THE FIRST TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE FIRST TRIAL

[The hour is up.

A bell chimes.

Soon enough, the Conductor collects everyone.]

Right, come now. You don't want the rats come and drag you in.

[And indeed, if any of them do try to resist, the rats will swarm them and drag them down to the locked gate.

Soon, the Conductor is standing where the lock is, hands on her hips. Soon enough the Empress' Shadow, the Other Victoria, the daughter of Her Thrice-Renewed Majesty, hobbles in, still dressed in her black, using a cane, her head held high as she stared at the Conductor. If the Strigoi do indeed remember her, perhaps they have informed her of what is happening. The two stare at one another, silent, for a moment.

Then, with a sigh, the Conductor begins to recite words that she has clearly said dozens of times.]

Private citizen. In the name of the Empire and your eternal Empre-

[Beep. The Dowager's thumb is immediately on the fingerprint scanner, and there is a click before the chains dissipate, as if by magic. Then, the fingerprint scanner-a familiar, of all things, of a Strigoi-then hops over to the Dowager, squeaking over to the Outer Terrace. Then, the Dowager herself turned and began to walk off, though not without giving a small, sympathetic nod to the Strangers as she leaves.]

...oh. Well then. Thank you, your Majesty.

[Clearing her throat, the Conductor throws open the gates. It's a small English garden in twilight, with a fountain and bushes and a few animal-like familiars here and there. There is a small station which to make tea and crackers with accompanying crockery near the house, though there are no servants manning it.

In the center of the garden is fifteen podiums-something McBurn would recognize almost immediately-in a very large, wide circle, and a larger, sixteenth chair which the Conductor sits in,. Each podium has a pair of sunglasses chained to them; there's no way to unchain them.

Above them is darkness. On the side of the house facing them, a window curtain is slightly open; the Empress' Shadow is the only other live witness to this aside from the crew.

The conductor presses a button on the chair, and everyone's cuff beeps. There is a clock again, along with a list.]

THE ROSE	THE FORLORN	THE GOLEM	THE DISCORD
				THE HALVED

[She then presses a second button, which seems to do nothing. She then speaks laconically, if not bored.]

This is the trial of Weftlander Proto Man, alias Blues, alias "The Alphabet" . We are in week 2 of our journey; our current stop is Victoria's Chasm. The suspects are as recorded in Little Courtesy Registration No. 36244-H. This is Conductor Lilac recording; I am empowered by the edict of Her Thrice-Renewed Majesty to magister the following proceedings.

[Then, much more lively (if not a little sarcastic).]

Bureaucracy. Isn't it grand?

Now. Let's begin, shall we? You have the information, and you have your suspects. You have a time limit to which you must adhere to, and you must vote before that time ends. You may ask me questions if you wish, but-don't ask me to tell you who did it. Or anything else ridiculous. Do make your questions pertinent to what is happening, please.

[With that, she stands and strolls over to the station to make herself tea. Looks like there's no other choice aside from having tea and crackers; the clock is ticking.


The trial for the murder of Proto Man, the Alphabet, has begun.]

Comments

[higanbana]

...Luck?

[technicolourdifficulties]

If we follow the theory that he fell on the knife, yes. I would think that would be difficult to orchestrate. Hence, luck.

...Or I suppose lack thereof for the dearly departed.

[higanbana]

Hm... would it be that difficult?

I admit I've never spent that long looking at it... is that staircase particularly wide? That does change my perspective...

[strangerpeople]

[It is a little wider than an average staircase. Luxury car and all.]

[higanbana]

...If it is on the wider side, that does change things. It would be harder to control the exact aim of a fall in that case... I had been thinking that, perhaps, our culprit set something up, but it might just be luck after all.

[telecosmetic]

I also didn't find any oil on the stairs, so he probably didn't hit the knife there.

[eternaldivide]

The was a pool of oil next to the kitchen sink, wasn't there. Is it possible that's where he was initially stabbed?

[unwittingking]

Then why was there an oil trail? The dents on Proto's body didn't seem enough to make all that...

[eternaldivide]

What about the gaping wound on his back? The knife was left in the kitchen sink which means that they stabbed him, then took the knife out.

[unwittingking]

Maybe...they brought him there to get the water? And they removed the knife then?

[Since, you know, he was electrocuted. and all that.]

[eternaldivide]

... Actually, that's possible. Maybe the initial stab wasn't in fact in the kitchen, but upstairs, where the knife was taken from? A struggle then happened on the stairs, and then he ah ... "bled" out and was electrocuted in the kitchen.

And then finally dragged where we found him.

[unwittingking]

Sounds reasonable.

[Good to know he wasn't saying something stupid!]

[higanbana]

I was not thinking on the stairs... moreso at the bottom.

Where was the oil trail, exactly?

[unwittingking]

I was thinking that too.

[He thought they were going with "Proto fell on top of the knife after going down the stairs"??]

I think it went from the bottom of the staircase to the kitchen. Didn't really explore there, though.

[higanbana]

That seems to confirm my theory, then, rather than deny it.

He fell onto the knife from the top of the stairs, although it would have taken extraordinary luck to line up such a thing, and was then taken from the stairs to the kitchen.

As for the pool of oil by the sink... That could essentially be his version of bleeding out, could it not? As awful as such a thing is to imagine.

[whitemoontiger]

If we go with that idea, that would mean someone had the physical strength to drag him over there and with how he is? He doesn't look like he would have been light to carry.

[higanbana]

He could have also run himself, I suppose. Since we know, no matter how this went down, the knife did not kill him.

[whitemoontiger]

That's entirely possible. He could have stumbled over there on his own before his would-be murderer caught up with him.

[unwittingking]

It sounds reasonable to me.

Poor kid didn't deserve that...

[Saying that to himself with a small, sad frown on his face.]

[telecosmetic]

[Hmm...Eliza looks thoughtful.] How sharp was the point of the knife? I think that it's easier to stab through something if you hit it with a sharper tip...maybe that's how the culprit got him.

[eternaldivide]

According to this the tip was broken. But it's a serrated knife, so that could have made it possible to cut though Proto's metal, I ... think.

[ What are robots really how hard is their metal Mithos doesn't really know. ]

[telecosmetic]

Could it have broken off inside the wound?

[eternaldivide]

Wouldn't it have been found if it had?