day 4, post-execution

[injectors]

[Shit got 2 real 2 fast, and there may now be some blood on Angel's body after #monitorgate, but... It's fine. This is fine. Everything is super, duper fine. Actually, no. No, it is not. But at least they can all pretend, right?

Right.

Once all of apartment 3's occupants are inside their tiny, cramped abode — Angel will glance at the door. Glance at her roommates. Glance at the stupidly heavy axe that was the subject of the other night's discussion, and sigh. They were able to take down one of the staff this evening, but a child is dead and so is Lara. It's not a good feeling.]

... I suppose we should talk about improving our security, unless we wish to trade one of our lives for elbow space.

[It's a joke, but. It's a bad one and falls flat. God.]

Comments

[karmas]

[Franziska comes into the room, looking proud and haughty as ever. She ignores the other roommates, instead making her way towards the bed and sitting down.]

And how would you propose to increase security?

[toyotamane]

Good job there tonight, Miss Prosecutor.

[Dickson tosses from his favorite place on the floor, arms folded behind his head.

To Angel, he gives a thoughtful rumble. Another "joke", huh...?]

Hmph. There's free space in the other rooms already if you're really hurting for it. [THIS ISN'T A BETTER JOKE...] But I think we're all pretty cozy here.

[In that case!] If I may contribute, I think we're gonna need a bigger axe.

[Jokes, he's full of them tonight, apparently.]

[karmas]

It's nothing worth congratulations. A paltry victory; I'll improve my work in the future.

[She's still smarting a little from Elizabeth's comments.]

Ah. Are you attempting to jest with me? What a waste of time.

[toyotamane]

My mistake.

[Said with no small measure of amusement. So businesslike, Miss Prosecutor.]

But I'd say making decent progress deserves a bit more credit than that. It's certainly more than anyone else can boast about, these days.

[injectors]

Some of the ankle monitor's components could, perhaps, be salvaged to create something. For example -- the, err, taser.

[It's not quite a taser, but she doesn't know what else to call it.]

I believe we can use it to increase our security.

[karmas]

Ah, yes. A taser can be an effective enough weapon. My dear late papa was always fond of them. But I can't see what good will be done if we aren't awake.

[injectors]

I'm not suggesting we create a taser. Given our inability to remain conscious, all we would do is construct another weapon for the staff members to loot.

[Which is funny, considering Steve's dilemma in the near future? In the present? Time is an illusion.]

I was thinking more along the lines of a... trap.

[newlugers]

[ steve is clearly restless, and only half-listening to Angel as she speaks; as soon as she mentioned security, he seemed to remember something, and turned towards the bed, getting on his hands and knees and groping around under there.

To no avail, apparently. ]

What the heck?! [ glancing over his shoulder at the others. ] Okay, which one of you guys took my shovel?

[ steve what are you talking about ]

[estimated]

Do you mean your axe? It's still over there, right where you left it. It hasn't budged an inch.

[ gesturing towards the... wall, wherever the axe has been sitting since it first arrived.

unless it's already been duct taped to the door for the night, in which case... gesturing towards the door, instead. ]

[newlugers]

No! I mean a shovel! That damn axe is impossible to lose.

[ he wishes he could... but he gets back up to his feet, walking over to the kitchen area to see if the shovel somehow mysteriously materialized there. ]

I'm serious! I found a shovel last night. And I put it under the bed so we could protect ourselves with it!

[injectors]

[Watching him... do his thing? Highly concerned???]

Wait -- Steve, calm down. Where did you find a shovel? And... why are we only hearing of this now?

[She's pretty sure they would have noticed a nice shovel supply in this place??]

[newlugers]

Sorry, I got a little distracted by all the child murder?

[ these things happen... in any case, he is also distracted now as he pokes around the apartment. however, the shovel appears to be nowhere to be found. ]

And I don't know! I just sort of... woke up, and it was there. But I wasn't dreaming, I swear!

[toyotamane]

Retrace your steps, kiddo. Assuming you didn't dream it up, it ought to be here somewhere.

[Seriously, there's not too many places to hide something that big in this armpit of a room. A shovel though...what, were you dreaming of digging your own grave, Steve?

That sounds more like something Dazai would do.]

But I doubt it, since I didn't see one, and it sounds like no one else did either.

[newlugers]

[ he raises his hands in a 'seriously' sort of gesture. ]

I'm not making this up! [ steve, at least, seems quite convinced of the night's events. ] Did any of you let someone else into our room?

