[Dangan] Free Association: Part One. Day 6: "Graduation Day"

[artsyGeek]

". .hi! Uh. I'm here to ask you about a couple of things related to a case. Do you mind?"

[Florien]

[10] You follow the half-crazed officer so well and so subtly that not even you notice what she's doing, so focused are you on going places quietly and unseen.

[10] "Yes, I'd love to talk!" cries out the sewer worker. Oh how you wish they didn't. They talk about so many things over such a short space, and here you are, stuck in a vile, probably diseased sewer listening to them.

[artsyGeek]

. .something about this conversation gives off an oddly similar vibe. Wonder what's that about.

“. .is this what the newbie felt when they first heard my recordings at that old job of mine. .?”

“. .p-pardon me, but, uh. Have you heard and/or met a person by the name of Clark. . Eastman, I think it was?”

[Florien]

[6]: "Eastman? I heard he died. Shot, apparently. Dangerous work, but usually it's a cave-in or a big sewer rat or disease that gets you, not a killer in the tunnels. First I've heard of that being a thing. That anyone would come through here willingly... well, that just doesn't sound likely, does it? I bet the killer who did it was down here for drugs or something. 'll make you crazy, those drugs. You know, I met a former drug dealer once. 'Drugs'll make you crazy" he said..."

They go on like this for a while, each tangent leading into a new one more diverged from what you wanted to hear. But the first bit has some useful information in it, at least, in that it raises the question, "how did the killer know to go through the sewers last night."

[artsyGeek]

“. .yeah, that. . Sounds like my past self alright. Really, really chatty.”

“Do you think the killer might have known Mr. Eastman before?”

[Florien]

[9]: "Oh, Eastman? Heavens no, no one knew Eastman. He practically lived in the sewers. He'd been down here for so long that I don't think any people outside of the sanitation department even knew his name. And he had a nametag, so that's quite an impressive feat! You know, I hear that there's lizards down here. I'm not talking about normal wall lizards, I'm talking about full-on lizard people! They don't control the government though. And why they'd live in the sewers instead of among the surface worlders I don't know. Actually, they might just be bald sewer rats which people wish were lizard people because that would be less alarming than a sewer rat big enough to pass for something like that. Also, I hear we have a fatberg somewhere! It's not my department, of course, but there's talk of selling the fuel that'll be made out of it to the highest bidder to pay for the extraction. It won't remotely cover the cost, but still, it's an idea. You know, some guy flushed golf balls down into here? 'Flushable' golf balls, apparently. They'll print 'flushable' on anything that'll fit down the pipe, never mind if it's going to accumulate into a vile mass blocking the tunnels. So, did you see the game? I thought not. I didn't either. Antisports league forwards! It's all my co-workers talk about you know..."

How they manage to go on so long while breathing in this terrible sewer air is mystifying. As usual, the first part of their words were useful, before the tangents started.

[artsyGeek]

Congrats, city sewer worker, you drained Scott's motivation to interrogate you.

Trying not to reveal that fact, Scott awkwardly interrupts with a "whoa, whoa, that's enough" sort of pose.
". . My, uh, sincerest apologies, but. . I think I'm fine with all the information you've got right now, thank you very much. If you have any more, I suppose you could . . Talk to me or any of my co-workers? It'd be a great help in our investigation."

[TenOfSwords13]

Damn am I good at this sneaking around thing... wait I was meant to be following her... shit.

Having accomplished nothing, Fischer finds herself back at the catkin, with nothing but her suspicions.

[Cassie]

"God fucking dammit first the store now the bar like seriously am I gonna get permabanned from this place at one point!?"

[The Map Maker]

>Try to think about something you forgot to investigate.

[Cassie]

"ey scott ya got any shit"

Anaheim clearly looks tired as fuck from complaining and making tortured violin noises. Both of his floating hands drag on the ground.

[Cassie]

*on the sewer's...base or whatever, not the ground.

(I am NOT voiding my most recent post)

[Dookie]

> Follow Clara around to get clues, but be sneaky…stay in the shadows, on the walls, if you have to.

[Kennifer]

1 HOP3 TH4T CH4LK GUY G3TS SOM3 GOOD 1NT3L ON CL4R4
HON HON HON >:]

Terezi seemed to feel pretty good about this as a potential lead, at least.

