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. . .trash bin
| the pygmalion. . . ???  OPENING PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . _PROGRAM CRASHED _PROGRAM REBOOT? >N >SCAN PROGRAM . . . _PROGRAM CRASHED . . . >EMERGENCY LEVEL . . . >EMERGENCY LEVEL . . . _EMERGENCY LEVEL LOADING LOADING. . . LOADING. . . LOADING TEXTURE-NIGHT-SKY, TEXTURE-FULL-MOON, TEXTURE-DIRT-PATH, TEXTURE-CAMPFIRE LOADING SOUND-CRICKETS, SOUND-GRAVEL, SOUND-WIND, SOUND-FIRE-CRACKLING UPLOADING USER UPLOADING USER UPLOADING USER UPLOAD SUCCESSFUL TRASH BIN It feels more like an electrical zap than dying. Dying might feel a little bit more like falling asleep, but this is harder, more painful. If you've ever been electrocuted, the feeling might seem familiar; the discovery you make when you open your eyes, too, is likely very familiar. It's the night sky. Stars twinkle, a fire cracks warmly. You sit up and observe the surrounding area, and it's like you've woken up in some sort of canyon. The fire burns brightly, the moon shines beautifully, the crickets sing, and it is ... peaceful. Mostly. You know you're dead. This must be, then, the after life? Or something like it, at least. The horizon stretches on forever, the dirt and gravel seemingly endless. The moon is so big and bright, it's like you could reach out and touch her. There's a shed not too far from the fire, only but a stone's throw away, as if someone else might have made it, and then went inside it. Approaching it, you can see the light glowing inside it through the dusty windows that are littered with fingerprints. A computer screen, so large and wide that it's baffling, sits, waiting. Turning knob reveals that the shed is unlocked, and stepping inside... it doesn't feel any different from the outside. A chair sits in the center of the room, a strange contraption strapped to the head of it. It looks like it would lower itself upon the head of whoever dares to sit on it, and wires from it's bottom curl up towards the machines attached to the screen. Several smaller desktop screens sit beneath the giant monitor. They, too, are hooked up to the machines scattered around the room, to the ominous one perched on top of the medical chair, and they blink, as if fighting to stay alive without use. Pressing the giant monitor on, it lights up, and displays, strangely enough... a security camera feed. You push the button. It switches to another room. Again, another room. Again, another room. So on and forth. You peeping tom! But no one can blame you, in the end. You might as well digitally haunt the rest of the ship until the game ends, and AL-2955 can clean out the trash bin. ...Right? rule book taken characters information cards |
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[The one is naturally a mocking one, but he does return the embrace with sincerity in his hold. Jokes aside he's... well he's happy to see her, but the circumstances do put a damper on it.]
You got nothing to apologize for. I know it wasn't you.
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[ Elizabeth's trying so hard not to cry. Not to deal with everything that happened. It's disappointing. She was close to wiping those aliens off the ship, she thinks. Even if she had to rely on Jack to do so... She feels a bit unfulfilled, but hey, maybe in another universe she succeeds? ]
Even now, I still feel responsible. I got your letters - which one of them wasn't funny.. - I just... It's been a rough few weeks...
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[He pats her back twice and then tries to disengage from the hug, smiling as he does.]
We don't see much in this place of the ship, but I figured as much. Though I hate to break it to you - death is incredibly boring.
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There's an awkwardness in her stance, her arms crossed as she looks to him. ]
...There's nothing here?
[ Look, ok, this isn't Heaven or Hell and she's Upset. Religion is a lie! ]
Well... huh. Alright. I expected something - [ Vague hand waves ] - more?
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[Religion is a lie indeed, but he could have told her that before dying.]
Everyone else is here though. There are more of us in this lousy afterlife than there are on the ship right now.
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[ Moral high ground is back, she missed you. ]
...There's so much I want to tell you. Ugh.
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All creatures are violent by nature. Just a matter of how the violence comes out. [He shakes his head.] You got plenty of time to tell me anything you want. For starters - why the new look? What, did murdering me make you decide it was time for a wardrobe change?
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[ I mean, they're kinda the same thing but she feels she needs to correct it. For poetic reasons. He mentions the change of look and her fingers shoot up to the ends of her hair. Nope, no childish ponytails anymore. ]
I couldn't look at myself in the mirror anymore. Not after what I did to you and Light. To Fiona and Jack and Jessie -
[ To the survivors and their guilt. She shrugs a bit half-heartedly. ]
Killing you and Light forced me to grow up, I guess.
