THE FIRST TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE FIRST TRIAL

[Almost as soon as the investigation is over, a loud DING echoes through the mall.

The elevator doors in the food court, before completely inaccessible, have now opened for the Titled. It will not close until every last Titled has gotten in. Nor will everyone have to wait long for potential stragglers; a thought comes to everyone's mind, a realization that they need to get into the elevator. They need to go.

They need to find out who did this.

The elevator is a small freight elevator inside, and its just big enough to fit everyone in it. After a short ride, the elevator opens...

And they are on the roof. Despite it clearly not being that late in the day, the roof seems to be surrounded by an air of cool, perpetual sunset. Beyond that, good luck making out what's beyond the roof - there seems to be a city, but it's utterly unidentifiable. Not that anyone can jump off the roof to try and get closer - there is a translucent barrier surrounding the roof that is utterly impenetrable.

The main attraction of the roof, however, is not the fuzzy landscape beyond. It's the large, stepped circular platform which is a mere ten paces from the elevator. On this platform are 15 podiums, surrounding a large, empty, circular floor. Instantly every phone pings, giving everyone their platform assignment based on their bedroom number. And - upon arriving at their designated podium - they will find a dock for their phone to slide into. As soon as they do so the XAMINE app will pop up, revealing everyone's findings regarding the murder.

Not Wake, though. His podium is lower, and bare save for a white cloth.

Still, everyone - including Ren, who will find that whoever arranged this whole deal has given him a chair to sit in - will need their strength. Which is why each Stranger also has a bento box lunch, carefully prepared, waiting for them at their podium. Each meal is tailored to every Stranger's specific tastes and allergies, as best as a bent box meal can be. It even comes with a cup of their favorite drink.

So, take a few bites, take a few breaths, and get ready, Titled.

The trial for the murder of Wake Archus, The Feeling, has begun.]

Comments

[notgentle]

The second you see something shiny, you latch onto it and don't let go... no wonder the motive this week was greed.

[Dio steps in front of his podium, leaning against it with one hand and using the other to dramatically gesticulate. His legs are crossed jauntily.]

I want each and every one of you to really think about what you're looking at, here. This is a premediated murder, you know? Wake would never give anyone a reason to defend themselves from him. Someone spent several hours gathering supplies and then took a few more hours to get that boy alone in the perfect location. The culprit had minutes on end when nobody saw them. [A cutting aside that really strikes him as an opportunity to mock, not to grieve.] Especially not Ursula with her precious little patrol! [Anyway, he's building up momentum here to something he finds simultaneously infuriating and funny.] They brought a change of clothing - which doesn't even fit me, by the way - so they were obviously thinking about the way they would look after getting into this whole oh so heinous crime action, and you're telling me they didn't pick up a LITTLE FUCKING PIECE OF ROPE?

[He lets that hang in the air, then waves outward with both index fingers pointing out of curled fists, continuing with cool determination.] No. Not in a million years. Either there's a damn good reason I couldn't just tie the chain right the fuck back onto my shoe where it belongs, or someone put it smack dab in the middle of the crime scene on purpose and is trying to kill me. The same person who fed trusting old Wake sleeping pills and then struck him on the head - from behind, for some reason, so it's not as if he were standing up straight to run away at that point. And who had a radio handy to drop into the tank even though they were carrying all these other tools. Come on. I've seen lots of courts and lots of circuses. There's a difference. Show me which one this is supposed to be.

[ FRANTIC TALK SHOWDOWN BEGIN ]

[theirmagic]

[ Excuse her? She is pissed now. She'll touch the rest of it in a bit but-- ]

At least I actually tried! What did you do to try to protect the people here?!

[notgentle]

Uh, I don't know, I think I've been doing a good job of looking before I trip over wires.

[theirmagic]

But a pretty terrible job at caring for another's person life. Funny how you're only bothered now that we're concerned it might be you. You're a callous, disgusting man. Maybe if you had actually stopped to help me in my patrolling, this wouldn't have happened!

[pinnately]

[ .......................... ]

Magpies.

[totalbullshit]

[ Everyone is busy yelling at Dio, which is probably reasonable, but this is such a calm statement for Torri to make here that despite the topical connection to Dio's entrance, Helena can't quite let it go. ]

What do you mean?

[pinnately]

The other day, he was telling me about magpies. They like shiny things, and like collecting them.

[ Maybe it's a coincidence, but the whole bit about greed jarred her memory. ]

Are you a magpie, Dio? [ No honorific there either. ]

[foolishjustice]

[Don't mind Akechi just holding up a photo of the head wound. The injury is barely bloody, and looks new.]

A minor correction, Archus-san's head wound was sustained post-mortem, most likely when he fell into the tank.

