paradoxlol | .046

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.046 | Video.

Is it too late to get the Admiral enrolled in a driver's ed class? There, I did my requisite bitching for the day. I really feel like a part of the community now.

[Pause.]

Who's up for sparring?

[Filtered to ~ARTHUR'S BBs~ (aka his graduates)]
And how are we doing today, kids? You know I love to check up on you.

[Private to Perry]
Stop playing house with my twin and come to my cabin. We've got a therapy session tonight.

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After dinner. [Pause.] Make that two hours after dinner. Wouldn't want you to get squeamish.

Edited 2011-08-19 05:16 (UTC)

Yeah. I got some shit in my room fucked up today, so I'm in a mood.

Anything I can do to put a smile on your face? [SEXXXXXX.]

I'll stick with my quarter.

[So, two hours after dinner, Perry reluctantly makes his way to Arthur's room. Hey, he gets a better deal than a lot of the inmates. At least his warden's only a full-blown crazy sadistic asshole in dreams. He hangs around in the corridor outside for a while before finally sighing and giving a tentative knock on the door.]

Tomorrow night? I've got an engagement already.

I'll bite.

[And forever and always in the sunglasses.]

[Yes in fact. Yes.] A woman should fufill her role in the system which is to completely, completely compliment the male pairing.

Then again, I'm sure you would have known about that right?

By the way, I wanted to ask you a favor. If you could.

[Playing to role or....just blowing off steam? MYSTERY.]

And just think, by refusing to be your ideal women we miss out on prizes like the two of you.

Figured I could count on you. [Arthur will try to knock them off.]

Sure, tomorrow. We've got some catching up to do.

I'm not all about 'men's roles' and 'women's roles.' I just think all the aggression is a real turnoff.

[Private]
Yeah?

To think, in another reality, I could've been the leather-bound gimp you keep in your closet. [SIGH] What could've been.

Spare me. If I had a leather-bound gimp in my closet he'd still be twice the man you'll ever be.

[Arthur has everything set up when Perry arrives-- with a different sedative this time, because unbeknownst to his inmate, they're going to go deeper than the usual one layer down. When his inmate knocks, he opens the door, half-finished bottle of beer in his hand.]

I was afraid I was going to have to hunt you down.

[He takes a drink and steps back to let Perry in.]

Let's chat before we get started. How was your day?

I always turn up, don't I?

[Perry moves inside, lips tightening into a thin line when Arthur suggests a chat. He doesn't want to spend time casually chatting while the PASIV and the sedatives are sitting there ready; the wait for whatever nightmare Arthur's got planned is its own torture and Perry can never decide which is actually worse.]

Fine. [He stands, tense, near the door, not going further into the room.] Yeah, you know, uneventful.

You sure are reliable. [It's not a nasty remark, but it's delivered in a way that it's not quite a compliment, either. Arthur strolls over to the couch-- the PASIV's sitting on the coffee table, purposefully displayed there to leave an air of tension over the conversation. Build up suspense. That kind of thing. He puts his feet on the table, right beside it, and takes another swig.]

Uh huh. I saw you picking a fight with Loki. [There's a barely contained smirk on his face. Breaking the god was... satisfying on so many levels, the biggest one being: he broke a god.] You know, you can hit him if you want. I won't stop you. Guys like him, backwards, primitive fairy tale people... [He laughs unpleasantly.] They're like dogs. Just swat 'em a few times.

[GO ON, PERRY. BE VIOLENT.]

Edited 2011-08-19 16:37 (UTC)

[Perry stays where he is, not moving any closer to the couches. He doesn't say anything to the first remark, just watches as Arthur gets comfortable.]

I don't want to hit him. [He says it quietly, in a very neutral tone, meeting Arthur's eyes. There's a fine line he walks when he talks to his warden--and everyone else he hates on the Barge--between holding his silence and playing the sarcastic antagonist. The satisfaction he gets when he pisses one of them off feels too good to be comfortable and his anger flares too easily. It's not that he's scared of them; he's scared of himself, of what Arthur wants him to become, of turning out like dear old Dad.]

Edited 2011-08-19 16:49 (UTC)

Why not? He fucks with you, your friends, just because he can. [Not unlike Arthur, really, but Arthur likes to think of himself as better than the ridiculous cartoon villains he calls his coworkers.] And you can either do something about it, or sit there and play meat shield for a pathetic little addict who doesn't have the discipline to take care of it himself.

[He finishes off his beer and sets the bottle aside, giving Perry a pointed look to get the hell over here. They have to get started soon, after all.]

It's interesting, because... Hell, look at you. You can put a stop to it, but you don't. Glutton for punishment, Perry?

