♟ [video] ♟

[vermicompost]

I know what happened. Are you happy with yourselves? Doing things when you don't even know what you're doing, or why. Look what you did... there were people suffering, children crying. Do you know how much pain you caused? It isn't right. It isn't fair.

What gives you the right? You take other people's lives in your hands! Take their choices from them. Deciding whether we should live or die for us. Do you think that we want to die? I don't. While there's life, there still hope. We should keep on living, no matter what. We should always keep--

[After this brief speech, Kariya slumps, breathing heavily. His good eye widens, and the swollen veins in his face seem to pulse for a moment. The effort of speaking has obviously taken a lot out of him. The physical and mental shock of the worms returning has taken its toll on him. He looks as if he's having trouble standing upright at the terminal. A spasm of pain crosses his face. When he speaks again, his voice is weaker.]

I need a healer--is there someone who can help?

Comments

[Video]

[lightofhumanity]

I was not a part of causing the come out. However, I believe whoever caused this was fighting to free us from those who would take away our free will, despite the pain it would cause others and themselves.

..However, if you are in need of a healer, I can help. Where are you?

[Video]

[vermicompost]

They made our choices for us. And what happened? Did they win anything? They're going to be more cruel to us now. They're going to kill us. Was it worth it?

I'm in the dormitories... I don't know what floor. The second?

video

[puppy_lancer]

...Are you okay, Kariya?

video

[vermicompost]

Lancer...

No, it came back all at once.

[To have experienced freedom from pain, a clearing of his thoughts, and then to have all the agony and confusion come crashing back at once was jarring and overwhelming. It's hard to think. There's only one thing he's entirely sure of now:]

It hurts so much.

video

[thiscloakisgreen]

[An audible noise chimes, the noise of something clicking on, almost painfully, as the screen turns on, half covered in static, revealing the metal face of Victor von Doom.]

How charming of you to insinuate a bastard out of a vague few yet then resort to begging for their aid.

video

[vermicompost]

[Oh. It's Doom. Kariya frowns.]

I think they were wrong. Someone should say something.

[And he's going to. No matter what.]

They're not all the same people. The healers. If someone doesn't want to heal me, they don't have to.

[clumsyjesus]

Oh, no! What happened?!

[vermicompost]

[It takes Kariya a moment to reply. How to explain the worms?] I'm sick.

It went away, but now it's all back. I don't--it's not even real.

[text]

[gamechamp]

[uncle]

[uncle no...]

go back 2 bed, gramps.
this is embarrassing.

video;

[vermicompost]

Shinji... are you all right?

[His first concern is for Shinji, naturally.]

Someone had to say something. So I did. I'm tired of staying in bed. [He spits the next words, angrily, though his anger isn't for Shinji.] I'm tired of all this.

[chevalier_mal_fet]

Master, please-- what has been done is done.

[Lancelot's voice is low and confidential.
Unbelievably, though he is at once overjoyed and furious at the return of his Powers and the taking of them, Lancelot feels no small amount of guilt over his Master's current state.

He had aided the Resistance, after all.
His Master had been a different man. Now that his Familiars have returned, the man is more unstable and inconsolable than before.]

You should not excite yourself so. I will find a Healer for you.

[vermicompost]

Don't tell me to be quiet.

[Kariya, that's not what Lancelot said...]

Someone had to say something, so I did it. It's already been done, but that doesn't make it right.

I'm--

[Usually, he would say he's fine, but the full weight of the pain after having been freed from it is too great, so he breaks off into an incoherent noise.]

[sicharia]

[Claudia doesn't bother to reply to Kariya on the terminal. She isn't entirely sure what she wants to say to him now, but she knows that isn't the place to say it. For far from the first time, she thinks of what happened the last time she had seen him. Maybe seeing a wireframe body mangled isn't quite the same, but it was still Kariya.]

[He died because of her. Even if death isn't permanent here, it could have been while the power was down, and she just—]

[He isn't hard to find, if only because there are only so many terminals in the Tower. In his current state, he doesn't seem like he'd be able to go far, so she checks the dormitories first. Sure enough, she finds him before too long.]

Kariya—

[She had meant to say something else, to ask if he needed anything or to apologize for what happened, but there's a sudden upwelling of painful feeling in her chest, and nothing else comes out of her mouth. She freezes, her hand half raised toward him.]

[vermicompost]

[When she finds him, he's leaning back against the wall, breathing hard.]

Claudia!

[He smiles and straightens, in spite of his pain. He's so glad to see her, to see she's all right. She looks just like herself again, and even if it's an illusion, it's nice to see her face. It makes him feel better all at once.

Dying had hurt, a great deal, but that's over now, and they're both all right. What matters is that he'd protected her.

