Sixth Trial

[bathymetric]

[ After a time, as always, your investigation is interrupted by the Mayor's now-familiar voice, calling out to you over the loudspeakers. ]

And that's gonna be time. Pack it in, everyone, bring what you're gonna bring because it's trial time.

[ There are so many bathyspheres missing, you cannot help but notice, as you all pile into the station for your standard trip down to the trial room. Your number has dipped to about a third of its original size - a fact that becomes even more evident when you reach the circle of podiums at the bottom of New Rapture's ocean trench. ]

You all know why you're here. Someone killed Pillage Idiot, and it's your job to figure out who. This is your sixth one, I sure hope you have the procedure down by now.

[ Welcome to your sixth trial. ]

Comments

[honeyedtea]

[ Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mielle looks pale and queasy as they arrive once again in the trial room. She's aware that she's probably the last person who should've been trusted with investigating a body for any number of reasons but the deed's been done and if she wants to walk out of this place alive then she needs to make sure they resolve all these confused pieces of the puzzle into a clear image.

As usual, she and Mafuyu are stood together, hands clapsed and fingers entwined. Mielle's holding on so tightly that her knuckles are white. ]

... Mafuyu and I investigated the body and the area around it.

The first thing I noticed was that his clothes had been damaged and there was a small burn on his skin. Mafuyu told me it was consistent with a taser burn and we found one tossed to the side close to his body. There were also other disturbances in the scene - some mirrors had been tipped over and smashed and some wooden signs had also been toppled over, as well as a throwing knife embedded in the wall. Based on the second throwing knife I found stored in Nandor's shoes, I think we can assume it was his and that he threw it at his attacker.

... It seems quite clear to me that he was attacked and taken by surprise but what he was doing so late out at night remains a mystery.

[capreelcious]

Whoever did this made a real mess, huh? Makes sense, since Vampire Squid probably wouldn't go down without a fight.

[specialyellthing]

… It’s what he preferred. Sleepin during the day, and bein awake at night.

cw head gore

[sastruga]

[Mafuyu is... keeping it together pretty well, considering the scene she had to examine. Which, really, is probably a red flag, but we do not have time for that right now. She just stands there by Mielle, as always. Taking a deep breath, right before she presents her findings.]

First we need to address the elephant in the room, I guess. Nandor's head was crushed, pretty much completely. It looks like he was struck with a large blunt weapon. I found some markings that seem to match up with one of those maces from the vending machine, so there's that...

Secondly, um... Nandor's right hand was covered in blood-- and the floor next to him wasn't as covered in it, so that seemed odd to me when I first noticed it.

But what I did see next to him was...

[ . . . ]

Um, perhaps I should just show it.

[And she'll lift the copy she made of what she saw at the scene.]

...I can pass it around, if anyone wants a closer look.

[inaclearing]

Is this...writing...?

gore mention

[specialyellthing]

[Zinda stands alone. The podiums around her are all empty, reminders of just how much she’s lost, just how alone she is right now.

She keeps a careful watch over the girls, over their hands twined together. She only has two tethers right now: and one of them is making sure she gets those girls home safely.

The other, she’s reminded of by the blood and other unmentionables on her gloves and clothes. By the mace she picked up, still coated in gore. She’d chewed others out for it in weeks past—- but she feels it now. A desire for revenge.

She has to be relentless.]

[capreelcious]

Jeeze... that uh. Sure is a murder weapon.

[inaclearing]

Uh...we found the mace, yeah. It was in the bathroom in the department store - like someone just set it down by the door.

[He sort of tilts his head in Zinda's direction since she's, uh. Got that now. Brett still looks kinda pale and shaky, but he'll be damned if he freaks out any more today. At least not now.]

There was blood in one of the sinks too. It was like someone had washed off there, but...more than once? Like there were multiple layers of bloodstain left on the surface, and some were more faded. I don't...know what that means, exactly. They didn't get any anywhere else in there, so...they must've been careful.

[specialyellthing]

Of course. Couldn’t keep blood on their hands. Fuckin coward.

[capreelcious]

Huh... that's weird. But also there was a lotta blood... guess it took multiple rinses to get the blood out?

[visiblepattern]

I found a book out at Suite 1, in the common area between rooms. It's called New Moon, and it was left unread at about the part where... I think the girl's love interest was about to show his shirtless chest off to everyone in Italy, whatever that means.

