[M] Endless Nights - Daybreak

[Bad Player]

Spoiler : hmm :

I think that as Rules Lawyering ENs where the central twist is "unfair" wordplay goes, this is as strong as they get. It didn't play as all that deconstructive or parodic to me, though

I agree with this--really good for a "classic"-style EN, but it didn't feel like a parody or anything.

[enigma]

Solution Trial

Edit:

Spoiler : :

By the way, if anyone wants to expand, explore, interpret, etc. any lore that I've brought up or established or pertaining to my characters (the enigmas) feel free to do so. However, I request you don't cover what Bernigma is currently doing, and that you be respectful about it. Besides that, I'm totally okay with you expanding backstory stuff or the purgatory stuff or Piece!Enigma's fate or whatever. I'd love to see a continuity within the EN's arrive, personally, so I'm happy to let you do whatever you want with stuff I threw out to that end.

[Bad Player]

It was lonely now.

I sat in the midst of what had once been such a shining, such a magnificent place. No... It was still magnificent. But it was lonely now, too. And dark.

What a life we had built! Every day an adventure, not knowing what would come next. We laughed, and cheered, and greeted, and bid farewell, and fought, and cried. Wasting so much time, on something that was unique and special and beautiful and not a waste at all. We spent our dreams as if they would never run out and all would come true.

I had walked along the various paths here so many times, even in the midst of this pitch darkness I could have strolled to any lot I wanted if I had so desired. I remained seated.

At the forefront of my mind were those great structures that had seemed to tower over all else. The ruins of a man named Ozymandias (not that one) at the end of a long hallway. A burned-down mansion, where the only item recovered had been a novel by S. S. Van Dine found in the pocket of one of the servants. An organ (biological, not musical) made purely of shimmering metal. Or part of one, at least.

Then there were the stranger, more unique ones. A fully functioning spaceship. A scrap of paper with nothing but a single digit written over and over again. A puzzling and exclusive club that was said to have changed itself to fit every guest who entered.

Of course there were also the older monuments, from a previous time. A statue of a man with a dragon for a head. The one that boasted itself flawless. The one I may have just dreamt.

All of them treasures. Not my treasures, but which I treasured all the same. Even this unending night had been comforting the first few hours.

I shivered as I thought of how some—most?—had fallen into disrepair. But I could still visit the memories, and they warmed my heart even on a night this cold.

I shook my head at myself. Partially in disappointment, partially to try to snap myself out of it. Enough with the histrionics. You may be "old," but you're much too young to be acting like this. It isn't over, it isn't done. It isn't abandoned. You're just choosing to stay here and pretend there's nobody else.

Maybe. But it's still changed. Perhaps there is someone, unseen under the cover of this night, building a new structure to rival those of the old giants. No matter how much I doubted this, I could not disprove it. But even if it is true, a single building does not a city make.

...Enough.

I reached out with my hand and ran my fingers over the letters engraved into the stone. I couldn't see them, but I could trace out their shape by touch. I had to reassure myself of the words one last time.

Though the sun may set
The day shall break yet

I stood up.

There was work to do.

And then it would be time to leave.

[Bad Player]

Good… Your spirit is not BROKEN yet
You have done well in making it this far
No matter how BLACK the night,
Dawn will eventually come…
In the ordinary case, at least
But as I’m sure you’ve realized by now,
This is no NORMAL place
So now it is time to settle things
Can you solve the DILEMMA
And be there AT DAWN’S BREAK,
Or will you become trapped within the darkness of the abyss?
Come, the “End” of the Night approaches…

But first, two warnings:
One, I will show no mercy,
And two, you have already fallen for the first trap.

Now, if you still have COURAGE, come and play…

(use firefox)

Spoiler : OOC Rules - read after playing :

While you are all trying to achieve the same goal, this is a trial meant to be challenged individually. Therefore, please post all your questions, comments, theories, etc in spoiler tags, don’t look at others’ spoilers, and don’t theorize with others.

[ForTheLoveOfGodot]

Spoiler : :

First off: neat premise; I've never understood how Phoenix felt confronting Von Karma at that point could end well, so it's amusing to see him held accountable for that. Now, some questions:
When Phoenix says in red "I was the last one to leave Robotics", does that include Gumshoe? In other words, could Gumshoe have left before Phoenix or not? (It clearly looks like Gumshoe left last, but the wording of the red truth seems like it's hiding something...)

When Phoenix says in red "Maya has no pulse", since there are ways of faking a lack of pulse, this truth isn't necessarily the same as "Maya is dead", right?

