Survival Of The Fittest

Archivist's note: "Another Day in Homeroom" is a semi-mythical V2 thread that, according to remaining sources, ran for at least 24 pages in the span of about two months. Running the numbers, that pegs it at a minimum of 345 posts, making it a potential contender for the title of longest IC SOTF thread ever (currently held by Starting Place for B#54, at 25 pages and 362 posts).

Another Day in Homeroom took place in the aftermath of the infamous Pregame murder of Kim Jones-Larame by Mai Oshinari. Based on notes in the V1 staff lounge, Hobbsborough High School was placed on lockdown IC and all students were confined to a single thread OOC, for a span of at least one month. The thread apparently initially centered on the murder, but soon evolved to focus on other things.

Unfortunately, the thread was "lost" at some point in the years following--references to a crash exist on the Wiki, but I find it significantly more likely it got purged, accidentally or intentionally, by someone with mod access, probably at some point between 2007 and 2012. Unfortunately, as the V2 Pregame boards were at that time largely unknown and in some cases hidden from view, this went unnoticed. It is extremely unlikely that the thread will ever be salvaged now; the Wayback Machine does not have it archived and it's improbable in the extreme that backups would exist even without the Invisionfree -> Tapatalk conversion.

That said, Megami archived chunks of the thread in her summary of Maggie Heartgreeder. This thread comprises those segments, strung together into a proper thread format again. Note that, due to quirks of Megami's personal archiving process, formatting is typically not retained and a potentially vast quantity of posts, from unknowable points in the thread, have been completely excised. I still believe it's better than nothing.

The following references to the thread were pulled from V2 Pregame discussion:

[+] From The Official Bitching Thread

Source

Megami Post #23 wrote:As for the reading thing, I wasn't specifically referring to you. Look back through the "Another Day in Homeroom..." thread and you'll see what I'm talking about. The school went under lockdown and people were coming into/leaving classrooms throughout it, even though everyone should know that you aren't allowed to leave the room during lockdown. It's not so much a big deal in pre-game, but if you walk into a gunfight blissfully unaware of it in the middle of the game, that's not going to sit too well with others.

Megami Post #28 wrote:What needs to be paid attention to are the ongoing storylines. Like I stated above, if you want to enter a topic, reading it beforehand would help tremendously. I understand that some of you don't want to sit through 24+ pages of the "Another Day in Homeroom..." thread. Generally though, when a thread is THAT long, what happens in the beginning is usually a whole world away from the ongoing happenings. Things like Kim's death, though, shouldn't be missed, because it was openly discussed by several characters from about page 6 (that's a guestimate on my part) onward. You'll usually see big events reiterated by a number of characters throughout the posts. That's an easy way to tell if that information is pertinent or not.

[+] From Time is of the Essence

Source

Shula post #5 wrote:I like the concept of having everyone on the same page, but I just don't see how it could work outside of the perfect RP world where every player has the same schedule and same ideas (which would probably be a little boring, actually)

I mean, the main issue I'm thinking of is thread length. For example, the thread I was in with Adrian and Kid with Vincent...is less than a page long and took us only a few days to reach a point where continuing it would be weird. On the other hand, there are threads like "Another Day in Homeroom" that have been going on for over two months.

Unless someone has some brilliant idea to countermand this, I just don't see how it would work.

Megami Post #6 wrote:I know that personally, I've pretty much let Ricky and Eric slip into inactivity for the sheer fact that I was trying to let other people (specifically the Franklyn students) catch up to Day 2 morning. I'd hate to hinder you all in your ability to roleplay by telling you that you can't switch days until everyone else does -- especially at scenarios like the sleepover at Marimar's. You can only progress a slumber party so far before you have to do something else. It's not so much a big deal to have everyone on their own individual times -- there's nothing wrong with your character being on Day 2 of their story and running into someone on Day 3 of theirs. When it becomes a problem is when everyone starts getting too far ahead, or when characters who began in the same thread as several other characters (see: Another Day in Homeroom...; How many ways can you define the word "cow"?, etc.) suddenly jump a week ahead of the rest of their classmates.

