#d8c1

Points of Interest

Procession - Each group is forced into its own vehicle to sit in through the ride. Kept in neutral, hazard lights on, fuzzy radio cutting in and out.

Path - There doesn’t seem to be any way out of the car wash besides straight through. There’s light at the end of the tunnel—it looks like you’ll find the exit door once you’ve made it off the track.

Denizens

Car Wash Employees (Background/Non-Speaking) - A number of brightly colored brushes, sponges, and cloths. They’re happy to clean up your cars but definitely know something’s wrong here and are a little bummed about it. They’re not sure how to help besides just keeping at their jobs.

Special Notes

Neko-Neko ultimately enters the hearse, while the creature is bringing up the rear outside of any vehicles.

Don’t worry too much about the setting details, and assume any attempts to shake things up fail. More than anything, this is just a recovery area between the trial and the start of the next chapter. Enjoy your awkward funeral procession!

She was in her club, the Sunflower Lounge, and it was quickly apparent to the spectators how it had gotten its name. Though the lights and the dance floor were modern, the décor was a quaint mix of the decades this building had endured, and the carpet up the stairs was covered with the yellow blooms.

In the distance, framed by the entryway, was a solid black cardboard cutout. A crude facsimile of her son, for whom she'd done the unthinkable, just to see him one more time. How did they know his voice? She laughed, but her own voice rasped with pain.

"I shoulda f-ckin' guessed, huh?"

She turned away and found herself at the bar, bottles and glasses strewn about after a long night's work for other people's play. The motion was automatic-- a relatively clean glass appeared in her hand, a bottle of wine in the other, and she poured. She watched silently as the dark liquid swirled and the earthy aroma filled the air. As good a last supper as any.

There was a spark, then a flicker, then a blaze. The shadow of her son lit up like a torch, and became the tinder that would soon engulf the room in flame.

She had regretted everything, of course, from the moment she'd pulled the trigger. Even without realizing that escape would bring punishment upon everyone else, well, it was still murder. Atsuko was a person like the rest of them, and Fenna had no right to decide her fate. The only winning move was not to play... and that wasn't much of a victory if she could never leave, when her son was in danger. Not that it mattered now.

The fire was raging now-- it had spread so quickly that the fire extinguisher behind the bar wouldn't have made a dent. Fenna would die, and the killing game would continue. All for naught in the end, like so many things in her life.

One last act of defiance remained to her.

Sweat dripping down her face, she raised her glass to the survivors. A toast to the living, with all their myriad problems and budding friendships-- may they get over their bullsh-t, end this terrible killing game, and escape the Infinity Train. She downed the beverage in record time and poured another. A toast to the dead, to a little match girl and a smiley-faced loner... and a washed-up bartender that would soon join them.

The flames drew closer all the while, disintegrating the sunflower carpet, feasting on turn-of-the-century wood and alcohol. Fenna Van Daalen raised her glass one last time, facing death with a smile...

All of her bravado evaporated in a second as she truly caught on fire. She burned like her victim, and her home burned with her, leaving nothing but a scorched husk of a building and the echoes of her screams.

Exactly how they managed to procure a few sheets, and from where, you weren't sure. But they placed them on the nearest bench and took a pen... Which they couldn't quite seem to get a good grip on.

"U-um, this might be a little tricky..."

"No thumbs and all. Tch."

"HMM... MUST I ASSIST THE COUNSEL?"

Happily accepting, Neko-Neko carried their things over to the judge with some difficulty. It was then that they ran into the hurdle of their paperwork-filler-outer being blind, but they did their best to guide her. Precisely how they'd managed to fill out the initial paperwork without her you couldn't be sure...

The odd duo (trio?) made it about halfway through the first page before one of Neko-Neko's heads cranked around to look at the jury.

"Say, remember what we said about makin' things more fun for us if ya made us jump through more hoops?"

"We'll be cashin' that in now. While we're busy over here, we're gonna have each of you get out your notebook and write down which of the current defendants ya like the least."

"We'll come around later to look at your votes and tally 'em up. What happens to the grand winner?"

"Well, you'll just have to see, won'tcha? Nyahahaha!"

With that last evil cackle, they turned back to resume fussing over the court paperwork. You had a little while until they managed to finish that up, you presumed... But it was hard not to open a blank page of your notebook and feel a little trepidation. What exactly were you voting on here? The killer was supposed to be executed if you identified them, but the least popular defendant? There weren't any rules in here about that. Just what were you condemning someone to?

Whatever their fate, you had to choose someone. At the very least, given the criteria, some of you wouldn't have to debate the rightful winner too much.

Points of Interest

Jury Box - Has one specific seat for every Passenger that enters the car. There doesn’t seem to be any way to get to the rest of the courtroom from here, oddly enough.

Benches - Iustitia is at the judge’s bench. The defense and prosecution stations stand empty, but Neko-Neko will frequent one or the other depending on their mood(s). There seems to be a scrap of something by the defense’s bench, but it’s impossible to tell what.

Punishment Chamber - A room on the opposite side of the court, guarded by Nemesis until the trial has concluded. Has a vaporwave feel to it until it begins the execution, which only seems to really physically affect the statue herself and the punished party.

