![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
VIDEO ✍ 009 --> Backdated to prior to the Dreamwalking event
[The entire announcement is filtered from Alice Liddell. The initial part of this video broadcast is made via official channels, with the caller ID exhibited simply as SCPD.]
Young women from their teenaged years to their middle twenties are cautioned to keep out of the dark. You have all heard the news by now unless you are blind to the papers. Or unable to read.
Walk in pairs, or keep a sturdy man close at hand. There will be no official curfew yet, but it is not wise to be out alone past dusk.
The Somarium Police Department is also accepting any worthy scraps of information concerning the recent murders. A reward of up to ten thousand credits will be paid to the most valuable spies. The identity of the murderer is top importance. All information concerning this ugly matter shall be sent to Chief Inspector Javert at the Government District Police Headquarters.
[This second message is made in the same backdrop as the first - a clean wall behind a massive, looming, dark and authoritative figure, files stacked beside him on what appears to be a desk. Chief Inspector Javert's jaw twitches subtly, the furrows between his brows lowering a millimeter or two. He is very tired and a touch melancholic, but calm and in remarkable control.]
There is a girl in need of a competent new caretaker. She is well-groomed, Christian, and under ten years of age.
Don't call me about it unless you have time and serious interest. I am not a pawnbroker for children; I will expect a faithful and fair commitment to the girl.
Young women from their teenaged years to their middle twenties are cautioned to keep out of the dark. You have all heard the news by now unless you are blind to the papers. Or unable to read.
Walk in pairs, or keep a sturdy man close at hand. There will be no official curfew yet, but it is not wise to be out alone past dusk.
The Somarium Police Department is also accepting any worthy scraps of information concerning the recent murders. A reward of up to ten thousand credits will be paid to the most valuable spies. The identity of the murderer is top importance. All information concerning this ugly matter shall be sent to Chief Inspector Javert at the Government District Police Headquarters.
[This second message is made in the same backdrop as the first - a clean wall behind a massive, looming, dark and authoritative figure, files stacked beside him on what appears to be a desk. Chief Inspector Javert's jaw twitches subtly, the furrows between his brows lowering a millimeter or two. He is very tired and a touch melancholic, but calm and in remarkable control.]
There is a girl in need of a competent new caretaker. She is well-groomed, Christian, and under ten years of age.
Don't call me about it unless you have time and serious interest. I am not a pawnbroker for children; I will expect a faithful and fair commitment to the girl.
no subject
Drake shakes his head, offering a shrug.]
She's really something, isn't she? Completely in love with her job- 'all work and no play' type.
[However, Drake had a reason for his concern for the guy and that had to deal with Naomi and what he had witnessed. Though he had no intention of saying a damn thing, there might be a way to learn more. How he would go about finding out and what he would do with such information- he wasn't sure.
Drake simply chalked this up to being concerned about the guy because he still didn't believe he was cheating.]
But aside from what articles are saying, you do look beat. Is everything outside of the job okay at least?
no subject
[The last question gives the Inspector a start, however. Javert throws an unhappily suspicious stare at Drake through the video feed, his pupils yawning wide like a cat at attention. The question is enough to elicit from the Inspector a pause in his writing, his old-fashioned fountain pen poised in the air.]
Your concern for my person is flattering but very inappropriate. I am on government duty, [he says calmly, with a sort of distraction that makes it seem as if he is speaking to himself moreso than to Drake. He thoughtfully scratches at his temple with the back end of the pen.] You can see I am still carrying myself on my own two feet. And if they fail me, I will use a walking stick.
[Javert has a rather queer sense of humor, plainly.]
no subject
[And though it was a random thought, Drake realized just how far he and Elena had come since they first met. He had shared a similar impression of her until he had witnessed first hand her dedication, curiosity, and determination. Of course that, among a list of other things, is what attracted him to her.
But Drake catches that suspicious look and inwardly flinches a bit. Finding out what he had about Naomi really hadn't been something he wanted to get involved in, but on the other hand Javert was one of the few people he actually respected. Right now he was so torn down the middle that it was difficult to decide what to do.
He caught the humour in what Javert said and merely shook his head, a simple smile on his face.]
If your feet fail you, then you should probably consider taking a day off. Your work is only as good as your health, y'know. Even I tend to screw up more when I'm tired or in pain.
[Because Drake somehow doubted, understandably with this case in particular, that Javert would even consider time off.]
no subject
[Drake would be right on the money in assuming that Javert is something of a workaholic. In life, before Somarium, he often worked on his feet for more than 13 hours a day, and often in a particularly exciting chase he would lose track of the time and keep at it until the break of dawn... only to go back to work the next day for a pittance of a salary. Here, his salary is somewhat more generous, though the work no less strenuous and consuming.
Particularly when his dark, pulsing mass of a conscience bubbles up to bite the Inspector with a gnawing guilt. The case is, regrettably, a personal one.
Good luck getting him to admit that.
Javert grimaces even more deeply at the subject of his health, weariness and pain. It reminds him, beyond any distraction or excuse, that he has a waning bottle of pills trapped in the deepest corner of his coat pocket. A prescription, in fact, that he has yet to refill or to administer to himself for the day. A single hand sets the papers temporarily aside and rummages in his coat, not visible out of the video feed.]
--But I am not yet that ancient. You will not see me crumble to dust before your eyes. The case will be done first.
no subject
[Perhaps nothing really needed to be said or questioned. Drake knew that tired look all too well and it was the look of a man that was spending countless time buried under a metric ton of work. Javert wasn't cheating on Naomi- unless you counted his job as his mistress. But Drake could more than relate to jobs pulling someone away from something they cared about.
And besides the obvious awkwardness that would come from further prodding, Javert wasn't an idiot. He would likely guess what Drake was trying to get at because he wasn't smooth in this department. Why cause more worry when this case was providing that already?]
All things considered I can't really blame you for wanting to wrap this up as soon as possible.
no subject
[It may be more correct, Drake, to say that Javert has cheated on his first and only lover - the law - for his wife. When the Inspector married Naomi, he had thought he had made it clear that he will not abandon his duty under any normal circumstances. Though one could make the point that these are no normal circumstances, nor is it any minor squabble, considering Nathan found her locking lips and arms with a younger, handsomer man. She needs Javert's attention as soon as possible before she wanders away in search of someone who will better give her what she wants.
He looks closely at Drake, a searing and unsettling gaze, almost as if he were attempting to read the man's secret intent for this somewhat personal line of questioning.]
Now, why the devil wouldn't I want this solved? More delay costs lives and resources. I don't delight in that.
no subject
[Still even he took small breaks when he could. Then again Javert's was a completely different line and he couldn't imagine the pressure coming from the populace was comforting.
He catches that gaze and offers a small, sort of goofy smile.]
Right. I can't imagine you would. Just, ah. Remember you gotta girl at home. [That sounded awkward, he felt awkward saying it because he always chose his job over everything. So he tried his best to make it sound like playful teasing.] Call it 'speaking from experience.' They tend make your life hell if they think they're being ignored.
[Well it was the truth!]
no subject
A proper wife, [says Javert in a dangerous,dull, impassive tone,] would make allowances to her husband. When there is work of vital importance at stake.
[She knew what she was marrying. That is all he can tell himself at this stage of the game. He fumes in wretched silence.]
Are you finished with me? Distractions will not allow me to wrap this up quicker.
no subject
All right, all right. [holds his hands up in mock defense] I couldn't agree with you more. Maybe when the case is closed.
[Drake had learned what he needed to and there wasn't anymore he could do since telling him would be the worst possible thing.]
I won't keep you any longer. [short pause] Just remember to sleep at some point.