Dantalion's Thread

"How odd" OK time for those footprints

As the doors open, you find yourselves in a large, circular room, standing on individual, floating platforms. With this circular style...you could all look at each other. You can all speak to each other. You can all throw blame at each other. You look among the faces of your classmates. Leanne, Vicky, James, Amelia. Axel, Claus, Ashley, Aki. Sylvia, Sato, Vivian, Spy. Sam and Erika. And the deceased Tucker. A photo of him stands on an empty platform, crossed out with a red X. Tucker was killed. And it was one of you that did it. This marks your first round in the ring of deception. A world of despair. A palace of death. The class trial!



Before the trial begins, you decide to go over the evidence you've collected.

Nekoshi File #1

The victim is Tucker Rally, the Ultimate Geopolitical Analyst. He was killed at 8:31 PM. Large burns can be seen throughout the body and the cause of death was an explosion. There are no other notable injuries found on Tucker's body.

Fireworks

Remnants of fireworks were found within Tucker's room. This likely means that the explosives that killed Tucker were fireworks taken from the Ultimate Pyrotechnics Lab. When you checked your fireworks, you noticed there were definitely some missing, so they had to be the fireworks in your lab.

Tucker's Notes

Tucker had notes written on his walls that detailed everyone's actions for the past few days. There was a significant lack of notes for today and no mention of fireworks in the past days. That must mean that whoever killed Tucker had to set this up today.

Missing Match

A single match was missing from your fire starting materials, meaning that the match was the only way the murderer had of lighting the gunpowder they used.

Footprints

Vivian's footprints were found in the spilled gunpowder in the Ultimate Pyrotechnics Lab. They led directly to the fire starting materials and then directly outside with no detours.

Gunpowder

The gunpowder spilled in the Ultimate Pyrotechnics Lab was shaped in a strange way, as if something was in the way when the container was dropped. The gunpowder was blocked by this object, so it made an odd shape.

"Let's begin with an explanation of the class trial!" Nekoshi hops up on top of what looks to be a judge's seat. "During the trial, you'll present your arguments for who the culprit is and vote for the killer! Vote correctly, and only the blackened will be punished. But if you pick the wrong person...everyone except the blackened will be punished and that person will graduate from this academy! Also, if you don't vote, you die! So make sure you vote for someone! Now let's get right into it! LET THE CLASS TRIAL BEGINNNNYAAAAA!"

Sato crosses his arms. "How does this even work...? We just have to find bad guy, right?"

Axel stands up and shouts to everyone. "Alright! Whoever is the killer, just tell us now, okay?"

Sam gives Axel a look. "Why would that ever work...?"

"Gh...!? I-I...guess you're right. But I just thought it was worth trying...?"

"This is a fight to the death, so come on!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" Vicky tries to get Sam to calm down. "We don't even know where to start yet."

Claus speaks up. "Would you mind if I started us off with a topic then? Before we can figure out who killed Tucker, we need to figure out how Tucker was killed. What was the murder weapon?"



Find The Truth!

(In this section there will be two kinds of points. Contradiction Points and Consent Points. You have to shoot one of these with your Truth Bullets to progress the discussion! It's up to you to figure out which Truth Bullet to use where!)

Vivian is the first to speak. "There was a big explosion when I was with Tucker. There's no doubt that's what killed him. But I'm not sure what made the explosion..."

Sam questions her further. "Do you know what triggered the explosion, at least? Was it set to go off when the door opened, or did someone have to trigger it manually?-"

"Sweet beautiful rope
Powerful and amazing
Yet so so fragile"



Aki cuts in. "There wasn't a mechanism set up beforehand...But there was a gunpowder trail that led to Tucker's window. It's likely that killer manually burned the gunpowder to set off the explosives."

Claus nods. "That would make sense. But that still leaves a very important question. What was the explosive used?"



Find The Truth!

Leanne thinks. "The gunpowder trail ended just outside the window. So that must mean...the explosive was launched inside."

Axel sighs. "No, no, you're thinking about it all wrong! The explosive was definitely thrown in the window!"

Vivian hesitates a moment. "U-Um...I don't think I remember hearing any glass break..."

Sylvia shrugs. "Maybe the window was open when they threw the bomb inside?"

