bittybat | W3, post-investigation Friday

[ at the talk of partners, papika tenses for a second. that is something she knows very well, and she has never been more thankful that cocona isn't here than she is at this moment. and then she immediately feels bad for the thought.

after entering, she winces when she spots the dog too. percy is... seriously not having a good day today. papika almost immediately goes over to mrs. o'leary but sticks to percy's side instead, partly since she isn't sure how the dog will react to other people hovering over her when she's injured. ]

She wasn't hurt before you left the hotel yesterday... [ she remembers seeing percy run out the second the doors were unlocked with mrs. o'leary following. ]

[He enters the room and heads for his bed where the dog's laying, sitting next to her and letting the kids settle where they want. He's checking her bandages to give himself something to do, some way not to look them in the eyes just yet. It's hard to explain.]

...Papika you remember the bear trap we found? Think it might've been for the coyotes lurking around. [A thick swallow.] The stocks were burned. There was an empty can of gasoline under the Sheriff's chair and under the porch were coyotes. Two of them attacked Mrs. O'Leary...they were with Annabeth. [Please infer what he means, please don't make him say "my girlfriend was burned alive and feasted on by coyotes."] I got rid of the last one.

[Well, Damian understands that, at least. He sticks close to the two of them, and though he doesn't want to bug the dog with crowding, he goes over anyway to squat down and give her a few gentle rubs with the back of his fingers in a place not sore.] I don't think the Sheriff would have killed her if his methods of "helping" are to put Todd and the rest in the cells.

[Hopefully.] But she would have been a witness, and I assume whoever did the killing was trying to make sure she wouldn't be. [He frowns at Percy. It just sounds like they all should have tried to stay with her, honestly.

A sigh.] She isn't gone for good. We can still send her back with you, when we're all able to leave. If I can find who I'm meant to find.

[ she looks pretty horrified when percy mentions the bear trap and then what happened. if they had thought to use it for protection instead of automatically deciding it could only be put to sinister use... papika shakes the thought away. trying to pick apart what they might have done wrong will take them literally nowhere.

when damian mentions his apparent role though, she glances at him. ] Have you figured anything out about that?

[Mrs. O'Leary is at least awake enough to wag her tail at Papika's presence and also lick at Damian's hand where she can. Still, his shoulders tense and it's for a moment they can see the fact he really isn't okay with this.]

Then they could have done it some other way than burning her alive and leaving her for them to eat. [That's what bothers him. However, he calms a bit.]

...you told Papika what you told me?

I know. [Damian isn't okay with that at all either.]

Yes. [He glances at Papika, then away, pretending to be interested in not hurting Mrs. O'Leary.] And no... not yet. [Which feels ten times more insulting and frustrating. His jaw tightens.] I can't be sure if I can trust the Sheriff's word at all, but he told me those who die aren't fully dead.

There's a chance they can return to their universe, but-- [His lips pull into a heavy line.] --it depends on "how well we all play the game."

The Sheriff gets to decide what happens to all of us when it's over.

[ well, another reason to hate the sheriff. it's bad enough that they're forced to play this, but the fact that he has power over even that. ]

So... if you do your job correctly, then he's more likely to reward you.

[ aka, bring back the dead. ]

Why does he get to decide? What's the point of this stupid game if we don't even get to have the final word?

Something like that. [He finally glances up, at Percy first. The barest, faintest hints of a smirk. He's glad they were on the same page.] I'm aware. I told him the same thing.

Actually, I punched him because he deserved it, but it doesn't do any good. He's an android.

This game is a form of entertainment, and we are being watched by his employers. The more entertaining we are, the better our chances of everyone going home.

I don't know if it matters, but he claimed his employers played this game among themselves for a time, but then got bored. I assume that means they are serious about using this as a way to pass the time.

Punching him makes you feel a little better though.

[ she is still waiting to get her chance to do it since elizabeth had stopped her the one time she actually tried attacking the sheriff. ]

He doesn't want us to be nice about it. He wants us to do it like-- what happened today.

