A/n- Something new genre wise from me, kind of. Slice of life/murder mystery! That's why the character list is a bit obtuse, so the secret of who did it would be less obvious. I think it turned out well. Enjoy! Also, since Detroit wouldn't be a real city in a FE Modern AU, the game's name is changed to Elibe: Become Human, hence the title. But the plot and characters are pretty much the same.
The Commission Files- File #774 Elibe: Become Human
Characters: Mark, Lyn, Sain, Pent, Louise, Wil, Rebecca, Erk, Rath, Serra
Based on: a commission by jackorein on Twitter
It was October 24th, one week until Halloween, and Mark had invited his girlfriend Lyn over to his dorm room. Luckily none of his roommates were there so they could be alone and Mark could show Lyn something he thought would be cool and sweet while not getting teased for it being too nerdy.
"Knowing you Mark, you asked me over here for more than some extra coaching or anything like that." Lyn commented as the door closed.
"Well, I figured we could go see a movie and get some dinner or something like that, but I wanted you to come here first because I have something to show you." Mark explained before pulling two large boxes out from under his bed.
"That's not what I was expecting." Lyn noted as Mark put the boxes on his bed.
"I have a feelings you'll expect it less when you open yours." Mark joked. "Go ahead." So Lyn opened the box that Mark motioned was hers and inside was an outfit. White shoes, white pants, and a mostly white shirt with gray shoulders and blue triangle on the left side. There was also a white hair band and a blue arm band in the box as well.
"Mark, you know white isn't really my color right?" Lyn teased him.
"I know, it's for the Halloween party at Professor Pent's place next week." Mark explained. "I can't tell you everything but he asked me to dress up as my favorite fictional detective, and I figured why not also make you an outfit that went with it since we'll be going together?"
"Ohhhh, that makes more sense then." Lyn noted. "Well, let me see your outfit then!" Mark nodded and he opened the box with his outfit. It was a more professional looking getup, black shoes and pants, white undershirt with a two tone gray jacket that also had a blue triangle on the left shoulder. And he had a black tie and a blue arm band as well.
"What do you think?" Mark asked.
"I think you're going to look really handsome in that." Lyn told him truthfully. "I guess I just don't get who it's supposed to be. Is this from one of the games you've played before? Maybe a book?"
"It's from a game." Mark confirmed. "It's supposed to be Connor's outfit from Elibe: Become Human the game with the androids who break free from their programming. He's an android detective who can learn to become more human-like during the course of the game. You can probably realize why I kind of can relate to him."
"Okay, yeah, I think I get it now." Lyn said a little more into the idea of the outfits now that Mark explained it. "So what's my outfit supposed to be? Anyone in specific?"
"Not really." Mark noted. "Just kind of like a consumer model android that's meant to be able to help around the house and with kids, kind of like a maid. I hope that's not offensive or anything."
"I wouldn't see why not." Lyn replied. "And honestly I figure the only people that would make the connection would be Professor Pent and Erk and that's about it. Though that does round back to another question I have. Why does Professor Pent need you to be a detective?"
"Well, you see Lyn, for his Halloween party this year..."
One Week Later
Lyn and Mark pulled up to the Reglay mansion around 6PM and were let in through the gates shortly after. Professor Pent was formerly an Elimine Prize winning scientist working in Etruria, but now he was happily retired with his lovely wife Louise and working on teaching the next generation. They were quite rich and well off, but they were actually pretty cool. They donated money to deserving charities that weren't tax write offs, they always had time to talk to students when they had issues, and they did fun things like inviting everyone to their mansion for Halloween parties each year like this. Pent event answered the door for his guests, as he did for Mark and Lyn as they walked up.
"And who might you two be?" He asked with a smile since he wasn't quite familiar with their outfits."
"I'm Mark, the android detective you requested from Cyberlife." Mark stated, offering his hand for an in-character moment. "And this is Lyn, a reprogrammed AX400 model that works as my assistant. I hope that's not an issue for you Professor."
