Part 81: Catch a Tiger by the...

_{content warning: discussion of child neglect/abuse}

Similar to a couple of the previous routes, I'm going to be handling the decisions starting with where last update ended just because of how complicated it would be otherwise. This route in particular is arguably the least LP-friendly because of its set-up (some of which you literally couldn't know is important at the time), but we'll get into that more with this route's bonus update.

In any case, Mouse's deliberation here is...

[BGM: The Undying]


Tiger did it.

What?!

Seriously, Mouse? I thought you were on my side!

I was, until investigating. And I don't think you're some monster, Tiger. You should've confessed at the start of this. We would've had a lot more sympathy for you.

What are you talking about? I didn't do any of this!

...I guess I'll have to explain it, then.

Please do, Mouse, because I'm struggling to follow you here. You were with me when we found all that evidence against Tiger being the culprit! What could have changed your mind?

The evidence is certainly at odds with an easy understanding of this crime. However, that doesn't mean Tiger isn't the culprit. It just means that Ox's vague explanation was missing many details.

...Look, I'll try and explain things the best I can, how they happened, from the beginning. Let's start with how Dragon ended up here. The answer's surprisingly simple.



You should probably already have a good idea of the answer here.



Dragon came here in order to attack Tiger. The metal pipe, which wasn't among the weapons confiscated, likely was brought by her. Obviously, Tiger couldn't go looking for something like that while abandoning her post.

Dragon clearly wanted to be the guard of the weapons. She also hid the fact that she had the hateful personality. Unfortunately, with all that in mind, I can only conclude that she had malicious plans in mind. Dragon's also the type who'd challenge Tiger in a fight.

That all makes sense to me.

Okay, I buy that. But what then? Isn't it plausible that Dragon could be the one behind attacking Tiger?

That's plausible... but incorrect. I'll get to why later, but let me just keep explaining what actually happened.



There was some scuffle between the two. I won't claim to know exactly how things went down beyond there, because I honestly don't know.

At some point, it ended up with Tiger pinning Dragon, choking her out. Bunny previously pointed out that if Tiger meant to kill Dragon, she could've crushed her throat at this point. That's absolutely correct.

However, that didn't happen. Reason being, at that point Tiger didn't actually want to kill Dragon, just restrain her and maybe put her in her place. So she was strangling Dragon, but not to a lethal extent. Maybe she was trying to explain something to Dragon.

However, if Dragon's anything, she's a fighter. She got one over on Tiger and escaped from her grasp. If I had to guess, I'd say Dragon poked Tiger in both her eyes. That's why Tiger was rubbing her eyes when she woke up, even though she reportedly wasn't attacked in the eyes.



At this point, despite escaping, Dragon was completely out of energy. She thought Tiger was totally trying to kill her, and at this point she was right.

Enraged from the injury, Tiger went reeling backwards, until she recovered. When she did, she was furious beyond belief. She grabbed the nearby lamp and came at Dragon. However, Dragon had begun writing a last message in the hopes of warning the rest of us.

Even though Dragon was the attacker, whatever transpired in that fight had legitimately scared Dragon. Dragon thought that even though she was the traitor, Tiger might be an even more dangerous force to our group.

...Or, maybe she was just bitter she lost, and tried to make sure Tiger wouldn't get away unscathed. Whatever the reason, she didn't finish writing it before Tiger slammed the lamp through the back of Dragon's skull, killing her near instantly. Some blood splashed onto the note in front.

But Mouse, doesn't that scenario run into the problem I brought up earlier? Tiger should've noticed what was written on the note and destroyed it.

Normally, I'd agree with you. However, I'd like to test something out right now.



I walked over to where the note was written. Using a pen, I wrote something on the sheet of paper. 'If you're really innocent, speak up now and you'll prove it!' After writing it, I showed it to the group. Ox, Snake, and Bunny all reacted to the message, but didn't speak up. Tiger on the other hand...

