Voice. (possible action outside of the wall) | un: ilikehorses

[shoplifter]

[It's been... a hell of a last two weeks for Laura. She had woken up with a chunk of memory inexplicably gone, uninjured as always, and yet — the faintest scent of blood under her scrubbed nails. She wasn't in a hospital, but some big room with heavy doors and Linda the social worker; her head was bandaged, her look one of bone-deep concern as she sits beside the girl.

Oh. The memory of her recapture sits heavy in her gut. The collar, the chair, the network recording, just before everything vanished from her mind. Linda runs a hand through her hair and explains things basically: Shiloh came, he took her, and he used something on her to control her. But it's fine now — all fine, his body was found, he can't do anything anymore.

Laura looks tiredly skeptical at the whole thing. She asks if she killed anybody. Linda dodges the question, which is answer enough. "We just... what he used might still be in effect, so we're making sure you're back to yourself." Linda knows her bad history with rooms like this. Maybe it's why it's so big and spacious.

But she stays, and days pass, and she's not sure what happens outside. She just knows people are dead, and she hasn't any clue who. There's something terrifying about not remembering if you took a life, even if such an act is too easy for someone like her.

When she's finally cleared to leave, there's a paranoia in her that maybe she isn't.

So she steers clear and packs a bag and runs away into the woods. But she at least leaves Linda little note this time, so she doesn't pull her hair out panicking. Out there where she can find comfort in isolation, she makes herself known on the network; she doesn't use text. It feels like an easy out.]

I do not remember... what happened. I know a man did something to make me hurt people, but...

[A pause, heavy and unsure how to proceed; but the guilt is there to carry her forward.]

I am sorry for any pain or suffering I caused.

I will be staying outside the wall for a little while, to make sure I am not a danger.

[She thought she'd maybe figure out something to say after that, but...

Her mouth just sort of freezes there.]

Comments

[jintetsu]

[Laura. All right. Apart from that, though, he doesn't know what else to say. Or what to do, for that matter. He needs to be able to talk to her, and awkwardly tapping on a tiny screen is a poor substitute. This would be so much simpler face-to-face...

... Ah. Well, there's a crazy idea.

When Haganemaru realizes what he's planning, he's vocally opposed, of course. "Are you out of your mind, Jintetsu?! Your arm's still wrecked from the last time you saw her! Need I remind you, there's supposed to be monsters out beyond the fence? What are you even going to do if you find her, huh? ... Hey, don't just ignore me!"

But realistically, what's he going to do about it? In the end, Jintetsu's the one with legs. They head out first thing the next morning.

Given his line of work, he's got some experience tracking down people who don't want to be found. Asking around narrows down which gate she left through, and from there - overgrown urban ruins aren't exactly his favored terrain, but there are still signs. Even so, for a while he's uncertain he's on the right track. The trail doesn't venture all that far from the fence, certainly not as far out as he'd have gone, if it were him. But he stays on it, and his persistence pays off. It took most of the day (which, admittedly, is several days less than he expected), but - here she is. Keeping to what he thinks is a safe-ish distance, he tries to call her.

Nothing happens.

He glances down at the sword. Come on. Haganemaru sighs, and mutters, ] I hope you know what you're doing.

[Then, at a more audible volume: ] Laura?

[shoplifter]

Sí, estoy aquí.

[The response comes after a short walk. She hadn't gone too far into the woods. After all, she wanted to be close enough to traverse to a store, and if there was any trouble for any of her friends... well, she wanted to be able to redeem herself a little and rescue them.

Where did the voice come from, though? Well, from up higher, in a tree. The girl's sitting on a branch with a tattered green backpack on, watching him with wary eyes; it's not malicious, not the eyes of a bloodthirsty killer like when he'd first seen her. Instead of her face being twisted up in rage, it's strangely stoic now, passive, attentive.]

You are 'Jintetsu of Steel'.

[jintetsu]

That's right.

[He tilts his head slightly.]

... You don't seem all that surprised.

[He was half expecting her to get spooked and jump him, to be honest.]

[shoplifter]

I could smell you coming.

[Either that's an insult to your hygiene, or this kid has a pretty incredible sense of smell. It's probably the latter, because her expression relaxes into something perhaps a little concerned; she cocks her head to the side. Her nostrils flare again.]

Where are you hurt?

