Javert ✍ 002

[chose_death]

Who: Javert, Edgeworth and the Police Force Interviewees - Anyone who feels like playing this out. Pretty much everyone is in, so no worries.
Where: Government District Courthouse
Style: Third preferred, but I like first too. I just tend to tl;dr with Javert.
Status: OPEN LIKE THE WIND. Don't feel pressured to wait for Akihiko to go first - anyone

Comments

[chose_death]

Would that be so wise, Gale? Javert was known to have his prejudices. There was no reversing a decision to show him all of your power. Javert's eyes narrow, but whether it was due to intrigue or suspicion was left to be told.

Though it was Gale's word choice that gave Javert a start. Chase down a human being. With this body. Hm. He noted it and set it aside in his whirlwind of thoughts.

A demonstration will come in time. For now, a greater concern was nagging at Javert.

"Save the demonstration for the end," instructed Javert in a clipped, snappy tone. "It can wait. I want to hear you speak." He pushed his legal pad aside.

"Just hours ago you did not understand a word of the law. You must be confident in your understanding! One mistake will cost you -- the Service, even more!" Another tap of his square boot against the floor. By the slightly unhinged look in his eye, it was telling that this kind of issue was something he carried close to the chest. Something was bothering him, through that melancholic and stern air. "Can you guarantee knowledge and discretion? But do not be extreme about it, neither do we want scamps getting away. I am in no mood to test my men so frequently."

[honor_tactics]

Gale thought for a long time before he spoke.

"There is much about the world that I do not understand. I come from a world where the only law is the Temple--and their laws forced my Tribe to fight like mindless slaves for years. Every day I saw my comrades die--and because I did not possess the capacity for human emotion then, I did not care. New recruits always replaced those lost.

After this power came, I met a man who taught me that there was nothing honorable in simply obeying such a cruel demand. ...He taught me with his own life. His death gave me direction, and freedom. Freedom to choose my own path."

His own voice was becoming more and more unhinged as he spoke, though he remained calm. There was fervor here, and pain, but also a burning determination. "I choose to keep my Tribe safe--in the half a year we have been here, we have been betrayed by someone we thought we had to protect, and one of our number died because of it. I want justice...not just for my Tribe, but for all of Somarium, so that they will never have to feel the pain in losing someone dear to them as we did."

[chose_death]

A touching story, to be sure.

Unfortunately, Javert was not a man known for his compassion or kindness but for his ability to remain just. He cared little about tribes or temples or from how primitive a civilisation Gale had sprung. A just man cannot always afford kindness. He heard Gale's story out to its end, but it wasn't the emotional appeal that drew him in. Instead, he focused on the prime implications of what Gale had said.

No honor in simply obeying.

Throughout his life, Honor was never what Javert sought. He understood that remaining just did not always mean that he was honorable. But it recalled to him one very significant event in his fifty-two years of life:

The law was not always the just and moral means by which to live. Javert had allowed a criminal to slip away from him and out of sight of the law in order to repay a life debt. And yet, it was inconceivable that he should allow him to run free after so many years of rampant disregard for the law.

A profound, melancholic change befell Javert. His grip on the edge of the desk loosened, and his gaze lost its intensity, instead staring off to a space just to the left of Gale's face. His brows were drawn, his ever-scowling mouth slackened. He was lost in a bout of deep thought, subtle perplexion and confusion replacing his once certain expression.

"Your task is to enforce and not to question," spoke Javert to his own collar. "Do not think you can decide which laws to impress and which to ignore."

And all at once, Javert snapped out of it, pulling his legal pad close to him once more. He scooped up his pen and began to write.

"You would do well to report that murder," he commanded coldly. "Old and useless as it is, I will keep a watch on the villain myself."

[honor_tactics]

Gale had seen a flicker of...something, in Javert's eyes during that long silence. That's when he realized...

We are the same, you and I. You have only just recently awakened...

