night 2 | luke

[jackhole]

[ okay, after deciding once again who/how to murder someone, rhys decides to use the rest of the night to work on his projects. as they're heading out of the labs and back to the general complex, rhys hangs back a little so he can tug on luke's sleeve and get his attention. ]

Hey, want to come to the tech lab with me? I'm still a bit wired and I could show you what I'm working on, if you're interested.

[ he actually looks a little bit eager too... seems like he just really wants to share his work with someone and luke's his best option right now. alas. poor lonely nerd. ]

Comments

[chiseler]

[This is their second meeting and Luke doesn't want to admit he's just as lost. He has ideas and he has plans, but he knows those plans have to wait. He's done his time of waiting, two years so far serving under the lord of the titans and putting everything in place. He doesn't think he has two years this time, but the others are saying to wait.

Everyone seems to know what they're doing except for him. It's embarrassing, mostly, but his mind is distracted nevertheless. It also doesn't help that despite his nose being fixed, he finds himself feeling a little chilled and tired.

And yet…Rhys stops him on his way out and he looks up at him curiously. He's come to find that Rhys isn't actually as dumb as he plays himself up to be. In a strange way, it's almost admirable. Maybe admirable isn't the right word, but it's something. He doesn't speak at first though, tilting his head in thought.]

…yeah? [He sounds uncertain, wary of the offer and not sure what to make of Rhys's enthusiasm, but if they're working together he'll have to sort of trust him a little bit.] I mean yeah. I'd like to see what you've got. I don't really know much about tech anyway so…could be useful to check it out. You ready?

[jackhole]

[ see, on the flip side, rhys is completely different. it's not that the dumb thing is an act, per se, it's just that rhys is a completely reactionary guy. he has no patience, no impulse control, sees something and makes snap decisions and goes for it. never hesitates.

but if he ever took the time to stop and think things through a bit more, he might be able to make better decisions. weapons making was a snap decision but the more he sat and thought about it, the better his plan became. that's why he was on the offensive with ciel, already wanting to argue to protect himself. he was honestly pretty relieved when everyone else seemed to agree with it -- the same for his other plans, taking time to kill lesser known people and making the terminal chat.

the plans come quickly, the details not so much. ]

Yeah, sure. Just -- just follow me. I still have to take apart the ankle monitor but I'm hoping I only need one. Optimistic even.

[ a shrug and they're walking now, probably. rhys will just lead them in the direction they're going, hands tucked into his pockets and feeling pretty chill now that things have settled. he looks relaxed! it's nice! ]

-- Oh, hey, are you getting enough sleep?

[chiseler]

[It's been a long day. It's been a long day from the moment he was gutpunched by a can of vegetables, had his nose broken, had his nose reset and almost passed out in the bathroom and then came here. All for the sake of playing a part. Is it worth it? Is it worth continuing to craft a story to lie to the complex and pretend he's just as scared and worried and determined to bring justice?

Of course it is. And all things worth anything involve some method of sacrifice. Still…his head feels congested (probably from the broken nose? That has to be it) and he's comprehending about 85% of what Rhys is saying which is better than nothing. He gives zero argument to following him.]

I think that depends on what you call enough. [He even manages a slight smile, albeit a little nervous. He's not entirely convinced this isn't something to be suspicious about. But Rhys seems okay.] I'm used to doing most of my work at night, actually, so this isn't too different. M'surprised you got the monitor off without the thing frying and being useless. [A pause.] You did remove the monitor from the actual foot right?

[jackhole]

[ rhys doesn't really remember much of the trial because of... sleeping through it so, overall he's feeling pretty good. it was a good meeting with the others tonight and he feels really... useful now? even though he has to get his hands dirty tomorrow night -- but right now, he's doing pretty good.

he honestly has no ill will to luke right now and luke's probably one of the few mafia he likes after ava. ava doesn't seem like she likes him back though so it's luke who gets rhys' weird attempts at bonding. he needs someone to share his secrets with, you know? ]

That sounds... inconvenient. Don't child labor laws stop that kind of thing? Or is it like, under the table stuff? Ugh, I hate this. I want to sleep in like, a bed. Have my own apartment. Live the good life.

[ when luke asks about the monitor though, rhys rolls his eyes and nods. ]

Duh? I had to cut the foot off and then take the monitor like that. It's still back in the lab but it should be fine. Judy basically told me it should be fine.

[chiseler]

[This is…weird? He gets what Rhys is trying to do and while he should be a little grateful he's grown used to kind of pulling away from people and operating on his own. He isn't used to people (much less adults which…despite some questioning, Rhys does qualify as an adult) taking an interest in him anymore. Maybe that happens when you grow up in the same place with the same people for years.

But then Rhys is talking about under the table work and Luke can't help but shoot him a crooked grin. Nobody really knows what he's doing back home. Adam…of course Adam knew the very basics, but he's keeping Adam at arm's length, too.]

It's definitely under the table. I've been working for someone for a couple of years and no one even knew. [There's a tilt of his head when Rhys brings up "the good life" though. What does that even mean?] You've got one less person to fight for the bed here so that's a start. We start picking people off you'll have your own apartment soon enough.

