WEEK 3

[whimsicalism]

All three deaths last were tragic in their own ways. Was trust so fragile in that castle that a simple misunderstanding could end in blood? It seemed to be the case. The trial proved that without a doubt. Surely no one else would make that mistake again. As another week begins the tea cup elevator has granted access to a new area. Maybe the new amusements of a festival will ease your wounded hearts?

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

[It's time for week three! We're almost half-way done with our trip in the castle. Don't forget to submit your memories here and your activity here. Even though, the Queen seems to be a little more steady on her feet you can find her and the other Alice at the audience hall. As always, don't forget to submit your comments for fabulous prizes.]

Comments

[prescience]

[She visibly balks, if only slightly]

That voice...?

[Oriko is speaking softly to avoid overriding anything happening in front of them, and in the spaces between words. Like Nagisa, she wants to be careful not to miss anything.

But, wordlessly, she points to the blood in the middle of the argument.

Look, she seems to be implying. It's possible more than one person may have...]

[strictura]

[ He glances up at her reaction to the voice; it doesn't sound familiar to him at all, but maybe it's different for her?

He nods when she points to that blood. That must be what they're arguing over, right? So what they're seeing here is... a murder that followed in response to another one...? ]

[whimsicalism]

[If they look closer to the blood, there's outlines of two bodies. Apparently Mao was busy.

There's a snarl from Sayaka as the sounds of a struggle become evident as a bloody knife appears on the ground.]

I'm not going to just sit around and let you hurt more people!

[prescience]

[Stupid girl.

She thinks she knows how this ends, but Oriko won't look away until it's over.

If there's anything else around the bodies that might indicate an identity or anything, she'll keep her eyes roving over that as the confrontation goes on.]

[strictura]

[ At this point, he's more curious about how it started than how it ends. Unless there was another alteration to the rules in the past, it doesn't make much sense for a single person to kill more than one in this game unless someone showed up in the wrong place at the wrong time. ]

[prescience]

[One has to wonder why they didn't see this situation from the start, though - unless they should have turned the clock back even further?

Well, they can have that conversation out loud when everything's run its course.]

[whimsicalism]

[The bodies are just outlines for now, unfortunately. The reason they are seeing this they have no way of knowing but the arguing continues until the knife vanishes again. The ring toss is loudly destroyed again as a third body shape appears among the remains of the booth.

Minagawa gasps for air as Sayaka speaks.]

I didn't--you're coming back with me, to trial!

Ha...ha... I don't think that's going to happen, do you? Sayaka Miki?

Gah--I'm not like that Kure--you deserved it!

[strictura]

[ ...The way this is ending up isn't surprising, but that crash kind of was. He's glad that it seems that all they have to worry about this time is the noise, though. ]

[whimsicalism]

[The sound of Sayaka running away fade. The scene is over and the fates of Mike, Anna, Mao, and Sayaka have been discovered.]

[prescience]

[It's over.

Oriko turns and looks at Nagisa, still silent for the time being, as words come a little slower.]

So with no one to punish for the first two deaths, I believe we know who would end up facing justice instead.

[strictura]

They were already dead when the last one showed up, right?

[ Sighs and shakes his head... he's not without sympathy, but still. He's starting to see what the Cat was saying now about how much of a mess that last group was compared to them. ]

Unless she was spotted before she could get away, she would have been better off testifying to what she saw at the trial instead of trying to get into the middle of it herself.

[prescience]

[His assumption is based on one potential fallacy: That the participants in the last round had any intention of playing by the rules. Concerns about following along with the game have already been raised among their group, haven't they?

She thinks of Franziska, such a disappointment.]

It almost sounds as if she thought any punishment she metered out would be more justice that would otherwise be served.

[strictura]

I guess that's what happens when someone prioritizes their ideal of justice over everything else in a situation like this, huh?

[ ... ]

It looked like you reacted to that voice, though. Was that Miki someone you knew?

[prescience]

From their argument, it sounds as if she took the death of Catarina Claes-san. If she realized that she was unable to stop someone from dying again, why would she continue to participate in a system that would just lead to more death?

