Part 5: Brian Morris

[BGM: Hear No Evil]


His mother brought him to me. She asked me to try to help him control his violent streak. Ever since his father was executed, he had been... struggling.

I tried, I swear. I tried everything I knew to try to help him, but it would only make him angrier. Recently, he even stopped coming to the sessions. I told his mother about this- I warned her that her son might have some serious issues, but I never thought it'd amount to something like this!

Morris, huh? Now things are starting to come together.

Falsely executed? No, no this can't be the same guy.

Yo, what the fuck are you people talking about? You all know this punk? What's going on?

[BGM: A True Foal]


Brian Morris. Son of Aaron Morris. Son of the man arrested and executed for the cold-blooded murder of his employer Amadeus Bowen. Amadeus Bowen was a huge deal. He was the CEO of a major entertainment company. Not many people were of more importance in our city than the Chief of Police Oliver Bowen, but his brother Amadeus was one of them.



His murder shocked the community, made national news. A heroic and beloved public figure had been murdered in his own office. Aaron Morris was arrested the next day. The man claimed he was innocent, he swore it across his heart and hope to die. The case against him told a different story.

Bowen's body was hidden in his personal safe, so discovering it took longer than expected, but once it was found the time of death was quickly determined. It wasn't an exact time, but it gave a reasonable range. The only person to have entered the victim's office during that timeframe was Morris, as numerous eye witnesses would attest. And Bowen's death wasn't something that could be done remotely, he was strangled, bludgeoned to death, then stuffed in a safe. There also weren't any secret entrances into the office, nor was it possible for someone to have been hiding in the office the whole time.

If that wasn't proof enough, the weapon used to bludgeon Bowen was found disposed of in a river. It had been disposed in a river awfully close to Morris' house. Also, while much of the money that had been taken from Bowen's safe was never recovered, a stack of bills with Bowen's fingerprints was found in the glove compartment of Morris' car. Speaking of fingerprints, Morris' were recovered on the inside of the safe, a place Morris had no place in looking.



More and more evidence kept coming out and stacking up against Morris. All of this evidence, and yet my father decided to defend him in court. My father legitimately believed in Morris' innocence. He began to prepare his defense based on the fact that the footage from the security cameras in the building had been erased. Digital logs showed that someone used Bowen's master card to enter the Security Room and tamper with the technology before Morris ever met with Bowen.

This defense came crumbling down when it was revealed that the night before the murder, Bowen and Morris had gone drinking at a bar. The bartender testified that at some point during the night, Bowen dropped his wallet on the floor. After the two left, Morris came back in to return the wallet to Bowen. The next morning, Bowen's secretary testified that Bowen's master card was missing from his wallet. The police determined that the bar trip was the only reasonable time that the master card could've been taken.

The biggest point for my father's defense suddenly turned to a damning story for the prosecution. Still, my father fought valiantly in the court for Morris' innocence. He argued every possible point of uncertainty, hammered on about how it was all circumstantial, and pleaded the jury to understand the meaning of 'reasonable doubt'.

But in the end, it wasn't enough. Morris was found guilty, and the judge gave him the death penalty due to 'a complete lack of remorse'.



My father died of illness a few years later, around the time Morris was finally executed. He said he lived a good life on the whole, a life he was proud of. But in that hospital bed, he mentioned to me that one of his few regrets was being unable to save Aaron Morris. In the end, despite the overwhelming flood of evidence to the contrary, my father still believed in his client.

Like a good lawyer should.

And now, his son Brian, who should've been a senior in high school, was going out of his way to take revenge? To avenge his father? That's what this was?

[BGM: Lucky Foot]


Fuck this!

Mouse? What's going on?

Seriously? This is revenge for your dad's execution? I get never being able to accept that your father was very obviously a murderer, but why the hell would you take it out on us? Even as a criminal, your dad clearly wanted the best for you in life!

Why would you throw that all away for a half-baked revenge plot where you couldn't even hide your identity for a handful of minutes? And why would you take it out on me? What, are you angry that my father wasn't able to get your dad off the hook for his very obvious murder?

My dad truly believed in your dad's innocence, and did everything he could to try to help him. And now you're going to take that out on me? That's bullshit and you know it, Brian!

