Tis' But A Dream

Andrew Edgeworth

Andrew couldn't really get answers about his projection after it ended, with how everyone left after painfully extricating themselves from each other as soon as he woke up. As ready as he told himself he'd be to face its contents, he was only human. It's one thing to make up your mind that it doesn't matter what people think, another entirely to see them say it out loud.

He'd know soon enough when he looks up from a quick washing-up before bed, and sees an unlikely trio approach his cell.

Bow-wow

"Hello Mr Andrew!" Bow-Wow greets as politely as ever, waving as he approached. Andrew's projection had… certainly been an experience! He was certainly glad they were no longer low-gravity, and he didn't miss the fact they'd all kind of… unceremoniously landed in a pile once gravity had returned to normal. He'd seemingly gotten over the mild vertigo by now, at least.

"We kinda… left a bit weirdly after your projection, so I wanted t'know if ya wanna know what we saw?" He tilts his head.

Tatsuko Onizuka

"I know what you are."

Oh look, Tatsuko is here too, saying a strange, nonsensical sentence unprompted and with no context as though it means something. It probably does not.

Andrew Edgeworth

"Ah, hello…"

This wasn't remotely the kind of reaction he was expecting from a projection of his murder, especially from Bow-Wow. A meme from Tatsuko wasn't that surprising, though.

He speaks slowly, clearly confused. "Yes, I think I would like to know what you saw."

Bow-wow

"W-Well if y'ask me, it was kinda a lotta nothin'?" Bow-Wow tilts his head to the side, glancing over at Tatsuko. He seems… confused. "I wouldn't really say it was… 'bout a murder or anythin'?"

He scratches at the side of his mask. "We saw… a guy who looks like ya, a lil' younger, We were… kinda more worried 'bout not smackin' inta each other…" He slowly, comically turns to stare at Tatsuko after he says that, actually.

"…But then we saw… ya parents? I think? Tellin' ya to get a job an' all, and then… uh… a text about a press kit… whatever that is. And then… "

He kinda stops before he continues.

"Anime art??????? I didn't know ya were into that stuff????? It was pretty cool, though. I dunno a lot 'bout it, but… my brother… he likes-- liked it."

Andrew Edgeworth

A tired sigh. "That sounds like my twin brother, Simon. He and I were kicked out at 18 and had to start over with finding where to live. He's the one responsible for the 'anime art' you saw. Our first big break was when he got a meeting with some animation executives to pitch what would be his most famous show nowadays for the children's entertainment company that I work as an accountant for. A press kit is just a collection of items used to summarize and promote an idea for a new show concept."

Despite the light of recognition in his eyes about the events he's talking about, Andrew gets even more confused - almost outright annoyed. "It is a 'whole lot of nothing.' I fail to see why the projection machine thinks my past has anything to do with my murder."

And when he actually says what he did…it's obvious that he's right.

Emily Lewenhock

While it had seemed most sensible to give Andrew some time to recover, Emily couldn't help re-joining the group as it came together by his cell.

(Hard to miss it, being right next door to hers.)

She still felt a bit like she was chaperoning a bizarre high school field trip to some behind-bars version of Comicon, but that was neither here nor there.

Tatsuko Onizuka “Making anime sounds cool though. Way more fun than counting.”

"Things just about always sound cooler than they end up being." No comment on the "counting." It's not like that was wrong.

Andrew Edgeworth And when he actually says what he did…

"Is that why we were floating? I did think the, uh… texture?—of it was weird, but maybe that's… Hmm. Biggest blast I've ever been a part of just burned half of one guy's eyebrow off, so not exactly comparable."

Comparable, huh. Hah. She twisted a lock of hair between her fingers.

"Certainly doesn't sound like any legal definition of murder I'm vaguely familiar with, regardless of what else it may have been. Kind of feels like the same boat as me, honestly."

"…The other details, not so much." Obviously. After all, Andrew had seen her projection. …Whatever the heck it actually was.

Tatsuko Onizuka

"Yeah, I didn't get a lot of it, but it was fun! We were flying the whole time, so that was pretty cool, but hey, it's your mindscape. With magical girls." She pointedly ignores Bow-Wow's look. "Making anime sounds cool though. Way more fun than counting." Does she… not know what accounting is?

Upon Andrew's confession, she pauses for a moment to take it in, before…

"And you said your crime wasn't cool! There was an explosion! That automatically makes everything, like, ten times cooler!"

…Yeah, that's to be expected. People died, Tatsuko.

Andrew Edgeworth

Tatsuko Onizuka “And you said your crime wasn’t cool! There was an explosion! That automatically makes everything, like, ten times cooler!”

That earns her a very pointed look. "I'm flexible with nonsense up to a point. I don't know what kind of moral compass guides you, but it's personally important to me that a lot of people must have died - heavily injured at minimum."

Emily Lewenhock “Certainly doesn’t sound like any legal definition of murder I’m vaguely familiar with, regardless of what else it may have been. Kind of feels like the same boat as me, honestly.”

"…it would truly just be semantics in a situation like this. Manslaughter is hardly more flattering to say." His brows furrow. "If you would like to discuss your projection - either here or at a later time - I wouldn't mind. Its…implications are troubling. Nobuko and Vincent saw it as well, if you'd like their input."

Bow-wow “Mr. Andrew, I’m s-sure it wasn’t your fault! It… doesn’t really sound like it was!”

