Group RVJAM | R.N.A./Viper/Jack/Arty/Matsu | Atsuko Scene Investigation

Narrator

Tree Print - The treevee beside Atsuko bears a clear bloody handprint—or at least four fingers’ worth. Upon close inspection, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of fingerprint detail, though.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Arty Takenaka

Half zoned-out, Jack was once again briefly confused about the “already attacked” and “no qualms about physically threatening people” things clearly meaning him but then apparently not. Wasn’t worth giving himself more of a headache over. Just people talking.

Narrator Atsuko’s Glove - Though not the right material to burn or melt, Atsuko’s left glove is plastered to her stomach, such that any removal efforts would take a little time. It’s soaked in blood but doesn’t seem to be damaged.

“Huh.”

Getting at the edge of the glove, he began to work it off. Bloody, sure, but the fire probably sterilized it or something. That was a thing that fire did, yeah? Either way, ocean was right there, and it wasn’t like he didn’t have disinfectant.

Arty Takenaka She’s holding out for someone to possibly be able to identify where it’s from, if anything—maybe Jack? She makes sure to have it in his view for a good long moment.

Thankfully, a good long moment was enough time for him to actually notice it. He blinked, rubbed his eye (with the back of his wrist, being less dirtied with blood and people-ash), and squinted. That sure was a piece of metal.

Viper “…Nah. Kinda looks like some kinda bullet or somethin’ if I had ta guess. Knives an’ all don’t really…get that weird shapin’.”

“Not without an awful lotta effort. Doubt the fire got that hot, but you’re free t’check my knives for damage if you’re just that suspicious.”

Viper

Roadie 🪶Jack “Not without an awful lotta effort. Doubt the fire got that hot, but you’re free t’check my knives for damage if you’re just that suspicious.”

“Ain’t said I’m sus of anyone yet.” Viper replied, rather diplomatically for her normal retorts, but she offers a hand toward Jack. “But, if ya gonna offer, yeah. I’ll check ’em. Ya can have’em right back.”

She gestures with her hand, beckoning him to hand over the first knife.

In the meantime, any way she can judge how tall the hand print stands?

Narrator

Viper

Matsu

The treevee doesn’t seem to be playing anything at the moment—if it even could in this condition.

The angle of the print makes it difficult to guess whether it belongs to a right or a left hand. Height-wise, it’s on the lower side. Probably not from someone standing at full height (some present company excluded).

Roadie 🪶Jack Getting at the edge of the glove, he began to work it off.

Beneath the glove…

Atsuko’s Stomach - There’s a wound in Atsuko’s lower abdomen that’s a little clearer than the one on her back. It’s messier-looking than the other wound, but definitely seems to be deep.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Viper “Ain’t said I’m sus of anyone yet.”

“Wow, so nobody did this after all? That was a short investigation.”

Matsu “Someone [freaking] killed her,”

“Whoops, investigation’s back on.”

Narrator Atsuko’s Stomach - There’s a wound in Atsuko’s lower abdomen that’s a little clearer than the one on her back. It’s messier-looking than the other wound, but definitely seems to be deep.

He whistled.

“That doesn’t look like fun. ’ve had worse, but.” Of course you have. “Doesn’t always take a lot to kill ya ’round there.” Since he’s an expert and all. At killing people.

Viper She gestures with her hand, beckoning him to hand over the first knife.

Oh honey, he ain’t letting go of any of these.

To his credit, he wasn’t overly quick to put away any of the knives he took out, and he did enough show-offy nimble fingerwork for all parts to be visible, but if Viper tried to take any outright, it wouldn’t end well.

He presented two identical daggers (how was that necessary), then a folding whittling knife. None had any obvious damage—certainly no chunks missing. He took very good care of these, thank you.

Matsu

[Continued from Body Drop]

Matsu hadn’t really reacted to Viper trying to get their attention, slowly lowering their hands to their side as they stare at the remains and the fire licking at it. Her.

Only when Viper takes their chin and makes them look away do they finally do so. Their chest rises and falls with quick, shallow breaths and their eyes keep darting back to the smouldering remains of the fire ~~and Atsuko~~ until she brushes their hair out of their eyes. They swallow, then give a small nod. They actually let her take their hand, and it’s a good thing she continues to block the view.

“Someone fucking killed her,” they finally say while Viper and Arty disassemble the space heater. Wow, they sure are helpful Even this twelve year old was being more productive. They’ve been standing awkwardly behind Viper, having relinquished her hand once she needs it and instead just staying. Close.

Naturally, they follow her to look closer at the treevee, which is much better than the corpse.

Even though there’s no visible thumb, can they tell which three finger marks are closer to the same length versus the smallest? They are attempting to discern whether it is likely from a right hand or left hand.

Viper

Okay, Viper kinda expected him to not want to hand any of his knives over. That made sense, after all, it was Jack and why would he be too cooperative? That wasn’t very on brand! But it was as he was busy showing off the knives, that Viper remembered something much more desirable that she wanted to steal.

