[anon text] ⚙ heartful cry

[fuhgeddaboudit]

Has anyone seen Saber? She's blond and wears a red dress.

I really need to find her or Rin if they're here. I'm not sure what's going on and I need to talk to them

Sorry, I don't know why I said that. My processors aren't working--no, I can't access them. I'm human. I'm human, but I shouldn't be.

What's it mean when something red starts coming out of a human's throat? That ain't normal. I'm in a lot of trouble, huh?

Rani Saber Yu, Yosuke--you guys all helped me when I was in trouble once. I know it's a lot to ask, but can ya do it again?

[action; floor three]

['Hakuno' was sitting on the floor in a corner of the library, hidden behind the shelves and hugging his knees tightly to her chest. Why, why was this happening? Why was she seeing things she at once remembered and didn't remember?]

[A translucent wall of scarlet slid into place, locking between them with a bang of finality. Like a door slamming shut, one that could never be opened again. The roar of the crazed bloodthirsty warrior echoed through the Coliseum, shaking the ground and piercing the victorious Master's ears even through the wall between them. Even as Berserker raged and growled, his massive body was already beginning to dissipate. Overcome by the SE.RA.PH, the black pattern spread across his body like a plague as he was reduced to nothing and deleted.]

[And what of the girl beside him? There was only one result for losing Masters in the Holy Grail War...and already the same black matter was spreading across Rani's form. Yet...she seemed unaffected. A disintegrating hand traced her vanishing Command Spells--what was she thinking? Was it bitter regret? Anger that she lost, hatred that one she'd helped had defeated her?]

['Oh...']

[Slowly being overcome by corruption that spread across her body, the girl looked at the victorious Master with a gentle smile. Why...? Was she happy about this? Was she...was she grateful that Hakuno had been the one to defeat her?]

['It's over, isn't it?']

[That was all Rani said, with a sound that could well have been the faintest laugh. But as she began to vanish, her mouth moved once more, in a gesture without sound.]

['Goodbye.']

[Hakuno--Labrys shuddered violently, pressing her hands to her head. Why did she have to kill her friend? Why did she have to kill 024--Rani--her sisters--Shinji--Blackmore--]

[Why why whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy it wasn't fair--!]

[A sudden scream of anger and frustration cut through the library on the third floor, followed almost immediately by the sounds of a girl sobbing her heart out intercut with violent coughing.]

I'm s-s-sorry. I didn't wanna--didn't want to--I don't want to fight anymore. Saber--Aigis--somebody tell me why I h-have to keep fighting...

[responses from effigiaexmachina]

Comments

Action

[scorchedchivalry]

[Did somebody call for a Saber?

Really, it was the scream that had drawn Saber's attention first. Then it was the sobbing girl that she knew. Her possible future master. It... bothered her to see the girl this upset, but a bastion of comfort she was not.

Still, Saber - clad in her black dress - approached 'Hakuno' and looked down at her. This was a familiar position, her standing over a fallen master. Only, the words that came to mind with the wave of nostalgia did not come out. Instead, she answered the question asked of her.]

Because it is the path you have chosen, Hakuno.

Action

[effigiaexmachina]

[WOW WAY TO NOT HELP ALTER GEEZ]

I didn't--did I? I thought I was...built for it.

[She shook her head, trying to straighten out disjointed thoughts. Images of metal and fire, of broken mechanical girls and deleted Masters. Two sets that didn't match. One had to be 'correct', but which was it? Was she built by human hands or was she a string of ones and zeroes?]

Wasn't...I?

Action

[scorchedchivalry]

[Always here with a non-helping hand because... yeah, she sucks with those human emotions that aren't anger. Now, if only she knew this wasn't actually Hakuno.]

Regardless of whether you were 'built' for it or not, the choice to walk the path was your own. At any time you could have forfeit your rights as a master.

...I am certain I would have been upset [an understatement] but the Servant obeys the Master.

Action

[effigiaexmachina]

I-I don't understand. My head hurts...I keep seein' stuff I shouldn't be rememberin'!

[Labrys started to slip back into her natural accent, as if she'd just remembered she had one.]

I ain't supposed to know about Masters and all that stuff--or maybe it's Personas I ain't supposed to know about--I can't even tell who I am anymore!

Action

[scorchedchivalry]

[Oh. Okay. That's enough for Saber to know this isn't Hakuno.]

...

[Well, shit. How to deal with this? On one hand, Saber feels no allegiance to whomever this really is and is tempted to just walk away. On the other hand, this is Hakuno's -body- and that does matter. Somewhere deep inside, something is telling her that she should not leave a distressed woman alone.]

...

[Saber kneels next to the girl and reaches out to touch her cheek.]

Breathe deeply. Calm down.

Action

[effigiaexmachina]

[Labrys rubbed at her eyes, sniffling. Right--breathing was a thing. She took a deep breath and held it for a second or two before exhaling.]

Y-you're...Saber, yeah? But you don't really look like mine--hers, I mean.

Action

[scorchedchivalry]

I am Saber. My appearance used to be that of Hakuno's Servant. It is possible we are the same, just from different Wars. Different times.

[Her thumb brushes away a tear.]

What is the name you call yourself that is not 'Hakuno'?

Action

[effigiaexmachina]

It's...it's, uh...

[A pause--the image of a girl with gleaming metal limbs and glowing golden eyes. The burning minotaur rising angry and murderous, the shining silver woman with the scarlet threads. All of them at once her and yet not her, as much as a reflection was the person in front of the mirror.]

