Day 03

[shimmershimmer]

[Last night, the Night Watch heard sounds of movement around Kimblee and McDougal's cottage just before daybreak. If they checked inside, they would find McDougal appropriately asleep, but Kimblee missing.]

[As for everyone else, dawn brings the morning announcements from the Shimmering Lady:]

Takano Miyo and Mitsuko, two Sinners, are lost to dreams.
Shuu Tsukiyama, an ordinary villager, is lost to dreams.
Isaac McDougal, an Incubus, is lost to dreams. Please bring me his body that it may be purified, and we shall begin the mourning process for the man he once...

...Wait. Kimblee is McDougal's Soulmate. Why is he awake?

He shouldn't be awake. He lost fair and square. He's breaking the rules. He is a blasphemer and a demon and ugly. Bring him here. Bring him.

Bring him to me.

((Status & Role Distribution
Current Night Watch rotation

So. Wow. Okay. Here's a thing I did not in the least expect to occur this early in the game, because clearly I am a fool.. So we'll be playing this by ear, and day 3 might end up taking more than the scheduled 24 hours (I'll watch it closely and keep everyone updated), but no matter what crazy-ass thing Kimblee decides to do with this, it shouldn't be a gamebreaker. Shimmer won't let anybody die who hasn't already been officially taken out of the game. Unless they explicitly ask me for that to happen, I guess!

Whatever happens, bear in mind the brainwashing rule-of-thumb: You can doubt the words of the Lady/Gentleman, but unless explicitly told otherwise, you can't break out of the world view provided for you, especially if spoken to directly.

If you'd like to consult with the Lady, she's here.
If you'd like to confront Kimblee, that's here.
And if you just wanna run around being useless and angry, come join Cassius over here.))

Comments

[lifescratched]

...

You are suggesting that the sleeping Faithful would have that power over you, a demon?

[fauxlosophical]

...I can't say for certain.

You asked me to tell you what happened; I haven't any idea how, and I don't understand what it means. But I saw Oswin last night, and he shook me awake. I was having a nightmare of some sort...that was how it ended. I couldn't sleep again after that, so I stayed up. When I tried to wake my partner up to ask him about it, perhaps to see if he was having the same nightmare, I couldn't wake him.

We're scientists; I found a few of our supplies and brought them here, because I suspected the Lady would announce our role to the rest of you. I didn't imagine you would have any interest in hearing a demon's word without insurance.

[lifescratched]

I see. Thank you for telling me.

[He says it quietly, and finally seems to come to a decision.]

One more thing, before I relay the terms of your surrender to the rest of the village. You mentioned you wished for us to spare your partner, but you also said that demons can leave their hosts when they choose. Couldn't your partner simply leave his host now? Or do demons lose that power once their hosts are trapped in nightmares?

[fauxlosophical]

It's the latter.

Once we've accomplished our goal, we have ways to recover our lost. We likewise have ways to recover yours...as I've said, this isn't about you or your kind.

[lifescratched]

...Hm.

I will go outside and speak with the others. No one will be allowed inside here until we have come to an agreement on your terms. Is this acceptable to you?

[fauxlosophical]

...It is.

[He edges back a bit, lowering his hands slowly enough that the entire motion can be seen without being interpreted as a threat; he doesn't turn around, but he glances over his shoulder well enough to let him see placement before he sets those cylinders down on the table behind him, splaying his hands out at waist-level once that's done.]

No harm will come to either of them; it's as I said, they were insurance, not an earnest attempt to murder any of yours.

[lifescratched]

[Connor watches him with bated breath -- even despite his word, it wouldn't be the first time Kimblee has changed his tune at a moment when he'd managed to earn trust -- and yet he puts the vials down, for now.

Visibly relieved, Connor nods.]

I will return when all is decided. [With that, he turns to leave the cottage.]

[lifescratched]

[After half an hour or so of discussions, Connor returns.]

I have conferred with the village and the Lady. We have decided to agree to your terms.

If you still agree to surrender peacefully, the police will place you under arrest. Your partner will not be harmed.

[fauxlosophical]

[He's not being threatening with those chemicals when Connor enters, and Oswin and Bulat's heads are still attached. So clearly things are going...a bit better than they were?

He listens to that for a moment; the mention of the Lady causes his expression to flicker quite a bit, but otherwise he seems rather calm, considering how this morning started.]

I imagine I'll be kept away from the trials, such that I can't influence the outcome of those any further than I already have.

[He raises his hands to shoulder-level as he says it, though, palms-out in a more or less universal sign of surrender, those alchemic arrays dark against his skin.

He doesn't approach Connor properly, but he does step away from that table with the vials on it.]

[lifescratched]

...That is for the Lady to decide.

[The briefest expression of unhappiness passes across Connor's face as he says it, but it's gone just as quickly as it comes. He doesn't approach, instead looking away to the cottage entrance where the other villagers are waiting.]

Detective Fulbright, you may arrest this man.

[fauxlosophical]

[...That request toward Fulbright seems to amuse him more than a bit.]

The irony of this is beautiful, you have to admit.

[lifescratched]

It is only fitting that he should do it, given he has been proven right.

[fauxlosophical]

Oh, I'm not denying that at all.

Should everything work out, you ought to come speak to me sometime. You're an interesting man.

[lifescratched]

...I will consider it.

[thefaceofjustice]

All right then. Mr. Kimblee, you are under arrest. Put your hands behind your back!

[What? No "right to remain silent"? Guess they don't do that in Ace Attorney world.]

[He moves in to get behind Kimblee and cuff him. Just be glad these are ordinary handcuffs and not heavy electrified shackles.]

[fauxlosophical]

[Don't worry, Kimblee has spent seven years in prison. Whether it's him or the demon accessing his memories is a moot point; the fact is that he knows how to make this easy on you and he's more than capable of doing so, and as such he will.

He's not going to fight you, Detective, don't worry. He said he'd go quietly if he was heard out, and for once he's not going back on his word.]