FIFTH TRIAL

[whimsicalism]

FIFTH TRIAL

THE CONTAINMENT CENTER

There are two more dead this week, and some unusual locations led to some unusual and interesting evidence. Once the students have had time to scour the affected areas and collect their clues, Kakuya's lilting telepathic voice guides them back to the elevator. Everyone now has plenty of elbow room - and plenty of carrying space to bring down the evidence, living creatures and all.

In addition to the constant strobing of the lights and the scream of metal chafing against metal, those who can tune into the softer noises in the background might hear snippets of a song on their descent. Though the lyrics are garbled and unintelligible as any other song playing in the soda fountain, a muffled crooner keens in the distance. The familiar clown whose presence is a constant despite the shifting cells, however, is 32 22 flavors and then some. He precariously balances a multi-scoop ice cream cone in one patient hand, all of its assorted scoops unpleasant and sickly colors. Multiple punctured balloons hang down from his other arm, wrinkled and dripping what is probably chocolate sauce. A cohort of aliens that look like every mid-century American fantasy of the little green men from outer space hone their weapons in silence. For the most part, every monster looks less restless now, but the hunger hasn't faded from any of them. If anything, it's intensified. If anything, it looks like they're biding their time.

There is, however, no sign of Father in his new prison. If he's suffering from the consequences he faces, you won't get the satisfaction of seeing that just yet.

Without the stark light of Father's telecomm screen, the trial room is a little bit darker but no less brutal. There's no longer a Prefect's desk visible by the podiums. Nanami, with nowhere to go, stands around aimlessly for a few moments, fidgeting, before finally taking a petulant seat on the open floor.

Kakuya, herself, is no where to be seen but the faint sound of flute music announces that she is watching. A voice echoes in the back of your mind as you return to your familiar podiums.

"It... looks like two of you are gone... Find out who killed... Koishi and Carrie, won't you? Kakuya... won't mind if you don't but don't... give up right away, okay? That would be no... good."

She laughs in her familiar, childish way. "Kakuya... wants to see what... you do this time... friends. Let's... start."
Investigation | Podium Layout | Locations | IC Profiles | IC Rules | IC Evidence Presentation | Evidence List | NPC Questions

OOC NOTES

Welcome to the fifth trial! Today's trial image is the famous eldritch cafe illustration by Jeff Paul Johnson. There are two dead this week, and success will entail solving both murders. Despite the shakeup in the management recently, there are still NPC question sections available.

Evidence Reminders:

• If you can carry it you probably can bring it. While the body itself isn't allowed into the trial, most things are, including live animals.
• If your character has access to a piece of evidence and you don't know if you can bring it in, you can either ask the mods privately if that's possible or by pinging them in the post itself.
• If a piece of evidence is forgotten or the original finder otherwise can't present it (an emergency, etc), you can either assume retroactively that someone did or that the sheep brought it in to make sure that everything is tidy.
• As always, just put MODS in the header of your comment to get our attention for any clarification.

Good luck!

Comments

[shinedsobright]

Here we go again...

[Fret DOES have a different outfit than he's had at previous trials - in those he wore his clothes from home, and now he's wearing his new outfit he got from Dylan's room. Though he had already started wearing bits of it over his uniform as early as Wednesday. In his defense, these new sandals would be a much bigger pain in the ass to clean, and they go with the outfit, so they don't seem particularly out of place and lack traces of anything. And also, the fact that he carries his dueling sword with him should call into question why he would beat someone with a scoop.]

[canreallymove]

…uh…why the new duds?

[shinedsobright]

These? Just got em' back. They're not that new, I've been wearing them to class and everything.

[canreallymove]

…How long ago did you get them back? Sorry, but I gotta be sure, man.

[shinedsobright]

It's all good, Supersonic. I got em' Sunday. I started wearing them in case we wind up fighting monsters like we said - they've got better stats.

[canreallymove]

Better stats?

[??????]

[shinedsobright]

Yeah. Fashion gets you ready for the mental battle. Not that anyone has to change theirs, but it helps more than you know. Dewey's been doing the same thing, right?

[lets_dewey_it]

Oh! Yeah, you said something about giving my clothes stats... Thought that was like, a metaphor or a style points thing. Is it literal for you?

[shinedsobright]

Yep, it's an actual thing. I mean, we use psychic powers in the Reaper's Game, so it makes sense why fashion would be armor for the brain. And the more confident you are in your style, the more power it can give you. I like to think it's one of the one things that'd still work... I mean, Koishi's mask kept a bit of its hope powers, so why wouldn't your eyepatch? Even if you just think of it like a lucky charm.

[He doesn't know what 'the placebo effect' is called.]

[lets_dewey_it]

I see, that's interesting!

[canreallymove]

Yeah, but…how would you even know it works?

[shinedsobright]

I don't, not really. None of my clothes had a really strong power like Koishimmer's mask. But they suit me, and that's good enough.

...If it helps, I really don't make sense as the killer if you think about it. I mean, I have two other weapons on me I could have used instead of the scoop.