In what directions could Larry see when he was glued to the floor (can we assume he had 360 degree vision, or was he unable to see in some directions?)

The metal detector: I assume it won't go off multiple times if multiple objects go through (i.e. there is no way of knowing how many objects went through the detector when it goes off)?

Could Phoenix have missed someone leaving a room while he was in it?

Answers to some or all of these would be appreciated! I'm leaning towards Maya as a culprit, but I can't yet see how she got past Larry...

[Bad Player]

Spoiler : FTLOG :

[in order]

Remiel: Putting aside the fact that you're asking me to interpret your own thoughts...
Remiel: That red truth refers only to people who have actually left Robotics.
Remiel: Therefore, if there was a person who never left Robotics...
Remiel: This red truth would not actually apply to them.

Remiel: ...
Remiel: Everything stated in red is true.
Remiel: No more, no less.

Larry: It was just my feet that were glued to the floor...
Larry: I could still move my waist and neck, so I had perfect vision, Nick!

Lisa: That is correct.
Lisa: Metal detectors can detect when something metallic passes through...
Lisa: But not the type or quantity of metallic objects.
Lisa: One of our engineers did submit a proposal to try to develop a more advanced metal detector...
Lisa: But we decided there were other projects more deserving of our firm's attention and resources.

Remiel: ...
Remiel: If you wish to put forth a theory that relies on the assertion you are a clueless, oblivious buffoon...
Remiel: I will have no objections.

[DJJ6800]

Spoiler : :

Hm. So correct me if I'm wrong, but suicide is out of the question, right? Assuming suicide is impossible, my working theory is that Maya is the culprit. I'm going to go with this for a theory. We can confirm based on the earlier scene that Larry and Edgeworth left the robotics room before Phoenix and Maya, thus eliminating them as culprits. Blue Screens Inc. was working on a human like android so I argue it looked like Maya. This doesn't go against Knox's rules because they clearly established that an android was in the works. (I think.) Android Maya left with the group from robotics while the real Maya stayed behind and killed Gumshoe. After killing Gumshoe, she made her way to the storage room to wait to kill Lisa. Android Maya was detected by the metal detectors but got around it thanks to Larry and Edgeworth.
The real Maya rejoined the group when they found Lisa's body in the storage room. Keep in mind, Larry said he never saw anyone leave the storage hallway, but he never said anything about anyone ENTERING the storage hallway. Simply put, she entered the storage hallway, (and probably charmed Larry to stay silent about the whole thing), killed Lisa, and waited by the security door for the group to show up. The storage room door is opened via pulling the door so the real Maya hid behind the door, waited for Phoenix, Edgeworth, and android Maya to show up when they secretly switched places. Phoenix and Edgeworth didn't notice because they were too distracted by Lisa's body. The blackout was likely caused by the android when the group was in the hallway. When the entire group was found dead, Maya was said to have "no pulse." This is because Phoenix didn't feel the pulse of the real Maya, she felt the pulse of the android. And that is my theory. (If I'm at least close to the truth, please let me know. It's my first time attempting one of these things so I want to see how good I am for a first attempt.)

[astand]

Spoiler : :

I have 2 theories:

1. Edgeworth is the culprit.

Gumshoe decided to play the prank on everyone and pretended to be dead. When Edgeworth approached to check his body, he killed him for real.

Next, Edgeworth enetered Nanotech with Phoenix and Maya, but then left, went to storage, killed Lisa and returned back to Nanotech. Larry was glued in a position facing away from storage hallway and didn't see Edgeworth leaving the hallway, so red truth is not contradicted. Larry failed to mention Edweworth's movements because he is dumb and never explains the whole situation, which we know from canon.

I'm not sure how exactly blackout was remotely organised, but with glue, solvent and some weight you can make some contraption and time when the switch would be turned off. Probably. Maybe there is a better way and a better hinted one, but it's not an impossible feat in any case.

Anyway, Edgeworth knocked everyone else out, strangled Maya and Larry and commited suicide. Phoenix survives, because he is prohibited from killing himself by being a detective.

2. A sillier theory, but MINERVA aka Athena could be the culprit, because she is technically mentioned in the story (before the first murder, so early enough).

She is a robot, so she is not counted towards the number of humans. She is not a hard-to-explain device, because she is explained within the story. There is nothing that says the culprit must be human.

So she snuck into Robotics and killed Gumshoe. She was still hiding in Robotics there when the body was discovered, so Phoenix was really the last to leave the room.

