The Investigation

The Investigation is a detective arc in the Expansion Era about the Redactions of several players in the league.

Background

During the Coffee Cup, Fans were introduced to two new players, Liquid Friend and Uncle Plasma of BC Noir, both with the Hardboiled modification. Heavy FC defeated BC Noir 3-0 in the first round.

The Season β12 blessings on offer included Uncle Indemnity and The Big Sip, which allowed teams to recruit Plasma and Friend respectively. The New York Millennials recruited Plasma to their rotation, and the San Francisco Lovers recruited Friend to their lineup.

A Disappearance

On Gods' Day of Season β13, Brisket Friendo of the Kansas City Breath Mints and Tad Seeth of the Charleston Shoe Thieves disappeared from the Blaseball website, and gained the Redacted modification. The Boss briefly appeared to ask Where'd you go, Friendo? In Plasma's Feed under "Special," "Where'd you go, Friendo?" appeared, and in Friend's Feed under "Special," "Bad Beat, Tad Seeth". A followup from The Commissioner indicated that a missing persons report had been filed, and that "Ownership has enlisted the help of two top-tier investigators and assures no expenses spared."

A Hunch and Two Crime Scenes

On Season β14, Day 99, Plasma and Friend were named MVPs, gained the Ego+ modification, and in their Feeds, the text "Uncle Plasma/Liquid Friend had a Hunch..." appeared. During the Season β14 elections, The Meadow and The Choux gained the Crime Scene modifications, which reads "When a Hard-Boiled player plays at a Crime Scene, they will Investigate."

The Mystery Deepens

In the Season β14 Elections, York Silk and Chorby Soul were resurrected following their incinerations in Season β14 and Season β3, respectively. As with previously resurrected players, these two players had a Debt modification. Unlike Jaylen Hotdogfingers, however, Silk and Soul did not inflict Unstable on their opponents. Instead, they marked their opponents with Observed, a modification last seen during the Coffee Cup. Observed lasts until the end of the in-game week, or every nine games.

Once Silk or Soul marked opponents with Observed and those players played during games with Coffee 2 weather or Coffee 3s weather, there was a possibility that those Observed players would disappear from their team's rosters, receiving the modification Redacted. It is speculated that Observed players can be Redacted in Coffee weather (as distinct from Coffee 2 and Coffee 3s), but no such instance occurred in Season 15.

The players Redacted via this method in Season 15 include Wyatt Glover, Ren Hunter, Peanut Holloway, Liquid Friend, Chorby Short, Forrest Best, and Alx Keming.

First Clues

Meanwhile, the investigative duo of Uncle Plasma and Liquid Friend continued their search, even after Friend was Redacted. On Day 33, Plasma entered the Crime Scene at The Choux and found "traces of coffee". The Choux lost its Crime Scene modification at the end of the game, when Plasma returned to the Millennials. Once again, on Day 52, Plasma entered the Crime Scene at The Meadow, but did not find anything. The Crime Scene modification was removed from The Meadow as well at the end of the investigation. At several other points in the season, Plasma "sensed something fishy", felt "like they missed something", and had "a sinking feeling". They declared on Day 78 that "Someone's keeping Secrets...but who?"

Secret Base

The disappearances grew even stranger following the Season 15 Latesiesta where several teams in the league opted to build a Secret Base renovation in their Ballparks. On Day 75, Kurt Crueller was marked with Observed by Chorby Soul. A few games later, on Day 78, in a Philly Pies vs. Yellowstone Magic game, Crueller walked into the Secret Base in Yellowstone National (Ball)Park and received the modification Redacted. That same game, Crueller exited the Secret Base at Choux Stadium with the brand new modification Attractor, which reads "When this player scores a Run, they'll join the Lineup of the Team that scored them, if they're not already on their roster." Crueller's Soulscream had disappeared and their star ratings appeared been significantly boosted. However, Crueller's Player Attributes, which govern the star ratings, had not increased. Crueller did not score a run while on second base, and disappeared promptly after.

Several games later, on Day 94, one of the original Redacted players, Tad Seeth, walked out of the Secret Base at An Undisclosed Location, also with the modification Attractor, a missing Soulscream, and visually boosted star ratings (with unchanged Player Attributes). Seeth was not batted in and also disappeared again soon after.

Consumer Redactions

In Season β15 the Flooding crisis continued and several league players suffered from Consumer attacks this season, Nagomi Mcdaniel and Alyssa Harrell got pulled into the mystery. On Day 104, in a first round playoff series between the Baltimore Crabs and the Kansas City Breath Mints, both Mcdaniel and Harrell were attacked by Consumers when they had a single unit of Soul left. Upon being attacked and their Soul being eaten, both players were immediately taken from their teams and Redacted. Their player profiles show that they do not have any Soulscreams.

The Investigation Concludes

After the election in Season β20, it was declared that the Investigation led by Liquid Friend and Uncle Plasma had concluded. According to the Boss their hard work showed no foul play, and we could put all that behind Us. She then bid them to enjoy their retirement as the pair were preserved and placed in the Vault, gaining the  LegendaryThis Player is Legendary. modifier, as well as a message that they were "Stronger Together" as they both gained the  YolkedThis Player is Yolked! modifier.