(no subject)

[theamazingdalet]

Meet the players of Grace’s Last Reward (AO3)

           ↳ Day 1 ✩ Michael // Ace

 

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“Oh, Lord…” Balthazar groaned faintly. Ace looked up at him with some concern.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s-…” Balthazar sighed and ran a hand through his hair. As quickly as he could, he told Ace what he’d heard from Cass and Seven, about the Titanic, ice-9, and the mummy who would not thaw: All-ice.

“Interesting…” Ace stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps a little unsettling, actually. For this hint to work, Zero must have known that at least one of us was familiar with the story.”

“…good point,” Balthazar murmured, tucking the card into his pocket.

“…Balthazar?”

“Hm?”

“Do you know about Cass?”

Balthazar bit his tongue, forcing himself not to react as he looked up again.

“Do I know about… sorry?”

“C-A-S,” Ace spelled it out. “The Cells Alive System.”

“No, never,” Balthazar shrugged, his stomach only gradually untwisting. Ace continued.

“It’s an experimental technology for freezing matter without the formation of ice crystals,” he said. “Normally, water within the cell expands as it freezes, damaging the cell membrane. CAS, on the other hand, supercools matter using magnetic fields, freezing it instantaneously, thus allowing no time for ice crystals to form.

“Its intended purpose is food storage, but of course it could, theoretically, be used for other purposes.”

“‘Other purposes’?”

“You’ve heard of cryogenic freezing, no?” Ace asked. “A technology such as CAS might finally allow a way for the human body to be safely frozen for long periods of time.”

“And you mention it because…? —no, hang on, you-” Balthazar laughed, more nervously than intended. “Are you saying…Alice might have been preserved with something like CAS? That she might be alive?”

“I wouldn’t consider it for a second, except that…” Ace paused. “It might account for the murder in the Captain’s Quarters.”

“How…so?”

“Well,” Ace raised a hand, “who are the other suspects?”

“Zero, of course.”

Ace arched an eyebrow in response. “You did notice how fresh that blood was, no?”

“Ah…” Balthazar followed his train of thought. “If the corpse is a clue from Zero, it should be older, is what you’re getting at. So…you’re ruling Zero out as a suspect?”

“I…wouldn’t go that far,” Ace admitted, “but if it’s not Zero, it also can’t be any of us. We three are the first ones to enter Door 1. We’re the only ones who could have, but even then, we were trapped in the wheelhouse until we solved the puzzle.

“But…if Alice is alive, if she managed to avoid Zero and is still here, she would know this place better than anyone. The numbered doors would be meaningless to her; she could move as she pleased.”

“And she simply hasn’t made her presence known except to murder this one person?” Balthazar couldn’t help his skepticism.

“I agree it’s quite unlikely,” said Ace, “but frankly, I don’t see how Zero being the murderer is all that much more likely. It simply doesn’t make sense.”