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

[voltrounds]

There was a notebook, too, with some pages torn out. I don't know if the missing pages are related, but it was at the same table.

[semperperatus]

A notebook? Did anyone bring that or the pages?

[voltrounds]

[Ricky holds up the notebook.]

Other than the missing pages, there isn't really anything that stands out about it.

[semperperatus]

Is there anything written in it?

[voltrounds]

Not anymore. But the missing pages must be somewhere.

[returnofme]

[Luke raises his hand.]

I found torn-up pages in the kitchen garbage.

[damnfourthemerald]

Then was there anything written on them? [Why not just dunk them in water or something, if it's incriminating, for real, who just throws evidence in the garbage come on people.]

[semperperatus]

[! /snake]

Were you able to reassemble them?

[refusedtoleave]

We were called here shortly after he found them. There was something written there though.

[She didn't know what it said.]

[returnofme]

Escape and sacrifice. I brought the scraps with me, so we could try to reassemble them now.

[strikemonster]

That would probably be useful. [She hasn't been saying much because ew, re: being impaled and shit, but this is UNRELATED YAY.] Is there anything distinctive about the handwriting?

[returnofme]

[Is there?]

[have_a_heart]

Everybody should do a handwriting check.

[strikemonster]

Ah, good idea. Did anyone bring a pen?

[They already have a notebook, so that's half the equation.]

[semperperatus]

I did.

[Because of course he did]

[stitch_in_time]

What d'you think, everyone put their name, then "escape" and "sacrifice"? Everyone that can, anyway.

[curdle]

[ she looks over gratefully, though he probably wasn't specifically referring to her! #notallchampions ]

I cannot.

[have_a_heart]

All right.

[Kanade writes her sample. Her handwriting is simple, but not a match.]

[lycoctonum]

[Someone probably handed Ginko the paper so she doesn't have to get up from her foxy seat. It's very slow and laborious but not a match.]

[thetimebomb]

I think it's obvious I didn't do it, but oh well.

[Sylvia writes her name and the two words. It's bulky but legible and it's not a match.

Also apparently she writes her name in perfect English despite being an alien that never even set foot on Earth.]

[mikooon]

[Despite being restrained and gagged, Tamamo complies.

It's not a match. Nice handwriting, though. Calligraphy has finally paid off (???)!]

[damnfourthemerald]

[Shadow's turn, and it takes a little more concentration than he'd like to admit to, but when he's done, it's not a match.]

[returnofme]

[Luke writes them down in Aurebesh and then in Outer Rim Basic. It's not even the same alphabet.]

[stitch_in_time]

[The Doctor's writing is a whole lot of circular runes that-]

[No, he actually writes in English that's more legible than you might expect from someone called 'The Doctor', and is not a match.}

[waitforit]

[ Barney scoffs but complies, his handwriting is clear and just a little short of fancy. He's an exec, what can you do.

No match, and though he was sorely tempted to draw a crudely drawn picture of boobs, he does not. ]

You know someone could just fake it, right? This isn't much of a test, guys.