week 7 - investigation

[vicedirector]

seven vices case 7 - investigation ♫ friday On Friday morning, the loss of the motive isn't terribly noticeable. As there were no mental effects this week, and everyone had taken their envelopes to at least destroy them, it's almost impossible to tell that something is off. Unless of course you're getting up in the wee hours. Perhaps just to go to the bathroom? Whatever your reason, though, something is noticeably wrong--the power is out. >Investigate? cast setting

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Hotel Lobby

[sobowtor]

[Poland's got a tooth and a coat and looks unusually demure.

If you were wondering who the second person was, she has the answer.]

Gilbert's dead.

[fourleafcleaver]

[Also Clover's here too, just kind of lingering around and frowning. Decapitated heads sure did happen today.]

...It's really bad.

[dereban]

So that's who the second person was. Goddamn it.

[fourleafcleaver]

Second?! [She was outside when the TVs made their announcement and totally missed that thing where two people were dead.] Who—who was the first?

[dereban]

It's... [ She swallows hard, shaking her head. ] It's Alisha. We found her and Gilbert's body tied up with the chains all the way at the bottom of the pool.

There was also a mannequin there, too.

[detanimetion]

...Gilbert's dead?

[Whatever name Undyne had been expecting to hear, it hadn't been that. Maybe it had been naive or overly optimistic of her to hope that no one she was close to would be killed, that she could actually succeed in protecting all of them...but she'd clung on to that belief as fiercely as she could nonetheless. And for it to be Gilbert and Alisha this week, who'd both gotten along with nearly everyone and tried to be as helpful and friendly as they could even as the town sunk deeper into despair, to lose two people she'd considered as innocent as a human could possibly be in this place...

She takes a deep breath, her fists clenching. Part of her desperately wants to ask Clover if this is some kind of joke, but...no. No one would joke about something as cruel as this, especially not her.]

Dammit! What happened?!

[fourleafcleaver]

We found his head... [it was SUPER GROSS] It was in the record store. Erm, on a record player... [SUPER GROSS, UNDYNE] I didn't really stick around, Break and Rhys kind of needed a moment, but...the whole place was in really bad shape.

[detanimetion]

[She opens her mouth. Closes it again. Takes a few deep breaths through her nose to try to regain some control and rein in the incoming scream.]

They did what TO HIS HEAD?! [Well, that didn't work out well.] Oh, this killer's going down! What kind of sick freak -- ugh! There's no way we're letting this asshole get away! I'll kill them myself if I have to!

[fourleafcleaver]

[oh jesus]

Okay, I really like the idea of that but I less like the idea of having to hold a trial for you murdering the murderer! [BUT THE MURDER PART ITSELF IS FINE THOUGH THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM] We'll figure it out and you can kick their ass before the execution!

[detanimetion]

Is it really murder if they super freaking deserve it. [NO JURY WILL CONVICT HER!!] I'll make it way worse than whatever execution they've come up with, that should satisfy the jerks who run this place!!

[But okay, she's just being overdramatic. Probably. Maybe. There's like a 5% chance she doesn't mean it anyway, that's good enough.] Ha! Like there'd be anything left after Break gets through with them!

[minogame]

( When Inaba mentioned seeing Hinata, Dhaos, and Faize, Urashima'd begun running the other possibilities in his head. There weren't many choices and he didn't like any of them. Sure, there were some he hated more than others but he didn't like a single one of them. So when Poland comes and announces who the second body was, Urashima is quiet.

The bright light that is normally in his eyes-- optimistic, naive, innocent-- dies out. Really, if Urashima was a light, he'd be practically dark right now. There's still some light there-- a small, glimmer of hope, and he speaks in a hushed voice, )

You're wrong.

eski you personified human garbage pail

[sobowtor]

[Poland furrows her eyebrows, her fist curling around the tooth in her hand so hard she can feel the rough side digging into her skin.

She doesn't say anything.]

+1

[fourleafcleaver]

[She has ridden the best friend death denial train before!! It sucks. It sucks a lot.

Her voice is very slight, calm and careful in a way that's decidedly unlike her.] I'm sorry, Urashima.

[minogame]

You're wrong.

( Again, it's quiet, but there's an edge to it. And anyone who'd seen Urashima the night Mikazuki died will immediately recognizing the same signs from that night. Eyes that stare straight ahead-- in this case, at Poland-- but not quite seeing as if he's caught in a daze. It doesn't feel real and he's waiting for Poland to say she's just kidding but she never does. Instead, she's silent and he opens his mouth to yell at her to say something, )

You're wrong...? You're wrong, you're wrong...! ( There's no fire to run into this time, no one to try to save, and his hands reach up towards his head, holding his face, a look of absolute disbelief on his features, ) You're wrong!

( Fingers begin to wrap around locks of hair and he begins to pull at them. As if in slow motion, he falls down to his knees on the lobby's floor and looks down at the ground, eyes searching frantically as he tries to find something. Proof that this isn't real. Something to explain this. )

He's okay! He's not--! ( "Dead." He can't even say it. On his shoulder, the ever present Kamekichi's tail bristles anxiously, head raised up towards Urashima's face. ) He promised...!

He promised, he... promised...

( And his hands leave his face, crossing over to his chest, holding himself. There's that feeling again. The one he'd never felt before coming to this place. The one that he really hurts and makes him feel like he'd going to break right down the middle. )

[sobowtor]

[Poland looks away, staring at a wall. She's trying to block out Urashima's talking. She doesn't want to answer him.

Because she's not wrong. She's not. She saw Gilbert's decapitated head, sitting on a record player. It's wrong. It's absolutely wrong. But she's not wrong.

Poland's fist clenches tighter at her side and the tooth is stabbing into her hand now. Gilbert's dead. He's dead. It's not fair. This place isn't fair--]

...

[Poland can't help the tears rolling down her cheeks or the unseemly noises she makes trying to choke them back.]

[minogame]

( Everything is really wrong. Alisha and Gilbert are dead and that shouldn't be. Urashima doesn't even notice that Poland is crying-- he doesn't look up and right now, the only sound he can hear is the blood rushing through his own ears. Everything sounds like he's under water, distorted and muffled at first. And finally, there's some moment of clarity where suddenly he can hear everything-- Poland's crying, the lack of an actual, spoken answer and he knows. This is really happening, isn it?

And he lets out a loud, broken scream. )

[fourleafcleaver]

[She has nothing for this. She's lived it and she doesn't know what she wanted anyone to say for her then, either, she just wanted it fixed, and no one could fix it for her and she can't fix it for Urashima and it isn't fair. It's not fair to any of them.

Instead of continuing to hover awkwardly between these two, she moves to take a seat on the floor beside Urashima. Except she isn't sure what the next step is so now she's just sitting awkwardly.

It probably won't help any, but maybe it's better to at least just be here.]

[minogame]

( The two of them are like a cycle of being unsure of how to help or unable to do anything to really help the other. It's cool, Clover, he'll understand. He already understands. He's understood for a long time now and eventually the scream becomes hoarse and turns into tearful sobs. )