Behemoths and fireflies (and possibly a catch all) [open]

[howlongiwonder]

who: 2B and others
what: dealing with TDM related events
when: late April/early May
where: prompt-dependant
warnings: violence (first prompt only), possibly canon spoilers

(If you want a specific starter other than the prompts below, please PM me!)

I - baiting the behemoth/pest control
[The giant lizard creature definitely made things busy for the Guard. Be it fighting off the parasites that try to attack it, search and rescue civilians trapped in the middle of it all, or even be a bait to lure the behemoth away from the city - 2B is willing to do it all.

But on the other hand, she's not volunteering for any specific tasks either. Just doing whatever mission is assigned to her. Whatever you're up to, there's a possibility of catching the android as she moves around from one location to the other, sometimes dashing quickly, seemingly unburdened by heavy melee weapons on her back.]

II - orange firefly
[Even androids need rest and 2B is no exception. During evenings you can find her leaning against the wall on the community house's balcony, or just taking a walk around quieter parts of the city, soaking in the atmosphere. She enjoys night time, something that is new to her.

And this is when a small orange insect decided to check if it can bite a mechanical being. As it turns out, it can.]

It's not bad. Actually... I quite like it here. Does someone like me even deserve being in a nice place like this? I wonder.

[She ponders while scaring off the firefly with a quick gesture. It doesn't matter if anyone is around or if she's alone. It's just something she felt the need to get off her chest.]

Still... I wish he was here.

They even have a mall here. We could go shopping, just like I promised.

[She smiles, wistfully.]

III - yellow firefly
[Another evening encounter with 2B, but this time the circumstances are much different. She seems to ignore her surroundings, either lurching forward in a zombie-like shuffle or seeking support on whatever is available. She breathes heavily, staring straight forward absently, arms clutched tightly to the stomach.

Is all of this even real? How can she be sure? It could be an illusion, result of hacking brought by the machines' virus infection. She can't be sure. Or is it the afterlife? The thought of afterlife existing for androids brings some minimal comfort, but that means she really is...

Or worse yet. If all of this is really happening - that means she left something very important back home. Yes, she heard that you can return, to the same moment when you left. That's what she was told, but who's to say this is not yet another lie? A convenient thing to tell new arrivals so that they behave?

She can't be sure!

Who knows what's happening in her own world right now? Considering the state she left it at, what was happening to people close to her, what happened to herself too. And now, while she is here in this enjoyable place, back there...]

I don't belong here.

[She manages a loud whisper between her heavy breaths.]

I need to go back.

Comments

[bone_idle]

[ She gasps, and Sans extracts his hands from his pockets. He shows them and how empty they are. The universal gesture of MERCY. She already seemed distressed, so why not cross out one other possible threat?
* Sans is sparing you.
The skeleton maintains that pose, watching her try to correct her posture, to compose herself. ]

Yeah. It's just us here, so--

[ The skeleton nods at her, eye lights dropping briefly and then lifting to her visor again. ]

Don't worry 'bout pretendin'. [ An eye socket shuts as he adds: ] You're kinda bad at it.

[ Was that a joke? We may never know. ]

...What's gotcha on red alert, pal?

[howlongiwonder]

I'm not...

[2B sighs. Even in her current state she realizes how hard to believe that sentence would sound.

She slowly lifts herself up, leaning against a wall, looking down.]

Do you ever wonder what other peoples' lives were like before they were brought here? Many of them must have their own stories to tell. Tales of struggle and suffering.

[She's no exception, as the two could already talk a little about that.]

Yet, yet here are now. A place that has its own tragic past, but currently...

Currently it's so peaceful. It's... nice.

[Once again, this is something the two had a conversation about already. Where is 2B getting with this? Her hands slowly clench and open, nervous at the thought that crossed her mind.]

[bone_idle]

[ Sans continues to watch until she relents, unable to persist in something... neither of them really buy. That's a point in her favor: she's honest enough, though it needed a little more leaning than he likes.

The answer she gives him, though, now THAT isn't what he'd expected. And, at first, he suspects that it's a deflection, but the more she says the more he begins to reassess that initial reaction. Maybe that's not the reason, but she's laying the groundwork.

It's... almost self-talk, the kinda stuff he fills his late night hours with when he's got an excess of time and thoughts to fill those minutes with.

Before long, she's got company leaning on that wall. Sans slouches there, his hands in his pockets, letting that wall keep him propped up. ]

I'll be honest. I don't.

