[Time to play that oh-so-fun game of memory Russian Roulette, eh? At least by this point, Sanji is aware of the stakes that come from taking a simple walk to his cabin from the kitchen.
-- Fate's not on his side today, however. Even though he keeps his eyes down, weeks' worth of paranoia means he's still liable to glance up every now and again, and when he accidentally catches 45's gaze, well.
At least he isn't surprised when the scene abruptly changes into something different.
They're in a room -- not a cabin, but the stately, well furnished room of a castle, where a boy is kneeling next to a large bed, gasping for breath through his coughing fit and apologizing.
For all the trouble he's caused. For killing out of self-defense. For always putting the burden on Sanji to take care of him. He'll likely die tomorrow, being hated by the castle for his actions, and there isn't anything he can do.
And the chef's response? Immediate, no-nonsense, and level, as he picks the boy off the floor and leads him to the bed.
"If you're looking for someone to condemn your actions, you won't hear it from me; I'm a pirate, remember? For my crew, I've done plenty of shit other people wouldn't be proud of to admit -- just to keep them safe and alive."
...
"What the world sees as "right" and "wrong" don't mean shit to me. You're one of my own, so I'll protect you tomorrow, as best I can."
[ she stills as the memory begins, casts her gaze away, but it's already too late. they make that brief moment of eye contact, and as one memory ends another starts up immediately after, no time for relief of any sort.
(there's something strange about the memory, though. like an old recording, fuzzy and staticky. not to the point where it's impossible to understand, but.)
you're pinned. you knew this was a hopeless fight from the start, but still, you tried, that single desperate mantra- you have to survive, no matter what, it's what she wanted, it was her last wish- repeating endlessly in your mind. but the gap in ability is too high, your opponent is an elite, and you've only ever been defective, disposable goods. there is one thing you can try, still, but you're not ready yet, you need time--
"any last words, traitor?" says m16, leaning in. you struggle for your gun, uselessly. "you still want to put up a fight, huh?"
(just a little more...) "... i wonder which of us is the real traitor?"
your opponent scoffs. "are those your parting words? fine. farewell, UMP45."
it's just enough. now is the only chance you'll get, and--
m16 fires. she misses- which should have been impossible, at the point blank range you were at- and leaves two holes in the ground where you were as a loud and vicious crack resonates through the air. your systems and neural cloud are sent reeling by the simple feedback alone from breaking your own arm in an effort to buy yourself a chance to fight back, even though you've already turned off the pain sensors in your left arm. you whirl and kick away as hard as you can, using the recoil to force yourself closer to your gun and take aim in return as m16 recovers quickly.
"... i didn't expect you to be able to disrupt my fire control system in such a short time. you've done very well for a doll like you."
you don't move an inch. you don't dare. "all those dolls from earlier, in front of the door. they were shot in the back... that must have been your handiwork, right?"
"my mission was to eliminate all traitorous dolls."
a small, distant part of you despairs at the confirmation, while the rest of you goes both icy hot and deathly cold. "so you knew something like this was going to happen. you betrayed us all from the very beginning!"
... m16 doesn't respond.
why? you need to know- why? "have you thought about what will happen to you too, after this? do you think you can avoid being silenced as well?"
all of them sent here today... from the start, none of them were meant to survive. who did this? who was responsible?
but m16 doesn't answer your questions. maybe she doesn't know herself. "you shouldn't be thinking about a question like that. all you need to do is die here."
she fires, but can't land a shot for now. sabotaging her fire control system earlier is the only thing that might be able to save your life now, because your speed is all you have, and you're nearly out of ammunition. but what can you do? someone went to great lengths and efforts to set this mission up, sabotage and compromise it, brush it under the rug, make sure that nothing about it can leak, kill every possible witness. and now you two are the only ones left.
you try anyway. you fight back, as best as you can with only one arm, but even hindered and in pain from an ongoing meltdown, you end up disarmed, grabbed by the collar, pinned underneath her again, scrabbling and clawing desperately at her eye for any possible leverage you can get and breaking your other arm as well in the process, as she pulls a dagger out from her belt and, with both hands, stabs it down at your head.
you tried. you tried, but you'll die here, and everything and everyone who died here will die with you. ]
Because his own memory, frustrating though it was to share, is still shaped by his current convictions. Had 45 asked him if he still felt the same way today, Sanji's reply would have been an even, bemused stare, as if asking why she bothered to question in the first place.