What? It's the message Dragon wrote, right? I don't know what you're trying to show me with that.

It was clearly meant to frame me! I can't believe you'd be so easily fooled, Mouse.

...I knew it.

What?

[BGM: Silence]


You can't read what's written on this sheet of paper, can you?

…

Earlier, when Ox first showed this to us, you didn't react with surprise – more like confusion. You only got angry after Ox explained what it was to us. ...In fact, this isn't the only example of you not being able to read.

Earlier, when talking to Pig, you clearly couldn't read the sign on this office door. And even before that, when we found the lock to the weapon closet, you didn't realize there was writing on it.

Seriously?

She's not blind, is she? She hasn't acted like that at all!

Care to explain yourself, Tiger?

[BGM: Weak Pig]


…

Way to expose my weakness in front of everybody, Mouse! ...Fine, I guess I'll admit it.

My vision is damaged. I'm not blind, but...



Did any of you hear about the story of Aaliyah Abadi? The woman hid the children she'd had with another man from her husband. Her husband was on an extended vacation before and during the birth.

And to keep them secret, she hid the kids in the basement of her house for years.

I... vaguely remember that. I remember hearing it as an example when I learned about laws surrounding abuse. Specifically, child abuse.

She became infamous after the story broke and was sentenced to prison for years due to neglecting her children to the point where it was deemed malicious. Why do you bring that up?

Well, I'm her daughter. Zahara Abadi.



Honestly, I've never really cared about that story. I mean, we never remembered any thing from that time, we were too young. For all we were concerned, it's the same as if we were adopted at a young age.

We?

Oh, me and my twin brother. ...Anyways, while I've pretty much moved on from then, there's actually one thing from that time that's stuck with me.

...A condition surrounding how I see. The basement we were kept in was usually pitch black. Apparently, if a human's eyes don't take in enough light at a very young age, weird things can happen.

Through development, the rods and cones in my retinas weren't properly, er, calibrated, to skip a bunch of science talk. The end result is that I distinguish between light and darkness, but I can't see detail. Think of it as an extreme version of colorblindness.

I can see the geometry of everything in the world, but... it's all pretty much textureless. These results have been seen in mice and cats when they were experimented on, but as far as I know I'm the only human to ever have this condition.



I guess that's the perk of such a weirdly unique upbringing.

Calling it a 'perk of a unique upbringing' certainly is a positive spin on the whole affair.

That's... incredible, Tiger.

How have you been using your tablet?

Mine's voice operated.

Apparently, for all his faults, the Jade Emperor is disability-friendly.

The speakers kicked on.

All are treated as equal under the law's watchful eye.

God damn it! Are you just watching this, you smug asshole?!

...I honestly don't know if that was genuine, or sarcastic.

[BGM: The Undying]


Anyways, I don't like talking about it, so thanks for that Mouse. What does it prove?

It doesn't prove anything, by itself. However, it explains why you didn't get rid of the note. If you were observant, you might've realized Dragon was writing something down and ripped up the paper on policy. But you were so angry at that point, that you didn't even notice.

All well and good, Mouse, but we still haven't explained what the deal is with the injury to the back of her head. That still doesn't make any sense.

You're right. It doesn't seem like she could give that injury to herself. ...But she could, if she used one simple thing.



The answer to this one is...

...She used the sniper rifle to knock herself out.

Uh... Mouse, I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but she was hit with the metal pipe, not the rifle.

The pipe was the thing that hit her head, true. But it wasn't the force behind the attack.

...Explain.

After killing Dragon, Tiger began to panic. She had just killed someone. Even though it was partly self-defense, she had no assurance that people would believe her when she said that.

Even if they did, its not as though in truth she was a completely blameless victim. It's clear that towards the end, Dragon had stopped her attacks, and even if it was in a fit of rage, Tiger did strike Dragon down from behind.