She then went to the Storage and waited for Lisa. After killing her, she just left. Larry said that he didn't see a single person leaving the hallway, but robot is not a person.

Then MINERVA just knocks everyone out and strangles everyone except Phoenix.

[Bad Player]

Spoiler : DJJ :

Remiel: ...This is an interesting theory.
Remiel: However—
Lisa: Project MINERVA is not scheduled for completion for a decade!
Lisa: We do not even have a prototype prepared yet.
Lisa: Furthermore, the appearance of the robot...
Lisa: Well, as it turns out, we do intend to model MINERVA after a teenage girl...
Lisa: But Miss Fey has absolutely no connect to Blue Screens Inc.
Lisa: MINERVA will look nothing like her.
Remiel: Well... that.
Remiel: Granted, that was all in plain text, so I suppose you could claim it is a lie if you wish.
Remiel: However, there are still some red truths that your theory runs up against.
Remiel: First, “No unfair twins, doubles, or disguises.”
Remiel: While I suppose Lisa’s discussion of MINERVA allows you to claim a robot was running around without violating Knox’s 8th...
Remiel: I do not believe there is evidence that such a robot would be a copy of Maya.
Remiel: The word “unfair” does provide some leeway...
Remiel: But you must explain why this second Maya is not unfair.
Remiel: Next, I believe your theory quite clearly violates “I was the last person to leave Robotics.”
Remiel: Of course, you are free to amend your theory or argue that it does not.
Remiel: Finally, for Lisa’s murder...
Remiel: To be perfectly honest, I am not sure whether Maya was hiding in the hallway or in Storage in your theory.
Remiel: If the former...
Remiel: You can see on the map that the hallway is merely a straight line.
Remiel: There is nowhere in that hallway to hide.
Remiel: If Maya had been there, you and Edgeworth would have seen and noticed her.
Remiel: If the latter...
Remiel: I believe it would contradict “When I entered Storage, there was nobody else inside.”
Remiel: Either way, there is a problem you must resolve.
Remiel: You do have some intriguing ideas...
Remiel: But you must address these issues if you wish for your theory to proceed.

Spoiler : astand :

Remiel: Gumshoe believed they were playing a prank, so he was not an accomplice...?
Remiel: Clever.
Larry: N-Nick! Do you really think that badly of me...?
Larry: I was glued towards the storage hallway, I’ll have you know!
Larry: My waist and neck were free, so I still had my full range of vision.
Larry: But even if I wasn’t looking at the storage hallway for a moment, it was so boring...
Larry: If I heard anybody passing through, I would’ve at least glanced at them!

Lisa: As I explained during the tour, we do not expect to complete Project MINERVA for approximately a decade.
Lisa: We do not have a prototype yet, so we certainly do not have a murderous Android...

Remiel: ...Granted, this is all in plain text, so you are free to declare it all lies and stick with your theories.
Remiel: I just decided to be nice and begin my assault lightly.

[astand]

Spoiler : :

For my Edgeworth culprit theory, I think I can present an explanation for Larry that is in character.

Lisa went to storage and returned, giving Larry the solvent (Larry didn't see Lisa leaving the hallway because she didn't - she kinda looked around the corner and threw the solvent to Larry - he was close and he was facing the hallway, so it's possible). Larry was free now, but he didn't give up on his dream of a woman falling in love with him. So he made some excuse and returned to Composites once more, to steal another bottle of glue. He took it and then searched for Lisa and discovered her body in Storage. He realised he may be suspected of murder due to lack of alibi, so he decided to glue himself to the same spot as before and pretended he was always there, giving himself an alibi of sorts.

Edgeworth went into storage and back to Nanotech while Larry was still in Composite, so Larry didn't see him.

While I'm at it, I will present 2 more theories.

3. 7th person theory. The culprit is some human that we never see in story directly. It can be Manfred von Karma because he was mentioned in the beginning. And he has a solid motive against most of the people involved.

5 people truth is not contradicted because Maya Fey is actually a robot. As a robot, she can't be proclaimed dead in red, unlike others. And having no pulse at the end also makes sense, becuase she doesn't have a heart.

Gumshoe's murder is simple with an extra person, and Larry didn't see him in the hallway for same reason as described above.

4. Phoenix theory. When Remiel says "You are Phoenix Wright", we can clearly see Phoenix's sprite. But in the crime narration, we can't see the protagonist's face at all. Other characters refer to him as 'Nick', but never as 'Wright'. So the theory is that the 'Phoenix' in the story is not Phoenix Wright, but some other individual. The real Phoenix Wright was never in the facility to begin with.

