eastbound | video; un: hopscotch

Entry tags:

video; un: hopscotch

[Caitlyn has found a small corner somewhere in the Wards that she's turned into a personal headquarters. Several sheets of paper, covered in incomprehensibly messy scribbles, are stuck to the walls, and there's plenty of room for more to come. She's even found some colored string somewhere and has started to make connections between the papers with the strings.

She speaks very enthusiastically. Nothing makes Caitlyn's whole being light up like detective work.]

I've begun working on solving the series of murders that have occurred here over the last eleven weeks.

The victims were all male, between the ages of twenty-two and thirty-five. There are no other obvious connections between the victims, no common physical characteristics, profession, or origin. We'll need to dig if we want to find any commonalities apart from sex and a rough age range. And, with only five victims, we can't entirely rule out the idea that the commonalities we do know of may be coincidental.

There are rumors circulating of someone referred to as the 'Reaper,' who is punishing the people here for abandoning their duty. I don't know if that's the killer's true motivation; why kill only young men? There's something more going on here.

There are two clear points of interest:

First, none of the victims have an obvious cause of death. Some have wounds, but nothing that would be fatal under normal circumstances, and none appear to have been ill. How is the Reaper killing the victims?

Second, all have a white string tied around their wrists. This must be some sort of calling card, though what it means is not yet clear. If we can determine the meaning of the string, it could give us an insight into the killer's motivations and perhaps their identity.

I suggest we collaborate in our work to find the killer.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

A haunting.

( Quite possible, when you sre an exorcist, everything appears to be a haunting to you. )

why are you like this

she's going to see this

[ Vi can be impressed by Caitlyn being the Ultimate Detective later. Right now she's pissed that it's putting her at risk. ...More risk than a mysterious murderer, even. Obviously Jinx will figure out Caitlyn is here eventually, but must she advertise her existence on the network? ]

It's certainly possible, but we can't rule out non-supernatural explanations. It's just as likely we have a serial killer on our hands.

Am I never to use the network again? I have a job to do.

yes! fuck the stupid job

you have any idea how hard it is trying to help her and keep her from finding out you're here?

Perhaps the Reaper has some sort of ability that allows them to kill people and leave no traces? [She certainly can do something like that.....not that she would!! She doesn't do that anymore!!

...psychometry would be so useful right now.]

And what, exactly, is your plan? Put a bag over my head whenever she and I might cross paths so she won't recognize me? Keep me under lock and key until we return to Piltover?

She needs to be contained.

contained?

i know what that means

[ Cait who did you just say that to??? ]

You're suggesting magic? It's possible. I'm afraid I'm not well versed in magical methods of homicide, and it would certainly make the murders more difficult to investigate, but it can't be ruled out.

It could be poison. There are poisons that leave few or no physical traces. There's also suffocation - that can be done without leaving a mark, at least hypothetically. They could have died of fright.

Without someone to conduct a full autopsy, it's difficult to say.

( ... All right, so that is an impressive murder wall.

Emilia does not bother hiding her curiosity as she cants her head to the side in an attempt to follow the strings. )

I am not convinced it is the killer's true motivation, either. Beyond the fact they were all young men, one of them was a foreign merchant. What duty did he have to Alem? Unless he was mistaken for someone else, it seems more like he simply found himself at the wrong place. ( At the wrong time. )

[There's a long pause before the next message comes.]

Vi.

She's dangerous.

that's what they said about me

[ She knows it isn't fair and that her sister needs to be handled somehow, but that's not... That's not happening. That's not happening. ]

they also said i needed to stay contained

Yes, that does support the theory that there's another motivation at play.

In the absence of other connections, we ought to start by at least theorizing that the connections we do have matter. Why younger men? What motivation could someone have for killing members of that demographic specifically?

This is different.

do you really think i'm gonna let you or anyone else lock my sister up?

The killer might be twisted enough to simply have a preference. Or they might wish to weaken Deimar further.

It doesn't explain the white string found on them, but whenever I ask about it, I'm given different answers. Some believe the string is a token sirens wrap around their intended. Others believe it signifies either fate or wealth. Why leave something like this behind on their bodies?

