Breakdown
Chapter Five:
`Emmy Altava`
"…Well, I suppose it's as close as I'm going to get…" Joshua looked at the young woman sitting outside in the corridor, waiting for her interrogation to begin. Names were a fickle thing it seemed, in this case. Some were hidden, some were changed, swapped and adopted… it could just be that that was the solution to this case. A changed name. "Well, that would be intriguing… And awfully cliché." All of a sudden, the door leading to the questioning chamber opened. "Well… time to have a look around…"
Emmy, for the sake of clarity, sat down in the somewhat-brightly lit chamber, facing both the prosecutor, and, through a window, an apparent friend of his – however, she suspected there was more to it than that – short, red hair, fairly young, younger than Luke at a guess, although only just… nonetheless, it wasn't something worth lingering on.
"Emmy Altava, as you, for now, will be known, are being questioned on a criminal syndicate that you have known to have a heavy involvement in, known as Targent. Firstly, do you refute this?"
"Not at all." Despite the situation, she kept smiling and speaking somewhat cheerfully.
"Thank you. Now, I must ask – how are you coping with all this?"
"Is this appropriate?"
"Completely. I need to know your emotional state so I can accurately track how you feel towards certain statements – in a way, its procedure. Nonetheless, we should move on, so… describe your position within the syndicate."
"… I suppose I could be called a spy. It was my job to collect information on Professor Hershel Layton whilst he was investigating the Azran civilisation. I was cared for by the then leader of the organisation - Leonel Bronev."
"Then leader?"
"Well, I say leader – he wasn't in entire control of the organisation…"
"…That's new… So Leonel Bronev was merely in charge of the ground forces?"
Begin Questioning
Hierarchy
"Well, that wouldn't be true… after all, he was at the highest rank – it was more like, if this other person wanted to, he could seize control at any time…" Provoker: Supervisor?
"Ah, I see… now, ignoring this supervisor, you're saying that Leonel was once at a lower rank?"
"He was firstly abducted as a researcher – he climbed the ranks after that." Provoker: Up riser?
"So, in other words, he was disliked?" Emmy flashed the young boy a look, as if to put the `ass` in `u` and `me`.
"Well, no… not really… but some people resented the fact he got delivered to the top…"
"It's only natural. Now – I must ask… were you involved in the incident ten years ago, in any way?"
"Not directly. But, at the time, I was sorting the accounts for Targent, who were also investigating the power technology."
"So someone from Targent was involved in the experiments, and likely consorted with Bill Hawks to sell the technology?"
"I… think so."
"So why aren't you surprised?"
"What?"
"I just told you a major figure in British politics was involved in a beyond murky scheme, and you don't bat an eyelid? Were you one of the other lab assistants, alongside Claire?"
"Nice guess. Indeed, I was heavily involved with that incident as well. I wasn't there when the explosion happened, but I was working at the lab at the time. Needless to say, I think the entire thing was unfortunate – but there was no other way he would have it." Provoker: Forced Explosion
"Targent seems to have been involved with a lot of this, don't you think?"
"I wouldn't say that…"
"But it's obvious. There are hints to their involvement everywhere. Your involvement ten years ago, access to information that only an organisation that Targent would be able to access…"
"But then the fact that we're not obsessed with world destruction."
"But is Targent at least involved now, even a little?"
"I wouldn't know! I dismissed myself after the Fall of the Legacy to care for Uncle Leon…"
"But it would be safe to say that they were interested in the technology for some reason?"
"Yes."
Joshua immediately paced to the other end of the room impatiently, and grabbed a small screen again. Flicking through the files, he presented a schematic to the woman. "Like this one?"
"… Yes… most likely."
"Then, I'm afraid – whomever took over Targent – is officially involved."
Questioning End
Involvement Assured, Not Ass-u-me-d
After he closed the window, he looked up to the window, noticing for the first time his red-haired companion. "Ugh… Emmy, you're free to go… I have to deal with something." Face like a rainstorm, he marched outside, and started shouting quite comically at the boy outside. Emmy couldn't help but laugh.
Joshua poked his head through the door before walking in. The snide, high pitched voice that usually comforted him spoke first. "Hey Josh! Long-time, no see!"
"Brother, what the hell are you doing here! Is this the chief mocking me again!"
"Astute as always, brother. He wanted me to give you this."
"Summoned… disciplinary… Damn!" He snapped his fingers before bringing his hand sharply down on the windowsill. "Damn you Hilton Holmes!"
"Wow, Full Sunday Names – I must have really got on you nerve this time!"
"Hilton – I am saying this as your brother – have you got what might possibly want at this point in time?"
The younger boy laughed. "Thought you might ask that. Here. Even got Orange zest in it… ugh." As he said this, he brought out a small smoking pipe. "Better than smoking, at any rate."
Joshua snatched it away, lighting the substance before buffing on it wildly, letting the caffeine fill his system. Usually Hilton would have slipped some lemon in there, but… well, he didn't want to incur the wrath of the devil, after all.
Notes: Yeah, bad chapter. Anyway, no vote this time – I need a disciplinary hearing for my misconduct, never mind Josh…