[+] From Everyones A Critic

Source

Megami Post #71 wrote:Adam Amato: Them putting him in the wrong grade and him deciding not to do anything about it throws me off a bit, to be honest with you. Since he sucker-punched Paris in the “Another day in Homeroom...” thread, you might want to edit the part about Adam never coming to blows with anyone, and perhaps elaborate on what pushed him over the edge with Paris that others have never done. Also, why’s he have such a short fuse, just out of curiosity? How’s he feel about the fact that one of his best friends was also chosen for the exchange program and is attending the same high school as him? Does that make him feel better at all about the unfortunate events that befell Adam and Andrew?

[+] From Hobbs Lockdown in Mod Lounge

Megami Post #1 wrote:Is anyone else thinking we should go ahead and call the lockdown off? Nothing's been posted in the interrogation thread since July 5, so we've essentially confined all the Hobbsborough students to one classroom for right at a month now without progressing the story. Thoughts?

With that out of the way, here's what's left:

The door to Mrs. Saranna's room 225 creaked open slightly as a figure entered the doorway, haphazardly trying to balance her books and what appeared to be a note as she attempted to force the door open. The blonde struggled with the door a moment before making it through and casting a quick glance around the room. It wasn't like Maggie Heartgreeder to be late for class. In fact, it wasn't like Maggie to be late for anything. Thankfully, it appeared to have been a relatively uneventful class period.

Approaching Mrs. Saranna's desk, Maggie proceeded to sit her books down and produce a note from Mrs. Pfeiffer, the school's music teacher, presenting a reason for her tardiness to class. The whole had been bustling with activity since the announcement that Hobbsborough's drama department would be doing a production of "Grease". Of course, there were a few songs that required backup singers, and Maggie was one of the unlucky few chosen from the school choir to assist with these parts. They'd been practicing today, and it had resulted in her being late for class.

"Sorry."

Maggie said apologetically, but Mrs. Saranna all but shrugged it off, signing the note, sticking it inside her desk, and proceeding to wave Maggie to her seat. Obligingly, Maggie grabbed the books she had all but dropped onto Mrs. Saranna's desk and headed toward her seat in the back of the room, casting a half glance to the crew of theatre members who had gathered around the room and casting a faint smile at anyone who might've been looking back.

She'd been in class with these people all year, but Maggie was a rather shy individual by nature. Simply jumping into their conversation certainly wasn't her cup of tea, and she didn't make a habit of butting in to other people's business. Bypassing a few occupied desks, Maggie finally flopped down into her own desk and almost immediately began fiddling with the sleeve of her crimson colored Renaissance style shirt. It was going to be one of those days... people were so involved in the upcoming play that no real school work would be done. Really, though, that's how it had been since St. Andrews had merged with that public high school.

Not concerning herself with what appeared to be idle conversation across the room, Maggie flipped open her notebook to an unoccupied page and almost immediately began scrolling writing out across the blank page of paper. She being lost in her own little world right now, Maggie had no idea of the happenings that were going on around the school, nor did she have any idea of what had just occurred in the girl's restroom.

Her attention turned up for a moment at the sounds of sirens echoing outside, but she almost immediately shrugged off the idea, assuming it was just a bypassing ambulance or police car. Returning to her writing, Maggie couldn't help but continue to listen to the sirens as they seemed to get louder and louder. Had something happened? It wasn't really unusual anymore, the school had been brooding with tension since the merger, fights erupted all the time but... one serious enough that an ambulance had to be called? Instead of asking her fellow classmates about the situation, Maggie simply tried to purge the thought from her head, and instead returned once again to the page that was slowly starting to become full of words and doodles.

This classroom is becoming too nosy for my own good. Really now, Kasumi is too worked up over everything. Has to be the religious fervor. Yoko acts the same damn way around her little shrine. As if it will save her from what she brought upon herself.

Mai was mulling around in her thoughts, a rather vacant expression, seemingly provoked by her desire to separate from Paris', dominating her features. Neither interested in the conversation or the newcomers in general, she waited for the others to spark up some topic of discussion she could amuse herself with.

It wasn't long as she waited on the top of the desk, her eyes staring at Burton's face with no real focus on him as a part of her thoughts, when a alarm sounded.

