Day 52: Lunch

[purpletaint]

[from here]It was a race. A fight against patience and a Song's call. Still, the sedation's dredges churned through him. Two close at hand had a potent effect--much like the night that they were left in that town, and the morning after. Rubedo had came then. Came for them like something out of place, and wasn't that so ironic afterwards--when

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[fourstonewalls]

Lana strode to the bulletin board, her mouth set in a grim line. More contradictions -- and a reply. Tomorrow morning, then, and -- good grief. High Prosecutor Faraday's daughter here and attempting to restart the same illicit investigation that had gotten him killed? The girl couldn't be much older than Ema -- younger, if there was no discrepancy in time

[unheroed]

Caught between wanting to grab that idiot by his collar and shake him until he started making sense and just being curious about the idea of a different version of him in general, Harvey was led back into the cafeteria in a bit of a daze. He wanted to just track the man down again to get more answers out of him (as impossible as that seemed without a proper way to threaten him), but he'd already made an appointment with someone

[fourstonewalls]

Weren't doing well?  That covered a ridiculous amount of ground, most of it treacherous.  Damon, worried about her?  Unlikely, except in the sense he might be worried what she would do next.  It was fascinating, what freedom could do.  Like finding bedrock under only a foot of quicksand.  She wasn't sure where any of this was leading, but alea iacta set -- the die was cast.  Sink or swim, Chief Detective.  You can appreciate the irony there, cant't you?Harvey, on the other hand, didn't fall in the category of need-to-know.  Yet.  "Gant and I were partners, back when I was a detective.  Now he heads the department."   The first word of that final sentence had just a hair too much emphasis -- now was so relative, wasn't it?  "Funny, isn't it, how this place brings people together?"  The question was clearly rhetorical; she paused only to take a breath before continuing

[unheroed]

It was interesting, how both of them gave the same information. It meant they were either both telling the truth, or they had each worked out the same story and had decided to stick to it. Gant seemed a lot more suspicious than Lana did, at least from Harvey's perspective, so he had to wonder which one it was. Either way, what really stood out was how she passed off what was wrong with her as an illness, rather than mentioning her sister. He couldn't blame her for not wanting to talk about it, though. Being overprotective was more or less a requirement for an older sibling, as far as he could tell. He was an only child, but that was his guess

[fourstonewalls]

"I am.  The youngest in quite some years, as it happens."  Which was the explanation for the question he hadn't asked.  It had been hard enough coming in so young; the last thing she'd needed was people emphasizing it with each Miss Skye.  She'd walked into her new office a pariah -- intellectual primadonnas, cantankerous and competitive.  And there she was, not a single trial under her belt, in charge of dozens of competitive men and a smaller, but even more cut-throat band of women, all of whom had been thrilled to work with Senior Detective Skye a scant week earlier

[unheroed]

Harvey wasn't one to make guesses at someone's age (it generally led to a lot more trouble than it was worth), but he had noticed that Lana seemed rather young for her position. Gant had implied that her moving up was all his doing, but Harvey didn't want to believe that was all there was to it. It was true that he hadn't seen Lana anywhere near a courtroom, but from what he'd observed he thought she had what it took for the job

[fourstonewalls]

Cards on the table. She'd set up the question as obvious; now she had to answer it. "We did what we had to to keep the city safe." He'd been a District Attorney -- he'd know exactly what that could imply. If he'd been any good at it, he'd also know why. Not everyone fell to the temptation, but no-one could avoid feeling its tug.

"And, according to numerous people here, several months from now I myself will be accused of the murder of a detective. Given that I have no intentions of committing it, I assume the accusations are false." Her posture was absolutely flawless; she could have been a statue, except her lips were still moving. "I also know what our conviction rates are. I helped set them."

Now half of Miss Faraday's description made sense -- she'd wondered how Miles Edgeworth had ended up with the unenviable task, but if they were truly cleaning house, he would have to go too. And yet, she'd also implied he was still a respected member of the office. None of the pieces of evidence lined up, which was perhaps to

[unheroed]

That was the sort of vague, blanket statement that he'd heard from countless people in the police department, and it didn't sit well with him for that reason. It always came off to him as the sort of thing people said to make themselves feel better, or to try and rid themselves of blame. It did take his opinion of Lana down a few points, though he chose not to comment on it.

When she suddenly mentioned how she was apparently going to commit murder in the future, Harvey wanted to bark out a laugh and call her crazy. Still, after what he had heard from Jones last night? Apparently time wasn't static here. It was totally beyond any logic, but he was hearing more and more about it, and he was slowly trying to swallow the possibility of it being true.

