We're reaching a roadblock.

Dex, if you could, give us your wisdom.

I want to check Water Filtration out. Let's see if we can find that pump.

Riki see any friends on Observation Room CCTV?

You play your CCTV from the Observation Room, Spook's head displaying an image...

---

The video displays the doorway of BPI-7103's containment cell. For the longest time, it appears as though nothing happens - until a figure coalesces from the darkness surrounding the door, pressing buttons on the screen of an electronic device.

Hm. The Occultic Seal's gone too... Time for some extreme measures.

Let's see.. administrative override... Scrolling down... Ah, there we go. BPI-7103. Let's just let you stretch your legs for a bit, why don't w-



!!!

The figure collapses back into shadow before they can do anything, seemingly surprised. After a while, you see Lyra smack into the side of the containment cell door as 23 rushes towards her. Lyra steadies herself, her head hanging at a strange angle as she raises an arm. 23 freezes, his body contorting strangely... before something small hits her, and she disappears in a flash of light.

23 shakes his head, returning to normal. He leaves the camera's view.

Ask Dr. Lyra if she would provide a summary of her night, if only for our and Momoyo's sakes.

Kya... ha... For you, my most faithful assistant, anything. I'll keep in nice and simple for the feeble-minded among you. Most of you, that means. Kyehehehe...





I was minding my own business in my laboratory, just touching base with Phenera. Any revenge I desired could wait, I was eager, after all, to explore my new capabilities. Thankfully, when those two smoothbrains from the Control Department dared to... challenge me, my wish was granted. I showed them the crushing power of the depths, but of course I had better things with which to utilize my newfound power.

Kyehehehe... Of course, the thing about water that everyone knows... is how easily it can slip through the cracks. I entered my own Sunken room, and allowed the primordial current to ferry me away from their pathetic little attempt. I've heard... they wasted so much time searching the area... Kya... ha...



I dredged myself to the surface by the Break Room door, and made a detour to the Aquatic Lab. Of course... in order to fully understand what I had to offer... analysis was required. Some tools, for the monitoring of pressure and the movement of water.. I haven't given up on the scientific process entirely, after all... Kyehehe... but who should I run into but Giffany? I never planned on doing more than breaking a few bones, but she was clever and for but a moment, robbed me of my power to escape.

My real goal, of course, was to exact revenge on Astrid and her... friends. Her Stellaric attunement makes it difficult to directly interfere, but to crush one of her companions into dust... The thought is enrapturing! I fled to another of my Sunken rooms, once again drifting away through the gaps between things... until I felt the presence of one of them. The little Somatic girl. I emerged from the depths of the underground lake, cornering her in the Arcana Lab...



Yet... that little brat... she used a smoke bomb to elude me... I spent a moment searching... but those two from the Control Department got the drop on me, and sent me to their Holding Cell.

Kyahaha... You don't seriously think this can hold me for long, do you?

Do the bullets in the lake match those from a handgun? Say, the kind you can find in a pile in Jack of Spades' room?

If I wear my bulletproof vest and ask Morgan to shoot my shoulder at mid-range, do the bullets flatten like the ones in the lake?

You check the bullets from the lake. They do indeed look like handguns from a standard issue Bureau gun. Nothing else is remarkable about them.

Putting on the vest, you ask Morgan to shoot you. He's hesitant, but fires off a shot anyway. The bullet flattens similar to the ones in the lake, though you imagine that they'd probably be in a similar state if they entered you and hit bone.

I want to check Water Filtration out. Let's see if we can find that pump.

You investigate Water Filtration. The large room contains a variety of equipment, mostly large machines. Some of them do appear to be water pumps, but transporting these seems as though it would be rather difficult. There is a small pool of black liquid inside the room.

Hustler have shoulder shooty mark?

Hustler have shoulder shooty mark?

Hustler does not seem to have any bullet wounds on their body, only another one of those strange, ragged stab wounds covering the rest of his body.

This post was last modified: Jul 29, 2024 at 7:33 PM by Nashu Mhakaracca.

What's with the long, thin burn marks mentioned in the case files anyway?

If I throw a piece of meat through the laser hallway while it's activated, do they leave similar marks if the meat passes through fast enough, or just disintegrate/melt the meat entirely?

How does the hole in the ice look? Is it smoothly bored, or does it looks like something smashed the ice?

What's with the long, thin burn marks mentioned in the case files anyway?

If I throw a piece of meat through the laser hallway while it's activated, do they leave similar marks if the meat passes through fast enough, or just disintegrate/melt the meat entirely?

The long thin burn marks appear to be some sort of raised welts, closer to chemical burns or some sort of sting.

You toss a pork roast from the Kitchen into the Laser Hallway after reactivating it. The lasers cleanly slice through the meat, the pieces falling to the ground with a meaty plop.

How does the hole in the ice look? Is it smoothly bored, or does it looks like something smashed the ice?

The hole in the ice looks as though it was messily smashed, or perhaps pierced with something - much unlike the Fairy's cleanly cut fishing hole.

Riki see clothes miss from Locker Room? Maybe ones like not-Hom-Hom Trip?

Let's inspect the Lost City Outpost, searching in particular for any kind of digital monitors, or places one might be able to go.

Presenting my CCTV now before I forget

A theory?

Man, I got my head beat in like multiple times - AND this case is a total nightmare. More rafts, are you fucking kidding me? You're really not making this easy, huh? Ugh, alright... let's see where we're at. There's gotta be something I can mash together from... whatever the hell this bullshit is.

Uh... sure. Let's call this... Dexter Hexley: Paranormal Investigator- Season 9, Episode 9: Holy Diver.



See it's like... he's got the whole holy mask thing going on, and he's underwater and... he's got a bunch of stab wounds which are... kind of like holes and... whatever. Let's just get this over with.