[PointMaid]

I hope so too. ...Ugh. I'm trying to think of anything else I can do to help figure this out for sure. I'm more used to direct action. And I'm used to leading other runners, but... usually the leaders of our township are doing most of the strategizing, and our radio operator is giving me directions and relaying plans.

[Florien]

Think about things you forgot. [?]: No, you don't think you've forgotten anything important in your investigation of the various places around the accessible part of town.

Follow Seko with STEALTH! [4]:... Yes... Snap, is it? Do you need something?

[Florien]

Evening descends upon Tripford. People move about, shifts switch. Night starts 8ish hours from this post, at 2230/10:30 PM Pacific.

Well, I'm going to move those bodies now.

Seko loads the two corpses into the back of her car and drives off.

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

I wish I could figure out what else to do. Felt like we expanded everything we could today. And I really wanna catch these killers. Feel like I have to do something right... make up for all that bad business that happened in Siberia....

[Kennifer]

4T L34ST W3 S33M TO H4V3 4 F3W MOR3 L34DS TOD4Y
THOUGH 1 W1SH W3 COULD BR1NG TH1S K1LL3R OR K1LL3RS TO JUST1C3 B3FOR3 TH3Y STR1K3 4G41N >:[

[PointMaid]

Yeah... hmm.

> Hunt down any thing you possibly can about Seko/Meitner that might help. ...And about these conspiracy theories you keep hearing, they could be independent conspiracy theorists but you never know..

[Florien]

Find out about Clara Corey "Seko" Meitner. [?]: "Seko" Meitner, 34 years, eight months, two days of age, F, Blonde, 5'11'', 198 Lbs. Born in Tripford City General Hospital. She has a long history of being the subject of police brutality complaints, (none of which were followed up on, whether they were abruptly dropped or just ignored), she strongly supports Chief Clearday's reign (and is widely suspected by the populace to have been closely involved in the quiet disappearance of the mayor.) She rarely appears at fundraisers, and primarily works with the "riot team", which pretty much exclusively exists to "arrest troublemakers" (in practice, murder critics of the TCPD.) She's the only officer who comes down to the Catkin anymore, after a CSI team member became victim #2. She's often expressed a desire to see the city "cleaned of crime".

Find out more about the conspiracies. [5]: Most of them are completely wild and implausible, but some have believable elements, if not believable conclusions. Specifically, people have seen a tall dark-skinned guy in a dark suit and sunglasses going around with a mid-height pale brunette woman, also in a dark suit, both acting somewhat suspiciously, going around, asking questions, travelling between the blocks. Some whisper that they've seen them receiving and placing calls, talking about a group called "The Associates" on the phone, and that people who tried to spy on them were never seen again. The conspiracies diverge over whether they're with the government, with a foreign power, "Big Pharma", are secretly aliens or lizard people or a pile of rats disguised as two humans, or whatever else, but the elements of who's been going around are fairly consistent. Apparently, they haven't been seen for a few days though.

[PointMaid]

...Well that's interesting. Clara's definitely still at the top of my suspect list. Chief Clearday is certainly looking suspicious, too... but that call was placed from within the Nine Blocks, yes? That sounds more like Clara. Unless Clearday lives in the Nine Blocks or was placing the call from the police barracks within the Nine Blocks...

> Can you determine whether Chief Clearday or Clara Meitner might have been within the Nine Blocks at the time of the call?

[Florien]

Investigate who could have placed the calls... [?] Chief Clearday rarely leaves the station, (which is rapidly becoming a fortified palatial monument to his ego) and under heavy guard even then. It's unlikely he could have placed the call, as people would be talking about his arrival. Seko could have theoretically placed the call. She rarely LEAVES the nine blocks, hanging out around block 7 most of the day and block 3 at night.

[Kennifer]

OK4Y Y3S W3 D3F1N1T3LY N33D TO K33P OUR 3Y3S 4ND NOS3S ON CL4R4 >:]

[Florien]

Suddenly, Seko (who's arrived back without the bodies, presumably having delivered them where they were supposed to go), rushes to her car as her police scanner activates.

"We've got a 487 and a 602 on the North-Willford-Bell block. Suspect is considered armed and dangerous. Suspect is short and wearing a green space suit."

As Seko starts the car... "187 and 245 in progress. Same location. Suspect is outdoors."

She speeds away, and the last thing you hear from her scanner is "487A in progress."