ITP: Consolidation.

[fracta_anima]

OOC: So we don't wind up spamming the Network Comm and because some people just want to write: comment here to post your nightmares/punishment as you have written them. Please specify if it's a nightmare or a punishment in the subject line.

If it's a punishment, please also put in the subject line if it's viewable and on what day(s).

Remember to add your character's tag to the post.

Thanks guys!

--Random

Comments

Punishment -starting Day 2 evening, viewable.

[savedbyasong]

Shion couldn't move, not even to open his eyes. This was the fifth time he had died, and yet this feeling was one he would never get used to. He panicked for the fifth time, trapped in his body; unable to scream. He felt like he couldn't breathe; he couldn't think, the seconds stretching out forever.

When it did, he screamed, gasping in air even as the noise rebounded back at him from the walls. Realising he wasn't in his bed, or even his room, he scrambled up off the floor only to be pulled back by a chain around his neck. Panic rising, Shion sat down with a thump and looked at the room. Any calmness he might have regained disappeared at once when he took in the sight in front of him.

"Nezumi!" Shion lunged forwards, the chain bringing him up short again not even halfway across the room. The other boy stood bound, flanked by two men with red collars. They both held knives, whilst Nezumi was gagged.

Conflicting feelings surged through him. After all, Nezumi was alive! He had survived the end of the world, or if the world hadn't ended, he hadn't died alone in the correctional facility. But... he was here, in this place that forced them to fight to the death. He was here, captured by these people. "Let him go!" Shion surged forward again, fighting against the chain to no avail. He was quickly becoming exhausted but did not stop fighting, trying to get free to help Nezumi.

"You grew up in luxury, Shion," The man on the left began. Shion's eyes flickered to him warily. He stopped struggling for a moment to listen to what he had to say. "While not too far away, those in the West Town starved and froze to death."

Shion blinked, head drooping. The man was right: Shion had been protected in Chronos as a child, purely because of his status in the Special Program, While Nezumi had starved and froze, fending for himself. Shion had been given everything he needed. He had never been too cold or too hot. Always had enough food, more than enough. A big house and a good education. Just as Shion was dwelling on this, the second man drove a knife into Nezumi's shoulder.

"No!" Shion flung himself forward again, vision whiting out with panic and anger, "Stop it!" They ignored him and the first man spoke again.

"When you were twelve, you didn't think of the consequences of breaking the law - not for you, but for your mother. She was exiled with you... you became a burden to her." Nezumi was stabbed a second time; though his eyes flickered briefly in pain, he didn't make a sound. Shion screamed again for him, screaming for them to stop. If it was his crimes they were reciting then it should be him who was hurting; not Nezumi. Never Nezumi.

It continued: every crime, every mistake Shion had ever made in his life laid bare. Each was another knife driven into Nezumi's body, the ground around him stained with blood. The fabric covering his mouth was stained red - the boy had bitten through his lip in his effort to stay silent. Shion's shouted threats turned into wordless screams and later tears as he struggled against the chain.

"You killed Yamase. If you had figured out the danger earlier, you could have saved him, but you didn't. You were lazy, satisfied with your secure life."

"You allowed children to steal from you, wasting Nezumi's money."

"The whole time you were a burden on Nezumi, needing to be protected, not capable of looking after yourself."

The words blurred into each other. Shion continued struggling, sobbing as he did so.

Hours passed, perhaps; Shion lost all sense of time. Eventually he collapsed in exhaustion, the chain holding him up in a half-crouch. A few moments later, a dull thud sounded, and Shion tasted fresh blood against his mouth. He screamed again, finding new energy as he launched himself futiley towards Nezumi's body. He couldn't reach it, of course... so he screamed, instead, not knowing what he was saying. Or if he was saying anything at all. Wanting nothing more than to hurt those that had killed Nezumi.

A dark rage filled him, flooding his vision with red and black. Nezumi was dead because of him, because of his crimes, his mistakes, of not being strong enough to stop this. Not strong enough to survive in the labyrinth.

Another sound made him look towards the corpse again and he yelled in shock: Nezumi was alive, covered in blood but unhurt. Still a prisoner, still bound and silent. His eyes, initially clouded, sharpened as they found his friend's.

