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

[visiblepattern]

It may not have been personal... It doesn't matter who we vote for as long as we vote incorrectly.

[fuckingguy]

[ thanks for pointing this out pal he would have taken at least five more minutes to get there ]

She did seem more intelligent than that, it is true.

[honeyedtea]

So either it wasn't Hild, or she was just stupider than she looked.

[fuckingguy]

[ he makes a dissatisfied grunting noise that is definitely meant to convey the spirit of "I GUESS" ]

[fuckingguy]

Her body was moved after death. It is possible that whoever killed her put this thing in her hand afterwards, when they were positioning her...

[allatonce]

Technically it tastes like bitter almonds, which some people think cure cancer and other bullshit, not just regular almonds, and not to everyone.

[It's said kind of absently, and only because this conversation is happening right next to her.]

[inaclearing]

Well, I know it was cyanide, it smelled just like the ones I have.

[visiblepattern]

Either way, we can certainly say the incidents are connected - either Hild killed Jonathan before being murdered herself, or the same person killed them both.

[allatonce]

[Joy comes in and sets a sizable hunk of rock on Dandy's podium. Before anyone can ask about why the fuck she has it, she points and in the tone of someone who is disappointed but not surprised:]

So which of you can break rock off of pavement? Gary is fine, by the way. That's very important, since one of you very rudely went and smashed up some shit in the aquarium.

[visiblepattern]

I would imagine Misfire would be able to, before anyone else here.

[allatonce]

Makes sense. It's the most undetectable option we have—relatively odorless and tasteless to most people and easy to put in food or drink. Also not hard to dose. It's potent.

[allatonce]

Normally I would say that, but the whole thing looked staged? Only the tanks with frogs in them were smashed. All the fish were fine.

[sastruga]

Are the frogs okay?

[allatonce]

Yeah, I caught them all and put them in a tank from the pet store temporarily. Presumably either Fontaine's little henchmen will put them back when they're cleaning or I'll do it after we're done here.

Misfire Evidence, part 1! cw: robot gore

[capreelcious]

So... Moon Jellyfish and I found Flying Fish in the fields. He was missing his head and an arm. Looked like someone tore them off him with an applied force instead of bein' sliced off.

He also had a whole pitchfork run all the way through his body, and into one of those fiberglass cows. He was pretty dented up, too.

[ He pauses, trying to remember things. ]

He was definitely dragged through the field from the barn because it was a mess, and there were pink blood drag marks leading into it. There were also smushed veggies on his feet, and when I went to look, some of the pumpkins had a bunch of holes in 'em? And the squashes were well, squashed.

cw: robot gore

[onemillion]

[Flying Fish is Misfire, right... Anyway, Rossiu is also here with poor Misfire's head which he is going to set on Misfire's podium so anyone else can look it over if they want to. Also so he's not just. holding the poor guy's head through this trial.]

I can confirm that; Misfire's head shows signs of being torn off. It was leaking pink in the shallows of the lake where I found it.

[It's no longer leaking said pink stuff, though it is still wet.]

[specialyellthing]

[Zinda, who has opted to stand by Nandor instead of on her island, pats his shoulder.]

Well, that’s not nice.

[specialyellthing]

The girlies got it right.

more misfire evidence ft. your good friend cw: robot gore

[sastruga]

Mm. I saw the trail of energon in the barn. And I found... ah... Misfire's arm was in the woodchipper. It was still running when I got there... It looked like... his arm was torn from the socket.

There were also holes in the wall near the woodchipper... right?

[Looking at Mielle briefly for confirmation.]

Like... about the size of the pitchfork.

[specialyellthing]

[Glaring at him.]

Leave her be.

[inaclearing]

What the fuck?

[Brett rarely says a fuck, but THAT IS HIS FRIEND'S HEAD!]

[onemillion]

[these things happen!!! sometimes you just bring a head to a trial, It's Fine.]

cw: robot torture

[allatonce]

[Joy wrinkles her nose and then asks, clearly not wanting to:]

Like... close enough that he would have been held in place by the pitchfork while someone fed his arm into the woodchipper?

cw: robot torture

[honeyedtea]

. . .

W–well, I don't know that I'd put it like that...

[ But that's not a 'no'. ]

[asymptotes]

I think I've earned a little grumpiness, at least. You know, after the attempt on my life?

[ He sighs. ]

I don't actually plan to do anything else to her. Don't worry.