THE THIRD TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE THIRD TRIAL
(~SK. 17-18)


[When the investigation ends, the D O N G rings throughout the ship, followed by Zero's voice.]

It is time. Everyone, come to the theater. Time is...wasting.

[And so it is. The seating has once more changed to reflect the fallen-Moriarty and now Brain's podiums are draped in black. And, of course, there is no food-

The screens come up, and the mask of Zero appears, ever inscrutable. Their instructions are brief.]

Your Brain is gone, I'm afraid. Cut into pieces and cast aside...and someone here knows why. Now, it's time for you to discover the truth as well...if you can.


[The trial for the murder of Brain, the Blue, has begun.]

Comments

[onychomance]

We also know that Brain was practicing his power hoping to use its effects to trigger evolution.

That said, I think it's possible that Hermes came into contact with the red note. Ritsu, do you feel any destructive impulses?

[somuchshipping]

I didn't even know those notes were there!

[onychomance]

You seemed to have a dim recollection of events. I've been wondering if you were hacked by Brain.

[somuchshipping]

[Woah, hey, slow down there!]

I mean I liked Brain, but we certainly weren't THAT close! PlusINeverShipped HimWithMyself!

[onychomance]

[What the fuck]

....The hacking would have been done without permission. Obviously.

[valkavian]

Weird fantasies aside, is that even possible?

[onychomance]

I wouldn't know, to be honest. I don't have much knowledge of hackers.... the most technology I carry is my cell phone.

[autonomousthought]

[Oh hey this is her area of expertise-]

A skilled hacker can breach any system, with enough time and effort, much like a skilled lockpicker can pick any lock - it's only a matter of how much trouble they have.

AI such as myself are far more difficult, since we can respond to the attack in real time, but it's still possible. Even I've been hacked before. ...It's very...violating.

[onychomance]

[Kira nods, it seems like he could potentially be on the right track. ...He still doesn't want to think about these implications in Hermes' romantic framing though.]

What tools would be needed to do this?

[yesorwoof]

When I think about the timing of his behavior, it seems to me there's another explanation.

Perhaps Hermes regained an upsetting memory shortly after B Deck opened.

[autonomousthought]

A computer of some kind is the most straightforward, although there are many kinds of gadgets for various uses. However, that kind of hacking would require Hermes to be on a network, which even if he is natively he would almost certainly be cut off from here.

Otherwise...the hacker would have to be able to access his internals. That is, opening him up and tampering with the wiring or circuits - I'm much less familiar with this kind, and he's different from me, so I'm not completely sure what tools specifically would be needed for this.

[valkavian]

Any chance this shit can just...deteriorate?

[autonomousthought]

By "this shit", do you mean implements of hacking, or computers in general?

Because if the latter, absolutely. Hardware is subject to wear, tear, and the passage of time, like anything else.

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes aggressively yells at Kira.]

Nobody fucking hacked me!

[valkavian]

Whoa whoa whoa there sunshine, it's cool.

[onychomance]

[Kira tires of these outbursts.]

Prove it then.

[yesorwoof]

We should expose Hermes to the purple note and see if his demeanor changes.

[voidseeing]

Unfortunately, it disappeared as soon as I touched it. I'd been planning to bring it with me until that happened.

[autonomousthought]

I did bring the red one with me. It was difficult to remove from the wall, but I managed.

[She'll produce the note! It is indeed headache-inducing red.]

[autonomousthought]

Some, yes. I wasn't particularly close with Brain, so it's uncharacteristic that my thoughts toward his killer would be as violent as they have been.

[Hermes. Hm.]

I did discover burn damage on the wall as well - many small holes. They didn't look like fire burns, though.

[voidseeing]

There was burn damage like that on the wall in the lounge as well. Given that it occurred in both of the places we found musical notes, we should assume that it's either a side effect of Brain's power or damage caused by the killer during their battle.

[autonomousthought]

That seems logical, provided they match - so it's probable that a fight began, and moved elsewhere.

We don't know what the evolved versions of anyone's powers are, do we? So, maybe our next step should be considering...if fire didn't cause these burns, then what did?

[pegasinister]

A hot item would be my guess. Or a intense light or beam?

[He's seen a certain Slither-y machines do just that. He doesn't know the word 'laser' but...]

[autonomousthought]

Possible. There are thermal burns, chemical burns, electrical burns, radiation burns, and of course cold burns - frostbite. Determining which we're dealing with will be helpful.

[exequte]

I... guess you can't rule me out, since cold can burn as well, but... um... is the fact that he doesn't have frostbite good enough for that?