Fifth Trial

[bathymetric]

[ There's a long while of examination before the Mayor speaks up. There's plenty of evidence to pick up yet again this week, after all. ]

Annnd that's going to do it. Wrap it up and head to the bathyspheres, kids, you've got some business to attend to.

[ The bathyspheres take you all down, down, into the now-familiar dome below the city. The similarly familiar red glow persists until the lights properly turn on - the projection of Fontaine's silhouette is gone, of course, replaced by that same flickering "please stand by" message. But your mayor's voice is still the one that speaks over the increasingly empty circle of podiums. ]

If you somehow need a reminder of why you're here, three of you are dead. Get away with it, killer or killers, and the execution room gets to really work overtime today. But I guess if you wanna live, you should find who murdered three people. Could be important for you guys.

[ Welcome to your fifth trial. ]

Comments

[inaclearing]

Aren't we a little bit past that?

[You sang him a SONG about BEING A SUPERVILLAIN]

Was this all just...more of the same?

[sastruga]

It would make it go easier.

[But she will go ahead and check what's up here, since she came over. Is it his ankle or...?]

[allatonce]

Probably. It is pretty fucking distinctive.

[specialyellthing]

She’s a kid. She was scared. You’re fine.

Lay off, and don’t tell me what to do.

[asymptotes]

Hm. Maybe.

[ His ankle is fine - it seems like there might be something in his shoe? ]

[asymptotes]

You know what they say about old habits, Brett.

[sastruga]

...Could you remove your shoe?

...Please.

[She's even being polite for you, Drakkon.]

[asymptotes]

[ He sighs, and does so.

Turns it over.

A small aquarium substrate pebble drops out. ]

[allatonce]

....... Did you seriously just keep that in there to remind you of your sins or something? Dude.

[capreelcious]

...You wanna explain what that pebble's doin there?

[asymptotes]

[ And... one reveal later, Drakkon starts to just... laugh. He throws back his head and laughs. If you've ever seen a cartoon, or read a comic book? It's an evil fucking laugh. A supervillain laugh. ]

Ridiculous. All that work, and for what?

I hope you all have more of an argument towards my guilt than a rock.

[ MTB Start! ]

[sastruga]

...I see.

Thank you for your cooperation.

[honeyedtea]

. . . Oh, I refuse to believe I've ever myself sounded so pompous and ridiculous.

[ IS THIS HOW HER EVIL LAUGHS SOUND TO PEOPLE WHO HEAR THEM??? ]

[asymptotes]

Do I look Catholic to you, Joy?

[ And Yet. ]

[allatonce]

All evil laughs sound like that.

[asymptotes]

[ No but like now it's a whole THING so ]

[asymptotes]

... Yeah.

[ :( ]

[visiblepattern]

Not to be rude about it, but reacting like this isn't precisely an argument in your favor...

[allatonce]

God, you're so cliché. Seriously? This is like supervillain 101.

[asymptotes]

No, I suppose not. But being placed at a crime scene isn't proof. I just want to know you all can finish the job.

[asymptotes]

What can I say? I appreciate the classics.

[asymptotes]

[ He shrugs. ]

It's not my fault if you lack confidence in your own abilities, Mielle.

[onemillion]

Given what we've worked out so far, the rock is rather important. Someone was in the aquarium making it look as though a fight took place there; this same person was responsible for killing Misfire, and it seems they must have been strong to impale him with a pitchfork.

You fit that profile, and that rock places you at the aquarium.

[...plus, like Forrest said, this isn't exactly inspiring confidence in your innocence here...]

[allatonce]

Fine, whatever. Blah blah power of friendship will never run dry blah blah I bet you fight robots all the time so you'd know how to rip one's head off.

[visiblepattern]

Being placed at a crime scene does raise the question of what you were doing there, if not actively committing murder.

There's also the question of who you would suggest did this. Personally, if we were to ask, who do you think is likely to have done this?