Yeah, perhaps she would have been smart to steal a knife from him! ….When he wasn’t looking, of course. But she figured that he was distracted enough trying to make sure she couldn’t steal his knives that she could swipe Stick Jesus from right under his nose.

Sorry to anyone watching, but Viper darts her hand out, swiping Stick Jesus from his prison as part of Jack’s belongings, continuing her distraction as she acclimated the stick among her things by speaking.

“By the way, what tf happened to ya! I gotta ask!” Viper started, “How can ya just vanish! Over there.” Viper points toward the West.

“I was followin’ ya for ages ya know. An’ then ya just up and vanished. Like, rude? Didn’t even say hi?” Pause. “Cause I bet ya totes knew I was followin’ ya.”

Narrator

Viper

Stick Jesus - Still on Jack’s person at the time of investigation. No traces of recent damage.

R.N.A.

Though it’s one of the taller treevees, R.N.A. is one of the taller Passengers, so no problems here!

Treevee (Atsuko) - The burned remains of a palm tree and the television embedded in it. The tape inside can be extracted and bears a label that’s not too faded to make out Atsuko’s name.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Viper

Clearly too preoccupied to notice the pickpocketing, Jack didn’t address Viper until he was questioned.

“How to vanish? Trade secret.”

“And yeah, course I noticed you tailin’ me. Definitely woulda scared off the fish stomping around like that.” He retrieved a rag to wipe off any blood and ashes that got on his blades before checking Atsuko’s ungloved hand. “…May’a managed to scare ‘em anyway. You’re real talented, know that?”

R.N.A. “Do you think there’s something… in there?”

He made an “Iunno” sound. At least look up to see what they’re talking about, dude.

R.N.A.

Viper “OI!” She barked, “Step back, you’re gonna scare her. Most people ain’t gonna want ta be intimidated while they’re seein’ this, like, even if ya don’t mean ta do it!”

“I’m not-” R.N.A. would be cut off by Arty’s own rebuttal to their words. Most of it was glossed over, but there was one part that… stuck out.

Arty Takenaka But I won’t blame the people on the same side as me until I have a reason to. Because unlike you, I’m not a robot.”

I’m not a robot… Indeed. R.N.A. already knew there was plenty that was in the way. A robot cannot be human. A human cannot be robot. But to have it reinforced once more that they are never going to stack up…

Their hand may have been far looser than usual on the shoulder, not that Arty likely would have noticed.

Right. Now isn’t the time to worry about this. They need to do their job and protect everyone from the culprit. Instead, they turn their attention to the TV on the tree. The Treevee’s TV.

“Do you think there’s something… in there?”

R.N.A. decides to investigate the TV itself… Somehow.

Viper

Roadie 🪶Jack “How to vanish? Trade secret.”

“Ugh. Lame.” Viper scoffs, but his assessment of her totally legit super cool tailing of him has her grumbling and folding her arms like the stubborn, totally-in-denial woman she is. She thought she had been sooooo sneaky. But no. Booooo!

“I wasn’t stomping! I was following!” She protests, ever the pedantic fool. “…You just need to teach me better skills. Duh.” ….Alrighty, Viper.

“Anyway- Aren’t we meant to pick someone that we think killed Atsuko? That seems like…a good idea, right?”

Viper has a quick… Examine of the sand around Atsuko’s body. Looking for any smaller items that may have been glossed over. And, if there’s any… blood around still that hasn’t already been attributed to one of the items around her.

Narrator

Roadie 🪶Jack checking Atsuko’s ungloved hand

Atsuko’s Left Hand - She doesn’t seem to have been wearing a glove before the fire caught. Though her fingers are reflexively curled in and not burnt on the inner surface, they don’t bear any fingerprints.

Viper Examine of the sand around Atsuko’s body.

Atsuko’s Lighter - On the ground near Atsuko’s body. Closer to her right hand than to the space heater.

There may be more blood on the sand—it’s hard to judge, exactly, when everything close to Atsuko’s body is a burnt mess. Nothing unexpected around, at least.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Viper “…You just need to teach me better skills. Duh.”

“Clearly. Y’ever get your tuition paid for that?”

Jack peered at Atsuko’s fingers a while before letting them curl back up. “Guess she coulda got away with whatever she wanted. Maybe she shoulda joined classes too, huh?”

“Well. Too late now.”

Viper Aren’t we meant to pick someone that we think killed Atsuko?

Yeah, that seemed… vaguely familiar. He checked the sand a little farther out since Somebody already looted the immediate area.

“Yeah, not sure anythin’ here makes me think a’ anybody. Ever feel like someone had it out for her?”

He watched Viper, an eyebrow raised.

“Guess ya could compare some stab wounds if you’re such an expert, huh?” Since he was sure to be the one everybody suspected most, after all.