"No, no, not at all." Pent replied shaking Mark's hand. "So, an android detective, can't say I was expecting that one."
"Well, you said dress as my favorite fictional detective." Mark noted, breaking character. "This outfit is based on Connor from the game Elibe: Become Human and Lyn's outfit is from that game too."
"I actually quite like it, though I wish it had a bit more green." Lyn added.
"Well, thank you, both of you, for going along with my little plan for the night." Pent replied. "Just go about the party as usual and I'll do what needs to be done to set up the surprise. You'll know when to get into character when you hear Louise screaming."
"Okay, noted." Mark commented with a nod before snickering a bit, getting a look from Lyn and Pent. "Oh, I was just thinking that it would make sense for an android to be able to pull the answer to the mystery practically out of their ass like I'm going to tonight."
"Just don't ruin the surprise before everyone else can enjoy themselves." Lyn said pulling Mark into the mansion. After that they walked around a bit to see who was all there already and it was pretty much all of their friends from their classes along with a few people that they didn't really know that well. Eventually things settled in a bit and Mark was sitting on a couch with Erk playing games with him.
"Have to say, didn't expect you to be a fan of Become Human but I really dig the costume Mark." Erk commented as they were setting up for something new.
"You know me, I'm more into story based games than action ones." Mark noted. "But thanks, I think your wizard outfit looks pretty neat as well." It was about then that Mark got a text from Sain saying that he was arriving to the mansion. Usually Sain wouldn't do this, but he was to be the victim for the little mystery that Pent had set up, so Mark needed to be around when he did things so it made sense for his 'investigation' later on. "Sain's about to show up, we should see what his costume is this year."
"Yeah, he always puts a lot of effort into his costumes, even if it's just to impress the girls." Erk commented before the two of them got up to head for the front door. Mark tried to get everyone he could to join them and there were a decent amount of people near the entrance when Pent and Louise greeted Sain.
"Another lovely guest!" Louise said excitedly as she looked Sain over. "It looks like we have a surfer coming into our house, and a really handsome one at that. Aren't you a bit cold Sain? Only wearing those shorts and an unbuttoned shirt?"
"A little cold never stopped me from trying to impress the ladies!" Sain said confidently as he struck a pose with his surfboard.
"When did you get a surfboard?!" Kent called out from the crowd near the door.
"Last week! You know I always go the extra mile for all of my costumes!" Sain told him as he stepped inside.
"Oh, if only I was 10 years younger and could be wooed again." Louise swooned, a little fakely for show but not enough for anyone other than those in the know to catch on.
"Don't be so hard on yourself Mrs. Reglay, if you weren't married I'd try and woo you along with all the other lovely women here tonight." Sain stated, though that statement was a bit more realistic sounding for obvious reasons.
"I just might have to keep that in mind." Louise replied with a chuckle before kissing Sain on the cheeks. Then Pent cut in.
"Alright, alright, don't need to be tracking mud and dirt near the doorway, everyone disperse!" He noted a tad harshly. "I don't think anyone else is going to show up. Mr. Sante, I'm sure you don't want to hold that surfboard all night, so you can put it in the hall closet next to the bathroom up these stairs if you'd like."
"Oh, sure thing Professor, thanks!" Sain said before going upstairs to do just that. After that Mark and Lyn walked away together and Lyn had a better idea of what was going to happen now.
"Okay, I see how it's going to come together now, really smart plan honestly." She commented.
"Oh, the set up isn't quite done just yet." Mark teased. "Come on, let's mill around for a bit, but we need to be in the kitchen in about half an hour."
"Sounds good." Lyn noted. So they walked around a bit, talking to friends and explaining their outfit. Mark spouted some lines about 28 stab wounds and showed people this cool coin trick he learned to do while Lyn just did her best to keep up, acting like she thought an android would. Eventually though the time came for them to be in the kitchen and they took a viewpoint where Mark could see everything before starting to nibble on some snacks.
