Rebecca - Hey. We have an update on the Flesh Pile Murders if anyone is interested?
Viper - i'm interested, i got nothin better to do
Rebecca - Hello Viper. So we have a suspect, and they're arrested. It's just... strange though. They claim to have done it, they showed us the Magic needed to do it. But their motive is uh "questionable" to say the least. Said motive has to do with the destruction of both the Sun and the Moon. In fact, we found them after they had just killed one of our ADMINs. Caught red handed in the act.
Viper - that is not what I expected to hear, I thought it was just gonna be more gruesome murders but uh I'm glad that asshole got caught
Rebecca - That's just it. It's not over yet. On further inspection into this person's background, he's not the only killer. In fact, that was a copycat, one using a Learned Magic from the real culprit. Another 30 deaths were reported last night.
Riri - How do you go from piles of flesh to blowing up the sun and moon?
Rebecca - Wait what? Who said anything about them blowing up?
Riri - Just the way I felt like describing it. I'm not sure what would actually destroy them.
Viper - i mean the only thing that can really destroy a company would be to get rid of it's customers
Rebecca - Precisely. In fact, we've been investigating the deaths from last night. 5 were Solaire employees. 5 were FMS employees. the other 20 were civilians connected in some way to them. 10 of each. These ten of each were rather large investors into both companies. Whoever is doing is is slowing destroying the two companies brick by bloody brick. As for the ADMIN killed last night by the copycat. It was one that Violet visited rather recently, one ADMIN Flora. ADMIN Flora - Solaire R&D and former creator of the Solar Force. In other news, Central Square has been preparing rather heavily for the Eclipse festival.
Viper - sounds like fun, and a breeding ground for scams and tourist traps
Rebecca - We're still the active police force in the city. We're going to have eyes and ears all over for those, mark our words.
Luna - I hope nothing happens anyway. Call me nervous, but I’m scared of the eclipse.
Viper - what's wrong with it?
Luna - Everything. I've been getting calls from my creator nonstop via ITEM every single day. I don't want any part of this. I just want to live in our cottage with Spi and Cole and Hinata
Viper - why don't you just not have any part of it then? if you they cause you stress then why don't you remove them from your life?
Luna - it's impossible. they have access to everything in me. i can't block them. it's almost like i'm still their experiment. all of my memories get sent to fms. my mind is theirs.
Viper - hmm, i'd say my idea but this probably isn't the best place to mention nefarious things
Luna - ...right. Probably not. Though I do have good news. We got Cole back. Doubt anyone in my world gives a shit about Cole's status.
Viper - yeah i doubt it, to my knowledge he hasn't done anything regarding your world
Luna - As far as I know, you're correct.
Elara - ...I swear to the Gods, I will find a way to release you Luna. Mark. My. Words.
Luna - ...you have no idea how many times i've heard this same phrase Elara. and yet, here I am. Still stuck. My mind is still theirs. The collar may as well be around my neck.
Elara - I understand.
Violet - Wait- what?! Sorry I’m late to respond but- What?!
Rebecca - Oh hi. Flora was killed recently. It's uh been kind of rough on our ends. Do you require any more updates on our situation Violet?
Violet - If you have any that would be wonderful. We don’t have much time til that clock counts to zero
Rebecca - Precisely. It's over a month until the Eclipse. Okay where do I begin. This is basically everything I know.
------
As you're aware, we've been responding to calls about a serial murderer, one many of the citizen rumor as "The Flesh Pile Killer". It is a serial killer in Capital City whose murder methods are unknown, but the final step is to always use their Magic to smash the victim's body into a small pile of flesh. These piles have no blood. The bones are shattered. And as for their soul, it's always missing, though there are some remnants of them remaining, which give us enough information on who the victim is. It's almost done on purpose to try and lead us on a wild goose chase to discover whodunnit.
The victims all have a pattern: Half of them are aligned to Solaire, be it smaller employees, known customers, some of the lesser Admins, or critical investors. And the other half are aligned with the Full Moon Syndicate, much the same way. It is like they're trying to weed out the warring companies. Every time we find new victims, there are ALWAYS an even amount between Solaire and FMS, except in this most recent case. Another constant behind these murders are the Killer is never spotted at the scene of the crime, except in this most recent case.
Anyway. The most recent case was about a week ago. Ironically, you guys were the first to hear about it, though January was pissed off at me that I basically leaked it to Luna and her friends before filing the report for the AAA, which ironically he's the head of, so I don't genuinely get why it matters. And I'll be honest, I don't like it when he gets angry. He's a scary bitch when his eyes glow red like that.
The most recent case was the first "strange" case, as in it contradicted a lot of the evidence we had.