It means the protagonist is not a detective and can be the culprit. Gumshoe's murder is even simpler now, and Lisa was killed with same circumstances as in my Edgeworth theory.

[Bad Player]

Spoiler : astand :

Remiel: ...Hmph.
Remiel: This may be more fun than expected.

Remiel: I will admit, that is quite a clever explanation for why Larry did not see Edgeworth.
Remiel: However, you have not actually solved the problem. Only moved it to a new location.
Remiel: After all, wouldn’t Larry have seen Lisa when she came from Storage and gave him the adhesive?

Remiel: As for your seventh person theory...
Remiel: You’ve... glossed over quite a striking assertion, haven’t you?
Remiel: Regardless, I don’t even need to touch that part to fight this theory.
Remiel: The issue is your supposed seventh person’s movements during Lisa’s murder.
Remiel: If they had left the storage hall, Larry should have seen them.
Remiel: If they had remained in Storage, I believe that would contradict “When I entered Storage, there was nobody else inside.”
Remiel: If they had been in the storage hallway, they would have been noticed by you, Edgeworth, and Maya.
Remiel: As you can see on the map, the storage hallway is nothing more than a short, straight corridor.
Remiel: Perhaps you rushed through it without getting a good look, but I can assure you now...
Remiel: There are absolutely no hiding spots in the storage hallway.
Remiel: No matter the option chosen, it runs into a contradiction.

Remiel: Finally...
Remiel: While doubles are generally disallowed, I suppose you are arguing that using the name “Nick” means it wasn’t unfair?
Remiel: Very well. I will give your argument the benefit of the doubt and simply dismiss it out of hand.
Remiel: Phoenix Wright is the only person referred to as “Nick.”

Remiel: Let’s see how you respond now.

[astand]

Spoiler : :

I said in the previous post that Lisa could have thrown the solvent to Larry and technically she wouldn't leave the hallway (it was an edit though).

But if Larry didn't see Lisa at all and didn't get the solvent, he could free himself in some other way. Phoenix thinks Larry, his shoes and the floor all got stuck together, but maybe he was mistaken and Larry could get out of his shoes and go barefoot, for example. Or maybe Larry has prosthetic legs made out of self-repairing polymer mentioned in the story. He cut off his legs, which regrew soon after. If Larry can leave his spot somehow, the culprit (Edgeworth or anyone else) could sneak into Storage room and leave.

Another possibility is
5. Larry culprit theory. If Larry is the culprit, he could have replaced the glue with something else beforehand, then make a scene dropping the glue, pretend to be stuck in place, follow Lisa to the storage room, kill her and then return. As for Gumshoe, Larry stabbed him when everyone was still in Robotics. Gumshoe didn't realise what happened and thought it was just some back pain and decided to endure, dying after everyone left.

[Enthalpy]

Spoiler : Let's Get The Obvious One Out of the Way :

MINERVA is fully dysfunctional and went on a murderous rampage. She stabbed Gumshoe from robotics, went to storage, killed Lisa there, hid (either in storage or sneaking past Larry), then killed everyone but Phoenix during the blackout.

[Bad Player]

Spoiler : astand :

Remiel: You won’t stop until you’ve accused each of your friends of murder, hmm?

Remiel: Since you have oh-so-graciously told me the lynchpin of your theory, it is quite easy to dispose of.
Remiel: I will at least spare you the agonizing uncertainty of potentials.
Remiel: Larry did not move from the spot marked on the map at any point while Phoenix was in Nanotech.
Remiel: That has closed off a large swath of possibilities from you, yes?

Spoiler : Enth :

Lisa: I don’t know if you would call it being dysfunctional, but...
Lisa: Project MINERVA isn’t scheduled for completion for a decade!
Lisa: We have not even begun prototyping yet.
Remiel: Well, Mr. Wright, do you wish to explain how a robot that hasn’t been built yet could be the culprit?
Remiel: Otherwise...
Remiel: ...
Remiel: Actually, before you answer.
Remiel: Ms. Basil. Are there any plans to install a time travel module on MINERVA?
Lisa: No, there are not.
Remiel: Thank you.

[Enthalpy]

Spoiler : BP :

Phoenix: I'd like to point out that all of us had different ideas about who brought us to the labs, and why. Given that the idea almost certainly came from Blue Screens Inc., I don't think it's that much of a stretch to say that Ms. Basil's honesty is in question. Besides, for all I know, there's a non-autonomous robot you're working on, before MINERVA... One also lethal, but not quite so much of a prototype.