There was a bookmark in it, though it was more a piece of notebook paper; it seemed to have a weapons inventory list on it, with very fancy handwriting and questionable spelling.

His room had weaponry adorning the walls, including two new scimitars; it also had, ah... letters to all of us in the desk. Zinda's was set on top, along with the ring he usually wears on his right hand. There was no blood on it.

The letters were addressed with the same handwriting as the inventory list, so it's safe to assume the book was Nandor's as well.

[specialyellthing]

… Yeah. He loved that damn thing. Thought it was a literary masterpiece.

[shes honestly… like this entire thing is so fucked up because the one little bit of joy in her heart right now is the thought that he finally got past those damn blank pages]

[inaclearing]

Oh, that's a...book about a romance between a vampire and a human girl. The thing in Italy...

[......oh. Wait. Brett actually does remember what the thing in Italy was about. He pauses for several seconds, blinking down at his podium, and then takes off on a completely different conversational tack!]

It's odd that he left the ring behind like that. Maybe he knew going out might be risky?

SHOE CHECK

[honeyedtea]

... Well, then. It's all well and good going in circles and theorizing but if we're to proceed we need to start narrowing down who could have been at the scene. To that end, I'd like to see everyone's shoes, please. Of course, Mafuyu will check mine and any of the rest of you are free to see for yourselves if you doubt me.

Please cooperate quietly. I'm certain none of us would like to see it necessary for Zinda to intervene.

[ bust our your shoes, unknown seas nation!! she's looking for glass in the soles in particular but if there's anything odd or notable about anyone's shoes, she'll be keeping an eye out for that too. ]

[honeyedtea]

[ As promised, Mielle cooperates with shoe check! There's some blood and dirt on her shoes, but it's consistent with her investigation of the body and the scene of the discovery. She's clean. ]

[visiblepattern]

[He's never really had much argument with the shoes; even with the other checks, arguing about doing it was usually Jonathan's area.

His shoes are fine? No glass or blood on them or anything, just what you'd expect from walking around.]

[inaclearing]

[Brett's never been one to fuss about any of the checks; he shows his shoes readily enough. They're clean - though he was at the scene, everyone could see that he certainly kept a wide berth from most of...that mess.]

[specialyellthing]

I don’ think anyone wants to test me right now…

[Her shoes are, like the rest of her? Smeared with Nandor’s blood.

But that’s to be expected from her whole uh. ordeal this morning. Other than that, they’re clean.]

[capreelcious]

[ Floyd rolled up on the investigation a little late, so his shoes are pretty neat still! People have definitely seen him wear this pair before, and Floyd is pretty immaculate when it comes to his shoes. He's clean. ]

[sastruga]

[Mafuyu's shoes are uh... well, she's the one who investigated the head, so you can imagine the state of them. But like Mielle, it's consistent with investigating, so she's clean-ish.]

[visiblepattern]

...I find it interesting that Mielle would say that we're going in circles and theorizing as though she thinks it's baseless, when we seem to have put together a fair idea of what may have happened. Perhaps going over what we do have one more time would help.

[sastruga]

...What did we put together, exactly?

INJURY CHECK

[honeyedtea]

Let's get this over with, then. We'll do the usual and split ourselves between the men and the women. Do be thorough in your search and be sure to question any irregularities.

[ IT'S NOT A MURDERGAME UNTIL STRIP CHECK I GUESS ]

[honeyedtea]

[ Mielle is clean and injury free, incidentally! ]

[visiblepattern]

[He's quiet for a long moment, as the questions come in. He doesn't shrink back; he just...grabs his dress and pulls it back on, corset be damned, that can stay on the floor. Once he's covered again he seems to feel a bit better, and when he speaks his voice remains strong even though he's shaking a little.]

Is that what you think?

[He closes his eyes.]

[ Breathe. ]

Do you really think I had anything to do with this?

[sastruga]

Yes.

Voting Time

[bathymetric]

[ Not long after Forrest's account of events, the Mayor speaks up. ]

Sounds to me like you have your answer. Money where your mouths are, citizens: time to vote who killed Pillage Idiot. You're used to this part by now, right?

[visiblepattern]

[........................]