More significantly, losing a small piece of gold rope beneath a drawer would be easy to miss while dragging an unconscious person, don't you agree? Particularly if they were in a hurry to clean up the more obvious signs of their presence and return to their room.

[notgentle]

Tch-- [Apparently beneath a drawer would be easy to miss strikes a cord.]

But you're assuming that the culprit was already in a rush when the drawer was pulled out. Why do it over a drawer anyway when Wake was groggy after taking the sleeping pills? The countertop was right there. Nice and hard.

[totalbullshit]

Maybe because Wake was already on the ground and one would have needed to pull him back up to reach the counter. The drawer was closer in level.

[ SHE'S BEEN SILENT FOR A LONG WHILE HERE, but she wants to live and settle this one way or another. If this really is Dio it's not like she feels like being merciful either, just... ugh. U g h. ]

[steelmagnolias]

[ ...what was that? He didn't catch that whole rant, but he peers over Joey to where Dio is and squints. ]

...your profile says you have telekinesis.

[katsufemmefatale]

If that's true, then you could've used your power to strike Wake. You wouldn't be near him, you wouldn't have gotten blood on your clothes, and that means the shirt that doesn't fit you is something to mislead us.

[scienceofmagic]

Tell me, Dio.

[ Croix's playful side has vanished in an instant. ]

Did you even notice it was gone before you got back to your room? Or were you too busy murdering a young man and then dragging him to set up a trap? Because why set up a trap and leave behind your little, gold chain to frame you?

[ You have insulted her girlfriend. It's personal. ]

Besides, I seem to recall your ability being moving objects with telekinesis, right? In fact, and I quote...

[ She brings it up to read. ]

"The power to throw any one object or person a short distance, at any time, with a burst of telekinesis."

Did you even lay a hand on him? Or did you throw him with your mind and he grabbed your golden rope just before you mentally threw him into an opened drawer?

[notgentle]

Uh, you're telling me that I'm throwing him around, obviously up to no good, and the first thing he reaches for is my foot. I guess you spend so much time flying around on your broomstick that you've forgotten what it's like to walk on the actual earth.

[eyesofdespair]

So do you care to explain how your chain just happened to go missing and end up in the hands of the culprit without you having noticed sooner?

[notgentle]

I told Ursula! I was eating dinner at Unsteak My Heart. To clarify, after that I went straight to bed. Obviously, the culprit happened to see the chain in front of that restaurant and planted it behind the counter. By the time I woke up and noticed it, we had bigger things to worry about. Like Wake being dead.

[beguiledcard]

Afraid of being center stage?

[comesaround]

I think so. He does seem awfully defensive about this.

[ Karma's really been taking it easy here but he hasn't been ignoring a single detail however. He really couldn't hold back from saying such a thing now, however. ]

Sounds like I'm listening to a child, actually.

[eyesofdespair]

A bit odd for his occupation, don't you think?

[Hey, he paid attention to some of the stuff Dio said about his job. He obviously puts on shows for people.]

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama's eyes are ice cold. ] Wasn't the shirt in an obvious disturbance in the main food court area? While the chain had fallen somewhere hidden? I think of the two, the shirt is the piece that's more likely to be deliberately planted.

And Wake's knees were bruised and damp, perhaps as if he fell onto them.... Making your boot chain quite easy to reach.

This high wire act has no safety net, Dio. You should step carefully.

[notgentle]

Oh, yeah, they're damp from falling into a source of water, which is exactly what they had in the hidden part of the steak restaurant where you're saying the chain was ripped off all dramatic-like. Bzzzzzzt! Try again!

[beguiledcard]

[ holy shit ]

[incrediblystressedout]

[Joey takes a deep breath.]

Okay guys. Let's calm down and think for a second. Our story for how the chain got there uh...puts Dio at the scene of the crime, where Wake was beaten up. We've got a pretty good theory going, I think, but Wake died of electrocution, so we should focus on that electrical trap for a second, maybe?

I didn't look at it myself, but was there anything special about that wire setup that would incriminate or exonerate Dio?

[thegreenhornet]

I didn't look at it either, but was Dio there when you found the kid? He may have pushed the radio into the tank instead of there being a setup?

[notgentle]

Okay. Sure. Logic. Reasoning out the whole crime scene. That's something I can get behind. You're a smart cookie, Joey.

[I hope that I'm conveying the way that this attempt at calm, measured speech is completely terrifying after everything that has gotten Dio's adrenaline pumping]

The wire was probably wrapped around his wrist before he got put into the water, since it'd be bad news to reach into the electrified water. They'd gotten Wake unconscious. So it could be a person from any position. Doesn't particularly point to someone short more or less than someone tall. Anyone else want to bring in a height consideration?