"Well, maybe it is," he said with a nod. "Maybe they're trying to make you believe it's going to happen when it isn't." Though Harvey knew it was just as likely that she would commit that crime. Lana clearly hadn't taken any big falls during her time as a prosecutor. She hadn't had her

[fourstonewalls]

"Omissions, more than comissions. The good Chief Detective among them. He is a proud man, Mr. Dent. Why, then, was he so modest about his own position?" What have I told the board, Damon? Does it all end there? Ema was still free, in the future, and evidently working with the department. Did that mean Damon was, as well? Or did it mean they'd managed to go down together, partners in crime, and somehow keep the blood from splashing on Ema's labcoat

[unheroed]

What Lana said about Gant being proud seemed true enough to him, just judging from the conversation he'd had with him the day before. He hadn't necessarily seen his response to his post as modest, and had instead written it all off as more of the man's eccentricity. But still, Lana obviously knew him better than Harvey did, so if she had noticed that something more than the usual was off about the Police Chief, that was probably the case. "Well, you tell me," he said, raising his visible eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You're the one who worked with him

[fourstonewalls]

The change of subject was welcome, though Lana knew she'd have to finish the explanation about Gant's behavior at some point. Putting it off until she actually had one might be prudent, though.

"I hadn't met her until I arrived here. But yes, she's his daughter. Maybe he has retired. A worthy," she twitched, slightly, at her choice of words -- Sorry, Prosecutor Edgeworth -- but continued on without explanation, "successor could be what he's waiting for."

"The self-proclaimed Great Thief also belongs on your roster; she's the daughter of another former member of my department. He was murdered while I was still a detective." By a defense attorney. When it was all laid out like that, no wonder Harvey was growing more skeptical of everything she said. "Apparently his daughter has decided to exact a peculiar revenge." Very peculiar. She'd been so caught up in the other details that she'd missed the key point; Faraday had been killed to frame him as the Yataragasu. What on Earth was that girl thinking

[unheroed]

Retirement seemed possible, but all Harvey was going off was the guy's age. He hadn't gotten the best opinion of the man from the little that they'd talked; all he'd really decided about him was that he was too grumpy for his own good. Then again, it wasn't as if Harvey was the pinnacle of patience himself. It was interesting to know that Franziska's father was here, though, and that she had refused to name him on that post. He wasn't sure if it was something she would be willing to talk about, though, even if she was asked in person

[fourstonewalls]

"Likely? I'd have to say yes. But she's a child, and as far as I can tell, more eager than able." Lana sighed. That was a familiar observation. "Her father was killed by the previous Great Thief, at the courthouse, and rather than follow in his footsteps by investigating, she appears to have decided to emulate his killer." She shook her head. "I don't think she's a threat, even if Yew does put in an appearance. Callisto Yew, formerly a defense attorney. If she does arrive, don't underestimate her."

Faraday had. She'd undermined his case, and backed it up with force when he'd been left scrambling to defend himself against accusations of being the Yatagarasu himself. It was a wonder the office had survived that incident intact, let alone the later one. Two. Three. Four, with a fifth on the way. It wasn't just a wonder the office still stood, it was a wonder that anyone would ever choose to go into law in Los Angeles ever again.

[unheroed]

There were far too many children here, but if that was the case, then Lana was probably right in that he didn't really need to worry much. Not that he had to care in the first place, as he was hearing all of this second hand. It sounded like Los Angeles was full of a lot of drama and deceit, to the point that he really was wondering if Gotham had it easy in comparison.

But it wasn't the relations between the lawyers themselves that was the problem as much as the sheer level of crime on the streets. Part of the problem was in the police force, true, considering they let so many criminals get away without even being tried, but...

He was putting too much thought into something he should have left behind.

"I'll keep it in mind," he said in regards to the warning. "But most of this isn't my problem anyway. I'm not going to go out of my way to get involved, but if you need something..." Well, he'd be up for listening, at least. Whether or not he helped depending on something else entirely.

[fourstonewalls]

"My department, my problem. I can take care of this on my own. But the offer is appreciated, Mr. Dent."

Were they the only ones with quite so much trouble following them to the Institute? Harvey seemed quite unconcerned about anyone from home contacting him unexpectedly. There was one simple explanation; that he had nothing to hide, but that seemed unlikely. Everyone had something to hide.

What that was for Harvey was a question for a different day. She had far too many on her plate right now to be concerned with the affairs of a different universe.

There was, however, one thing she might not be able to do. "Though...my sister, Ema, seems to know our little Great Thief, or possibly it's the other way around. If things get interesting, well, she's still in high school. She's not a part of any of this." Whatever she might claim to the contrary. "An innocent bystander." Every word made it clearer that Lana claimed no such thing for herself, but that was alright. It was the truth, after all.

[unheroed]

That was the thing about people who were stubborn and wanted to do things on their own. You could offer to help them without really having to commit to anything (because they wouldn't accept said help), which really put him in the best position. He came off looking like he was invested without actually having to do anything