Viper

CW for uh. Prodding open wounds later (sorry yall)

Yoink. Viper’s lighter now!

Does it still work?

Viper also crouches to get a better look at that wound on Atsuko’s back, and she’s glad she’s still wearing that cloth around her face.

What she’s about to do next makes her stomach churn, but…

Viper tries to poke her finger into the wound to assess how deep it is. And to feel around for anything inside.

Viper is fighting for her life trying to keep her stomach from twisting but… curiosity got the better of her.

Narrator

Viper

The lighter still works! Seems the fire damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been there.

Viper What she’s about to do next makes her stomach churn, but…

Viper isn’t exactly a trained expert in this, so it’s hard to be too sure, but she can’t feel any obvious foreign bodies. She also can’t be completely sure she isn’t affecting the shape of the wound by feeling it, but it’s seemingly deeper than her finger can go.

Viper

Roadie 🪶Jack “Clearly. Y’ever get your tuition paid for that?”

“Yeah, like, I paid you days ago?” Viper did not in fact pay him. But then again, perhaps him stealing her sewing kit was payment enough in her eyes. But… she had stick Jesus, so who was really winning? Viper, that’s who! “So like. I’m ready for some education like, whenever.” Wow you wouldn’t believe she had been stabbed by this guy literally days ago!

That was, until Jack commented on her… borderline desecration of the corpse by reminding her of the fact he had in fact stabbed her.

“I mean. Ain’t…exactly an expert.” …Viper suddenly pulled her hand from the wound, flicking a couple droplets of blood or general muck from her finger, before wiping her hand on her pants. “…But I don’t exactly suspect ya.”

Pause.

“…Ya ain’t dumb enough. I don’t think. Like, jus’ seems like a total waste of ya time if ya really did kill so many people.” There was no way Jack was competent enough to survive so many trials, either, surely! He was so… naturally suspicious. Surely he would have been voted out at one point or another! Like in among us!

“I got… no real idea. But…if I had ta guess…” Viper glances over at RNA. “…The only one who would’a had much problem with how…Atsuko is- er, was.” She nods at them. “…I’ll…compare wounds though, I guess.”

Viper unbandages her arm, and compares the wound to Atsuko’s wound.

Narrator

Roadie 🪶Jack

Footprints? (Atsuko) - Aside from the investigators’, there are two sets of footprints in the area nearby, beyond the patch of sand near Atsuko’s body that’s too burnt and mussed around to get much detail from.

Viper

The wound on Atsuko’s back has a good bit more gape to it, and also larger lengthwise. Hard to guess how much of the difference might be the injury itself as opposed to what affected it afterward.

Viper

Viper wraps her arm back up- albeit messily, she makes a note to… fix that later.

Whatever.

She notices the footprints, and scowls. Is there… anything left of Atsuko’s feet? Enough to roughly guess if they were somehow her footprints or any size?

….Were they similar size to Viper’s own feet?

Also where did they seem to lead off to?

Narrator

Viper

One set of footprints seems to match Atsuko’s shoes from what you can tell. It pretty much leads straight from the interior of the island around to the front of the treevee.

The other set of footprints is weirdly difficult to make out, as if two people had stepped in the same spots. These stretch between a spot near Atsuko’s body and out to the shore, where they vanish.

The Atsuko prints are a little bigger than Viper’s. The weird doubled prints are more noticeably larger.

Arty Takenaka

Arty watches wordlessly as Viper and Jack go back and forth, about knives, about motive… she’s a little shocked to see that Jack has multiple knives—she’d only known about the one; what does he need multiple for?—but she reminds herself she’s not suspecting him right now. He wouldn’t be investigating this much if he did it, right? Didn’t seem like the type to bother putting up a front about it, especially since he’s been so blasé about people suspecting him thus far.

The idea of nominating someone as the potential killer just based on what they’ve found so far makes Arty nervous. It just feels way too soon. They only have some of the facts, and Arty still doesn’t even think any of them did it in the first place, anyway. “Yeah,” she finally speaks up, “I don’t think anything we have right now points to a specific person? And I still think that cat has the strongest motive. But we probably can’t even nominate him.”

She doesn’t have more to contribute to the conversation than that, so she goes back to watching, something that she immediately regrets once Viper starts… Doing That. Oh, god, she’s really getting in there, isn’t she? Arty can tell by the angle at which she’s holding her hand and yeah no that’s way too deep she needs to stop that right now. If Arty keeps watching this she’s gonna get queasy again. She would love any excuse to investigate elsewhere at this point.

Apropos of nothing, she’s going to wander on over to the nearest spot on the shore to where the fire happened. Any clues happen to be washed up on the shore or hiding in the shallow part of the water? Anything to legitimize this very important and necessary detour.

Narrator

Arty Takenaka

There doesn’t seem to be anything in the immediate vicinity, but she could swear she sees an unnatural gleam further out in the water…

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