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]

"Who would they ask to destroy you? Us, the warriors. And Red Buster and I would not obey." Youko complicates things. We can worry about that later. "I think Messiah is more of a concern."

[interpolate]

I nod. I'll give him that. "No offense, but Messiah is obviously the bigger threat. There is a reason it has been transferred in its entirety to the subspace. It is far reaching and incredibly dangerous." I turn to look at mon rouge and sigh slightly. He's so sure. He's so very wrong. "That is why overtly abandoning Messiah's side would mean certain destruction for me."

[blue_pleather]

So how did this get to the stage where I want to give Enter a hug?

"Red Buster." He may take it better from me, "can you see why we shouldn't think about this? We can't help Enter. It will only put him in more danger."

[red_pleather]

"You don't seriously expect me to walk away," I say, taken aback at that. "Enter's still potentially human even if he wasn't Etienne, and even if he's not human he's still *alive*."

I spread my hands at them both, then have to grab at a box when my leg threatens to give out under me. "My job is to protect life. All life, well as long as it's not actively trying to hurt me. I also *care* about Enter for his own damn sake and I'm not going to walk away. I will find a way to protect him."

[blue_pleather]

"How?! You can't even protect yourself. We're not going to let anything happen to you!" I can hear my voice cracking on a high note, so I take a couple of deep breaths. It's no good to stand there shrieking like an over-excited child, "He knows what Messiah's capable of, much more than we do. It's like there's no way out."

It's not like me to be defeatist. Enter just seems so adamant that Messiah will destroy him if we get involved. I go across to Hiromu's side and try to support his weight.

[interpolate]

"I do, mon rouge." It's all I can do not to move to him immediately when he stumbles. I'm relieved when bleu steps in. "Perhaps not quickly, but I do expect you to walk away. If I was ever human, I'm not now. You must know that." I hold out one arm, let the sleeve fall back and let my cables snake past my fingers. "Humans can't do this." I make it a point not to look at bleu. I'm not sure I'm ready for his reaction.

I call the cables back and turn my back on him again. "If you care about me, you'll let me do what I know needs to be done. You can protect me by at least pretending to fight me. I won't ask you to neglect your duty. The true winners will prevail."

I glance over my shoulder, catching bleu's eyes as I do so. This must be hard for him too. I'm starting to realize that our feelings for mon rouge are similar. It must wound him to hear mon rouge make such a passionate plea for me. "Who knows? Maybe you'll find a way to destroy Messiah. Maybe then I'll be free. But until then..."

[blue_pleather]

The display of tentacle makes me uncomfortable, not because of any implied threat, but because it reminds me that we're not entirely human either. Humans aren't as fast as Hiromu, or as strong as me, and they can't jump like Youko.

"Even if we don't really fight you ... what about Yellow Buster? She doesn't know about any of this. Maybe she'd listen, but until then ..." I trail off. Youko is moody, prickly, but she's not heartless. We'll find a way to talk to her. I settle for kneeling next to Hiromu and fussing over his leg.

[red_pleather]

Hell, Ryuuji's really upset. I stare at him levelly, because while I genuinely appreciate the care from both of them -- how am I this lucky? -- it can't be like this. They can't treat me like a kid. I squeeze his arm where he's supporting me, and try not to lean on him too much.

"You protect me, and I'll protect you. Both of you," I say, not giving an inch. "We'll get through it all together."

Enter shows his cables, and I shrug. If he hasn't seen this in battle already, he's not as smart as I thought he was. "I'm not exactly garden variety human either," I tell him wryly, holding out a hand in invitation to a cable. Ryuuji can talk about himself if he wishes, that's his business, but mine is mine. "I can do things other humans can't, too."

[blue_pleather]

It's hard to know where to draw a line any more. We apparently trust Enter, but we're not telling him our real names. Hiromu is vowing to protect him forever, yet it still makes panic rise inside me to hear Hiromu reveal his abilities to Enter.

Someone has to keep a sense of perspective. This is not going to be as easy as Hiromu thinks. For now I'm going to examine his injury, which isn't too bad, but I have no equipment to clean or support it.

[interpolate]

"There is a very marked difference, mon rouge. Your abilities are the result of your being vaccinated against Messiah." I shrug apologetically at bleu. "I have done my homework."

I sigh and relent to stepping closer to them. "I, however, was created by Messiah, and an as such already... I am loath to use the word infected, but it does the job. Infected, by Messiah. For all intents and purposes I am a part of it. Messiah is malevolent, so too must I be. Why do you refuse to understand this?"

[red_pleather]

I stare at him, refusing to drop my gaze. "You have access to so much data. Don't tell me you don't *know* people's fates aren't decided at birth. You have *choices*. You don't have to be like your parent."

I rest a hand on Ryuuji's shoulder where he's fussing over my leg, which is kind of him, and I hold out the other to Enter insistently. "I'm not asking you two to figure out how to fix all this right now, so stop panicking about it. You're far too alike!! I'm asking you to work with me, and each other. I'm asking you to trust me."

[blue_pleather]

"We can't accept you're malevolent because you can do something that Messiah hasn't programmed you with. It's not logical to conclude that Messiah controls you completely." Logical is a good word. Enter will understand that.

