Monday, January 16th, 2215Weather: Once again, the city is spared any snowfall, but temperatures remain in the freeze range.
Events: The new construction workforce has been chosen from the flood of applicants that came in after the announcement. Seems like a lot of people are willing to trade in some hard labor for the chance at a status upgrade. Making that top 15% is going to be rough work, though. Notices are going out to the chosen with crew assignments and instructions to report for duty. The Council is serious about getting the hospital rebuild underway. Teams will be working around the clock, continuing to clear rubble, bodies, and lay the foundation for the repairs.
Meanwhile, Haven media is busy covering the now-available trial records. It seems Saito had accomplices, and there may be more on the chopping block pending the results of their upcoming trials. A two-hour long news special airs at 8 PM tonight, going over the trial records, and even playing a few clips from the trial itself. Amongst the evidence is security footage of Saito at the hospital about an hour before the bombing, where he visits someone in the ER. At one point he steps into a corner of the frame obscured by a privacy curtain, and when he is visible again his coat is draped over his arm. It is argued by the prosecution that this is when he planted the device, which must have originally been concealed in his coat. Experts from construction and the fire department go over blueprints of the hospital and argue that the room Saito was in would have been precisely where the bomb originated from. An additional possibility is a nearby visitor’s unisex bathroom, which was only two doors away from the room he visited. There is footage of Saito going into this bathroom.
The most damning evidence against Saito comes from his daughter, Aya. She testifies that in the past few years, her father had grown increasingly critical of the Council and Haven’s ways in the privacy of their own home. He would constantly rant that someone had to change things ‘by any means necessary.’ Aya and her younger siblings were growing increasingly nervous, and she admits that some of the things he would say in the privacy of their own home were downright treason. She says at one point around in the autumn of last year, while she and her father were alone in his home, her father had mentioned that he wondered what life would have been like for them if the rebels that eventually became the Diaspora had triumphed in their cause and not lost. He had said ‘I have to wonder if things wouldn’t have been better that way.’ At this point, Aya says she told her father if he ever spoke that way in the presence of her younger siblings (who now vary in ages from 9 to 17), she would turn him in for bandit sympathies and fight for custody of her siblings. Aya insists that she was afraid her youngest siblings would endanger themselves by repeating their father’s opinions, not realizing what they actually meant. According to her story, Saito became emotional at that point and apologized, and swore to never again speak in such a way to his children.
Some months later, Aya left her father’s home to marry, but when her husband was over the wall on military business, she would frequently stay in her father’s home. She says that over the past year her father began taking private visitors in his home office, but would never say exactly what business they were discussing behind closed doors. As Saito had never in his long career with the DHS taken appointments in his home office, Aya found it to be a little strange. At the time she wrote it off, reasoning with herself that her father was getting older, and it must be easier to conduct what business from home that he could.
The day before the bombing, Saito posted something on the network that greatly alarmed Aya. She insists that while she knew parts of what her father said could have been argued as treasonous, she was again more concerned that it would create problems for her younger siblings. As she was staying in her father’s home at the time, she immediately went into his office, logged in on his computer, and deleted the post. When her father discovered what she had done they argued, and Aya again begged him to think of his children before his politics. Tearfully Aya confesses that she accused her father of being desperate for power, and self-destructing before her very eyes. Eventually Saito agreed to keep his feelings on the situation to himself, and not repost to the network on the subject.
On the morning of the bombing, both Aya and Alexander Saito were notified that a relative of theirs was in the emergency room with a strange illness. This relative had dined with the Saito family the night before, and had started showing disturbing symptoms about an hour after leaving the Saito residence. Aya made arrangements to visit the relative in the evening; Saito said he would go into the office late and visit in the morning. When Aya heard of the bombing, she panicked. She knew that her cousin was very likely to have still been in the ER when it happened - the only question was whether or not her father was still there. She tried contacting her father, first at the office, then at home, then on the comms. When he did not answer on any line, she went straight to his house, hoping he would be there. In a state of panic she searched his house, eventually going into his home office - a room previously forbidden to any of his children. There, in plain sight on top of his desk, was a set of blueprints to the hospital. At this point in the broadcast, a sound clip is played of Aya’s testimony.
"In my gut, in that moment, I felt that something was very wrong. I had an immediate sense of foreboding. A voice in my head said stop, turn around, leave this room, nothing good can come of this! But my body moved without my consent. I sat in my father’s chair and began pouring over all I found. He had a locked drawer. I tore the room apart in search of the key. I cannot say why I did this. I was sick with worry, and for whatever reason I fixated on that drawer. I felt as if getting inside would answer all of my questions, silence all of my fears. I found the key and unlocked the drawer. Inside were files of handwritten notes. Plans. He had names and aliases of bandit and rebel sympathizers. He had a list of experts in explosives, each ranked most to least likely to be ‘in line with the cause.’ He had pages of research in explosives and poisons. In one of these files I found a list of symptoms identical to what my cousin had presented at the hospital, and then everything clicked in my head. I knew."
The prosecution argues that Saito poisoned his own nephew, giving him a reason to later visit the emergency room. While his nephew died in the blast, the patient’s blood was drawn and sent to the lab before the explosion - and luckily, the lab is located on the opposite side of the hospital. His blood tested positive for the same poison alleged to be researched by Saito.
At that point, Aya called the police and Saito’s house was raided for evidence. Several alleged accomplices were located - several of which pleaded guilty to lesser charges and testified at Saito’s trial. Of these, none of them ever dealt with Saito directly. Coded messages were sent by private messengers, none of which understood the content of the messages they delivered. Each messenger was told only that it was official business for the Society for Cultural Preservation - an organization Saito was a member and supporter of. Representatives of the SCP testified that they had no knowledge or involvement of Saito’s doings.
Amongst the incriminating documents found in Saito’s home was an outline for a plan that started with several acts of terrorism, and ended with the overthrow of the Council, making way to establish a new form of government he would lead. The plan started with the bombing of the hospital, but also called for the destruction of several factories, farms, and even the water supply. There were reportedly several pages outlining the new government Saito envisioned.
Here is where things get a little puzzling, and facts give way to speculation. The trial took place in private at City Hall, often going late into the night. After his daughter’s testimony and all evidence from Saito’s home was presented, as well as the testimony of his alleged accomplices, the court adjourned to a six-hour recess. At this point, Saito requested to review the pages outlining his plans for a new government (labeled as exhibits 29 - 36). This request was granted, and Saito spent an hour reading and rereading them. He then requested to be taken back to his cell to rest. His guards report that in his cell, Saito sat on his bed silently and without moving for a little over three hours, when he then announced that he was ready to make a confession and change his plea from not guilty to guilty. His confession was dictated, read, and signed in the presence of his defense attorney. Court reconvened, and his plea of guilty was entered. The Council deliberated for less than an hour before sentencing him to death. In the time after that, Saito was calm and polite, and asked only that he would have a chance to say goodbye to his children. This request was also granted, though under heavy guard.
No one is sure why Saito changed his stance, and he himself refused to give any explanation as to why. The prosecuting attorney is quoted as saying,
"He knew he was guilty, and that the evidence was damning. In the end I believe he decided to go out with a little dignity."Aya and her husband have since been granted custody of her younger siblings.
OOC Mod Note: All player requests for slums-characters applying to the construction team have been approved!
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