day three - afternoon

[guestcontrol]

dreamland day three 34 players remaining. [As the day wears on into the afternoon, the dead aren't getting any deader. It's late in the afternoon, and the air is beginning to cool, when the chimes play again over the park loudspeaker. "All of us here at Dreamland wish you luck, guests! Let's meet up in the Hall of Mirrors!" Wherever you are, it's time to make your way over to the House of Horrors, where you'll have to brave the funhouse to find the room on the top floor. Don't delay, or your guest identification bracelet will begin beeping. The House of Mirrors is a large room, more than capable of fitting a crowd. Tall mirrors line every wall, and the door you entered through seems to vanish into a mirror as well. The mirrors give the impression that many, many more are among your number, standing in the background. In the back is a jar filled with blank raffle tickets. You'll have to take a ticket, write down a name, and place it back in the jar. Hopefully you already know who you're voting for, but if not, you only have time for a brief discussion before you're out of time. rulebook character statuses private conversations graveyard Voting will close at 10 PM EST on September 30. Voting

Comments

[photoshot]

I have letters from Miss Mahiru to her classmates and to Mr. Ootori. We'd discussed how inconvenient it would be not to be able to share information in the event of one's death, so...

If Mr. Ootori, Miss Pekoyama, Miss Mioda, and Mr. Tanaka would come see me. [ she holds out two folded sheets of stationery between the knuckles of her fingers. a third paper is tucked into the pocket of her own blouse. ]

[fanbase]

So... I think it's probably clear who most of us are gonna vote for, but I think we should still talk about it before we do anyway.

We don't want to make the same mistake as we did last night and we can never be too sure, even if dogs usually have good judgement.

[godwhisperer]

...

[Just standing here. This expression. Well?]

[glasshole]

Oh? From Miss Koizumi?

[Frowning a little, though whether he's upset is hard to tell.]

That's unexpected.

[godwhisperer]

[Wow. He takes this letter, reads it over quickly, and then shoves it back at Aya. His hand is shaking a little.]

Hhh...well, that is...

[Whoops, turning around and stalking off somewhere.]

[glasshole]

[Raising an eyebrow, and pocketing the note.]

Thank you for delivering this.

[glasshole]

Yes, I think that would be wise, wouldn't it?

We still have yet to verify the dog. But I don't think there's any question of using today to do so, unless anyone has any objections.

[edealistical]

[It’s clear what will happen here unless she makes a stand for herself. Even then, she knows, her opponent has so easily captured the trust of those around her without even so much as proving himself... It will be an onerous task, but she has never shrunk from a fight before.]

I’ll be serving as my own defense today, I think. It’s obvious that Missile has chosen to accuse me... but I will stand by my belief that I am innocent.

[Edea will... literally stand.]

There are two possibilities that would explain his actions. The first is simple – that I am guilty. This is a possibility I won’t deny, for it’s clear that our common enemy has proven themselves capable of altering memory and feats of magic. If this is so, then I rightly deserve to hang.

I’m here to propose the second, which I believe to be more likely. Before you all openly denounce me, let me remind you that thus far, all Missile has done is cause the death of Levi, someone we know now to be innocent. I'm here to ask why.

...Let’s go back to our first trial. After the votes came in, Levi presented his claim that he was the Detective, that he had investigated Legion, and that Legion was guilty. At the time, we were skeptical, but we were willing to believe him. Why so? Because no one stood to challenge him. Our true detective, however, as we know now, was not Levi... but Missile. Who must have understood and realized what Levi was saying, because we know that early the next morning, he set a plan in motion to denounce Levi.

Let me ask 'why' again. Missile could have attacked Levi the moment he made his claim – actually, this is probably what many people might have done in the heat of the moment. But Missile was smart. He kept silent. Because, of course... he wanted to investigate Levi. Isn’t that what the Detective would do? There was no harm in waiting to act because no one would be executed until the following day. Levi could claim whatever he liked until then - there was ample time. It would be stupid for Missile to out himself without knowing Levi’s intentions, which was, perhaps, to openly goad forth the Detective.

I am sure Missile investigated Levi that night. He would have found him to be innocent. He would have, no doubt, been utterly confused... but at the very least, it would have been clear that Levi was not directly his enemy.

This is where things get strange.

Missile knows Levi is innocent – I think Levi was relying on this, too. That the Detective would investigate him and find him to be innocent and that they would contact him to form the beginnings of a plan. However, Missile does not. ...Missile fails to do anything directly until an hour or two before the end of the trial. What does he do instead? He plants the seeds of suspicion in K and Aya... and then accuses Levi so late in the trial that it was impossible for Levi to defend himself in any meaningful way. He allows the charade to go on so long... that it's too late.

In fact – Missile’s actions could only have resulted in one thing! Levi’s execution – the execution of someone he should have known to be innocent! Missile didn’t speak up during breakfast or start growling and barking at Levi early on to force him to explain himself... He didn’t try to indicate Levi’s innocence in any way. A dog’s natural response should not be to wait for 8 hours and to plant obscure clues! Dogs aren't exactly patient creatures.