A memory that is private, but proof of Sanji's pride.
45's memory, however... What he just felt and witnessed looked like death, and his expression chills into place]
... no. If I'd died there, I wouldn't remember it.
[ slowly, she traces the scar running down her face, across her eye. ]
I survived that, somehow. But ...
[ the memory is pretty certain, even with the way it cuts off abruptly at the end. ]
I don't know how. I can't remember anything after that. Just remembering that at all is an effort, with the encryptions placed on me. But there was no way I could have fought her off, after that, and it's doubtful she suddenly decided to show mercy and spare me after everything.
[The shock has run its course, allowing Sanji to pull back from his concern long enough for questions. Normally he'd remember his place, take his time or decide not to ask anything at all -- but the mystery has his eyes narrowed on her]
You said "encryptions" -- meaning you were made to forget?
... They killed everyone else, but even though I managed to get away, I didn't make it out unscathed. Until relatively recently, I couldn't access these memories without a lot of effort, and at great risk at that.
[ so yes, something made her forget, and someone really wanted this incident covered up. ]
I knew it happened. I just couldn't actively remember anything about it.
I'm a Doll. I'm meant to carry out whatever orders and missions humans decide to assign me to. But that was my first and only official mission. I was working for NatSec, then.
[ at the back of her mind a program blares a warning at her. it doesn't matter. it's been defanged enough.
not quite a mention of what it is she's doing now, though, considering whoever it was that had compromised the mission leading to the butterfly incident, that didn't want any witnesses leading back to them. ]
... Before recently, I wouldn't have even been able to speak about this in anything but vague generalizations.
[Something... crosses Sanji's face, a vaguely ill look of someone who is not so unfamiliar with the general concept of Dolls -- and he is forced to look away, breathing quietly through his nose.]
You... you have to serve humans then?
[It's very clear that's not the answer he's hoping to hear]
[... Breathing slow, and quietly, even though it's obvious his expression has already been noted and there's no way to hide how discontent he suddenly feels]
Aa... got it.
[And for a beat, he doesn't know what else to say. "sorry" would be... stupid]
A squad shrouded in mystery. ▓▓▓▓▒ has met them once, and others can only guess at the members' identities from rumors. Members of the squad all have advanced AI and high capacity for independent operation. Rumor has it that Squad 404 usually deals with ░▓▒▓▓▓▒▓▓▒▒▒░░
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W3 || MONDAY
Date: 2020-06-29 10:32 pm (UTC)-- Fate's not on his side today, however. Even though he keeps his eyes down, weeks' worth of paranoia means he's still liable to glance up every now and again, and when he accidentally catches 45's gaze, well.
At least he isn't surprised when the scene abruptly changes into something different.
They're in a room -- not a cabin, but the stately, well furnished room of a castle, where a boy is kneeling next to a large bed, gasping for breath through his coughing fit and apologizing.
For all the trouble he's caused. For killing out of self-defense. For always putting the burden on Sanji to take care of him. He'll likely die tomorrow, being hated by the castle for his actions, and there isn't anything he can do.
And the chef's response? Immediate, no-nonsense, and level, as he picks the boy off the floor and leads him to the bed.
"If you're looking for someone to condemn your actions, you won't hear it from me; I'm a pirate, remember? For my crew, I've done plenty of shit other people wouldn't be proud of to admit -- just to keep them safe and alive."
...
"What the world sees as "right" and "wrong" don't mean shit to me. You're one of my own, so I'll protect you tomorrow, as best I can."
Then scene ends with that quiet declaration.]
everyone who asked me for lore is giving me a time,
Date: 2020-06-30 10:21 pm (UTC)(there's something strange about the memory, though. like an old recording, fuzzy and staticky. not to the point where it's impossible to understand, but.)
"any last words, traitor?" says m16, leaning in. you struggle for your gun, uselessly. "you still want to put up a fight, huh?"
(just a little more...) "... i wonder which of us is the real traitor?"
your opponent scoffs. "are those your parting words? fine. farewell, UMP45."
it's just enough. now is the only chance you'll get, and--
m16 fires. she misses- which should have been impossible, at the point blank range you were at- and leaves two holes in the ground where you were as a loud and vicious crack resonates through the air. your systems and neural cloud are sent reeling by the simple feedback alone from breaking your own arm in an effort to buy yourself a chance to fight back, even though you've already turned off the pain sensors in your left arm. you whirl and kick away as hard as you can, using the recoil to force yourself closer to your gun and take aim in return as m16 recovers quickly.
