CONCLUSION: 4:50 to vrefesea

[ximilian]

// CONCLUSION:4:50 to vrefesea 

The next (give or take) 36 hours become critical. The Steamhallow Express murder becomes all that passengers back aboard the train can whisper and murmur about. Contrary to Peter Quill’s claims that Detective Valacar “Val” Pinot’s reputation is at stake, it seems that people are more intrigued than ever to see what the esteemed detective has in store.

Pinot is busy, though. He accepts the collaborative efforts of Takeshi Kovacs, also a detective, and Natasha “Nat” Romanoff whom he’s developed something of a rapport with following the train’s departure from Qririe Cliffs. The three of them go through the facts that the Orbers have collected in conjunction with the evidence and questioning that Pinot has undertaken in order to build the narrative and find the one — or ones — responsible for the murder of “Jove Day”.

It comes time to confront their prime suspect, Goldie Day, who has found herself in the dining car the next afternoon having sandwiches and a cup of tea. The other tables in the dining car are occupied by the other Day siblings, Oden and Marshall at one table looking solemn, Terra and Helios and Luna at another. It’s quiet as Pinot slides into the seat across from her. Today’s patterned shirt depicts cats of all shapes, colours, and sizes across the fabric — which Goldie turns her eyes to study briefly before she looks up at the detective.

"Hello, Detective Pinot. If I recall, we’ve already spoken at length about my family and about poor Jove’s death. If you don’t mind, I’d really like some time to grieve alone."

Pinot’s expression remains impassive. Calm.

"It’s a little warm today, isn’t it? Weather’s picking up."

"I don’t know what you’re implying."

"If you don’t mind removing your jacket. Or at the very least, rolling up your sleeves."

She stares at him, and then shifts her gaze as Kovacs and Natasha approach. Finn and Peter Quill (who may have just a little more investment in the solution of this murder, given recent events at Qririe Cliffs) stand nearby, an audience slowly forming around the little table. Her expression shifts from timid and gentle to petulant and panicked.

“All right! Fine!” With a sudden jerk, she shoves her jacket off of her shoulders, revealing a series of long scratchmarks, red and raw. And then, she leaps up from her seat and shouts, “Jove! Help me! Help me!”

For a moment time seems to stop, all eyes going from Goldie to the rest of the crowd that has gathered in the dining car to hear Pinot’s final solution of the mystery that had plagued the Steamhallow’s passengers for the last couple days. There are murmurs of confusion, Goldie looking a little more panicked than she had only moments ago, until there is movement in the crowd and a tall man with red skin turns on his tail in a desperate attempt to leave.

"Jove!"

The man, Noct Wood, doesn’t have much room to leave, Kaidan and the Darkling moving in to block the exits on one end, while Mal, Yelena, and Xichen take care of the other end. Mr Wood stops in his tracks and exhales, gloved fist clenched at one side. Pinot rises from his seat and walks towards Wood, some of the Orbers taking initiative to detain him before he has a chance to forcibly exit the dining car.

"Mr Wood, where were you planning to go on a moving train in the middle of the ocean?"

The glint off of his skin shimmers as he struggles out of Kaidan and the Darkling’s grip, until Pinot can find the seam of the man’s mask, tearing it from his face and breaking the illusion to show a man remarkably similar in appearance to the murder victim, the so-called Jove Day. There are more gasps from the crowd. The rest of the Day family look utterly floored by the reveal; some of the family hadn’t seen each other since they were children, the youngest — Luna — would have been an infant, if she had. Terra and Helios look as though they might force their way through the crowd in order to get to their brother, fists at the ready, but Oden and Marshall hold them back. Luna stares between her brother and their adoptive sister, but her expression is unreadable.

Pinot continues.

"It’s nice to finally meet the real you, Jove Day. Remarkable that you managed to stay under the radar of so many, including your own family. How long have you been planning this elaborate scheme of yours? I imagine since your business went under and you simultaneously discovered the real worth of what your mother had found. You never did plan to bring the book back to the museum, did you? Instead you sought a way to exploit its value on the black market, but what you didn’t anticipate was my employer’s rather … less-than-savoury ways of keeping a hold on the item itself."

