Final Investigation

[bathymetric]

Good morning, New Rapture. You may yet see the sun today.

But before that, there's work to be done. The Mayor has sent you some sort of ultimatum, though as usual was reluctant to explain herself. You're going to meet her, to some end? It's unclear. But one way or another, you're aware that things are ending today. Spirits may be low, but at least there's that. After a night of bowling, you're probably ready for this.

As you wake in the morning, though, each suite will find something unexpected in the common area, something that absolutely wasn't there last night: an envelope, addressed to the surviving members. An attached note on the outside reads as follows:

Good morning, citizens of New Rapture. In accordance with new directives from Designations: Misfire, Space Dandy, et al. I have been asked to deliver this. Please use the included to lift your spirits, and feel free to use your new bathysphere access to gain what information you can before you face the Mayor. You know what the key does, I gather, and the card will grant you access to Fontaine Futuristics Headquarters, where the Mayor currently resides. If you do not gather information properly, you will be unable to do what she is about to ask of you. Your friends will be watching.

Included in each envelope is a silver key, a limited Hall of the Founders bathysphere access card, and a copy of this letter. Your friends are counting on you. Go rally in the Hall of the Founders and get ready.

It's time for one last investigation.

Comments

SILVER KEY FOUNDERS' OFFICES, CITY HALL

[bathymetric]

[ Group B, this is you!

Offices 1, 3, 11, and 18 will all open with any of the silver keys you were delivered with the letters, so there's room for the two of you to split them up. You've both used color keys before, so the area isn't unfamiliar to you. ]

[onemillion]

[So he might have had a bit of a moment at the letters earlier, but it's fine and he's good to go now. Anyway, Rossiu's going to start from the very first one - office #1! Let's see what awaits us in here.]

[bathymetric]

[ This office is, first off, very yellow. Who the hell likes yellow so much? Like there's some white, too, but good lord.

There's a desk with a computer on it, a workbench, a... christ alive this person had a murphy bed installed in here, which is currently in the position where it's in the wall, and the portrait of this person in the back, though there's something off about it. ]

[onemillion]

[hey look, it's that other fucking guy!!!!

Anyway, this is already so much. Okay. The first thing that catches his eye is the portrait - and how could it not, look at that dude. What's up with this one? Has it been defaced?]

[bathymetric]

[ It has been defaced, in fact! Someone's gone and put a slash mark through it. ]

[onemillion]

[Anything noteworthy about that slash? Size/shape, direction? Does it look like it was made with a knife? Though obviously we can move on if there's nothing all that important about said slash, lmao.]

[bathymetric]

[ It's not terribly important, but like. It's so straight and clean that it looks like it was probably done with a razor of some kind? ]

[onemillion]

[Interesting! Good to know - assuming there's nothing off with the rest of the portrait, let's move on to the desk and that computer!! Thankfully, Gurren Lagann tech means that Rossiu can easily figure out a (presumably) modern day computer. But first, anything noteworthy on the desk otherwise?]

[bathymetric]

[ It's a shockingly clean desk! Like there's dust here, but that's honestly it. ...In fact, the thing to note about it is probably that it's been emptied. ]

[onemillion]

[Huh! That is odd, someone actually emptied this one... He's going to go through the drawers as well to double check - nothing to find in here at all?]

[bathymetric]

[ There are a few general office supplies left, but other than that... someone seems to have taken the same razor to the front of one of the drawers and carved in TRAITOR. ]

[onemillion]

[I'm going to guess the carved-handwriting is not something he's going to be able to match to anything we've seen so far, but hmm! Maybe the rest of the office is similarly destroyed... Anyway, anything else noteworthy about the desk?]

[bathymetric]

[ Even if it was a person you'd seen before, you don't have much in the way of "razor carving handwriting" to compare it to.

Just the computer! ]

[visiblepattern]

[Forrest is starting from the other side of the spectrum of numbers here - let's see what awaits in Room #18. What he's wearing is completely impractical for this but that's literally never stopped him before.]

[bathymetric]

[ Welcome to... a very dark green office? It's... classy in here. Classier than what poor Rossiu just walked into, anyway. There's a desk with a computer on it, a bookcase, an aquarium, and above the therapist's office style couch and chair setup in the back, the portrait of this room's former occupant, though something is off about this one. ]

[visiblepattern]

[Off in what way? Outside of him just being kind of a strange-looking guy, I presume.]

[bathymetric]

[ Someone has defaced it, cutting a few slashes into that strange face. ]

[visiblepattern]

[In Forrest's experience, there's casual "lmao fuck this guy" defacement and then there's passionate "no, really, FUCK THIS GUY" defacement. Does this look like one or the other, or is it impossible to tell?]

[bathymetric]

[ Tough to tell! But if it's one or the other, it's probably closer to the latter. ]

[visiblepattern]

[Wow, okay, fuck this guy it is. All right, duly noted. Is there anything else going on with the portrait, outside of the slashing defacement? Hopefully no notes that he eats children?]

[bathymetric]

[ If he eats children, the vandal has not indicated such. Nothing else to note about the portrait. ]

[visiblepattern]

[THAT'S NOT COMFORTING

Okay. So he'll go over and check out the desk first - just a quick overview as to what's on it/what it's decorated with, not getting into the electronics just yet because he has no idea how to use them. What's the situation looking like over here?]

[bathymetric]

[ It's fine Forrest we're going real easy on you with them when you do.

The main thing of note is a folder labelled CANDIDATES, addressed but never sent to Office #1. ]

[visiblepattern]

[Oh, that looks promising! Let's open that and see what's in it.]

AREA CLEAR

[bathymetric]