[text] god I'm sorry I can't help myself I love posting in this game too much you guys are so great

[glassinine]

[ That's right. It has been one week - less than one week - and Edgeworth is already bored and restless on vacation. So here he is. ]

A few items of business.

Wills. The risk of unexpected disappearance due to Porter malfunction is significant. Please be advised that, in the absence of kin or a legally recognized will, any possessions accrued in this world by a disappeared imPort will revert to the government.

I would recommend that all imPorts visit an attorney to write a will with them so that their possessions and funds either go to a friend or stay in the imPort community. I am willing to do this work pro bono; I have little doubt that other members of our legal community here would be willing to do so as well.

Please spread this offer to new imPorts when they arrive.

My thanks to April Ludgate for bringing this vital issue to my attention.


Employment. There are two primary difficulties facing imPorts if they choose not to register. The first is finding employment. I have been accruing a list of imPort-friendly businesses who are willing to hire unregistered individuals, and I am currently working on setting up a service that will help new imPorts find job placements. The first step is finding someone who will work as a career counselor and manager of this service; please contact me if you wish to apply for this job.


Fund. The second difficulty is, of course, finding money. It is difficult to sustain ourselves, being as we are refugees, if we do not have support from the government; those who reject government support are often at a loss.

To counteract this, I've set up a legally registered fund. This fund will make interest-free loans to any imPort in need of support.

The current endowment is $26,000. This is a paltry sum, as you can see. It is desperately in need of donations. All donations will be completely tax-deductible. One-time donations are appreciated, but continuing donations are even more so; I myself am donating 10% of every paycheck to this fund. It need not be so much; every bit helps.

Phoenix Wright is the other individual working with the fund. Contact him or myself if you have any questions.



Thank you very much for your time and attention.

Comments

[doneproperly]

What of them? ... They are but lucky bystanders.

[glassinine]

Who can now afford food and shelter.

[doneproperly]

... For a month, perhaps. Maybe less. ... Magicians are not particularly noted for their charity.

[glassinine]

Hmph.

But a month of shelter and food means quite a lot to a person. That might seem a paltry amount of time to you, but truly it is anything but.

[doneproperly]

... I suppose.

[If he sounds somewhat distracted or deflated, it's because he is.

All this talk of philanthropy and self-interest has him thinking of something else. Another incident, three years ago...]

[glassinine]

...Is something the matter, Mr. Mandrake?

[doneproperly]

... It's nothing. I was momentarily distracted by something.

[Mandrake's tone is... far off. Kitty's words ring in his ears.

"... You care nothing for people like us! We're just here to... to provide your food and clean your houses and make your clothes! We slave away in your factories and workshops, while you and your demons live in luxury!"

He hadn't examined her words too deeply at the time. He had only brushed them off, not wanting to believe that the citizens of his country, the citizens he worked so hard for, were really suffering under the rule of people like him. But it seems like Edgeworth and Kitty were more right than wrong-- it was a paltry amount to him. He had indeed never worried about food or shelter.]

... Perhaps there is something in what you say after all. ... I shall think on it.

[glassinine]

[ A bemused pause is followed by a thoughtful: ]

I'm glad to hear that I have perhaps made my point. Though I will confess that I haven't any idea how I did so.

[doneproperly]

Do not flatter yourself overmuch, Mr. Edgeworth. It was just... your words reminded me of something that another person said to me, a long time ago. A very... curious person I have never quite been able to figure out.

[glassinine]

[ Don't flatter yourself is perhaps a rude rebuff, but Edgeworth isn't offended; instead, his voice grows a bit wryer. ]

I see. Someone rather...ideologically opposed to you, I am guessing?

[doneproperly]

... Indeed. A ringleader of Britain's anti-government terrorist movement. I was responsible for chasing her down for a number of years.

[glassinine]

[ Well, that's enough to drive away his amusement. ]

And you caught her, I hope.

[doneproperly]

Yes... and no. ... It's a rather long story.

[glassinine]

I'm in the midst of drawing up paperwork, and it would not do my quality of work any harm to listen as I work. Do go on.

[ That's a blatant excuse. He is, truthfully, full-on just curious. ]

[doneproperly]

[There's a brief hesitation on Mandrake's end of the line. In these last three years, he had practically built a shrine to Kitty Jones in his head-- something intensely private and personal, but also pure. A symbol that was his and his alone, untainted by others.

Though Edgeworth can't see him, Mandrake shakes his head as if to clear it. He's being foolish, and he knows it. The Shrine of Kitty in his head was all a lie-- he loses nothing by speaking of her now.]

Three years ago, [so, he would have been about fourteen] I apprehended her. However... she had stolen a magical artefact of some importance to the British Government a few days prior. An object of extreme magical power and historic significance-- William Gladstone's staff. It was used to conquer most of Europe in the last century.

While she was in my custody, I was negotiating with her for the location of the staff. She led me to the hiding place, but shortly after we were attacked-- not by The Resistance, but by a golem. A terrible creature made of Earth and resistant to all magical attack, it acts as a puppet remote controlled by a far away master, transmitted via an animating spell stuck on a piece of paper inside their mouth. The art of making them had been thought to be lost in Prague decades ago. The puppet master turned out to be a member of our own government, but that is a story for another day.

As you may have noticed, I am not exactly... well-suited for fighting of the non-magical kind. Though it pains me to say it, I was knocked out by the creature. When I came to, the golem was crumbling into pieces, and Ms Jones was nowhere to be seen. ... As for what happened in the interim, I have but only one unreliable eye-witness account.

[glassinine]

[ He's quiet, listening. When Mandrake pauses: ]

That she saved you, I suppose?

[doneproperly]

[There's another pause, and when he replies, his voice is rather softer than his usual.]

... Indeed.

[glassinine]

Do you believe this account?

[doneproperly]

... It is an indisputable fact that the golem would have killed me, had something not stopped it. Though I cannot even begin to understand her reasoning, that I am alive and well today proves that she did. The eye-witness would not have done as much-- he possesses neither the courage, ability nor inclination to have done so.

However, this same eye-witness also told me that she perished at the hands of the golem soon after. Vaporized instantly. There were scorch marks on the ground to prove it. For the last three years, I have lived believing as much.

[glassinine]

Hm. The way you phrased that...it does not sound as though you truly believe it.

[doneproperly]

I... had no reason to disbelieve it at the time. However, not a day before I found myself here, I... received an account that claims she may yet still be alive.

I find myself unsure what to think, truth be told.

[glassinine]

Is the account credible?

[doneproperly]

... The witness himself is unreliable by nature-- a miscreant who will lie and cheat at the drop of a hat if it is to his own benefit. He has no loyalty to anyone but himself.

But it is for that reason I accepted his initial testimony. He had nothing to gain from concealing the truth of Kitty Jones' fate. They barely even knew each other.

[glassinine]

I see.

Had her...group continued to operate during such a time as you presumed her dead?

[doneproperly]

[He shakes his head before he realises Edgeworth can't see him.]

Her specific unit were all killed during a very risky operation they took on a few days prior to her capture. So, in that sense, no.

But other groups continued to spring up over the country over the next three years, in any case.