Part 108: Calm Before the Storm

[BGM: Rabid Rabbit]


Damn it!

This is... this can't be!

Another victim? Seriously? How long could this go on? How long until this nightmare would end? Another death, another–

…

...Hold on. Oh my god, he's not actually dead yet!

You're right!

Quickly, we need to stifle the bleeding!



Spurred into action, I rushed towards Rooster's body. I looked around for something to use, and saw a box of tissues. It... wasn't ideal, but it had to do. I immediately took tissues out by the dozens and began pushing them on Rooster's neck. Trying to do something to stop the blood from completely leaking out. Ox ran in behind me with a tape dispenser. He taped the tissues I was pressing against Rooster onto his neck. He used... a copious amount of tape, to the point where it probably stopped mattering. After that...

Uh, what else do we do?

I don't know if there's anything else we can do. It's not like there's any serious medical supplies around, or anyone with experience. Hopefully with this, he might not completely die before we get around.

...Although, even that's optimistic.

That's...

Once again, I could feel the weight of my heart. Even after trying to save him like this, Rooster would be– ...Quit it! Time was precious! Instead of moping, I looked around the scene. By the looks of things, Rooster had been stabbed twice in rapid succession on the left side of his neck. A bloody pen lay a few feet away from him. That must have been the makeshift weapon. The whole thing looked like a spur of the moment conflict.

Rooster was collapsed right next to a desk. I took a few steps back and looked around. A few feet away, a massive dictionary was left on the ground. I walked over and picked it up. It had... quite a bit of weight to it.



Mouse, what are you doing?

Investigating!

Are you?

Yeah, I am. Are you?

That's...

Ox, a murder just happened right under our noses! We were in the room just by here, and yet, someone ends up dead so close by! And this time, there isn't a clear motive! If we don't do something soon, we're all going to die!

Correct, people's lives are on the line. Which is why I'm asking why you're picking up a fucking book when a man is bleeding to death right here.

It's not a book, it's a clue!

*BWAAAAAAAAAAM!!*



Before we could argue any more, the two minute warning alarm sounded.

Looks like we don't have time to discuss anything more.

Looks like it. Let's quickly handle that, then get everybody back here.

Agreed.

And like that, the two of us ran down the stairs and down the hallway. I was making my way to my own classroom, when I noticed something the way Ox had noticed something earlier. I could've sworn that the restroom door wasn't actually closed all the way before, that it was slightly propped open. I paused my jog for just a quick diversion, as I looked in. Immediately, I knew where I wanted to check. If a restroom was used at this point, it would be used for one reason... Sure enough, I could see traces of blood having been washed away in the sink. I didn't have time to register that, though. I needed to get back to my classroom.

The computer turned on pretty much right away when I entered the room. I already knew I was just going to CHECK Pig.

[BGM: Silence]


However, as I moved my cursor over to that button, I did a once over of the community table.

-Mouse of Clubs
-Ox of Clubs
-Ox of Diamonds
-Tiger of Clubs
-Bunny of Clubs
-Bunny of Diamonds
-Dragon of Clubs
-Snake of Hearts
-Rooster of Hearts
-Rooster of Clubs
-Rooster of Diamonds
-Rooster of Spades
-Monkey of Hearts
-Monkey of Clubs
-Monkey of Diamonds
-Monkey of Spades

...Wait, what? Before I could even double check what I had just seen, my hand had already pressed the button to check Pig. The screen paused for a moment, then displayed 0 Cards. And like that, I was left with emptiness. ...No, not emptiness.

Room.

A single piece of evidence may only be a spark. But if you make a spark in a room full of gunpowder, you could really stir shit up. I remembered a conversation I once had with my dad. I asked him how he built a defense for a client.

[BGM: Sleepy Sheep]


Father: It's a lot like playing Dominoes.

Younger Mouse: Dominoes?

Father: Yes, dominoes.

Younger Mouse: But I can play dominoes.

Father: Well then, you might make a great defense lawyer someday. See, first you have the evidence discovery period. That's where you learn all of the facts about the case. You collect testimonies, evidence, expert opinions. Every piece of information – each one's a domino being placed.

Father: You don't really see it at first, but they're all a bunch of dominoes. And, at some point, you're going to get a domino that wobbles. Something that doesn't make sense. You let that domino fall, and it's going to knock over another domino. And that one might knock over two more.



Father: And if you've done your job right, and you've collected all the information you needed, and if your client is really innocent, you should end up knocking over all the dominoes in one fell swoop.

Younger Mouse: I don't really get it.

