IC INBOX | cerealia

[prosecutory]

Good day. This is Miles Edgeworth.

I cannot accommodate you at the moment, but please leave a message and I will respond as soon as possible. 

Comments

[braavado]

I think this one's been cleaned up already... [She gives him the cafe name and directions.]

Want to meet there in half an hour?

[prosecutory]

I'll see you there.

[And luckily for Korra, she won't have to wait long. Edgeworth shows up five minutes before his half hour passes.]

[braavado]

[She waves at him from one a table near the window.]

Thanks for coming... even when I called you pretty suddenly and everything.

[prosecutory]

[He stops when he sees her waving, and nods, walking over to her and taking the free chair.]

It's no trouble; with the city in disarray, it has been quite difficult to work where I normally do.

[The police station is probably in bad shape.]

[braavado]

[She nods, a slight frown on her face now.] Yeah... it's going to take a while to clean up everything that got damaged.

Anyway... I wanted to ask you about the tours. A friend of mine said you were collecting information about them before and I should talk to you if I wanted to know more.

[prosecutory]

Ah, yes.

[Edgeworth reaches into an inner pocket of his jacket and brings out an organizer - brand new, as he had to painstakingly rewrite some of his notes damaged from the rain and the flood.]

Not a lot of people spoke to me afterward, so I may not have all the details. Not only that, I personally didn't join the tours. [So it's all hearsay and he only has the word of a few people. At least he trusts a good percentage of them.]

[braavado]

That's okay. [Korra leans forward without even thinking about it, eyes intently studying the organizer.]

I mean, I'm really new to this place. Anything you can tell me would probably help.

[prosecutory]

[He opens the organizer, revealing pages and pages of notes in neat, precise handwriting. They say it's easier to retain information when one writes it down, and there were types around who could hack a CEREvice. Plus, who knew what CERES would do with this kind of information on the network.]

Several people were on the tours, divided into teams. Each team had a different experience and discovered different information. For example, one found history books, but none of them mentioned the Flamines - which, as you remember, were supposedly responsible for the destruction of our worlds.

Other people were gassed and deprived of a particular sense. Still another group was attacked by robots and found an imprisoned woman. It's like finding many pieces of the puzzle that don't quite fit.

[braavado]

I heard about the group that found the prisoner, but the rest of it is new.

[Korra bows her head slightly, scowling down at the table.]

No mention of the Flamines again. This is starting to sound way too familiar. It's looking more and more like the CERES just made them up or something to throw us off the trail.

[prosecutory]

Indeed. [Edgeworth drums his fingers silently on the table, next to his organizer.] I still believe that their story about our worlds being destroyed may not be as real as they claim it is.

[braavado]

So... I guess the real question is, why did they go through so much trouble to bring us here and trick us like this?

[Korra's gaze flicks up to meet his.]

What are they trying to cover up?

[prosecutory]

I don't know. Clearly, another reason for bringing us all here.

[He meets her gaze, his eyes steely.]

Perhaps CERES is mustering an army against a force unknown to us. [But that is just a theory. He knows he has no evidence. Hence the "perhaps".]

[braavado]

Maybe. [Korra quirks a brow at him.]

The way they're acting right now, it's going to be hard to convince people to fight for them, though.

[Especially when the "enemy" they're fighting isn't the Flamines, as CERES has been telling everyone.]

[prosecutory]

People will, at the very least, fight for their lives. If the colony is sufficiently threatened, they may choose to fight, just not for CERES.

[Edgeworth sounds like he's quite certain of this - because he was in the same position some time ago, learning to fight initially just to keep him safe, and only later on choosing to fight for a bigger cause.]

[braavado]

[She sighs heavily.]

I guess you have a point. If they're trying to send us out to fight some battle when we're not being threatened, though, it's not gonna happen.

[prosecutory]

Unless they reward us, somehow.

...Returning home would be quite the reward for most people.

[He writes something down in a blank page of his organizer, as if filing away that theory.]

[braavado]

[Damnit, Edgeworth, stop being so logical about this.]

Great. [Korra sighs.] So they tell everyone who is willing to fight, that their homes are actually safe and will be their reward? I wouldn't put it past them.

[prosecutory]

Neither would I. [He stops writing with his pen and proceeds to gesture with it.] But again, this is all conjecture.

Is there anything else you'd like to know? I don't have all the answers, but I will do my best to answer if I can.

[braavado]

[She shakes her head.]

I think that's it. [Pushing aside her glumness for a moment, Korra manages to muster a smile for him.]

Thanks. If I think of anything else, I'll give you another call or something. Maybe we can talk a little more if we learn something new.

[prosecutory]

You're welcome...Korra, correct? I'm glad to have been of assistance.