☣ o13; [voice]

[lucycoded]

[The video clicks on. Shinji is sitting back and away from the camera, settled on a couch. For those who saw Kazuhiko's face in previous broadcasts, the resemblance is perfect, save for there are no glasses perched on his nose, and there is a cigarette hanging from his lips. There's a teddy bear sitting in his lap; some might know him as Little

Comments

voice;

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You have your facts mixed up.

voice;

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[You can hear him smirking.]

Right, because your opinion is fact.

Did you die?

voice;

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It's not about people dying, Shinji. Let's rearrange your facts, shall we?

So Liquid hurts an officer in order to try and save Yaha. The officer isn't innocent by any means but they're still connected to the people who took Yaha. Liquid comes to terms with what he did, surrenders, and will be going over psychiatric evaluation.

SERO terminates Kazuhiko and Shinji in order to ensure the safety of the people around them and to validate their contract to keep him secured. Kazuhiko is innocent; Shinji is not. SERO is praised for what they've done.

voice;

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Only because you didn't die.

I wasn't going to name drop, but since we're going there, why not-

Liquid hurts you in order to try and save Yaha. You aren't innocent by any means, and you're connected to the people who took Yaha. Liquid is cornered and left with no other options but to take your 'surrender' or die and break numerous promises he made to his friend, especially me. Now, he'll undergo your psych eval and be under your finger from now on.

You and someone I can't name get yourselves a little plan and ambush me, you hand me over to SERO, knowing what will happen. You admit to being willing to kill an innocent person in order for the 'safety' of other people, when there's no real change in safety at all, only in the number of people actually willing to help.

Sorry to say, but that's only a breath away from pulling the trigger yourself. You murdered Kazuhiko, and you don't mind it at all, do you?

voice;

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Once he goes into the police force, he'll undergo therapy. There's nothing harmful about it. In fact, his friends can support him, too, especially the ones who aren't murderers. I'm sure Hal Emmerich will want to see him helped instead of harmed.

And you're wrong. I didn't know that you were going to be sent to SERO. I wanted you arrested and that's it.

[Her voice goes terribly cold as she tries to destroy any emotional connection she has to this.]

I didn't murder anyone. And I regret everything that happened to Kazuhiko.

voice;

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Therapy is just another word for brain-washing. Of course you don't think it's harmful, because you're standing over there in your delusions of justice and grandeur being all proud of yourself for throwing Kazuhiko under the bus. He's not like you, he's better than you. You're nothing but a pawn.

[His voice is strangely even, with little evidence of real anger.] Don't lie. You knew. You want everyone to believe you didn't so you can play the victim here while you strut your stuff. You wanted me dead, and you didn't care if Kazuhiko went with me. He trusted you, and you never really gave two shits about him.

Now you're doing it to Liquid.

voice;

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Kazuhiko was my friend. I didn't want him to die, I told him that we'd get him help. I had no intention of ever hurting him!

[She reigns even that small outburst in.]

He's going to get a counselor. He's not going to be touched by the companies.

voice; private

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Is that what you tell yourself? That he was your friend? That he isn't anymore, since he's not useful to you anymore.

[The cat's pretty much out of the bag, but he filters this none the less, to try and salvage his lie.]

Do you think Kazuhiko thought of you as a friend when he was dying?

You people are just as bad as the companies. You're no different, don't fool yourselves.

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I'm a stranger to him now. If he wants to be friends with me after knowing who I am and what happened to him, then that's his choice.

[She glowers at the NV.]

I suspect that he hated me. I wouldn't blame him if he did but he knew the consequences of having you. He knew he would suffer. He made it abundantly clear to me that he was ready to die so you wouldn't hurt others.

I was the one naive enough to believe I could save him.

[She pauses.]

Do you want to kill me, Shinji?

voice; private

[lucycoded]

So you murder a guy and drop him since he doesn't remember. Well played. I'd do the same thing.

[His voice barely changes.]

He didn't hate you. He was hopeful that he'd done enough good that someone would care enough to try and save him. Or at least be sad about it. As for his tendencies to expect death, it'd be better if you talked to him about that one.

And he was naive enough to think you'd try.

[A laugh.]

Do you want me to kill you?

voice; private

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[She bristles immediately at the comparison.]

I didn't murder him. And I didn't drop him, either. But what do you know about any of it? Nothing I say will make a difference to you.

I put him in prison with the hope that I would have time to find a way to help him, to get him what he needed so he could be free. I didn't realize that people had been petitioning SERO and putting pressure on them to do away with you.

It doesn't mean I didn't try.

[She closes her eyes.]

You keep talking like I should be punished. What's a fitting punishment, then? A bullet to the head? Another afternoon in that chair?

voice; private

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You murdered him, and you've dropped him. What I know is what I've seen. And there's a lot of evidence against you. As much as I'm pissed off, I'm proud too. I knew you had it in you. Just next time, don't assume you understand people.

I only know of one person petitioning to off me, and that's your little friend Doctor Yumeno. He's been on Kazuhiko's case too, even now.

Well then, you tried, and you failed.

[Suddenly his voice loses its jovial edge.] No, that'd make you a martyr.

I want to see you become just like me. Just like the people you put away or kill without a second thought. A monster to society. Because you are, you're a wolf in sheep's clothing who's trying to convince herself she's a sheep.

voice; private

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What evidence do you even have? Your opinion? Yes, that's a lot of good for everyone. The word of a murderer against fact.

I know I failed. That's why Kazuhiko deserves a better friend than I, even if he'll undoubtedly forgive me. That's who he is. Maybe you should leave him a note of how much of a bitch I am.

[She goes silent, though. A monster to society. Allegorically, even Edgeworth said that Batman was a monster and here she was being compared to him. What was she turning into on her own, anyway?]

I'm never going to be like you. It's not in my nature. I'm no sheep, but I'm not like you.

voice; private

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I told you what was going to happen, you ignored it and turned us in anyway. Fact. We were killed because you turned us in. Fact. You lied to him about what happened to him when we came back. Fact. You haven't spoken a word to him regarding anything beyond that. Fact. Murdered, and dropped, since he can't forward your career anymore.

If murder is the criteria for negating someone's word, then you're as bad for everyone else as me.

I'd rather not, it's better he doesn't know about things like this. It'll break him. I'm more inclined to introduce him to people who won't throw him under the bus just because he'll let you.

[That silence brings back his smile.]

You didn't hesitate to hit me with everything in you. I might've died from that if I had hit the wall. You know it, but you did it anyway.

We're all got killer instincts. Welcome to the club.

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And Kazuhiko told me to keep you in custody. In fact, he told me that he would never betray his friends and so I did not pursue them. And I haven't told him because he just arrived.

You, on the other hand, remember everything.

[Bastard.]

No, Shinji. I hit you fully knowing that you wouldn't die, just like you cut off my fingers knowing I wouldn't bleed out. I didn't want to kill you but I'm not stupid.

voice; private

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So you didn't pursue known criminals because of what he told you to do? What kind of cop work is that.

You can think what you want, it's not your business how much I remember and who I remember, now is it? You're little scapegoat has forgotten everything, that's probably a pretty big relief to you. I wonder if you could face him if he remembered it.

[A beat. His voice goes dark.] Who said I didn't know you wouldn't bleed out?

I think you did want to kill me. You wanted to see my head crack open on the wall of that warehouse. It's what I'm supposed to get for hurting you like that, right?