hydrokinetics | For all of us who've seen the light, salute the dead and lead the fight [W4, Fri Post-Investigation]

[It seems that's all Damian needed really for verification. After a moment or two of hesitation, he tries one of the blueberries.

Okay, not bad, Annabeth. Thanks.] I can't tell either of you currently. Not yet. Todd doesn't want me to give out the identity of the Doctor for safety reasons. It's someone you both know, however. That's all I can say.

Just remember to be careful who you start asking. You'll be a target if you ask the wrong person.

I understand it seems risky for them to be anonymous, but they may be one of the only roles that can stay that way. Their items are dependent on the Sheriff, not other people necessarily. If there's a need for revival before you know who she is, then you can get in touch with Todd.

[As long as... Jason... isn't also dead. Fuck.]

Considering our numbers are getting smaller, Damian, I would think so. [He's not happy not knowing but he can understand why. With Damian eating the blueberries and Papika occupying herself with the cookies, he's digging in the box for what looks like a blue cupcake-type-thing.] I think someone else should know just in case we have trouble reaching both of you, but that can come later.

[If the Sheriff's supplying them the items, it makes sense now what he told Percy earlier.] He confirmed that we could have used the bear trap, so I'm also not surprised our stuff is dependent on him. And shouldn't I be telling you that since you're the one going around asking people who they are to pinpoint the roles?

What was the item left last week? I didn't hear anyone talking about it.

[ granted, the reason the bear trap became common knowledge was because milla brought it up during the investigation that week. so. ]

Um... about the Doctor. Are you and Jason the only ones who know who she is?

I don't ask them stupidly. [LISTEN, PERCY!! Let him live.] I don't know if Todd is the only one who knows. They didn't confirm. I'm just aware Todd knows, and he's intent on trying to protect her by being as much of an idiot as he can.

[The jab doesn't sound harsh, strangely...] I'll put her name on Pennyworth's collar with the others I've spoken with.

[JUST A LOOK? Damian please, do you not remember how you approached Percy initially???] If Jason found them the same way I've been finding people, I'm sure he is. And I know Jason's an idiot sometimes but I can't blame him in this case. We don't really know who to trust anymore so we have to be extra cautious.

...I'll check out Pennyworth's collar if something happens to you. [To Papika though, he looks down and shrugs a little.]

The item this time was dynamite. Harry told me. So we've had a camera, a bear trap, and dynamite. Pretty much nothing that's helpful without some context.

[ she's not sure how the heck they could have used the dynamite in this case. the bear trap, at least, could have been used to help annabeth last week. dynamite is trickier? ]

What did they do with the dynamite? Oh! And... how many roles have we confirmed who the people are? So we know which ones we still need to figure out who they are.

[ lists help? even verbal lists. papika thinks they're supposed to help, anyway, she isn't really a list person. ]

It was dynamite. [To confirm what Percy heard.] The Doctor claimed she hadn't exactly wanted to pick it, but didn't have much of a choice. They got rid of it before anyone else could use it for something sinister.

[Okay, he quite likes these blueberries, sue him.] I know the Doctor now, and the Doctor is aware I'm looking for the Deputy; however, she doesn't know who the Deputy is. [Dammit.]

That leaves another Coal Miner, the Madame, Bounties, and the Bartender. [So basically... they don't know anyone.] I was aware there were other Bounties, but thought it better for safety not to mention it.

I don't know who they are, but the book of rules the Sheriff gave me claims if at least three of us reveal ourselves to each other, he will tell us the rest. I get a hint each week. [Something he loathes. He can DO IT ON HIS OWN, OKAY.] So far, they've been useless. One is a woman, the only one among us. So four men and one woman. They have all met or otherwise know each other.

Finally, one of them could possibly be in a state of being permanently injured. I thought it was Xion at first, but the Sheriff said it could or couldn't happen at the time of asking. Interference.

I think I may know who it is.

The Bandits are randomly chosen which makes this all even more dangerous. [His eyes narrow on each of them in turn.] Either of you could have been a Bandit already, or could potentially be a Bandit in the future.

I think the Bandits may be after the Bounties. Similar to real bounties from the West. They get rewarded for "turning in" a Bounty. Incentive to kill.

Which means we still need to figure out the specifics of the Madame and Bartender role.

Makes sense. It's hard to trust anybody in this town not to use weapons against us. [He's hiding a smile, satisfied at least that Damian's eating and more relaxed even as he listens.] The more people you find that are on your side to help you find the Deputy, the better. We're running out of people the Deputy could be.

