❋ memory 023.

[notsuperman]

Memory regained: Significant Negative - dead old lady alert (magenta - novel: lounge, after escape; yellow - novel: infirmary, after escape)
Date: Day 121
Game won: heart games

Memory:

( video version - this to end + this until 12:10. )

[ sigma opens the left-most "elevator" ]

Announcer: An Ambidex Gate has been opened.
Announcer: Forty-five minutes remain until Ambidex Game polling closes.
Sigma: What?
Sigma: This game's got a time limit too...?

[ sigma & phi then notice the corpse of an old woman in their ab room ]

Sigma: ...What.
Sigma: ...What?
Sigma: What!?
Sigma: What the hell! Who is this?!
Phi: Fuck if I know! Look, it doesn't matter who she is, just get everybody over here!
Sigma: Y-Yeah, right!
Sigma: Hey! Guys! Guys, get over here!
Sigma: We found someone! There's a...a lady over here!
Sigma: She's unconscious!

[ sigma & phi then enter the room, kneeling down next to her and flipping her over...to see that her chest is covered in blood ]

Sigma: Blood...She's covered in blood.

[ phi watches sigma check the old lady for breath or a pulse, as the others arrive ]

Dio: What the hell were you yelling—! What's going on here?!
Quark: Is she...
Sigma: Quark! Don't look! Somebody get Quark out of here!
Luna: O-Okay! C-C'mon Quark...
K: Then...she's...
Sigma: Yeah... She's not breathing, and I can't find a pulse.
Sigma: Her body's already cold, so I'm guessing she was... I'm guessing she was murdered a while ago.
Alice: Murdered!?
Sigma: Does this look like an accident or a suicide to you?
Phi: Hmm... It looks like she was stabbed.
Phi: Don't see a weapon around here, though.
Phi: That means either the killer took it with them, or...it was part of them.
Clover: Part of them...?
Phi: Well, if someone was strong enough, and they had metal hands, then they might be able to stab someone in the heart.
K: What are you suggesting?
Phi: It's just a joke. Don't take it so seriously.
K: ...
Phi: Whatever. If we examine the wound we'll probably get a better idea of what the weapon was.
Phi: Let's get her to the infirmary.
Phi: She might be old, but she's still a woman. If we're going to do an autopsy, she should have some privacy.
Phi: Come on boys, let's go.

[ dio, k, & sigma carry the old lady to the infirmary and lay her down on the bed, as everyone else follows (and tenmyouji has a little freak out). ]



Sigma: She looks so peaceful... Almost like she's just going to wake up any minute now.
Phi: Maybe she didn't suffer much when she died.
Sigma: Let's hope so...
Phi: Anyway... I feel a little bad about doing this, but I think we need to examine her.
Dio: You mean like an autopsy or something?
Phi: I'm just going to have a look at the wound. If we had a coroner, then it'd be a different story, but...
Luna: Um...
Phi: What?
Luna: I have a medical license.
Quark: You're a nurse?
Luna: No...
Sigma: You're a doctor?
Luna: Well, I'm not exactly a coroner...
Alice: Interesting. I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover, can you?
Luna: S-Sorry...
Alice: You don't need to apologize...
Clover: Are you really going to perform an autopsy?
Luna: Oh, um... I won't really be doing it...
Luna: I think that machine over there is a medical scanner.
Luna: It's called an "ADAM."
Luna: It uses nuclear magnetic resonance imaging to examine and diagnose people.
K: Ah yes, I remember.
Dio: Oh yeah? And just how the hell do you remember that?!
K: Because Alice, Clover, and I examined this entire room.
Sigma: So you think you can use it to perform some kind of autopsy?
Luna: Yes. I think I should be able to manage that.