Edited 2011-08-19 16:59 (UTC)

[The argument grates on him. Arthur using his dad's words. His jaw tightens and to distract himself, he moves reluctantly forward. Rolling up his sleeves, he sits across from the warden. When he's settled, he finally answers.]

No, that's not it. Rex-- It's not about discipline; it's about principles. I'm not my father and I'm not going to be. [Contrary to his words, his voice is getting harsher.] He fucks with us because he can? Whatever. That doesn't mean I'm going to just sink to his damn level. If I hit him, I'm as bad as him. And don't bother telling me that's what you want. I already fucking know.

Edited 2011-08-19 17:12 (UTC)

Sparring first, Arthur?

Or you'd be sticking up for someone. [Something most wardens here probably wouldn't say.] Using your strength to stop a bully, to survive. How's that as bad as him? [He laughs dryly, standing so that he can start hooking Perry up to the PASIV.] Principle... Remind me never to call on you if I'm in trouble.

[Perry grits his teeth and swallows his anger as best he can, focusing on Arthur's movements, the intricate and compact PASIV machine, anything except his guilt and shame at not being able to help himself or Rex or anyone else. There's a snapping point inside him that he never wants to reach so he can't do anything. The best he can do to help anyone is take as much punishment as possible; he's stronger, he can take it. Perry notices his hands have involuntarily clenched into fists. He starts to uncurl them, but his anger at Arthur's goading comes through in one low hiss.]

I wouldn't help you anyway.

[It's petty, but hey. It's true. With that said, he works on pushing the rage down. He's not going to be like his dad. It's not going to happen.]

Edited 2011-08-19 17:46 (UTC)

[Arthur chuckles again and sticks the small needle into Perry's arm, before sitting down by the machine and doing the same to his own.]

I know. But that won't stop me from looking out for you. [That potential is, in fact, the only reason Perry's even "privileged" enough to have had regular sessions with the PASIV to coax out his killer instinct. Arthur could've easily incepted him and been done with it from the get-go, rather than work slowly. Now, however, it's the end of the road.]

The thing is, Perry... You've got potential, unlike the other schmucks I was assigned to. [Snape, Loki, even Parker... Arthur doesn't respect any of them.] I want to help you reach it.

[With those foreboding words, he sets the timer. The special compound hits his veins and knocks him out almost immediately.

The thing about performing inception as regularly as Arthur does... He's got a lot more refined selection of compounds than his original self does. Yusuf and other chemists-- some on the Barge, even-- have perfected an array of compounds to suit various... needs. This particular sedative takes them down, deep, from the beginning. Four levels down, which is dangerous as fuck, because it's so unstable, but he needs this idea to stick, and the fourth level's just... a set, really. A quick deception. They won't be there for long. The third is the one that matters. The second will reinforce the idea. And the first will wrap up the job.

With Arthur as the dreamer, he's set up a fairly surreal setting. An obvious dream-- the ruins of a city after something (Triangles?) has run through it. And when Perry dies, it'll take him a layer up, back to the "Barge." That's where the work will really begin.]

Remember. Projections aren't real. [He looks around, although it's quiet for now. Any projections that will cross their paths will have obvious signs of infection, beyond what Perry himself experienced.] Think of it like a shooting game.

[And yes, Perry, you do have a gun now.]

[Perry starts to reply to that last comment in the real world, but the drug kicks in fast enough that he's out before he can form a single word. Then-- They're in a city, ruined. Burnt-out shells of houses and the skeletal remains of skyscrapers. He looks around, taking it in. He almost goes to ask 'What happened?' when he remembers that Arthur set this up. It's his creation. Arthur built this city and then tore it down. To help Perry reach his "potential". A tiny shudder rolls down the big inmate's back.

The gun is tucked snugly into a holster on his belt. His normal self wouldn't keep it, too afraid of how fast a gun would let him shoot himself like Bill's voice tells him to, but this Perry has no suicidal urges and he just glances down at it with a mild look of disgust. He may not be suicidal, but Arthur's various creative methods down here have left him with the knowledge of how it feels to get shot. In just about every part of his body. He doesn't exactly like the idea of guns anymore.]

A shooting game. [He echoes in a hollow voice. A shooting game of dying people, a game to train him to kill in the real world. Arthur can turn nasty down here, so he doesn't bother to protest out loud, just slowly slides the heavy pistol into his hand.] Is that all we're doing down here?

Edited 2011-08-19 19:16 (UTC)

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.046 | Video.

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THE FLOOD IS COLLAPSING

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SPAM - PRETEND I'M NOT USING A BEARDLESS ICON

SPAM - WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I SEE A BEARD THERE.

SPAM - IT IS LUSH AND FULL. Now watch me butcher canon :V

SPAM - You totally aren't. And I have to sleep but I don't wanna because this is amazing.