CATCH ME IF YOU CAN [2nd Trial]

[akudamods]

The shuttles return, signaling that the investigation has ended. Once the shuttles are full (though short a few X-Classes from last time, the automated vehicle is once again aware of the required number) they drive back to the holo-dome, as the scenery forms around the podiums once again.

This time, the setting that forms in the hard light is different - for one thing, it looks a lot colder. Ice climbs up the podiums, freezing them all the way up except for the screen. Buildings form and partway collapse, creating an apocalyptic scene in the place there was once dungeon walls, and these wrecked structures are covered in snow as well. Nuclear winter, or just hell frozen over? It's hard to say. But it may seem more like the latter, when you look at the ground. There are sculpted body parts made entirely of ice floating around the floor. Floating on what? Well... the cold ground is covered in a veritable flood of blood! Good thing this stuff isn't real, or you'd all be needing new shoes. Meanwhile, the Physicist is watching from behind her hard light glass again, but this time it just looks like she's chilling in a glacier as the Zealot's drone resumes its aerial position as well. The Noh masks beam into their "seats," fixing their vacant stares on the X-Classes.

You've got your evidence and everyone's billboard information on the podium screen. Time to solve the case.

Comments

NPCs

[akudamods]

[Come here to ask Zealot and Physicist questions about the case. They can help with things like clarifying the billboards, recreating evidence, and general inquiries about the trial process.]

MAP

[akudamods]

[The map you have been provided in the Akudama Go app is about ten kilometers by ten kilometers, so it could take 20-40 minutes to walk from one of the isolated city block probation areas to another.]

[metamere]

O'Zealot, has the courtroom been appropriately stocked this week?

[ What else did you expect of him. ]

[superstructure]

Would one of you be able to edit the audio Sephiroth recorded to make it clearer? I assume speeding it up will help.

[conways_retribution]

<sub>[...He's unresponsive. Despondent. For obvious reasons.

It might take a bit for him to start engaging properly.]</sub>

[hunterandhunted]

[The trip on the shuttle may have smelled a bit bloody. Why? Because Zenos has carried Akira's body to the arena. (Again, why?? Well, now's your time to ask if you wish!)

Regardless of if anyone comments on this, he will place the body (respectfully, but not because he wants to) where anyone can access it for easy forensic information gathering. He's still of the mind that the head trauma does not match the weight of the lamppost, but he's also not a doctor.]

[thefifthchild]

[Damian nods at him. Perfectly acceptable thing to do here.] Thanks.

[He'll just quickly use his enhanced detective lenses to see if there's anything that he can find on a more forensic level that might have been scrubbed off.]

[fullswingkiss]

[ ......... as like, the only normal person here, Ainosuke's kind of grossed out, but what can he do. Smile and try not to breathe in corpse odor, ha ha. Wow. ]

Isn't this a little tasteless?

[your_best_friend]

[* Looks at the corpse.]

[* Looks at Zenos.]

...Why?

[depleting]

[ ...Well, Satsuki doesn't really have room to talk, since... She also steps forward. In her hands is another piece of evidence, taken from the crime scene.

She sets down the lamppost—all 300 pounds of it—beside Akira's body. ]

[osssuary]

[Dumps a dented fire extinguisher on this increasingly dubious pile of Stuff. He's also holding one (1) black feather in case anyone wants to do feather match-ups, why not.]

[fixingtodie]

[..........................

Yeah this is fine.]

[voidseeing]

[Adding one (1) plush chicken to said pile.

Don't ask, okay.]

[intimations]

[Just gonna add five black feathers to the pile so everyone can enjoy⭐]

mods!!

[intimations]

[So let's just go corpse-checking again! Although this time it's going to be more about the claw marks and bruises that were found on Akira's body. Do any of them look like they had started healing up? So say, showing signs of early scabbing, or maybe the bruises being in the later stages of healing, etc.?]

[inspiritus]

[ Adding in two black feathers to the pile of things that have been brought in while he approves of Zenos' choices. ]

[your_best_friend]

[* ...There better not be any ice puns.]