[jintetsu]

[That's a hell of a nose she's got. Given what else he's seen her do, though, it's totally plausible. He reaches up and adjusts his hat (with his normal hand).]

It's nothing that won't heal on its own. Don't worry about that.

[Apart from the metal arm, anyway, but that's more what you'd call "damaged" than "hurt."]

[shoplifter]

[She sighs through her nose.]

I am sorry you were hurt.

... I don't have any memory from it, but that... I do not lose control like that.

[She may have a short temper, and she may hurt someone out of fear or panic, but she was not a monster, nor a weapon for people to use. She was not an object for killing. It's hard not to feel like maybe she's wrong, however, when she's more than aware the adults were hiding that she killed someone. Or multiple someones.

They said she hurt people, but when she asked if anyone died?

They were concerning in their quiet.]

[jintetsu]

[Well. Obviously, it's possible for her to lose control like that, since it happened. And presumably she's concerned it could happen again, since that's the reason she gave for skipping town. But it's not who she is. He can see the difference just in her eyes.]

I know. I'm not mad or anything.

[He pauses.]

You wanna come down and talk?

[shoplifter]

[It seems to be a question she has to consider very carefully; that's just how it is, most days, making sure to take everything with wariness. But then again, maybe that's not such a wild concept to him. She nods.]

Yes.

[She slides down from the tree after a moment.

As always, she can't help but consider all the ways in which she could try to kill him if she needed to; it's built into her, that immediate response, but it's based on survival — not on being a murderer, the way Transigen had hoped she'd turn out.]

What would you like to talk about?

[jintetsu]

[What indeed? He's had plenty of time to think about it, but now that he's here, none of it feels like the right place to start. His checkered past isn't a subject he normally talks about. Hell, he tries not to think about it most of the time (to varying degrees of success).

But she did make him an offer, yesterday. That's as good a place as any.]

... You said you'd be willing to answer some questions. I didn't ask then, but I've got a few.

[shoplifter]

[A nod of understanding.

... Some things are better to ask in person.]

You can ask them. I answer them often.

[There's just... a few things about her, that leave people asking them.]

[jintetsu]

[He nods back. All right, then. He'll start with the obvious.]

Talking to you now... you seem just like a normal kid. But no normal kid - no normal human - can do the things you can.

[looks up-]

... What exactly are you, Laura?

[shoplifter]

I am a mutant.

[It's a common phrase in her vocabulary. What reason is there to hide it anymore? Back home, it could have been a death sentence, or a reason for people like Transigen to kidnap her off the streets. This place isn't safe, but it isn't home.]

A lot of people say we are an evolution from humans... We have special abilities that normal people do not... and because of that, most of the mutants before me were wiped out.

[jintetsu]

[... Damn. With no reason to believe otherwise, he assumes that all the other mutants had the same abilities she does, which would have made them just as hard to kill. How'd the humans manage that?]

But not you.

[There's an unlit campfire and a fallen log nearby, right? All campsites have those. He's gonna go ahead and sit on that fallen log.]

... I saw a video the other day. I think it was made before we fought. [He's still learning how all this phone stuff works, but.] There was a man with ... a metal arm. Do you remember him?

[The way he's sitting, his cloak is draped over the log behind him, but... he's shifted it so it's still hiding his own metal arm. Just in case.]

[shoplifter]

[She quiets for a moment, running a finger along a tree's trunk.]

I was almost wiped out. Someone saved me.

[It's clear when she looks at him that she's studying him, as if looking through his flesh for some sign of trustworthiness. It's hard to tell, sometimes, but she figures there's no reason to hide the bare basics.]

He was with a cult that kidnapped many of us, a few months ago. They wanted to try and use our bodies as hosts for their religion. When he tried to kidnap me, I cut off his arm and killed his friend before they took me.

[jintetsu]

[Jintetsu's not an easy guy to read, but there's a slight change in his posture when she brings up the cult's activities. A whole bunch of pieces just fell into place at once.

It's not an unfamiliar concept. Kamigakari - inviting spirits into one's body - is a feature of Shinto that's still widely practiced where (and when) he's from. But there are plenty of beings out there that don't care if the host they're offered is unwilling. Maybe some even prefer it that way. A cult devoted to that kind of spirit... it makes perfect sense.

It isn't her in there, Lola had told him. Seems like she was right.]

So that's it. I thought you fought like you were possessed.

[shoplifter]

[She hesitates.]