Jove lifts his gaze to meet Pinot’s eyes as the realization settles in.

"The Vref outbid my potential buyer?"

Pinot shrugs.

"So it would seem. What they do is outside of my control, I was merely hired to learn the whereabouts of the book since it had gone missing some time before Hortensia decided to give it back on her own accord. But in your desperation to find a way to unsink your business ventures, you decided to use your own family as pawns to try again anyway. You wanted the book for yourself, and you used your closest ally within the family, Goldie Day, your parents’ ward, who couldn’t be more perfect for the job. With no blood-related ties to the inheritance, she wasn’t technically owed anything, and you two had a bond the others didn’t. You knew her better than you knew some of your other siblings, and Goldie trusted you enough that you could use her insecurity to buy her loyalty.

"So you hired a man who resembled you, careful to keep it all under the table, and found someone just as desperate as you were. Only you missed a few key details: the scars from your childhood accident. So used to them, you didn’t think to replicate the injuries over your decoy."

Pinot pauses, thoughtful in his anticipation before he captures the other man’s wrist and pulls the sleeve up over his arm and drags the fabric of his glove down to reveal a web of silvery scars, raised tissue from old wounds that had left Jove always seeking to hide them.

"What I don’t understand is this: what made him agree to sacrificing himself for your cause?"

Jove struggles in Kaidan and the Darkling’s grip, but they don’t relinquish their hold on him even as he says nothing. Pinot looks towards Kovacs, and then back at Jove.

"Unless — he didn’t even think this was going to be the end of his life."

Jove suddenly goes very still.

"Because your agreement was a lie, wasn’t it? He would have acted the part for you, expecting that the bid at the end of all this would be shared, but you had no intentions of sharing. Did you, in fact, even plan to share the spoils with Goldie? Or is that why you put her in the spotlight of this murder, made her take the weapon into her own hands to keep yours clean when the force of the killing blow would have been easier dealt by you."

"Yes, all right. I needed someone to take the fall for the inevitable murder and it was always going to be Goldie. I would have pit her jealousy of not being a blood Day against them. And it would have worked too, Goldie had agreed to this fully intending to kill the man if it meant the two of us would make it out with the book."

“How could you, Jove?” Oden starts, but Jove interrupts him with a sharp laugh.

"Oh, brother, don’t you even presume to act like you and the others are saints in all of this. None of you cared for mother or for father. You never even went to father’s funeral when he died, I don’t remember seeing any of you there, and the only goddamned reason you’re all here now is for that book and what it can do for you."

Pinot nods.

"So let’s recount the night of the murder. When all the others had gone to bed or were a little more difficult to account for, Goldie kept Oden out of the room he was sharing with the man who was presumably Jove in the interest of getting to know one another better. And Oden, eldest brother that he was, wanted to do his part in bringing the siblings closer together. So he stayed, happy to talk. During a brief break, when Oden went to smoke and Goldie, you excused yourself to visit the washrooms, you snuck into the room where the false Jove wouldn’t have suspected a thing. After all, he was in on the ‘plan’ wasn’t he? But the moment he saw your true intent, he likely began to panic, wanting out of this arrangement. And that’s when Mr Wood stepped in to help.

"Six crude stab wounds were administered to the body, one for each of the siblings sans Jove, of course, in order to make it seem as though you all had your part in this murder. What you didn’t anticipate was the struggle of a man who knew only then that he was going to die, nor did you know how difficult it would be to administer the blows, did you? Certainly not with a letter opener, which was the murder weapon.

"Now why the letter opener and not the perfectly sharp knife? Because a knife is too obvious and was the perfect red herring to set your siblings up. So you planted the blade in Oden’s bag, and the sheath among Marshall’s personal effects. Unfortunately the wounds themselves gave the weapon away — too crude, too messy, they didn’t match the knife which was sharp and brand new.

