Second trial

[letsplayamod]

The time has come once again. Gather in the arena, it is time for judgement.

[The murky weather outside reflects the mood of the walk out to the cliffs. Once again, several soldiers have stepped free of Typhon's veins to stand guard over the arena. Maybe it's a mistake, but they seem to offer their silent condolence, if not their indifference.

With everyone gathered, a great rift opens once more outside the barrier. Typhon reveals himself, this time only from the waist up. Peering down from his glowing portal, blanketed in the last light drizzles outside your shimmering dome.]

Bah... So safe and secure within your bubble. Or, perhaps not anymore. [He moves to rest a palm on the barrier, and recoils as it once again stings his palm.] See what your Athena has 'gifted' you - nothing but strife. A broken world that needs rebuilding... But no matter. I will complete that task once we are through.

You have your evidence. Now, begin.

[TRIAL START]

Comments

[eeeonetwothree]

I CAN CORROBATE THIS. THE TRAIL OF OIL LED FROM THE CRAFT ROOM TO THE STAIRS.

WHAT IS MORE, I FOUND SCUFF MARKS LEADING OUT OF THE LIFT ROOM, INDICATING SOMETHING HAD BEEN DRAGGED OUT OF THERE. I DETECTED TRACES OF STRAW AND CLOTH IN ASSOCIATION WITH THESE MARKS.

[pariunt]

It must have been the training dummies.

They were in a peculiar pile on the floor. All in a strange line leading to the craft room.

[tailoredfate]

[Ah, right.]

I investigated the area in the training grounds where the dummies were. The scratch marks in the ground where they were seemed rather deep, so I think whoever did this might not be very strong.

[catsgothistongue]

Hold that thought.

[He's thought of something.]

Last trial, we thought somebody strong did it 'cuz of all the dents in the floor. The bastard who set all this up's clearly plannin' ahead, so even if they're strong enough to lift it, they could drag the dummies to make us think somebody weak did all this.

[eeeonetwothree]

INDEED. IT WOULD BE A SIMPLE MATTER TO WILLFULLY SUPPRESS ONE’S POWER IN THE NAME OF DECEPTION.

[tailoredfate]

Hm, possibly. With all the other drag marks and such that the others have found, and the straw from the dummies scattered, that would require far more effort, I think. Plus everything needed to set up the trap...

You might be right, Ranma. If this was done by someone who wasn't particularly physically capable, they'd clearly be exhausted.

[catsgothistongue]

[... He was honestly just throwing that at the wall. To actually get praise for it, he's trying very hard to school any sign he's beaming with pride.]

It depends on when they set it up. It had to've been after we all went to bed, but that window of time... There's still a lotta risk to setting up a death trap this complicated. Anyone of us could've gotten up for a midnight snack or jog or anything and catch 'em.

[raisethemoon]

It must have taken quite a bit of time, and they would have covered quite a bit of ground to drag everything up there. If anyone had been out, they almost surely would have been spotted, or heard?

[eeeonetwothree]

[ A thought. ]

WHO AMONG US HAS THE ABILITY TO MOVE LARGE OBJECTS WITHOUT BEING FATIGUED? OBSERVATION:

1) MYSELF. MOTION AND ACTIVITY LITERALLY POWERS MY FUEL CELLS. LABOR CANNOT MAKE ME TIRED.

2) I HAVE OBSERVED BOTH LUNA AND LADY AGLAEA MANIPULATING MULTIPLE OBJECTS AT ONCE WITH THEIR ABILITIES. I DO NOT KNOW THEIR LIMITS AS FAR AS FATIGUE.

I WILL SAY MY ONLY ALIBI IS THAT I WAS ON STANDBY LAST NIGHT.

[threeapplestall]

I don't think they'd leave oil stains if they were using their abilities, though.

...and you'd probably put gouges in the wall if you tried to use it to prop yourself up...

[eeeonetwothree]

UNLESS THEY WERE TRYING TO OBFUSCATE THEIR ACTIVITIES.

BUT YES, I WOULD. I AM A VERY GOOD SUSPECT AS FAR AS THE CURRENT EVIDENCE IS CONCERNED.

[sweetsynergy]

You're also about as subtle as a shipwreck.

[eeeonetwothree]

YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED AT WHAT I AM CAPABLE OF, VANITY. I AM A FRIEND OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST JEWEL THIEF AND THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM.

[fillets]

How exactly would you light a candle, Omega?

[eeeonetwothree]

I WOULD USE A FLAMETHROWER, WHY?

[catsgothistongue]

[Welp, since we gotta.]

I can. In both of my forms, I could lift things bigger and larger than myself. And I've been practicin' with my god powers to move stuff, though that's been hit or miss.

[tailoredfate]

My threads have nothing to do with physical strength, and I've been able to bind titans with them before. Carrying normal objects like this would be no strain on them.

[Just. Gonna be up front about it, she has nothing to hide.]

[literarybehemoth]

Well... my other form can move large objects, but it does leave me fatigued afterwards. I do not know how that would apply in this situation, of course.

[fillets]

They didn't have any oil on them, did they?

[pariunt]

They did.

I'm not sure I understand why they were moved. I suppose the oil could have been to make them easier to move down the hall?

[fillets]

Well... what if the killer decided to use them to test the accuracy of their trap?

[pariunt]

I suppose that's a possibility? They were deliberately placed in the hallway.

[fillets]

Everything set up in the craft room seems designed for one go only, of course. But the dummies would at least give them some idea of how how much oil to use, right?

[cannotunravel]

That's possible. It wouldn't be a perfect recreation, but it would give some idea of how sliding on the oil would go.

[Misane decides to present a topic:]

It'd be hard to test how much of the legs to saw without making the shelf collapse prematurely, yet also making it flimsy enough to collapse from the stampeding horses.

[That's the toughest part here, in her opinion. How to figure out how to engineer that correctly, without a whole lot of trial and error...?]

[fillets]

Yes, the shelf is the difficult part... beyond instinct, how could anyone determine that?