First off, Solaire was infiltrated by someone. I have no idea how though. Usually, if someone were to enter Solaire, they would reach our Receptionist area first. The rest of the high rise is blocked off by one of our creations, teleportation pads. To access anything else in Solaire, you need to input a certain code that only few people know and step on the light blue panel. This was our idea to ensure safety for our workers, admins, leaders, and customers, but apparently it ain't enough. Every office and major room in our building has one of these.
Secondly, the victim was murdered within her own office, one Jessica Solaire, while working on her own projects. Her projects were about using Creature of Legend soul shards as a conduit for creating an army to defend against FMS. She was rather successful in doing so, even pushing the limits of what we believed we could create. We had intentions to sell these things after the Eclipse, but without her genius, it's impossible. Not to mention, her Magical Ability was unique. And as far as we know, it wasn't passed down to anyone. All I do know for a fact is that Apollo is heartbroken. He hasn't been to work since it happened.
Thirdly, and most confusing of all is the Killer was caught. The killer seemingly purposefully performed the murder in front of the large and obvious security cameras we have all around the building. We watched them do everything. We saw how the Piles were created. When we apprehended the perpetrator, we were shocked. The murderer gave up and came with us, cuffs and all. When we inspected Flora's body, her complete soul was intact, another contradiction, though perhaps intended.
The rather small man, of whom is calling himself Buzz Parker, did not have government ID. His fingerprints were burnt off. We attempted to get another DNA match using his soul, and using whatever methods were available to us, but it was useless. It is almost as though Buzz Parker does not exist. No records of anyone with that name ever existed within Capital City. Of course we thought it was a pseudonym, we're not that incompetant, but no matter how much we would interrogate, he would not spill the beans.
We did learn something important though: He wasn't the real killer. The real killer is hiring new people to continue their work, teaching them the Ability to cause the Piles. In a sense, the Flesh Pile Killer is hiring copycats in order to make our lives a living Hell. It seems to be impossible to find the real culprit. And this is why I'm so willing to bring it up to you guys. We're at our wits' end.
Deaths have skyrocketed ever since. Contradictions to the usual M.O. keep sprouting. And more deaths pile on... I promise that was not an intentional joke. If anyone has questions, I will answer to the best of my ability.
---
Patrice - Does he seem like a particularly bright fellow, this Buzz Parker, or is he not the sharpest ax in the shed?
Rebecca - I'd call it bright. He was very particular about how he phrased things, though it's possible these lines were fed to him by the culprit.
Currently this Buzz Parker is sitting in jail.
Patrice - Can you give examples on the phrasing?
Rebecca - Sure sure.
For example: When asked "What is your motive?"
He responded: "My motive is the Destruction of the Sun and Moon" while staring daggers into us.
His speech patterns did not waver nor did it seem to give off any strange vibes. It was completely neutral, though perhaps it was rehearsed that way. It is unclear.
Viper - so if this person wants to hide their identity so badly wouldn't they use some kind of online currency that you could trace?
Rebecca - Hm. It's possible. Hm.. I'll be back. Lemme see what I can find.
Rebecca - Alright, we've looked into the payment methods. It is strange. No cryptocurrencies are being traded. It's cash. And not even much cash at that. Well not as much as you'd think to perform hits on people. Only $100.
Patrice - Only a hundred?! Really?
Rebecca - And this is not an isolated case. We've found a couple more "copycats" like Buzz and interrogated them. Same motive, same neutral way of speech while staring daggers into us. And their wallet also contained $100. I don't get it.
Patrice - And, I'm guessing, no background info on all of them as well?
Rebecca - Correct. All traces of DNA are removed. This includes the cash, though in this case, we've found gloveprints and nothing past that.
Patrice - That ain't gonna be enough, I don't reckon. Though... I reckon you have a picture of everyone when you take them into custody?
Rebecca - Yes. They all get processed (to the best of our abilities, considering lack of dna and obvious pseudonyms) and their photo is taken.
Patrice - And pictures of everyone that got killed?
Rebecca - The piles yes.
Patrice - No, no. Like their face when they're still alive.
Rebecca - Yes.
Patrice - OK. This is gonna sound strange and decidedly morbid, but humor me for a few seconds and run them against each other. The photos of those in custody and of those who died. Already I'm hating that idea, terribly sorry.
Rebecca - ... Ah. Hm. I see what you mean. I will need a few minutes.
Patrice - Take all the time you need, Rebecca. I'm taking an early walk.
Rebecca - ...it-- it can't be. Buzz Parker. I knew he looked vaguely familiar. He has Trevor's face.
Luna - Wait Trevor.. Hayes? The first victim, not including Chandra?
Rebecca - Correct.
Viper - You could search for withdrawal transactions that are exactly 100 dollars that keep happening consistently
Rebecca - I could look into that, but it's also possible the culprit withdrew a bunch of money and is keeping it locally. Specifically, the $100 isn't a single bill. Oh well, hang on, lemme see what I can find.
