3. Knowledge [Video]

[sarcasmancer]

[[OOC: This is backdated to the 16th, after the Nyx Avatar battle. I meant to make this post earlier, but so it goes. Better late than never!]]

The video opens up on Jade Curtiss, picking up and slipping on his glasses, then looking at the camera while smiling his usual unconcerned smile and wearing his usual military uniform.

"Forgive me my abruptness, but I'd like to conduct a little survey," he says pleasantly. "My name is Jade Curtiss, and I had the fascinating experience of my first death yesterday--at, apparently, the hands of Death itself, no less. When I awoke this morning, I couldn't help but wonder, what sorts of deaths have you all experienced thus far? If you wouldn't mind indulging my curiosity, please leave a response in whatever format you prefer with as much detail as you feel comfortable with giving.

"Please be aware that I will likely ask follow-up questions. This is, of course, completely optional. For those of you who do participate, thank you in advance for your cooperation."

He nods his head politely, then reaches forward for something off-screen. The video cuts there. ...Morbid much?

Comments

[fragileprophet]

[Leave it to Jade to find dying interesting. On the screen, he shakes his head.]

Oh, not at all. I don't mind elaborating.

[First, there was the question of the young man.]

You're correct; I never got his name, or even saw him again afterward. It's fully possible that he's disappeared from the Tower since. But he was probably somewhere around Luke's age, with dark hair and...a headband, if I remember correctly. He was a bit tanned; the sort that one gets when they work outdoors often, and rather strong.

[He was able to lift up Ion, after all. But then, Ion was quite the opposite--small and pale from his time indoors and underground. Lifting him wasn't much of a challenge for most people. Hell, Anise could probably lift him if she wanted to.]

As for what happened between Luke and I...I'm afraid I can't speak for what happened to him. It was something very different, from what I could tell, and he wasn't around much longer afterward for me to be able to ask in detail. [Ion pauses, here, looking thoughtful.] As for me, I can tell you that this was only a couple of weeks after I had arrived. I don't remember the process. The last thing I remember is being grabbed by a retrieval unit, and when I woke up I didn't have control over my body, though I was fully cognizant otherwise.

[He frowns. He can still remember it with such clarity; it hadn't even been the biggest horror he had gone though...but it had been the first. How could anyone forget the first?]

I had had these sort of...speakers...[He gestures to the sides of his head.]...put over my ears. For the most part, I just walked around doing simple chores. But other times, I could hear...forgive me, it's hard to describe, exactly, but it was death. I could hear when residents of the Tower were about to die. And when I did, I'd stop what I was doing to seek them out.

[sarcasmancer]

[Well, if it doesn't stick... Normally this is an event one experiences only once. Jade can't help but be curious.]

Thank you, Fon Master. If I ever see someone matching that description, I'll inquire after him. If he may not still be in the Tower, though, I won't worry about it too much.

By a retrieval unit, though... I see. That was some welcome. Please don't worry if you can't remember it all or describe it coherently; it was clearly a traumatic experience. I appreciate that you're willing to discuss it at all. On that note, what happened when you found those residents?

[He thinks he has a pretty good guess, but...]

[fragileprophet]

[Ion's face becomes harder as Jade asks his next question. The face of the Fon Master more than the face of the child he was. Not that he wasn't anticipating it, but more than anything else that had happened, the answer still causes him to shudder somewhere deep down inside of himself.]

I would watch or put an end to them myself. Generally, I would just watch.

[He pauses. He probably doesn't have to give Jade further details, but he might as well.]

And when they would die I'd feel this sort of peace that I'd never quite felt before or since. I have to admit that when I was back to my normal self, I was afraid that this feeling was one of my own making. I've come to understand, however, that it was something I was made to feel.

[There was no way, of course, for Ion to know how that was possible. He was young, and didn't know more than he had been meant to know for his duties. But Jade was a scientist; likely he was already coming up with several possibilities.]

[sarcasmancer]

[Jade notes that change in his expression. Ion's always been the type to try to be as helpful as possible, so it would be like him to continue to answer and be as responsive as possible long after his comfort threshold has been passed. Normally this isn't a thing that would concern Jade, but he actually likes Ion, and there's no real benefit from being heartless in this situation. ...Besides which, the information he's gotten thus far is plenty to chew on.]

I see.

[It makes sense. If his body was being controlled, then his neurological responses to his actions, or perhaps his psyche itself, could have been controlled as well. But that would imply...

...no, there's too little information in the broader sense for him to guess anything. This is definitely something to remember, though.]

Thank you for your responses, Ion. I apologize for the discomfort I've caused you.