[ For the most part. ]

Some of the stuff some of these guys went through? Heh, stuff of nightmares for a guy who's lived his whole life in peace.

[ Rolling his shoulders in a shrug, he lets that part be. No big deal. ]

It ain't home, but you're right. It's nice here. Maybe it wasn't always so nice, and maybe it won't last. But... y'know... there ain't any harm in enjoyin' it while it's here.

[ He levels an eye light on her, out of the corner of a socket. ]

'Cept, you don't think you belong here. Or, uh, deserve it?

[howlongiwonder]

[2B holds her hands together to stop them from shaking. She has a horrible feeling inside her, but she has to voice it anyway. Time to cut straight to the point.]

I died.

I died many times in the past, but I am an android. My data could be backed up, and retrieved. I continued to exist.

The last time was different. Everything went horrible. Not just for me...

[Her voice has a small but noticeable tremble to it.]

Everything. The last thing I remember is it all going to hell.

And now... now I'm here.

(HAHAHA SHIT)

[bone_idle]

[ Well, she's talking. Sans has heard that helps people. He doesn't really get the appeal, but whatever keeps people from falling to pieces, right? (In the case of monsters, he might mean that a little more literally.)

But she died.

Not just, uh, once, not like some close call that the healers, or doctors, or even mechanics here were able to handle on arrival, but she uses the term many times. And she's aware of each one. And that last one, well, it sounds like it was a doozy. ]

...Whew.

[ There's a rasping sound, when he passes a bony hand over the white dome of his skull. ]

I can't even imagine, pal.

[ He then rolls his shoulders. Maybe his grin looks callous and inappropriate, but that's just the way his face is. His phalanges have settled on the back of the column of his cervical vertebrae, just for somewhere to be when his eye lights skip back over to her. ]

Don'tcha think this might be your lucky break?

No more dyin'. No more, uh, being RESET back to factory settings? Sounds pretty nice.

(I know right)

[howlongiwonder]

The thought... crossed my mind.

[2B says not without difficulty, having to take a breath in the middle of her sentence. Her hands move to a fold again, but it's a pretty tight one, as if she sought comfort in her own actions.]

Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

Am I...

Am I dead? Is this even real?

[bone_idle]

[ With something this heavy weighing on her, he guesses he understands why he'd find her wandering the hall this late, experiencing what he can only assume is... an anxiety attack.

Still, she seems a little better now that she's talking it out. Not to say he assumes she's feeling better, but less like a scratched record skipping over the same bright, acidic note of her own distress.

Somebody should do something about that whole issue, but that somebody would be a lot more qualified than Sans. Still, he angles his elbow and nudges it at her once. Twice. ]

I dunno. You seem pretty alive to me.

[ His eye lights sweep away, looking down the hall at... nothing, nobody. ]

I won't lecture you on how to handle somethin' like this. I don't even know.

[ He thinks for a moment about whether or not speaking his mind here might bite him in the tailbone later. In the end, he doesn't see any harm. ]

But sure. Let's say you're onto something.

Even this ain't real, even if none of this matters, who cares? Sounds like here's a heck of a lot better than where you came from.

[ Except not everyone just rolls with it like Sans, not everyone just takes the cards dealt them and tells themselves that it could be worse. ]

This could all be the creation of the last sparks of life goin' out. It's all gonna go away someday, so why don'tcha cut yourself some slack, enjoy yourself?

[howlongiwonder]

What is life - if not a spiral ending in death?

[2B forces a small, but pained smile. It's not the first time she thought about it that way.]

Maybe... maybe you're right. Maybe this is real, Sans. And maybe it doesn't matter.

...

[A pause during which she breathes audibly.]

I can't stay here. I need to go back. I was told I can go back, so I need to. This is an absolute priority.

My life turned to hell. There are others left in that hell right now. I can't be sure...

[Her hasty explanations are cut short. She doesn't know what happened back home. But suddenly she's afraid to know. Something horrible might have happened, even more horrible than how she remembers - and she suspects this is exactly the case.]

[bone_idle]

Yikes.

[ It's-- not that Sans particularly disagrees, it's just kind of incredible to him someone's able to just say it outright like that. Particularly with a straight face. Sans--well, he's always had a habit of defaulting to (often bad) humor, and otherwise if he can't turn it into a joke (or a scathing judgment) he tends to keep that to himself. Guess he's dodging the real issue, though:

She's awful young for having been through so much.

