Ryuuji and Hiromu

[interpolate]

The bright side, if one could even hope to find such a quaint and ridiculous notion in this day and age, is that Messiah is so perpetually caught up in it's own suffering (bit pointless, really, as it truly brought that on itself) that it can't spare the motherboard to worry about why I'm acting oddly. Coupled with the fact that Messiah is completely ignorant of the passage of time without me, and not entirely capable of knowing when it's being lied to, I'm managing to keep myself from being deleted, re-written, re-wired, or any other of the vast number of ways Messiah could potentially make me not me anymore.

Which brings to mind its own train of thought, and as I wait in the construction site that I launched that first MetaVirus from, I wonder idly about the Gobusters and their delusion about my past.

I wonder if they're actually going to show up, just the two of them. I wonder if this was in fact a trap. I wonder why I trusted them, wonder whether I should load a MetaVirus into another one of these rusted pieces of machinery to be on the safe side.

No, not yet. But I do sit down in a suitably hidden area and tap away.

I'm still trying to figure out their names.

Comments

[blue_pleather]

Given the risk of what could happen if we're caught going to see Enter, Hiromu and I have chosen to arrive separately. I left first, but I know he'll be here. It makes my insides twist uncomfortably to see how excited he was when I told him Enter wanted to see us.

Good thing I didn't use Enter's own words and call it a date.

I'm willing to bet the site's supply of Enetron is considerably depleted from what it was before Enter arrived. Let's just find out what he has to say. I'm fully armed, but I won't transform before I enter the building, and I don't expect to use a weapon. I never go out as a civilian.

[interpolate]

Perhaps it's not a trap after all. Or if it is, it's a very poorly developed one, as I look over my computer. It's not hard to recognize him, even from a distance, even in the dark. He's noticeably taller than mon rouge.

"Ça va, bleu." I close my computer and set it down somewhere safe and half-hidden, then stand to approach him. Slowly. It could still be a trap. "You made it."

[blue_pleather]

I appreciate the gesture. I move in a little closer to him, "Red's coming, I swear he'll be here. He was so excited to see you. We're arriving separately so no one will find out where we've gone."

[interpolate]

I don't like how excited I am at the thought. I don't want to like him, I certainly don't want him to like me, and I know innately that the longer this goes on, the more horribly it will end, and I don't want that for him.

"Sounds very logical." It's a compliment, though I'm not sure if he'll take it as such. "Have we come to any conclusions about what exactly it is we're supposed to say to him?"

[blue_pleather]

"We were going to tell him that you're not human, right? That you were never Etienne. And he should give up on you for his own safety." I breathe out slowly, "whatever you tell him about your past is up to you."

[interpolate]

"Of course."

The good thing being that I am in fact a 'villain', in base terms, and I have no problem lying to him even if I do think I really like him quite a lot. Whether it's a lie through omission or a blatant lie, or technically a lie because I don't actually know for sure... I don't mind, so long as he doesn't get himself killed trying to 'save' me.

"Yes, that sounds sufficient." I tilt my head.

"Bleu. What do you remember about this... Etienne?" Not saying it's me, or could be me, or was ever me, or what have you. Just... morbid curiosity, I suppose.

[blue_pleather]

I try to remember. There's nothing more there than I told Hiromu, "he was a 'half' ... must've been half-French. He was a few years older than Red Buster. I'm not sure why he was there, something to do with his parents ... government?" My expression crumples with frustration at the blanks in my mind, "there was another kid too, but I don't remember anything about him. I don't know if he had anything to do with Etienne."

[interpolate]

"Hm." I file it all away. I wonder if it will even make a difference. Even if I was in any way related to this child from their past, certainly it is inconsequential now. I'm not sure why I care so much, but again. Morbid curiosity. Messiah's fault. It made me what I am, after all.

"Have you ever considered asking your superiors? Surely they might remember more."

[blue_pleather]

"I never thought to," I admit softly, "we were always told we're the only survivors. I can't see how anyone else could have lived through that. Red Buster ... he's just very passionate about what he believes in. He wanted you to be human, and it was hard not to get drawn into that."

He's absolutely right. Why didn't I ask? Because Etienne and the other boy are dead, but it seems so obvious now.

[interpolate]

"I'm quite sure you were the only survivors." I admit. What is that, guilt? No, I had nothing to do with it. The researcher who trapped Messiah sealed their own mortality. I had hardly been developed at the time.

I realize it's pity. I pity him, and mon rouge, and the female as well. Huh. Strange.

"The subspace is terrible. Stifling, and not... simply not a place for humans. At all. I spend as little time there as I can myself. You were probably right not to question further. It would only result in... false hope, or a dark truth that I don't wish on any of you."

It's becoming more difficult to pretend I don't care.

