audio | un: surgeonofdeath

[kikoku]

[There's a bit of a hesitant pause, before;]

I do feel like we can say with a relative amount of certainty that there is some sort of higher power in Taeum, presumably the Highest One that Angrial refers to, and they seem, based on what Finn and I sensed, to have an Orb. I'm not sure what that means for reports of the orb potentially being in Sedorum, but frankly, this whole situation is bullshit and if there are in fact two orbs or two parts of one whole orb that we have to figure out a way to combine, I wouldn't be surprised.

In any case, this is Trafalgar Law, reporting in that Daisy, Finn, Cora and myself have been branded traitors and taken into custody for attempting to breach the area where the orb is contained. I don't have access to my abilities and I assume the same goes for the other three.
[A long pause where Law presumably just silently ruminates on the fact that he has ended up in Heaven Jail and really of course this would happen.]

This is not a request for a rescue, simply something to keep in mind as work to find the orb continues. As well as a test on my part to confirm that our comms are still functional from in here.

[ETA: Despite what Law says there is now an OOC plotting post re: potential jailbreak ideas.]

Comments

[kikoku]

[He's really SO glad this conversation isn't happening in person. He's not used to being complimented so much?? Normally it's like "oh there's that notorious Trafalgar Law," "Surgeon of Death Trafalgar Law," "I hear some pretty nasty rumors about you, Trafalgar Law."

And that's the way he likes it!!! The fuck!!!

Anyway he's just been slumped to mostly conceal his face behind the ruff of his jacket from any passing guards in principle but now for even more reason.]

I could just hold Angrial hostage if I took their heart. I've done that plenty of times before. You'd be surprised how little applied pressure it takes to the heart to incapacitate a person.
[Law like STOP COMPLIMENTING ME CAN'T YOU SEE IM A BIG SCARY MORALLY DUBIOUS PIRATE???]

[callada]

But you can do it without actually hurting them long-term! That's so cool. I can't do anything like that. Best I could do is to try shooting her in the knee.

[Which he doesn't do much of because knees are fucking hard to hit?? He's just not going to talk about how many people he's had to kill on these missions just to keep their side alive, okay, apparently Law has a way better solution!]

Bet that wouldn't help anyway, she could probably stare a hole in your soul even with her eyes covered. I can't believe I miss long missions where I get to study someone for months first.

[Jury's still out on whether Angrial even has eyes, actually.]

[kikoku]

[Law thinks he should probably examine his instinctive urge in the face of unconditional supprt to do everything in his power to challenge it someday, maybe.

Not today though.]

Mm. Honestly I'd prefer that too. I'd rather take the time to gather information and make a concrete plan before acting, but the encroaching war makes waiting and lying low feel inadvisable.

[callada]

Right. And every time, it's been like this. We show up and have to act fast. It works, so far anyway, but it feels a lot rougher around the edges than I'd like. I like to think I'm not bad at improvising, but it's a lot to get used to - the timing, the huge team to work with, or around. Plus the orbs keep asking for more things from us.

I'm supposed to solve some kind of argument with violence this time around. Does combat count as an "argument" if this war can't wait until we've gone? That's what I want to know.

[kikoku]

Hm. Maybe? I feel like the intended meaning is to punch someone until they do what you say. It's not like you're beyond threatening that. [Getting aggro at all of those different doctors...]

How flexible are these tasks usually? Mine is to allow someone to remain injured when I have the ability to help them, amd I was wondering if it included myself.

[callada]

[Law does know his temper better than anyone else here, that's for sure. He'll just keep thinking over how to achieve it until he sees an opportunity. It's not an impossible task, just an irritating one.

Maybe made easier now that he's been branded a traitor of Taeum, though. No need to worry about playing nice.]

Unfortunately the orbs don't tell you if they accepted your attempt or not. By the exact wording of the request, that should work, but I don't know any better than you do. ... If you do that, and if it's not a minor scrape, stick close to me. I don't want you putting yourself at worse risk than you need to.

[kikoku]

[Musing... He doesn't really want to have to rely on Rosinante protecting him again!!!]

I suppose I could just do it to one of the people who bought their way in here... I wouldn't feel bad about that.

[callada]

I... don't think I would either, especially given the options. I'm sure you'll find yourself with more important priorities.

[Actually that's probably true anyway if war breaks out before they get sent back to the station. Plenty of people will end up wounded, and it isn't like Law can personally tend to all of them. Might as well treat the ones who aren't complete useless assholes first.

But. Maybe some of those who bought their way in aren't all that bad either, it's not like he knows them personally. It's just awfully tempting to generalize.]

[kikoku]

Mm... At this point I find myself doubting we're going to get out of this mission without getting at least somewhat involved in the war that's clearly about to happen. There's going to be plenty of time for chaos amd violence.

[callada]

I don't have the highest hopes either that we'll be able to recover the orbs in time to prevent a war. But maybe we'll be able to cut it short. Free them from whatever its promises are, so they can see reason before they all slaughter each other.

