WEEK ONE: TRIAL

[retellers]

WEEK ONE: TRIAL (38 remain) Rise and shine, gremlins. Hopefully you found it in you to make and eat breakfast, despite yesterday's news. At 11am, everyone will receive a message on their PHS, simply stating: empoti enp emporium. by the strike of twelve. Shortly before 12pm, every participant will feel compelled to move towards the Emporium, if they aren't already there. No exceptions! Though they will have to navigate around shelves and merchandise and the like, everyone will fit neatly inside the room. Once all the participants are present and the clock strikes twelve, the doors lock behind them. Three of the Leaders are there with them: Swan, Tiger, and Goat. Tiger speaks. "You have nine hours. Try not to stab each other during them." ༶•┈┈⛧┈｡o°✥✣ 　　 ✣✥°o｡┈⛧┈┈•༶ Hello, everyone, and welcome to the second trial! For the next nine hours, the characters are expected to discuss among themselves, ask questions, examine the bodies of the victims, look over the evidence found yesterday, and revisit locations as needed in order to find the culprit(s). There'll be a one hour break from 5-6pm EST, where no mod tags will occur. Before the trial is over, please remember to place your character's vote over on the voting page. Voting will close at 9pm EST/6pm PST, and will serve as our activity check for the week, so please be sure you get your vote in before it ends unless you have contacted us previously. If you have any questions at any time, please let us know by pinging us on Discord!

NAVIGATION locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories

Comments

[recrowns]

[he nods along with that]

Mm, it's possible. This week, it's harder to discern since both cases of solitary people outside the inn were also involved with murder locations, and did not receive effects.

Still, it is something to keep in mind. At the very least, I would like to posit that Yona was decidedly asleep - else she would have gone to Cater's aid, and Cater's messaging would have been different.

[here's me cucking britt from death]

[reconnective]

We're positive the message was from Cater herself? That's the part I'm trying to figure out. How did she have enough time to leave messages around for her killer?

[infreefall]

Maybe she just woke up and thought someone would come for her...? But if they didn't find each other very quickly, she'd have time to leave messages to lead them away from Yona-san, right?

[reconnective]

Maybe. We haven't had proof that the victim and the killer wake up at the same time, but if she was trying to lead them away from Yona...the station's a good route.

[heartablaze]

Maybe she realized she was in trouble when she woke up??? She kind of seems like she'd, um... want to fight back, instead of run away.

[reconnective]

It's possible. Do any of us remember if Cater was armed at all this week?

[heartablaze]

I haven't seen her since the, um... the special thing we did at the virtual reality room... I didn't see any weapons with her there, but she said she usually has pistols...? But I dunno if she meant at home, or here...

[reconnective]

I don't think she had them here. If I remember...she said she had some magic crystal thing that was supposed to go in her gun.

[heartablaze]

Magicite, yeah... she said something about it...

She was good at defending herself in our fake mission, though, so maybe she could use something else even if it wasn't familiar?

[reconnective]

Yeah. She told me about her school and how it was basically training for war. It wouldn't surprise me if she knew how to improvise somehow.

[recrowns]

I believe her killer didn't approach her immediately - and Cater did seem the impatient type. Based on her messaging, it suggests that she was looking for them just as much they were looking for her, expecting a battle. If she was in the planetarium, she likely would've been able to write down the first message near immediately - and if the handwriting matches, then I think that the one in the railroad station was her as well.

Based on the fact that it seems like other areas were disrupted in the Northern area, where I believe Cater might've met her end, it could suggest that's where her killer was lying in wait.

But that is simply my guess.

[he thinks it makes sense though]

[reconnective]

Which means she probably didn't even know who it was, just that there was someone likely coming after her.

...you think then that she wrote the messages and ran right into somebody's trap? Maybe they didn't even read the messages at all.

[recrowns]

[he nods sadly]

... in truth, I do not know if reading the messages would have made a difference - but we should see if there's evidence of anyone besides Cater herself being in those areas.

[reconnective]

Yeah...it's always worth a second look, even if it's just to get our timelines in order. And if we didn't miss anything, I'm sure the leaders would let us know. [he hopes.]

[recrowns]

[he also hopes.]

For now - I think it's worth examining all the evidence in the space area. I believe that there are some things worth considering-

For example, the existence of the 'lye'. I'm not familiar with it, but it sounds as though it's a chemical? I'd like to review profiles as well as other people's expertise to discern who might know anything about it.

In addition - do we know exactly what the virtual room was broadcasting? It sounds as though it was slightly broken, correct?

[reconnective]

I've never heard of lye either, but it can, uh, dissolve bodies? I guess. So looking at who might've known that is a good start.

And I'd like to check out the VR room myself for other clues. If it was broken, then we might get an idea who set everything up.

[recrowns]

[he tilts his head]

Would you like to go together? Though I'd also prefer if we brought another person with more familiarity with technology.

[pwease god don't send a kid and a ye olde]

It seems as though we might be looking for someone whose interests and expertise are a bit more modern - I would normally be less willing to levy that suggestion, but there aren't any books here, which would make it hard for me to discern what lye is on my own.

[and he's pretty sure he's the most voracious book worm of all the ye oldes, so the logic is 'if i don't know, then they might not either']

[frostythehitman]

[ raises a hand ]

I'm pretty familiar with lye as it pertains to bodies, plus I'm the one that found it yesterday. And I'm no tech whiz, but I know my way around it.

[dianxias]

[ (piping up) ]

If you all are heading to the virtual reality room, please be sure to look at the handwriting on the wall, as well, to see if it's a match for Miss Cater's.

[recrowns]

Then I'm grateful to have your company. Let's see to it then - though we'll focus our efforts on the virtual reality room, I would like to know more about this 'lye'.

Is it difficult to handle? Toxic at all?

[frostythehitman]

[ sighs heavily and starts googling lye again ]

Yes. It's corrosive to skin and a high enough concentration of it can dissolve human flesh entirely. It can explode in contact with water. And it can produce toxic fumes too if you're not careful. You need protective equipment to handle it.

[recrowns]

Explode.

[wow! that was just hanging out in the station? sucks!]

Toxic fumes....

[hm]

.... what are the symptoms of inhaling it without proper equipment?

[reconnective]

[he nods.]

Yeah. I think a third person would be really helpful, too. I've been in VR set-ups before, but they're still kind of new to me.

I don't think it's a bad idea to consider. We all come from a huge variety of worlds, so it would have to be someone familiar enough not to hurt themselves, too.

That narrows it down a little. Sort of.

Let's find a third person, and then we can check the VR room and get that covered.

[recrowns]

[a glance to bucky, and with a smile]

I believe that's our three, then.

[reconnective]

[...you know. sure.]

Works for me. Let's go.