returning to the scene of the crime

Hikaru Suzuki

Oh, wow, okay. He hadn't expected the sparks to start flying quite that quickly. Hikaru loved his drama, but front row seats weren't usually what he'd go for. He stayed quiet, watching the back-and-forth between Ellie and Robert like a particularly anxious tennis spectator.

At least it gave him an excuse to not answer the question. And he could process Ellie's confession without having to react out loud. He'd wondered whether some of them might have, but he hadn't wanted to ask outright…

And Bow-Wow and Akemi were here to try and do a little damage control. Very different approaches, but still.

"Yeah, uh. If we are a room full of killers, I don't think antagonising each other is the best approach."

"And for what it's worth - I can neither confirm nor deny anything; if I told you, I'd have to kill you."

It was said light heartedly, but there was a certain undertone to his voice that suggested he wasn't entirely joking.

"…Anyway. Yeah, I'd rather we talk about how to get out of here, because how we got here seems to be a blank right now."

Robert McCay

Robert was already starting to deflate a bit, but when Bow-wow came down the hallway...

"Hey Mr. Bow-wow-- n-no, I'm fine, I'm…"

Never mind that his heart was racing and his vision was swimming a little. He's totally fine and well-adjusted and neurotypical I promise.

He shifted to put himself between the boy and Ellie, though he looked pretty pathetic now even with his sturdy build. A bit of a paper tiger, this guy.

"...Yes, Miss Kuro. Shouldn't'a lashed out, sorry."

At least Mr. Suzuki was keeping his cool relatively well, though the attempted topic change didn't lighten his mood at all. He's still keeping a wary eye on Miss Ellie…

"'Fraid I ain't got much good news there. Bow-wow and I searched the Hall pretty damn thoroughly. Doesn't seem t'be a trick to it, no matter how much it feels like there should be."

Shiori Yoshida

Having heard the call of someone requesting them to come to the cells, Shiori of course, ever the follower of orders, was immediately compelled to do so. But when the Yoshida sisters approached only to hear the sounds of a loud argument, they held back near the entrance to the room until it seemed like things were cooling down a bit. They'd rather not walk into an active battlefield and risk getting caught in the line of fire, after all.

As the sisters approach the group, Shiori notes the range in personalities and appearances before her with an indifferent expression. She's only properly introduced herself to one of these individuals, and she's not sure how good of a first impression she has of the others given the tension radiating from a few of them. Well, then again, at least to Shiori, the nature of their characters doesn't matter. Orders are orders. The chauffeur waits for a lull in the conversation, then gives a polite bow to the group as she addresses them.

"Hello. Apologies for the delay in our arrival. How may we assist you?"

Ellie Carter

She gives a huff of a laugh when Akemi calls it an all-out brawl. Akemi hasn't seen anything if she calls this a brawl. But she settles down for the most part, crossing her arms and turning to look at the newcomers. She really gets a kick out of the sisters, visibly taken aback by their whole deal.

"Holy shit! You're like little butler twins. You two are cute as hell. Thanks for coming, sweethearts."

She does take the chance to turn and scold Robert, now that the rest have quieted, for stepping in front of Bow-wow.

"What, you think I just 'cus I killed one bitch I'm gonna start swinging at dog boy? You're so dramatic. Bow-wow and I are chill."

Even though Ellie thinks he might be a serial murderer. She waves a dismissive hand before crossing her arms again. She's got a soft spot for troubled kids.

"Listen, I don't see no way outta here except for the locked door and that little hole in the wall. And while some of y'all are makin' me feel short as hell, I ain't fitting in that. But shouldn't you be askin' yourself— if they could nab us and throw us all in here without most of us havin' a damn clue how it happened… you think they're gonna leave a way out? Hah!"

She shakes her head to throw her hair back again, which seems to be so wild it continuously gravitates to getting in her way. But the movement seems to cause some pain in her neck, from the way she rolls her shoulders and rubs it after.

"Now I still think we're all starting the decay phase of rotting in Hell, but if we aren't… Some of you seem to think you're somethin' important, so, well, let's say Robert's got a lawyer or whatever the fuck. We should try to contact your daddy's lawyer so they can crack this stupid place open. Has anyone seen a computer around here? I got a knack for that sorta thing."

Bow-wow

"Sir, it's okay!" Bow-Wow reassures Robert gently as he moves in front of him, but underneath the mask, he's got the biggest, softest puppy eyes ever. He's flattered, really! But he peers out from behind Robert at Ellie.

Then, Shiori speaks, and Bow-Wow waves enthusiastically.

"Hi there! Welcome! We haven't met yet!"

But his attention is quickly pulled back to Ellie as she continues poking at Robert, and he can't help bristling a little. He liked Ellie! She was a totally cool pirate, but she was so… antagonistic…

That and, there's the revelation that she has killed before.

"Miss, Um, Ellie!" He blinks at her. "Please, Mr. Robert is only lookin' out for me!" He protests her comment with much less bravado than he wished he could muster, but admittedly, the realisation that Ellie had killed and deliberately too… it had shaken him a little. Perhaps they really were all there for the same reason.

He bristles again at her comment toward him, and he's kind of leaning in to Robert almost defensively. Sure, he may not have understood what she was getting at, but her tone left him feeling uneasy. It made him angry, Robert had been so nice to him, that he felt like he had to try and do something to help him!

Robert McCay

"Miss and Miss Yoshida…! Still no luck with the buckle?"

…How much of the conversation had they heard? So much for salvaging his first impression. Robert sighed and crossed his arms, trying to ignore Ellie's laser-targeted antagonizing. Just focus on the facts. He hadn't seen anything like a computer, had he--

Oh Bow-Wow, sweet boy, this was not gonna make the situation better. On the other hand, he HAD called him Mr. Robert, which was extremely cute and enough to take most of the edge off his voice as he finally responded to his new archnemesis.

"No, no computer and no other 'smart' electronics, far as I could see."

"…I ain't got a pa or lawyer money, fer the record. I'm just as screwed as anybody else."

Hikaru Suzuki

Hikaru raised his eyebrows at the Yoshida sisters; he hadn't spoken to them yet, and their predicament was intriguing - most likely nothing they hadn't tried to solve themselves, though, from the sounds of what Robert was saying. So he just nodded another greeting in their direction.

"I just think that if we are in Hell - which I don't believe in, for what it's worth, I wasn't raised religious - then what's the point of sharing all the nasty stuff we did to end up here? Definitely no point arguing about it."

If indeed nasty stuff there was. He surely didn't mean to imply anything, neither about himself nor the others.

Speaking of which, though… he considered what he was going to say next. He didn't want to say too much, but also didn't want to say too little and provoke questions.

"There is a chance that I know… someone… who would have a vested interest in getting me out of here. And potentially the ability. But that would be if this were a normal jail. If we don't know where here is, I don't know what the chances are of getting any outside… assistance."

"…My point is that we're probably on our own, here."

He really hoped that the awkward pauses as he searched for appropriately vague terms would be enough of a hint for the others to not ask further.

Emmy | Akemi

"I have considerable resources, and a lawyer, but I am almost certain there is no way to contact them right now. Considering the uncertain means of our arrival here, I am doubtful that escaping will be as simple as finding a vent or picking a lock."

She crossed her arms, "As far as I have been able to ascertain, not a single one of us remembers how we got here. We all have varying memories prior to waking here, but no memories of being caught, put in these jackets, nor carted into the cells. Couple that with the unusual technology we have already seen, from automatic translation to the disorienting changing room, and we are facing something very refined and intentional."

She looks at each of the present members sharply, trying to read their expressions.

"We are in a prison. We are being monitored. We are wearing jackets meant to restrain dangerous criminals. Moreover, these jackets are clearly custom-designed to suit each of us. Whoever brought us here definitely knows who we are, and clearly believes we are deserving of punishment for something. Whether you agree with their assessment or not is none of my concern. Our energy is best spent considering if this is the only punishment we are to endure, and what steps we can take to protect ourselves should further punishment be on the horizon."

Andrew Edgeworth

Miraculously, Andrew had somehow been far enough away to not hear Ellie's initial yell, but the growing crowd had been more than enough to grab his attention, anyway. He only catches some of the most recent speakers' comments as he enters the cell block, leaning slightly towards the group before speaking up himself. Conveniently not addressing the thread on who would have the resources to escape, of course.

"I'm afraid that I don't have much to add to the conversation thus far from the sound of what I've heard…except…" He contemplates on whether he should bring this point up, but dismisses the protest in his mind. It was going to come up eventually if this was a true prison, better to prime everyone for it sooner than later.

"…not everyone here knows of a crime they'd be imprisoned for. I don't know exactly how many that applies to, but if they're telling the truth, we have more on our plate to contend with."

Ellie Carter

Robert has too much bark to have so little bite. A lot of talk for someone 'just as screwed as anybody else.' She rubs the back of her neck, stretching it from one side to the other as she does.

"Hellooo, Andrew. Long time no see."

She says, perhaps too cheerily for the situation, to acknowledge him and continues with about the same tone.

"I think Akemi is right about all that. I bet they have some freaky psychological torture experiment stuff lined up for us. I still think it's some Hell-level shit, which the changing room magic is only provin' more evidence for. Should we unionize? I'm starting a crew, if anyone wants in."

Kaoru Naito

“Hey, get it straight, we’re not wearin’ jackets meant to restrain just ‘dangerous criminals’, they’re for—let’s call us troubled souls. Shows what someone thinks of us.”

Kaoru looms in from the hallway connecting to the other rooms, just barely passing the threshold. Seems like he’s finally decided to pitch in his thoughts after listening for a while.

“Yer all assumin’ a lotta shit, aren’tcha? I don’t think it’s the cops that brought us here, so I don’t think ‘crime’s’ th’ name of the game. All we know for sure’s we all pissed off the wrong people, we’re gonna be playin’ by their standards. They might think killin’ the wrong person and bein’ in the wrong place’s just as bad as each other fer all we know.”

He raises his sleeve, swinging it from side to side.

“‘sides, don’t you think it’s interesting they put in all this work with the custom digs and they didn’t even actually tie us up? It’s got th’ buckles and all, they prolly could. If they were ever gonna, they must not think there’s anythin’ worth protectin’ from us here yet.”

“I think half it’s just puttin’ us down, tellin’ us what they think of us, showin’ us they can do whatever they want to us. Annoyin’ shit. You keep callin’ these jail cells but it feels like a damn zoo t’ me, making a spectacle of us with these fuckin’ costumes.”

He looks to the sisters, who he’d seen before but hadn’t interacted with. He thinks they’re the most egregious display of ego on their captor’s part for sure. He glares up at the panopticon for a moment, bouncing his leg and stooping his head as he looks away, back down the hall.

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