BLADE RUNNER [3rd Trial]

[akudamods]

The investigation ends yet again, perhaps the most exhausting one yet. Still, the tribulations are not over, as the trial awaits. Shuttles pick the X-Classes up, and it’s best to get on board… otherwise, it’s unlikely you’ll find out the perpetrator of all this fishy behavior. There are even more empty seats now, which is sad, but at least it makes it less likely you’ll have to smell each other (a certain vampire notwithstanding.)

After spending so much time in the gory scene, the trial room’s new holo-decor may even seem easy on the eyes. It’s apparently a nature setting, as larch trees surround the podiums standing amid a floor covered in bracken ferns. The podiums themselves have transformed collectively into the ribs on a giant rib cage, and climbing up this rib cage are flowering clematis vines. Other giant bones are buried among the soft ferns, forming some kind of fossil. The whole thing is really creepy and beautiful. Zealot’s drone still carries a camera, but it does not respond to anyone’s words or actions. It definitely seems more lifeless than before... Physicist is shielded within the hollow of a forlorn willow, staring expressionlessly into the eyes of the Noh masks that appear as usual in their audience area.

The podium screen has the evidence and the billboard information shining at the ready. But will the people still dare to vote, after the display at the police station? Time will tell.

Comments

ASK THE NPCS

[akudamods]

[Clarification of powers and any other needs! Only the Physicist is responding this time.]

[thefifthchild]

[Damian will look to the Physicist.]

The illness that Kaguya was infected with. What were the details behind the condition? Or are you pretending that you don't know?

Evidence Pile

[your_best_friend]

[* Before heading to his podium, Flowey goes to the middle and takes out a set of fingerbones, charred bones, clump of rice, and a chair out of his inventory and sets it down.]

[voidseeing]

[Here's a robot with a hole in its fuel tank.

Yep, the whole robot, you're welcome.]

[hunterandhunted]

[Zenos walks over to Flowey's evidence pile, first placing down Kimimaro's body with a modicum more respect than he had with Akira's corpse (sorry, bud).

Then, he shoves a hand into his pocket. From it, he pulls the piece of metal and charred knuckle bones out, setting them down.]

[superstructure]

[ Julius is just gonna put his pile of bones here. Normal stuff. ]

[your_best_friend]

The first noticeable thing upon entering the alleyway were a large number of slashes, stabs, and gouges in the walls, some of them fifteen feet up. This clearly indicates a fight happened, with both participants giving it their all. This can be further corroberated by the fact that there was dried blood everywhere. I'm lucky I had my blood flashlight with me to see all of it easier. Fingerbones were found in the gouges fifteen feet up. Lastly and perhaps most noticeably, there was a hole with debris falling to the inside of Cyber Sushi. Inside the debris there were charred bones of different types. In fact, most of the inside was also heavily charred.

The only other things out of place were the chair and clump of uneaten rice sitting in the alleyway.

[thefifthchild]

I think the rubble that this city used to call a police station can serve as an indication that there is a limited amount of people who could take Kimimaro in a straight up fight.

Road Between Ryokan and Sushi Summary

[hunterandhunted]

[Zenos seems a bit dispassionate today, as he leans one palm heavily on his creaking podium.]

Firstly, in front of the building just north of the Ryokan, I found a vending machine that had an open and mostly consumed can of oolong tea just sitting on the ground, undisturbed.

The road between the Ryokan and Cyber Sushi, however, showed odd tire markings, which led towards a fire hydrant near the mouth of the alley. The side of the fire hydrant that is depicted as bunny was completely smashed. The vehicle in question was not to be found.

Not far from that scene, in the gutter, I discovered what could only be the burnt knucklebones of our dear Kimimaro, as well as metal debris from a robot.

[superstructure]

So they wanted to put out the fire? Wouldn't it be easier to just let the shop burn and hope the evidence burned?

body evidence

[pr159]

As I noted in my report, Dancer was on his back on top of the counter, with his physical transformation still in effect — as you can see.

[ Whatever the fuck that transformation even is, he doesn't know. ]

There were slash wounds on his chest from a bladed weapon. The worst of the damage was to one of his lungs, which I concur was the direct cause of death. His other organs were less badly damaged than might be expected from such an attack, and the rest of the wounds seemed relatively shallow. One of them was directly over a burned patch of skin over the ribs — there were burns all over the front side of his body, but the burning to that small area was more severe than the rest.

Despite his position, only one of those protruding bones on his back was broken.

