[video]

[glassinine]

[The thing about employing text is that when you start using it when all your broadcasts are in video, people tend to question why you've suddenly switched. So he makes the decision to instead compose himself as best as he can and use video instead.

Unfortunately, he always sort of overestimates his ability to compose himself. He certainly doesn't seem distraught, or panicked, or anything of the sort, but he's definitely shaky. This is definitely a far cry from his normal, slow, quiet, lengthy broadcasts.]

I'm leaving on a business trip abroad for...some length of time. I'm - not certain how long. Please don't try to contact me; I'll be far too busy to answer any messages.

Good day.

Comments

[mightiswright]

[ Isn't this a familiar story?

Phoenix sits down at a bus stop bench nearby. ]

Those are some words I've said and heard before. None of us knew how to control our powers without practice. [ And if he knows Edgeworth, practice is likely the furthest thing from what he's been doing. ] Hiding yourself away in some corner of the world isn't going to help, you know that.

[glassinine]

[But Edgeworth shakes his head, tightly and miserably.]

Wright, you know what I do. I make people...miserable. With just a touch. So it's different for us. Fires can be put out, but this...This is something that destroys people.

There will be no practicing. There will be no taking risks. I'm going where there's no risk of hurting anyone.

1/2

[mightiswright]

Where's that, Canada? You know there's no tea or paperwork up there, right? It's just trees and snow for miles around.

2/2

[mightiswright]

[ Okay, joking aside... ]

My point is, there's nowhere you can go where you can't possibly hurt someone. Even if there was, do you really plan to stay there for the rest of your life? Don't be stupid, Edgeworth.

[glassinine]

[Phoenix alone gets the truth, gets his honest feelings undistorted by lies or self-loathing exaggerations. Phoenix knows Edgeworth better than anyone else in the world, after all. There's no point in trying to make himself look worse to his friend.]

I plan to stay there as long as possible. Think about it, Wright. What happens if Trucy sees me on the street and comes over to give me a hug? Or if I bump into someone on the street? The streets are crowded in Heropa. I need to be somewhere where no one knows me, and where the population density is lower. And I need to stay there until this...stops.

[mightiswright]

And what happens when Trucy finds out Uncle Miles skipped town to hide out somewhere alone because he couldn't have faith that we would help him? [ She'd be upset, that's what would happen. ]

There are plenty of telepaths here and people with mind powers who can help you learn how to control it.

It's not going to stop. [ Even if it did, it'd only be a temporary reprieve. ] Maybe for a little while, but not for good.

[glassinine]

And how will they help me learn to control it? I've already had one offer - but someone who will need it to be used on him first. Or another man who will control it by taking away my power of speech. These aren't solutions, Wright.

[mightiswright]

Neither is what you're proposing.

[ Maybe it seems like one to him, but there's no way Phoenix can accept it. ]

[glassinine]

At least what I'm proposing will bring a stop to it. Even if only for a little while.

[mightiswright]

[ This is so frustrating, because he has a point. A completely misguided and unsatisfactory one. And while he'd point out that if someone is offering him options... he can't in good faith force Edgeworth to do anything he feels genuinely uncomfortable doing. Including using his powers on someone, even for the sake of learning.

But it still isn't any kind of long term solution.

So this is Phoenix stewing in silence for a few seconds. ]

... What about the program for new imPorts?

[glassinine]

[ He relaxes just a little bit. If Wright is changing the subject, that means that he's perhaps conceding the point. Edgeworth isn't glad to make Wright concede this, but it's...easier. ]

I'll keep working on it long-distance.

[mightiswright]

[ Phoenix will never concede the point, and he's going to keep trying to find another way other than 'run out into the wilderness', but for now... He just sighs. ]

Where are you planning to go? [ Pause. ] Don't tell me you're actually going to Canada.

[glassinine]

I am.

[ Edgeworth speaks quietly. ]

Which isn't just about the remoteness. Canada is a close neighbor and a close ally to the United States; I want to go and get some sort of idea of how they stand in this conflict. After all, if it comes to all-out war...We have children here, and I wouldn't count on them being excused from the fight. I do want to seek out someplace they could flee to.

[ With a bit of weary dryness: ]

I'd like to at least put all of this foolishness to use.

[mightiswright]

[ Trust Edgeworth to be thinking so analytically even in the middle of all this. ]

War is war... I don't know how much we can count on another country to take in who knows how many refugees. Even Canada. [ And frankly from what he's seen, he's not certain the children in question would even cooperate with being sent away. ]

But that's the worst case scenario. It might not come to that.

[glassinine]

Well. As the saying goes: "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

[ Though it must be admitted that Edgeworth spends a great deal more time on the preparing part than on the hoping part. Take, for example, the current circumstance. ]

I'll let you know what the situation is once I get there. You might be quite right; it might be thoroughly unsuitable.

[mightiswright]

If you're going to quote lines at me, at least choose ones that you actually live by. [ Yeah, he's calling you out on the first half of that quote, Edgeworth. ]

Anyways... I expect to hear back from you regularly, or I'll get Trucy to start pulling your stuff back out of her hat. [ Starting with his cravat, right off his neck. ] You know she can and will.

[glassinine]

[ With a weary, sad sort of humor: ]

Is that a threat?

[mightiswright]

Of course not. [ Do you really think he would stoop so low as to threaten his oldest friend? ]

Think of it more like a promise.

[glassinine]

Hm.

[ For just a moment a very small, small smile. Then it's gone. ]

Stay safe, Wright. I'm counting on you.

[mightiswright]

[ It's a little reassuring to see that. ]

You know me... I always stay out of trouble. [ Hah... haha... ]

[glassinine]

...Of course.

[mightiswright]

Is that doubt I hear?

[glassinine]

Would there be any justification for it?

[mightiswright]

None whatsoever. So I'll take that as a 'no'.

[glassinine]

Good. Then don't make me regret the lack of it.