At first Mai thought it was the earthquake drill, to which she let a puzzled look come upon her face.

Since when do they have those drills here?

The real reason dawned on her, and she could only recall the alarm once, last year, when there was a scare not unlike Santana or Granite Hills in California at the school.

Lock down.

The teacher looked almost as disturbed as Mai felt as she stood to look through the glass window hole of the door. A look of dread spread across her features as she fidgeted across the room, yelling all sorts of fanatical things around the classroom, some of those adding to the effect that there was something extremely wrong.

Did she not just hear about the dead girl in the classroom? It's not the apocalypse, it's just an alarm.

Finally the teacher managed to say what she was supposed to the minute the alarm rang.

"Everyone under your desks! Stay there until we find out what's going on!"

Taylor looked at his friend and smiled kindly before speaking, "Gigi calm down, I don't have the slightest clue what's going on but I'm sure everything's going to be fine. I bet this has something to do with Kim. If she was murdered we'll probably be on lockdown until they can find her murderer."

Taylor wasn't as confident about the situation as he sounded but he had to be strong for Gigi.

Taylor found himself wishing he were close enough to talk to Maggie about the whole situation. Maggie and Taylor had been best friends for a long time. Lately the two hadn't been hanging out as much at school though and this made Taylor sad. Taylor had become much more outgoing and sociable ever since his surgery and this had caused his popularity to skyrocket to the top of the sophomore heirarchy. Unlike Paris though, people actually liked Taylor. People only sucked up to Paris because he could be the ultimate twat. Of course Taylor would have never let Paris know he thought this. The two were polar opposites but social equals none the less. Taylor had several one ups on Paris, but the leader of the so called Populars was not someone the pretty boy prince of Hobbsborough's sophomore set wanted to take on.

Looking at Maggie he sighed and looked forward to having a chance to talk with her that night. The two still called one another each evening. They'd talk for hours about homework, boys and life. Taylor was ever greatful that the two still had that. He didn't want to lose Maggie.

Taylor remembered the times not so long ago when the two would share secrets no one else could ever know. Sure back then no one had given Taylor a second glance, but having one true friend was better than the dozens of two faced people he found himself spending time with now.

GiGi was different at least. She seemed to genuinely pursue a friendship with him. Taylor was greatful for people like that. Popularity could be so overrated sometimes.

Always worrying about what to wear, looking perfect, saying the right thing to keep people happy. Still, the attention he received wasn't half bad. Being President of your class had it's ups and downs.

Gigi smiled at the reassurance. "You know i don't understand why people have a problem against Kim. I mean sure she is conieted but she wasn't bad enough to be killed for it..." she said a little nervous about the whole thing. "Maybe its someone you dosn't like her, one of the unpopulars who are always being put down by Kim..." she suggested.

Gigi of course had no idea the true fate of Kim. And she probably will not know ever.

The ringing of the alarm echoing throughout the school building startled Maggie Heartgreeder out of her daydream as the teacher who had been so calm and serene a moment ago began flailing around the room wildly, staring in an almost paranoid manner out the door, and instructing the students in her classroom to duck underneath the desk. While many of the students were scurrying to find a desk to hide under, Maggie couldn't help but notice out of the corner of her eye the groups of students who hadn't gone for cover.

What was going on, anyway? The alarm didn't seem to ring a bell for Maggie. Looking rather puzzled, she took a moment to try and figure out what it was? Not a fire drill, that much was for sure. They'd have been evacuated from the building. Tornado drill? In New Jersey? It was sunny outside, it surely had nothing to do with the weather? Bomb threat? That seemed to be the only possibility, maybe they couldn't leave the school because of a bomb threat outside or something.

Quickly realizing that she was supposed to have been ducking for cover for one reason or another, Maggie practically dove underneath the nearest free desk. However, the desk wasn't as free as the blonde-haired girl had expected it to be, and she found herself colliding with another student who had apparently dove for the same unoccupied shelter.

"I'm so sorry!" she apologized quickly, "... What on earth is going on?"