Ultimately, Tiger decided that she had to hide what had happened. But she couldn't leave her post! And people were liable to visit her at any moment. She was right, Ox and I were on our way at this point. So she decided to quickly come up with a story and make it look like she was attacked.

I think we've all been underestimating Tiger. On the surface, she might not seem the smartest, but she's actually pretty quick on the uptake a lot of the time. And she's really good at physics. Which is why her makeshift ruse fooled us all.

What ruse?

She started by plunging a pen into the table to act as a base. She carefully placed the metal pipe against that pen. Then, she fired three shots with the rifle at the wall to cause confusion. After all, if there was only one shot, and it hit the pipe, it'd be much easier to figure out what happened.

Finally, she sat in the proper place, carefully aimed the rifle, and fired it at one end of the pipe.

Huh?

With the pen directly behind the center of the pipe, the path of least resistance when one end of the pipe is pushed forward is for the other end to swing outwards. It was that bullet-powered swing that ended up making that nasty strike to the left side of the back of her head.



Such a plan was incredibly risky. It seriously hurt her, but with such momentum it could've done so much worse. However, Tiger isn't the type to get scared by something like that. She probably didn't even think about it. She just executed her plan successfully.

Afterwards, the pipe rolled to the floor besides her.

Lies, lies, all of it! I didn't do anything like that! You can't prove any of it!

Tiger, just admit it!'

Why would I admit something that didn't happen? You've been saying all of this, but you don't have any evidence, do you?

Fine. You want me to show you some evidence? Here's something that'll prove that you were never really attacked, and that in truth you were the one that killed Dragon!



Sorry, Tiger. The proof is, in fact...

Tiger, you're about to be done in by your own testimony!

Huh?

You said that you were standing by the counter, when in the corner of your eye you saw someone rushing at you from the hallway. You tried to turn towards them, but you were knocked out. Is this correct?

Yeah. So what?

It doesn't match with your injury.

What?

You were hit on the left side of the back of your head. However, if you were looking into the nurse's office, then turned to face an attacker coming from the hallway, you'd be turning your head right.

It's unclear how fast the attacker got to you. However, if they swung at you, they'd most likely hit the right side of the back of your head. At best, they'd hit the center of the back of your head.



But it's inconceivable that from that approach they'd be able to hit the left side of the back of your head. Therefore, either you're completely lying about that happening... or you're leaving the part out where you avoided the attack and began to fight with the assailant, Dragon.

That's not... you're just...

As I expected, it was Tiger's work all along.

The more the investigation dragged on, the clearer that became.

Huh. I was so sure that Tiger was just being framed.

But with all of that laid out... I've got no choice but to believe that Tiger's guilty.

You're all wrong! I didn't do anything wrong!

It's her fault she attacked me! She was the one disrupting the order. She needed to die for the team to survive!

Tiger...

Stop looking at me like that!!



The last, important choice, and probably a pretty obvious one again, all things considered

Tiger, I understand that you were scared. It's okay now. Please, just talk with us.

I...

Why'd you hide this from us?

...If I told anyone, you'd all exclude me when push came to shove. You couldn't trust a murderer, and you wouldn't believe that it was self-defense. I'd end up dead! I had to hide it!

You certainly had to hide it. But not because of that, is it?

What do you mean?

[BGM: Slithering]


Tiger, you're certainly working the sympathy angle to some success right now. But you're not deserving of that, are you? You're nothing but a rage-filled murderer.

The hell are you talking about?

You had to hide it because if you didn't, you'd go to jail when we get out. You'll go to jail for a long time.

No I wouldn't! No I won't!

Yes you will. Had Dragon survived, she surprisingly would've had a stronger case. Courts are very lenient to extenuating circumstances.

The Plank of Carneades has been the precedent for several rulings which are lenient if you kill someone in order to save yourself. Dragon was a poor victim of an evil death game, doing what was needed to survive.

You, however, have no such excuse.

