first trial

[airlockedmods]

[With the announcement, the Champions are free to decide amongst themselves what order the groups leave in. Once that's done the process of teleporting is automatic and happens in the blink of an eye. Once second they're in the center of the cafeteria before a soft blue light surrounds them and then they're standing in the middle of a circle of podiums.

The room itself it the same shiny, chrome-covered atrocity as most of the rest of the ship save for the sections of floor that aren't the teleporter: those are thick clear glass that show nothing but empty space and stars beneath the Champions' feet. As for the podiums they're the same sort of garish chrome with a digital screen facing toward the center of the circle. The screens each have a name and title associated with a Champion written in green block letters, all save for Chloe Price, the Champion of Max Caulfield, Miki Naoki, the Champion Support and Chitose Karasuma, the Champion of Mediocrity. Theirs are a striking red and, floating above their podiums, are greyscale portraits framed in some kind of bold, mechanical-looking frame.

The Overseers are waiting when they all arrive, standing on a floating platform just high enough to be out of reach and back far enough toward a far wall to have a full view of the courtroom. Both are dressed well, Rox in a pressed grey dress jacket and skirt and Blaze in a black suit with the sleeves rolled up to expose his numerous tattoos.Rox is again the one who speaks up.]

Welcome, Champions, to the courtroom! Twenty of you have entered, but - in the best case scenario - only nineteen of you will leave. The goal here is to compile the evidence that you've gathered and figure out who the killer is. Once you think you have an answer, we'll call a vote where you'll use the podium in front of you to vote on the title of the Champion who you all agree has broken the peace. If you're correct, the culprit will be executed and the rest of you will be allowed to go back upstairs. If you're wrong, however, the killer goes free and the rest of you take the punishment in their place.

There's no time limit, but we reserve the right to call for a vote if things drag on too long. Now let the first trial begin!

Comments

[immaculacies]

Kaiba and I examined Chitose's body. The cause of death seems to have been a single stab wound to the stomach. But... When we examined that wound, we found that it the blood was smeared, as if someone had tried to apply pressure to it. Kaiba also found bloody rags tucked under her head.

My working theory is that the murderer stabbed Chitose, and Miki found her body later and tried to help. Is there any evidence that could confirm or contradict this?

[She doesn't sound as cheerful as she normally does, but... She also doesn't sound very upset for a fourteen-year-old girl who just examined a body, chattering away without pause.]

[challengesfate]

[Eeeey body handling buddies]

Do we...know what times they died? If Miki died soon after Chitose...it would be likely that the killer could have found her in that act. But, if there was a significant gap in time...

[If a body is already clearly dead, why would you try to stop it from bleeding?]

[theundertaken]

I...

[Max seems to be having trouble with the fact that Chloe’s portrait is directly across from him. But he forces his gaze down to his own podium.]

Yeah, it was on the thing, right? There was like four hours in between.

[challengesfate]

[...Yeah. This...it's not easy, to have the dead looking out at you.]

That's a large enough gap to be...strange. If someone had killed once, why would they kill again within the same night? There was no requirement of how many people had to die to fulfill rule seven.

[theundertaken]

Maybe it was someone else.

[immaculacies]

If the killer is the one who took care of her body, maybe they stayed with it for a long time and Miki caught them, instead of the other way around.

[playthedamncard]

Karasuma died first. It wasn't even midnight. Naoki died several hours later.

[challengesfate]

And...what was the area around Chitose like? If it was the same person, would the bodies not be in similar conditions?

[playthedamncard]

The room was bloodied, but nothing seemed otherwise out of place. Her body looked like it had been posed, or at least that she'd been moved. But there were footprints--Sajyou, there were two sets, yes? Larger and smaller, and the smaller belonged to Karasuma. [he has got to start calling people by their first names god damn it] The soles of her shoes were bloody.

[immaculacies]

Mm... There was a large gap of time, according to the case files given to us. It's possible that Miki stayed with her for some time, but it's true that nearly four and a half hours seems like a long time for that.

[challengesfate]

Hm. Then, if that's the case...I could see an initial attempt as a reaction. But...would her wound still be bleeding hours after the fact? Enough to warrant trying to stem the flow?

[batfortheprincess]

If that's the case, then... would it not make more sense for it to have been the culprit who attempted to stop the bleeding?

[If there really wasn't anyone else around...]

[andjerry]

... maybe her killer felt guilty. They tried to stop the blood flowing, but...

[jesus that's dark]

[immaculacies]

[Manaka shakes her head.]

Not like that. Bleeding stops as the heart stops beating. But... There was a fair amount of blood in the art room, and even if Miki wasn't the one to do it, it did look like Chitose's body had been tampered with. Her arms and legs were laid straight, and the rags were tucked under her head like a pillow. So, if Miki wasn't the one to do all that, then...?

[quadjumps]

It's possible that there could have been more than one culprit.

[challengesfate]

That's what I think. Both of them were wounded in the stomach, but it sounds like...beyond that, there's not much connecting the acts.

[quadjumps]

And if the culprit had a knife when they killed Chitose, why not use the same weapon when killing Miki? Plus, their wounds are different. Miki's killer went to town on her; Chitose's was only in the stomach.

[discalibur]

...Two different incidents.

[Which would have to change how they're looking at this.]

That would explain the time gap. If two people both decided to kill...

[titularly]

I dunno if it confirms or contradicts anything but uh... I'm pretty sure Chitose-chan was killed in her bedroom.

There was a lot of blood smeared all around the floor and stuff.. it wasn't pretty.

[photoshooter]

That's where the knife was, too.

[andjerry]

...so they didn't think to hide this. [he sets the knife the fuck down immediately as he's gotten it]

They probably left quickly.

[le_mat]

Then the killer moved her for some reason. Between the smearing and the fact that she was posed... Sounds like her killer had some remorse.

[titularly]

Hmm... y'know. I found a note, too. Chitose-chan had asked someone to come to her room and learn about respect... maybe they took advantage of that and killed her?

Doesn't that seem like something someone on a true crime drama would do?

[immaculacies]

Ah, that's surprising. It looked like the killer only needed a single strike, and there was a fair amount of blood in the art room too. There wasn't a trail leading between the two, was there?

[titularly]

I dunno.. I didn't notice one.