Now, to some, it might have been a stupid question. However, Maggie hadn't been in the classroom until a few moment prior to the lockdown alarm sounding, and she was completely unaware of the fact that Kim Jones-Larame had met her untimely end in the girl's restroom only minutes before. Casting a nervous glance at the girl occupying the underside of the desk with her, Maggie's eyes slowly turned toward the door.

The siren is like a jackhammer to Mai's temples, and she almost welcomed the pain from her shins as they met the tiled floor. Her tall stature was hardly anything to fit under the public school desks, but she made the best of the situation by sticking her neck and head under the table, thinking, What good would this do anyone in a shooting, besides make you a non-moving target?

Good news was, there wasn't a shooting, just a faster than anticipated reaction to the young blonde's death. Bad news, Mai wasn't alone with her thoughts like she had hoped to be.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Oh," Mai let the crimson color plague her cheeks as she tilted her head to view her peer rather frantically trying to gather why they were doing a mock impression of a nuclear warhead drill, "Sorry about that, looks like we're both trying to take cover under this little thing."

She lifted her arm to tap on the bottom of the desk to show how flimsy the wood actually was, before taking the girl's question into consideration.

Her voice became hushed as she moved closer under the desk, almost as if no one else in the class had known about the situation, "Someone died, in the girl's bathroom. Kim."

A nervous laugh escaped Maggie's lips as her fellow classmate, Mai Oshinari, commented on the rather flimsy build of the desk they were both currently huddled underneath. The girl most definitely had a point. In the event of a shooting, tornado, nuclear holocaust, or whatever was going on at Hobbsborough High School, the cheaply made desks, obviously another cut to the school budget, weren't going to do much to prevent another casualty.

As Mai scooted closer to her underneath the desk to fill her in on the secret concerning the ongoing sirens, Maggie's eyebrows raised slightly. She was quite curious, but in the same respect, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Her fears were confirmed as Mai blurted out the incident that had caused the current panic-stricken state of Hobbsborough High.

"Someone died, in the girl's bathroom. Kim."

Now, common sense would tell even the dimmest person in the room that Kim Jones-Larame had not died of natural causes. The girl was only sixteen years old, and she'd been so full of life and so energetic only moments before when she had come bounding into the room the choir had occupied and retrieved the cast list for the upcoming play.

Maggie's eyes widened at the thought of it. There was no way that Kim could have possibly died any sort of natural death in the short span since she had last seen the girl. So what'd that leave? Some freak accident where Kim had slipped, fallen, and managed to land in just the right place with just enough force to kill her? That was highly unlikely.

"She... she died? How?"

A wave of panic struck the platinum-haired girl but she made an effort to keep her emotions in check. The thought of a school shooting immediately came into Maggie's thoughts. After all, why would they be under lockdown if it had just been some sort of accident? This whole thing didn't make any sense, and Maggie certainly failed to see why some of the students continued to stand around as if nothing had happened and it was just another ordinary day in class.

Taylor listened to Gigi and thought for a moment before speaking, "I doubt Kim would have killed herself your right. I remember her telling me once that she was severely allergic to certain medications. Maybe her death was accidental. Maybe she took something that her system couldn't handle. Still I don't know murder is much more likely. Obviously it couldn't be any of us though. None of us have left the room or been gone since this morning when school started except for Maggie."

Yeah right Maggie Heartgreeder is a living Saint and my best friend... I think I know her well enough to be sure she didn't murder anyone.

Taylor wanted desperately to believe that his schoolmates or a member of the Hobbsborough faculty were incapable of the murder of Kim Jones-Larame, but he was far from naive and the more he thought about it the more sure he became.

Mai was the last person with Kim... it makes sense... but Mai... no I have to stop thinking these thoughts. Mai is one of my friends too. And here I am thinking she could have killed her own best friend. Best friends can't kill eachother... who could there best friend.

Glancing at Maggie he sighed.

"Well no one's following the drill, I feel kinda dumb Gigi, I'm gonna sit back down."

Gigi followed sitting back in her desk. It was a very odd situation in deed. She couldn't beleive it was Maggie who killed KIm, that was just stupid. maggie was one of the nicest people she knows, theres no way that she's capable of killing Kim.