[ A brief pause: ]
...I was planning on killing someone, Hancock.
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Who? [a beat.] Please tell me it was Jack.
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I mean, I think I was... [ She's still unsure, but she nods. ] Yes. It's complicated but -
[ She clenches her fists a bit angrily. ]
He did the same thing to his daughter. Like... what my father did to me.
[ Did he even know her tragic back history? Who knows. ]
He kept her locked up and - ugh... I don't know, Hancock. I just couldn't let him get away with something like that. ...I think.
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[He doesn't say it with accusation, but just observation. Growing up doesn't mean being square with the idea of taking a life.]
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[ She feels unsure, guilted by her own conscience. ]
Do you think monsters deserve to be killed just because no one can understand them?
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Monsters deserve to be killed because they did something to earn that distinction.
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Right. I just - I guess I don't know if he's really a monster or not. My problem with Jack goes far beyond his actions in this stupid game.
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Now, I've met some fucking despicable people in my life. People who deserve whatever suffering they'll get, or have already gotten. People who crossed me because they thought they were tough shit. Not all those people were monsters though. Some of them were just people who had their own priorities, and thought that meant they were above consequences.
[Yeah he's not very poetic either. He sees the world for what it is, and responds in kind.]
Liz, I wanna tell you a story to illustrate my point. And I'm sure you'll think less of me for how it turns out, but it's the truth.
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Right... go on.
1/2
[He crosses his arms and sniffs.]
One day Bobbi rounds a couple people up to help her with this big heist. She dug a giant tunnel underground leading to a secret strongroom, underneath the largest settlement in the Commonwealth. Her intent is to get all the riches and sell off whatever she can, basically set for life. She and her crew go throughout the whole tunnel, finally make it to the room...and it turns out it's my strongroom.
2/3 i lied
So I send my bodyguard to the strongroom to wait for their arrival, and delivered an offer through her. If Bobbi's saps turned around and killed her, there would be no hard feelings and the whole thing would be forgotten. From what I hear, Bobbi tried to convince them to stick with her even when they got caught.
[He shakes his head, lifting up his right hand with a finger gun motion and faux-firing it.]
It didn't work. They killed her. I kept my word and nothing happened to them, but let me tell you: I never felt more like a scumbag. Bobbi might have been a crook, and she definitely killed people in her time, but she wasn't an asshole. She wasn't a monster.
She's not the first person who tried to cross me, but she's the first who made me realize I was turning into the same people I hated.
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Look, that was all long and I'm sure you're bored, but here's the point: not everyone who does wrong is a monster. People make mistakes, and what's more important is what comes after the mistake. Do they try to correct themselves? Do they try to make amends, atone for their sins, or whatever you wanna call it?
I don't know much about Jack, and you clearly got some hangups with him that I don't understand, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to reflect on his actions. He acts like an asshole, and keeps on being an asshole, and doesn't consider who he hurts in the process.
Is he a monster? I can't judge, but he's probably the guy no one would blame you for wanting to kill on this ship. And wanting to kill him doesn't automatically make you terrible either.
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I don't know if I could, even if I wanted to. [ There's a distinct look down at her hands. One of the last things she remembers is dropping into the vent with Daisy Fitzroy. She kills her, she thinks, definitely so. ] I keep thinking it would stop some circle of violence - it could save someone or avenge someone...
[ She's wrong... isn't she? No, she can't be. This is far too personal. Her nails clutch at her own corset's end, holding onto herself. ]
It's hard to vocalize it - but ... what happened to me? I feel for his daughter without even knowing her. I just want to do something. If I can... It's pretty telling that murder is the first thing that makes sense, huh?
[ Oh, how Elizabeth has changed. ]
Do you regret what happened with Bobbi...? Truly?
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[And putting down the people who are just trying to get by in a shitty world? Well, that sounds a lot like his brother.]
Anyway, my opinion is if you jump to murder as a first option? It's only because Jack deserves it. No rational person thinks to kill someone over small shit, you know what I mean? Don't beat yourself up over it. Not like it really matters now.
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At least you know I'm rational then. Mostly.
[ She'll crack a weak smile on that but.. he's right. Doesn't matter. ]
Unless I plan on possessing a tablet to throw at him, I can't hurt him. Right - you're right.