...Nah, that ain't it either. There's something here that he sees and doesn't see at the same time, something big enough to know he's kidding himself, big enough that he doesn't want to press it. Stay comfortably inside the zone of not getting too close, that works.

She's leaving anyway. ]

Heh heh heh, buddy, that sounds like the opening lines to a real depressing song. You should consider writing that down.

[ Even if he's laughing that off, that's... kind of an asshole thing to say, Sans. ]

And what would you do if you got back? Ain't no guarantee the portal's gonna be aimed in your world's direction, or if they'll come with you.

[ Or if they survived. ]

[howlongiwonder]

I... don't know.

[She clutches her own body tighter, trying not to let anxiety overcome her. She's usually better at handling this kind of feeling but tonight... something about tonight is different, and wrong.]

I realize there's no guarantee but, I don't know!

What would I do? What if... it's too late?

Would I even want to come here again?

[bone_idle]

[ Those are all questions that don't really have good answers, but Sans knows they aren't the kind of questions she asks because she wants one, he slouches there, watching her confess her fears. Fear's a little like poison, maybe for some people, letting it out has the same effect as purging out a toxin.

She cares a lot about a world that, in Sans's opinion, didn't care too much about her. Letting someone die for you over and over, used like an expendable tool? That sucks.

Didn't even have the decency to let her forget dying, either.

Finally, he says: ]

Hey, that's why I'm saying. Stay here. Doesn't sound to me like you got much goin' for you back there.

Maybe having the kinda life they can't have -- y'know, a full one, a peaceful one -- is the best way you can honor their memory.

[ Throw in the towel. Give up..? That's what Sans would have done, would do. Has done. ]

Heh, hell if I know. But if your mind's made up, I know I can't change it.

[howlongiwonder]

It's not that I hate it here. A peaceful existence would be... nice.

[Though her uncertainity is overwhelming, 2B is starting to make up her mind. No, she always had it made up. This is the only way to be sure.]

But I still have something to return to. It's very important. Even if the chance that I can find it is very small, I must take it.

Besides...

[She trails off, having realized she was just about to say too much. Some things she can share with others, and in fact feel a little better by getting them off her chest.

But sharing other things she might regret.]

[bone_idle]

[ He recognizes that hesitation. Hell, he can relate with that, he isn't, uh. A talker. Problems sort themselves out well enough without him adding to them, or... addressing them? At all?

Because if the routine doesn't just start right up all over again or some random otherworldly technology uproots you out of your old life, so there's no real point to fighting it.

No real point to fighting this, either.

One day, she'll leave, go back to that hell she came from, and that's that. This is another example in favor of Sans's decision to steadfastly make sure there's nothing much to miss. ]

Say no more, pal. I get it.

You're, uh, pretty determined. I don't think even a zero possibility would stop somebody like you.

[ So he'll let her off the hook. ]

[howlongiwonder]

Determination has nothing to do with it...

[She utters a quiet whisper. 2B wanted to leave the spiral of her miserable fate, but now that she is actually out of it - she wants to return. She'd find it amusing if she didn't doubt her own sanity right now.]

Sorry for taking your time.

I think I require more maintenance.

[bone_idle]

Dunno why you're apologizing to me, pal.

[ For taking up his time? He's got nothing BUT time, and an unconscious part of him is still getting accustomed to time moving in a linear and uninterrupted fashion again. ]

Just one more thing--

[ He rolls a shoulder, awkwardly. ]

If you do go back, try to make sure you make it in one piece this time, ok?

[howlongiwonder]

[She was going to depart herself, but there comes the request. 2B listens to it, thoughtfully.]

All lives will reach an end one day.

But, I'll do what I can not to hasten mine.

After all, I still have my life, don't I...

[Even if it's just that and not very reassuring, it's still something.]

[bone_idle]

[ Sans lifts his shoulders, his hands, holds them there a moment and then lets them drop, grinning.

His smile looks tired. But then, he always looks tired. ]

Hey, s'all any of us can ask.

[ With a soft rasp, he rubs at the crown of his skull with a hand and makes a sound not unlike a yawn, though his jaw doesn't move. ]

Maybe try to get some rest with your, uh, maintenance? We'll still be here in the mornin'.

[ Especially Sans, who will probably be dozing in bed for as long as possible, slapping SNOOZE on the proverbial alarm clock until work. ]