I've watched her kill a dozen people already. She can't be allowed to run free. Certainly not with weapons.

[She's deliberately not mentioning Jinx blowing up her parents. That was just a hallucination, something her rational mind knows she can't really blame Jinx for, and she's trying very hard not to think about it at all. But, even though she won't admit it, it is influencing her belligerence.]

[ There's so much more at stake here, and Vi can't even say why., not after what the Doctor told her. If Vi can play her cards right...she might be able to prevent the worst from happening for Caitlyn.

If Caitlyn could just not fuck it up.

The video flicks on after a few minutes of gaining her bearings, and her glare is reminiscent of when steel bars separated them. ]

Let me be clear. If anyone tries to put her away or take her things, they're going to have to get through me.

[ That includes you, by the clench in her jaw. She's livid that Caitlyn of all people is putting her in this position. ]

To sign the kills, so that everyone knows who claims responsibility. Or as a warning to someone who understands its significance. Or perhaps the culprit is a siren, seeking her betrothed only to fly into a murderous rage when she realizes she's found the wrong man.

[Caitlyn is taken aback by this level of hostility. She had thought, reluctant as Vi might be to accept it, that they both understood how dangerous Jinx is. She's killed a dozen of Caitlyn's coworkers, she's tried to kill Caitlyn time and time again, she attacked Caitlyn in the shower, she might have killed Ekko, she blew up Caitlyn's parents. And Caitlyn has to keep reminding herself that that last one isn't true.

She hates to put Vi in this position. But she sees no alternative.

After a long moment, her video clicks on as well, so that Vi can see and hear that her question isn't sarcastic or dismissive.]

Then what do you suggest? What is your plan?

[ Vi knows all that and she knows so much more and if she's angry at all at Cait, she's a hundred times more pissed at herself. And she can't say why and it makes everything worse. Her sister is from an earlier point in time, which means there's a chance to help her and change everything that happened after. Maybe everything isn't completely fucked.

But she can barely think straight between trying to keep Powder safe or from hurting others, all while hoping Caitlyn isn't off getting murdered by a serial killer because Vi isn't there to help her. If there were more hours in the day—

She's not sure when she last slept more than thirty minutes at a time, and she...misses Caitlyn. Just seeing her face is enough to soften Vi's features a little, but there's still a rigidity to her visage. ]

Well part of the plan was keeping you away from her long enough for me to get through to her a little. If she sees you she's immediately gonna assume the worst and then we'll be right back where we were.

[A sigh.]

I suppose I can be... [Not reckless. Never reckless.] ...hasty.

[She pauses.]

Tell me what you intend to do, Vi. In the long term. If you have a real plan, I-- I'll support you. [She stumbles over her words slightly, because, as much as she would never, under any circumstances, admit it, she's afraid of Jinx and all the ways in which this could go horribly wrong. But if Vi has a real, proper plan, well, she's put her life in Vi's hands before.

If Vi's plan fails, however...] But if it comes to it, I need to protect the people here.

...I know. It won't come to that. I'm not going to let her hurt anyone, Caitlyn.

[ There's no way she's going to fail at this again, not with what she knows. Even still, she has no real plan beyond what she's already said. And that's...not a plan. Caitlyn's tentative faith immediately shames Vi into that realization, but how's she supposed to plan when her sister's so unpredictable and they're in the middle of a war? There aren't enough plans in the world. ]

Look, I'll—

[ She rubs her hand over her face and sighs, the bandages over her knuckles dark with dried blood. ]

I just need to think of what to say to her. I just need to— to say it better. [ Better than last time. She can do it right. ] I just need to remind her of what's really important. Silco took that and twisted it. I know she can remember.

Young men are preferred for battle.

If a man merely thirst for blood, he has an open battlefield.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 5

video; un: hopscotch

un: absterge

un: magic wand (private)

no subject

private

no subject

video; un: cat's cradle

no subject

no subject

no subject

video — un: starburst.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject