she spreads her wings and takes to the skies.

[yatagarasu]

Open Post: The Kay Faraday Edition
This is my permanent Kay Faraday open post. Spam me with prompts, picture prompts, AUs, and the like. Indicate canon point or universe when necessary. Please note that I don't do slash, smut, anything sexual or anything overly and excessively violent.
Canon	Future AU
Choose a canon point, any canon point! Even from AAI2, why not.	7-8 years later, AJ/DD era. Prosecutor who studied under Miles Edgeworth. Still hyper and makes thief jokes. Still the Yatagarasu.
Somarium	Mask or Menace
Lived with Edgeworth and Stitch. Recruited Ema, Trucy and Maya into the Yatagarasu. 19 years old. Had college plans.	Can command and talk to crows, replicate voices and sounds perfectly, and use Charter Magic. Juror for Teen Court.

Badger get!

code by cawaii

Comments

[truthsnomiracle]

Microphones within the headphones themselves? What purpose could that possibly serve? It seems strange to record whatever the listener is being made to hear...

[Edgeworth takes a look at the plans in question and blinks.]

"Operable for initial three seconds?" Curiouser and curiouser... One would think that within that timeframe, the only thing to be recorded would be the rushing of the wearer's own blood — the illusory "seashore" one hears when one holds a shell to one's ear, or in this case wears headphones.

[yatagarasu]

What if...that time is used to hypnotize the person wearing the headphones? Then after that, whoever's on the walkie-talkie gives the orders?

[truthsnomiracle]

In only three seconds? Aside from that point, however, your hypothesis sounds all too likely to be the intended function of this two-piece set given the evidence. If it does function in such a way, that in turn would raise possible lines of argument concerning the case, particularly given Mr. Condon's assertions concerning his actions. Like it or not, if we're to learn the whole truth of this case, this system must be tested on someone — someone not officially associated with this case, given the nature of the law and the specific possibility being tested.

[yatagarasu]

I dunno, can you hypnotize someone and order them around at the same time?

[Kay pushes some paperwork aside and confirms that the headphones and the walkie-talkie seem to be fully assembled and...charging? She picks up the headphones.]

Looks like we don't need to assemble them, at least.

[truthsnomiracle]

Then the only question is who to subject to this mad inventor's work. If it does anything like what it appears it was intended to, this could involve nothing less than a violation of the sanctity of the test subject's mind. Whoever was allowed to operate the walkie-talkie would need to be someone the test subject has deep and well-founded trust in.

(There are precious few I can even conceive of asking such a favor of...)

[yatagarasu]

[Gumshoe isn't here to do Edgeworth's dirty work, and it would be way too much trouble to lug this stuff out and ask for volunteers. Kay folds her arms across her chest, stares at the equipment and ponders what Edgeworth just said.

He was looking for a guinea pig, basically. In all honesty, Kay was a bit scared of what would happen, but maybe as long as they knew how it worked and how to turn it off...

She raises a hand.]

I'll do it. Well, once we know one hundred percent how to do it and that it won't, say, fry my brain or anything. [A sheepish laugh. It was clearly meant to psych herself up and take her mind off the less pleasant repercussions.]

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth's eyes and mouth alike immediately widen in shock, disbelief, and fear for Kay's safety. The prosecutor may have been weighing a few candidates in his mind, but Kay was not one of them.]

Y-you?! Kay, I...

[And for once, Miles Edgeworth is at a loss for words, or at least words that he's sure are the right ones to use. "I can't ask that of you" is one thing that comes to mind, but pushing away someone offering to make a sacrifice for the truth seems fundamentally wrong. "You would trust me so far as that?" is another thought that crosses his mind, but it seems like such a foolishly sentimental display of weakness and vulnerability he simply should not have.]

[yatagarasu]

[Kay gapes at him. Why does he look so stunned? She shrugs.]

If we wanna be sure this is a hypnotizing machine, how else are we gonna prove that without any scientists to help us read the rest of his paperwork?

Besides, we can't carry all this out and ask around for a guinea pig, can we?

[truthsnomiracle]

...It goes beyond that, Kay. Mere analysis of the schematics by experts wouldn't be enough. Even if we did verify what this is and whether it looks as though it would work on paper, it would then be necessary to prove that it does in fact work as intended. It would then become necessary to determine the extent of what it can cause a person to do. To act as the guinea pig for such an endeavor is... a great deal to ask of anyone.

Furthermore, there is the question of what someone could do with that knowledge once uncovered; the greater the possibilities, the greater the responsibility of the one given the leash.

[yatagarasu]

[Kay leans back against the third desk, thoughtful.]

But someone has to do it. And I know you wouldn't let me...well, you wouldn't let me turn into a mindless zombie, right?

[truthsnomiracle]

Of course not!