Why did Missile behave the way he did? Dogs don’t like melodrama – it wouldn’t be for the thrill or the adrenaline of it. The only reason Missile would have acted that way... is if he was instructed to do so.

[Edea will pause now, because this is where things will go off the hook.]

The night after Levi first made his claim, Missile was chosen as the convert by the VIPs!

Do you think that ridiculous? Look at what Missile has accomplished in the space of a day – every single one of you believes in him despite the fact that he hasn’t even pointed out a single guilty party yet! In short, there was nobody better that night for the VIPs to convert. In the absence of knowing any roles... every person here was more or less equal – all except for one. Missile... is the one person in this game that has been above suspicion. The only way the VIPs can lose is if every single one of them is killed – and nobody would be so callous as to push for the dog’s death!

The VIPs never ever thought that Missile was the Detective. That must have been an incredible stroke of luck... But when they did, they realized they had a golden opportunity. His ability didn't matter for them – they already know who’s guilty and who’s innocent. But now they could have everybody believing in a Detective... who was already on their side. Their greatest opposition was gone.

Thus, the same night Missile discovered Levi was innocent, he was converted. The VIPs needed Missile to act exactly the way he did... so as to cause Levi’s death and to gain Missile the trust of everyone here.

And actually... I believe there could be another reason that they needed Levi to die.

[Edea’s gaze turns now to fall on somebody else in the room.]

To protect the person who would have certainly been executed that very night in Levi’s stead.

What is more likely? That Levi would sacrifice his life for a complete fabrication... or that for some unknown reason, he had cause to believe that Legion really was VIP?

What is more likely? That Missile, knowing Levi was innocent, set a series of actions into motion that could have resulted in nothing but Levi’s death... or that he, as the Detective and the one tasked with finding the VIPs, would have tried to protect Levi still... or at least, tried to understand his actions? Instead of attempting to communicate the whole truth earlier that day... he waited – he was instructed to wait – until the very end, when it would be too late.

[She seems to have reached the end of her argument.]

This is the only logical conclusion I can reach about what’s happening... I have... actually, one more suspicion that I believe would answer many more questions... but I don’t know yet if it is right to say.

I don’t want to accuse anyone openly here or send anyone innocent to their death – but this is what I must believe to be true, knowing what I know about my own role. I can find no logical inconsistencies about this statement... so... it has to be true.

...I'm sorry to say this of you, Legion. ...And Missile. But if this is not true, then... I...

...That’s all.

((Will not be around stably until 6 or 7, sorry!))

[shoutoku_administrator]

This is a bold and fascinating theory, Miss Lee. By your argument, today's question is whether to execute you or Legion.

Allow me to start with a simple question: Do you believe that this dog would be both capable of understanding instructions to lie about Levi's guilt and willing to comply?

[fanbase]

He might be a messenger for the detective instead of being the actual detective, but we should definitely ask him for verification.

It might help us get somewhere before voting at least so we don't make another mistake.

[photoshot]

You're welcome.

[photoshot]

[ ... huh.

contrary to her snooping nature, she actually hadn't read the letter. just going to wait for the other dangans to share it with, then. ]

[glasshole]

...Miss Shameimaru, did you happen to read this letter?

[photoshot]

I didn't. [ and that surprises even herself. ]

[billows]

... It didn't seem like you were the type. I did find that whole scene strange, we so quickly turned on Levi—that dog is charismatic; he would be a good convert.

[glasshole]

I would like you to. Would you mind?

[Handing her the letter right back.]

[photoshot]

[ well, that's curious. but sure, she accepts and reads it. ]

I'm afraid I don't understand it, without context.

[glasshole]

There isn't much to understand. Koizumi and I had a conversation yesterday evening about personal matters. She was kind enough to write a letter about some of what we'd spoken about. It's a gesture I appreciate, and I'm honored she thought to write to me as well as to her classmates.

I only wish we had gotten to know one another better. That's all.

[photoshot]

... I see. And I think that's something a lot of us wish for, of her and everyone else who's been killed.

[glasshole]

Well...we won't be able to verify the detective until we have a successful execution, I'm afraid.

[glasshole]

Yes. Well, that would be all. Though if anyone else feels they would be comforted by Miss Koizumi's kind words, I'm happy to share them.

Thank you again.

[glasshole]

Oh.

That's an unexpectedly cogent theory. Though it does put a lot of emphasis on the capacity of a dog to be a rational actor.

[flatview]

[ .......color her curious and also in the vicinity of this discussion ]

...what did Mahiru-chan say?

[fanbase]

[ She sighs, looking somewhat downtrodden. Clash struggles for a moment. ]

As much as I hate saying it... let's hope we do.

[photoshot]

We'll have to confirm with Mr. Missile if he really did investigate Mr. Levi or not. My understanding was that he hadn't been trying to accuse him of being VIP, just of not being the detective.