Investigation

The investigation (often called the Mush hunt) is the search for Mush infiltrators aboard the ship. At the start of each game, two crewmates are randomly infected by the Mush fungus. The longer that they're left alive, the more opportunities they get to commit sabotage, convert or murder important crewmates, and eventually, destroy the Daedalus!

No matter what your role is aboard the ship, the investigation to unmask the Mush will ultimately concern you. While some characters are better suited to investigation than others, leaving them to their own devices is too risky: after all, they could be Mush themselves! Communicating with trusted persons and observing the actions of your fellow crewmates are key to an effective investigation.

During your first few games, the investigative aspect of eMush might seem unclear. Focus first on learning the game's mechanics and follow more experienced players' advice. In this way, you will both aid the ship and avoid being wrongfully suspected of being a Mush.

Strategies

Observation

Paola approached Jin Su in a predatory manner... and spiked him discreetly!

Message displayed when a Mush spikes someone beneath a Camera

The most basic element of investigation is diligence! Keep an eye on your crewmates and, if you see anything strange, report it to trusted crewmates.

Observe the Room Logs of each room you visit and look out for suspicious activity.
- For example, a sloppy Mush might accidentally extract a spore around other people, or they might set off a Myco-alarm. Each of these actions produces a distinct log that you should report immediately!
- A Mush might try to steal or hide important items (such as the Apron or the Mush Sample). They might also try to hoard dangerous weapons, especially the Knife or the Grenade. If you see someone take one of these items without explanation, they might not have the crew's best interests in mind...
- Sometimes, a Mush who hopes to cover their tracks will use Defacer to clear the room logs. If you see that a room's logs have recently gone missing, or that they've been replaced by the message: "The archives are scrambled... Who's been messing with the sensors?!", report it immediately and leave the room!

Monitor the Dirtiness of your crewmates. (Extracting Spores always makes the Mush Dirty, so dirtiness is a key indicator of who is or isn't Mush.)
- There are many legitimate reasons to get dirty. However, someone who gets dirty unusually often, or who stays dirty without good reason, is more likely to be Mush. Familiarize yourself with the list of dirtying activities and the % chance that each has to make someone dirty.
- A Mush who wants to hide the fact that they've gotten dirty may try to discreetly shower. Keep an eye on crewmates who often enter the dorms, especially if they don't have a good reason for doing so.

Keep an eye on crew activity. Mush are often starved on AP because their Mush skills cost lots of to effectively use, and because they don't benefit from eating. If someone has been failing to relay projects, or they insist on taking a bed without much to show for it, they might be Mush!
- You may be able to trap a tired Mush by asking them to eat; if they refuse, or if they can't account for the the food should have given them, they will look very suspicious. (However, this can be countered with Phagocyte.)
- An advanced Mush-hunting strategy is "AP-tracking", aka literally keeping track of players' AP usage. If you're very familiar with how much each action costs, you should be able to estimate how much any given crewmate has spent throughout the day, then check for discrepancies.

Communication

Your teammates can't help you out if you don't talk to them. Make frequent use of both public and private channels to share information that can help root out the Mush. Just remember that the people you're talking to might already be infected...

Chun is always human, and therefore she can always be relied upon for confidential information. She should usually be the first person you go to if you want to share your suspicions.
Players who have been confirmed human (see below) should create a private channel where they can discuss private knowledge.
If you've noticed odd behavior, you might want to notify Chao or Andie. Their Torturer and Confident skills (respectively) can reveal a crewmate's recent action history, which may catch them performing Mushy actions.
Eleesha can print THE List using her Tracker skill, giving her a list of names — one of which always belongs to an Alpha Mush. Sharing this with trusted persons can be a big help to the hunt.
If you see indisputable proof that someone is a Mush (such as spore extraction, conversion, or murder), you should immediately let your crewmates know!
- Announcing this in the public channel is the fastest way to put the entire ship on notice. However, if you want to be more discreet, you could instead add as many people as you can to a private channel (without the Mush).

Confirmation

It helps to know who you can trust. There are a few different ways that you can confirm others' humanity, allowing you to speak freely with them.

Finola's List, an item obtained via the Xyloph DB, contains a list of 2-4 humans who were uninfected at the start of Mush selection.
Anyone who catches Diseases or Disorders is guaranteed to be human, since the Mush cannot get sick.
- However, a Mush who already had a disorder when they were converted will keep the disorder until it is cured.
Anyone who begins to starve is guaranteed to be human.
- This can be faked, but it is rather hard to do so.

Even if you confirm someone's humanity, they could still be converted or

Transferred into later. Beware!

Elimination

Once you're sure that one of your fellow crewmates is a Mush, you'll need to take them out before they do the same to you!

Make sure that you're as certain as possible about your target's guilt. If you get it wrong, then not only have you lost a teammate, but you've also spent a lot of and given the Mush an opportunity to act.

Always confer (privately) with your teammates before killing someone, unless immediate action is required.
Make sure that you have enough to finish the job! Combat's RNG-dependant nature makes it very expensive.
Get help from crewmates with combat-related skills (such as Chao, Derek, or Stephen).
Make sure that Ian is out of the room. If Ian is your target, be prepared to spend a lot of AP.
- If Ian is in the way, and he's offline, a character with Wrestler or Solid can kick him out of the room for 2 .
If you know the locations of Weapons, use them to help dispatch your target as quickly as possible.
Beware of Transfer! If the targeted Mush's skills suddenly disappear, their body now hosts the victim of a Transfer and you should immediately stop attacking them.