closed mingle: welcome to amity island.

[highflights]

[ Kara has cleared out a landing site just outside the area of the ship Mimi was camped in. Each member of the party has been given a rough map marking the more thickly forested areas, contours marked for hills, and an arrow in the water indicating the general direction back to the underwater base. There are Xs for where the old shipwreck emerges through the green, but only those visible from the air, if you're on foot you're on your own. In Kon's handwriting, the maps are all labelled Amity Island in block letters. The wildlife is friendly unless provoked; we can't vouch for the plants. ]

[ The body itself is in a sturdy wood coffin resting on a bed of freshly dug earth, the lid can be easily pushed off. Time to get cracking. ]

[ ooc info about the island can be found here and here. any questions should be directed to the mods at the second link. ]

Comments

[despairing_hope]

Isn't it normal to investigate a little when you find someone dead though?

[That was just common sense. You had to learn what to make of it before making assumptions.]

But what do you make of things so far?

[splinten]

I wouldn't know. My experiences with dead bodies hasn't featured any mystery.

[Because you know. Either he killed them, or they killed him.]

The animals I talked to in dreaming said that recently there was a fire and something flew up into the sky. With one ship still here, we'll need to look into other possibilities as to what that is. If it's another spaceship, I'm surprised it managed to fly with the pulses around here. Alternatively, we might be looking for a kind of transport.

Yun came on the Aurora, but there were no records of aliens on that ship from what I got off the crew roster. Her alien companion might have crashed here earlier. I don't think they're Kharaa based on Yun's response but I don't know how many aliens this galaxy has.

[despairing_hope]

Do you think Ursula has a database on foot prints available? I might have found something to use as a reference.

[They could potentially narrow down the kind of alien, though if there was nothing on record it would lead to a dead end.]

Though, do you suppose there are other ships to investigate with more information?

[splinten]

It's worth asking her.

[He thinks about this point.]

We can check to see if any of this ship was stripped for parts for a second ship. We should also see if we can find the launch site and work out anything from that.

[despairing_hope]

I may have to go back and look closer. It was a little hard to understand anything.

[He would also have to make a list of things to ask Ursula when he had the chance.]

Did the animals say anything about where the fire was in particular? [Going back to that topic.] If the thing went up into the sky around the same area, or the fire was because of the launch, it might have helpful clues.

[splinten]

I'll ask them. Hang on a second.

[He... doesn't appear to do anything because yeah he's asking in the dreamscape.]

[despairing_hope]

[Was he doing something? Telepathic? It was a little awkward standing there watching someone just... standing there. But he could wait patiently.]

[splinten]

[After a moment, Dirk lifts a hand up.] Okay, they're leading me. This way.

[Dirk follows the animals (in the dreamscape) over a distance until they find an area scorched with the indications of a recent ship's take-off.]

This is the spot.

[despairing_hope]

I have to admit I'm a bit at a loss on what to look for. Do you think the launch was the cause of the fire?

[ He peered around the site making sure not to be careful of where he stepped. He wished for a moment he had read more science fiction. ]

[splinten]

Almost definitely. [Dirk's cautious, but he looks around the area again. He doesn't think much will come from it, but he briefly kicks off into the air, taking his flight up about ten meters. At that distance, it's easier to use telepathy.]

There's no sign of any other nearby crash sites. So the launch probably got them away.

[despairing_hope]

[Voices in his head! It was the most unsettling feeling.]

Could she have suffocated in the fire perhaps without being burnt? Or, perhaps her death is related to the person who left? Perhaps they're the same person with the strange foot prints.

Are there any patterns to paths from up there? Anything that looks more well traveled?

[splinten]

Just the route to the ship. I wouldn't discount suffocation from fire, but if it's the case we'll find proof in her lungs.

[He drops back down to the ground, and therefore back to speaking.]

Ockham's Razor says they probably are the same person. If you buy into the shaving equipment of dead monks.

[despairing_hope]

So the best course right now would be to investigate all the places those foot prints go and take special care on what is found at their destination.

[He was glad when Dirk was back to being close enough to simply talk to. It was a huge relief and it showed.]

Well simplicity is always the easiest solution to such a problem.