It's not that simple.

[Spoken as if the idea of host bodies is simple, but...]

They failed in using anyone's bodies. And most of them were arrested for what they had done. Or killed. Shiloh had escaped, though — and he figured out a way to make me hurt people, with science... What I was drugged with changed me.

[jintetsu]

Oh.

[Not quite the same, then. Right, the vial Shiloh waved under her nose, in the video... that must have been the drug. He's seen that kind of thing before, too, though not to such an extreme, and never involving a kid.

... But he's surprised to find himself feeling... disappointed, almost? And he's not sure why. It's kind of a shitty reaction to have. So he just... ignores it. Even if the causes are different, the end result is the same, and it's still a fucked up thing to do to a kid. Either way, Shiloh had better watch his back. uhh little late for that, dude-

He's quiet for a moment, thinking.]

... Was that ... the first time you'd killed anyone?

[shoplifter]

... No.

[She says it simply, but quietly.]

I have killed many people before... People who chased me, to take me back to the labs I was raised in.

[jintetsu]

[Another similarity there. He may not know what a lab is, but he knows what it's like to live on the run, alone, killing your pursuers every time they catch up. Brings back lots of unpleasant memories.]

... I know the feeling. It's a hard way to live.

[shoplifter]

[Laura looks him up and down.]

How long have you lived that way?

[jintetsu]

A few years.

[He picks a stick up off the ground, idly pokes the dead campfire with it.]

Obviously, our circumstances aren't exactly the same. In my case, it's something I brought on myself. But they're similar, in some ways.

[shoplifter]

[Ah, yes. She's not as familiar with the concept of being bullshit to your own front step, but she can see where he's getting at. She eyes the dead campfire and lets her curiosity lead her along by the hand.]

What happened to you?

[jintetsu]

[For a long moment, Jintetsu doesn't answer. It feels like a lifetime ago, and in a sense it was, but there's still an ache to the memories, like an old scar that didn't heal quite right.

His father's body, not yet cold. White-hot grief, desperate rage. Helplessness. A dark decision, a terrible bargain.]

... I made some bad choices when I was younger.

[A farewell gift for Otsuki. Dutiful Kagemitsu, refusing to stand down. The moment he cut down his lifelong friend.]

I let something in that I shouldn't have. But having opened that door, even once... I can never fully close it again.

[Blood and madness. His body dancing without him to some horrible music he couldn't hear. The screams of dying men. The uncanny silence when the last one stopped. Coming back to himself, cold, exhausted, and utterly alone.

He'd fled after that, and been pursued, both by humans and by things other than human. And they'd both caught him, again and again and again and again, and he'd killed and killed and killed and killed. Not just the men who drew steel on him, either. Even the barmaid trying to run. Even the children huddled under the table, hoping the monster wouldn't see them. (But he'd seen them. He still sees them, sometimes, in dreams.)

In the present, he closes his eye and sighs deeply.]

... So, I've killed too many people to count. I even got good enough to make a living at it. But karma caught up to me eventually.

[He takes his left hand out of his cloak. The forearm is still splinted with rebar, and the actual claw marks Laura left in it are hidden under bandages, but it's still quite clear it's artificial. The steel fingers make a light tink as he touches them to his mask. He leaves the mask on, though, and lowers his hand after a few seconds, looking back up at her.]

The truth is, you remind me of myself from back then. That's why I came out here after you.

I want to help you, if I can.

[shoplifter]

[She watches him with this look, this gaze that holds no judgement or confusion or fear. She just listens and learns, and it's something she's gotten pretty good at, all things considered. It reminds her a little of her father; she's not sure if Logan killed the same way, but he did kill. He killed a lot, had to have, and most certainly did in her presence. Good and bad, it's all the same. A life is a life, even if some deserve to lose theirs.

There's still a toll, for judging yourself, who gets to keep living.

It's interesting to hear someone else relate.]

... I'm not in danger. I — I'm okay now. Killing people, it is... something I'm trying not to do. Because that means I would be doing what the people who made me wanted.

[jintetsu]

[He's not sure what kind of reaction he expected, to be honest. But her expression just seems... calm. She isn't afraid, isn't passing judgment. She simply... understands. It's a strange feeling. Kind of a relief, even?

... But anyway.]

Sure. But you're still worried you could lose control again, right? You did say you came out here to avoid hurting anyone else.