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Albert Harebrayne
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Albert Harebrayne
'No scientist can find the truth without first finding self-belief...' Those were the words of a certain scientist I hold in the very highest esteem!

Albert Harebrayne was a British scientist and a friend of Barok van Zieks. He was accused of murdering Odie Asman during an experiment.

Student of science[]

Albert Harebrayne was an aspiring scientist with lofty ideas right from his youth. In his college years, he enrolled in London University, studying science. During this time, he befriended student of law Barok van Zieks, enough to address him by his given name instead of "Lord van Zieks". After graduating, he moved to Germany for a decade in study. There, Harebrayne developed a hypothesis of "super-high-voltage instantaneous kinesis", positing that matter could be molecularly disassembled and beamed through the air across tremendous distances, subsequently to be reassembled completely intact. Harebrayne was utterly convinced his hypothesis would revolutionize transportation and the world as it was known. In truth, his hypothesis was heavily flawed, to the point of downright impossibility.

The naïve Harebrayne returned to London, seeking out an investor to fund a large-scale physical demonstration in time for the upcoming Great Exhibition. Lacking money himself, Harebrayne hoped to receive a research grant from the English government through the demonstration so he could continue his work. Eventually, Harebrayne was approached by businessman Odie Asman, who offered to farm out the work to notorious engineer Enoch Drebber. Grateful, Harebrayne agreed, and construction on an instantaneous kinesis machine began. Despite designing the machines on paper, and his ideas ostensibly being the backbone of the project, Harebrayne had little involvement in the actual construction of the two pods that would facilitate his fantastic ideas.

A disastrous demonstration[]

Main article: The Return of the Great Departed Soul
World's fair

Unveiling his invention.

A year later, on the day of the Great Exhibition, the device was unveiled to the public. Asman, as a living test subject, was to be directly transported from the high experimentation stage directly to the Crystal Tower, the centerpiece of the Great Exhibition. On the stage, Albert Harebrayne gave an impassioned speech on the transportation of the twentieth century. The excited scientist flipped the switch, and the machine sprang to life. Steam billowed from the machine and electric sparks shot out as Harebrayne celebrated his apparent success, but the machine began to malfunction. Harebrayne was helpless to stop his machine from exploding, with Asman still inside. When the smoke cleared, Odie Asman was reported dead, his body found inside of the Crystal Tower, just as Harebrayne predicted.

Despite insisting the explosion was an accident, Harebrayne was arrested on charges of murder, with his old friend Barok van Zieks, now a cold, ruthless prosecutor, leading the case. Fearing having both his hypothesis made public and his scientific integrity compromised, Harebrayne refused to allow any investigation of his invention under the Special Dispensation for Scientific Equipment Act, which protected the rights of scientific equipment under the scientists behind them. If it was murder, then the the machine would count as a murder weapon and authorizes would have to examine it, but if it was an accident, then it would be in protective custody.

For his defense, Harebrayne hired a fledgling legal team of Ryunosuke Naruhodo and Susato Mikotoba as his representation. When Naruhodo and Iris Wilson met him in jail, he revealed van Zieks used to be completely different than he was currently and the two were friends despite studying different subjects. He also told them Asman's death could affect his hypothesis regardless of if it was a murder or an accident. Before the trial, van Zieks visited Harebrayne to discuss the conditions of this case; specifically Albert was Barok's friend, and his reputation as the Reaper, thus at risk of his curse but tried not to mention it.

In court, van Zieks accused Harebrayne of using his machine as a cover to murder Asman, thereby becoming the sole recipient of the research grant. Even while on trial, the scientist refused to sully the reputation of his hypothesis, even incriminating himself further by countering Naruhodo's arguments, and outright confessing at a critical juncture. Ultimately, Naruhodo was able to convince Harebrayne to cooperate, but in the process Harebrayne was forced to confront several undesirable likelihoods: Asman was only using him to obtain the grant money from the government, Enoch Drebber had reformatted his machine into a death trap, and, most crushingly, the hypothesis he'd tried so hard to protect was scientifically impossible. Despairing, Harebrayne allowed his invention to be investigated by Scotland Yard, and provided information that would lead to Drebber's capture.

