[TRIAL] Ezra, Pt. 1

[shibrogane]

"Aren't you all guilty of something similar? Have you revealed to everyone you know that you're a magical impostor, Advocate?" Sonny smiled, cat-like. "Nevertheless, I'll allow the charge--but first you must prove that not only was the Burning Man aware that it could be done, but that he was aware that it could be done at no risk to himself. We will not become your old Otherworld, requiring everyone to bathe in blood."

They waved a hand. "You're all dismissed."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I wasn't levying charges against him for impersonating the Ezra born of this instance, Judge." She flipped a page in her notebook. "The cases of others from the first instance do not include the existence of a pre-existing consciousness still present and trying to persist. Amending this charge to include that the Burning Man must have known it could be done and must have known it could be done without harm does not account for the fact that he should have been searching for a way to rectify it." She looked up.

"By including those stipulations, you are placing the Burning Man's life above that of Ezra Fitzpatrick, when they should be on equal footing. The case remains that upon inhabiting Ezra's body, the Burning Man needed to pursue a solution so that he wasn't using this man's life when the man in question could still use it. The prosecution wishes to put forth that the Burning Man did not actively pursue a separation and would therefore be guilty of the charges." If Leila and company could have done it through sheer will alone, the Burning Man, with all his experience, should have done it long ago.

shibrogannnne

 

[shibrogane]

"How dare you," said Sonny. "I knew Ezra Fitzpatrick since he was a baby. My fathers were friends with his mothers. My papa taught him how to shave, Advocate. I don't know your Burning Man from Adam, but I do know that as things stand you have no way to prove that he had any knowledge that the Ezra I watched grow up and who I care about like my brother was still in there.

"My requirements stand. Prove he knew there was continuously-existing conscience, prove he knew it could be done, and prove that he knew it could be done without harm to himself, and I'll find him guilty. You're dismissed, and if you keep arguing with me, I'll sanction you."

The Sembla2nce of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Her eyes narrowed. Fine, she thought. It was clear that this seemed weighted in the Burning Man's favor. There was no way to prove the two stipulations about the Burning Man knowing he could separate and without harm to himself. He'd just ******** lie in his own favor and it didn't matter anyway. Whether he knew if it was possible or not, the onus was always on him to even try.

"Very well, judge," was all she said. Temperance already hated how everything had changed. She just wanted to go back to nursing work in her clinic - to actually finish setting up her clinic. Under the old rules for the nobles, that would have counted as nobles' work. This... she wasn't a lawyer, she was a nurse. Temperance flipped her notebook closed. To Chief Mercer first, then. And definitely to Leila and Eve. She swallowed a sigh.

shibrogane

peace out cub scout

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun lightly tapped his arm with his fingers as he watched all of this transpire. So far, this wasn't looking too great for the prosecution. Temperance had quite a bit of work on her hands, but quite frankly... he wasn't sure how well the whole nobles-are-lawyers thing was going to work out. He knew he didn't have much that may be considered as actual evidence, which was frustrating to say in the least. He'd have to see how this all manages to play out. With a shake of his head, he got on up, then left the room.