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.]

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.]

[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.

[your_best_friend]

Agreed. I can't exactly see Rachel or Ragetti ever participating in such a fight.

[superstructure]

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

[voidseeing]

I think our first order of business should be to try to figure out which parts of the damage were caused by Kimimaro and which came from his opponent.

If we can determine which parts were done by his attacker, we'd have a better idea of who we were looking at here.

[your_best_friend]

All these bones we found seems to point to Dancer's Shikotsumyaku, or... Macabre Bone Pulse ability. I really haven't gotten the chance to see it in action, so can someone who has clarify it further?

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.

[thefifthchild]

Any of the non super-humans, really.

[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. ]

[hunterandhunted]

Considering that even in raging infernos, bones do not completely burn away— I doubt they would achieve much what with our precious victim's abilities.

[pr159]

They could have burned everything else though. Made it harder to tell what sort of weapon was used, covered up the fact that that one patch of skin was burned more severely than the rest... It's not like the bones were the only evidence.

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.

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?]

[hunterandhunted]

Lucky us, that it had not, hm?

[depleting]

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

[voidseeing]

[He shakes his head.]

It could have been as simple as a spark. Given that there was obviously a fight going on, it may not even have been intentional.

[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.

[inspiritus]

Kimimaro could've desired to try to put out the flames.

Meaningless damage for no reason never seemed to be his modus operandi.

[akudamods]

[Well, did you bring those katanas? Why not stab him and compare?

You are reasonably sure the bladed weapon was a sword - flat instead of hooked - but comparing this tableau to your past combat experience, the rest of the slash wounds are suspiciously shallow.]

[depleting]

[ She nods at that, but still— ]

It sounds like there was a lot of fire everywhere, though... Like those burnt bones that were found farther away.