[Minutes later]
Rebecca - ...so.
Viper - so?
Rebecca - First off, there are very few banks in Capital City. One of them is in Central Square and it goes by the name of Central Heart Bank. We were able to get in contact with them to ask your inquiry: "Have there been any repeated $100 withdrawals from any one person. Perhaps in the last week or two." Well first off, they basically told us off, that "police shouldn't be allowed to invade the public's privacy" and all that and that's reasonable. They hung up on us, probably requiring we get a warrant. And we had every intention of getting a search warrant. That is, until we got a callback. Apparently one of the bank workers was related to one of the victims and they took it upon themselves to search the bank database for any suspicious exact 100 dollar withdrawals. And they found someone. We're currently trying to get a search warrant for this person's house.Basically, there is a very good chance your theory is correct Ms. Stryker.
Violet - Who was the person they found doing the transactions?
Rebecca - I cannot say. Right now, I need to do this by the books, otherwise I may be putting Luna in danger.
Violet - Got ya
Rebecca - The fact that I'm even speaking to you all about this is risky. But Luna has given me her consent.
Viper - i hope i'm correct, i'm quite interested in Luna's safety
Luna - I appreciate that Viper.
Viper - no problem, anything to relieve stress off of your shoulders
Rebecca - Right. Uhm. I do have an update on the FPK. We've arrested a suspect. The person who made multiple $100 withdrawals from Central Heart Bank. It's just. Uhm. It was one of our guys. Specifically. Uhhh how do I say this. Okay, so had I known he was potentially behind all of this, I would've nipped this in the bud. AGES AGO. Admin Nimbus. My boyfriend.
Patrice - Boyfriend?!
Rebecca - Yeah. We've been dating for a few months now. Well, not anymore anyway. Turns out being a suspect for serial killings kinda turns me off from him. I loved him for his mind, felt his advances in Portal technology was incredible. I wanted to know so much more about him.
Patrice - Does he work on the pads, by any chance?
Rebecca - ...yes. That was his invention as well. You see where we're going from here. It fits. It all fits. But something in the back of my mind feels like it fits too well.
Patrice - I mean... there's still the question of how they came back to life, these Buzz Parkers and all that.
Rebecca - Right. I agree, but I admit, I'm nervous about where that train is going to lead. And for that matter, why kill Flora? She was an incredible mind, one who worked on Creature of Legend soul shards and was probably the biggest bank of knowledge on them that we ever knew, Apollo nonwithstanding.
Luna - Wait you said portals right?
Rebecca - Yes.
Patrice - I mean, the only case I can think of where it would be beneficial to kill Flora would be that there is a Creature of Legend that can bring dead people to life, and Flora is killed to ensure that nobody else knows how to summon them.
Rebecca - ... i think i know of one. There was one that Flora was telling me a few months ago that might have that ability. Flamebearer.
Patrice - I don't reckon Apollo knows how to summon them as well?
Rebecca - I... I don't know. But if we got the murderer, he should be safe... right? Hang on. I'll be right back. I need to get the AAA to Borealis District.
Patrice - Don't call your shots until you make it, Rebecca.
Rebecca - Noted. I'm sending units to Borealis Adventurers Guild right now.
Patrice - Would be real troublesome if he is... you know.
Rebecca - Yeah. He's our final resource. I'll keep you all up to date. Thank you for all of the assistance.
Patrice - That'd be real appreciated, Rebecca.
Rebecca - Of course. You guys have helped me out so much, it's the least I can do in return. And I am not speaking as leader of the sun or as detective head. I'm speaking as Rebecca Wright.
[Hours later]
Rebecca - Okay, update on Apollo. We were able to rescue him from the Borealis Guild. He's currently being held in protective custody. He said he would help us with whatever he's able to. I might be able to get him to speak here too, if Luna's okay with that.
Luna - Uhhh I don't mind. Apollo's nice to me.
Rebecca - Okay. I'll send him the details.
Hinata - ... I don't like him.
Rebecca - He's fine though.
Hinata - No, you don't understand me Rebecca. You weren't in my shoes, a creation of these cunts, and being forced into experimentation. Apollo was extremely uh. Pushy. about my soul. I don't understand but I don't like it!
Luna - About your soul? That's weird.
Hinata - That's what I'm saying! Like you can test things on me and I'll be okay with it. Well not okay per se, but okay enough cuz like that's why I was made. I accept it. But like there's a point where you're physically removing my soul and examining it, that it just feels really invasive and shit.
Luna - ...Wait you too?
Hinata - HEH?
Luna - yeah I had something similar at FMS, though it was Artemis instead. If Apollo's behavior is anything like Artemis, I don't blame you.