Father: Ah, well. Maybe I'm being a bit too metaphorical about this. Basically... I don't do a lot of work.

Younger Mouse: That's not true! You work all the time!

Father: It's true, I collect a lot of evidence, and find a lot of laws to cite. But in terms of mounting a defense, I don't do a lot of work.

Father: I just keep an open and keen mind, and eventually the prosecution's case won't fit together. And once I think about what that contradiction means, it will naturally lead to another thing that doesn't make sense, and so on.

Father: I've found that the truth has a way of getting out, like it or not. The only question is whether or not you're going to be receptive to the calls of that truth.

[BGM: Silence]


That's right. I just need to be receptive to the truth. I had collected so much information throughout all of this. So many dominoes. It's impossible for so many things to happen without a pattern beginning to form. It's honestly kind of simple. First, I needed to look at the parts that didn't make sense. Then, I needed to make them make sense. And in order to make them make sense, I'd need to come to some sort of answer. And if that answer made other things not make sense, well, I'd just need to repeat the process.

Until all the dominoes had fallen down.

[BGM: Rat's Awakening]


That's right, we're getting close to the final deduction... and the game helpfully gives you a moment to re-check a lot of the longer, more wordy bits – the rules, the round details, etc. ...That said, this is a lot more helpful when you're playing the game on your own, rather than having a text-based LP that lets you revisit info whenever you want As such, we won't really be going over any of this since, well... it's easily reference-able, and most of this is literally within the last eight updates of the LP. The only one I'm going to put in the LP is the list of unanswered questions from the Zodiac Trial, because that stuff's a bit more spread out and it can't hurt.

Why were certain people, people more culpable for the incident, not abducted?

Why were Dragon and I abducted?

Why were there two phones that could control the game?

Why did Brian decide to do this in the first place?

Why did Brian seem to know about the connection between Dog and Oliver Bowen?

Why did the Jade Emperor react strangely to Dog's questioning?

Why did the Jade Emperor attempt to incite a fight between Dragon and Snake? And if they planned to use that fight as a cover to execute the two, why didn't they?

Why was I lured out to the building Brian was inside that was rigged with an explosion? And why did Brian decide to die in said explosion?

Where is Amadeus Bowen's golden knife? And if somebody has it, why is there no evidence of the blackmail material in it ever being used?

As for the hint thing, we obviously won't be touching that, either, both because... well, I already know everything, this isn't a blind LP Also, there's a thing you only get if you complete the game not having used the hints at all, and while I already have access to it from my own playthrough, I want the LP to have the same experience as if we hadn't used any hints.

Therefore... it's time for Mouse to come to her conclusions, too.

...I had it. In real time, it had barely been a minute. And yet, with the speed of dominoes falling over, everything clicked into place. Why was I able to figure it all out so quickly? Because in the back of my brain, I already had most of the pieces. I just needed to put them together. ...And I had.



I walked out and saw Ox standing down the hall.

Hey, Ox. Gather everybody and bring them to this classroom.

What? Why? I thought we were going to deal with Dragon.

Just do it. I'm settling things, here and now.

… If you say so.

Ox didn't look particularly enthused. But he complied, and left to gather the audience. He'd see, soon enough. For now, I needed to get all the details straightened in my head. Presentation was critical. If I messed up, even a little bit, I'd lose the momentum of the crowd. And that was the one thing I couldn't lose.

...Soon enough, everyone had gathered. They had also heard about Rooster.



Here they are, Mouse.

Mouse? What are you doing?

Tiger looked entirely bewildered by the situation.

Uh, Mouse, not to bump elbows or anything, but are you sure gathering everyone in one spot like this is such a good idea?

Bunny, on the other hand, was incredibly nervous.

Tch. Are we finally going to settle things?

For some reason, Dragon was holding a metal baseball bat she must have found somewhere.



This seems like it will prove to be quite entertaining.

A slight smile crept on Snake's face.

Have you f-figured something out?

Was that... a hopeful look, in Sheep's eyes?

I don't have time for games.

Horse never failed to intimidate with his large presence.

We're all ears, Mouse. Please, say what you need to.

Monkey was calm, maintaining eye contact with me.

Okay, Monkey. I will.



I took a deep breath, then turned to face away from everybody.

So... I'll be honest. I'm sick of this. Masterminds, traitors, mysteries, treachery. I think I've generally just had enough deception for a lifetime.

So let's just get rid of all of that, shall we?

This is your last chance to make your own deductions on everything, from the mastermind(s?) to the motive(s?) to the mysteries left unsolved. Next update, the truth will start to be revealed...