[But another memory contradicted that. There was no real 'her' and yet there was. Sleeping, dormant, maybe dreaming? Someone else that was her and not her at the same time.]

[So which one was she, really? A metal chassis built by man or a dream made 'real' by the workings of the Moon Cell?]

L...Lab...rys. I'm Labrys, I think.

text

[lance_of_orleans]

Holy shit, kid, you alright?

[At least this time, both sets of memories agreed Lancer had to help somehow.]

You're hacking up blood. Where are you I'll come help

text

[effigiaexmachina]

that's bad, right

third floor

text and can we shift to action?

[lance_of_orleans]

Yes. Bad. really bad.

Hang on I'm coming

sure thing

[effigiaexmachina]

[When he (she?) gets there, 'Hakuno' would be alternating between sobbing and coughing, curled up in a corner.]

Re: sure thing

[lance_of_orleans]

[The sudden movement causes Lancer to have his own bout of coughing when he arrives.]

Hey...I'm here.

[He rasps. Damn. He wanted to cut a cooler image. Fuck, where is his real body with its Battle Continuation?]

[effigiaexmachina]

[Sniffle.]

I killed 'em. Or maybe I ain't got it right and I only killed some of 'em. I dunno what's goin' on anymore.

D'you know where Rin Tohsa--I-I mean, have you seen Yu Narukami anywhere?

[lance_of_orleans]

[He walks over to her. Oh, hey, it's the robot turned human girl.]

...Never heard of 'em. Are they the ones you "killed"?

[effigiaexmachina]

[She shook her head.]

They're...my friends. One of 'em is, I think. The other one's somebody I ain't ever met.

But I dunno which one's which.

[trappedinalabrys]

[Luckily for 'Labrys', a robot can't really be hit with those nasty coughing side-effects. Sadly, that just means there's room for the other effects to kick in. She was starting to see everything through a weird orange haze. Sometimes her body would just stop working and it was strange and terrifying and she didn't know what to do, lying on the floor like a useless heap of scrap metal. That thought was terrifying. Is that what the others felt like when she killed them...

Other times, there was a voice in her head, a loud voice, a voice not her own, not "Labrys"'s or "Hakuno"'s or any voice she ever recalled hearing. No, wait. No, she did know that voice. She's not sure how she knew it, but she knew that the name of the owner was her Persona--Servant?--Persona, Ariadne. Her partner in battle, a piece of her soul... which was it? Both? No, those were two different things...

Something cut through the mass of confusion in Labrys's head - the sound of screaming. She's moving towards where she thinks the sound is coming from without thinking - it's a Student Council President's job to look after everyone, after all! - and soon runs into a... familiar sight?

Who is that that's me isn't it no she's never seen this girl before. Maybe once or twice or every time I look in a mirror when passing through the tower. Ariadne is saying something but Labrys-Hakuno can't understand her, that's really weird...]

H-Hey... are you okay...?

[I don't want to fight anymore. She knows that feeling. It's the same wrenching feeling in her circuits-heart she felt when she had killed 024-Rani. This girl...]

[effigiaexmachina]

[Labrys--Hakuno--whoever she was, the girl looked up from her position on the floor and wiped at her eyes.]

[Was she okay? She'd have to know who she was before she knew the answer to that, and so she merely shook her head.]

[Metal limbs, silver-blue hair--for a fraction of a second she'd expected mocking golden eyes and a face twisted into a sneer. Why was that a thought that entered her mind? And why did it sting so much to imagine?]

...I'm sorry. I didn't--didn't wanna--

[trappedinalabrys]

[Despite the jumble of emotions and memories, the confusion and the fear... this was something she understood. Probably the only thing she could understand at this point. She was having trouble remembering her own name, what she looked like - this girl was what she looked like, right? Then why was she in front of her? - everything.

But even through all of that... she could understand that reluctance. To fight, to kill... she couldn't remember if she killed "024" or "Rani", but at this point it didn't really matter. The point was, she understood.]

I... I know how you feel. I think. I didn't want to fight either...

[effigiaexmachina]

[A slow nod. She didn't dare take her eyes off the girl in front of her, as if 'Hakuno' was afraid she'd forget what she looked like.]

...It ain't--it isn't fair. How come we always gotta fight?

[trappedinalabrys]

[It should be a little creepy, with how intently she's being stared at by the other girl - herself. But she can't really feel that way, when she's doing the exact same thing.]

I... I don't know. It's cruel, and heartless, and I know I wouldn't do it if I could help it... [Her hand curls into a fist, and it's almost strange, hearing the whirring of gears instead of feeling the pain of her nails digging into her palm.] If it was the only way to survive, maybe it would have been better if I died... that way she could have lived, at least a little longer...

[effigiaexmachina]

Somebody had t'live.

[her hands fidgeted, as if Labrys didn't know what to do with them.]

Maybe it's...some kinda punishment. Feelin' like this, I mean. We're the ones that lived, so we have to accept it or somethin'.

[trappedinalabrys]

Punishment... [Labrys-- No, Hakuno, Hakuno Kishinami. That's most definitely her name - flinches at that.] Maybe it is. Even if someone had to live... killing a friend... you can't just do that and not face some kind of karma or something.

anon text; wow let's pretend I actually saw this on time. OTL

[worldlycheckmate]

Labrys-?
You're coughing up blood. And no, it isn't normal.
It's Yu...at least his mind, anyway. We're going through the same thing.

anon text; LOL no problem

[effigiaexmachina]

Yeah, it's me. I think it is.

My head hurts. I keep rememberin' stuff I don't think I should be, and it's gettin' real confusing.