Third Trial

[airlockedmods]

[You get a little time after your investigation is over, but not too long. Your Overseer is right there, after all, and he can tell when you're finished.

Xander will lead you all out the door near Fourt's, opening what had been impenetrable sheet metal with a few taps and swipes on his tablet. This won't take you outside either; instead, it leads to a long hallway. Like a walk-through aquarium, the walls and ceiling are all made of thick glass, giving you an even better view of the stars outside. There's no sign that the mall is attached to some kind of large-scale station. There's really not going to be an easy way to escape here, unless you get transportation.

You're led to a wide-open area, empty except for a circle of podiums in its center. They're labeled so you can easily find yours. Soma and Togami's grey-scale portraits have joined the three ladies' portraits this time in the places they previously stood. Three of the podiums remain empty and nameless. The walls here are equally transparent, and they seem to have lines of large hatches going along them, as if this is where one might park one's spaceship when going on a fun space mall adventure. Shame you don't know anything about those.

You already know what you're here to do. You'd best be getting along with it.]

Comments

[cyan_maid]

It could implicate, sure, or...or it could be...a mole?

[Somewhere, Byakuya Togami's paranoia feels completely justified and carried on beyond death, and he doesn't know why.]

[burninglight]

Precisely my thoughts, Jane.

Or if not that in explicit terms, then someone said something to Xander they'd not wish to have overheard.

[cyan_maid]

Jiminey crickets...that could count for a lot of us, couldn't it?

[Jane is suddenly very glad she didn't go to ramble at Xander in his office this week.]

So then...we're potentially dealing with someone who knew what the listening device was for, at the very least - whatever he wanted to tell us could have been different from what the culprit didn't want to make known.

[burninglight]

Someone who knew in advance, or perhaps who realized they were being recorded mid-conversation and sought out the other end of the line.

[cyan_maid]

...I mean, personally, I would not have expected a recording device in a baby doll. Who would?

[burninglight]

It's certainly an unconventional method of intelligence gathering.

[everylittlesecret]

Actually, if you were raised around nannies or something, like he probably was, he probably grew up with devices like that around him. It wouldn't seem too far fetched.

[induality]

Even if you didn't know what it did... it kind of stands out...

[Byakuya she loves you but it's weird.]

[everylittlesecret]

Well, Andrea seems like a Luddite in many ways. Who knows, Togami might have said something to him that endeared him to the doll.

[tokencanadian]

I think Togami used it partly because he just... really hated it.

[cyan_maid]

So does having a roomba follow you around everywhere.

[induality]

...if that's the case... that makes me wonder something.

About what Xander said Byakuya told him. Do... you think it could be related to the reason he said that to Xander?

[burninglight]

It did strike me as peculiar that he of all people would want to commit to helping Xander. All due respect, but Togami was not the friendliest individual.

Do you think he heard something that changed his stance on the matter?

[induality]

If there was something we all needed to listen to and it pertained to Xander... then it's possible.

...


Could the person who killed him... not agreed with that stance?

[desperateprayer]

[ ...Great, even more reason for her to not trust half this group. ]

[burninglight]

I've my doubts it's as simple as that. But...an argument over the concept gone wrong is a less worrying possibility than the idea of a double agent.

[induality]

I know... a lot of people feel very strongly about it.

[...putting it lightly.]

But I wouldn't rule out the latter either. Even if there is a mole-- there's nothing saying they're doing it because they want to. They may just as likely have incentives or threats hanging over their head to keep them playing along.

[burninglight]

Right--if they can dangle incentives like this over us, there's no telling what might be done to turn one of us into as much a puppet as Xander seems to be.

[a10tionplz]

Our memories have all been tampered with. That alone could be enough incentive for some.

[burninglight]

...

[Ardyn didn't answer that, frowning slightly and looking thoughtful.]

[a10tionplz]

[...okay, he sees that look, and he's not saying anything yet. Just kind of raising an eyebrow. Something up, roomy?]

[burninglight]

[Ardyn caught the Doctor's look after a second, seeming...very faintly concerned, but shaking his head. Later--hopefully never, but possibly later.]

[a10tionplz]

[The Doctor will remember this.]