The Mock Trial

[airlockedmods]

[Jesse McCree is dead, the first victim of, what the Overseers seem to hope, is a long game of motives and murder for whatever their reasons. With the investigation completed, C.E.C.E.'s voice comes over the system and directs the Champions to proceed to the locked elevator door at the end of the hallway. Once all Champions are on board, the elevator begins a slow descent down beyond any area that they've been able to explore so far. At least the elevator music is charming.

When the elevator door opens, the Champions enter a courtroom with 21 podiums arranged in a circle and each one marked with a name. McCree's face grins casually at the 20 surviving members from one of the podiums, a greyscale portrait in honor of the dead.]

Congratulations. We have now entered the trial portion of the test. I trust that you will do your best to determine who disturbed the peace by committing murder. Once the culprit has been found, they will face an appropriate punishment for their crime. If you fail to determine the culprit, however, they will be allowed to leave the space station and the rest of you will face punishment instead.

Comments

[mikooon]

[TAMAMO: REVS UP TRUTH BULLETS]

I don't believe so myself. With zero gravity on, it would make embedding the pole in the wall like that terrifically difficult with all that floating nonsense. But, if the culprit is reasonably strong and could get close to the victim, that could be possibly. Perhaps we can narrow things down that way.

[aka NOT ME GUYS IM A DEFENSELESS FOX GIRL]

[have_a_heart]

So you think it was turned on later?

[mikooon]

I would believe so, yes.

[dont listen she has NO IDEA how physics works]

[damnfourthemerald]

There were bloody marks along one of the walls and ladder that indicated that someone dragged themselves back to the door in zero g. The gravity was still off when I arrived this morning.

[thetimebomb]

Wait, does that mean that the killer could have been injured?

[That's good news, she supposes.]

[have_a_heart]

It is possible. Many of us were already practising how to maneuver in zero gravity throughout the week, and I was injured three days ago doing so. It could easily happen to somebody else.

[damnfourthemerald]

Or that they handled the body in some way.

[semperperatus]

That's what I'm thinking myself. They left blood on the wall trying to get to the ladder, and then left blood on the ladder, most likely while they were climbing down to leave the room.

I measured it out, actually...

[He goes to take out the toilet paper from his sleeve.]

[thetimebomb]

In that case, they would either have blood on themselves or their jumpsuits...

... Do we have multiple jumpsuits with us? I haven't worn them since I first woke up so I haven't been paying attention to them.

[refusedtoleave]

I wouldn't be surprised. That room's dangerous, even without sharp objects there.

[semperperatus]

...Actually, that's not entirely true. While I agree that someone reasonably strong enough to thoroughly impale a man and stick him to the wall is our culprit, with enough force and momentum its possible that anyone could have killed him.

Especially if the person who committed the murder knew of a way to reasonably tether themselves while and after committing the murder, like with the ladder.

[He nods. Yeah, yeah, this makes sense to him, his dad taught him well, Newton's first, semper peratus]

There were scuff marks by the door, near the bottom, like something metal was brought into the room before gravity turned off.

[mikooon]

[Tamamo is trying to visualize how this is gonna work. Give her a moment of blank staring, and then she'll nod.]

So... if they used the ladder to-- push it against the wall, or something, to give them an extra "omph", anyone could do it?

[semperperatus]

Yeah, its possible - can't discount it. Though Doctor also makes a good point that the pole might have been placed before the gravity was turned off, meaning someone very strong is would be more likely than someone who isn't.

[mikooon]

Hmm... in that case, I think we can clearly count out Thomasin and I. This level of thinking is far too complicated for simple ladies like us.

[YEAH THAT WAS HER MOTIVE IN THE FIRST PLACE, JUST TO CLEAR HER NAME even though neither of them are stupid, like tamamo tries to insinuate. She only added in Thomasin to sound more reliable.]

[semperperatus]

That depends. What were you guys doing last night at 11pm?

[damnfourthemerald]

Tamamo, you indicated that you had considered reversing the gravity, which would make it easier for anyone to have done this. [Because Tamamo is not subtle and has a big mouth. He's not saying you did it but he's calling shenanigans.]

[refusedtoleave]

[Excuse you! why isn't the housewife on that list?]

...For some reason, I doubt that.

[curdle]

What?

[misplacedxsheath]

The zero gravity room is made of a relatively soft material, as well. It wouldn't be as hard as one might expect to leave the pole stuck in the ceiling.

[stitch_in_time]

So it might be we're looking for someone clever enough to figure out how to bounce around a fully grown man in zero gravity, not necessarily someone with a lot of muscle.

[Which would narrow it down at least a little.]

[stitch_in_time]

The pole might've been placed earlier, with the gravity on. Once it was off, it was just a matter of pushin' McCree in the right direction with enough force. He was a big guy, he would've gotten a lot of momentum easily.

[Lots of mass plus no resistance might've equaled enough force to impale him, with a decent bit of aim.]

[semperperatus]

Yeah, that's also a possibility too. Could explain the scuff marks, too...

[stitch_in_time]

The ones by the door you mentioned? You think whoever it was had to drag in the pole?

[That might limit the suspects a bit, depending on how big the pole actually is.]

[semperperatus]

Yeah, I'm thinking that's a likelihood. I mean, there's a lot of things possible, but it would seem weird that those scuff marks would only just appear after a murder. They weren't there yesterday afternoon, far as I can remember.

[stitch_in_time]

'Bout how big was this pole, the Griffin got it down, didn't he?