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

QUESTIONS FOR ZERO

[15unknowns]

[not_a_lego_maniac]

[Zack had been in the shower, so he at least is clean and smells nice.


But he looks horrified as he looks at the evidence, because holy crap, he was in the shower during this!?]

My god...

CW dismemberment both old and new

[yesorwoof]

[Makima arrives with the right arm.]

I believe we should gather the parts for analysis. I am afraid I have something very important to say.

[She says this as flatly and unironically as possible.]

Brain-kun's heart went pitter patter when he thought of his friend Heart-kun.

I mean that I observed for myself his heart pulsed in his body and circulated blood elsewhere, though he did not sweat. He's not here anymore to speak for himself on anything else he might have done. So I'd like to request cooperation in refraining from remarks about such affairs. I only need to know why he circulated blood through his body but did not bleed when dismembered. Perhaps because his brain did not direct the parts. So let's examine the parts and make sure that his neck was snapped before he was killed.

He was also quite modified from the body he desired and has now been modified further. Thus, I am also overseeing the parts for protective purposes. If anyone among us has urges that require satiation after recent events, I will assist them in cutting off the culprit's limb for them to feed from prior to the exception.

[superstylishsquid]

[Alastor tosses photos of a leg in a pan and a roll of paper towels that look like they were hastily replaced onto his podium.]

The limbs were cut with some sort of very sharp implement, and then someone tried to cook the leg. They must have been up pretty recently, since the oven was turned off but still warm when we got there.

And I'm gonna go ahead and say this right now: I have an alibi. Roland was with me all night, and would've noticed if I'd left.

[autonomousthought]

[Ritsu is an island at her podium. The people who'd be to either side of her are dead.

She is vibrating in place like a poofed-up angry kitten.]

I investigated the D Deck hallway, you all have access to my report, I believe. Please...give me a moment to pull myself together before I expand on them.

[superstylishsquid]

[Alastor holds up a right leg, that's...uh. Well, there's no two ways about it: it looks like it was roasted.]

Found this in the kitchen. And yes, it was already cooked when I got there.

From the taste I got of him last week...well, not to speak ill of the dead, but his blood was like diet soda. That gross chemical-y taste.

[godspiousjasper]

Mm-hm! I'm not a deep sleeper so I definitely would have noticed if he'd gotten up and went anywhere.

[ Going to nod in assent. Getting this out of the way right away was important. ]

[superstylishsquid]

[Alastor just...moving to grip her shoulder.]

[jinglebros]

[ Aoi refuses to go to his own podium, sticking right by Hubert's side at that podium. He's concerned, okay? This death is hitting someone he cares about real hard. ]

[pegasinister]

Zero. You have said before that we are allowed to reject performing an execution. Is the other end of the spectrum allowed? May we volunteer?

[not_a_lego_maniac]

It's all right. Take your time, mate.

[superstylishsquid]

Especially since you had a vice grip on me. Don't think I could've stretched without waking you up.

[voidseeing]

There was bruising around his neck that looked like someone had tried to get him down from that rope, so there was at least some circulation going on at that point.

[godspiousjasper]

[ A soft laugh and he at least looks a bit sheepish for what it's worth. ]

Sorry about that, Alastor. I suppose I was just a bit worried, that's all.

[ Not that the devil would go and kill someone but.. y'know. ]

[15unknowns]

Volunteer, you say?


I wonder. Are you so eager to do so?

[exequte]

What if it's Aoi, Hubert?

[She's watching him levelly, not because she really thinks it is, but because this week he's the one who's emotionally compromised and swearing vengeance, so it seemed only fair to return the reality check he'd given her. She had no doubt he'd be able to do it, but that would not preclude regret.]

[superstylishsquid]

It's fine. I felt the same way, considering...what happened when I let Anya go off on her own after lights out.

[yesorwoof]

If you are not the culprit, I believe you would be highly suitable to the task at hand. You'd have my vote if we needed to elect someone.

cw: uh. cannibalism adjacent? slaughtering practices?

[exequte]

Was there blood staining on any of his clothing? I... didn't check. But if there was....

Could it be possible that he was.... um....

That his blood was deliberately drained into some kind of catch basin? And then.... disposed of. Either... uh... consumed or else discarded, to make things... harder for us.

cw suicide

[yesorwoof]

That's strange. Why wouldn't such a person come forward with the truth? Was it a fabricator? Did the culprit have regrets? Did a good friend of the culprit's see Brain-kun , try to save him, but then keep mum for the culprit's sake?

Or did Brain-kun hang himself? Perhaps he thought that an unsolvable suicide would confine his enemy?

[For someone who had something very important to say, she has absolutely no particular inflection as she describes each of these harrowing possibilities.]

[onychomance]

[Urges that require satiation, huh. Anyway, Kira has the most unamused face as he holds the hand to her - his grip is on the base, so Brain's left hand is outstretched toward her. The base has been dried off to the best of his abilities.]

Careful, it was in the toilet. And it was reaching out, just like this.

[jinglebros]

Don't look at me.

[ Neighborhood Fabricator piping up. ]

[yesorwoof]

How odd. Was this required for cauterization? If it was a frame job, isn't the oven mitt a bit of the giveaway? I think I recall you handling incinerator evidence freely on occasion.

[exequte]

I don't think you need one. You've said you prefer your meat better raw, right? So even if you'd decided to eat him, you wouldn't have roasted him first.

[voidseeing]

That's what I'm wondering. Our first order of business should be establishing a timeline so that we can rule out as many of those possibilities as we can.