"I wonder what's going to happen here." Lyn commented. In the kitchen with them were Rebecca, Louise, Sain, Wil, Rath, and Erk and eventually Pent came in the kitchen as well with some empty wine glasses and bottles.
"Louise, I need another bottle of wine to keep serving, do we have any more?" Pent asked. Since everyone here was an adult Pent felt comfortable serving such drinks.
"I think there is another one in the refrigerator." Louise noted. "Rebecca, can you get it out since you're closer?"
"Sure thing Mrs. Reglay!" Rebecca replied cheerfully as she took the bottle out of the fridge. Now she was in on the mystery plot so she knew that this particular bottle was carbonated and with a bit of shaking that the cork would pop and start spraying everywhere. Her goal was to at least hit herself, Sain, and Louise with the spray, but if other people got caught in it then it that would be fine as well. So as she moved to hand it over to Pent she 'accidentally' started to trip and throw the bottle into the air. She bobbled it a couple times and when she finally got a hold of it the cork popped and the bottle sprayed all over everyone in the room except for Mark, Lyn, and Pent.
"Now this is what I call a party!" Sain said sticking his tongue out to try and lick up some of the spray, though everyone else was trying to duck and cover to no avail. Eventually the bottle lost pressure and stopped spraying, leaving six wet and sticky partygoers in the kitchen.
"Drat, now we're going to have to clean all this up before dinner." Pent noted a bit upset. That's when Mark nudged Lyn and she got the hint.
"Do not worry Professor Reglay, mopping a kitchen is well within my programming." Lyn stated in her android voice. "I'll have it clean in no time."
"Thank you Lyn, but what are we going to do about the guests?" Pent wondered.
"Not to worry, I can get everyone cleaned up before dinner." Louise stated. "Come on everyone, we have a large bathroom just up these stairs with a good number of towels to dry off with." So she took everyone who got hit with the wine upstairs and when they were gone Pent gave Mark and Lyn a wink.
"Good job you two, sorry for making you mop up the floor, I can help you with that though." Pent said pulling a wet vacuum out of the closet.
"Thank goodness, that will make this job a lot easier." Lyn noted. "Okay Mark, we'll be in here if you need us for anything."
"Duly noted." Mark stated, waiting for the next plot thread to start. Eventually everyone who had gotten sprayed with the wine came back downstairs to enjoy the part, except for Sain and Rebecca. No one really noticed until a group started playing a game of Mafia, which was one of Sain's favorite party games.
"Is Sain alright, I heard he got some wine spilled on him earlier." Kent wondered to the group.
"Yeah, same with Rebecca." Wil noted. "Like I already got cleaned off and so has Rath and Erk, I wonder what's taking the two of them so long."
"Well, since I just got eliminated, I'll go check on them and see if they are doing alright. "Louise said standing up and walking out of the room. So the game of Mafia continued on and eventually Rebecca came down, but there was no sign of Sain still.
"Was Sain still up there when you came down?" Kent wondered about his best friend. Rebecca's face was quite red, like she was embarrassed about something, which was some pretty good acting on her part. "And why are you in your swimsuit and not your costume?"
"Sain is still up there, yes." Rebecca confirmed nervously. "And my costume was soaked through since I was the one holding the bottle so I figured I'd just wear my swimsuit I brought since some of us will probably be using the hot tubs outside later anyways." Wil really didn't like the way this was sounding, he had a very obvious crush on Rebecca, but he didn't make a real big scene. He just stood up and walked out of the room briskly in the direction of the bathroom Sain was supposed to be near. Now Wil wasn't in on the plan, so Mark hoped that Sain could explain what was going on well enough that he didn't get really upset.
