vivarium | clue

One whole day after the second group’s arrival (along with one whole day since the dead body’s discovery...), some sort of activity in the warehouse begins. Early in the morning, there is an abrupt squawk of microphone feedback over the loudspeakers (and since when were there loudspeakers?), before a screechy voice makes a terse announcement:

“Ahem, ahem, testing. One, two, three, testing! Ooookay, looks like this is up and running. So, you pesky test subjects, what a mess you’ve made! I take my eyes off you for just a moment and this is what happens. You really are a terrible bunch, aren’t you?”

The “voice” clicks its tongue three times, letting out a heavy sigh, before continuing.

“Anyway, let’s get this all sorted out! Know those elevators back out in the lobby? Well, first of all, they’re not elevators. They’re called Ambidex Rooms, so get it right, but second of all, why don’t you all make yourselves useful for once and step into them? Only one test subject per room, though! You can try to go in with someone else, but we just don’t start. What is that? You don’t want to go in? Then we can do this aaaaaaaaall day, I’m a very patient mouse, I’ll let you know!”

And with that, the mysterious announcer goes silent. In fact, they’ll stay quiet until all the test subjects finally enter one of the AB Rooms, no matter how long it take. Once inside, the doors shut close, trapping them all inside..

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh man, that doesn't sound good. Was the body... you know?

[ "Dead"?? She's guessing Rio couldn't really tell if the angle was low but might as well ask and be sure. ]

Not for sure, but... if they were being dragged like that, they couldn't be conscious anymore.

Did you know? It takes a lot of trauma to knock someone unconscious. Movies always make it seem easy, but if someone gets knocked out, the damage is usually pretty severe. It's rare for someone to fall unconscious for very long without sustaining any brain damage.

Other than that... if they passed out from pain or bloodloss, I don't think it's likely that they would have survived unless someone treated them. So whether or not they were alive during the video...

I-I don't think they could still be alive now.

[Is she being helpful yet?]

[ She is being helpful! But Ellie pales at all the tl;dr information... ]

So you're saying that they were definitely dead or going to be dead. Okay, okay, and all we got is a shot of some guy's legs, but that's not a lot to go off of. Someone could have just taken off their socks and pants for that.

[ The Underwear Murderer: killing people without their pants. ]

Did they know they were going to be recorded...? I suppose there are cameras everywhere, but...

[She glances over at the guys they have around.]

...They all look... very distinct. Don't they?

Maybe? But the angle is pretty low, right? I don't think that they knew about the camera.

[ Unless the camera was super big and bulky... Man, she doesn't even know anymore. She thought she was slightly onto something, to think that someone just took off their pants. ]

And yeah... You got some us, a creepy clown, some snooty dude in a suit, that one lady in the green, and a 40 year old with a face problem. [ She means Hisoka, Edgeworth, Maria, then Kaidou ] Only two of us are wearing shorts...

[ Kaidou and Maria... ]

And my socks would have shown up if it were me... but I think the legs are a little too large, too.

[Tiny, slender little legs that she's got, along with that cute skirt and knee socks combo.]

Someone might have taken off their pants, but I don't think it would have been because they were afraid of being caught by the cameras. Everyone looks too different for that to work.

You know, in my video, I got that guy in the suit washing something in water. He's not wearing sneakers, but do you think that's related?

[ She's assuming large legs means they belong to a man and none of the girls. ]

Washing...?

[Now that's odd.]

Y-you mean he could have been washing away evidence?

He might have? I couldn't see what he was washing but it was some kind of cloth or fabric? Maybe his neck tissue or something.

[ She refers to Edgeworth's cravat when she says 'neck tissue'... ]

[Hmm...]

...Did it look like the water was soapy?

I don't think so. It was too grainy to tell, but he was definitely washing something out. I have no idea what, though.

...If he didn't have soap, he might not have been able to get all of the traces out. If we can just figure out what he was washing...

[...Maybe they could find an important clue?]

Man, if only I could check out the video again, but the screen isn't showing anything.

[ Since it turned right off after she watched it a few times, so she doubts that she can turn it back on. ]

We can find him later, but it's not like we can just go up to him and ask him to take off his clothes to check.

[ THAT WILL GIVE OFF THE COMPLETELY WRONG MESSAGE ]

But we could ask to examine his clothes, couldn't we...? Just so we could disprove it.

[Or prove it, but sometimes it pays to word things softly.]

But how do we know that he's not just going to flip out on us? It's practically telling him that we think he might be guilty.

[ Kaidou asked her earlier if she was the murderer and she didn't really take that well, so who knows how Edgeworth will react. ]

He seemed calm when we talked before... if we make it clear we don't necessarily suspect him, I think it might be okay...

[...What was with that sudden dip?]

[ ...? What was with that sudden dip? ]

... What's wrong?

It's just... Even if we want to find out who did it, we're going to make someone mad, and if they're the killer...

[She gives a small whimper, but otherwise tries to stay strong.]

[ Oh... That is def a, uh, problem... ]

Yeah... [ Ellie takes a second to collect her thoughts and try to think of something reassuring to tell Rio so she doesn't start freaking out. ] How about we just never split up? Then at least we have each other's backs.

[-!]

Y-you mean it? You're okay with doing that?

[ She nods. ]

This way, we both feel safe and don't have worry about being alone. What do you say?

[ This pretty much says that Ellie trusts Rio here. She's so harmless that she probably wouldn't hurt a fly... Maybe... You're real lucky Ellie isn't being played after she gets all super suspicious of people. ]

[The only way she could hurt a fly is if she tripped and fell on it, clearly.]

Yes, please-!

[Oops, that came out rather quick.] I-I mean, I would feel much safer that way, too!

[ Of course, I mean, just look at her username. Clearly it's just about toy bombs like toys that look like bombs, nothing else. ]

Okay! Then we're all good, partner?

[Definitely that and not the bomb she used to blow herself up so she wouldn't be a suspect for murder.]

Y-yeah! Um, partner!

[God how does she make this sound so adorable.]

[ ... Rio, you gotta stop it with those bombs. You might have a problem. ]

Awesome. If you need to go anywhere, then let me know, and I'll do the same if I gotta go somewhere. That goes for talking to anyone here.

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toybombs - 2015-06-21 07:52 (UTC) - Expand

elliexir - 2015-06-21 14:33 (UTC) - Expand

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