Final Investigation.

[trustfellows]

Friday morning dawns like the rest of the week before it, with the chiming of the clock and the doors to the kitchen unlocking; once again, there's no announcement from Jericho, and everything seems to be largely quiet. Noticeably quiet, really, given that there are only eight of you left. However, quiet tends to be a good thing around here, overall; it means you're free to go about your business like you usually would. There are a couple of things to note, however, as your morning proceeds onward and begins to creep into afternoon. The first is that Rin's unlockable box has started making a strange mechanical whirring sound. The second is that sometime slightly after noon, the power to the building suddenly and abruptly goes out, casting everything into darkness. Interesting.

Comments

[heritrix]

[Oh! So several things were laid out on it then? I thought it was just the key on the floor/whatever else the cat found She'll head there next, in that case. Let's take a look at the notes first though, since she's right here, unless that's going out of order.]

[trustfellows]

[...Well, yes, but that involves me not being a tool and mentioning that in the first place, my apologies for the brain blip.

That said, though, the stuff on the couch looks like various books; one of them is still open and laid out on the table next to it, like someone was interrupted while reading it.]

[heritrix]

[It's all good! And oh. Did they take someone by surprise then? Let's go back over to the couch then, and take a look at these books. As well as look for any other signs someone was in here recently, like a drink sitting out, or so on.]

[trustfellows]

[A fair amount of these books actually seem to be in languages you can recognize, thankfully enough - or at least, they're showing up that way, thanks universal translation mechanic.

They all seem to be referencing many-worlds theory, as well as string theory and varying things relating to the concept of Schrodinger's Cat.]

[heritrix]

[Nice. She was expecting something unreadable, given their track record. Looking at how many of these books relate to the third subject, Rin's going to glance back over at catfriend.]

Maybe I should rename you Schrodinger.

[You know, to complete the circle of bad puns.

But no really, that subject matter connected to the last two... Well, she'll leave those thoughts for later. What's the book that's still open on the table?]

[trustfellows]

[It looks like something similar - something focused on the butterfly effect.]

[heritrix]

[Well, she'll pick that one up, and maybe take it and a few of the other books with her. Is there a bookmark or anything like that around? If not, she'll just dogear the page.

...how well-worn is this book, actually? Does it look like it's been read multiple times, or is it brand new?]

[trustfellows]

[It looks like it's been read a lot, actually.]

[heritrix]

[Well she's going to piss someone off by taking it. Is there anything else around the ouch area then? Well, besides the bell collar catfriend is playing with, which she might try to take a look at now.]

That looks fun. Mind if I play with it for a second?

[trustfellows]

[There's not much else going on over there, no!

...That said, you can look at the collar, though have fun taking it from catfriend properly, it is having a good time batting it around.]

[heritrix]

[How about a trade! She still has that blue pendant they've played with before. She probably slid some beads on it from the art studio to make it more appealing, those couple times she played with the cat in the library, trying to get on its good side for nothing.

If she jingles that around in another direction, will the cat be distracted enough for her to take the collar?]

[trustfellows]

[...Yes it will, because such is cat.

The collar is pink and of a size that implies it obviously belongs to the cat, who is clearly not wearing it now and has just sort of been running around naked in front of God and everyone this entire time.

It has a little bell on it, and a tag that the bell is colliding with a lot that has a pretty little stylized J on it as well.]

[heritrix]

Huh. That must stand for something, right...? There's a lot of J names out there; hopefully he didn't name you after himself.

[Rin rill turn the tag over though. Is there anything on the back? Contact details, maybe?]

[trustfellows]

[Nope. Just the letter on the front.

...Not like there's much chance of the cat getting outside in a place like this, anyway.]

[heritrix]

[True, but then why bother with a collar? Must be a vanity thing.

Well, is it cool to look back to the desk then? Rin wants to look at those notes she saw before.]

[trustfellows]

[Knock yourself out, Rin.

The notes are all handwritten, and they match the notes found in the filing cabinet earlier.

The longer I go, the less this feels like the right thing. I know for a fact that it is, because goddamn look at them, but it's hard to keep firm about it, I guess.

I think this is why Hilda always kept a reminder on her. The whole THEY DESERVE THIS thing. I always thought that was weird, but I can't say that it wouldn't be nice right about now.

I'm probably just being stupid. I can't afford to fuck up again. This group isn't going to walk if I can do anything about it. I just don't want to fucking look at them anymore.]

[heritrix]

[...huh. If this were in a book, it would feel like a diary entry. But if it's just out on the desk like this, maybe it's a letter?

She has a feeling this was written recently, though. Are there other notes besides that one?]

[trustfellows]

[One other that seems to have any relevance:

I was afraid that it would be too hard on Rachel to do all this, but she doesn't seem to be having much trouble; she likes a few of them too much, though, and that might be a problem if what happened with some of the others is any indication.

I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't screw it up; if she does, then I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there. But we're going to need her to deal with everyone here eventually; I can't do it myself and I know it.]

[heritrix]

[...Rachel. That name came up in a lot of those files they found. Looking about to make sure the coast is still clear, Rin collects those papers up, folding them and putting them away between the books she's taken.

They'll be sat down on one of the tables as she puts the collar away in a pocket, looking around the room. What else should she check before she goes? The bookshelf, probably. She expects more of the same subjects she found before, but is there anything else interesting up here while she's looking? Or behind the shelves, perhaps. If someone was in here, she does wonder how they got out.]

[trustfellows]

[It looks like you've gotten everything in here, though it was a good idea to check - well done and good job, Rin. o/ ]