alpha complex day 3 - Knightley & Yomiel

[staunton]

[ Sometime after Anthy's demise, Knightley invites Yomiel over for a game of chess. Of course, "playing chess" has become his go-to euphemism for discussing strategy. He doesn't even bother setting up the board this time. ]

That was a rather convincing show, Mr. Yomiel.

Comments

[schrodingers_man]

[ Yomiel takes a seat on Knightley's bed and slumps. Now that he's come off the adrenaline rush, he is exhausted. ]

Thanks. Hopefully it was convincing enough to fool the Communists. How much did Simon tell you?

[staunton]

About the plan to kill off that girl? Not much; he said something about having to time it right. But he did tell me he revealed his role to you yesterday.

[ Pause. ]

If anything happens to him because you claimed his role, I'm going to break your arms.

[schrodingers_man]

If anything happens to Simon, I'm a dead man, anyway, but sure, you can break my arms first. He should be safe, though. He's done a good job of lying low. They'll probably go after you before they go after him, but hopefully they don't go after any of us.

[staunton]

I know; Mr. Kimbley said that I'll be the closest thing to an ideas guy our side's going to have if you die.... and that's going to be dangerous. I might not make it to the endgame.

Anyway. Why'd you decide to be a fake Troubleshooter?

[schrodingers_man]

The only chance I have to make it to tomorrow is to convince the Communists that I'm not as much of a threat as they thought I was. After last night, pretty much everyone thought I was the real Loyalty Officer hiding behind a flimsy lie. The only way to prove that wasn't the case was to "prove" I had another role. A Loyalty Officer's an immediate threat, but a declawed Troubleshooter's not very scary at all.

[staunton]

...Heh. I thought that was the case, but it's good to have it confirmed, Mr. Loyalty Officer. I hope your gambit pays off, 'cuz that was a brilliant move.

[schrodingers_man]

It's still a long shot, but if this can buy me even one more day, that's another chance for me to find a Communist.

[staunton]

Anyone in particular you're gonna investigate tonight?

[schrodingers_man]

Right now, it's probably Logan. I investigated Anthy because she was trying to suggest I was a Communist, and he was doing the same thing. So was Mukuro, but she's probably clean. Unlike the other two, she had the decency to apologize, and this morning, she wanted to know why the Loyalty Officer didn't use the messaging system to share their results. The Scanner probably works the same way my role does, so a Communist would know: I don't get my results until the morning.

Besides her, I'm pretty sure you, Paul, and Phi are safe. Clay and Simon are definitely safe, of course. Of the rest... Logan, Detective Fullbright, Robin Newmann, and... maybe Curly Brace. Those are the people I'm most suspicious of.

[staunton]

Mr. Kimbley said he'd bet money on Fulbright being a Communist when we played chess yesterday. I agree with him - he tried to use that message as evidence to cast suspicion on Mr. Kimbley and didn't back off until Tohsaka confessed.

The timing is suspicious, too. If you're a Citizen trying to catch a Communist, it'd make more sense to make a case for why somebody should be considered a suspect early on and not when somebody just made a convincing argument that narrowed it down to two people, one of whom was later proven to be a Communist.

[schrodingers_man]

[ Yomiel nods. ]

I agree with that, too. The good Detective hasn't been making himself look so good. The argument against him is strong enough that I think it could fly at a trial if I don't get a hit on Logan tomorrow morning.

[ Or, y'know. If he's dead. ]

[staunton]

Yeah. Newman can wait until after we've gotten Fulbright out of the way. That kid hasn't been reacting right to anything... I'm not sure if there's enough to build an argument against him yet, so we should scrutinize his behavior carefully.

[schrodingers_man]

Yeah, something about that kid rubs me the wrong way. He's gotta be hiding something. But you're right, there's nothing really solid to base an argument off of. And it'll be hard to get everyone to vote for a panicked kid without something solid to go by. Maybe I should investigate him instead.

[staunton]

Maybe... [ Hmm. ] Do we have any ammo to use against Logan other than him suggesting that you're a Communist?

[schrodingers_man]

Not much. He hasn't been too chatty ever since the exercise started, even though his profile says he's good at leadership and making decisions. And he kept pressing for details about the Loyalty Officer I "met," which is pretty suspicious. That's just about it. But even that's probably stronger than trying to pull together an argument for Robin, if that's what it comes down to.

Fullbright's our strongest suspect. We should gun for him at the trial tomorrow no matter what my results are. If they're positive and I'm still alive to share them, I can post them with the messaging system that night, and we'll have someone for the day after. If I come up with a blank, that still gives me time to try someone else.

[staunton]

[ He nods in agreement - well, more like he tries to nod; the neck brace doesn't really allow for moving his head all that much, plus his injury is nowhere near having healed yet. ]

I've no objections. Fulbright's going down tomorrow, and if that guy isn't a Commie I'll eat my hat.

[schrodingers_man]

A corrupt cop, who would've thought?

[ Yomiel. Yomiel would've thought assumed blindly. ]

[staunton]

The Los Angeles law enforcement is a fucking farce. There's no way all that blabbering about justice is genuine.

[ ...He might be just a little biased against the police. #aceattorneymurdererproblems ]