Andrew's clearly pained by Bow-Wow saying this, grimacing as he speaks. "…at what point does intention still matter? Ten deaths….a hundred…thousands? The cutoff is arbitrary when you've impacted enough lives; I certainly wasn't doing anything heroic at the time to begin with. I appreciate that you're trying to see the good in me, Bow-Wow, but it's an exercise of futility."

He was getting the feeling that the more the trio explained, the more confusing an image they were painting.

"All this talk about floating and flying - where was this even taking place? It's not like it happened on the moon."

Bow-wow

Emily Lewenhock She still felt a bit like she was chaperoning a bizarre high school field trip to some behind-bars version of Comicon, but that was neither here nor there.

With Tatsuko and Bow-Wow as her company, yeah, that's definitely an accurate description.

Upon hearing what Andrew supposedly did, however, Bow-Wow's eyebrows shoot so far up his head it's a surprise they don't show over the top of his mask before--

"Jesus fuck, Mr. Andrew!" Bow-Wow says it without thinking, before clamping his hands over his mouth- or where his mouth would be, and trying to figure out how the hell to recover from that. And then he looks over at Emily too. Oh my god, her too? What was it with these guys and mass-murder by… unintentional circumstances?

Just be a serial killer like any normal guy, gosh!

"I-I'm sorry- that was- that was so rude of me!" He squeaks out, sounding absolutely mortified by his own words. "Mr. Andrew, I'm s-sure it wasn't your fault! It… doesn't really sound like it was!"

Emily Lewenhock

Emily's a bit too busy snorting at the sudden swearing puppy to worry too much about said puppy eyeing her after her confession.

Andrew Edgeworth “…it would truly just be semantics in a situation like this. Manslaughter is hardly more flattering to say.”

"Mm, fair. Doesn't sound like you were the only actor involved in something that big, is all."

Andrew Edgeworth “If you would like to discuss your projection - either here or at a later time - I wouldn’t mind. Its…implications are troubling.

"Ah, right." That was a thing. "I am curious…"

Just what part would seem to have troubling implications? Of what she'd actually done. Well. If they saw that moment, it would certainly be a little sus.

"…I promise there were no illicit drugs involved."

Andrew Edgeworth “…at what point does intention still matter? Ten deaths….a hundred…thousands?

It's a serious point, and Emily had to stop herself from exponentially escalating matters. Killing a morbillion bacteria was not a funny joke in context, unfortunately. Just listen and observe. It paid off more often than any other course of action.

Bow-wow

"It was kinda like… a room?" Bow-Wow is so glad for the change of topic. He's… really trying to see the best in Andrew- he'll choose to believe Andrew didn't kill people on purpose! At best it was just… nonchalance and neglect.

"And there was no gravity, and we were all floatin' around and bumpin' into each other…" He's staring holes into the back of Tatsuko's head now. Emily is forgiven for elbowing him in the face, but Tatsuko's pinball will never be forgiven….

Andrew Edgeworth

Bow-wow “It was kinda like… a room?”

"Just…a room?" Was it that nondescript? It only made him surer that the projection had nothing relevant in it. "The illustrations and the mention of my parents does make me wonder, though. So far, it seems that it's themed around my life from before my brother started his company…"

He shudders with a grimace.

"Going by that logic, the room you were in is probably my brother and I's first apartment. It was cramped enough with just us two, it must have been hellish with you three and the wardens. I truly have no clue what the lack of gravity could be a reference to."

Emily Lewenhock “Ah, right.” That was a thing. “I am curious…”

Even though any kind of privacy was out the window at this point, he still felt uneasy describing what he saw in front of others. "We were put in some kind of laboratory with…rather lacking safety precautions. A biohazard closet was just used as storage, a checkbook written for a large amount of money with an ambiguous signature, and some strange substance in a fume hood made me physically ill."

Andrew certainly wasn't going to blame Emily for an experience she had no control over, but he was obviously somewhat shaken by it.

Emily Lewenhock

"A residential sort of room. Not overly furnished, but enough. Maybe yours is going in chronological order specifically? Won't reach the crime until the final trial?"

"You're just that much of an organized and timely guy, huh?" I mean, if the projections were based on your subconscious and all, it… kind of made sense? As much as anything, really.

She nodded along—first apartments be like that, that's fair.

"I'm just glad we weren't in there with the really big guy, I guess." Imagine Kaoru also backflipping into everyone. No dodge capacity here.

And then her own projection…

"I mean… that's better than putting biohazards in the normal storage?"

She had no comment on the check but didn't look particularly befuddled by it, either.

"Yeah, that's… on theme, I guess. I take it you didn't have any lingering symptoms?" Imagine if they had [REDACTED] going around in this closed little prison. With no medical facilities. Nightmare for everyone. Could that kill the wardens, too? It wouldn't have exactly been released with malice…

Ah, she was getting carried away. Try not to zone out until the conversation is complete, please.

Andrew Edgeworth

Emily Lewenhock “A residential sort of room. Not overly furnished, but enough. Maybe yours is going in chronological order specifically? Won’t reach the crime until the final trial?”

"Then that absolutely is the apartment I mentioned, then. My condolences."

He looks to the side in thought.

"That would…actually make a lot of sense. Unsurprisingly, I keep everything as tightly scheduled as I'm able. I'll have to tell the wardens myself what happened, though, if it's going to take so long to get to it."

Emily Lewenhock “Yeah, that’s… on theme, I guess. I take it you didn’t have any lingering symptoms?”

"When I got away from it, it subsided to a feverish sensation at least. Once Vincent opened the closet door and ended the projection, it went away entirely. Thankfully, I didn't have to become patient zero in such close quarters."