THIRD TRIAL

[bathymetric]

[ Two bodies this week. As a result, it's a little longer before Mayor Fontaine's voice calls out over the loudspeakers. ]

All right, that'll do, all of you. Get to the bathyspheres. Trial time.

[ There's fewer bathyspheres this week, aren't there? It's starting to get really noticeable. One by one, alone or in pairs, you descend into the depths. The bottom of the seafloor, a place no human life was meant to travel to unassisted. It's dark, until it isn't, the same bio-luminescent slugs as before lighting up the area and revealing the great glass dome in which the trial takes place.

Within, three more podiums have gone dark. They remain empty as you all gather around into the circle.

The projector clicks on, and you see the silhouette of Mayor Fontaine above you. ]

We all know why we're here. Florida Man and Cryptobro got themselves got. Up to you to figure out who did it, or... well, you know by now.

[ Welcome to your third trial. ]

Comments

[fuckingguy]

... Which one, though? Because at first I thought "oh, something from the big blowup hit the ceiling", but it does not seem like that was the case.

[allatonce]

Big one on the floor is my guess, 'cause it seemed like he was trying to get away from someone.

[fuckingguy]

And Yasuhiro was also there, yes? With the damage Dandy was just talking about, and the burnt hair.

[allatonce]

What, like they killed each other and then an unknown third person went after Hagakure? 'cause I was assuming that Jason ran into the church, the killer finish him off, and then that gave Hagakure time to construct a barricade, Les Mis style.

[fuckingguy]

[ Frowning... ]

I do not think he would do that. If anything, they may have tried to combine their strength and take on the murderer as a team. But both of them being there... what is the timeline on this, exactly?

[allatonce]

Well, that's the real problem. We have a pretty clear arcade to church connection, but I have no idea how Hagakure ended up in the lobby.

[That's why she thought she'd be fine going out to the bowling alley.]

[dullshooter]

Killer can only go after one guy at a time, right? Maybe Jason took one for the team so Hagakure could leg it to safety - only they caught up with him and finished the job.

[specialyellthing]

… He did wanna be a hero.

[onemillion]

That... is not the way I'd put it, but it does make more sense to me for it to have happened in that order. It would give Hagakure enough time to construct the barricade, as Joy suggested earlier. Given he had access to the telekinesis power, I think it's fair to assume that the barricade was his work, correct?

[dullshooter]

Being able to move furniture with your mind would make it a hell of a lot easier.

[So, yes.]

[onemillion]

Yes, that's what I was thinking. While it wouldn't be out of the question for someone to construct it without powers... I imagine it would take quite awhile. I thought it best to clarify that though, to ensure we're all on the same page.

[fuckingguy]

That would make sense. But if he had the time to make a barricade, why would he not have gone upstairs to make known that...

[ Something appears to occur to him. ]

Shit. He was trying to protect us.

[onemillion]

Yes. I think that might be the case. I wonder if... maybe the killer didn't have the fire power originally, and Hagakure thought the barricade would work... only for the killer to take that one to solve the problem.

That is just speculation, of course, and I'm not sure if that would fit into the timeline at all.

[allatonce]

Like... they just kept the Plasmid on their person? Because they were in the meeting room most of the week, weren't they?

[onemillion]

Would anything have stopped them from taking them?

[this may just be me being dumb but also: rossiu had nothing to do with them so it's fine!!!]

[allatonce]

A single one, probably not. But if anyone had tried to hide the whole case, I suspect Fontaine would have put it back in the same way he puts everything else back that gets in the way of his plans.

[onemillion]

Yes, of course. I imagine it was limited to only two at a time... though I'm not sure what would happen were someone to try to take a third. Regardless, I doubt they carried that many on their person - if they even carried any at all.

[pairtner]

Jason had the Target Dummy plasmid. His abilities included making a hologram that could be used to deceive an attacker.

[It's possible Jason did try to help by using this, maybe!]