Guy Cecil ☼ [Gᴀɪʟᴀʀᴅɪᴀ•Gᴀʟᴀɴ•Gᴀʀᴅɪᴏs] (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
relinquishing) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
animus_network2013-04-19 06:18 pm
relinquishing) wrote in animus_network2013-04-19 06:18 pm
003 | Video | late Friday evening
[It's taken him a great deal of time to get his composure together, after everything is said and done. He might have his body back, but the rush of memories and actions and guilt guilt guilt is enough to make him want to vomit. The images of himself, coated in women, stained in blood, saying one thing while meaning another, leading people astray while knowing otherwise - PRETENDING....
How dare they... How DARE they...
...
As overwhelming as it is, he can't just wallow. Someone HAS to know, and as much as it might hurt to hear it so soon, they have to know immediately.
So Guy slips to a terminal, holding himself composed if not extremely worn... and as strong as he tries to stay, he can't quite keep the small tremble out of his words as he starts to speak.]
If you're hearing my voice right now, then you need to stop and listen. What I'm about to tell you is going to be hard to hear, and I'm sorry. But it's important.
This week was a mess. No one can deny that. But some of you here in the Tower might have been aware of a few of us wandering around, claiming we had "control" of our minds. To some of you, we were your superiors, ordering you to do or say things for us. The few of us that had mixed colors in our collars or could maintain a conversation like normal, despite our modifications, claiming that the Administrators had failed and that we were fighting back.
We sent out a message this week, gathering people and information to try and establish what we claimed was a counter-resistance. Many showed up. Many put confidence in us.
[He pauses, swallowing hard.]
That was a mistake.
The truth is that we were just as brainwashed as anyone else... Even more so, I guess. Despite what we might have said or made people think, we were all actors. The few of us you may have talked to were sent out specifically for sabotage and information, all for the ones that did this to us. We were spies, and before coming back to normal, many of us just gave away information that...
[Another pause, a deep grimace crossing his face.]
Well, it might prove to be a disaster for quite a few people. If you spoke to a drone in what you thought was a form of confidence, especially against the Tower or in details of the resistance...
[His expression pains, grimace thinning into a guilty frown.]
Then I'm sorry. We've done something truly horrible.
[...
There's another long pause, the man at the screen tense and quiet. Either he's searching for something else to say, or his composure is about to slip from him. It's hard to tell.]
There's nothing we can do to take it back. Think what you would like of us. But we've tricked you, and you deserve to know. And right now... I'd recommend to be prepared for the worst.
[...]
If you have questions, then feel free to ask. I'm... not sure what any of us can tell you. I'm sorry.
[And with a tired, forced smile, the feed ends.]
How dare they... How DARE they...
...
As overwhelming as it is, he can't just wallow. Someone HAS to know, and as much as it might hurt to hear it so soon, they have to know immediately.
So Guy slips to a terminal, holding himself composed if not extremely worn... and as strong as he tries to stay, he can't quite keep the small tremble out of his words as he starts to speak.]
If you're hearing my voice right now, then you need to stop and listen. What I'm about to tell you is going to be hard to hear, and I'm sorry. But it's important.
This week was a mess. No one can deny that. But some of you here in the Tower might have been aware of a few of us wandering around, claiming we had "control" of our minds. To some of you, we were your superiors, ordering you to do or say things for us. The few of us that had mixed colors in our collars or could maintain a conversation like normal, despite our modifications, claiming that the Administrators had failed and that we were fighting back.
We sent out a message this week, gathering people and information to try and establish what we claimed was a counter-resistance. Many showed up. Many put confidence in us.
[He pauses, swallowing hard.]
That was a mistake.
The truth is that we were just as brainwashed as anyone else... Even more so, I guess. Despite what we might have said or made people think, we were all actors. The few of us you may have talked to were sent out specifically for sabotage and information, all for the ones that did this to us. We were spies, and before coming back to normal, many of us just gave away information that...
[Another pause, a deep grimace crossing his face.]
Well, it might prove to be a disaster for quite a few people. If you spoke to a drone in what you thought was a form of confidence, especially against the Tower or in details of the resistance...
[His expression pains, grimace thinning into a guilty frown.]
Then I'm sorry. We've done something truly horrible.
[...
There's another long pause, the man at the screen tense and quiet. Either he's searching for something else to say, or his composure is about to slip from him. It's hard to tell.]
There's nothing we can do to take it back. Think what you would like of us. But we've tricked you, and you deserve to know. And right now... I'd recommend to be prepared for the worst.
[...]
If you have questions, then feel free to ask. I'm... not sure what any of us can tell you. I'm sorry.
[And with a tired, forced smile, the feed ends.]
no subject
Did you die.
no subject
[Equally blunt, while still dodging as much as he can. Whoever DIDN'T die that week should have earned a prize. There was always so many bodies in the processing room... some far too familiar.
Guy could have sworn he had seen Asch at least once. But he won't voice that right now.]
no subject
[He'll cough up his own if Guy asks, or after he finds out from the blond. But until then?
He still doesn't even know, who the second one was. That's the most unsettling thing.]
no subject
...More than once.