Shion's voice was raw from screaming, "Let him go, I wont let you hurt him anymore." It was a useless threat and Shion knew it. So did they, because without batting an eyelid they began again.

"You failed Safu, you left her behind. She got taken to the correctional facility because of you." The stabbing continued, endless cycles of blame. Every time Nezumi died he woke up again uninjured, only to be killed once more. Endless cycles of pain and it was all Shion's fault.

"Even when you came here you were weak, needing others to save you... you were a burden on them when they should have been focusing on themselves."

Time lost all meaning, lost in the constant stream of crimes and blood. Shion's screams had long since subsided, he had stopped struggling altogether and yet it continued. What did they want from him?

"You heard them die, yet you didn't move to save them when you played hide and seek with the bears." Shion had stopped properly listening a long time ago. The rage and pain had consumed him completely. There was nothing he could do, no way to stop them hurting Nezumi. He had lost track of how many times Nezumi had died, because of him. All because of him.

"You read Reno's journal, betrayed his trust." Stab.

"You forced him to avoid you, and so he was attacked." Stab.

"You weren't strong enough in the labyrinth... everyone had to protect you, instead of themselves."Stab.

Days passed, Shion no longer registered anything but Nezumi's pain and so when the retrieval units changed what they said, asking a question instead of listing a crime it took Shion a few moments to register it.

By that time a knife had been plunged into Nezumi's neck again. "No! Wait... what?" Shion's voice was hoarse but he tried to concentrate. "Don't..."

"How many times does the name 'Shakespeare' occur in the novel Ulysses by James Joyce." Shion blinked in confusion, he had never even heard of such a novel. Expressionless, the man drew another knife.

"No. Wait, I..." Too late, the man drove the knife into Nezumi once more. Shion made a sound that could have been a scream had he the energy, but was more a whimper; laced with despair. "Please..." He was ignored.

"Which melodic feature is played by the violins in bar four, beat one in the first movement of Mozart's Horn Concerto No 3?" Shion racked his brain, desperately trying to come up with an answer. It was no good. He didn't even understand the question. Nezumi was stabbed again, even now given a chance to save him Shion was failing. Failing to save him, to stop them.

"How does Shakespeare use imagery in Hamlet to create a mood of tension, suspense, fear, and despair?" Hamlet... Shion had read that. He grasped onto the idea that if he got this right they might stop.

"They..." Imagery? That was pictures right? But it was a play, they used only words... He tried to think, remembering what he knew.

"They, they talk about it, it's... there's a ghost. Everyone dies..." It was wrong, he knew even before they shook their heads and drove their knife into Nezumi's chest. Shion watched, the flicker of hope he had regained falling into the darkness and despair that had taken over his heart.

"Explain the differences between two theories of globalisation." Shion stumbled to answer for a while, not understanding the questions. Never being able to give a satisfactory answer what ever he said. It only led to Nezumi being stabbed over and over again.

After Nezumi died for the fourth or fifth time since the questions had started Shion stopped answering. He had stopped struggling. It didn't matter, he had failed. There was nothing he could do. He was completely helpless, completely useless. Nezumi would be hurt no matter what because he wasn't strong enough or clever enough. He didn't know enough.

Tears streamed down his eyes as he slumped ont he ground. "Sorry, Nezumi... Sorry..." His words were almost inaudible, almost soundless apologies to Nezumi for failing him.

Still the questions continued.

"Why is the concept of citizenship problematic?" Nezumi had once risked everything for him, coming into No. 6, rescuing Shion, taking him out of the confines of the city that he had grown up in. Teaching him new things and yet Shion had failed to learn.

"Explain the term partisan alignment." Reno had tried to teach him as well, to train him to be stronger and yet still Shion had not learned. He had been weak.

"Sorry..."

"Illustrate two criticisms of the concept of tacit consent."

Even the apologies stopped eventually, tears drying up as Shion just stared forward, eyes burning. He felt nothing but pure, raging anger at the Tower, at these people, at himself... yes, himself more than anyone else.

He never knew what it was they wanted from him. It didn't stop for a very long time.