"I should probably go up there as well seeing as Louise hasn't come back either." Pent commented a few minutes later before leaving as well. The plot was all coming together now and soon enough the whole party was going to be in for a big surprise. The game of Mafia ended and soon after everyone made their way to the kitchen to get some of the food Pent and Louise made for dinner. It wasn't anything too fancy since there were a lot of guests, but it tasted good and they could tell the couple put a lot of effort into it. Said couple had rejoined the party, but still Sain was nowhere to be seen. Not many people were worried about it though, everyone was so spread out eating and talking with each other that they all just figured he was with another group trying to flirt with girls or something.
"Any moment now we should be hearing-" Mark commented to Lyn before practically the whole mansion could hear Louise scream out in shock. Everyone hurried to where they heard the scream come from and when they got there what they saw was pretty intense. The closet door in the hallway was open and Sain was splayed out on the ground, playing dead, though not quite everyone knew that just yet. Luckily Pent was there before anyone could call the police.
"Before you make those calls, let me invite you all to the main event of this year's party! A murder mystery with our very own on hand android detective!" Pent told the party goers to calm the situation. "Let's find out who did 'The Murder of Sain Sante' shall we?" Everyone's mood changed from one of fear to excitement and they were really interested to see how it would go. So Mark started to take charge as the detective as he was asked to.
"Cyberlife was a bit wary when you asked them to send me as a detective for such a party, but seeing as a murder has taken place it seems you had the right idea in mind Professor." Mark stated, getting into character. "Everyone step back, I'm going to scan the body for evidence." So everyone took a few steps back and Mark knelt down to investigate Sain's 'corpse' "You doing okay Sain?" He whispered.
"Yeah, I'm great, can the ladies see my abs?" Sain whispered back and Mark just shook his head in disbelief before giving a status report.
"From the temperature on his body I can confidently state the murder took place about half an hour ago." Mark started. "Very little signs of struggling." He then proceeded to touch Sain's temple with two fingers and then lick them. "The victim was intoxicated with alcohol before his death." Then he moved Sain's head and neck around. "Lacerations around the neck give the cause of death as strangulation, too thin to be from just a pair of hands, I'd say a very thin string, maybe even a bow string. Also, a large bruise on the back of the neck to note." He gave Sain one last thorough look through before making a last statement. "And the victim was in the process of having an erection as well."
"Well, that's Sain for you, I told him all his flirting would be the death of him." Kent commented, playing the role of a frustrated friend.
"I suggest that the mansion be locked down and that we move the body to an area where it can't be tampered with." Mark suggested, more for Sain's sake so he didn't have to keep laying in the hallway. So they moved him to a couch in one of the large gaming room and everyone stood around waiting for the interogations to start.
"So, what are the facts we know that can help us determine who killed Sain?" Lyn asked Mark when everyone was gathered together.
"Well, as everyone may or may not know, I actually have been observing the party goings on very intently. I've already narrowed down the list of suspects to a handful of people." Mark explained.
"How did you do that?" Serra asked curiously.
"Very simple, the last time I saw Sain alive was when Rebecca accidentally spilled some wine on herself, Sain, Wil, Rath, Erk, and Louise." Mark continued. "Then the six of them went upstairs to clean off and that's the last time anyone could have seen Sain alive, unless anyone else here had that I don't know about." It was possible that someone else saw something, so he gave a moment for anyone to speak up. Surprisingly it was Erk who spoke up.
"It could have also been you or Lyn as well since you two saw him alive as well." He pointed out.
"A decent point, but we have proof from others that we stayed downstairs and we were in the Mafia group as well." Mark told him. "Good try though, oddly suspicious, but a good try."
"So the suspects are Rebecca, Wil, Rath, Erk, and Louise then?" Lyn asked to confirm to the group.
"It would look like it." Mark replied. "Though I have a clue on who it might not be. I think we can cut Rath and Erk from the list, they immediately came back down after they cleaned off and milled around until Mafia, and they really don't have a motive, unless Erk being weird about accusing us means something." He said that last part looking at Erk.