[The words tumble out of Edgeworth's mouth an instant before he even realizes he's saying them. He then rides that determination to continue more thoughtfully:]

If we are to do this, we shouldn't rush in blindly. I ought to at least read some of the literature here in order to make sure that I don't cause you any accidental harm or spoil the experiment with poor technique. In the meantime, determine whatever else you can about these inventions.

[The on switch is simple enough to find on the walkie-talkie if Kay looks; it's a simple physical slider on its right side. The headphones aren't quite as obviously easy to turn on; to judge by the schematics, the switch for those is of a similar style, but hidden under a small cover in order to prevent them from being switched on or off accidentally.]

[yatagarasu]

[Kay gives him a reassuring smile.]

I knew you wouldn't let me and my brain down, Mr. Edgeworth.

[truthsnomiracle]

(She places her faith in me with such earnestness... I can do nothing less than my utmost to prove myself worthy of such faith!)

[Edgeworth's return expression is a determined grin. He says nothing, however, instead looking through and skimming the various resources on hypnotism on the computer's desk in order to find dos and don'ts concerning the handling of an entranced subject. As it turns out, one bound notebook is full of comparisons and notes about different assertions concerning the the boundaries and possibilities of hypnosis, what different types and styles of suggestions are likely to work or fail and in what ways, and far more.]

(Mad or not, I must admire this man's diligence in sorting through all this contradictory information in order to determine the truth. A pity that he may well have applied this knowledge to such a destructive end.)

[yatagarasu]

Hmm...we should also look at the second desk.

...Is that a phone charger, or is it something else disguised as a phone charger?

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth looks up from his skimming briefly to side-eye Kay.]

Why would Mr. Erickson leave so much crucial evidence lying out in the open here, including a ground-breaking new invention, then disguise one particular device as a phone charger?

[yatagarasu]

Don't look at me, maybe this is so top-secret that even if someone found out about his plan, they should never, ever find out about whatever the phone charger is hiding!

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth sighs, shakes his head, and returns his attention to his reading.]

(It never has been possible to fault her for a lack of imagination.)

We could time lapse here if you want

[yatagarasu]

[Kay doesn't dwell too long on the phone charger, however, and proceeds to leaf through the documents on the second desk. At least she's quiet now.]

[truthsnomiracle]

[Kay will find that a lot of the documentation on the second desk has to do with sound mixing and editing, as well as with some kind of esoteric auditory concept called "binaural beats".

Edgeworth, meanwhile, is able to use the respite Kay offers him to finish skimming the notebook with Erickson's notes about hypnosis and assessment and comparisons about others' assertions about it. He then goes back to read a few sections more carefully, and can't help but shudder at parts...]

(As I read how easily a hypnotized person's thought processes can supposedly be led, either deliberately or accidentally through careless phrasing, I can't help but be reminded of certain abuses in questioning I was taught how to exploit. All the vulnerabilities of the human mind, stripped of their armor... and yet, somehow I must think of ways to test the implied capabilities of the invention we've found safely.)

[yatagarasu]

[Kay frowns in thought as she reads the papers, then speaks her thoughts out loud.]

There's something here about sound mixing and editing. Maybe this is how he makes the commands hypnotize-y!

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth blinks, snapping out of his reverie and looking up from his reading again.]

That may well be part of it, though I have the impression that this system involves several features interacting with one another to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

[yatagarasu]

...Now that's what I call, "some assembly required".

[Kay continues reading.]

1/2

[truthsnomiracle]

[That weak attempt at clever wordplay earns Kay a Look.]

(Was it really necessary for her to grasp for a punchline in order to fill the silence resulting from her having nothing to say on the matter?)

2/2

[truthsnomiracle]

[Rather than verbally calling her out on it, though, the prosecutor returns to his own reading.]

(If Mr. Erickson's notes are to be believed, while many of the myths surrounding hypnosis are in fact entirely false, a few that are regularly denied are merely half-true or vary depending on the situation and the relationship of the individuals involved. Indeed, he has an entire essay spanning several pages just about the single myth that those in such a state are helpless, and the common counterclaim that such subjects retain full control.)

[Edgeworth takes a few minutes to read this part.]

(If this is to be believed, Kay's willingness to trust me so much in the first place suggests that she may be especially susceptible to my suggestions in particular once hypnotized. It also begs the question of just how well Mr. Erickson and Mr. Condon might have known each other — or, alternately, whether Mr. Erickson had an accomplice whom Mr. Condon might have been more vulnerable to.)

[yatagarasu]

[Kay smiles sheepishly in reply when Edgeworth gives her the Look.

After quietly reading for a few more minutes, she sighs, yawns and tosses the paperwork back onto the desk.]

This is worse than studying for my chemistry final...