[ luna starts scanning the body ]



[ the following information comes up on the screen: ]

"Sex: Female
Estimated Age: 65-75 years
Diagnosis: Deceased
Cause of Death: Exsanguination
Estimate Time of Death: 3-4 hours
Damage Trajectory: Weapon entered through 4th intercostal, piercing heart
Wound Characteristics:
Wound Margin - Clean, continuous
Wound Angles - 1 sharp, 1 blunt
Wound Cavity - 150mm
Wound Length - 30mm
Wound Width - 3mm
Conclusion: Based on the characteristics described above, there is a 95% chance the wound was caused by a sharp, single-bladed instrument"

Sigma: Huh... Yeah, I don't really get it.
Sigma: What's it mean by "instrument"? Was she stabbed with a clarinet or something?
Luna: It means a tool of some sort. A knife, probably.
Alice: In other words, she was stabbed in the heart, right?
Luna: Yes...
K: Well, I suppose that clears me of suspicion.
Phi: Sorry, but no.
K: Why?
K: Please don't tell me you think my hand can somehow turn into a knife...
Phi: I told you that was a joke.
K: Then why am I still a suspect?
Phi: We found the old lady in one of the AB Rooms, specifically the one farthest to the left.
Phi: Before we went in there, only two other people had been in that room...
Phi: You and Clover.
Phi: Only one of you was conscious.
K: [ name redacted ], please, stop joking around.
K: I assure you, there was no one else in that room besides Clover when I woke up.
K: She must have been put there later.
Quark: But the door was locked, right?
Quark: I don't think anyone could've gotten in without the key...
K: Perhaps, but...
K: There was a hatch on the ceiling, remember?
Luna: Yes, there was...
Luna: But Zero said he'd locked all the hatches.
Sigma: Well, if he was telling the truth, nobody could have gotten in after you two left...
Sigma: Which means...
Dio: You fucking bastard! Why'd you kill her, K?!
Dio: I knew it! You're him, aren't you! You're the real Zero!
K: Wait a minute, please. Just calm down.
K: You aren't making sense.
K: Let's suppose I am Zero. Why would I do something that would obviously cast suspicion on me?
Dio: Uh...well...because... Because you figured we'd think that! And you would throw us off the trail by doing the exact opposite!
K: That's not a logical argument.
K: ...Still, you do have at least half a point.
K: Your argument doesn't confirm my guilt... But it does show us where we should be looking: the real Zero.
K: The person who brought us here is likely the person who murdered that woman.
K: Doesn't that seem like the most reasonable answer?
Clover: I guess... Yeah, that makes sense.
Clover: If Zero was the murderer, then they could open anything they wanted to
Clover: I mean, didn't Zero say something about that?
K: Exactly.
K: Also, consider this: If the murderer isn't Zero...
K: Why would the AI Zero stay silent?
K: He told us that his job was to make sure the game ran smoothly.
K: But now the unexpected has happened, and he says nothing.
K: Why would he do that?
K: If he can see everything we do...
K: Then he must know who killed the old woman.
K: So why has he kept his silence? The answer is simple. The murderer is Zero, or rather Zero...senior, I suppose you could say.
K: He likely ordered Zero Jr., the AI, to keep his identity hidden.
K: If Zero Jr. told us about the murder, then Zero Sr.'s identity would be compromised.
K: There is something else to consider as well...
K: Perhaps this murder was not unexpected.
K: Zero Sr. murdered her.
K: Just as planned. Death is only another part of the game.
Sigma: Killing someone is just part of a game to him...?
K: Well, there's no way to know for sure, but I would assume so.

[ a chime sounds ]

Announcer: Ten minutes remain until Ambidex Game polling closes.
Announcer: All players please enter your votes.
Announcer: If no vote is recorded before the deadline has passed, any non-voting parties will automatically ally.
Sigma: Whoa, what was that?
Clover: I donno.
Alice: Well, one thing's for sure.
Sigma: And that is...?
Alice: If we don't go "vote," something bad's going to happen.
K: You see? Just as I said.
K: Zero Jr. ensures the game continues, even though someone has died.
K: All of this is part of Zero Sr.'s plan.
Phi: Let's get back to the warehouse.
Phi: If we all head to the AB Rooms, maybe we'll see Zero Jr.
Phi: After all, he told us he'd give us specifics once we'd gone in.

[ they return to the warehouse as the memory cuts out ]

What was learned:
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Effects:
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