His remark about immunity makes me think. Hiromu and Youko and I are all immune to Metaviruses, as are the Buddyroids. Can you create immunity to it? I won't mention this now, because I don't want to excite Hiromu. I'll make some inquiries later.

[interpolate]

I turn quickly to shoot a glare at bleu. This conversation is still not going at all the way we'd discussed, and it's beginning to occur to me that this might have been a set up after all, if not a trap. "I thought we were in agreement that forgetting about my plight, whatever it is, was in everyone's best interests? Fine." I can play their game.

"Obviously Messiah does not control the minutiae of my actions. I am programmed to make intelligent decisions on what to infect with MetaVirus, how to disguise myself and infiltrate various locales in the quest of Enetron. In giving me enough freedom to be an effective spy, hacker and thief, I have been giving enough freedom to make my own decisions about how best to spend my free time. But that does not mean I think that I will be excused if I am discovered in a compromising position, namely, planning or perpetrating any offense against Messiah." I sigh and run a hand through my hair. It's a very human gesture, but I think it helps. "It is not so much that Messiah has or has not programmed me to do or not to do something. It is more than in being infected and created by Messiah, Messiah always has a link directly to me that could be exploited if I were discovered. It is difficult for Messiah to send any kind of signal out of the subspace, that's the entire reason it was imprisoned there in the first place. But the Buglers and I, we are exempt from that clause, because we were created from it and sent out to do its bidding." Needing to breathe has never been such a nuisance as it is now. "Do you understand yet?"

[blue_pleather]

I have to say or do something to pacify him. Otherwise, he may lose whatever semblance of trust we've developed, and then we won't be able to work together to protect Hiromu.

"Red Buster. Do you understand?" I move across to Enter's side, "... Enter can't come with us. He has to stay with Messiah." Hiromu won't like hearing this, but I'd rather deal with a grumpy Hiromu than a grumpy Enter. And I may just be beginning to form an idea.

[red_pleather]

"We're going around in circles," I say shortly. "I understand that needs to happen for now, but I'm not giving up."

I sigh. Need to give Enter something that'll show Ryuuji that I'm serious, too. A link between us. "And Enter? My name is Hiromu."

[blue_pleather]

Well, that's that done. As a show of support for both, I add "... I'm Iwasaki Ryuuji." I find myself going to bow out of habit whenever I'm introduced to someone, but manage to catch myself mid-motion.

[interpolate]

"I wish you would." I snarl. Mostly because I'm tired of thinking about it. Mostly because when I think about it, I think about how badly this could end for all of us. Except maybe the female. I think at this point she's the safest. I worry that they're going to include her, and I suspect she might be the most dangerous of the three of them.

This catches me off guard and I turn to stare at him, and then to turn my narrowed eyes at bleu. But obviously this was not in his agenda for the night either.

Still. I appreciate it. I shouldn't, but I do. "Hiromu." I repeat. "And Ryuuji."

I feel a bit exposed, suddenly. They're just now gracing me with the gift of their names, when they've known mine from the start.

[red_pleather]

"Yes," I say, feeling at last like I've done something *right* tonight. Ryuuji backed me up, even.

I don't like that the two of them are standing over there looking at me like that, but I'll take what I can get, and it makes me grin, a little. "You're stuck with us, Enter."

[blue_pleather]

I'm not sure how I feel giving him our names. If this goes horribly wrong, as well it might, we could live to regret revealing our identities. But it's like removing a barrier of some kind. Enter could almost be a friend.

Almost. Too bad that neither he nor Hiromu is prepared to reach an agreement.

"Enter?" I echo, because we seem to have got no closer to establishing who or whwat he is.

[interpolate]

I can see that this has not exactly turned out in my favor. "Well. If you refuse to see reason, I won't strain myself to compete with your fruitless optimism."

I take a step back, trying to distance myself from them both. I had planned this meeting with bleu, no, Ryuuji, to keep mon rouge safe, not to convince him to try harder to 'rescue' me. "So what now? Will you return to your... base, or whatever?"

[red_pleather]

"Probably," I say reluctantly. "But we'll see you again. Count on it."

[blue_pleather]

"Hiromu." It's a lot more sincere now I can use the name, "if we really want to help Enter ... we should listen to him." I'm still working on the principle of trying to pacify Enter before Hiromu; but Enter, at least, will try to ensure Hiromu's safety. Any reckless action from Hiromu could be disastrous for us all.

[interpolate]

"Thank you, bl-" Again the hesitation. I know their names, I will make a concerted effort to use them. "Ryuuji."

I turn to mon rouge. Name be damned. I won't admit it alive, to myself or to either of them, but I do already consider him as mine on some level. "Please. Return home. I shall do the same. The rest will fall into place."

[red_pleather]

I push myself up, and make my way over to stand opposite the two of them. I reach out very deliberately, slowly, to touch a shoulder of each. "As long as you two know I'm not letting this go, and Enter's not in immediate danger, that's fine."

I pause, wondering if this is it, if this is some key to something. "Enter? Do you not consider yourself worth saving?"

[blue_pleather]

Of course Hiromu won't let this go. It's like he's fitted with an innate tracking system that points him in the direction of most immediate danger.

I'm not sure we should ask a question like that, but I squeeze Hiromu's hand all the same.