[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

text; private

[glassinine]

[That's a strange question. And an underreaction.]

Since February.

text; private

[attainment]

[Although he certainly recognizes the seriousness of the situation, Barnaby is detached enough that he doesn't allow the news to affect him too deeply. Between coming from a world where power types are as numerous as the stars, discovering his entire life was a lie, and waking up in an alternate universe, it is difficult to truly shock him at this point.]

In other words, you've had this power for about five months now, correct?

text; private

[glassinine]

Yes. But please do not claim that this is just due to inexperience. Experience has brought the opposite of control.

text; private

[attainment]

Are you certain the power is uncontrollable due to experience? Correlation does not necessarily equal causation, Mr. Edgeworth.

NEXTs who awaken at an older age often have a more difficult time adjusting to their new powers. For some people, stress alone is enough to make powers flare up by accident, which in turn causes more stress, which leads to more incidents. This often gives the false impression that their ability is impossible to control.

text; private

[glassinine]

And that might be the case here. I think it unlikely. If it is, this issue will resolve itself. In the meantime, I need people kept away from me by any means necessary. And Mr. Kaburagi is a meddlesome sort.

text; private

[attainment]

Take some time off if you feel it's necessary, but to believe the issue will go away on its own seems faulty, sir. Stress management and counseling are often recommended to NEXTs in your situation, and with good reason.

As for my partner, like I said before, I will remind him of his duties here if I must, but the volatile nature of your powers will mean very little to him. You, at the very least, would not intentionally use your powers to kill him, which makes you far kinder than some of the other people he's helped in the past.

text; private

[glassinine]

Sir, there is no kindness in me. Do you not understand? My power destroys the mind. It is monstrous, and it is uncontrollable. I am a danger nearly beyond imagining. The only decent thing is to remove me from society.

text; private

[attainment]

Mr. Edgeworth, do you truly believe a person is defined by their powers?

text; private

[glassinine]

No. But one can be defined by the good or the harm one does. I'm only capable of the latter, it seems.

text; private

[attainment]

What defines you is whether you take responsibility for your mistakes and are willing to reevaluate your life in order to avoid making them again. Perhaps you're convinced that's what your self-imposed isolation is. In reality, though, you're avoiding the true cause of the problem, namely understanding the nature of your powers and what you must do to control them. This is normal behavior for newly-awakened NEXTs, not unlike the stages of grief, but is no way a viable long-term solution.

You've had this ability for about 1% of your total lifespan. How are you so certain that it doesn't have any constructive uses?

text; private

[glassinine]

[All of this, though, is too rational. He doesn't want rationality. So he writes back, bitterly:]

I didn't ask for a psychoanalysis, Brooks.

text; private

[attainment]

[Barnaby freezes when he reads that message, his pale fingers helplessly hanging over the device's keypad. Part of him had already known it would come to this, but he'd at least wanted to try dissuading the man from doing something foolish.

There is nothing else he can say now. There is no reasoning with someone who doesn't want to see reason. Barnaby knows this all too well because he's been blinded by his own false perceptions before, is probably still blinded by some of those distortions even now.

In the end, he doesn't send a reply.]

text; private

[glassinine]

[An hour ticks by; finally, it becomes clear that Brooks isn't responding. So Edgeworth - bitterly satisfied with his victory, such as it was - sends one last message. The final words.]

The "heroic" thing to do is keeping people safe, isn't it? So keep them away from me. That is your responsibility, Mr. Brooks. Observe it well. I'll be counting on you.