"I guess we can't jump to conclusions until we found how she died." she said with a sigh. very unsettling was the situation, she adjusted her violet bug sunglasses trying to grasp the situation. "Taylor, I'm kind of nervous. I mean I know you don't want to suspect anyone here but......" her voice lowered to a whisper.

"I just can't help but think that the killer is among us....."

Perhaps people were too suspicious these days, but what gives? At first, Mai was contemplating a ploy to convince them, but in the end it seemed to matter little. As long as she didn't incriminate herself further to their suspiscions, it really only counted in the eyes of the police and investigators. Who, she had the strong feeling, were already here, hence the lockdown. A dead girl in the washroom, who knows in what state, as she had left before the girl's demise. It was better, smarter, that way.

Gold lion's gonna tell me where the light is,
Gold lion's gonna tell me where the light is,
Take our hands out of control,
Take our hands out of control

Maggie's question came as simple as a conversation about today's lunch specials, but Mai was sensing a bit of panic under the strain of her words. She wanted to know what happened?

Kim was a waste, to Mai at least, if not, the majority of the class. A waste of talent, beauty, and innocence. The girl was stupid, and she believed in the honesty of another person's actions. A fool like that could only expect such a fate. However many times another trusted someone, they were burned. Badly, and the scar stays with them until, well, it's their turn to pass a scar on. They leave, whether by will or not, and it's always their fault. It's their shame that puts the wounds on other's souls and if Kim didn't see the inevitable coming....

About to let her thoughts give into their maniacal reasoning, she nearly forgot to answer Maggie's question, her eyes downcast to the tiles she rested her shins upon.

Now, tell me what you saw,
Tell me what you saw,
There was a crowd of seeds,
Inside, outside,
I must have done a dozen each

Mai tugged on her skirt and moved backwards from the desk, letting Maggie take whatever room she needed. Her brown eyes finally traveled up to met the blonde's face, concern painting the shade of her countenance. As if she gave a damn about anyone in particular. At this point, she would've been fine killing a good amount of the loud mouths standing around. But in her face was the worry, mirroring Maggie's own. Her answer was as simple as the question.

"I have no idea. Burton just found her."

It was the height I threw, the weight,
The shell was crushing you,
I've been around a few

People. What a waste of space, of air. Mai was sitting upright now, still on the floor in respect of the rules of the lockdown. Others didn't give a horse's ass. Obedience was instilled in Mai at a young age, though now it was only feigned. At least she knew when to fight and when to go with the flow. Like this moment, as her hands rested softly on the cloth of her skirt, and her eyes gazed at Maggie in a comforting manner. Much like a mother to her child, the nuturing look she could barely remember from Sayuri.

The one vacant on the demeanor of Yoko.

Mai thought it was time for something to happen, for this to be done with. The whole situation, the reactions, only showed how important any person was to anyone else. Just a gossip column, and maybe a few whispers before they were all forgotten. Barely a whisper left of her name. Mai could think of it now. "Who was that girl? The one in the bathroom? Oh, nevermind, who cares?"

Exactly. Who cares? No one.

Tell me what you saw,
I'll tell you what to...
Ooh ooh, ooh ooh, ooh ooh, ohh ohh
Ooh ooh, ooh ooh, ooh ooh, ohh ohh

Her lips formed a warm smile to soothe Maggie, her head tilted sideways in a glance of confidence and assurance.

"We'll know soon enough, but don't worry. I think we're all safe, the doors are locked now. Maybe they want to keep any more students from stumbling on her?"

Mai's hands were sweating, and she rubbed them idly against the cloth of her skirt. Her hatred under her mask, the thoughts provoking her to finally be who she really was. After all, she was stronger than anyone here was, in determination and civility.

"I'm worried about what's going to happen. Are we here in this class for the rest of the day? Til they find out what happened? Do we get to phone parents?"

A repeated thudding noise echoed from the wooden door as Jessica DeVlure, her partner Donnie Peters in tow, beat on the door to Mrs. Saranna's homeroom. A bit flustered after the ongoing events, Saranna forced herself to look out the door, only to see the short and wiry brunette holding a police badge up to the plexiglass window. Breathing a sigh of relief, Mrs. Saranna opened the door, allowing Jessica and her partner to step through.

