*I agree, shadowy hood has been awful quiet. Letting their unpleasant partner take all the attention, would be a good cover for a secret leader.*

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/08/18(Sun)04:31 No. 1096002 ID: ee57bd
File 172398071488.jpg - (4.69MB , 3236x3850 , Divergent 362.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe3h62MrlPE

>>1096002
Very well.

*Punches Melkior in his gut to knock the wind out of him and makes him sit down in his chair.*

Peregrine, please restrain the suspect to the chair. Practical Hopkins, please lock the door. Mya should anyone get up out of their chair, shoot them.

Since you say you are all to condemn each other, you will go first.

*Corax pulls out his gun, cocks it, and puts the barrel to the side of Melkior’s head.*

We have a demigod and a god here with us, if you have any last rites to give this man, you may do so.

If any one of you are, or have information about Happy the Tragedy Phantom, come forward with it now. I will count to ten, if I do not have this information, I will shoot this man.

One.

Ah, eh, well gee whiz that butler sure is taking a long time to bring that spoon guy. I'll just- I'll just go- see- uh.

*Slips out the door, fidles with the lock but can't figure it out. Starts pacing in the hall.*

He's just bluffing right? I'll just wait here come back in when he finishes this round of questions. yeah, yeah, its like good cop bad cop. surely

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/08/23(Fri)05:48 No. 1096353 ID: f88514
File 172441729891.jpg - (3.98MB , 3508x3285 , Divergent 363.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JaFYTFGseI

>>1096353
Inner thoughts to Hopkins and "Peregrine":Hmm, best to keep him out for now. He is a person of interest at the moment for multiple reasons. Hopkins, be vigilant. We have reason to believe Triumphant wanted to have me poisoned, I don't fully know what he might be capable of.

Two.

*Hopkins gives a sort of mental nod to Corax.*

Well sir, first off we have this Melkior fella. He seems nasty piece of work, but I suspect he's acting as a smoke screen for his partner...

*Hopkins proceeds to pull a wad of notes out of a coat pocket and ramble about the weird quirks of the suspects. The notes are numerous, but not particularly helpful.*

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/08/29(Thu)15:14 No. 1096677 ID: e46b34
File 172496966847.jpg - (3.22MB , 3415x4245 , Divergent 364.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IvDv2YtTbM

>>1096677
Three.

Thank you miss Felafaf for that astute observation, please name who you accuse.

*to Corax; better finish up whatever you're doing in there.*

Of course, let me get the door for you. (so that way I'm the first one to see in)

>>1096690
Inner thoughts to Hopkins No, please keep him out there for longer. You've shown him your notes I assume, ask him what he thinks on this case, of the assumed guilty, who in his view has the most cause to be Happy. Get his opinion on it, and if Mr. Darro is with him, him as well. Keep him talking for longer.

*to Corax; you have a minute, I can't guarantee more.*
*Hopkins slows and then crosses to retrieve the cup of coffee*
I almost forgot, can't let it get cold. I wanted to ask as well, how certain is the tribunal that this Happy is in that room? Do you have a suspect in mind? Because all there seems to be so far is motives with no evidence.

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/08/30(Fri)17:08 No. 1096716 ID: e46b34
File 172506289209.jpg - (2.83MB , 2746x3448 , Divergent 365.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkZRnlsTZfA

>>1096716
You are all trying my patience.

Four five six seven eight nine.

Corax is, uh, trying something a little unorthodox. If we just give him a minute, I think he's just about done.

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/09/06(Fri)22:37 No. 1097104 ID: b60ac5
File 172568742704.jpg - (1.87MB , 3368x2220 , Divergent 366.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo-dCl1fa0I&loop=0

Wh- uh, nooooo? He's just um, pressuring them.

*to Corax: Ahhh! Hurry up!*

>>1097104
Ten.

*Corax moves the gun and shoots Melkior in his left leg.*

Don’t call my bluff. I said I would shoot you, I didn’t say where. Mad Creator, please say who you accuse or I will shoot him again.

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/09/11(Wed)02:49 No. 1097262 ID: d4b03b
File 172604815962.jpg - (1.41MB , 2302x1944 , Divergent 367.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjon2REtQ-g

>>1097262
Of course, sir. *Corax holsters his gun.*

Corax's thoughts to his team: Well done Hopkins, Maya, and you... "Peregrine." I want you to keep watching everyone, the purpose of this was to watch their responses. Keep watching and observe any odd behavior that seems out of character for what we know about our suspects. Especially watch Triumphant.

I apologize for the surprise, but it was necessary for the exercise in which I was conducting. I wanted to see their reactions based on being back into a corner, as these ones are the most likely candidates to be considered as working with, or are Happy the tragedy phantom, and since it is also a possibility that the one who is Happy may not be aware of it, it was also a test of their subconcious.

The following is my own conclusions. Felafaf is innocent, she showed more moral worry and panic even worrying about my own position, as well as the well being of suspect Melkior and the fact that what I was doing was to quote her 'Unjust.' Happy would want me to continue as if I was making a mistake, why interrupt me? Never stop your enemy when they are making a mistake.