"And while the false Jove struggled, the real Jove would have to put more of his force into subduing the victim, which would explain the bruises found on ‘Jove’s body and the unfortunate way your gloves, found in your cabin, were stretched to its limit, thread come undone. This, along with the newspaper from the other day, a photo of the artifact circled in ink, and the notebook which proves that your business dealings were enough to make you desperate, connected Mr Noct Wood’s identity with yours. An unfortunate result of your not being careful enough to erase every last connection that could incriminate you. But you didn’t think you would be caught, did you?"

"I will maintain that no one knows the real value of that artifact, not even the museum."

"Maybe not, but I doubt the value of that artifact is worth framing your entire family, killing an innocent man in cold blood, and finishing this scheme by sullying your parents’ name and reputation."

"Like hell do I care about their reputation, it was all they cared about anyway."

Pinot hums a sound, scratching at his chin.

“No, I guess you didn’t care about that, so intent on getting the artifact in your possession. Let us turn then to the final pieces of this case, then: the forged letter in the victim’s hand, and the artifact itself. While my friend here —” He gestures to Kovacs, fellow detective and a help on this case “— had a sound theory on who this mystery man was, and why he might have had the forged letter in his hand, I think we ought to give credit where it’s due.” He sweeps a hand now to Goldie Day. “This was your workmanship, wasn’t it?”

Goldie’s expression crumples and she nods, tears spilling from her eyes.

“Jove told me to copy the letter, word for word, and give it to —” She swallows. “I didn’t even know his name.”

Jove clicks his tongue.

“It was a part of the act, just a piece to prove his identity was Jove. But I—”

“But you couldn’t recreate the exact colour of the wax seal, could you? No matter how much effort you put into it, this was simply one more detail that threw your plan a little awry. Not immediately noticeable, of course, without all seven genuine letters put side by side, but with Oden’s letter in the room it was enough to raise suspicion. And now all you had to do was call attention to the murder and see the rest of your family framed for something you and your brother did together.”

Goldie sniffles.

“Better still, when you could use the distraction of our anonymous note-writer framing Clara Oswald and Peter Quill to your advantage. You never quite intended to set me off the course and force me to bring these two into Qririe Cliffs, but it bought you some time to figure out your next steps. With the QCPD sent to investigate the train, and the rest of your siblings in Qririe Cliffs, you and Mr Noct Wood used the stop to rendez-vous, not expecting to be followed by Kaidan."

Goldie’s tear-filled eyes turn to look at the familiar man she’d bumped into briefly that day. She absently rubs at the scratches on her arm, and sniffles again.

“So, now what of this letter itself and the artifact? Presumably Hortensia, too, knew that this book had to be returned to the museum but she was a clever woman, she wanted to bestow that honour to her children in hopes that the Vref would see this as some kind of philanthropic deed worthy of a reward.”

He pulls a folded piece of paper from his pocket. Bits of deep red wax remains adhered to one of the folded squares. Clara, Marta, Alina, and Rhys had helped with this particular part of the puzzle, and as Pinot flattens the letter out, he looks again to Goldie who had been — perhaps unknowingly — responsible for revealing its whereabouts while she had meant to encourage dissent amongst her siblings instead.

“I’ll admit, this one’s pretty good. Duped by a bad tip, I initially thought to follow the artifact to Craemore when it had apparently been in Vrefesea all along. More than that, it was right under our noses in the most frequented location imaginable: the station itself. And these clues right here: ‘think of your older brother’ and ‘think of your youngest sister’ and ‘remember to take care of each other’ — there was a time when I had to leave a formal suit behind for a case, long story with a very weird outcome and the reason I have a cat now — anyway, so I rented one of the lockers on the third level of the Vrefesea Station and I've got a pretty good idea of where it’ll be.”

The Day siblings exchange glances with each other, Goldie stares at her hands in her lap, and Jove looks as though he’s about to give one last try to struggle against his restraints.

“So what happens now?”

“Well, we’ll get to Vrefesea station where you’ll be arrested, you and your sister, and then the artifact will go to the museum where it belongs. Everyone else can go home happy knowing they solved a murder, found a rare artifact, and the public can enjoy a little piece of history from Novis Nox. And I’ll collect my paycheque and check on my cat, maybe stop for groceries along the way.”

