questionauthority: (Are you pondering what I'm pondering?)
Edward Nigma | The Riddler ([personal profile] questionauthority) wrote2011-05-06 04:55 pm

Riddle 026: Raining on Prom Night

[A: 726 Anderson Lane - BACKDATED TO THE DAY AFTER PROM.

Riddle me this: Who's as green as his suit and just woke up with the worst hangover ever? Answer: Edward Nigma, of course. Family members and unexpected visitors will find the Riddler downstairs at the breakfast table, dressed in a green bathrobe, half-heartedly fumbling with his daily crossword while he picks at a plate of eggs. He looks incredibly groggy, tired, and somewhat foul-tempered.]


[B: Mayfield High School - TODAY. It appears as though your favorite Ethics teacher is looking a little bit better after a long weekend and some time to recover. On the chalkboard, there appears to be a hastily drawn picture of a man with a long face and a garish smile.]

A dangerous criminal has been apprehended. Caught red-handed. He's responsible for the deaths of countless innocents. Question: How do you proceed? Do you take an eye for an eye and serve him a death penalty? It only makes sense, doesn't it? Especially if you consider the possibility that he may escape from his prison. And it's true. He could certainly escape and kill again. And again.

For the safety of these innocents, and for the good of the people, it may be worthwhile to consider a utilitarian approach. That is to say, you would subscribe to a system of ethics in which you would seek to increase the safety, happiness, and well-being of all mankind to maximum levels. But...

[He draws up another picture on the chalkboard of a cloaked figure, shrouded in a long, flowing cape.]

...there are those who might disagree with you. Those self-righteous radicals who feel as though they should follow the rules. Whose rules, exactly? Their rules. Their morals are absolute. They simply can't be compromised. Even if executing a murderer and a madman will maximize our well-being, murder is still murder to them. Nothing changes that. This is a deontological approach, class. And the ends never justify the means to them.

...so riddle me this. What would you do, if you had a say in this criminal's fate?

[Around Town:

There's a good chance that, after school, you'll find the Riddler on an investigation. He'll be found in one of three locations---

C: Sniffing around the Zemekis Corps Office Building, trying to get a grasp on what exactly it is that people do here.

D: In the Downtown area, glancing into windows and occasionally taking notes on a small notepad.

E: At the Mayfield Hospital, to answer some questions. A hospital in Mayfield seems rather arbitrary, doesn't it? Especially considering that death isn't even permanent. Why would one even be here, then, if that's the case?]

E

[identity profile] hungry-monster.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[Walking past the doorway...oh. Stopping.]

Hello Edward.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[Johan Liebert and hospitals. Not exactly a very comforting image.]

What brings you here?

[identity profile] hungry-monster.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Just visiting a friend.

And yourself?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Just here to observe, really.

[identity profile] hungry-monster.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Observing a hospital?
commentboxtroll: (☓ what was THAT for?)

B

[personal profile] commentboxtroll 2011-05-06 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[That's a deep and relatively tricky issue to consider, so Caesar's going to resort to a far less important question instead. There is no hand-raising before he asks it, he just does.]

And the self-righteous radicals are wearing weird capes because...?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Curious, isn't it? In a place like Mayfield, where death is impermanent, why even bother building a hospital?

A

[identity profile] strike-you-out.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[Edward will find his newspaper torn in two but the crossword puzzle is somehow still in tact. He will also find his not!son at the table as well, having recently returned from delivering the news. There's a Batman comic book on the table which he's busily thumbing through as he nibbles at his toast.

On the stove, a tea kettle starts wailing relentlessly. Slugger makes no move to get it...]

[identity profile] hungry-monster.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Atmosphere I'd assume. After all if we can't die, then almost everything here is pointless.

Or maybe they got tired of people getting injured.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[Nothing, for a moment. Edward clutches at his head, cursing under his breath. That kettle is loud. Finally, when he's certain that Slugger isn't going to do anything, he rises to his feet and marches to the stove. You can probably hear him muttering under his breath about how he "has to do everything himself."]
Edited 2011-05-06 21:19 (UTC)

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
It's impolite to call out, Mr. Silverberg.

D

[identity profile] lunawolves10th.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[On his way to work, dressed in his Waiter's outfit.]

Hello there...

[He blinks at him for a moment.]

What -are- you doing?

[identity profile] strike-you-out.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[When he gets back to his seat and to his crossword puzzle, Edward will find that one of the answer boxes he was about to fill in is now occupied by a smiley face. It certainly wasn't there a moment ago and yet Slugger doesn't appear to have moved an inch.]
commentboxtroll: (☓ a wise man flatters the foo)

[personal profile] commentboxtroll 2011-05-06 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Noted. [And ignored.] So?

[He still expects an answer over here.]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[It never ceases to surprise Edward, how often he seems to run into this massive marine in some new kind of outfit.]

Garviel.

If you must know, I'm conducting an investigation of the downtown area.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[It takes Edward a moment to notice, once he's gotten back. When he does, he stops in his tracks, slowly glaring up at Slugger. He does not look very amused.]

Cute.

B:

[identity profile] flameyedhunter.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
If there is a law which covers him, you should obey it.

Exterminating people simply for the sake of the greater good is lazy thinking. If the system is failing -improve the system-.

E

[identity profile] brotherseyes.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[Nina seems pretty out of it as she wanders the halls of the hospital. So much so that he actually bumps into Edward without realizing he's there. When she looks up to see who she bumped into, she gives him a cursory glance and then looks back down, murmuring.]

Sorry.

[identity profile] lunawolves10th.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
May I be of assistance?

B

[identity profile] perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Murder is always wrong, it doesn't matter what the circumstances are. But I know most people would disagree with me on that. They would seek the death penalty.

B

[identity profile] notsaul.livejournal.com 2011-05-06 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
De... Deon... Deonto...

[damn it man not everyone knows them fancy words of yours]
spellbent: (Default)

E

[personal profile] spellbent 2011-05-06 11:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Warren works at the hospital, though he sure as hell doesn't want to. He can be found sitting behind a counter somewhere, lobbing pencils at the ceiling in hopes of getting them stuck up there.

Yeah. Not even attempting to look busy. ]

[identity profile] strike-you-out.livejournal.com 2011-05-07 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
[Slugger, on the other hand, looks very amused though his face is partly obscured by a strategically placed comic book. After a break of silence, he peers over the pages at Edward, who looks as if he's been to Hell for a second time in two weeks, and dares to irritate his headache.]

So. What happened?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-05-07 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Good thing he always does his crosswords in pencil. Edward begins to erase the smiley face.]

What? Last night, you mean?

[And it's now that he notices the subject matter of Slugger's comic.]

...where did you get that?

[identity profile] strike-you-out.livejournal.com 2011-05-07 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
[If Edward looks closely, he'll see that it's the infamous "Rainbow Batman" edition (which has left Slugger with many questions).]

Around.

[Answered with a shrug. He thought you might be interested.]

Last night... Do you remember?

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