"What? I've read enough murder mystery stuff to learn to not count out the investigators." Erk countered. "Serra can tell you she was talking to me from the moment I got back downstairs."
"It's true, I was talking his ear off." Serra confirmed. "Besides, Erk couldn't kill Sain, he's not strong enough."
"I doubt that's an issue." Mark commented. "Someone took advantage of him being drunk, meaning he wouldn't be able to fight back as well as he could. Someone like Wil or Rebecca could have taken care of him in that state."
"Why am I suspect?!" Wil blurted out after that. "I came down for Mafia like Rath and Erk did, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but you stormed back upstairs after you saw Rebecca all red and embarrassed!" Serra said pointing at him. "We all know you have a big crush on her and if Sain did something weird that would give you a motive!" Mark was so glad that Serra had a big mouth, it was really helping him out in this moment.
"Serra isn't wrong, we did all see you go upstairs." Mark noted. "Why don't you tell us what you saw up there?"
"I mean, sure." Wil stated as he calmed down a bit. "It was a bit weird honestly. When I got up there I saw Sain and Louise in the bedroom next to the bathroom. Well I should say I heard them since I didn't open the door. It sounded like they were rustling around trying to find something as they were cleaning up, and they were being loud about it. I knocked on the door but they didn't answer. Then I calmed down and decided to come back down because I knew I was being weird." What really happened was that Sain and Louise told him what was going on and gave him this story to make things sound more interesting.
"Hmm, interesting." Mark pondered as some of the group was clueless and some were getting the hint. "I guess that leads me to ask what you were doing in the bedroom with Sain Mrs. Reglay?"
"We were just cleaning up the mess that everyone had made, honestly." Louise answered as her face turned red in fake embarrassment.
"Mrs. Reglay was getting busy with Sain!" Serra called out and the whole group started to either laugh or feel a bit weird about the whole situation.
"I can confirm actually, I caught them in the act." Pent spoke up. "But, as some of you will know, Louise and I have an open relationship, so it wasn't really that big of a deal. Though if someone like Rebecca were to find out about it, she might have a motive."
"What! Why are you accusing me now?!" Rebecca exclaimed.
"Because dear, before all that happened I caught you and Sain in a pretty interesting situation." Louise chimed in. "You in his arms with both of you in just your swimwear. Pretty spicy if I do say so."
"Yeah, but that's just because I tripped again and he caught me like that!" Rebecca countered back. "And of course I'm gonna be all red and embarrassed afterwards! While his personality is lacking in certain areas, Sain is a very handsome man, anyone would be embarrassed except for maybe Lyn." Sain actually cracked a smile while playing dead at that remark.
"It seems things are getting pretty heated in here." Mark commented with a smirk because he was enjoying himself. "Let's calm it down though and think this through. From what everyone has said it's most likely that Sain was killed in the bedroom and then stuffed in the closet. Meaning the murder weapon is probably somewhere in the room or near it. Lyn, could you go and investigate the area to see if you can find it?"
"Sure thing!" Lyn said getting up and heading up to the bedroom quickly. As she was searching Mark continued to prod the room.
"So Serra, who do you think did it?" Mark wondered.
"I think it's Rebecca at the moment, as a crime of passion sort of thing." Serra replied.
"And you Eliwood?" Mark asked turning to his friend.
"I honestly think it's Wil and he's lying about not seeing Sain and Louise together, and that he did it to defend Rebecca's honor." Eliwood answered.
"What about you Canas?" Mark continued.
"I think there is some piece of knowledge that we're missing still." Canas noted. "I think we'll need to see the murder weapon before I can make a distinction."
"That is very true, that could change everything." Mark agreed. A few minutes later Lyn came back into the room with a very fancy looking bow that looked quite old.
"I believe this is the murder weapon." Lyn said handing it too Mark to 'analyze' more closely.