As for the rest…[He thinks to himself.] I might talk to some friends about tracking down the Madame and Bartender, at least. They'd be our most likely bet to help out if they really can investigate people and their roles. [There's a soft sigh.] I think you're actually down to four Bounties, including you. Your female Bounty told me that the Sheriff mentioned one of yours was killed. No idea who though.

You're working with her, aren't you? [Damian please play nice.] We should start looking to see who else she knows if that's the case. It'll help narrow stuff down, and you at least know Papika and I aren't Bounties. That helps.

"It could or couldn't happen at the time of asking"? What's that supposed to mean?

[Here's a very, very flat look.] You caught me. I was totally a Bandit the night my girlfriend died. Lock me up. [Sorry, touchy subject.] I can promise you I've never been a Bounty either. But that makes sense. They're picking out people they think could be part of the Bounty but they keep picking wrong just like we are.

Madame and Bartender…if it's specifics we're going after, we should see if anybody else has received an anonymous note from them.

Um... everyone having met or knowing each other are different things too, so that's vague? Because if you just spoke to someone once during a trial, then you've met, right. But knowing each other making you think that you talk to each other a lot.

[ as in, that hint is more or less useless. so. ]

Also if one of the Bounties died already... then wouldn't it have to be one of the people who died for not voting? Or because one of the Coal Miners killed them? Since the Sheriff would have told us if it was one of the Thursday night victims or one of the trial people.

His words were: "Your Bounties are hanging out without you." [Which doesn't help him and is, therefore, useless, but is also specific enough to mean they are in regular contact.

Maybe.] I can ask the Sheriff to verify whether one of the Bounties has been killed. I'll tell you once he does. [He glances at Percy.] I asked for clarification for his hint.

He said there was a possibility of the injury happening, but he could not predict interferences that would change the course of time. [A sigh.] I think it may be Yuki.

I set a trap around the stocks to make sure coyotes wouldn't attack whoever was in them. I also was expecting to catch anyone who may try to tamper with a witness. Yuki apparently was idiot enough to again try to stay by the stocks.

I built it to swing low enough that it would only incapacitated a human by hitting them somewhere in the legs. I assume the Sheriff may have meant Yuki could have been a victim of the trap.

I was aware, but I couldn't tell anyone and risk invalidating the trap, even Yuki. She could have been a Bandit, and if I had told her, she would have known to keep away. That would have allowed her to continue to kill.

I set up another one, but no one activated it. I'm going to move it around the town to see if I can catch someone.

[Hm.] I thought you just said the rest of the Bounties were guys. Clarification would be good about who's dead, if anyone. I'm going off of what your Bounty told me.

…if it is Yuna though, I need you to really watch her. She's setting not only herself up as a liability but the rest of us, too, by interfering with the scenes. Papika knows that Yuna's the one who argued the most about getting the bear trap out of the way and talking about how it's too cruel to even hurt anyone, but didn't seem to show a ton of remorse about the people who were dead. I know she wants to save everyone, but she's likely to get more people injured and killed by not playing her cards right. If she really is another Bounty, we need her to understand what's really going on here.

[Maybe he's bitter about what happened to Annabeth, but he's also genuinely worried.] You're saying the trap didn't go off then.

I won't ask you where you set the other trap, but I will ask that you at least give us a heads up if something comes from that. I think Papika and I could live with that?

Ah, he said there were four boys and one girl. So, she would be the one girl.

[ it's a little weird thinking of yuna as one though. ] She... puts a lot of attention on herself, maybe. Every week something happens with her, doesn't it?

[ she's either killing coyotes or having sleepovers?? ] I can try talking to her? Um, if you're wrong and it's not her, it might be bad if you end up revealing yourself to her then.

The Sheriff said "woman," and I'm not sure if he made the distinction on purpose or if he's just an idiot playing a role in a Western. [GOD.]

Don't risk talking to her yet. I'll ask the Sheriff. If he won't answer, we'll go from there.

[He looks back to Percy. Frowns.] I put the trap at the door of the hotel to see if the killers were leaving there. The trap didn't go off.

This time, I will put it at the door to the gunsmith.

As much as I hope it's just the latter, it doesn't hurt to pay attention and consider the former. If you ask Hal about Yuna, give us a heads up. Papika and I can watch her on the outer fringe of everything.

[He nods in agreement.] That's a really, really good idea. Now that it's open it's a little scary to think about how many people are going to grab a weapon. If it doesn't go off before the investigation though, aren't you risking somebody getting hurt just by checking the place out?

He can put it out at night time? Since um, if someone wants to take something out from there and they have bad intentions, they'd do it when they're less likely to be caught, right?

[ she shrugs. ] If they're only just checking it out they could do it during the day.

