So I heard you like evidence...

[straight_and_true]

Who: Phoenix and Edgeworth
What: Proving the existence of the Dark Hour/catch up stuff
When: 11:50 PM On the 20th.
Where: Starting in the hotel lobby.
Rating: Around PG-13. I think.
Status: Closed.

[Well, now, hasn't this been an interesting day? One minute he's in LA, taking a break from one of the more emotionally trying cases in his career, and the next... well. He's in a strange place with a bunch of strange, equally foreign people. The receptionist hadn't known anything about the person paying for all this hotel stuff, nor could he find any information on the mysterious phones. Then again, he isn't really surprised by that; he's not the only one who's been investigating, after all. More interesting at the moment, though, is this so-called "Dark Hour"... which he's guessing is what Edgeworth wants to discuss. That, and something around it...]

[Phoenix glances up at his clock before turning off the alarm and heading down to the hotel's lobby. He's early, but there's nothing to do here anyway.]

(Who knew life would change so fast? What kind of place is this, anyway? I've never even heard of a city with a name like this... and it isn't exactly a small town, either.)

[Regardless, all he has left to do now is wait. Not a big deal... the lobby has plenty of comfortable seats.]

Comments

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth is almost as early; he walks out from the stairwell at 11:52 in a black trenchcoat not unlike the one he wore during winter at home. What is unlike home, however, is the fact that there's a spear strapped across the prosecutor's back. Despite this, he seems remarkably calm.]

Wright.

[One word and a nod of acknowledgment is all the greeting Phoenix gets.]

[straight_and_true]

[While Edgeworth might be calm, Phoenix is far from it upon seeing that weapon.]

What the heck?! What's with the spear, Edgeworth?

Keywords. ;)

[truthsnomiracle]

Merely a precaution. I've yet to procure a weapon of my own, so I'm borrowing this one.

pfft.

[straight_and_true]

[There's something about the idea of Edgeworth using a weapon that just seems ridiculous at the start.]

Hey! What're you so worried about, that you'd drag along a weapon like that?

[truthsnomiracle]

[If only the concept could have stayed as ridiculous.]

As I've said, it must be seen to be believed. I will say this, however: you will most likely see others pass through the lobby with such things at this time of day. It's a rather unfortunate inevitability of this place.

[straight_and_true]

What? Really? And no one finds that suspicious?

[He can feel his stomach sinking.]

Don't tell me all this talk about monsters is real.

[truthsnomiracle]

Come. We should wait outside the hotel, though within sight and easy reach of it.

[Without directly addressing the question at all, Edgeworth starts walking towards the door out.]

[straight_and_true]

[Oh, that doesn't sound good.]

Edgeworth! You're dodging the question!

[truthsnomiracle]

Given an inability to immediately present evidence of a magnitude that matches the claim you would otherwise make, would you not do the same, Wright?

...

...Forgive me. For a moment, I forgot who I was talking to.

[straight_and_true]

Hey! I can suspend disbelief where I need to, Edgeworth!

[He isn't you! Grk.]

Though, I often forget that you don't.

[truthsnomiracle]

It has, at times, been more complicated than a mere refusal to suspend disbelief, but that matter can be discussed once the basics of our overall situation have been exposed.

[Edgeworth continues on his way for the door.]

Come. We need only wait seven more minutes before the evidence will speak for itself.

[straight_and_true]

I guess that's what makes you a prosecutor and me a defense attorney. Reasoning's always going to be different.

[Phoenix shrugs and follows. There's no need to tell Edgeworth that he'd been planning on investigating this anyway, after hearing about it. If Edgeworth doesn't take that for granted, then he knows him less than Phoenix thought he did.]

[truthsnomiracle]

Doubt does come more naturally to me than trust, yes.

[Edgeworth leads Phoenix out the door and to a nearby crosswalk. Of course it could be taken for granted that Phoenix would investigate the Dark Hour on his own, but he also knew that such an investigation could be a dangerous affair, and that he could help Phoenix see a number of key points a lot faster.]

In fact, given that difference between us as well as other factors, I couldn't help but wonder at first why it was I who was taken and not you.

[straight_and_true]

Hmm... Did you come up with an answer?

[Because Phoenix can't think of anything right off hand. But then, he hasn't had the time to consider it like Edgeworth has.]

[truthsnomiracle]

Unfortunately, all that I have on that matter is speculation. Evidence concerning methods by which one would kidnap people from across space and time and the motives for doing so are things that I scarcely understand how to begin pursuing, in part because of which aspect of reality I long avoided facing. It's been a struggle to learn anything at all about the case, in fact, since the criminals have had several months' head start in which to conceal evidence before I arrived here and apparently no one else with investigative skills was here before me.

[By the time Edgeworth stops complaining, they're across the street from the hotel, at a spot with a reasonable view of some roads and the ocean.]

[straight_and_true]

Wow, that's... Really? I guess they're just lucky they have you now, then, huh?

[Phoenix leans against the wall of a nearby building, wondering what to expect, exactly. Because really, he has yet to see any hint of any kind of monster.]