[The voice had been familiar and unexpected, so she can't brush her reaction off as something less than recognition. He'd see right through some explanation that she hadn't expected the recreations to feel so real. So -]

No, I can't say that I knew her, exactly. More accurately, I would describe her as a friend of someone I was much more familiar with.

[strictura]

[ Because her not participating wouldn't stop anything, he thinks, but he's already steered the conversation away from that by now.

That answer is interesting, because he's not aware of anyone besides Oriko recognizing anyone from the previous round... and because this Sayaka Miki apparently wasn't a friend of a friend, he notices. ]

Hm. Was she still present and alive in your world, last you knew?

[prescience]

[Yes she is very aware that she is so far the only person with any connection to the previous "round" of this "game" and that it is very anxiety inducing thank you Nagisa!

But on the surface, she's still quite calm.]

Yes, she was. I've no way of knowing what happened after the last time I was nearby, but no tragic fate befell her before then.

[strictura]

[ hey he's not saying it out loud!! ]

It's a shame we don't know what the last thing she remembered from home would have been... that might have helped us confirm whether our being brought here actually has an effect on what happens in our own worlds -- like whether we disappear or not.

[ pause ]

I wonder if we'd be able to find a journal or anything else that could clarify that if we were able to get into her room.

...If that was something you didn't mind looking into, anyway.

[prescience]

[>:( !!!! ]

Yes, it's a pity we can't ask her. There are other possibilities, of course, though it's hard to wrap my mind around a scenario where someone else might have been brought from my home world earlier.

[She thinks of that pitiful Homura Akemi, constantly wheeling through cycle after cycle after cycle. What if they were all from different desperate timelines?

That's a problem for future Oriko, and certainly not something that should complicate their basic investigation. Leaning over to look at the old scene of the crime, Oriko hums thoughtfully.]

It does seem that most participants are keeping some record of what they know. Do we even have something that would allow us to enter her old room?

[strictura]

I'm not sure, but if not, we should have an advantage in that regard too. You'd at least have a chance of recognizing something that came from your world... or maybe the kind of thing she might be likely to own?

[ You can infer some things about a person's interests without actually knowing them, after all, and if her voice was recognizable, then Oriko has at least seen her before. (He's sure anyone looking at him would be able to figure out he'd be more likely to own a book than a basketball, anyway.) ]

HELLO MOD I WOULD LIKE TO INVESTIGATE

[prescience]

Yes... Above anyone else here, at least, I'd possess that advantage. [When it comes to physical evidence, Oriko can't say that she's the strongest here, but she is observant. She nods solemnly, accepting the charge to go through Sayaka Miki's final belongings.]

What about these other unfortunate children? Are there any in whose rooms you think you might be able to find something important?

[For the purposes of merging stuff together, we can say they returned to the suite area to discover all the items left behind while they're discussing this?

After some mulling them over, she'd pick those sweet ass classical tunes, of course.]

HELLO. IC-ly this probably happens after the meeting, cool?

[whimsicalism]

[The sweet tunes open up Sayaka Miki the Mermaiden's room. Room 32.

The cowboy hat opens up Room 15 and the blue ribbon opens up an alternate room 5.]

all good!!

[prescience]

[Well, Oriko herself will be taking care of the girl whose name and voice are familiar for now.

Politely, and completely without reason, she announces herself before she enters the room.

Her eyes would be immediately drawn to the window, like it or not. What does the landscape outside look like?

After that, does anything seem out of place or is the bedroom orderly?]

investigation

[strictura]

[ Okay, well, Nagisa likes blue, and he... likes people who like ribbons, so room 5 is the obvious choice, once he gets around to this after the meeting.

...It's very weird opening up an alternate dimension next door to his own room, but at least he hadn't really seen inside of Ib's room in the first place, so it's less weird than it could be. ]

[strictura]

I'm sure one of them was actually the one whose room I looked at before -- Sasaki, with the colored pencils. Maybe if I can figure out what belongs to her killer, though...

[whimsicalism]

[Wow, okay, I forgot this. But there's a toy pistol near one and some more broken colored pencils near the other.]