Amelia shakes her head. "Ze window was closed and clearly broken when we walked into ze room."

Axel points dramatically. "So that means the missile was actually a ghost when it launched itself through the window!"

Sato crosses his arms and tilts his head. "I don't understand. Explosives do not launch themselves..."

Vicky stumbles backward. "Whoa, wait, where did you get a missile from!?"

Axel explains that the missile was actually a ghost before you cut in.

"Surely you don't believe that."

While you were investigating Tucker's room, you found remnants of fireworks among the debris. There's no doubt these are the same fireworks from your lab. You'd recognize these explosives anywhere as an explosives expert. In fact, you remember seeing that you were missing some fireworks when you were inspecting your lab. The only logical explanation is that your fireworks were stolen to kill Tucker.

You may explain this in whatever words you like.

Find The Truth!

Leanne thinks. "The gunpowder trail ended just outside the window. So that must mean...the explosive was launched inside."

Axel sighs. "No, no, you're thinking about it all wrong! The explosive was definitely thrown in the window!"

Vivian hesitates a moment. "U-Um...I don't think I remember hearing any glass break..."

Sylvia shrugs. "Maybe the window was open when they threw the bomb inside?"

Amelia shakes her head. "Ze window was closed and clearly broken when we walked into ze room."

Axel points dramatically. "So that means the missile was actually a ghost-"

"Surely you don't believe that."



Dennis elaborates further. "I can't speak on if vengeful spirits were involved, but it wasn't a missile. I found what remained of a firework in Tucker's room and when I returned to my lab to check, one had indeed been pilfered and my space violated."

Erika gives Dennis a suspicious look. "How did someone get in your lab?"

Ashley looks surprised. "Oh, look who finally decided to start being useful."

Claus explains. "The labs do not lock. So essentially, anyone can enter and exit at will. That means even though the fireworks are from Dennis' lab, Dennis may not be the killer."

"YAWN! BORING!" Nekoshi shouts to the others. "Come on, let's get on with the real deal here! Who's the killer?"

"There's no need to rush recklessly through our discussion. We need to prove beyond any doubt who here is guilty," Claus continues. "So then. We should move on from there. How exactly did the killer light the gunpowder trail?"

Leanne thinks for a moment. "There must be some kind of evidence..."

Present Evidence!

(In this section, you must select one of your Truth Bullets to present as evidence. Keep in mind that anyone could submit evidence at this time, but not all of you have the same Truth Bullets. You may choose to abstain from providing evidence if you don't believe you have anything that fits the prompt. However, if you choose to abstain and you do have the right evidence, your Influence will take damage. Take too much Influence damage and you won't be able to participate in the rest of the trial.)

"Did you forget this?"

You present the Missing Match! None of your other fire starting materials were taken aside from a single match. You also know that there aren't any other materials capable of creating fires in the building aside from the materials within your lab. So that means this match HAD to be used to light the fireworks that killed Tucker. There's no other way!

You may explain this in whatever words you like.

"Did you forget this?"

Dennis continues. "I've taken it upon myself to catalog every single fire starter in this prison and a single match taken from my lab is the only one out of place. This means the murderer must have lit the gunpowder with said match."

A look of realization dawns upon Sylvia. "And you kept the matches right there in your lab, didn't you? That place!"

"This will prove my point."

Claus takes out an image of the spilled gunpowder in the Pyrotechnics Lab with footprints in it. "These footprints must depict whoever it is that went to the Ultimate Pyrotechnics Lab and stole the match. And if what I know is correct...These footprints belong to Vivian!"



Vivian lets out a scared gasp as the platform she stands on moves into the center, putting everyone's attention on her. "N-No, it's not..."

"That's right. These footprints match your sneakers perfectly. I remember from this morning while I was doing the laundry. The dimensions on it are perfect. They could only fit you."

"B-But it isn't me, I swear! I would never hurt Tucker!"

Axel shouts over Vivian. "Don't be ridiculous! Vivian would never do such a thing!"

Ashley throws her a skeptical glare. "The timing is too perfect..."



Make Your Arguments!

Ashley continues. "I mean, just look at when Vivian showed up. She was the first to find Tucker's body."