Woah, Mouse! I know you're angry, but calm down.

No, she's right to get angry. I'm fucking pissed as well!



What the hell did I do in any of this? I've got no idea who this Morris punk is at all! There's no reason I should be here, it's completely ridiculous!

Right, it's really unfair! I mean seriously, what did I do to deserve this?

Like, okay, maybe I put out an article or two on the trial, but it wasn't anything unfair.

And tons of people put out articles, it was a big event, why single out me?



Well, I know why I am here. I testified against his father at trial. I was in the building at the time of the murder. Bowen had discussed interest in purchasing one of my statues for his office.

When I came to bring it to him, I was in the waiting room for a dreadfully long time.

And in that waiting room I was a witness able to conclusively say that the only person who entered Bowen's office during the time frame of his death was Aaron Morris.



Oh, I was a witness in that trial too! Maybe that's why I thought I recognized you.

Yeah, I was also around at the time Morris was killed. He was gonna discuss me doing some advertising for him. They thought an Olympian would be a good face to sell their stuff, I guess.

Anyways, I talked about how I saw him carrying the murder weapon. My testimony probably was what stopped that creep from weaseling out of it.



I-I also testified. I was, um, I was Mr. Bowen's secretary at the time, and I also could talk about who entered his office.

I was also the one who gave Morris up as a suspect to the police when they were interrogating me.

I-I'm the reason he got arrested in the first place.



My construction company was doing some work on a nearby building that day. I think I mentioned something to the police about when I saw Morris drive off.

It was nothing big though. Wasn't ever called to court or anything. I don't know why it should've been a big enough deal to land me here.

It appears you're in the same boat as me, my friend.



This Brian punk seems to really not like people saying what they saw to the police. Is that really such a crime?

I went to Bowen to discuss the possibility of investing in one of my films, and I saw Morris pass by in the building.

Is that really such a crime? I was never even brought into court!

A shame, too, because I was willing to give the performance of a lifetime to catch that devious crook.



I've already mentioned how I'm connected to Brian. If I was a better therapist, I would've been able to lead him away from the path of revenge, not towards it.

I've seen the kid around a few times. Maybe I could've talked some sense into him too.

You knew Brian, Dog?

'Knew' is a strong word. Like I said, I seen him around.

Then why were you brought into this?



Easy. I run the bar where Morris filched the mastercard from Bowen. That testimony of mine really shattered the defense's arguments.

And I thank you for that.

Ox?

I am a prosecutor.



And for some reason or another, for one of my first cases I ended up helping with the prosecution of Morris. It doesn't make much sense why they'd have someone who was so wet behind the ears help with such a high-profile, high-stakes case.

But it does make sense why Brian would target me. I was very good at helping that prosecution.

It also makes sense why he would target me.



After all, I was the one who arrested his dad.

Wait, Bunny, you're a cop?

Guilty as charged.

I was almost certain I recognized a number of you; this would explain why. Honestly, I should've caught on sooner. I guess I was too distracted by the insanity of it all.

I gotta say though, while I'm honored Brian decided to choose me, his choice of targets confuses me a bit.

Some of these make sense, but for a bunch of you people, there were surely better targets.

Dog's totally right!



Like, take the judge for instance. There were a bunch of people who said that him applying the death penalty for a single murder was unnecessary.

He's been accused of succumbing to public pressure, especially considering there was an el-

Oh who cares about any of that? The kid's a complete nutcase, through and through, a dastard and a dullard. Try to psychoanalyze the comings and goings of the psycho with a headcase and you'll end up as crazy as them.

I must say, that's an incredibly insensitive thing to say. There's a lot of-

Hey, I think there's a great discussion about how we talk about mental illness to be had there, but his bigger point was right.

We've just been going on and on about why we're here, but that's not going to help us get out. We need to focus on the current problems, and we can save worrying about all that other stuff for later.

Bunny's right.

[BGM: Ox's Logic]


The issue we had before getting completely sidetracked was how we're all going to be able to cross the finish line at the same time.

We have a lot of abilities, right? I think there should probably be some way where we could combine them to let us get to the other side fast.

That seems to me to be a recipe for disaster. Any solution found would be a complex, multi-step process with much room for error or betrayal.