"Hi, kids!" the bouncy brunette replied cheerfully. Meanwhile, Donnie took a perched position on the wall. He still wasn't feeling too well about this, "Now, I don't want you all to panic because we're in here. We don't suspect anyone in this room of having murdered blond--er, Kim."

The more she talked, the slower Jessica started to speak, as if she were talking to adolescents or the mentally handicapped. She'd always had a habit of talking to people like they were stupid, and the naive children sitting in the classroom were certainly no exception.

"We want to know about Kim. Her past, who she hung out with, if she had any enemies, what she was involved in, you know, that sort of stuff. So, one by one, we're going to pull you all out of the classroom to do a sort of interview. Don't worry, I promise no one is in trouble, and what you say about Kim is strictly between you, I, and Donnie here!"

Noticing he was being referenced, the bulky man in the corner cast a half-wave toward the sea of students that occupied Mrs. Saranna's room, and couldn't help but notice how disorganized and non-compliant all but a select few of them were. Shaking his head at the thought of their recklessness, he felt no need to chime in as Jessica continued her banter to the room's occupants.

"Alright so... any volunteers, or do I have to start pulling random people out of the room?"

A smile slid over the detective's face, and she couldn't help but hope someone would stand up and tell her about Kim, and exactly what she wanted to hear about Kim, so that she could end this little charade as quickly as possible. As much as she hated to admit it, this entire ordeal made her nervous. They were trying to prove a faux conclusion on a case they knew nothing about. Despite that, she didn't let the facts show on her face as she continued to cast that overbearing smile to the kids sitting in front of her.

Alexander Ovechkin had to admit to himself that he hadn't really much of a clue as to what was going on. First people had flooded the room, talking quickly and excitedly about something. Someone dying, or some such nonsense. Alex didn't believe a word of that. People didn't generally die in schools, these days. Especially not with the recent terrorist attacks, on both the World Trade Centre, and the 'Survival of the Fittest' incident. He'd been learning about it from the Russian websites that they had online. Nasty business, to be certain, but...a death in school? He didn't know what was going on, simply because of how fast everyone was talking. Maybe a famous person had died? Perhaps that was why everyone was making such a big deal?

Alex had speculated to himself, and tried to keep up with the conversation, when alarms had rang and startled everyone. Someone had screamed something about getting under the desks, but not many people had paid too much attention. As such, Alex didn't either.

×òî æå, ñïðàøèâàåòñÿ, ïðîäîëæàåòñÿ â ýòîì ãîðîäå? Àìåðèêà ÿâëÿåòñÿ íàñòîëüêî ñóìàñøåäøåé èíîãäà. Åñëè êòî - òî óìåð, òî, ãäå - ïîëèöèÿ, è ïî÷åìó - âñå ìû âñå åùå â øêîëå?

Ïðîêëÿòûé, ÿ õî÷ó åñòü.

Sighing to himself, Alex watched as two people came into the room, a woman who seemed bubbly and upbeat, and a man who seemed to induce depression, just with a stare. The woman began to address the class, and quickly seemed to speed through her words. Alex didn't catch much, 'Kim', and 'question' being two of them. He did catch the tail end, though, when she seemed to slow down and ask for volunteers. A thought popped into his mind, and he couldn't help but grin that big grin of his.

×åðò, ÿ ñäåëàþ ÷òî - íèáóäü, ÷òîáû âûéòè èç ýòîé äóøíîé êîìíàòû...

With a grin on his face, Alex raised his hand eagerly, as nobody else in the room did. As the woman nodded to him, Alex smiled, and looked at the group of kids next to him, and pointedly asked what he probably should have before he stuck his hand up.

"What...do I volunteer myself for?"

Shaking his head, he laughed out loud at the fact that he'd gotten himself into something else without even realizing, for the unpteenth time.

An Linh regarded the badge-toting brunette and treated her with a disinterested expression, not at all thinking much of her bouncy, bubbly demeanor over such a serious matter. In all honesty, An Linh could hardly believe that this girl was detective material. Looked no more than an airhead in An Linh's eyes. If anything, An Linh was greatly reminded of Kim Jones-Larame as though she were reborn in flesh anew, ever shallow, ever bubbly, ever so disgustingly cheerful.

