consolewars | TRIAL

Well, Niles is dead now, and in a very unpleasant way. The investigation has progressed for some time... but after a certain amount of time, a marker appears on the player's console HUDs directing them to a particular location, much in the same way as it did when directing them to the paddock for Thursday's challenge.

This time, though, it's directing them to the courthouse, which has been locked up until this time... but not now. The doors are wide open, and you might as well go inside. The interior is lacking the audience benches you'd expect, but... there's a large, oppressive emptiness to the space. It almost seems bigger on the inside than the outside... no, it definitely seems much bigger on the inside. And after you walk the long, long walk to the center, you'll find a circle of 23 podiums with your names on them, with... two of them being much, much smaller to account for the, uh, pets.

Those... seem really out of place, by the way. They stand out in stark contrast to the rest of the quaint, old-timey Western town by being more on the technological level of the consoles on your faces, with touch screens and pictures of all of the current players... and the two former players, too, with the icon of Niles' and Makoto's faces having the word DEAD stamped across their faces.

As you stand at your podiums, you do begin to notice some wrongness about the whole thing... like that there might actually be some audience benches behind you, depending on the angle you look at them, but they seem to flicker in and out of your peripheral vision. Ditto with the two holes in the podiums, too-- they're... sometimes there, but not always.

The judge's box looms high over the podiums, towering for the animals but really only a few feet higher. The sheriff stands there as comfortable as he's ever seemed, arms crossed and silent the entire time. There are flickers of something uncanny in him, just like the architecture - the color of an eye, the shape of an arm - but nothing sticks for long enough to confirm.

It isn't until everyone's settled at their podium that he speaks, and any hint of the laconic tone he's taken all week is finally gone to be replaced by one far more formal. He seems in his element as he leans down to address the podiums.

"Welcome to round two! You've all done well to make it this far! The first attack has succeeded, and now Niles lies dead. But for every offense, there must be a defense! Will you find his killer? More of your lives may be at risk of you do not. Share your findings with each other, and come to a conclusion based on the evidence: Who killed Niles?

Now, let's play."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[...He doesn't like this.]

May I see your hands, please?

I would prefer to avoid that.

[She doesn't seem nervous or anything, though.]

I think we would all prefer to avoid this... but please show your hands before something happens.

[He doesn't want to manhandle someone. And he definitely doesn't want some of the other people in this room to manhandle someone.]

[Olympia considers this for a moment, weighing her options.

But she can't very well get herself punished over something like this. So she shows him her hands.

They're clean. ]

[To be a little more specific, there's no excess oil on the mechanical joints, and there isn't so much as a spot of dirt on her metal fingers.

Now you can probably hazard a guess as to why she didn't want to try ice cream.]

...Ah.

[Oh, right-]

Thank you. And- my apologies.

[Well this is awkward.]

Accepted.

Huh. A fake arm. Wasn't expecting that.

It's real.

So you're less like Z and more like one of those dolls. You sure are lucky Three isn't here. She'd probably be going nuts over you right now.

Going nuts in what sense?

In the sense that she's a complete freak. Nothing gets her hot and bothered like a bunch of dolls.

[ Just to be thorough. Her metal fingers aren't sharp or anything, right? ]

[Nope. They've been passing as human fingers all this time, only failing a close inspection.

Further investigation would probably be reasonable but I'm both multitasking and phone tagging so I'm just going to say she doesn't have any relevant integrated weapons.]

[ Meanwhile, Zulf's shadow does like this! He watches with interest. And a laugh or two. ]

Who knew you'd get a hit so fast. I have to admit, I was skeptical of your methods... but you may really pull this off!