Pinot waves a hand and the QCPD officers from earlier move in with handcuffs to detain both Jove and Goldie with technology far more advanced than the cuffs anyone from Earth is used to. They’re led to a separate cabin to await their fate for the remainder of the journey back to Vrefesea.

Pinot approaches the orbers as though perhaps to thank them before Newt separates himself from the rest of the group and exhales an exasperated sigh. Whatever he might have said is interrupted with an impatient—

● ● ●

“Oh, screw it.”

● ● ●

When what is left of the train rolls slowly to Platform 27 in Vrefesea station, those on the train have had a journey to remember — and a journey they’re lucky to have made through alive. But for the Orbers, the real reason they’re there is still waiting ... in one of the lockers, but the question is: which one?

Sabriel, Alina and Drift make it out of the train first, closely followed by Natasha and Ziggy. Referring to the contents of Hortensia’s letter, Sabriel suggests that the locker has something to do with Oden and Luna — “think of your oldest brother” and “think of your youngest sister”, respectively. Alina quickly runs to check what the locker numbers on the level they’re at are — what she finds out is that with over 53 platforms and a little under 200 exits, each portion of the station has its own alphanumerical locker system, combining two letters and one number.

With this, it doesn’t take long for Sabriel to realise that the locker they have to find is one that starts with O, for Oden, and L, for Luna — and Ziggy, ever practical, suggests that they simply try out every single locker that starts with OL in order to find the right one, and beat Pinot to it.

From there, it is a rush as the five head to the third level (the very same level Pinot had mentioned), near the west exit, where the lockers with the start of OL are found. They garner some strange looks from passers-by as they stop by every locker, one by one, trying out the combination, to be met with nothing… until Natasha makes it to locker OL7, and upon trying the code, there is a soft click —

And the locker door springs open, revealing various artifacts, but the most important of them is the book in the middle, a coppery sphere glowing dimly in its embedded spot. As soon as Natasha reaches for it, the glow grows brighter, and every Orber feels the familiar sensation of being pulled back to the station.

● ● ●

When they open their eyes on the station, the Orbers will see both Viveca and Degar waiting for them, both looking unusually serious, even grim. As most of the team catch their bearings and familiarise themselves with the supernatural abilities that now have returned to them, Degar, one hand ready to catch the orb that is already floating to him, extends his other hand as a swirl of almost tangible power surrounds it.

With a sweep, he aims a silent spell at Newton — who immediately freezes, eyes falling closed as his consciousness is held in stasis.

// VIVECA.AI

“I’ll take him,” Viveca says, floating over to him and easily using the robotic arms that Newt himself had designed to lift him to an empty room that previously hasn’t existed, near the infirmary but still closed off from it. “I trust there will be those of you willing to help fix him. Please, if you can.”

It is with those words, quiet and sad, she floats off, leaving Degar standing there with the orb.

// DEGAR

“Hey guys, take a minute to catch your breath before you head in there to help; Newt’s not going anywhere. I’ve put him under a temporary stasis — there will be a lot of fluffy bunnies hopping around his dreams — but it’ll wear off the moment you guys do whatever you need to do. I’ll be around if you need an extra hand, but until then I’ve gotta take care of this.”

The door to the North Wing slides shut behind him. Congrats, Orbers, for another successful return… even if, after such a betrayal from one of your own, it doesn’t seem like there’s much to celebrate.

● ● ●

N O T E S

This is the end of the sixth mission! If your character goes back to review the mission file, they will notice that next to its name, a little check-mark in green has appeared.

This is not an official log — however, for the next two weeks, your characters have downtime on the station and all its locations (aside from the north wing) are available. Please note that ICly, the downtime is almost a month long, as the mission itself only lasted for four IC days. The player plot log is live, and can be found here. Note that the events in the log take place during the final hours of the journey to Vrefesea.

Players are encouraged to make their own logs for what they do during the downtime.

Should characters want to talk to Viveca, they can do so here.

And finally, your soundtrack for the conclusion (and a bonus): ♪ ♪ ♪̵̼̪̘̹̦͓̽̏͜

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