He can't hurry toward her anymore, so he makes his slow, pained way toward where she's standing. He feels newly embarrassed of and frustrated by his infirmity, but he fights against it.]

Hello. It's good to see you. [He belatedly notices she seems upset and pauses.] What's wrong?

[There are many things that could be upsetting her, so it's hard to say.]

[Video]

[ocariness]

[ Link listens to this, and breathes quietly. They know this man needs help--maybe they can contact Tear--however... they cannot, in good faith, let this stand. No. They can't. The Hero of Time is unafraid of the enemies they might make with this.

It has to be said. Link is angry. ]

Before I say anything else, know that a woman named Tear Grants will be able to assist here, and if I am able to get into contact with her, I will have her find you as soon as I can. Can you tell me your location?

[ That out of the way? There's a pause. ]

... I disagree with your stance on all these points, and I must say something. We are NOT deciding whether other people live or die--the administrators have always been doing that for us from the very first day we were brought here. I, for one, would rather not remain some puppet... the exact way that Ruana and Jason have ALWAYS treated us, from the beginning, is like they can kill us as many times as they want, modify us as much as they want, do whatever to us they please regardless.

[Video]

[vermicompost]

I'm on the second floor of the dormitories.

[Kariya says this with something of a challenge in his voice. He doesn't care who knows where he is.]

Yes, you are.

[Kariya is just as angry, and he wants to express that anger. He will argue even with his last breath (and it sounds as if he is doing just that). His voice is hoarse and rasping, the voice of a very sick man. Yet being healed seems to be almost a secondary concern to him. You people put Sakura and Rin and Shinji in danger. Everything else is unimportant in comparison.]

Of course the administrators are to blame for what they do. They're horrible, and I want to stop them. Don't tell me how they treat us, because I know. I've seen my friends and family hurt by them, but they have kept us alive.

You're to blame for what you did, too. Did you ask the rest of us? No, you did this all in secret. You wanted to be heroes, but what did you accomplish? Nothing! You traumatized children, hurt people deeply, and could have condemned us all to death. That wasn't the only thing you could have done, the only way you could have fought.

So you would rather die? I wouldn't! I didn't choose to die, and I don't want my friends to die either. I won't give up. Even if I was a puppet, I would keep living and fighting. You took that choice away from me.

I'm still alive. I'm still myself, and that's what's important, no matter what they do to us.

video;

[proteusmoon]

[ Cecil is rather conflicted about all of this; she can certainly see the resistance's point of view, but the things Kariya says also ring true. There's nothing she can do about that though and it's obviously pointless to argue the point against the resistance, so instead she would rather do what she can here and now to help people. ]

Kariya, I can help you. My room is next to Lancelot's on the third floor. Where are you?

video;

[vermicompost]

[He studies Cecil's face for a moment He's actually relieved not to have to argue about his viewpoint more--he would, without hesitation, but it takes a lot out of him.]

You can? That's right, I remember... [She'd healed him before, although that isn't exactly a time he likes to think about, and his memory of that portion of the relevant events is dim.]

I'm on the second floor.

[Video]

[miseris_socios]

[Ken narrows his eyes. He wasn't part of whatever happened, but he doesn't disagree with them.]

People suffer no matter what happens. Do you really think that hiding the truth is going to help them? And children cry over a lot of things. It's their responsibility to grow stronger from that.

As for taking the decision if someone lives or dies in our hands - sometimes things have to be done to make things better. And hope doesn't end when you die. It's something that can be passed on. Not that we shouldn't keep on living, but fearing death isn't going to do anything either! Especially not in this place!

[His anger seems to fade as Kariya's pain becomes clear.]

... I can heal, at least for some things. I don't know if it'd help you but it'll at least close your wounds.

[Video]

[vermicompost]

[Kariya sees that Ken is younger, and he calms, somewhat. He has no reason to be angry at Ken. He speaks softly, yet he doesn't speak to Ken as if he's a child.]

People suffer. That's true. [Considering the way his face twitches, Kariya likely knows this well.] We already knew the truth, that we were souls in vessels, that they controlled everything here. What did this teach us? Nothing that helps us fight. No, not everyone grows stronger from pain and fear. Children should be protected. [He remembers his own childhood. The things that had made him cry hadn't strengthened him. The pain had frightened and saddened him. No child should have to go through such things.] This was for no reason, and people were traumatized.

People should work to help. Did I say we shouldn't fight? But they made a mistake. They put these chips down without knowing what they were or what they would do. They made a decision that affects us all.

It's not fearing death, to want to stay alive no matter what. We shouldn't be reckless. If we all die, who will we pass our hope to? How? Every life is so important.

[Kariya smiles, weakly. He doesn't want to worry Ken.]