>Forrest

EXECUTION(?) - Xenologue ??: Disappointment (1/2)

[bathymetric]

[ As the votes roll in, it’s quicker than usual that you all net a majority. But that’s your reduced number for you, isn’t it? Each correct vote cast sends the shutters down a full chunk of the dome, dark metal thudding into place to slowly but surely drown out the light of the sea slugs out in the abyss. Darkness settles in like a friend, ready to take from you yet again. ]

Well, congratulations on the correct vote. Sorry, Maybelline - you tried to play the game, but it just wasn’t for you. If it’s any consolation, either way you probably get to see your dad and your wife soon.

[ Then darkness takes Forrest.

The projectors click on. The first thing you see, funnily enough, is a forest, before the camera swings forward to focus in on a very small, scenic village in the mountains. Forrest is in the middle of the town square, on his knees and bound into a stockade. Almost comical-looking fantasy bandit types loiter around the place, leering in sort of nonspecific directions as one might imagine bandits wont to do.

Next to Forrest, though, stands one bandit who’s bigger than the others, more vicious-looking. In his hands he holds a huge battleax, and it doesn’t take a non-bandit education to imagine how that might be intended to relate to Forrest’s current position.

The bandits start to cheer, all together, and chant in unison. ]

Blood! Blood! Blood! Blood!

[ … Well, no one’s ever accused a bandit of being a sensitive and artistic soul before, hm?

As the executioner lifts his ax, it’s easy to miss the slight disturbance to the background behind him. Could be a trick of the light, you know? Either way, what happens next is definitely unexpected: a bolt of dark magic out of the blue absolutely destroys the executioner. This is followed by another bolt, and another, as a man riding a horse with a deeply unsettling head decoration shaped like a skull rides into town, handily dispatching the bandits. Even those that manage to get close enough to take a swing at him either miss or find their axes deflecting off of him, dealing no damage.

As he does this, and Forrest sees him do so, the viewers can in greater detail see something happening in the background. Along the middle of the air, seemingly, there’s patches of a sort of rainbow distortion - to those who have owned a flat-screen television, this is pretty similar if not identical to the sort of distortion that comes from pushing or pulling directly on the surface of the screen.

The rider finishes up with dispatching the bandits, then rides forward to look down at Forrest, not even bothering to get off of his horse. There’s a tome in his hand, a spellbook that clearly radiates power and should, you imagine, command respect. The rider’s visage is hard, gaze cold as he looks down at Forrest, who is still in the stockade. The trick of the execution is clear: this rider, whoever he is, will kill Forrest, and the day will go on.

But that’s not what happens. Because something changes, this time. Something goes your way, for once. ]

2/2

[bathymetric]

[ Something - and looking closely you can see that it’s something or someone, now, slight distortion of invisibility barely recognizable in the air - changes the script. The stockade is unlocked. The executioner’s ax is nudged just that much closer to Forrest. And for one moment, just one, the holographic experior of the rider falters, revealing a bright yellow and white robot, almost centaur-like.

These things, it seems, are enough.

Forrest leaps out of the stocks, spinning out of the way of what might be a magical blast or might be a cloaked gunshot and picking up the battleax. And with a speed and strength you wouldn’t previously have expected of him, certainly not before what you found this morning, he leaps forward and slices through the machine’s chest - in just near the shoulder, and out near the waist at the opposite hip.

Then he strikes again, taking the front legs off the “horse.”

Then again, to the stockade, which splits into… metal, despite seemingly having been made of wood? There’s a pause as Forrest takes a moment to take things in.

Then he attacks the scenery.

What seemed moments ago to be a vast landscape turns out to be, apparently, a number of massive screens, and as Forrest’s ax connects with them, they break and fracture.

The Mayor deigns to reply to this, apparently. ]

Oh god fucking damn it, this is what I get for not having some sad brainwashed lesbian in cold storage—

[ It’s… definitely more upset than you’ve heard her, before now, that mad libs of a phrase aside. Yet still, somehow, she sounds restrained, just… colder. ]

All right, Forrest, feeling good about finally standing up to daddy? Real cathartic for you? How about you just save us both the trouble and let me reintroduce you to your friends—

[ But it’s too late. As Forrest cuts away at the screens, he finds an opening and takes it. The camera lingers for only a moment before cutting away from the swathe of destruction he’s cut, but it’s clear.

Forrest isn’t dead. Not yet.

The lights come back on, and the Mayor speaks up, frustration clear but pushed mostly down, the repression evident in the vocal strain. ]

Out. All of you. If he makes it back, you can have him. You seem surprisingly okay with having killers and traitors in your midst, after all.