its final destination: a glass dome built into the sea floor, about the size of an average house.

As one by one the bathyspheres arrive carrying the new citizenry of New Rapture, less natural lights than those of the creatures around you begin to click on in the dome. In the center, most of the space is taken up by a circle of podiums, each with an image of one of you engraved into it.

A projector of some kind kicks on, which combined with the lighting allows for the familiar silhouette of Mayor Fontaine at his chair to appear on the side of the dome, watching over you. ]

Time to do your best to figure out who killed the Diamond in the Rough. And do yourselves a favor: keep it interesting. I'm here if you have any burning inquiries.

[ And here it is.

Welcome to your first trial. ]

Comments

[dullshooter]

Oh, hey, we talking blood?

[He’s paying attention he swears.]

I found a bunch of sorta-dried sorta-dribbling blood on a rock out in the garden. Like, a lot. So much that Brett had to sit down. And he was doing so well.

[allatonce]

Was the rock, like, particularly sharp?

[dullshooter]

I think it was pretty regular? It was one of those decorative ones that line the pond.

[kninja]

They jut out, don't they? They're the kind that'd be good for handholds if there was anything worth climbing.

[allatonce]

Okay, well. I guess if he fell on it...? I dropped out of med school, man, I don't know.

[dullshooter]

I don't know how you guys even work, so don't worry - we're all on the same page here.

[vholran]

Highly possible, with the altercation.

He gets hit in the face, and then the back of his head makes contact with it.

[kninja]

...Hey, about how high up would you say the blood was on the rock?

[dullshooter]

About...this high?

[He makes a hand motion around the 5'2-5'3 range.]

MODS

[kninja]

...

Mayor Fontaine, can I ask you something?

[bathymetric]

Sure, shoot.

[kninja]

When you dropped me and His Honor in the pond, was it at the instant we fell asleep outside our rooms?

[bathymetric]

Give or take. It's not automatic, but I do get an alert. And you weren't exactly being subtle about it.

[kninja]

Would someone getting knocked out count as the same thing?

[bathymetric]

No. Losing consciousness for medical or violent reasons doesn't break the rules.

[kninja]

I see... then I guess he didn't get tellyported mid-punch like I thought.

[dullshooter]

If it helps at all, I found a bit of Adaman's hair all up in the rock blood too. Pretty sure it couldn't have been anyone else's.

[kninja]

I think it confirms it's what made the head wound, yeah. Adaman's about that tall, too. Good work, Misfire.

[onemillion]

Given the injury to his face, it's possible someone hit him and as a result, he hit his head on the rock. That doesn't explain the bite mark, however.

[kninja]

If I was suddenly grabbed from behind, I might bite and punch somebody.

[sastruga]

Mm, it was a good thought. At least now we've ruled out that possibility.

[kninja]

Thanks, Little Miss. Hopefully we can rule something in soon.

[sastruga]

Once we've ruled things out, we can focus on what possibilities are still left, right?

It was likely from a struggle, then. As much as I would love to tie some of this back to the Mayor's punishments.

[sixthnonsense]

[Muttered under his breath:]

"Tellyported"...

[kninja]

[don't be mean]