DIE HARD [1st Investigation]

[akudamods]

It's been almost a week since the X-Class Akudama found themselves in Dotonbori, and the days since Bunny and Shark's little announcement have gone on, seemingly falling on deaf ears. But now, as the sun begins to rise and turn the hanging smog red across the sky, it truly seems that blood is in the air. Not a soul is around on the streets... who will be the first to venture out?

Comments

[depleting]

[ Oh no, it's actually a quadruple murder...

Where in the lobby are the drones collapsed? Nearer to the front doors, or farther in? And when Satsuki approaches them for a better look, do they have any obvious sign of exterior damage?

[akudamods]

[They're right by the door! Don't trip.

The drones are a little beat up - a scuff here, a dent there. But it's nowhere near the amount one would think it'd require to destroy a metal object like this - they may not even be inoperable, truth be told. It probably warrants an even closer look.]

[depleting]

[ She takes a picture of their initial position, and then she crouches down. If she were to pick one of those drones up to examine it more thoroughly, what would she find? ]

[akudamods]

[The drones were in their hoverboard form when she found them, so there's a few things to note. One is the aforementioned scuff is really more like a scrape, likely caused by impacting another metal object.

Another is the cracks. This drone has a lot of folding parts. Something is stuck in them.

Finally, the drone's eyes - while normally these glow blue, they're full of static now. That does mean the power is on though... and the drones can ostensibly be commanded, whether through voice or a holo-keyboard that you might be able to trigger on with enough prodding. (It's probably the big bear nose. Boop the snoot!)]

[depleting]

[ Satsuki will start with the folding parts. Maybe the thing stuck in there is keeping it from moving properly!! Can she pull it out without causing more damage, or breaking whatever has been caught there? ]

[akudamods]

[Most definitely! Though... who knows if this really could have been enough to stop the drone from moving. It's a bit of blue fiber. Though there's also something in another crack. Assuming she wants to yank out all the things, she'll find a couple strands of blonde hair as well.]

[depleting]

[ She sure does! She isn't quite sure what to do with this, so for the moment, she'll just... put these aside.

It doesn't seem to have helped the state of the drone; after a bit of additional prodding, she eventually finds the nose button and presses it. ]

[akudamods]

[A blue holo-panel springs to life, complete with its hard light keyboard. Now you can see the screen, and with it, the last messages to be received by these drones.

Which is a bunch of garbled code that looks like utter nonsense. Um?]

[depleting]

[ Oh.

Does it look like there's any rhyme or reason to it, like a cipher, or is it just utter nonsense? And is it too long to feasibly transcribe? ]

[akudamods]

[Definitely too long, and not really a cipher either. If there was any kind of reason to a code like this, the best guess would probably be a jamming signal.]

[depleting]

[ Yeah... If it's that long and random, that's probably it...

Assuming there's nothing left to find with the drones, Satsuki will straighten up and give another sweep of the lobby. Time to notice that suspiciously empty space where a bench used to be? ]

[akudamods]

[Now it's just a bench that you used to know....

....But then again, there's still that bathroom stink?]

[depleting]

[ There sure is!

Actually, though, just one quick question about the lobby before Satsuki heads upstairs. Is there any signs of a crash in the lobby itself, or something that looks like it could have scraped those drones on impact?

If not, she'll move on to the bathroom. ]

[akudamods]

[There's no visible damage on anything else in the lobby, fortunately.

First things first, once Satsuki reaches the bathroom, it will be evident the smell of the blood is coming from a trash can.]

[depleting]

[ Oh boy!! What bloody object will she find in the trash? ]

EVIDENCE

[akudamods]

[It's a rag, close to the sink - looks like it was used to wipe a hefty amount of blood.]

[depleting]

[ Cool and fun! Being near the sink, is there any evidence of blood left behind there? Any little streaks that got missed, etc? ]

[akudamods]

[It looks pretty clean, honestly! But you know what else is strange?

That bench is in here now! Pretty sus, considering this is the fourth floor.]

[depleting]

[ Is

Is it just sitting against the wall like this is normal, or is it flipped on its face or something. ]

[akudamods]

[The bench is casually here, like this is its new home now. It could almost fit in.]

[depleting]

[ squ...ints...

Despite it standing there all casual, she's going to check it for both blood and dents. ]

EVIDENCE

[akudamods]

[The bench is in-tact. However, when Satsuki leans down to check, she will see that the floor tile underneath the bench has been cracked.]

[depleting]

[ What kind of crack is it? Like, a chip on a corner or something that runs through the center? ]

[akudamods]

[The cracks start from the middle and extend outward in a few different directions, giving them a 'spiderweb' appearance.]

[depleting]

[ Good to know! Satsuki is going to take some photos to document the rag, the bench, and the cracked tile; is there anything else she might notice in the process, or is she done in here? ]