[Damian snorts under his breath. Have more faith in him, Percy Jackson.] I sneak out after lockdown and engage the trap. No one is going to activate it unless they are doing something they aren't supposed to be doing in the first place.

Like leaving the hotel through the front door after a "curfew."

In the morning, I check the traps and deactivate them if they are still engaged.

[A nod. Papika's right. And he can agree to Damian's suggestion but:]

After you set it, check back in with me just so I know you're safe and back at the hotel, okay? The last thing we need is someone catching you while they're already out doing something bad and deciding to dispose of you, too.

[And a look to Papika.] I want you two to stay together on Thursday nights from now on and watch each other's backs. Can you do that for me?

[ she just... glances at damian after percy's request. ]

If he's okay with it? [ she does not sound like she thinks damian would be okay with it so it comes out more like a question than anything. ]

People are more likely going out the window though. It's not that hard to climb down.

[Damian huffs softly.] Fine. [It doesn't sound as much like a complaint as he would like for it to sound.]

What about you? Who are you going to stay with? You know most of the people on your floor are dead.

[Wait-- He looks suddenly between the two of them. At first, he had considered it, yet he didn't return to it until just now when there are so many disappearing. ] Does that mean the killers are weeding out the floor they're on or the floor they're not on?

[A soft groan.] Don't say that. Don't give me reason to think you'd think about climbing out the windows.

[But he's satisfied with Damian's agreement and he nods.] Thank you. And...yeah, I kind of noticed. [Yikes.] I don't know about that. If the killers are changing each week, too, that makes it a lot harder to figure out don't you think? It's something to consider if we get a hint at another pattern.

[As for the question...] Harry and I tend to stick together on Thursdays. If Chane keeps abandoning her room, I'm making Jason stay with us. Xion stayed with us last week, but I trust her to stay with Natalie as long as we're all in communication with each other. That's what we have to rely on. Talking.

I'm not going to jump out the window! It's just the easiest way anyone for anyone to sneak out.

[ she huffs. it's not like papika makes it a secret that she's good at climbing things?? ]

Also um, if the killer was on the third floor and they were killing everyone on their floor, it would be suspicious when they're the only ones left there, right?

It would, but not everyone thinks about consequences like that ahead of time. [He shrugs.] But the Bandits rotate. They're weeding out another floor perhaps; in the long run, none of this matters.

We aren't exactly worrying about finding killers. The Sheriff set up the trials as a scare tactic stake in the game. It's to cause chaos and distrust.

We're looking for just one role not counting the other few that could help us in the search.

Just be careful who you speak and align yourselves with. Be careful who you stay with at night.

The killers are just making everything a lot harder, but they're also a good distraction from the main objective, you're right. Especially if we're not even sure if they're working with the Deputy in the first place.

[A sigh.] You already know what I'm capable of, Damian. Especially when it comes to alliances. I'll be fine. I just need you two to be fine and keep each other safe at night. We're getting to the point where we're letting really brutal murderers live among us and it's...bad. [Obviously.]

[ her lip twitches downwards at the mention of brutal murderers. she never wants to find another body again?? ]

Damian and I will be fine. [ it's cute how naive they are before the reveal that the sheriff can just take people out of their rooms and give them to the killers ha ha ha ANYWAY ]

Um. By the way... is there anyone in particular that you think is suspicious?

Everyone is suspicious. [Sorry... he's... something.] You shouldn't completely trust anyone, not me, not Jackson. No one. [That way you're not surprised when they betray you.]

Ash is the most prominent in being disagreeable, but that isn't evidence of murder. In fact, it's evidence against it. Most people who kill aren't going to brag about it to the public unless they're clinically narcissistic.

We should find some of the other roles and see if they can help us pick out who to be suspicious of legitimately.

Hey! [Excuse you.] Look, while I would agree that we can't trust most people here we have to be able to trust some people here. That's the only way we're going to actually beat this thing.

Ash is mostly just a huge jerk. But Damian has a point...people who kill aren't going to brag about it to the public. We're going to have to see what people say in private and kind of spy on them that way.

If we have all of the other roles in our hands, we can figure out what to do from there. Knowing everyone and being able to track their movements will be for the best. Can we agree on that?

[ she makes a face at damian, but percy says what she would have. ]

That's what happened with Nui, isn't it? Everyone was so sure that she had to be the killer because of how she was, and then...

[ y i k e s

she nods at percy though. ]

It might be easier if we knew who people haven't talked to yet about all of this. Um, your informants, I mean.

For all of us who've seen the light, salute the dead and lead the fight [W4, Fri Post-Investigation]

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