FINAL TRIAL

[bathymetric]

Alright, that's enough snooping around for one day. There's a door in the underground tunnels that lets out beyond the vault door, just use that to get to the elevator. One of you has a damn staff keycard now, might as well just have you use it, since apparently I'm down both of my Assistants. The code is 020594.

[ As you head in and punch in the code, the elevator rises up to meet you one last time. And one last time, you take the ride down into the depths, evidence in hand. Something stirs in you - hope? Dread? It's hard to feel nothing at a time like this, don't you think? Even if it's just being really angry at The Professor.

When you reach the bottom, the dome is the same but you find the setup itself changed wildly. There's no sign at all of the original podiums or where they were, just a number of sleek new ones and a box of frosted glass. It stands out in stark contrast to the inky blackness of the sea outside. The lights don't reach out of the dome at all, and within the dome they illuminate the silhouette of a man, sitting at a desk, hands folded in front of him.

The Professor is here. You hope. Do you have any choice but to believe he's here? ]

Take your places, boys and girls. It's not what I think any of us anticipated, but it's time for your final trial. There are several questions I expect you to be able to answer, the largest being, well... tell me where you are and what you're doing here. Though I suspect first you'll want to talk over your... evidence.

[ Welcome to your final trial. ]

Comments

[ladygeryon]

[Nira's got her sword with her, and she's basically using it as a second walking stick right now, letting it lean slightly against the side of the podium while she glares at the Professor.]

So what'd you do to the Atlantic Liner, hm?

[bathymetric]

Did you demand answers on your final exams in school like this, Tauros-Head? Share with the class, not me.

[ladygeryon]

You never said we couldn't ask you for clarification here.

But fine. Angel had a whole map of all the robberies this guy's been delegating. Just the ones for technology stuff, which is apparently all at the "primary facility." Mostly just one- or two-person jobs with some help from what I'm guessing is his gadgets. No one familiar among the descriptions, at least.

[She did bring the clips along if anyone wants to take a look.]

[bogwife]

Don't forget the Florida! [She reaches over to pass Nira the newspaper clipping.] The ship just appeared, empy and already sinking out of nowhere.

[ladygeryon]

Oh yeah. And according to it the company doesn't even exist in the world this news was from.

[nothingcanstop]

That's...uhhh, weird.

[ladygeryon]

I mean, we're all from different worlds here. Maybe he fucked up and misaimed where he was intending to actually send it to once he was done getting what he wanted.

[bathymetric]

I will clarify that I was a junior agent in 1994. I had nothing to do personally with the cruise ship incident, I'm simply an interested party.

See what kind of answers putting forth a little effort can get you?

[ladygeryon]

[Just glares at him and slides the tip of her sword slightly against the floor.]

What about the rest of those robberies?

[nothingcanstop]

Maybe it was part of...practice for the rest of us.

[bogwife]

Not only does it not exist but the ship that appeared? It's almost identical to a ship that was in the process of being built when it happened.

[nothingcanstop]

...That sucks! It's upgraded from weird to sucks! Did he...snag that outta the future, or...or some other timeline?

[bogwife]

More likely the future, the way it's marked on the map.

There's something else too- it was extremely damaged, almost beyond recognition by “catastrophic engine failure.” That counts as weird and sucks, right?

[nothingcanstop]

Without a shadow of a doubt.

[philoxenia]

Florida--

[ ... that scans for Florida, actually. Of course it's Florida. ]

The company doesn't even-- Oh! I wonder if that had to do with Subject Gamma's abilities.

[bogwife]

It mentioned something called "the Bermuda Triangle" as well. Do you know anything about that, Mia?

[philoxenia]

I do, actually.

[ Fun fact: For someone who's absolutely terrified of ghosts? Mira loves this shit. Cryptids and weird phenomena? Hell yes. ]

There are a lot of theories about the Bermuda Triangle, since it's an area where a lot of ships and airplanes go down without a trace. It's even called the "Devil's Triangle." It's not always an absolute that a ship will go down there, but... it happens frequently enough. Some people think there's paranormal activity going on, or even aliens, and while it's more likely that there's a perfectly scientific explanation for it? It's still unknown.

[nothingcanstop]

It's actually a lovely vacation spot, once you get all the seaweed cleared up! [ ... ] This is probably not...universal, exactly, since part of the seaweed was alive...

[philoxenia]

[ Oh, no, don't tell her that, she'll want to go-- ]

One of Uncle Scrooge's adventures?

[nothingcanstop]

Yerp. I'll tell you about it sometime. Once this thing is done.