032. Video
[Today, Light looks much better. He exudes confidence, is tidier, looking ruthlessly into the camera. Something of a smile curves his lips, even if it doesn't reach his eyes. The change is definitely visible. His fingers are knitted on the table in front of him, and the room he sits in is less degraded than the apartment he'd been in before.
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His response is almost immediate, demanding, and utterly careless considering their currently precarious position after the recent attack.]
What do you know about brother?
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I know he probably went back home to the time he was taken from, if he's not here any more. Not dead, but you won't find him, either, and that's not to say he won't come back, but it might be a while.
It's not just him, either. You seem like you have questions and no answers; nobody to answer them for you. That's why you went to the cathedral, isn't it? And after Edgeworth?
So I want to help you. Both of you. This is the only time I'm going to make this offer, so consider carefully what my help might mean to you--the city knows me very well, but I know it better. Nothing escapes my notice. My answers cannot be taken from me, but if you are reasonable, they will be freely given--the truth as I know it, if I have it. Nothing else ( ... )
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Seems like you know an awful lot about me, hmm? [A pause, and then:] Mother can give me the answers I need. Do you really think you can do better?
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My position here isn't to do better. You've made it clear you want answers and I am offering them. You don't want them and you walk away, or you accept them, and I help with this situation you've found yourself in. I was on the run from the police here myself, quite recently.
You're lost, without your guidance, without your purpose. I know exactly what that's like--I lost everything when I was brought here, again, and I am quite alone now; powerless. In essence, you have nothing to fear from me.
[He tilts his head slightly.]
What do you have to lose? You don't like my answers, then you go elsewhere for them, my only requirement is that you do me no harm, one way or another. Are the terms so unacceptable, or do you really not need the answers after all?
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Mother is here. [As far as Kadaj was concerned, anyway.] She brought me here. She came to me when I first arrived. They were in her church. [And that had been unacceptable. That was all.
There's something defiant in his tone: a child refusing to admit he was wrong. But mostly, he seemed to be stalling, wary of giving an answer until he was absolutely certain...]
What do you want?
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[He doesn't know about Aerith, but he can understand the rest, simply as being wishful thinking. There is something lonely and almost juvenile that strikes him about Kadaj's words. Any connection to his mother is clearly important to him. It's something to stay on the right side of, and that means no longer questioning it.]
Perhaps I was wrong, then, in that respect. Forgive me. As you can see, I can only do my best to give you your answers, that is why I can't ask for much in return. Only this--I can't give you answers when I'm dead, and I won't give them under duress, but I will speak to you whenever there's something you need to know, or something you don't understand. You come to me first, and perhaps we can work to an answer that stops you from causing more trouble, and - for your benefit - keeps the police off your trail.
That is my only request. You never, ever seek me out, and I will do you the same honour. When you decide your business with me is done, then it is done, and we do not involve ourselves beyond ( ... )
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A small, cruel smile played on Kadaj's lips, his eyes burning with defiance.]
I won't stop killing people. Not if they get in my way. Are you going to get in my way?
[Testing his boundaries, perhaps.]
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Am I in your way now? No. Nor do I have any intention of putting myself into your path, and certainly not for other people. My own safety is paramount to me.
[He knows he's walking on eggshells. Careful, careful. Why did he ever agree to this? Oh yeah, because he didn't have much of a choice.]
Would you rather I withdrew my offer and allowed the police to close the net? Perhaps you think yourself above consequence, but they have prior experience in dealing with people like you. Essentially, without my help, it's only a matter of time.
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[It sounds arrogant, but Kadaj knows he's already backed into a corner. Even so, he was too proud to hide himself away from the police. This then was a kind of puerile rebellion, a child refusing to admit that he could ever be wrong, that he could ever lose. No, he'd kill them all, when they finally closed in on him. Every last one. And it would serve them all right.
Pacing, pacing. His long pauses spoke perhaps of hesitation- Or was he simply focused on something else? Not that it would be obvious what to someone unaware of the connection he and his brother shared - that was, the connection of separate pieces of the same, single mind - but even so...]
But, do you really think you can be useful at all? [His focus had finally shifted back to the NV, eyes piercing.] I won't agree to anything unless you can prove it.
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[Light is direct, and cool.]
I've done this before, I have nothing to prove to you. I'm wrong, you lose nothing. You choose to not accept my help and you lose nothing. Quite simply-- [He smiles, soft and confident.] --In one hand I offer you possible benefits for no price. In the other we forget this happened, and as a result you neither win nor lose.
If you chose to say 'no' because you don't trust me, then it's your loss not mine. I'm no threat to you, nor one of the ones backing you into this corner. Go ahead, if that's what you want--as I said, I won't offer it again, no matter what kind of trouble you find yourself in.
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[Finally his pacing stills, and he seems to be gazing out of a window, presumably that of the apartment he shared with his brother. There's a short silence, and then he laughs, child-like, but with an edge like a blade.]
I accept. But I hope you understand... Lie to me, and I will hunt you down, just like that prosecutor. Except you won't get off so lightly.
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[He turns away from the window, the light at his back suddenly throwing his features in to shadow.]
As for Edgeworth... He was a warning. That's all. If I'd wanted him dead, he would be. But he's no threat to me, no matter what he thinks. He was a warning to anyone who thinks they might be.
[The truth, or not?
Questions, however, are not forthcoming. The problem with people who understand so little to begin with, you see, is that they don't know the kinds of questions they need to ask. Kadaj? He was much better at simply demanding.]
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[Light watched, quietly.]
Edgeworth is loud, but that is all he is. He doesn't readily accept things he doesn't understand, and even rejects things he sees with his own eyes. You, for instance--I assume you have some kind of powers? Someone from Cloud's world mentioned 'Fira' to me once before - a kind of fire magic. What about you?
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Mm. [He lifts his left arm into view of the camera, forcing energy into the Materia buried within it. The result was a curious sight. Glowing circles of various colours - green, blue, yellow, red, purple - that shone through black leather as though it were thin as paper.] It's Materia. There are lots of different kinds.
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The most beautiful things are often the most dangerous. It's no wonder you feel so secure. Each of the different kinds controls a different kind of magic then, I take it? That would definitely help against the police, especially when their powers are elemental.
[He doesn't want to seem to be asking too many questions, but he thinks it's safe too if he makes his awe absolutely clear.]
There's nothing like that in my world--can anyone use it, or do you have to learn?
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