It was time to pay his debt to Lupa. If this was the best way, then so be it. To pass on the lessons that he had learned would be a difficult task. This man was not of the Junkyard. He had retained his emotions throughout his life, knew more of the world than Gale did.

But it wouldn't hurt to try.

"It has been dealt with already. But they are quite likely to attempt something similar again. They are both quite capable of killing someone who shares the same power as I...I would not expect you to try to keep track of them by yourself."

[chose_death]

"This and that," Javert tittered imperiously with a low tsking sound. Despite his recent lapse into... something else... he seemed to set his sights right back on track within a reasonable amount of time. Though there were little hints about him for those who might have known him prior to his appearance in Somarium - a misplaced hair, his cravat slightly off-center - that he never would have allowed to slip by if he were completely in his right mind.

"I want their names on the record! I will make certain they are properly tailed."

[honor_tactics]

Gale nodded. "Then you shall have them. Well--am I accepted into the Service? Or am I not what you had in mind?"

[chose_death]

The deep frown between his eyes thickened, his dark gaze flicking right back up to Gale. Javert did not appreciate tactics like this, no matter what kind of discomfiting nerve the interviewee struck.

"Do not presume to bargain with me that way," spoke Javert through his teeth. "The names first! Then we will speak of your employment."

[honor_tactics]

Obsessive. His heart is in the right place, but...

"A young man named Bat, with a red star over his left eye. And a young woman named Minatsuki. Bat is violent, and doesn't care to hide that fact. Minatsuki, however, is very talented at manipulating others. She presents herself as an innocent, someone in need of protection. But she helped Bat to murder my comrade. According to him...she is as vicious as Bat. And just as dangerous."

[chose_death]

"There it is, that will do well--" and again, muttering partially to his cravat, "Do you often attempt to lead a dance with agents of authority?"

Javert's pen hit the paper with a screech. In neat, impeccable handwriting, he wrote down exactly what Gale described in French. Minatsuki, manipulative tart. Bat, branded with a star, vicious.

"Come now," prompted Javert as he finished dotting his final i on his notes. "You have already showed yourself contrary. When I ask for names, you must give me names. Is this how you intend to make your reports?"

[honor_tactics]

That was it.

That was what Gale had been missing.

This man was not a mere agent of law, no matter how he presented himself. He had the makings of a Leader of the Junkyard. Ruthlessness, intelligence, drive, determination. He knew how to deal with such men. Especially the impatient ones.

"I did not intend to be contrary. I fear I have...somewhat misjudged your priorities. My apologies."

[chose_death]

Somewhat misjudged? Certainly this man was a naive and ignorant one, though he seems to be learning. Javert's nostrils flared, and he gave a low snort in response. If Javert could hear Gale's thoughts at that moment, he would have also disagreed that he was more than an agent of the law. A law enforcer was all he was, and a faulty one at that.

"I have not forgotten the interview," insisted Javert quickly. And indeed, everything Gale has said and done within Javert's modest, bare, tiny office had a bearing on the Inspector's ultimate decision. "First, you say you have a reference in another leader. I will take the reference." Javert slid a torn sheet of paper to Gale and an extra writing implement, urging him to jot down his previous employer's - or Leader's, as it were - name.

"Tell me what you expect from this work."

[honor_tactics]

Gale carefully wrote down his current and permanent Leader's name.

"I hope to protect those who cannot protect themselves. And bring those who wronged them to justice." He slid the paper toward Javert. "And I want to learn how to function in the world outside the Junkyard. I cannot live in ignorance forever."

[chose_death]

"You certainly cannot," Javert monologued absently once more, accepting Serph of the Embryon's written name from Gale. He would contact this employer imminently, though the Inspector had his doubts about Gale's worth as a member of the Service. Though, sadly, Javert had little choice from the slim amount of applicants he had interviewed. So far, only Raidou Kuzunoha proved to be the most promising detective.

"Anything else, or will that be all?"

[honor_tactics]

"That is all."

Gale remained seated. He was still studying this strange man. Strange, yet...interesting. What event had prompted this path of his...?