It's all right. I'd be grateful for any help, but--I don't have wounds right now. [Not yet, at least.]

[Voice]

[neverbeamemory]

Kariya. What do you know about this?

[There is a voice he hasn't heard in a long time, a face he's not seen much around either but then - he's not ever had a need to be looking for Kariya. However, the other man had been forthcoming with advise and information before so why shouldn't he still be? He clearly knows more about what than Sephiroth does. Sounds like he has someone, or someones to blame as well.

Then Sephiroth noted well the spasm and it didn't take long to connect the dots; he does remember something about parasitic worms. How they would kill him in the end as well. Kariya does look worse for wear than he had the last time Sephiroth had seen him.]

It's the - worms? Right?

video;

[vermicompost]

[Oh, it's Sephiroth. Kariya remembers the man, and he has no reason to feel anything but friendly toward him.]

I know that a certain small group of people received microchips, I think from from one of the administrators, and they placed them throughout the tower, on all the floors. That why it broke, the Glamour, if that's what it's called. The chips interfered with it.

I don't know everyone who was involved, but my-- [He stops short of calling Lancelot his Servant, and he doesn't feel like he should give away the identity of those who were involved.] My friend was. [Lancer and Lancelot had both told him about it.]

Yes, the worms. They were gone, when the power went out. Now they're back again, even though they aren't real at all.

[bowandblade]

[He listens in silence to the Master of Berserker's words, a faint smile playing along his lips. What had he said when he had seen this scarred and pale Kariya Matou?

You may be the braver one.

To speak out against those who had decided for the whole tower, and then ask for help. Brave and foolish and so very human.]

[Anon text - I'm sorry about him and also for being late]

[bloodyashes]

And how do you expect to make any kind of choice without knowing the truth? Would you choose to go back to living in the illusion?

[There's no voice accompanying the words, but the tone of disdain in them is clear.]

No one is telling you how to live from this point forward. Whether you fight or make appeals at the feet of the administrators is your own decision. All we did was give you the truth of what that decision really means.

And besides, this is hardly living.

No problem or apologies necessary! I'm sorry for being late, too. Also, video

[vermicompost]

[Typing is hard on Kariya's hands, so he continues to reply using the video function.]

The truth? I already knew the truth, that we were souls in vessels, that they could manipulate us in any way they wanted. No one was made any more able to fight! Some people were frightened and traumatized, that's all, and now we may die in a year.

The people who did this shouldn't act as if they helped us, as if they're heroes. You aren't.

[Kariya's own disdain is clear enough in his tone.]

You didn't give me anything, and I won't appeal to anyone.

How can you say that? You can't disrespect life like that! We have personalities, hopes, and dreams! It's hard, and it hurts, but we are alive, and while there's one flicker of self-awareness in us, we'll still be alive. [How dare anyone say that the people he cares about aren't alive, and how dare anyone put their lives in danger.] You think so little of the people here that you don't even consider them living and you'd throw their lives away? I won't!

[He doesn't know what he can do to help, but he wants to do something.

However, having over-excited himself, Kariya pauses to cough, the flecks of blood bright on his lips.]

video; gomen for late reply but pinged. :c

[pitiedthefool]

"Ignorance is bliss"... Is that what you're trying to imply?

If you haven't noticed, the administrators are the ones who are deciding whether we "live" or "die" - by their rules. The ones who acted aren't taking choices from anyone; only revealing the harsh reality behind the veil they pull over our eyes every day we exist in this tower.

They knew the risks, and decided to act on the chance to bring change. If you want to be angry with those who chose to act rather than bide their time until she decided to do to us what they've always done, then I won't stop you. Just don't assume they're automatically like them because they don't want to exist as their playthings anymore.

There is always hope. Don't you see? We still have one year to change this world, for the better. Despite what they may bring because of the attempts to try.

video; it's quite all right! I'm sorry for being late, too!

[vermicompost]

No, I'm not. I wasn't ignorant. I already knew we were souls in vessels and that our powers could be turned off. What did we learn? What did it benefit anyone to see those things? [He doesn't mention the fact that in some ways, he'd liked it better when the Glamour was gone. He feels guilty about that.] It hurt people.

They did take choice away from us, no matter what they say. The majority of people didn't know what was happening. We weren't able to choose whether we thought that was a good idea, and now our time here is limited, no matter what.

People should fight, but I don't think they did the right thing. They didn't only risk themselves, they risked everyone's lives.

[He sighs. They risked his family's lives, and that's what makes him angriest.]

I know very well how cruel and horrible the administrators are. I never said those people were like the administrators in any way, I said they were wrong. There could have been another way.

[Always hope... He does want to believe that, too. He nods, slowly.]

No matter how long is left, I won't stop fighting, but I still don't agree with what they did.