[redactable] catchall for rufus

[dawnblushed]

Comments

w1, sunday

[dawnblushed]

[That sure was an execution.

Yona doesn't seem to be in a great mood when she returns to their room, but really, how many of them can say they're in a good mood right now? (Other than maybe whoever killed and got away with it.) Anyway, once she's here, she'll start putting her bow and arrows away.]

...what did you think about all that, Rufus?

[soulus]

[This shift in mood is arguably a step up from yesterday. Rufus has already put his things away and is seated on the edge of the bed, Rupe lazing beside him, when Yona enters.]

It went about as one would expect it to.

[dawnblushed]

[Uh.]

...you expected him to have a whole bunch of scalpels?

[soulus]

I expected nothing from him.

[What's a scalpel or two?]

[dawnblushed]

...

[What did he mean by "as one would expect it to," then...]

Where do you think we went wrong yesterday?

[soulus]

[He expected nothing, so it went as expected—off the walls.]

We spent our time poorly, whether on unnecessary characters or merely the evidence on hand.

[dawnblushed]

[She nods.]

...we need to figure out a way for it not to be that much of a mess next time. [...] Because whether we like it or not, I think there is going to be a next time.

[soulus]

Starting next week, it may be prudent to prioritize the hard evidence in every location.

[dawnblushed]

I agree. [...] I think we should probably be looking at the evidence that got turned in at the same time as we look at the bodies, in the future. Instead of waiting until later.

[soulus]

Nine hours are nothing. The more we find something to do at a given time, the better off we will be.

[dawnblushed]

Right. If we're able to find more evidence, we won't just focus on any one thing that looks suspicious, too.

[soulus]

Be that as it may, all evidence should be regarded with suspicion. That includes the participants who bear clues on their persons.

[dawnblushed]

Right. We need to examine everything so that we can get a better idea of what actually happened.

[soulus]

Even then, there's no guarantee that we will know for certain.

[dawnblushed]

...I really hate this. I wish we had more time - how is anyone supposed to solve a murder in less than a day? Let alone two of them...

[soulus]

Solving them is an option—not a necessity. The Realm is satisfied as long as a participant is removed.

[dawnblushed]

And that's even worse! Why have us go through the farce of trying to solve it if it doesn't even care if we get it right or not?

[soulus]

Without evidence and a working theory . . . would you accept having to remove someone at random every week?

[dawnblushed]

Of course not. But even with it, it seems like that's what we've ended up doing so far. It happened this week, and it feels like last week we just got lucky.

[lucky that the mods took pity on us,]

[soulus]

Yes. Based on those two instances, our ability to resolve these crimes has been lacking.

[dawnblushed]

"Lacking" is putting it mildly...

[soulus]

Either way, trials are certain to gather a large number of participants together and generate strong feelings. If the goal is to amass nova quickly . . .

[dawnblushed]

...I keep thinking, there has to be some better way to do that, but...

[...no, it's definitely the quickest way to generate very strong feelings.]

[soulus]

If you think of a way, you should inform the Leaders.

[dawnblushed]

I bet we'd all be pretty happy if we were told we could go home, but it doesn't sound like they know how to do that for us yet. [...] Also, it wouldn't really help much if the emotions that generated weren't enough and we all actually left...