Hostile Action Trial

[mockmods]

[As you all finish investigating, an electric chime rings out across the PA system.]

I believe that should be sufficient time for you all to prepare. Assistant, please escort everyone to the trial room.

[Penny emerges from the Security office again, head down, and slowly collects everyone; she leads you all to the east side of the common room, to the short hallway between dorms B1 and A2, that’s dead ended through your entire time here. As your group approaches, the wall seamlessly slides up to reveal a hidden doorway. Passing through leads to another short hallway and a small, round room, just big enough to hold all of you. Penny passes her ID over a small pad near the doorway, and it blinks green before the room lurches slightly beneath you; an elevator going down.]

[A short trip down leads you to a larger chamber, with a series of twenty-two podiums set up in a ring; in the center is a column of computer stations with large monitors, behind a set of thick metal beams with occasional faint flashes of energy arcing between them and a constant, low hum.]

Welcome to your first trial, Participants. You will use this time to determine which among your number killed the Legendary Bassist, and send them to justice. Failure to choose the correct culprit will have dire consequences for you all.

[Trial: commence.]

Comments

cw: suicide mentions probably for the rest of this

[mightdoriya]

[You know when you're trying to figure something out, and new information completely throws your previous viewpoint out the window? Izuku is experiencing that now with a vengence, and it's enough to make him dizzy.] It...would make more sense if you looked at it as him planning to kill himself, especially with how needlessly complicated this machine was. I'm not going to say that I know what he was thinking, I didn't know him terribly well...but he seemed like the type of guy who might think something like this wasn't that unusual. Did the note mention anything about the machine?

[hyaku]

It didn't.

[Shigeo speaks up, a little quietly but he seems a lot better today than he was yesterday at least.]

[mightdoriya]

[Wait, Shigeo found it too? that...makes Izuku pale a little as he shoots the other boy a sympathetic glance.] Did you keep the note?

[hyaku]

[Shigeo shakes his head.]

I was the first one who found it, but I didn't know if I should have brought it or not.

[But it looks like Spy brought it himself, so there's that.]

[mightdoriya]

[Izuku nods, swallowing around the thick lump in his throat.] N-no, it's alright. I'm sorry, Kageyama-kun.

[hyaku]

[The other teen shakes his head.]

It's not your fault. It's Robot-san's fault.

[As awful as this entire situation is, he doesn't even blame whoever did this to Yaiba.]

He's not going to get away with this.

[mightdoriya]

He won't. [Even though Izuku is a little more driven to finger the actual, physical vulprit here...Shigeo isn't wrong, either. At the core, the real blame should be placed on the Researcher.] We'll figure out who did this.

[hyaku]

Mm.

[Shigeo nods with determination in his eyes, still a little red from crying bc i forgot this wasnt a day later icly

He doesn't blame them, because they were forced to do something so terrible by having the pressure built up on their shoulders. Of course they're still at fault, but Shigeo would rather see the Researcher come to some kind of punishment than them.

The guilt from murdering Yaiba would be punishment enough, in his eyes.]

[mockmods]

I was not the one who killed the Legendary Bassist.

Consider it a free clue.

[hyaku]

....it's still your fault this happened.

[canbebeautiful]

I'm all for people being innocent until proven guilty, but it's really suspicious to just offer up the information that you didn't do something.

[windowsexplorer]

That kind of literal response seems like some kind of stupidity, Crocus.

[Crocus???]

[scratchitti]

But if he meant to kill himself, who left to bandage and clean themselves up? There has to be a second person involved.

Maybe someone found him and took advantage?

[mightdoriya]

Yeah...there's no doubt that someone else happened upon this plan, or maybe they ran into him while he was getting all of this set up, or something...that is, assuming that the machine was his idea to begin with.

[scratchitti]

Yeah, it could be a frame job. We know we have to get away with a kill to fulfill that rule, so the smart thing to do would be to plant fake clues.

[mightdoriya]

They were...really messy about it, though. That all could have been intentional of course, but with things left laying around, like the first-aid kit, the mannequins, and all of the blood and wine bottle in the kitchen...either they were in a rush, or they're pretty confident they're not going to get found out anyway.

[windowsexplorer]

Or they don't mind getting caught for some reason.

[mightdoriya]

If they don't mind getting caught, then they could just confess right now. It would save both trouble and prevent the rest of us from being punished over this.

[clandestineideals]

Either someone took advantage, or he decided to work with someone to make it happen.

...I only doubt that he had a chance to do all of that to himself.

[ It's never that easy. ]

mod ping, more suicide talk

[scratchitti]

... would someone helping with a suicide count as fulfilling that rule?

Re: mod ping, more suicide talk

[mockmods]

It would. Though I will not say whether or not that is applicable here.

[scratchitti]

Good to know either way.

Er... thanks.

[mockmods]

You are welcome. I am always more than happy to clarify the rules.

I despise cheaters.

[boxtrot]

[Spy pulls out the suicide note itself, skimming over it again.]

No mention of the machine, itself. It says that he wanted to kill himself to fulfill the game's rule that a death must occur.

[Spy hands the note over to Izuku so he can read it if he wants.]

Like I said before- I cannot guarantee that he wrote this himself. It is also possible he was planning to kill someone with this, but something went unexpectedly wrong, and his true murderer forged the suicide note.

[mightdoriya]

[Izuku will take the note as offered, looking it over to see what exactly was said in it.] Mm...so it's best to keep both possibilities on the table, then. One, that the victim made the machine to kill himself, or two, he made it to kill someone else. There's also the fact that someone else might have made it and is trying to frame it as something he came up with... [Izuku presses his fingers to the bridge of his nose.] The most I can say is that even if this was initially a planned suicide, that isn't what happened in the end. Not when his head was nearly cut off.