[It's like he has to spit the words out of his mouth, and the anger is slowly starting to leak out, the man far too tired to hold it back. His tension increases, movements tight, words now low and crisp.]
I imagine you didn't fare much better.
no subject
Twice. One was Sheba. The other... I still don't know.
[Face recognition problems suck, not that there was much of a face to be seen, anyway.]
no subject
...Do you remember what happened to you? The second time?
no subject
...Noise. It was someone else who had been modified, and their body was replaced with musical instruments. The sound -
[His hands make an aborted motion towards his ears.]
no subject
He knows exactly who that is. He was there to help him learn to walk on clumsy, brass limbs, voice static and broken through speakers instead of his mouth. Outside of that, he'd only seen bits and pieces of Luke, a walking musical machine, making noise with every intake of breath.
He'd never seen him kill someone with that sound.]
I see.
Would it be better to know who that person was? I mean, did it help at all, knowing that with Sheba?
no subject
Tell me.
[The short demand is probably the most level his voice has been the entire conversation.]
no subject
Why the hell do you need to be so pushy?
[...
He has to break. Asch will hound him now if he doesn't give a a straight answer.
So straight to the point he shall be.]
...It was Luke.
no subject
I see.
[A shudder goes down his spine, and another, and before he knows it he's shaking fully. No wonder the voice had seemed familiar when no other had - it was practically his own voice, after all. And that laugh...
He reaches up to press the back of one hand against his mouth, tasting bile.]
no subject
...To be killed defenselessly by his own replica...
It's a mental switch that happens only when Asch descends into sickening silence, the sound of a quiet choke the only thing coming from the blockaded chair. Guy's brow furrows, slowly rising to his feet, taking a slow step forward, the bite to his tone softening.]
Asch...
[He could see him trembling all the way from here. Damn it. THIS is why he asked questions, you idiot... Some part of him knew that if Luke were to take it badly, so would Asch.
Just HOW badly was something he hadn't predicted, and it's not looking pretty.]
no subject
He was laughing... The whole time, he was laughing...
[It's not really talking to anyone. Another shudder courses down his spine.
He's trying to tell himself that it wasn't really Luke, any more than it had been the real Guy who carefully tucked women into his chains, but it's not working. It hadn't been a simple joy of killing that sent Luke after him - it wasn't until he'd been recognized that his replica got violent. Luke had gotten joy specifically from killing him.
There's another faint noise as Asch chokes back more acidic spit.]
no subject
[Guy hasn't spent the last 15 years as a guardian and babysitter for nothing - he knows the sound of someone about to hurl He's advancing to the chair, a hand against Asch's back regardless of whether the God-General wanted to be touched or not.]
Easy - come on. Pull yourself together...
no subject
As it is, the horrible taste fills his mouth and burns his throat, but all that gets past his lips is enough to make the back of his glove a bit wet. Asch doesn't quite pull his hand away from his mouth just in case, breathing shakily and compulsively swallowing for a couple minutes.
And there's Guy, being his anchor once again - Asch straightens himself a little, but makes no effort to remove the hand from his shoulder.]
I'm fine. I'll be fine.
[It's a very quick amendment.]
no subject
[The reply is just as quick, that chiding bite right back in his words. He doesn't move, outside the gentle press and circling of his palm against Asch's back, a gesture trying to motion him up and out of his seat.]
If you're going to heave, you should probably do it somewhere besides the middle of a chair.
no subject
It's passing.
[Also, Guy, no matter how gentle you are about pulling him up, Asch is pretty sure his legs won't hold more than a couple steps. So he is just going to stay right where he is, and you'll have to deal with it.]
no subject
[The frustration is bubbling back up much faster than Guy had expected. He's so very tempted to just clock the redhead across that shoulder that he's holding, but he refrains. His fingers just grip a little tighter, dipping down to try to look Asch in the eye with a mix of irritation and concern.]
At least wash your mouth out, for god's sake.
no subject
Only if you help hold me up.
[Because... Yeah, he's not going anywhere on his own. The idea just makes him want to curl back up and stay right where he is.]
no subject
[What, was Asch really thinking he couldn't stand? Was he pulling Guy's leg, or...
Was he really that shaken about things? Was that why he'd shut himself up here, of all places, where no one could find him and he wouldn't have to move, because he COULDN'T.... or couldn't bring himself to?
Not that he couldn't sympathize with just wanting to be alone right now, of all times. But it still caused him to crinkle his brow in a reigned, confused disapproval.
Hmm.
...
There's a long moment of hesitation before Guy straightens himself up, resolute, holding out his other hand.]
...Yeah. No problem.
no subject
There's still a big part of him that absolutely does not want to go anywhere.]
...Thanks.
no subject
Don't worry about it.
Easy with your first steps.
no subject
Handwaving with permission wheeeeee
There's still a hand against his shoulder as they finally rest at the cafeteria, a glass of water being held out for Asch, giving a quick and silent nod to one of the large trash cans if he just needed to spit it out.]
no subject
After a minute, he settles himself onto one of the benches, still holding the empty glass in one hand.]
Thanks.
[He is so very glad there's no one else around their little corner, too.]