Ataraxion: Mailbox

[jurisimpudent]

"You've reached the voice mailbox of Miles Edgeworth. Leave your name and number and explain why you're contacting me."

Comments

[andblockbuster]

Made the wrong people angry. I didn't ask a lot of questions at the time. All I knew was that... she'd be okay at the end of it. And that was that. I didn't question.

[jurisimpudent]

Why didn't you?

[andblockbuster]

Because it wasn't my job too. If I had questioned- if I doubted it. They do things to beat disloyalty out of Dollhouse employees. Bad things. Things I under no circumstances wanted to be on the other end of.

[jurisimpudent]

...Such as?

[andblockbuster]

[There's a sigh on the other end of the line.]

We had this place called the Attic. It was like... a mental suck. You get stuck in this endless fear loop, constantly playing your worst nightmares, over and over again, just to keep your brain hopped up on adrenaline so it can power a massive supercomputer.

You can see where after finding all this out... I was all for blowing it up.

[jurisimpudent]

[Okay, that...is horrific.]

Certainly. But did you do so, or did you stay on?

[andblockbuster]

We blew up the HQ. Whether or not that did anything or not, I don't know, but that much happened.

[jurisimpudent]

That - you -

[Well, that was not expected.]

You - did not go to the authorities, you instead chose to blow it up?

[andblockbuster]

The Dollhouse manufactured a senator, Miles. They own everything. We have crooked cops. The only person who ever went against the Dollhouse before we splintered off ended up working for us. That bad.

[jurisimpudent]

That - What - I'm sorry, you expect me to believe that what appears to be a glorified prostitution ring controlled the government?

[andblockbuster]

It was a glorified prostitution ring with delusions of word domination, actually.

[jurisimpudent]

Delusions do not equate to reality.

[andblockbuster]

Yeah, well, they would have been really really real not-delusions if we hadn't blown the mainframe.

[It's funny because they become really, really real not-delusions anyway. whoops.]

[jurisimpudent]

Well -

[Stubbornly:]

No matter how much power and influence a corporation or organization wields, there will still be more honest men than there are men in their pockets. On the police force, in the government, and everywhere. You still ought to have gone to the authorities.

[andblockbuster]

Hindsight's twenty-twenty, Miles. I can't exactly undo it.

[jurisimpudent]

I still - It -

[Good point.]

You still ought to feel regret!

[andblockbuster]

For what? Blowing up an empty [mostly..] building with a billion dollars worth of brain-screw tech in it?

[jurisimpudent]

That's right.

[andblockbuster]

I don't know if I can ever feel bad about that. That seems like a big win for the good guys, personally.

[jurisimpudent]

If you have turned to violent action, can you truly consider yourself one of "the good guys"?

[andblockbuster]

Morality is programming, Miles.

[jurisimpudent]

[And that's answered with an immediate sharpening of his tone.]

It is nothing of the sort. There are things that are absolutely right and things that are absolutely wrong. Destruction is wrong.

[andblockbuster]

Are you religious?

[jurisimpudent]

That - Of course not. I'm an atheist.

[andblockbuster]

Okay, most traditional morality stems from some guy coming down off a mountain with a couple of rocks he got from God and people have accepted this for thousands of years, regardless of whether or not they believe.

Programming.