[blue_pleather]

I can almost convince myself he feels sorry for us. I find it hard to imagine that something like this could be part of his programming. I don't believe that Messiah could conceive of such a thing to include.

Mention of the subspace stirs another memory, this time of our last meeting, "you said you spent thirteen years in the subspace. Was that when Messiah created you, or was there something before?"

[interpolate]

I turn to glance around, wondering when mon rouge is going to arrive. I'm smart enough to realize that him hearing half of the things bleu and I are saying would do more harm than good in the long run. Again with the false hope.

The question catches me wrong footed, and I turn back to him with a frown. "Before?"

Was there anything before?

No, I don't think so.

If there was, certainly Messiah would have made sure to remove it, erase it. In the slim chance that I am in any way related to their past, Messiah would not have left those kinds of human protocols intact. Would it?

"If there was..." I start carefully. "Anything before. Those thirteen years of darkness would have effectively erased it."

[blue_pleather]

"I don't ..." For a start, I don't want to inadvertently say something that will lead to the tentacles coming out before Hiromu gets here, "I don't believe that Messiah could program you to care about Red Buster. Or to want to spare us from suffering. Those are concepts that Messiah couldn't conceive of. They come from you."

There's no sign of Hiromu. If he doesn't arrive in the next few minutes I'll call him.

[red_pleather]

I am considerably more irritable than I was when I left. First, I was stupid enough to follow Nick's directions (I didn't tell him where I was going, but he'd directed me to this area before, and I only remembered when I was walking past a circus of all things that *he* was the one who'd told me which way to go last time).

Second, I got jumped by Buglers. I took care of them easily enough, but now my stupid leg's hurting from where I fell badly, leaping in front of civilians.

This'll be good, though. I want to find out what they have to tell me.

[interpolate]

I didn't realize I was so focused despite my conversation with bleu until I heard him coming. At least, I assume it's him.

I back away from bleu and turn to face the newcomer, but I don't call out to him. It might not be him, after all. I'm perfectly aware that the entire night might have been an elaborate trap.

[red_pleather]

Two figures stand in the shadows. I make my way towards them slowly, cursing my limp, then break into a grin when I'm close enough to ID them both.

[interpolate]

I recognize him in about the same second I realize he's limping, and my cables snap out faster than my feet can move, picking him up gently about the waist. "Mon rouge, what happened?" Not doing a great job of proving to myself that I don't care and that I'm a danger to him and... whatever else I'm supposed to be proving to him with this clandestine meeting.

I bring my closer, but I manage to set him carefully down and retract my cables, clearing my throat and avoiding bleu's gaze. This is already going against our intent, and my own rashness is the problem.

[red_pleather]

Enter's cables grab me faster than I can react, making me yelp with surprise, though not fear. He puts me down with great gentleness.

I lean against a pile of boxes, grimacing. "I landed awkwardly," I admit reluctantly. "It's just wrenched. I'll be okay."

[interpolate]

"Landed awkwardly," I repeat. I don't like the sound of that at all. "You were fighting?" I assume he wasn't fighting his own people. Probably some of 'mine', though I technically have no actual control over Buglers in general, and whatever Messiah sends them out to do is not usually any of my business, since they're generally not advanced enough to steal Enetron without me.

[red_pleather]

I nod. "There were civilians. It got a little messy." I give them both an apologetic smile. "Sorry I'm late."

[interpolate]

"Hmm." I suppose I could muster up some pretend sympathy for the civilians if I had to, but nothing's immediately forthcoming, and besides, the more heartless he thinks I am, the better. I think. "Well, I'm glad you made it, anyway. We were... worried."

[red_pleather]

"Worried?" I repeat, amused as hell at the incongruity of them looking at me like they're my parents and I stayed out past curfew. I realise at the last minute that's probably a reaction that'll get me into trouble.

[interpolate]

"I am less than inclined to trust that your superiors would not punish you if they discovered you sneaking out to fraternize with an enemy." I snap at him. Damn it, still not doing a great job of proving I don't care about him, though I'm fairly certain that ship has long since sailed.

I turn away from him, folding my arms over my chest to keep my cables from sneaking out of their own accord. "And now you're injured, and they'll surely wonder why." I glance at bleu, hoping he agrees with me on this point.

[red_pleather]

He is not a computer. Absolutely no way. Look at him, all worried and outraged and looking to Ryuuji for support. (Have they actually bonded?! Excellent.)

"I'll explain," I say, smiling. "You don't need to worry about me so much, though it's nice."

[blue_pleather]

I nod in agreement with Enter. I'm actually surprised at how gentle he is with Hiromu. Hiromu doesn't like to be fussed over and probably won't let anyone look at his injuries, so I try to give him a quick once-over while he's distracted with Enter.