probe | Audience: Grace Monroe

[ what a good dog! he is getting all the pets! suffer emotions, greedworth.

she nods a little shakily ]

Yeah. They're-- fine. [ a beat ] Well, Omi was, and now he's dead, but that's unrelated.

[NO HE DOESN'T WANT THESE FEELINGS.]

That's unrelated. [because yikes.] Were you...was there any other option at all beyond killing them? Did you try other ways?

[ she hesitates, still petting dog ]

That's why Molly was so long after us. He didn't do it. So he...

[ nearly bled to death idk it's a great choice ]

...the right choice isn't always necessarily the easiest choice. You understand that, don't you?

So what was the right choice, there?

[ grace is the one who started talking about it so does she really get to be defiant? sure! ]

...perhaps the "right" choice isn't the correct word, but rather the necessary one.

[ well! that cuts the wind out of her sails a little, and she looks away ]

Do you think it was? Necessary?

...you saw what happened to Tealeaf by resisting that choice. If it was the only choice to take to escape? Perhaps it was.

... I guess.

[ she seems a little relieved despite the lukewarm answer, and she shakes her head and pets maus more intensely ]

Anyway, Douman tried to shoot us and apparently was mad they didn't get to kill the fake Omi, so I'm fine they're dead.

[just. pinching the bridge of his nose and mumbling something that sounds akin to "I hate clowns."]

I've never quite understood anything about them, and I'm not sure I want to.

The more I learned, the less I wanted to. [ now that she's talked shit and feels a little better, she picks up maus to place him on her own lap for maximum petting ] Anyway, Takeru's team had a choice sort of like that. Where it's... [ ... ] bad. And they all said they felt like they picked the wrong one? Molly said the same. Like a... supernatural kind of feeling.

I don't know what that means. And Gu Yun's team had one like that, I think, but I got distracted because Takeru was in theirs for some reason? And also they learned White got superpowers from a goat and that's why he has a horn.

[ which is objectively funny. ]

[maus immediately abandons greed and goes to snuggle in grace's lap instead. therapy pup is here to help.]

The young girl. Yes, I've heard. [he makes a face regarding the information about white but they shake their head again.]

I've had a theory that these places are a test of will, but I don't have any proof yet. We've been doing as much research as we can but our results are few.

Like... how far we're willing to go, maybe?

[ she's not sure she likes the answer! but it's fine because she has a dog with cute widdle paws ]

Precisely. [he's not too fond of that answer either. maus is once again doing that thing where little dogs paw at people for pets.]

It would explain why there's no warning and why we can't see anything when you disappear.

[ grace pets him with one hand and plays with his paw in the other. this is what maus gets ]

I guess it makes sense. [ unsure ] But I thought indulging the most you could or whatever was the big test.

[maus is doing his best and letting grace do what she wants, licking her fingers.]

It's a big test, but perhaps it isn't the only one. High risks earn high rewards, generally.

I was stabbed like seven times with a letter opener.

[ she does not approve of these high risks. ]

[hm...]

While I haven't been stabbed, I have been held at gunpoint a few times, kidnapped a few times, and arrested a few times for choices I've made.

[it's not remotely the same, but.]

[ i mean, those are all bad, but the one that stands out and probably shouldn't is: ]

You were arrested?

[ but greed you're a NERD ]

[GRACE.

but there's a wry smile.]

Twice. Once for conducting an illegal investigation and once as a murder suspect.

Obviously you didn't kill anyone [ she hopes ] but... how do you conduct an illegal investigation?

I did not. I was found innocent of that murder, but I did believe I had committed another and confessed my guilt.

[...that aside.] I had given up my prosecutor's badge at the time and continued looking into a crime and assisted a...colleague in evading the police.

[please just call kay a friend you absolute lunatic.]

[ well! that's a lot of trauma, but since greed is skipping past that she will to. to call them out. ]

Isn't that far to go to for a colleague? [ pets the maus tummy ] Also, it's illegal to look into a crime if you're not a cop or a lawyer?

[ sometimes you stop going to school at like 11 ]

It's illegal to perform your own investigation, yes. [maus wiggles on his back like a good boy.]

...Kay is a friend. [FINE. GROSS.] She's about your age, actually. She appointed herself as my assistant during a few cases I was investigating prior to that incident.

But you can represent yourself in court, can't you?

[ she does not entirely get the difference. i can't believe greedworth has... uno friend. pats the good boy ]

An assistant to a prosecutor. Bold choice. Why'd she become a fugitive of the law?

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