Denizens

Iustitia (Amelia) - A large, cracked sculpture of Lady Justice, standing solemnly beneath the court seal with her traditional sword and scales. Can ask guiding questions during the trial and deliver the final verdict. A slice of her head is missing where her eyes should be.

Nemesis (Roadie) - Another large, cracked sculpture, though this one’s eyes seem to be perfectly intact. Severe-looking, but keeps to herself. Enthusiastic about lex talionis punishment. 

Special Notes

Sitting somewhere besides your labeled place will result in electric shock. Neko-Neko may intervene if too much roaming outside of this occurs, but “too much” is highly subjective. There’s not that much space to walk around in the jury box, anyway.

Anyone who does not participate in the proceedings will be unable to vote.

Trial 1 defendants: Haruka, Jack, R.N.A. 

Trial 1 seating chart:

"FIAT IUSTITIA RUAT CAELUM. WHAT MANNER OF CRIME STANDS BEFORE US TODAY?"

"The cold-blooded murder of a Passenger, Atsuko Samukura, Your Honor."

She grimaced as the cat-halves spoke.

"THIS IS... UNORTHODOX. WHO ARE YOU...?"

"Neko-Neko, Your Honor, here to press charges against the defendants for this heinous crime."

"And I'm, um, The Conductor! To... help defend the innocent?"

The white half looked at the other as if asking for their next line, but none was provided.

"I mean, at least one of them must be, nya..."

"And we've got a few other Passengers here to contribute, yeah?"

They looked over to the jury box, silent in case anyone felt the need to comment.

"I HEAR... A DEFENSE AND PROSECUTION? AND A JURY..."

It was hard to read her expression with half of her face missing, but she looked a little... lost, as though she only half understood what was happening around her. She held a massive hand up to silence the Passengers.

"SPEAK ONLY OF THE CASE AT HAND, FOR I AM UNWHOLE. WITHOUT PRUDENCE, I CANNOT SEE. WITHOUT VENGEANCE, I CANNOT ACT. THERE IS NAUGHT I CAN DO BUT RENDER A VERDICT... FORGIVE ME."

She struck the tip of her sword against the floor with a resonant clang.

"SIC INFIT. COURT IS NOW IN SESSION."

[Forum Post]

Oh, that was much more than a pile of ash. A person, too badly burnt for any clothing to clue you in to their identity. Only upon rolling them over to see their face, protected by the sand, could you tell it was Atsuko. Perhaps you should have expected it to be her, given the situation—but hadn't she made it quite clear she knew how to keep herself safe from fires? Could this really have been an accident?

The blood that hadn't burnt away made you feel otherwise.

But as you looked further, you could have sworn there was something in the water that looked like blood, too. Yet Atsuko wasn't close enough to the shoreline for it to be hers. But if it wasn't hers... You paused in trepidation for some version of a head count, only to find one of the taller ones missing.

Where was Fenna?

Not everyone was eager to follow the trail "upstream," and not everyone had noticed it in the first place—but once the first found its source, they easily made enough noise to get the others' attention.

...That wasn't Fenna.

Were you allowed to be relieved? After all, someone still lay there dead, even if that someone wasn't exactly a friend. They weren't... necessarily a foe, either, at least not compared to the one running this sick "game." Surely they didn't deserve to meet their end like this.

No other bodies were stretched along this shore, at least, but you couldn't step away to look for the last member of your party before Neko-Neko appeared.

Points of Interest

Ship - The ship you started out on that met a terrible fate in the storm. Pieces still wash up ashore regularly. You could probably use them for something.

Beach - A pristine sandy shoreline. You can walk around the whole circumference of the island fairly easily, and there’s a good bit of shallow water to splash around in if you’re so inclined.

Trees - Just enough coconut trees to keep you fed. Some seem to have conspicuous televisions embedded in them...? Though the trees are sparse near the shore, they could be called a forest further in if you’re feeling generous. 

Shelter - Home to the resident Denizen, a sorry wooden shack with raggedy bedding. It’s not much, but it’s out of the sun. You can all cram in here if you don’t mind kicking the owner out.

Denizens

Comedy (Amelia) - A peculiar, dismally cheery person who’s apparently lived here for some time. Quite happy to help you out, with a highly questionable definition of “help,” and oddly human-looking for a Denizen...

Special Notes

Comedy has squirreled away a box of tapes that drifted ashore shortly before you managed to make it over. Each is labeled with one of your names. Attempts to destroy any tapes that haven’t been played will not be successful, but you may be able to damage the label.

Comedy’s tapes specifically show the most dismal moments of your Passenger’s life. At whatever point is reasonable, please put together a summary of what should be on your tape. You can write them out narrative-style if you like, but that much detail is not required. If you need any help deciding on/coming up with something, let us know!

Watching a memory tape, whether yours or another’s, pulls you directly into the memory to watch in full 3D IMAX etc. etc. that you are able to walk around in (but not physically interact with otherwise). While watching, your actual body remains on the outside, catatonic and staring.

There are normal (as far as you can tell) day/night cycles here. It gets a little chilly at night.

You could swear you see a spot of red in the distance, but if that’s the door, you’ll have to build a pretty good raft to get everyone there...