Lorrence was quick to point fingers to Sirius as the suspect, but his reasoning for which involves the mishandling of the being known as 'Essence of Life.' As for what we know Happy seems to relish the chaos of it all and making it dance to his tune. I think it's fair to strike Lorence as a suspect, for now.

Sirius is an unknown is this but also is too honest. Honest people make many mistakes, and that is something Happy does not do. He doesn't fit the behavioral profile.

Oxidius was more quiet than anything and his behavior showed more unrest and worry for his... Companion. Happy would be willing to throw anyone under the bus to get what he wants as we have seen, certain people be damned.

Melkior was egging me on, again why interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake, even demanding at one point that I shoot and kill him, continued to taunt his fellow interrogates. At this time, I feel more questioning of him may be appropriate as he certainly fits the behavioral profile.

The mad creator... He found most of this entertaining. Again, possible fit for the psyche profile, however it is intriguing the answer he gave as to who he accused. In fact both he and Melkior gave interesting answers. We can discuss that later in the debriefing.

>>1097268
Inner thoughts to Hopkins, Maya, and “Peregrine”: Something just occurred to me. Watch Lorence carefully. His body, it’s not his real body. It’s a corpse puppet, a kind golem made from dead flesh that he pilots from a separate location. How is this possible? In recorded interactions with Happy, he’s used similar abilities with puppets, and what’s more is that beings like Essence of life have also been able to use corpse puppets. One of you, ask him this is actually possible. By what technology or magics is this being done?

*Hopkins skulks in the hall, peeking in but keeping out of the way.*

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/09/17(Tue)10:14 No. 1097491 ID: df64c0
File 172659326216.jpg - (2.78MB , 3510x2304 , Divergent 368.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3JIm4YBJrA

>>1097491
As a matter of fact, Lorrence there is. As Melkior- oh speaking of which, Practical Maya, please bandage his wound if you can? Thank you.

As I was saying Lorrence, something that was said intrigued me. The body which we currently see, it's not your actual one isn't it? Your real one is still under our custody, and the one we see now is a limited corpse puppet that acts as something a golem, made from dead bodies. It is interesting because this ability has been used by Essence of Life in the past, and what's more, every interaction with Happy the Tragedy phantom has also been through a construct. How did you acquire such an ability? I've heard of certain members of your world that go into a coma and bring forth astral projections that have certain powers as long as they are bound to someone. Is this similar to that? I am interested to know where this ability comes from as it may shed a light on how Happy has also used his construct. If we can pinpoint the origin of this, then it may bring new evidence to light.

>>1097492
*Corax looks over his shoulder at The Mad Creator*
Rest assured, sir, I don't want a "fall guy." Whether you are, or aren't Happy remains to be seen.

*Hopkins looks around for that butler guy*
We should probably fetch some bandages for eyepatch.

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/09/25(Wed)03:50 No. 1097796 ID: 59c0fa
File 172726142690.jpg - (3.09MB , 2482x3232 , Divergent 369.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZfm3cvdTR4

>>1097796
Interesting. It raises another question however. How you are able to command your corpse puppets? From what you have said, I wouldn't be surprised if your puppets are corpses of yourselves from other timelines. If Essence could do something similar it must mean that her puppets had to have had part of her other selves in them, perhaps to... establish some neural/telepathic link? It would work better if its your own brain and body. Would you say this is correct, Mr. Lorrence?

> It is Essence singing a song and you can look at how each person reacts to it.
By all means.

Inner thoughts to Maya, Hopkins, and "Peregrine": I expect there will be a lack of a reaction from Happy, watch for that among our accused. This includes Triumphant.

thoughts: So beardy has experience interfering in dimensions, but in a sneaky behind-the-scenes way. And they're good at not drawing attention to themselves. One to watch, I'd say.

*Hopkins shuffles in to observe, lurking at the back of the room.*

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/10/06(Sun)15:37 No. 1098310 ID: b93ba2
File 172825426044.jpg - (5.39MB , 3508x4296 , Divergent 370.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa3jyGj9NxI

>>1098310
I think the when this recording was made was near her death. She knew that at some point in the near future, she was going to meet an end and would have to accept, whether she was ready for it or not. As for who it is for, it is for three people. One of them is Happy regarding how he treats her. Another is for the other Ana's, particularly the one known as Scarred Ana, the two were on opposing sides but there was a deeper connection between them. Lastly, I think this was also self-pity for herself. I suspect Spirit Contaminator kept this as a memento.

I am more interested to see how everyone else found this performance.

*Hopkins mumbles something noncommittal and tries to sneakily look through his notes, as he doesn't remember who this girl is. It sounds like she's had a rough life, but so has every other person in this room by the sounds of it. She could be connected to any of them, so he's looking for any emotion showing on any of the suspects' faces in the wake of the sad song.*

That's cute

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/10/13(Sun)02:54 No. 1098568 ID: aad9f1
File 172881327094.jpg - (2.76MB , 2656x2910 , Divergent 371.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpU61EtpaDY

*Corax pulls out his notepad and begins to write and talk*

Peregrine denotes the song, and our reaction as "cute" then backpedals asking why he said it, saying something else made him say it.