What great hands this murder mystery has fallen into, An Linh thought sardonically, a rather twisted, cynical smile on her face. From a distance, she gazed idly towards the detective and her partner with a look of disdain and apathy as the brunette began to ask for volunteers for interviewing, feeling rather irritated in the manner in which she addressed the students of the classroom/ She sounded as though she felt she were higher than them, talking to them ever as though they were kindergarteners, and had to be explained in such a simple manner.

However, her condescension faded into mild surprise as she noticed Alex volunteering himself, to be immediately accepted by the overeager detective. An Linh raised an eyebrow. Looking at the big, friendly grin on Alex's face, An Linh could not help but wonder if the ESL student had any idea whatsoever what was going on, or what he had just gotten himself into.

How much information the detective's going to manage to get out of Ovechkin, I wonder? An Linh raised her eyebrow even higher as Alex shook his head and laughed out loud, likely at the incredulity of the situation. Most likely….not much at all.

She was about to dismiss the matter entirely and immerse herself in her own musings when suddenly a thought clicked in her mind. Silently, looking ever so alert, she glanced towards Mai, who certainly had yet to volunteer. Interesting enough, though An Linh had little idea as to how willing Mai would be to participate in an interview. After all, as Kim's ‘best friend', the detective should be able to appreciate the information she provided.

And perhaps An Linh could use this to a slight advantage, just to see if her suspicions in Mai were well placed.

Before she knew it, she had slid off the desk neatly and onto her feet, red canvas hightops and all. She raised a casual hand in the air for the detective's attention.

"I'll volunteer," she said in a somewhat careless, almost lazy voice as she sauntered over to where the detective was standing. As she passed Alex, she gave him a firm clap on the shoulder, as though the two of them were casual acquaintances, nodding towards him with a relaxed look on her face.

"That's the idea Ovechkin, just grin and bear it," she told him in a laid-back voice as she continued making her way over to the detective. She passed Mai's desk, at which point she spoke out again, looking towards Mai over the contour of her shoulder.

"Aren't you going to volunteer, Mai?" She asked in a rather careless, yet somehow piercing, insinuating tone. "I'm sure you'd want to help find the reason for Kim's death. You two were best friends after all."

The bright voice sounding in the room reminded her, for a tiny moment, of the body she left for dead time ago. Mai's dark hair spun with her head, floating at the rate her neck was twisting to find a brunette woman standing there, smiling her head off. It was then Mai could only think, wonder what she would be like with her head chopped off. Her head tilted again, that part of her amusement of the situation being revealed for a split second before her eyes looked eagerly on towards the figure. Like she would to any authority, give them the security of someone who depended on them. In actuality, she was biding her time, thinking of what she would say when she would be interviewed.

The time was kept short, as when An Linh moved across and found her, sitting on the floor, just barely taller than the desk as she was kneeling, and questioned her to act. Refraining with all her might, Mai let An Linh finish her subtle prodding, which was more blatant to her than anyone else in the room. Mai wasn't here to play games, this was her life, her show. Things had to go her way, in the end, but on the outside she's calm.

Her head spins back to catch An Linh's eyes, not even a hint of disgust -which is what she really felt- toward the girl was shed in her appearance. Mai looked more pleading, like going to a friend for a favor.

"I was going to speak up before Alex and you went for it," she looked at Maggie, who hadn't responded yet to her assurances, "That, and Maggie was wondering what happened. If you don't mind, could, could I go before you? I think I would have the best insight... I did see her last before Burton found her."

Being truthful is sometimes the best way to be overlooked. Had Mai been found lying about where she had been, it would cause more suspiscion on her part. So, she was upfront, and honest, at least about that particular aspect. Though she had wanted time to find out what she would say, it seemed this was the time to let things flow, and follow the current. After all, An Linh's secret accusation, left in the tone of her question, would prove to help her seem more helpful than a suspect.

Ha. Tell me what I'm doing wrong before I do it, before anyone catches on, and you've just helped me commit murder. Thank you An Linh, arigato.

((Continued in: http://z10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...howtopic=1043))