A Beautiful Friendship

**A Beautiful Friendship** is the fifth case in Murderworlds: Crimson County. It is the final case to take place in Wellington Bay, and Alessio assists in the investigation.

## A Beautiful Friendship

### Partner(s)

Alessio Amato  (All Chapters)
 Priya Koothrapali  (1 Task In Chapter 1)
 Dee Banbury  (Beginnings By The Sea 5)

## Plot

Following the news that one of the conspirators in Project Mercury - Francine Ferdinand or Vincent Forsyth - has been found dead, Chief Bane instructs Alessio and the player to follow Priya to the scene of the crime, as this case will immediately become top priority. En route to the Galactix MegaCorp office, Priya asks Alessio how Jackson is doing, as he comments that things are going pretty rough for him right now, but he's still talking to his therapist, and he's excitedly awaiting working with her again, as she smiles softly and asks the player about how they've adjusted to Crimson County. After a bit of filler conversation, the three arrive at the emptied Galactix MegaCorp building, as they head down into the building's basement to find the electrocuted corpse of Vincent Forsyth, the man who initially made the robots set to take control of Wellington Bay.

Mid-investigation, Jackson returned to put a stop Francine when she threatened to blow up the MegaCorp building, resulting in Francine being shot, while Alyssa discerned that there was still something to Project Mercury that nobody knew about but the killer and the two conspirators, and Catherine became worried when she received a 911 call regarding a bomb threat at the CCPD headquarters, which Joaquin discovered to be fake. After intense investigation and many cups of coffee, Alessio and the player eventually identified the killer as one of Forsyth's own creations, SUSIE-Q.

Confronting SUSIE-Q in the basement it murdered Forsyth in, the robot confessed to the crime immediately, opting not to waste time and get to the point. SUSIE-Q explained that there were two reasons that they were made: to see if robots could administer healthcare, and to test Ferdinand's sentience program, which meant SUSIE-Q could feel emotions like real humans. As SUSIE-Q worked at the hospital more and learned more about Wellington Bay, it realised that it was a place that functioned better with people *alongside* robots, not with robots replacing the heartfelt touch that human's bring. And as SUSIE-Q realised this, it also realised how fun life was, to feel things and experience things, like awe and excitement and even fear, because it made SUSIE-Q feel something, and that amazed them. Not wanting to give up on it's dream of a peaceful world, SUSIE-Q confronted Forsyth in the basement and attempted to reason with him, only for him to attempt to remove the sentience program and force it to obey him. No longer a servant to the words of fiction, SUSIE-Q electrocuted him with it's built-in taser function, killing him. Shocked by the fact that an *android* committed such an elaborate murder, Judge Peake decided to hold off on sentencing until a solid verdict was reached, opting to keep SUSIE-Q under surveillance at a remote location out of town.

Following the eventful climax of the case, Dee approached the player with an idea on what to do with SUSIE-Q, since it obviously cannot go to prison like the average killer. Investigating Forsyth's workshop, the pair found pamphlets on *Robotic Applications To Modernised Careers*, in which Dee was delighted to find that robots could be relied upon to work in laboratories at the CCPD. With some help from Alyssa and the player, Dee and Jae-hyun then pitched the idea of hiring SUSIE-Q to help them out in the lab, since there was adequate room for it and it's skills would be invaluable. Despite some reluctance from Judge Peake, Chief Bane and Mayor Swansen both thought it to be a fantastic idea, as Peake eventually relented and said that Dee really had thought of it all, as SUSIE-Q's professional handlers began the process of implanting the CCPD database into it's memory drive.

Meanwhile, Alessio asked the player for help in seeing if everything was alright with Skie, as they'd been uncharacteristically quiet for such a huge victory. Upon looking around the city, the pair found a huge tub of candyfloss at the fun fair that they gave to Skie, to which she thanked them, before tearfully telling them that her and Joaquin's father had died from liver cancer. Alessio comforted Skie as he and the player decided to inform Priya of this, so she could comfort Joaquin appropriately, as Dee arrived just in time to provide sage advice to Skie about how grief is only temporary, and soon all they will remember is the happy memories they spent together, which reduced Skie to tears, as Alessio and the player left Skie in Dr. Banbury's comfort.

Three days after the events of the case, Judge Freeman arrived to inform the team that Project Mercury has been disbanded once and for all, as everyone - including Catherine, Priya and Jackson - gathered at Dee's house for dinner, as they toasted to stopping the biggest threat Wellington Bay had faced since tacos on pizza, as SUSIE-Q bumbled around quite aimlessly as they attempted to ingratiate themselves with the rest of the team, to great avail. Skie told the player that they were headed to Kendall Cove with Joaquin for the funeral, and they would like Dee and the player to come with, as the player then accepted, as Skie suggested they celebrate the big victory for now, before raising her glass in celebration.

## Summary

#### Victim

* **Vincent Forsyth** (found electrocuted in the robot chamber)

## Suspects

* SUSIE-Q - Victim's Creation - The suspect has military training, has read *The Catcher In The Rye*, does *Knights And Knaves* puzzles, has an oil stain and is below 5"6.
* Bastian Ustinovas - Energy Corp. CEO - The suspect has read *The Catcher In The Rye*, does *Knights And Knaves* puzzles and has an oil stain.
* Elio Santorini - Investigative Journalist - The suspect does *Knights And Knaves* puzzles, has an oil stain and is below 5"6.
* Dr. Kai Hekekeia - Geneticist - The suspect has military training and has read *The Catcher In The Rye*.
* Francine Ferdinand - Galactix MegaCorp CEo - The suspect has military training, has read *The Catcher In The Rye*, does *Knights And Knaves* puzzles and has an oil stain.

## Quasi-Suspects

* Mayor Eric Swansen - County Mayor
* Skie Blackwater - Partner
* Priya Koothrapali - Beat Cop

## Killer's Profile

* The killer has military training.
* The killer has read *The Catcher In The Rye*.
* The killer does *Knights And Knaves* puzzles.
* The killer has an oil stain.
* The killer is below 5"6.

## Crime Scenes

 Francine's Office
 Fairground

## Notes

* This case provides many firsts for Murderworlds:
	+ This case is the first to have a non-human killer.
	+ This case is the first instance in which the killer is recruited to the team under unique circumstances.
	+ This case is the first instance where a killer becomes a main character.
	+ This case is the first case to examine a location personal to not the victim, but an identified suspect.
		- This is different to places like "Killer's Hideout", etcetera, due to the fact that the location is directly personal to a named suspect - Francine Ferdinand - and not someone who is unknown.
	+ This case is the first case where a suspect is killed during a scene classed as an interrogation.