"Hmm, let me see." Mark mused. "The bowstring does have traces of Sain's skin on it, but it also has traces of Louise's and Rebecca's skin as well. Also the wood on the back would be able to cause the bruise on the back of his neck. Also it has a faint smell of wine on it as well. Does anyone know what this bow is and why it's important?"
"Yes, it's actually an old family heirloom." Louise spoke up. "I get it out from time to time to test it out, but I keep it under electronic lock. The only people who know the code are myself, Pent, and any members of the Archery team whom I'm close to, like say Rebecca."
"Interesting." Mark noted. "Lyn, where did you find this bow and was there anything else suspicious?"
"It looked like it was thrown out the window, but luckily it was caught on the roof and didn't fall to the ground below. Also there was a pair of gloves on the windowsill as well. A generic white pair, one for all size, any one of the suspects could have worn them."
"So the skin on the string might not be the smoking gun we need then." Mark mused. "No matter, I believe that I have narrowed down who murdered Sain. But before I reveal who did the deed, we're going to see who you all think did it." So Mark pulled out a box with a slit on the top, kind of like a voting ballot box, and some slips of paper. "Anyone who wants to proffer a guess please do so and place it in the box and we'll see if you got it right." Pretty much everyone got up to take a crack at it and eventually everyone made their choice.
"Alright, Mark and I are going to count these up and see what the results are." Lyn said taking the box and walking with Mark to the kitchen. They opened the box and started to count the votes and they couldn't help but laugh a bit at how fooled everyone had been. Except for one person who actually got it right. Soon enough they came back with the results and revealed them to the group.
"Pretty even results all around, most of you think Louise or Rebecca did it with a few votes for Wil, and one for Serra for some reason." Mark stated. "But only one person actually got it right. Well, I guess someone was paying attention weren't they? Either way, let's not beat around the bush. Sain, who was it that murdered you." With that Sain sat up from his spot and smirked before pointing at the killer.
"It was the Professor!" Sain said gleefully and immediately Erk pumped his fist because he was the one that got it.
"What?! How?!" Serra exclaimed in shock. "He wasn't even on the suspect list?"
"Very simple, you had the right motive with Rebecca, but you gave it to the wrong person." Mark explained. "Pent was actually more put off about Sain and Louise than he let on. Oh, and just so everyone knows, they didn't actually do anything, it was all an act."
"Thank Elimine!" Serra replied relieved. "But come on Mark, explain how it makes sense."
"Well, first off we have what happened when Sain arrived." Mark started. "He very openly flirted with Louise and she reciprocated. And Pent show his annoyance very clearly by cutting in. Then you might wonder about the wine smell on the bow and think that he didn't get hit by the wine spray, but if you'll all remember he was serving it to us all the whole night."
"Oh, he was." A few people noted.
"And then to top it all off, the gloves Lyn mentioned meant that his fingerprints or skin wouldn't be on the murder weapon." Mark continued.
"But then how did he off Sain, he's an athlete and would destroy him in a fair fight." Serra asked.
"Exactly, and that's why he got him drunk." Mark explained. "It didn't come out, but the story he would have given everyone was that he had some drinks with Sain in the bedroom after catching him with Louise and Sain would admit to wanted to steal her away and that would have been the last straw."
"Okay, okay, you got us." Serra admitted. "Good job you guys. But who got it right?"
"Erk." Lyn noted. "We could recognize his hand writing."
"What can I say, I know the Reglays pretty well since I've been staying with them." Erk explained.
"Makes sense." Serra replied.
"Well, I hope you all had fun with this all, I know I did." Pent noted. "And I think a big hand needs to go out to our investigating android Mark and his assistant Lyn as well." And with that everyone clapped and the both of them felt really good about themselves.
"I think we're gonna remember this part for a long time." Lyn whispered to Mark as the clapping continued.
"Yeah, me too, this was really fun. Thank you for going along with this with me, I really appreciate it." Mark whispered back.
"Hey, that's what couples do isn't it?" Lyn asked.
"I guess so. I just glad this android grew a heart in the process."