THIRD INVESTIGATION

[bathymetric]

So the mood, test subjects, has been a little... rough, maybe. The vibes, they're not great for a lot of you. Even some of the normally calm and/or collected among your number seem to have let this week's motive get to them, and when the lights click on on Friday there are some among you who may well just assume there's a body to find. It wouldn't exactly be unreasonable, would it?

But hey, maybe you all held out! Maybe this can be a turning point in your fight against The Professor and his motives, and you can come together to tell him off once and for all! Wouldn't that be nice? One nice week.

Well, only one way to find out if that's an option.

Comments

[snackooed]

I can't be one-hundred percent certain. But given its position in his body, and the veins on it, my hypothesis is that it's his heart. Or, rather, that it serves the same function as one. The wound around it is a pretty critical one, so I'm fairly certain that getting stabbed there with a blade was his actual cause of death.

I feel like, given that theory, actually removing it might be a bad idea, though. But call it an investigator's hunch, but I think whatever it is, it's going to be important at the trial later, so if nothing else, that's the shot we need. Both the stone itself and the insignia on it. Of course, all of these other wounds are important, too...the scrapes, the splinters on his right hand, the big wound on his upper left arm...

[philoxenia]

[ God... poor Seteth. ]

I-it's a good thing we have pictures.

[ She looks so pale; maybe she should be a little more used to this, being the third time, but... Ugh. She focuses on steadying her hands, taking a couple good pictures of the wound, the stone, the insignia--everything Ema mentions, she snaps a picture of. ]

He-- he really deserved so much better.

[ Then again, everyone else did. Everyone else does. ]

[snackooed]

It shouldn't have happened to him.

[ The way he spoke about his family...maybe she's sobered up a bit, compared to the expedient approach she tries to hold her investigations to, but she's playing his words about his "sister" from last week over in her head.

"The absolute light of his life"...they're strong words, but of course, she understands the sentiment. To her, Lana is the same. Everyone else in the facility has one, too.

Otherwise, this motive wouldn't have been so very, very hard. ]

We'll take care of it together, Mira. All of us will. ...I'm sorry, again.

[ That she has to keep putting her through this every week...she can't help but feel guilty, to have to wrap her up in this. ]

[philoxenia]

[ ... yeah. Noah had been the same. Still is, even if he's gone. Mira's hands tighten on the phone, and there's something else behind her sadness now. Even back in her world, she'd never been this angry.

But Ema's words-- her apology, strikes her sharply. She shakes her head. ]

Ema-- Please don't apologize. I'm glad to do this, to help in any way I can.

[ But she wishes... she didn't have to. Mira finishes snapping the photos, and then looks again at the stone in Seteth's chest. ]

... Rhea would know more about this. But I think-- If it's possible, if she thinks it's safe to, maybe she could-- take it. S-so she could take some part of him, back to their home. Last rites are well enough, but... maybe she could give him as proper a burial as possible once this is all over.

[snackooed]

We'll finish snapping up the rest of the scene, and then we'll talk to her. Hopefully we'll have enough time before the trial starts. I don't know the proper procedure when it comes to handling these...but if she does, then we should probably defer to her judgment on it. I imagine she'd want to help as much as the rest of us do.

[ And this definitely isn't the time to be cagey on answers. Anyone can probably see that.

Still, it's never easy to see Mira like this...and yet, week after week, all she can really do is say-- ]

I'm with you.

[philoxenia]

Of course... And if it's something she'd like to take with her-- I don't want it to be lost forever.

[ ... ]

Thank you. I'm with you, too. I don't think anything will change that.

i guess this is a thing, now.

[archboxer]

[Rhea is back. She left with Della and eventually went to her room... and got a few things. Like a knife and part of that hideous Nic Cage dress. She probably was listening this entire time as she quietly crept up.]

If... you are ready, then yes. I will take care of it. That stone is, well, I will explain more thoroughly at the trial for everyone.

[She's angry but the air of just... defeat is more than that anger.]

It is his heart, yes, but it is much more than that. His soul if you will. The Professor should not have it.

[snackooed]

I'm sorry for your loss, Rhea.

[ Everyone is feeling the defeat here. That much is clear. For all of the indignation, the air is just...well, it's sad. ]

We'll be counting on your help. Let me know if there's anything we can do in the meantime, please...

[archboxer]

...

[She should say thank you but she doesn't have the heart.]

Yes, of course, Ema. I am sorry for pulling aside from the investigation but this is important...

[She's just. Going to sit down and start carving that out. Mira probably should look away.]