[kikoku]

I mean. Does it really matter either way? They're already dead.

[LAW THINK ABOUT WHO YOU'RE SPEAKING TO???]

[callada]

[Yeah he's just. Gonna give Law a second to think about that before he replies.]

It's not a pleasant experience, dying. Wouldn't recommend it, especially if there's a chance you'll get to live on afterward.

[kikoku]

[Ah.]

... Sorry. You're right. But this isn't... I'm only willing to stick my neck out so far for these people.

[callada]

I know. It's their war, not ours, even if the orbs brought it on rather than something they decided to do on their own.

But given the opportunity, I like to leave a place better than I found it. Doesn't always work, but it's worth a try.

[kikoku]

[After a pause he just laughs softly. It really is remarkable how completely different the Donquixote brothers are.]

You would say something like that. First we have to get out of here, though.

[callada]

Oh, I'm sure we'll find a way out. Funny, though, this is the first time I've actually landed behind bars.

Guess you're a bad influence.

[kikoku]

I'd never been put behind bars until I made an alliance with Straw Hat so I refuse to take responsibility for this.

[LUFFY ISN'T EVEN HERE?]

[callada]

But you've probably done some terrible, risky things before than you should have been jailed for. In fact, strike the "probably".

[The teasing keeps jail from being so miserable, at least there's that. He'll have plenty of time otherwise to plan and watch for opportunities, and to think ahead to what happens after they hopefully get to escape.]

[kikoku]

[Law can't help but laugh at that, sharp and almost proud of it.]

The Marines rather have perfected the art of failing to arrest the most dangerous pirates in the grand line, haven't they?

In fact the times I was detained on Punk Hazard, Dressrosa and Wano were never by the Marines.
[He's just gonna tease right back.]

[callada]

I can't explain upper-level decisions. Far as I can tell they're all too busy doing paperwork to know what's happening in reality.

[Well, not always. Obviously there are people like Sengoku who are out there making level-headed, rational decisions, and he has a lot of respect for multiple other officers too. But somehow they really do manage to collectively make some stupid choices sometimes.]

Who'd you get detained by, then? Now I have to know.

[kikoku]

[Oh Law is glad that Rosinante can at least admit the Marines aren't terribly efficient. Fuck the government.]

On Punk Hazard it was Caesar Clown, that's the scientist I told you about. And then Dressrosa was Doflamingo of course, and Wano it was Basil Hawkins, though he was working for Kaido.
[So like, who you'd expect for the latter two.]

[callada]

[Those do all make sense now in context. Also, all of it sounds terrible. He's upset at his brother in particular, because that's personal, but he's definitely not surprised. Well - all right, maybe a little surprised. Doflamingo imprisoned Law rather than killing him outright. But on further thought, he has to assume it's because he wanted to keep the user of the ope-ope fruit close, rather than risking losing it entirely.]

And each time, you escaped. How?

[kikoku]

The first time I'd had been there for a while already, it wasn't until Caesar caught on that I wasn't actually on his side that we were imprisoned. But I'd anticipated it and replaced the seastone chains with regular ones so it was a simple task to get out.
[Law and his fucking galaxy brain long cons.]

In Dressrosa Straw Hat-ya got me out though it was... A while before someone else got the seastone cuffs off me.
[TIREDLY.]

And on Wano, X-Drake-ya broke me out. I'm still not sure what's going on with him, but he betrayed Kaido to do it. He was supposedly a former marine who became a pirate but now I'm thinking "former" isn't the right word for him.

[callada]

[Law is so clever, isn't he? Even a simple little story like that makes him swell with pride and affection. It's so good to have someone else capable of that level of forethought working alongside him now. Not that nobody else in the Ximilia crew can do that, but most of them don't quite manage to try.

He may comment on that later, but something else jumps out at him in the story first.]

X Drake, like X Barrels? How old is he?

[X isn't the most common surname, so they must be related, right? Did Barrels have a kid? A cousin? If anything, there's concern in his voice just because it's not great to be reminded of the impact of his actions. He's not sure if X Barrels made it out of that fight alive, after all. A lot of those pirates probably didn't, but he didn't want them chasing after him and that fruit. If Barrels died in that explosion, leaving a kid behind... Ugh. Feels bad.]

[kikoku]

[The eternal struggle of playing a nosy smart person is trying to decide how much of the extended lore they'd be familiar with.]

Mm, older than me, but not by much, I think. I'd looked into that incident over the years, of course, but I can't say for sure if they're related. X Barrels was killed during the clash with the Donquixote pirates and Marines at that time, so it's not impossible he could have had a son taken into custody by the Marines.

Almost comical though, the idea of a marine turned pirate fathering a marine turned pirate. Seems to me it could be equally likely, especially given it seems he was a marine in deep cover, that he took on the name to help sell the idea of him being a marine turned pirate.
[Is he saying this in earnest or to try and divert any abstracted guilt on Rosinante's part? Who's to say.]