Triumphant shows no immediate outward reaction, other than annoyance and suspicion at being a suspect.

I think when considering this, we have to look at 2 things. One, how each suspects feels the song relates to them, and how Essence relates to each suspect as well.

1. Melkior's reaction seems annoyed more than anything, as if remembering a bad memory. Based on his track record with women, it wouldn't surprise me if he attempted sexual contact with Essence and was rejected or worse.

2. Oxidius seemed more fascinated, as someone who studies beings like her and Andrew Goodwill, getting a view into their psyche would no doubt be intriguing.

3. Lorence, no reaction and the only emotion showed was boredom. He doesn't like Essence and probably knows enough about her to want nothing to do with her.

4. Felafaf and The Mad Creator showed the most emotion during it, I suspect that they as near godly beings themselves were showing sympathy for how they felt, I assume what Essence was singing about mirrored their own feelings.

5. Sirius showed amusement. I suspect he thinks it was just a good song.

Given this information and speculation, I'd like to ask them what they think of Essence of Life and have each of them give testimony to any interactions they might have had with her see if there is any contradictions based on prior knowledge.

>>1098597
The things in italic font are things Corax wrote down for himself

Agh, are we even going anywhere with this watch their reactions bit? Whoever is Happy must be skilled at hiding their emotions to have gone unfound so long.

Sure we could look then at how Lorence and Sirius had the most muted response, and assume they are hiding their true emotion. But any of the others could be performing to throw us off.

At the end of the day, cases are decided by evidence, and all we have here is speculation.

>>1098628
*corax’s eyebrows raise at that and the ghost of a smile crosses his lips.*

Inner thoughts: Well said, Hopkins. Well said.

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/10/27(Sun)02:16 No. 1099094 ID: 54b14a
File 173002058241.jpg - (1.16MB , 1986x2084 , Divergent 372.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj5uG6_mnoQ

>>1099094
We threaten him with knowledge he doesn't know about, or we threaten him with a weapon. There are two things I can think of that we say we have.

1. Is the Smile of Essence, we have recovered it and have already begun tests on it to determine its power.

2. Happy himself may not be aware there is another organization that is aiding him, but wants him to win. This other organization has stated that they do not want him knowing about it, as such it would throw a monkey wrench in both of their plans. This one I find more likely as it would take out two of our enemies.

What would really help would be catching a suspect with knowledge they shouldn't have, unless they were Happy. With all the subterfuge going on, Happy probably doesn't know how much we know. So we should trick him into saying something that he doesn't know that we know he shouldn't know.

But I don't know what that would be.

>>1099119
If we are going with that angle then the power of the smile of Essence may be our best shot.

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/11/06(Wed)07:51 No. 1099441 ID: 65be43
File 173090828816.jpg - (814.49KB , 1974x1478 , Divergent 373.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cNA1DOzSQQ

>>1099441
Inner thoughts to Hopkins and "Peregrine":I am fine with this idea, but it's also a good idea to try and get two birds with one stone. I say we also use the Smile of Essence as a backup but also hint at our stringy college's former allies. Only enough to drag them out as well.

>>1099455
*flips through notes* Living painting, living painting... ah, right. I'll concur with Corax then. If we flat out say that the painting told us, then Happy will know we're bluffing, as why haven't we arrested him then?

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/11/11(Mon)08:09 No. 1099628 ID: fffdf0
File 173134135520.jpg - (435.53KB , 1306x942 , Divergent 374.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eekw5g6IxfY

>>1099628
Very well.
*Corax stands and re-enters the room*

Thank you all for your patience. Some new evidence has come to light that pertains to you all. After review of the interrogation of the living painting Mad World, it has been determined that we have a more substantial credibility to the identity of Happy as the painting living Mad World has been in contact with him and has turned over more evidence.

Should any of you have any information that can corroborate Mad World's testimony on Happy, we will take it at this time.

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/11/22(Fri)01:22 No. 1100187 ID: 6a5cc1
File 173226737664.jpg - (2.30MB , 2948x2589 , Divergent 375.jpg )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htFJzGd_E00

>>1100187
> To Melkior
I am not at liberty to say as it is classified until this case has come to its conclusion. However I can say that the report he gave included him giving over a name and the names of his associates, most of whom we already have in captivity or are deceased. To quote Mad World: "Happy moves like a symphony, with an orchestra of the damned. The Spirit Contaminator, Essence of Life, and even that centipede beast—all parts of a grand performance. But make no mistake, Happy writes the script."

> To Felafaf
Thank you for you contribution.

> To Aisantue
We have the records of that, there are some who even suspect that Mad World was acting on Happy's Orders when the painting attacked her. Of course that would place a target on your back as you brought her here, possibly as a set up.

> To Sirius
Cooperate with us and we will cut you a deal, you will get your son back.

> To Lorrence and Oxidius
If you would like to submit your finding as evidence and testimony, it may look favorably on the tribunal.

to Corax: (I'm leaning towards Aisantue at this point. Nothing concrete, but his attitude seems suspicious. And if he had easy access to the painting, easy to set up the incident, and engineer plausible deniability to boot.)