Crybadger continued

[notaccurate]

SEE BELOW I'm making individual threads for things so that if a page gets long we can just move to a new comment thread.

Comments

[inspectormacarena]

[He's walking, he's walking! Though, by now his stride is back to its usual sashaying prance, so walking might not be the right word for it.]

Yeees, I follow that much, baby. So you're saying that if there are magic users around here, you'll see 'm using it for just about aaanything?

[notaccurate]

Exactly. So if you already know that magic has to be involved, looking at a crime scene won't be helpful. They will be careful to erase any traces there. But they will not bother in their everyday life, as they will forget the small details when they are not focused on covering their tracks. Much like how a criminal is careful to leave no traces of their presence in a crime scene, but does not bother concealing their presence when they are supposed to be somewhere anyway.

[inspectormacarena]

Makes sense, baby. Just one problem. Magic's not supposed to exist. The one guy who has something sooorta like it is selling his skills for a high price, so it's safe to assume we're not gonna run into any magicians out here in the streets. [...] Not the kind yooou're thinking of, anyway.

[notaccurate]

And we are unlikely to come face-to-face with a lion here on the street, but does that mean they do not exist?

[The walking is for food anyway, not magic. They need Hella groceries, and this gives them something to talk about. ]

[inspectormacarena]

[Wait, so the first lesson was 'magicians are easy to spot but we're probably not gonna run into any'? Hopefully the next lessons are a bit more helpful than that.]

Nooo, but at least lions can be found if you know where to look.

[notaccurate]

[No that was more about Cabanela insisting that magic-users are rare. In Luca's time lions are not seen outside of a few specific places, but they ate not as endangered as they are now, so the comparison made sense to him. ]

...right.

How about you describe what thus one man you know of can do, then?

[inspectormacarena]

[He doesn't respond immediately. First, he needs to instinctively glance around to make sure nobody's listening in. All of this is top secret. He really shouldn't be telling anyone about this.]

... Manipulation. That's what he calls it.

[notaccurate]

...well that is a pretty vague description that could cover pretty much any kind of magic. Did he specify what he manipulated, and how?

[Luca does not see the need for secrecy, magic is a very open topic in his world.]

[inspectormacarena]

People. [...] In a very physical, mind control sort of waaay. Apparently he can mess with objects too.

[Remember the very first time he asked about what sfeer theory could do? This is why.]

whoop whoop assuming things from canon

[notaccurate]

[Okay yeah that sure is a thing. Instantly Luca's mind flashes to the rumors he had overheard from soldiers at a bar, once they had returned from Valence after that messy political affair.

'Did you hear about that one solider? The one who inadvertently started the uprising?'

'I did actually, something about getting surrounded by Valencians?'

'Not only that, they say he turned his gun on himself during it.'

'Why would he do that? The city was crawling with soldiers, he could've been pulled out of there.'

'Well I heard that a sfeer may have been involved...'

Luca tries his best not to shudder at the memory. Poor man, he had deserved better than a death like that.]

...Ah. Such a thing is most certainly possible, but it would take an incredible amount of willpower to do so. If you are involved with someone like that, you really are 'messing with fire' so to speak.

[inspectormacarena]

[Incredible willpower, huh? Who even knows? He has no idea who the Manipulator really is.]

Yeah? I don't miiind getting burned if it means I get to pull my old friend out of the flames. [... Ah. And now he's outright admitted that the person he's trying to save is a good friend of his. Ah well.]

[notaccurate]

An old friend?

[That makes more sense then. The urgency in everything Cabanela has done, how serious he is taking all of this, the fact that he's even considering facing this manipulator rather than keeping a wide berth...of course a friend had to be involved.]

If I may ask, what happened, exactly?

[inspectormacarena]

[Sigh. Well, if he's already saying this much, he might as well spill the rest of the beans.]

Five years ago, his wife was shot. Right in front of his daughter. He says he's the one who pulled the trigger, but I knew riiight from the start it couldn't have been him. The Manipulator had a hand in it. That's why I've gotta catch that guy before it's too late.

[notaccurate]

How did you find out about this manipulator? Did he tell you?

[inspectormacarena]

Nooo, baby. Intel. I'm the head of Special Investigations for a reeeason. Any information that might be related to this guy makes it straight to my desk.

[notaccurate]

So he has been involved in more than one crime, then?

[Luca is no detective, and anything he can think of will probably be something Cabanela already thought of, but helping!]

[inspectormacarena]

Suuure has, baby. Pretty sure some of it was just showboating for future employers. He predicted a couple of impossible scenarios, then he made 'm happen just to prove that he could.

[notaccurate]

He sounds very dangerous, then.

[Luca is still hesitant about revealing his own talents, but.]

...It also sounds like you will need magic to help fight this magic. Or at least a strong enough willpower to resist whatever he is doing.

Failing that, getting him to accidentally reveal his powers in front of a large group would be enough to show what is going on, yes?

[inspectormacarena]

I get the feeling he won't caaare about what a large group of people will think. He'd just exit stage left in the confusion. [Or even kill all those people to silence them. ...Yeahhh let's not go that route.]

I'm gonna corner that guy myself, baby.

[notaccurate]

[What no that is a bad idea.]

I understand that it is very personal to you, but please don't. I highly doubt that you are an Introvert, so trying to face him yourself is risky at best.

Furthermore, if your friend is facing legal trouble, you cornering this other person would not help him much, would it?

[inspectormacarena]

[An introvert, what. What does that have to do with anything...?]

Hah. Baby, if I corner the reeeal murderer and arrest him, that means anyone who was framed by him is free to go. He's the only evidence I can get of my old friend's innocence.

[notaccurate]

If he manipulated your friend into shooting his wife, how are you going to prove he did anything?

[inspectormacarena]

[CANON NEVER EXPLAINS THIS]

I'll make it work. We already have enough information about the Manipulator to link him to the caaase. Having him in custody would be enough to throw the death sentence into reasonable doubt, at least.

[notaccurate]

[Boo on you, canon. ]

...and then your friend will spend the rest of his life in prison instead of being executed.

I certainly hope prisons have improved since my time.

[inspectormacarena]

[Dammit Luca that is not the point.]

Look, nobody believes he did it. Not his daughter, not his guards, not the chief of police... Nooobody. All we need is one viable, physical excuse to question his verdict and he'll be out on the streets in no time. I'll make sure of it, baby. [But it might already be too late so he would kindly like to stop talking about it now.]