I mean-- there's nobody I'd rather have on my side in a case like this.

[truthsnomiracle]

It's a relief to have you here as well, Wright. At the least, I can assume that your investigative efforts will be focused on the kidnapping as opposed to the curiosities of this place. While the possibility of a connection hasn't been ruled out, neither has it been proven.

[Six more minutes, Phoenix.]

[straight_and_true]

So that's what made you insist on me trying for a new badge? Guess I'd better get on it, then.

[Borinnnnng.]

[truthsnomiracle]

Were it only your investigative skills I wished to see applied, I wouldn't consider it crucial that you specifically regain your job -- merely desirable. As it happens, there's a particular need for a defense attorney who is also a kidnappee, for a reason that will become clear... [...checking watch...] ...six minutes from now.

[straight_and_true]

Huh... Alright, I guess that makes sense. Are you going fill me in on how far you've gotten in your investigation while we wait?

(Because if Edgeworth is right, and nobody's been looking into it for the months before he arrived, we don't have a whole lot of time to waste going down the same paths over and over again.)

[truthsnomiracle]

Very well. I've been spending two months investigating the hotel due to the fact that free room and board for newcomers is precisely the opposite of what a hotel ought to do in order to turn a profit. Said investigation has proven to be incredibly difficult and showing signs of deliberate interference. It was only days ago that I was even able to learn the name of the man who purchased and renovated the hotel in time for the kidnappings to begin.

[straight_and_true]

Good thing I asked, that was going to be the first thing I looked into. It was too convenient.

[Phoenix frowns, disturbed that it'd take Edgeworth, of all people, to get just a name. Then again, this isn't home, and two months isn't much time to make a name for yourself, let alone acquire any kind of real power. Still, at least they have it now, which is a positive thing to consider.]

So now we have a name to work with. What about that interference?

[truthsnomiracle]

The interference is suggestive of someone with a lot of power and sway, and has been too extensive to be anything but deliberate. Aside from the expected steps such as missing documentation, they've gone so far as to have phone numbers disconnected and contrive rather deliberate coincidences to deny me opportunities to interrogate people.

[straight_and_true]

Urgh... That's the worst kind of interference.

[Maybe he doesn't know it as intimately as Edgeworth does... but his own stint trying to get the sleezy CEO of Blue Corp to answer to justice was painful enough. His gut still remembers.]

[truthsnomiracle]

I must agree. If nothing else, however, I've at last outmaneuvered my opponent sufficiently to link the name "Trey Matre" to the hotel's purchase. Unfortunately, I've yet to verify his existence.

[straight_and_true]

His existence? You mean, you think it might be a pseudonym or something?

[truthsnomiracle]

That is one possibility, yes. I can think of two others as well: he has a more powerful patron capable of erasing his legal existence, or he belongs in this particular world no more than we do.

[straight_and_true]

It could be both, even. In fact, I wonder just how likely it is to be both. There's a lot of people here pointing towards the second option, so if even one was commissioned by someone that powerful, then they only had to keep under the radar rather than erase already existing files.

[truthsnomiracle]

A fair point, Wright.

[Edgeworth glances at his watch again, for lack of more to add to this branch of the conversation. Four more minutes...]

[straight_and_true]

[Phoenix stares at Edgeworth like he grew a second head. It's one thing to dish out backhanded compliments-- those he can ignore when there's more important things to discuss. But Edgeworth openly admitting Phoenix has a point? Really? That's strangely amazing. Astounding enough even that he has absolutely nothing to say to that for a moment, though the mix of expressions crossing his face must be entertainment enough.]

[truthsnomiracle]

[Entertaining indeed, enough to provoke something else amazing -- the barest hint of a chuckle within his throat before he speaks.]

Why, Wright, you behave as though I've never said "bravo" before.

[straight_and_true]

Not a genuine one! Who are you and what did you do with Miles Edgeworth?

[This is just mind blowing. Still, he can't help but rise to the bait and make a jab of his own.]

[It's actually kind of nice-- a relief. Like he's being treated almost like an equal. A very nice change from the condescending attitude in court.]

[truthsnomiracle]

I believe I've already explained that, although you can be forgiven for not clearly recalling testimony from over a year ago.

[straight_and_true]

Not what I meant. You're different even from when I last saw you. More open, maybe?

[truthsnomiracle]

Do recall that we're normally both working when we interact, Wright; it isn't proper for the defense and the prosecution to discuss the case over a cup of tea. Furthermore, when I stand in court, typically I've prepared a counterargument for every eventuality I can conceive of -- that is, after all, how I work best. Or do you believe me to be contrary for its own sake?

[straight_and_true]

Even beyond that, Edgeworth. Did something happen after the case with Godot? You just... seem a lot more at ease.

[Phoenix holds up his hands as if to say "I get your point", though.]

Not saying it's a bad thing. Just surprising.

[truthsnomiracle]

Do you have any basis for this assertion aside from the fact that I conceded a point?