[ since they're supposed to make whoever is getting killed feel pain. the sheriff probably approved of how annabeth got killed. ]

[He pinches the bridge of his nose.] Guys, don't punch the robot yet. We need him still.

He wants us to up the ante which means the next set of murders is going to be worse. [He looks pretty perturbed by that, and still stricken by what happened.] You think maybe he's using threats or using people to threaten other people to make the deaths more gruesome?

A little.

[Hey, at least he's honest.] Probably. He's using the methods of getting rid of bodies to scare everyone into worrying about what comes next.

[He sighs, standing back up.] The person I need to find... I don't know what they do or who they are, but I need to find them quickly.

Or we need to find another way. I've been digging in the ground by the clinic. I was going to check the mines-- [He glances at Percy, the person who told him to "think" about it.] --but the other group got there first. I watched them go in, but turned back.

Goodman ended up beneath the clinic after what happened to them. I don't know where else she might have gone. I still think there may be more to the mines than merely mines, especially if it connects beneath the town.

How far in the mines did they go before they went down in the skeleton hole? It sounds like they didn't do a lot of exploring, so there's probably lots and lots that they missed in there.

[ since who would stay in there after sei and natalie got taken. ]

I heard Seizaburo showed up under the church, so it's entirely possible there's way more down there than what the girls found. Dr. Lecter left me at the Sheriff's station to go take care of her. I'm not sure how bad it turned out.

So what, you think there's something even more than tunnels down there?

Yes. Why would he want to keep us out so badly if not? Suspicious. I'm going to keep digging by the clinic regardless.

Or people could try going down further in the mines, I guess.

[ she's frowning. ]

Do we know if the skeletons attacked them immediately? Or maybe they set off a trap?

[ AS SOMEONE WHO HAS EXPERIENCE WALKING INTO A BUNCH OF TRAPS. she is curious. ]

From the way Milla described it, it was like something broke and then Natalie and Seizaburo disappeared. It sound of sounds like a trap was tripped to me but how would anybody set that up?

Easy, if it was the Sheriff. The only reason there would be traps is if there's something to hide.

If there are tunnels under the town through the mines, then... can't people use that to sneak around after curfew?

That could be how people are getting around without any of us noticing at all. How things keep getting so messed up. Out of sight, out of mind? But how can we even map something like that?

[Both of Damian's brows pull together suddenly and thoughtfully.] If there's a tunnel below the hotel, it'd be an easy access for any killers.

[He glances at Percy. Frowns.] We can mark it on the surface, but it would require someone going through the mines at all to know what was where.

I'm not sure if most people would agree to going there a second time after what happened with Natalie and Sei.

[ she reaches over to rub mrs. o'leary on an uninjured spot. ]

Unless you go without telling anyone?

[ although that would cause problems in the case they need help. the first group didn't tell the whole town they were doing, so no one else was around to help them when things went bad. ]

Nobody's going back out there without telling anyone. [There's a sharp tone to his voice. Mrs. O'Leary seems content with Papika as well, so he can allow that.] That was the whole problem, we're not losing more people if we can help it.

So...we're back to square one. Any ideas?

[Damn, Percy is as bad as him. But, look, he's Damian Wayne. He's gonna go without telling anyone.]

I'm going to try to lure out the person I need to find. [He glances between the two of them.] But first I need to figure out their role. I'm going to have to bait them twice.

[He pauses to think.] We should keep an eye on who gets put in the stocks next. [A somewhat apologetic frown to Percy.] It is probably dangerous to stay with them; I don't trust the Sheriff to be so lenient a second time after Todd.

Have either of you noticed anything suspicious from anyone?

[ she shakes her head. ]

Everyone I've spoken to are the same. Or, um, as "same" as they can be with all the stuff that happened... Wait. How are you going to bait them?

[ THAT SEEMS IMPORTANT?? ]

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