Night 48: Main Hallway 1-West

[sdatislife]

[From here.]Shinji paused at the major hallway, playing the beam of his flashlight over the walls. This was familiar by now. He'd come through this hallway a couple times before and it was usually as far as he'd gotten into the institute at night. Usually he just stopped - he didn't particularly want to find out how far the corruption went or

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[perfectrecord]

Hmph. Once again, this Xemnas made another faulty assumption about von Karma. Of course he cared about purposes and motivations -- his own. As far as criminals such as Martin Landel went, however, it mattered not whether they committed their deeds for fun and profit or for those pathetic "extenuating circumstances." What did matter was that they were guilty of their sins against the 656 sacred commandments that comprised Part 1 of the State of California's Penal Code.

Instead of saying anything on this, he just stared as he listened to Mr. Xemnas prattle on about the importance of knowing another person's motivation. When the man paused, von Karma flashed a cold smirk back at him and responded, his voice dripping a hint of sarcasm. "Thank you so much for your insight on such irrelevant matters, Mr. Xemnas. I always find it quite amazing how fools manage to twist simple observations into philosophical discourse. Now that you have finished your enlightening rambling, I will state once more that in Landel's case, it doesn't matter why he has falsely imprisoned us since it won't change his outcome."

That gaze was disquieting... for a moment, von Karma perceived it as bright green rather than orange. Blast it! This man was making a tacit demand to follow him -- to harass him -- but he did make a point about heading out alone. Very well. Though von Karma distrusted this Xemnas, his original destination was unlikely to expose the stranger to any information damning to the prosecutor. The man also looked stronger -- and more useful -- than that cowardly lion did. Besides, the prospect of making this night productive instead of spending it in his room yet again was desirable to von Karma.

"As it so happens, I had been heading upstairs to gather evidence to build my case against the Head Lunatic of his crimes. You may accompany me, under one condition." He narrowed his eyes at Xemnas, his gaze cool and firm. "You will not disturb my work once we arrive there. Understood?"

Without awaiting an answer, he set his cane to the floor and proceeded down the hall, taking care to keep his pace slow enough for Xemnas to follow.

[To here]