What does anyone get out of betraying here? Why do you all keep getting hung up on that?

I think Monkey might be right about the complexity part. There's a much simpler solution, and we should prioritize on that.

A simpler solution? What's that?



Do you recall what Brian said about items? Specifically the Minor Trinkets?

I understand what you're saying.

You do?

There are 12 Minor Trinkets, and their movement is equal to the number of people using them. If we are able to find all 12, we'd be able to cross the finish line as a group in 2 rounds.

Great idea, Horse! Now we've got a clear game plan that'll let us all get out alive!

With this, we can all be saved, right?

Thank God. I was getting worried there for a second.



Would it really be that simple though?

What do you mean?

Nothing much, I'm merely pointing out the fact that this solution is, well, rather basic.

No offense intended, but a child could have worked it out. I question the point of all this work if it were to be solved so simply.

What's your problem, Snake? Why do you have to be such a downer?

I'm not being a 'downer', just pointing out a particular oddity.

Do you have a better idea?

No, no, I'm not dismissing the plan.

Then what are you doing?



Raising a thought.

So 'jack shit' is the answer then.

He's right though, would things be this simple?

Hey, what if the Minor Trinkets are super duper hidden? Like, there's no guarantee that we'll actually be able to find them all. Things could all fall apart!

Calm down, would you?

Like Horse pointed out, with the Trinkets, it would only take 2 rounds to finish the race. We have plenty of time to search, and this school isn't all that large.

Let's first try to find all the Minor Trinkets. In the meantime, I suggest anyone concerned think of a backup plan.

Sounds like a plan! Should we start looking then?

[BGM: Silence]


Actually, we should make a move. We've been talking for a while now, and Round 1 is almost over.

I looked over to a nearby clock, and found that Bunny was absolutely right.

Good catch, Bunny! Everyone, split up and just click the 'Run' button, okay? We'll come back here, watch the animals move, and then we'll start our search.

Alright, let's do it.

With a discernable game plan formed, everyone split up with a sense of purpose. It certainly felt like we had a real chance at pulling this off. But Snake was right to bring up his concerns. I was burdened with a general sense of unease. And a palpable sense of anger at Brian. How ungrateful could you be? How ridiculous... But no, I couldn't think about that now. I needed to focus on moving forwards.



I turned on my tablet, and pressed the RUN button. There, done.

[BGM: Final Squeal]


My move input, I went back to the cafeteria. The others gathered.

Everyone just ran, right? No one tried any tricky shit?

Please. There would be absolutely no point in that at this stage of the game.

Well, I suppose Pig might panic and hope for an early 11 space lead.

What? I'd never do that!

Settle down, will you? It'll all be confirmed in just a second.

Just as Ox said, the speakers turned on a few moments later.

Round 1 has ended.



Now, let us see how the race has progressed.



The Rat has RUN one space.



The Ox has RUN one space.



The Tiger has RUN one space.



The Bunny has RUN one space.



The Dragon has RUN one space.



The Snake has RUN one space.



The Horse has RUN one space.



The Sheep has RUN one space.



The Monkey has RUN one space.



The Rooster has RUN one space.



The Dog has RUN one space.



The Pig has RUN one space.



Now, Round 2 has begun. Do your best, and choose wisely.

I felt myself breathe a sigh of relief looking at the results. Of course, I didn't think anyone would actually disobey the plan. But I couldn't help worrying.

Great work, team! We did it!

Yay!

Hooray, yes, we all pressed a button. Good job us.

It is a fairly basic achievement, but we should still appreciate it.

No, we should start looking for Minor Trinkets. Round 2 has already started.



Quite right. It'd be best to split up and search as much area as possible.

I'll search over down the right corridor of the first floor.

You will? Then let me be of assistance.

You wish to search with me?

Two finders are better than one, right?

You aren't wrong. Sure, you can come along with me.



I want to check out the training room I saw on my way here. Looks interesting. There might be a Trinket there.

If that's the case, can I come along with you? I'm still nervous about threats in this school, so I want to stick with someone strong.

I've no issue with it.

Thank you.



I'm interested in looking around the library.

Mouse, would you care to join me in my search?

Did I care to join him? Who to search with?