So... Another game of "Hate the X-Classes" is up it seems~. Let's begin.

I didn't get to examine the body, but little old me DID manage to examine the murder scene. I examined it thoroughly, VERY thoroughly. There was no blood anywhere except around the corpse and concentrated on top of a nearby lamppost. Even more, I can say for certain that no blood was cleaned away or even attempted to be cleaned away.

[* Flowey's just getting down to business already, it seems.]

[fixingtodie]

...If I remember correctly, he could fly, right? So... maybe he collided with the top of the lamppost?

[depleting]

[ Well, now that she has deposited the heavier (in both a literal and metaphorical sense) piece of evidence, Satsuki returns to her podium. There, she places a second object: a frayed chicken plushie. ]

Let's see... Outside the station, one of the wooden pillars had a dent in it, but there wasn't any blood or anything like that left behind. I did find a blood trail nearby, but... It was so thin that I'm not sure which direction it was moving in. It went between the the entrance to the station and Hyper Zone, though!

I also found some clumps of fur and scattered feathers. One of them was stuck to this. [ She bounces the chicken plushie on her podium. ] I found it inside the offering boxes.

By the way... Does anyone know what time the offering boxes get picked up?

Mods!

[voidseeing]

[Oh hey, he's got one of those chicken plushies over here too... are they a match?]

MODS

[your_best_friend]

[* Now that more stuff has been added to the evidence pile, Flowey brings out and turns on his Hemo-Beam flashlight and brings up the app on his phone. Does anything other than the lamppost or corpse have blood on it?]

[akudamods]

[Some of the feathers that were near the body do have blood on it, but it's little bits of blood that pretty much tell nothing -- most likely from proximity. No traces of blood on anything else]

small-ish catherd

[superstructure]

[ okay, while... uh........ that's all going on, Julius is just scrolling through the Akudama Go to take a look at what's been written already. ]

I think we need to focus on some other points, too, beyond the method for how he was killed.

Given the fact that one of Akira's wings can be found in the Hyper Zone, and the fact that there's no signs of any blood trails in the station, it seems like the start of the altercation took place in the Hyper Zone, before moving to the train station where he was killed.

What I'm wondering is what was in that emergency case before it was broken into, and whether figuring out the identity of "Seeker" would be helpful in determining who was in the arcade at that time.

[your_best_friend]

Do demons not bleed the same way as humans?

Injury Check

[winedingroad]

Instead of dithering over it, perhaps we should just get it over with. Step this way, and submit to a check for injuries.

[hunterandhunted]

[Zenos steps up and stares down at Diluc.]

What would you ask me to remove?

ACCUSATION here goes

[voidseeing]

[Gai has been quiet for a while, scrolling back through the billboards and the evidence as he puts things together.

And then he's going to look straight at Ainosuke as he asks this question, as if it's just a casual conversation and not a matter of potential life and death.]

So, 'Seeker.' Mind sharing with us what you were after?

[fullswingkiss]

[ Well, this is a different caliber than being accused of perjury, but Ainosuke shoulders it with the same amount of calm. ]

Right now, I am 'seeking' the truth of this case. Same as all of you - won't that make us all seekers?

Mind explaining to me why I'm being singled out here?

[fullswingkiss]

[ Click.


Click, click, click.

Clickclickclickclick. - the erratic sounds of heels against the floor. ]

Hmmm, hmm, hmm, I would give this performance a passing grade..? But only barely. What interesting theories! What fascinating detours!

[ The cigarette is dropped from his fingers and stomped on with a last decisive click. Fingers freed, Ainosuke runs a hand through his hair, freeing the tightly contained style into something wilder. From his clothes, he produces a rather elaborate theatre mask. ]

And yet none of you have heard of Flamenco? No wonder you're all lacking passion, it's quite sad.

[ Click, clickclickclick, click, tap. ]

You may call me Adam. I'm seeking but one thing in this miserable world - the Eve made just for me.

[queendoms]

Thou art speaking of dance...? [ thinking ] Nay, I have no background in dance.

[ she's taking this weirdly seriously ]