---

Okay, so the guy's lying under the ice, beyond fucked up. Stuck to the raft, shit stabbed out of them, harpoon through the face. Whoever this is, they really didn't them very much - not that I blame them, after backing out of Bird Fight. I don't really think any of this is relevant though, the wounds. If the scrying glass isn't somehow pulling our leg, we know that shit was post-mortem.

It's a distraction, all of it. Get that shit outta here. Let's do what a real Paranormal Investigator would do and look at our supernaturally-gained facts: We're pretty sure they died behind the Director's Office by that secret elevator, but somehow all the got way up to the lake. Awfully weird, isn't it? I started thinking about that, how someone could get the body out without leaving a big trail of blood.



The answer's closer than you think though. Remember the Retcon Fairy? Yeah, she transported a raft under her clothes, wrapped around her body. I'm pretty sure the killer did the same thing. The raft might have originated from the Lighthouse, but it had quite the journey. As for why there was no blood... the killer shanked Hustlter, wrapped Hustler in the raft and used that to transport them.. And no, I don't care what that suspiciously goopy-looking agent says - it was NOT that son of a bitch Trip.

As for everything else... I was thinking for a while. How'd the killer get over there? It couldn't have been the Fairy Circle out in the woods, even if it would be easy enough to slip out the Patio way. No vomit at the scene and the teleport's random. No way they could've planned around an arrival out there. But what if they just... took Hustler into the elevator?



Before I continue, I gotta say... it WOULD be possible to move through the Outpost without me seeing. It's pretty big in there, and someone managed to sneak up behind me at least once. It's possible at least that they could get around, especially if I was distracted talking to someone. I mean, there was a fucking gorilla in here, I wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. I don't think they could've gotten past me while conscious while lugging some body in a raft though.

Still though, I figure they could've [b]hidden somewhere upstairs, maybe under the Director's desk to avoid suspicion. Maybe even just ditched Hustler there and did something else. Then, while I was either knocked out or busy, they brought the body through the ancient city and up through the mines. They went around the outside way, maybe behind the Auxiliary Building, and proceeded to fuck the body up once they got to the Lighthouse, using all the shit on their person. Of course, they did all this using the raft to hold any blood, which wouldn't splatter far because they were already dead.



And then... who knows where the killer went. Probably the Boathouse to hide those blades. Then they just pretended they were outside doing something else - or if nobody saw them, they just left that fact conveniently out and just went somewhere else - one of the other upstairs locations probably, or hell, maybe back into the mines.

Who did it? Yeah... fuck if I know. This one's gonna have to be a cliffhanger episode, I'm out of ideas. Truth is, I could point fingers at any one of you fuckers, and it'd be exactly the same. Any one of you could've done it.



But I'm accusing Thomas Zane anyway though. Because he WAS in the mines. And also he's a dick.

Riki see clothes miss from Locker Room? Maybe ones like not-Hom-Hom Trip?

You check the Locker Room, looking for clothing... It doesn't seem like there's anything missing from here at all.

Let's inspect the Lost City Outpost, searching in particular for any kind of digital monitors, or places one might be able to go.

You inspect the Lost City Outpost. It's a fairly large room and contains a few cubicles and desks with computers. The computers do possess digital monitors, and while the narrator isn't sure what you mean by "places you might be able to go", you think someone could maybe hide under various workstations.

Presenting my CCTV now before I forget

You present your CCTV. It appears to be a camera feed displaying the Lobby.

The feed hums to life, and you see a gorilla heading into the elevator. Thomas Zane manifests shortly after in the Lobby in disbelief. In the corner, you see someone dragging a bunch of safety gear like pylons and such out to the Museum Hall. Thomas Zane heads for the Anomaly Hall, and shortly after you see Phenera doing the same, except from the Main Elevator. She is carrying a stained, squirming sack.

Thomas Zane crosses the Lobby again, to the Museum Hall this time. Phenera follows him, but then you see Zane walking back into the Lobby and down the Elevator. Phenera goes across the Lobby again as well, returning to the Anomaly Hall.

On Pea's behalf, Check Nashu for wounds (consented in Discord).

Check Konata over and anything she is carrying, as well as her room (consented in Discord).

Hello, everyone! I would like to, scour the island surrounding the elevator and lighthouse! Are there any other clues, to uncover here?

On Pea's behalf, Check Nashu for wounds (consented in Discord).

Check Konata over and anything she is carrying, as well as her room (consented in Discord).

You check Nashu for wounds... It seems like she is heavily bruised and covered in various cuts. Shards of glass are sticking out of here, a curved orange-tinted variety.

Searching Konata, you find that she has a knife, as well as a black bodysuit and a document reading Memo: Flooded District. While her room is kind of messy, it doesn't look like she has much in here.

Hello, everyone! I would like to, scour the island surrounding the elevator and lighthouse! Are there any other clues, to uncover here?

You scour the island surrounding the elevator and lighthouse, searching vigorously for anything that could possibly be out of place. The only thing you find is a Silver Key lying hidden in one of the bushes. Huh, wonder what that's for.

Just to be thorough...check the Aquatic Lab and Esotera Lab for in-tact monitors, and check those monitors as well as the ones in the Outpost and Director's Office for anything out of the ordinary.

Just to be thorough...check the Aquatic Lab and Esotera Lab for in-tact monitors, and check those monitors as well as the ones in the Outpost and Director's Office for anything out of the ordinary.

The computers in the Aquatic Lab have been completely destroyed by the fire, though the computers in the Esotera Lab are still intact - as are the monitors attached. The Director's Office computer is likewise compromised by fire, but the Lost City Outpost ones are fine.

Riki take look at Lounge and Kitchen. Anything weird besides explodey?