[toyotamane]

Not me.

[Then again, Steve probably wouldn't assume Dickson to have friends.

But hmmm...how often is this room usually empty...]

You think it's possible someone came in here when we all left for the trial?

[injectors]

It's not impossible. We were all distracted after finding that child's body, as well. Anyone could have entered our apartment between the body discovery and the trial's aftermath.

[Figuring out how often this room is empty is... not a bad idea, though. They've all been worried about what happens at night, but what about what happens when they're all exploring the Complex?]

[newlugers]

[ who would be friends with dickson, it's true... ]

Yeah. That's gotta be it. It's not like something can just disappear like that.

[ he rubs his temples. This is getting increasingly frustrating. ]

So they can come in here whenever they want, but they keep sneaking around and killing little kids at night like a bunch of cowards? It pisses me off!

[toyotamane]

And as of now, they're persistently getting away with it, no problem. So take that anger and put it to some use, boy.

[Are you burning up inside, Burnside? Good.]

Still leaves you empty-handed though, doesn't it? Maybe instead of looking for the shovel, we ought to see if our visitor left a few clues behind, yeah?

[Any weird odors? Mysterious footprints? A hair? Think small.]

[injectors]

Without a way of knowing where the shovel went, we might as well search for clues.

[And she's already giving their apartment a cursory glance, just in case? Though after the last two trials, she really has to add:]

If we're fortunate, they won't have been as thorough as they have been elsewhere.

[Like, around all those kiddie corpses. Yikes.]

[toyotamane]

Unlike the usual scenario, we've got the time and leisure to poke about our own room, see.

[Dickson actually moves (!) to look under the bed then. Feeling around for good measure.

There just seems to be nice, clean carpet though.]

What did it look like anyway, Steve? Rusty? Clean as a whistle?

[newlugers]

[ world is a fuck 410,757,864,530 dead children ]

I don't know - like a shovel? It was wooden with a metal head...

[ he shrugs. you're useless, steve!! ]

[toyotamane]

[he is trashman]

Yes, and you're a bonehead without a shovel.

[Steve, please.]

Any little detail coulda helped, but obviously you weren't paying attention.

[On to other possible clues lying around then.]

[estimated]

What do you mean? Did you take it out of that room with all of those power tools?

[ he really doubts that a shovel counts as a power tool, but... did you do something you weren't supposed to, steve? for what it's worth, dazai will try looking around their tiny room too, checking under the sofa and whatnot. ]

We have this sword and your axe, I really don't think a shovel is going to help us protect ourselves any better.

[newlugers]

Nah, I couldn't get anything out of the workshop. [ he tried, most definitely. ] This was different! It was like... I felt like I got woken up for it. It sounds crazy, but it's true!

[injectors]

Well... That's ominous.

[To put it lightly.]

I believe you. But I must ask, do you remember what time it was when you woke up?

[newlugers]

[ he ... actually seems somewhat surprised she believes him, since he probably wouldn't believe him if he heard this story. he's not used to people taking him seriously. ]

Yeah, kinda... I think it was around 1:15. I wasn't really looking at the clock, but...

[injectors]

[He's been nice to her so far, so of course she's going to try and believe him. It's not like he'd make up something like this just for fun, right? Right?]

And before retiring to bed, did you see anything strange? Or — did you do something out of the ordinary?

[newlugers]

[ he's not THAT bad!! ]

No! No, it was all totally normal. That's why I don't get it. It's like it just appeared or something.

[ he scratches his head, face pinching in frustration. ]

Man... I don't get it.

[injectors]

[Yeah. She's starting to think he might have hallucinated the whole thing in his sleep, but she won't dash his hopes and dreams so soon.

So.]

... Do you believe someone might have left it here and then retrieved it at a later time?

[karmas]

And why exactly, Steve Burnside, were you skulking about my bed hiding shovels in the first place?

[newlugers]

[ oh boy, here it comes........ ]

Where else am I gonna hide a shovel? Anyway, it's not your bed! [ he's still stuck on this, apparently. ] ... And stop using my full name! You sound like my mom.

[karmas]

Don't hide your tools underneath my bed again, Steve Burnside.

[Just ignoring all of that.]

Have you woken in the dead of night here before?

[newlugers]

[ he rolls his eyes, crossing his arms petulantly. whatever mom. ]

No. I never saw a shovel on the commissary list, either.