FIRST TRIAL.

[eggmobile]

[Eventually, when you are all gathered, the elevator jerks. Not in some Rod Serling Theme Park ride manner, but much more creaky. The elevator glides upwards, incredibly far up, before coming to a stop at a room you’ve never seen before.]

[The room shares a similar aesthetic to the control center, each portion of the wall covered in television monitors. They all display a bright blue screen at the moment, save for twenty additional monitors hanging from the ceiling like chandeliers. Each of those display the face of the good Doctor Eggman.

The only furnishings in the room are a table and chairs - the table is excessively long enough to seat all of you at the moment. Every chair corresponds to a different room, and each is marked with a nameplate corresponding to the room’s occupant. The unoccupied rooms are unmarked save for numbers, with no nameplates at all. Wilkins’ empty chair bares both his name, and a very ominous coffee scent.

In front of each chair are very small microphones kept in stands, just in case you need to speak up, as well as keyboards built into the table.

Once you are all seated, Doctor Eggman speaks.]

Now that you’ve all gathered, here are the rules! You must discuss the crime, and once you believe you have figured out your culprit, you may input their name in the keyboard in front of you! Take all the time you need, of course.

Failure to vote will result in your execution, and the same will follow should you fail to identify the culprit! How does that sound to you all?

Comments

[tedioustrivium]

Don't be silly! We have all the time in the world for games!

[clawhands]

Games are for children and old men who have too much time on their hands--

What kind of card game is it?

[tedioustrivium]

[He explains the rules of Magic the Gathering in lengthy, agonizing detail, because I don't know them.]

[clawhands]

[Good Cop nods and follows along, his smile slowly becoming more forced. Bad Cop interrupts in the middle of the Trivium's speech, because even if Good Cop can be this nice, Bad Cop certainly can't.]

ENOUGH! [He skitters across the table to the Trivium's seat (with some difficulty).] Show me your hands right now!

[tedioustrivium]

Which hands are those again?

[clawhands]

The hands attached to your arms!

[tedioustrivium]

[...gestures to the floating space between hands and his suit?]

[liv_nye_the_science_pi]

Hm. Maybe you should just move on. I'm sure checking his hands would be a huge waste of time.

[...It can't possibly be this easy, but she might as well take a shot.]

[tedioustrivium]

...it would?

[liv_nye_the_science_pi]

Oh, most definitely. We should be doing something productive right now.

[If this works she is going to need a stronger drink than coffee.]

[tedioustrivium]

...Well, I suppose we could marvel at my wonderful efforts at maintaining appearances.

[He displays his hands! They're very clean.]

[clawhands]

Hrrrggg.

[Bad Cop scowls some more before storming back to his seat.]

Fine! Keep your hands to yourself.

[windmage]

[I don't know them either but Vaati is actually giving his full attention to this while pretending to look disinterested because something that has the word "magic" in it has to be worth listening to.]