Ultimately, Naruhodo was able to uncover the truth of the case and identify Asman's true killer, earning a humbled Harebrayne a complete acquittal. He would have little time to celebrate, however, as van Zieks had preemptively arranged for him an immediate return to Germany, in an attempt to prevent his friend from falling victim to the Reaper of the Bailey after discovering Soseki Natsume was still alive after returning to Japan, making him to conclude Harebrayne would be safe from the curse if he left Britain. Before he left, he thanked Naruhodo and Mikotoba for their services, giving them his copy of the scientific journal he'd been published in as a keepsake in lieu of payment.

Several months later, after the truth behind the Reaper of the Bailey was laid bare, van Zieks personally invited Harebrayne back to London to show him around. Unfortunately for the scientist, he chose to room at a hotel he had no means of paying for.

Personality[]

Dobinbough

Mugshot.

Albert Harebrayne
'No scientist should strive to protect himself more than he strives to protect the truth...' More words of the same great scientist, you know!
Ryunosuke Naruhodo
...Words that are causing me a lot of trouble. Who is this scientist?
Albert Harebrayne
I'm afraid I couldn't tell you, Mr Naruhodo. But, but as soon as I remember the magnificent genius's name, you'll be the first to know!

Albert Harebrayne was quite cheerful, ambitious, and eccentric. A devoted man of science, Harebrayne took great pride in his field and was immensely dedicated to his work. Despite this, Harebrayne also harbored shades of insecurity, which were most apparent whenever his hypotheses were called into doubt. He could also be rather naïve at times, as shown by his misplaced trust in people like Asman and Drebber. He has a habit of making rigid movements when trying to emphasize a point he makes.

Harebrayne possessed a strong, if somewhat extreme, sense of morality in regard to himself and his own actions, believing that he deserved retribution for having failed his experiment and accidentally played a part in a man's death. He even went so far as to say that his trial was "divine punishment" for being too nervous to tell a waiter that he'd been given slightly too much change. Harebrayne was also rather paranoid when it came to his hypotheses, and was intensely protective of them, as he feared people would steal his ideas - to the point where he actively worked against his own defense attorney early in the trial because he valued the safety of his hypothesis over his own life.

Despite how different Harebrayne and van Zieks are in terms of personality, the two became close friends during their university years, and remain so despite a decade of separation. Though Harebrayne's friend had changed drastically, and rumors of his status as the Reaper abounded, the professor still firmly believed van Zieks had his "best interests at heart" - and though he had moments of doubt during the course of the trial, Harebrayne's faith was ultimately never lost. Though the professor wanted to reconnect with van Zieks after his trial and was frustrated at his insistence that he return overseas, Harebrayne relented when he realized the prosecutor was trying to protect him, and was delighted to return upon van Zieks's later invitation. They are on a first-name basis despite being from different social classes.

Name[]

  • "Benjamin" is possibly derived from Benjamin Franklin, a United States founding father and scientist.
  • "Dobinbough" is a pun on Do binbō (ド貧乏) which means "incredibly poor".
  • "Albert" is possibly derived from Albert Einstein, a German-born theoretical physicist.
  • "Harebrayne" is a pun on "harebrained", which means "with no more sense than a hare", or to have little sense. His first and last name together work as a pun on the phrase “a bit harebrained”. Also, judging by his appearance (especially his large brain-looking hair), his name could probably be a pun on "hair" and "brain".

Development[]

Albert has fluffy blond hair and blue eyes. He wears a white lab coat and his name tag. Underneath he wears a pink waistcoat, a white dress shirt, and a yellow and green striped tie. He also wears glasses.

  • Harebrayne's name tag for the Great Exhibition is a tricolour of black, white, and red, which were the colors of the German Empire's flag.
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