"... i didn't expect you to be able to disrupt my fire control system in such a short time. you've done very well for a doll like you."
you don't move an inch. you don't dare. "all those dolls from earlier, in front of the door. they were shot in the back... that must have been your handiwork, right?"
"my mission was to eliminate all traitorous dolls."
a small, distant part of you despairs at the confirmation, while the rest of you goes both icy hot and deathly cold. "so you knew something like this was going to happen. you betrayed us all from the very beginning!"
... m16 doesn't respond.
why? you need to know- why? "have you thought about what will happen to you too, after this? do you think you can avoid being silenced as well?"
all of them sent here today... from the start, none of them were meant to survive. who did this? who was responsible?
but m16 doesn't answer your questions. maybe she doesn't know herself. "you shouldn't be thinking about a question like that. all you need to do is die here."
she fires, but can't land a shot for now. sabotaging her fire control system earlier is the only thing that might be able to save your life now, because your speed is all you have, and you're nearly out of ammunition. but what can you do? someone went to great lengths and efforts to set this mission up, sabotage and compromise it, brush it under the rug, make sure that nothing about it can leak, kill every possible witness. and now you two are the only ones left.
you try anyway. you fight back, as best as you can with only one arm, but even hindered and in pain from an ongoing meltdown, you end up disarmed, grabbed by the collar, pinned underneath her again, scrabbling and clawing desperately at her eye for any possible leverage you can get and breaking your other arm as well in the process, as she pulls a dagger out from her belt and, with both hands, stabs it down at your head.
you tried. you tried, but you'll die here, and everything and everyone who died here will die with you. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-07-01 11:20 pm (UTC)Ah, Sanji... does not like this.
Because his own memory, frustrating though it was to share, is still shaped by his current convictions. Had 45 asked him if he still felt the same way today, Sanji's reply would have been an even, bemused stare, as if asking why she bothered to question in the first place.
A memory that is private, but proof of Sanji's pride.
45's memory, however... What he just felt and witnessed looked like death, and his expression chills into place]
You-- died?
no subject
Date: 2020-07-02 12:34 am (UTC)[ slowly, she traces the scar running down her face, across her eye. ]
I survived that, somehow. But ...
[ the memory is pretty certain, even with the way it cuts off abruptly at the end. ]
I don't know how. I can't remember anything after that. Just remembering that at all is an effort, with the encryptions placed on me. But there was no way I could have fought her off, after that, and it's doubtful she suddenly decided to show mercy and spare me after everything.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 03:33 am (UTC)You said "encryptions" -- meaning you were made to forget?
[The hell.]
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 04:24 am (UTC)[ so yes, something made her forget, and someone really wanted this incident covered up. ]
I knew it happened. I just couldn't actively remember anything about it.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-06 08:43 pm (UTC)[It's just. openly prying at this point, to sate his curiosity. He rewinds the memory in his head, squinting at it for clues]
I mean, it sounds like high-risk, high-reward shit that the general public wouldn't know anything about.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-07 04:25 pm (UTC)[ at the back of her mind a program blares a warning at her. it doesn't matter. it's been defanged enough.
not quite a mention of what it is she's doing now, though, considering whoever it was that had compromised the mission leading to the butterfly incident, that didn't want any witnesses leading back to them. ]
... Before recently, I wouldn't have even been able to speak about this in anything but vague generalizations.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-10 09:35 pm (UTC)You... you have to serve humans then?
[It's very clear that's not the answer he's hoping to hear]
no subject
Date: 2020-07-12 02:48 am (UTC)Dolls were made to protect humanity.
[ it's singsonged out, light and soft, gentle and lilting. it's sharp like a dagger's edge, wrapped finely in silk. ]
We were made to follow orders.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-12 03:28 am (UTC)Aa... got it.
[And for a beat, he doesn't know what else to say. "sorry" would be... stupid]
... Are you going back to that life?
no subject
Date: 2020-07-12 04:00 am (UTC)[ relax, sanji, there's at least a little good news. ]
No, but I'm what you might call a special case.