itscurtains | First Trial

[As the investigation ends, you'll hear Hester's voice inviting you to the auditorium. As this happens, the twin doors on either side of the concession stand, across from the gym, will click open. You can enter on either side; both go to the same place.

When you enter the auditorium, it's dark. There's only the small lights along the walkway behind all the seats, just enough to illuminate where you're going. There's a central path between the seats, down towards where you know the stage must be. That's where you must be going, right? As you pass each row of seats, the lights at their ends flick on, marking your procession and slowly making more and more of the room visible. Shortly, you can see your destination: a circle of podiums stationed in the orchestra pit, below the lip of the darkened, curtained stage. They're all identical, labeled with a cast member's name, save for Mumble's, which is draped in black crepe and has a framed monochrome photo of him - Elijah Wood him - on top.

When you reach the podiums, the lights above the stage finally come on. It's time to meet the Wizard.

The mechanical head, with glowing green eyes, is installed above the stage and the still-closed curtain. Even if you were standing on the stage, it'd be well out of reach. It peers down at all of you, its motions fluid, and speaks with a booming, artificial-sounding voice:]

Welcome to your first trial, everyone. I am the Wizard. It's time to determine who was responsible for the murder of Mumble. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and work together - you'll have to show teamwork if you want to leave this room alive.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[From just behind someone else enough to be considered behind cover-]

ROBOTS CAN'T BE WIZARDS, YOU DORK!

It could be a spell to give him a mechanical form?

[She is right, robots normally aren't sentient enough to consider magic as a career.]

He could be somewhere else just controlling it with a remote or something.

That's dumb. Why wouldn't he just, like, appear with a spell or something if he's really a wizard?

Wizards want to appear powerful. This could be his most powerful form.

[...]

And he would not want to fight us the instant he appeared.

Maybe he doesn't want us to know who he is? Or maybe he isn't a real wizard. That's how it was in the Wizard of Oz, right? Just some guy behind a curtain, pretending.

So, we've gotta get someone up there to pull away the curtain? [... Sorry, y'all. Unlike last round, your cheerleader has some PTSD with flying. She sure isn't volunteering anyone to yeet her up there.]

We could pull it down and set it on fire or something.

When you put it that way, it sounds quite simple.

[ deadeyes this giant robot. someone literally chose violence today, and she's going to keep the train going. figuratively. ]

Obviously he's compensating.

Well, someone sounds a little robophobic.

No, it's just how stuff works. Wizards are magic, robots are nerdy stuff like math and science.

[The Wizard just chuckles at all of this, a sort of weird mechanical sound.]

This isn't lumping funny! I'm gonna tear you into scrap and then turn the scrap into a lawn gnome!

What, like you tried to do with Hester? That's just going to cause more problems for all of us.

[ be reasonable. ]

I wasn't gonna turn her into a gnome, that'd be gross.

[Well, Sissi is already in a state of shock, let's just terrify her some more.]

Th-that--is a robot-!?

[THAT MAKES TWO OF THEM. Salieri is also really terrified here, but he's shifting closer to Sissi, almost taking half a step in front of her, as if to shield her]

It is some kind of mechanical monster! [his voice is low] I cannot imagine what sort of sorcery created such a thing.

I think Finn made NEPTR with a bunch of old junk and some lightning, it was probably something like that.

[Salieri just looks at her like she's just started speaking straight gibberish]

Old junk and lightning?!

Yeah, he needed to throw, like, a lot of pies really fast or something, I don't know the whole story.

That is...beyond comprehension.

(no subject)

sugarlumps - 2021-06-12 16:33 (UTC) - Expand

wanderlusttitania - 2021-06-12 16:33 (UTC) - Expand

sugarlumps - 2021-06-12 16:34 (UTC) - Expand

wanderlusttitania - 2021-06-12 16:38 (UTC) - Expand

sugarlumps - 2021-06-12 16:41 (UTC) - Expand

disharmonizes - 2021-06-12 16:34 (UTC) - Expand

It sure is some kind of automaton.

[what's a robot]

[McFife say they were things, apparently]

Automations don't talk-or abduct people!

No, they don't.

[Somehow, she doesn't glance in Varian's direction.]

But someone is usually behind them.