...Oh, and there was some shrimp on his wrist, but I'm not sure we can really call that evidence.

[ It was just kind of funny. ]

mods!

[hunterandhunted]

[Zenos carried the body in, but he's going to look back over it. Being a sword man who loves katanas, can he recognize the wounds to Kimimaro's chest as being from a specific type of bladed weapon?]

[your_best_friend]

Hmm... Do you think they were only aiming to have the finishing blow be a targeted attack to the lung? It would have to be a precise blow if they missed the human heart entirely.

ok a real reply now

[hunterandhunted]

[With a sigh:]

The wounds to his chest were made by a sword, though most of them were likely made intentionally shallow, as well as using the flat of the sword. [He gestures to the bruising.] Our killer is skilled with the blade, which greatly narrows our suspect pool.

mods!

[voidseeing]

[Would the burns look like something that could have been done with a flamethrower?]

[winedingroad]

Since the fire damage seems to be getting us few places currently, I was looking at the billboard, and I was wondering--

As a medic and the person who looked at the body, do you think someone used the "mysterious illness" the billboard lists as something to even the fight? Kimimaro was not usually a weak fighter.

Cyber Sushi

[voidseeing]

The building itself was heavily damaged by a fire whose source wasn't very difficult to find. [He gestures to the robot that he brought in with him.] Something fairly slender pierced its fuel tank and caused the fuel to leak out, which then ignited. The fire that started spread to the dishwasher and shorted it out.

But that's not the most interesting part. Take a look at the conveyor belt. It was torn and lifted up by something large, so if it isn't already obvious, there was a great deal of physical strength involved here on at least one side.

[depleting]

Um... But you didn't find any sign of what they used to ignite the fuel, did you?

[winedingroad]

I examined some of the various gauges and damages done near the restaurant's front section [he wasn't braving too much of that sushi carnage okay] and I could recognize some as the kind of damage Kimimaro's bone swords would cause. The other was harder to determine specifically, but was clearly something different.

[inspiritus]

What is equally interesting to me is that they felt the need to start a fire by fuel tank.

Noticing Something

[your_best_friend]

[* Flowey idly goes through the evidence. He watches Sephiroth's video and pauses.]

...Hold up a second. I found rice and a chair at the alleyway. The rice could have easily come from Ryokan, given what the owner said about leaving stuff out for Dancer. Just putting this out there.

[superstructure]

Whoever had visited had asked just for tea, and the proprietor had given them some wagashi to go with it. I would think the rice had come from Cyber Sushi.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT #1

[cantwaittowatch]

[After this thread, Physicist begins typing with her tentacles and sends out some dense official data table as a holographic screen for anyone to see.]

It's a matter of public record that a single fire truck arrived at Cyber Sushi at 1 AM sharp. They didn't find anyone alive.

[pr159]

[ A what... well, he can make inferences, anyway. ]

...So, an emergency fire response team put the fire out, you're saying. Not the killer or the victim.

HEMO BEAM CHECK

[your_best_friend]

[* Hmm, considering there was a fight with a lot of blood... perhaps a trial-wide check is in order. He should have perhaps done this sooner.

* Flowey will shine his Hemo Beam on everyone, save for perhaps Rideaux.]

[superstructure]

[ Julius has no recent blood on him or his twin swords that he has... somewhere. idk, jrpg logic ]

it's the last call

[winedingroad]

You call him a "precious beast", but that's more true than you know. Do you see that form he was reduced to? Some kind of beast, indeed. [Was that venom in the normally aloof bartender's voice? How rare]

I saw him use this [a jerky hand motion towards the boneyard pile] or some derivative of it during the raid. I sought him out to ask about it-- what the Delusion he received, and who promised it to him. We talked, we fought. I won.

The price of power is steep. But I won't let something so foolish as sentimentalities and false comradery get in the way of my vengeance. Nothing else was going on here but senseless noise and rot. If killing him was needed, then so be it. One more splash of blood on hands already dyed red.

[And with that Diluc switches from addressing everyone, to looking Sephiroth dead in the eyes. He kicks his podium so it falls to the side, his hand moving over his shoulder to summon a giant black and red claymore. In the multitude of cool but impractical grooves, the faintest dull brown of blood remains.]

Why would they not believe me, General? I haven't got anything to hide!

[voidseeing]

[... so he's definitely got that flute out. But exactly what he's going to do with it?

Well, that remains to be seen...]