It was self defense!

Self defense, you say? That's an awfully difficult thing to prove, were it even true.



But let's go over the sequence of events, shall we? Dragon blindsided you with an attack using a metal pipe. You easily were able to disarm her and bring her to the ground.

It wasn't easy!

Fine, you brought her to the ground with difficulty. Either way, at the moment you started to strangle her, you had won the fight.

Now, contrary to popular belief, just because someone has attempted to kill you, that does not give you carte blanche to murder them back. You need to prove that they present a clear and present danger to the life of you or someone else.

That requirement was certainly not met when you began to strangle Dragon to death.

I wasn't going to kill her then!

Impossible to say. Either way, Dragon narrowly escaped your grasp and began to scribble a desperate note. However, in your rage-fueled state, you didn't stop your assault.



You grabbed a nearby weapon and bashed in the back of her skull. She was unarmed, clearly injured, and not able to put up a fight. She was scared, and her back was turned.

And yet you murdered her. I'm sorry, but the fact that you have a death collar around your neck doesn't change the legality of those actions.

But she was a traitor! She had the hateful personality! How is that not a clear and present danger?

Ah, but you did not know that at the time, did you? Even if you did, that still isn't enough to justify an immediate murder like that. You killed her because you wanted to, not because you had to.

Shut. Up.

Snake, stop it. She doesn't know the specifics of self defense law! She probably thought she was fine! You don't need to assign malicious intent to her covering it up.



Oh, but she's plenty knowledgeable of self-defense law, aren't you, Zahara Abadi?

Shut up.

What are you talking about, Snake?

You know, I was in one of the classrooms where there were a number of project boards done by students. However, I didn't recognize one of the boards.

Rather, I didn't recognize one of the topics on one of the boards. And after reading it over, I quickly realized that this was a project done by our very own Brian. Brian very generously decided to share some research he had done on Zahara. That is, Tiger.

Do you want to know what happened to Zahara's mother? Well, Zahara ended up pushing that mother off the balcony of her 7th story hotel room in 'self-defense'.

...Tiger?



Oh, by the looks of things the media painted this as a tragedy for Zahara. Her crazy, estranged mother, finally out of jail, tracks down her daughter and somehow blames the child for ruining her life.

That mother, Aaliyah, barges her way into Zahara's room, argues with her, and pulls a knife on Zahara. Aaliyah starts coming at Zahara with the knife. In self-defense Zahara tries to wrestle with her mother, and in the conflict, Aaliyah ends up going over the edge.

What a sad, sad story for Zahara. ...If that's what happened.

But, given what we've seen, I'm starting to wonder if that really was self-defense.

Shut up!

Brian certainly thought it wasn't. His project pointed out various pieces of the story that seemed odd. Certainly, Aaliyah was far from blameless, she definitely tracked down her extranged daughter with a grudge.

But was Olympian Zahara really so intimidated by a frail woman with a knife that she had to kill her own mother? She was an Olympian, she did advertising, and she did much, much more.

She had many friends in PR who would have an interest in spinning the story favorably for Zahara. People who wouldn't want the public considering if Zahara might've had her own grudge against Aaliyah.

If murder maybe wasn't the only option for Zahara, but a choice made.



<sub>Mouse, we should go.

What?</sub>

Tell me, Zahara, didn't you want to kill your mother?

SHUT UP!

You did, didn't you. Why wouldn't you? She was a monster. And...

There was one strangely unrelated article in the mix.

Zahara...

[BGM: Silence]


...whatever happened to your brother?

SHUT UP!!

*crack!*

[BGM: Constriction]


Tiger had grabbed the nearby metal pipe and struck Snake across the head.

Mouse, we gotta run, NOW!

Ox grabbed my arm and started running away. Bunny came with us.

As I was pulled away, I saw a single-minded Tiger beating a dazed Snake again, and again, and again with the pipe. He would almost certainly be dead in a few moments.