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

[clandestineideals]

I wouldn't doubt that might've been something at play either. For some people, the spread of those photos might be condemning, but the prospect of a lifetime of food might seem worth it too.

[canbebeautiful]

With the amount of overkill, it had to be someone who really wanted it. [Like.] You don't build a complicated knife machine if you're just taking advantage of an opportunity.

[clandestineideals]

[ He'll nod at that. ]

And while we're talking about overkill, I think it may be worth mentioning that whoever did this seemed to know what they were doing - not just at piecing something like that together. [ This person is a professional. ] Enough not to make a mistake like injure themselves, which could've easily been done with how many sharp objects were involved.

cw: suicide mention

[mightdoriya]

This wasn't someone who came across someone's elaborate plan to kill themselves, but instead someone who had planned everything from the start...right down to the smallest detail to avoid mistakes that would have gotten them easily found out otherwise. Do you think it's safe to assume this is something that they might have been planning for a while? I feel like getting all of this put together in one day just wouldn't be possible under the circumstances.

[canbebeautiful]

Not even a day. It mostly happened over one night, right? Like, nobody saw anybody building this yesterday during the day, did they?

[windowsexplorer]

It would be hard to conceal something like this here. We don't really have any private spaces.

[canbebeautiful]

Someone said - his id was missing, right? The people in the same room wouldn't need to do that. The only reason you need a specific one is to get into a different room.

[windowsexplorer]

...I wish we'd thought of that before. He and Miss Sonia were in the same room.

[doppelanger]

[ Something about this seems to strike her. ]

Have we found it yet?

[canbebeautiful]

Nobody mentioned finding it as far as I remember.

[doppelanger]

Maybe the killer still is having it, then. It would be stupid.

[scratchitti]

It does limit our suspect pool a little. It'd have to be someone from the other dorm. We can do a pat down too, if someone's willing to feel everyone up.

[canbebeautiful]

. . . How about everyone empties their pockets first then we can have a pat down?

[mightdoriya]

That sounds like a good idea. [He's skeptical that the culprit would have kept his ID, but it's the best next step they can take at this point.]

[scratchitti]

[Neku seems to realize his implication and turns away, blushing almost as red as his ginger hair]

A...ah. Yeah.

[clandestineideals]

[ He'll nod. ]

I'd think that when someone places blueprints together, it'd take some time to finish them and have everything in perfect order.

[ Or that's what he'd assume. ]

And assuming that they had been planning this for awhile, they'd need to have been careful about gathering what they needed for when the time came.

[canbebeautiful]

. . . Okay. Occam's razor: the simplest solution is usually right. If none of us have wounds and none of us are admitting to being able to build this thing, then wouldn't the simplest solution be that none of us built it because the person who built it is dead?

[mightdoriya]

So...you're saying that he might have made that machine himself to use on someone. The only other option is that the note wasn't forged at all, and that he built it to use on himself, but...I feel like that might be a stretch given what we know.

cw: suicide

[canbebeautiful]

Well, if he built it, it wasn't to use on himself because as much of a, uh. Theatrical personality as he had, I feel like there's easier ways to off yourself and still have it be "cool" or whatever ye was concerned with according to the note. So who was it intended for?

[scratchitti]

It's weird... if they were planning to get one of us putting it right outside the dorms would be the smartest.

Where was it set up? I never actually saw it.

[mightdoriya]

It wasn't far from the body. It was down the hallway where the security office and dining area are.

[scratchitti]

Security room... wait. Could Penny have been the target?