[He knows that's not what Rhys means, but there's something that's stopping him from believing in a concept of a good life. It's a weird sense of foreboding, something he doesn't like. He shakes his head to rid himself of the thoughts, making a face in response.]

While I'm glad Judy's been guiding you on that stuff, how do you know you can trust her? [He doesn't even mean to be malicious in his questioning, he honestly doesn't understand.]

[jackhole]

[ if there's any discomfort coming from luke, rhys doesn't notice it. instead he keeps going and they're probably at the lab now, so he pushes open the door for luke to go in first. ]

Sounds sketchy and illegal but uh, don't really care so I'm not gonna ask. And yeah, I guess but Ciel is there too and he's such an annoying little brat. Veronica and -- and what's his name, the other Alice? No problem, I can deal with them, but I actually have to listen to Ciel and that's so aggravating, oh my god.

[ he knows the other two would give it up but ughhh, not ciel. rhys hates this. with a sigh, he heads to one of the tables and tugs over a toolbox and a stool. he sits on the stool, leaning against it and looking at luke before shrugging. ]

Prrrrrobably can't. She'll most likely kill every single one of us when the moment comes and I'm pretty sure Ciel's already complained to her about me because he's so -- you know, whatever he is. Which, uh, means she's said bad things about me in return. So, she's not guiding me on anything, just answering basic questions. "Do we have this?" "Can I have that?" "What if I want to do this?" No one's going to keep your secrets, man. Not here.

[ he shifts a little to use his flesh hand to stretch and wiggle the fingers on his robot hand, wanting to make sure the joints are working properly. he keeps talking as he does this, seeing pretty unfazed by the topic of conversation. ]

Same goes for you, bee-tee-dubs. I'm expecting you to kill me the moment it seems like a better choice for you to make. That's, uh, kind of how life works, bro. The moment you have something someone else wants, you're dead. I'm actually kind of relieved people are dying, you know? I couldn't take it if they weren't. Murder's simple, anything else is, is... weird. Weirder. What're you supposed to do then? Trust the people around you? Bullshit. That's now how life works. We're not some freggin' battery smokers who love everyone. That's just, nah. That's dumb, ya know?

[ he knows this now even more after fiona. he thought... well, he was stupid about what he thought. she was pandoran. pandorans always pull that shit and same goes for jack. jack -- jack was his hero and then he tried to kill him and now rhys gets it. everyone's going to betray you. stop being surprised by it. ]

Still, Judy might be a robot which is -- better. I hope she is, honestly. Robots just do what robots are programmed to do. She's given the task to run this... this experiment thing? She runs it. Simple. Everything she does is with the goal of running it. If she betrays you, it's not about you, it's about her task -- running the game. That's all Judy has to do and that's all I hope she's doing.

[chiseler]

[Into the lab they go and he only raises both eyebrows in response to "sketchy and illegal." Morality is a dicey thing when you're nineteen and determined to take on the world yourself. Rhys grabs a toolbox and Luke follows, doesn't bother to sit down, doesn't bother to relax. It might not even be noteworthy to Rhys as Luke remains standing even as his feet shift like he's ready to balk and run. Luke's continually on defense, ready to move at a moment's notice. His fingers drum on the tabletop to keep himself busy as he thinks that over.]

…still don't really get how a thirteen year old became our overseer. [It's the only thing he really says and even while Rhys is talking Luke's fixated on watching the robot hand. His experience with robots is limited to automatons that've tried to kill him, but strangely he seems to be studying the structure of the hand in a way that's more than just passing interest. He wants to ask, but he won't.]

…you're not really wrong, I guess. [It's true. He'll kill people to get what he wants if they won't see things his way. He doesn't like it, but that's why he's here, he figures.] Maybe I'm just tired of people I can't see being the ones in charge of what I do with my life. There's a difference between making choices and being coerced into making choices someone else wants me to make. Then again the fact that you're even getting her to answer the basic questions is a little impressive.

[His fingers flex and curl on the table, a bitter little smile appearing at the word "trust." What the fuck is that?] There are people here that're higher on my hit list than you, don't worry. I wouldn't say that murder's simple though. Murder…you have to put thought into murder. Think about the people you're murdering and when to murder them. Aren't you the one who swayed everybody back there to voting for Rayfa for that reason? Calling murder simple seems to cheapen the whole thing. [He ends up chewing his lip.] The people you get close to either end up abandoning you or getting killed anyway don't they? Maybe that's just…[He shakes his head.] The only people you can really trust are the people you can use to get yourself ahead. People you can have on your side to reach goals. That sort of thing. Even then…any sort of disagreement and you're screwed. That's why I'm working alone. My…um. […what would you call Kronos?] …I'm a commander. I'm the one putting together an army that'll help reach a goal I want. You think I trust any of them? Of course I don't.

I don't understand robots. [May as well say that.] But I don't buy the bullshit about it being a task. That's absolving her of responsibility for anything that happens to us and…and I didn't ask to be contacted for this dumb project. They just did it and I'm here but she could at least be more helpful. Her success lies in everything we do so why don't they actually try to give us some kind of guidance?

[He hasn't quite clicked that he swapped from using "her" to "they", but they're fairly comparable in his mind.]