paradoxlol | 069

Entry tags:

069 | Video.

Looks I've been pretty scarce or the past few months. [He'd apologize for that, but he's Arthur, so he won't.]

For those of you who're new to the ship, [Or not so new, because Arthur's been an absentee tool.] I'm Arthur, one of the librarians here. Perry Dawsey's my inmate. Not that I'm anticipating anything, [BULL. He's always anticipating something. But it's wishful thinking here.] but if you have any problems with him, you can come to me, and I'll do what I can to take care of it.

[Warden Filter + Perry]
I've got a question for those of you with a deal. [Which is probably pretty much everyone. He doesn't know of many wardens who are here strictly out of the goodness of their hearts.] How many of you have asked the Admiral-- or tried to-- for more than one thing? Like say you wanted to save a life and get a million bucks out of this place.

[He'd ask the Admiral directly but sob he thinks y'all are more reliable.]

[Private to Ariadne + Perry]
I think you could use some target practice after what went down in the art room. [And by that he means: LET'S USE THE PASIV. He just won't... come right out and say it. Because Perry.]

Meet me at my place after dinner?

[Private to Perry]
I'm heading to the CES to do some jogging. Wanna tag along?

[OOC: Note about the +Perry filters! This just means that Perry can see whatever Arthur's posting; he can't read your responses unless you decide to include him on the filter, too.]

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[There's a pause, then a slow, deliberate semi-smile spreads on his face. It's not a nice expression.]

That kid? He wasn't a person any more. He would've killed me if I'd given him the opportunity. Bad luck for him, but his parents were weak. They did nothing. They didn't help themselves and they didn't help him. [He hesitates, voice less flat when he starts talking again.] Just about the only thing they did do was kill their daughter and beat their other son, the ones who weren't infected. They wouldn't help themselves, so I had to do it for them.

[Arthur's used to this by now. He knows they're venturing into territory Perry doesn't want to discuss, that he's going to deflect by acting like this is just the way the world is; that it doesn't bother him, what he's done.]

He would've tried. I doubt the great Perry Dawsey would've been taken out by a little kid. [He looks at Perry.] You ever wonder what could've happened if you'd let Dew take them alive? You really think a surgeon couldn't have taken out the Triangles, given them a second chance?

You didn't help them; you butchered them. And you didn't have to.

You think you know everything from what your little file tells you. [He folds his arms over his chest, stubborn as always. It's the only way he knows how to deal with this.] I'm the one who can hear them. Just me.

Those things growing inside them, and not one even tried to fight back. At all. [He shakes his head. A tinge of what is both disgust and horror comes into his tone.] Margo couldn't have saved them. You take a look around their houses, you're not going to find any goddamn chicken scissors lying around; you won't see blood, nothing. If I'd seen even a hint--

[He stopped. That was getting too close to regret.]

They would've killed their families and died anyway when those things did their chestburster routines. Why doesn't anyone get it? They weren't people any more and they just let that happen without lifting a samba finger. [A pause and the next words sound almost like they escaped him without him meaning to let them. The flat tone he'd previously used breaks up into something else.] How the fuck are you supposed to come back from that?

I don't know everything. That's why I ask you the questions.

[Arthur's quiet for a while, mulling over Perry's words, his rhetorical question at the end of the little diatribe. He shakes his head.]

People come back from all kinds of trauma. [Just look at the Barge, after all.] It's not for you to decide if they get the chance or not.

Why not? There has to be a reason they-- that I'm the only one who can find them. Why not so I can put the sorry sonsofbitches down?

Did you ever think it was so you could help them get their lives back? Just because you think they gave up, it doesn't mean you have to give up on them, too.

[He makes a dismissive noise.]

They're weak. Why should I save their lives for them if they're not even trying? I'm not responsible for giving them a second goddamn chance.

Edited 2012-09-14 06:09 (UTC)

No, but you had your responsibilities, and you threw them aside just to kill these people.

They're not people! [God damn it, Arthur, why don't you listen to him? Perry's losing control of his temper now and it's pretty obvious.] I didn't do it for some goddamn thrill. They're hosts. They're dead men fucking walking anyway, and I wasn't going to risk letting the Triangles escape.

They are people, Perry. Or they were. [Before you KILLED THEM, sir.] You really think you'd be here if they weren't? Bill wasn't the only person you hurt.

Edited 2012-09-15 16:07 (UTC)

[Oh, you did not. Teeth clenched, he rounds on Arthur:] Fuck you. Fuck you, it's not the same. [He spreads his arms, gestures big and vehement.] So I killed them, so what? They were as good as dead already; what difference does it make if it was me or the Triangles?

What difference does it make? So you lower yourself to the Triangles' level, is that it? Because as far as these people's lives are concerned, you're right: you're no fucking different.

Edited 2012-09-15 16:21 (UTC)

[For a moment, Perry just stares, the point hitting him. But this whole conversation, Arthur's tone, it's all just combined to make him stubborn. His convictions are the only thing he has, and it's not that easy to just admit that maybe they weren't right.] Because I'd rather destroy the hosts than give the Triangles a chance to get out and let whatever the fuck they're making the gates for come through to Earth, hosts who didn't even seem to find their own lives worth trying to fucking save?

No. [A sneer twists his face.] I did what no one else was willing to do; I did what I had to. That doesn't make me like them.

One of those "hosts" was a goddamn child! [Whoops, Arthur's losing his temper there. But it's frustrating-- he feels like he's going around in circles with Perry, that they're never going to see eye-to-eye on this.] You expect him to even know what's happening to him, let alone take a pair of fucking chicken scissors to his body?

So you persevered. You were strong, and you survived. Yeah, that's great. But it doesn't give you the right to murder people who're weaker than you. Their lives could have been saved. You made the choice to end them.

Edited 2012-09-15 16:43 (UTC)

Look at you, warden, so goddamn moral. [Perry's had quite enough of this one-sided argument, thank you. His voice is bitter and the sneer stays fixed.] Talking about rights and choices. Jesus, you're such a fucking hypocrite.

I don't kill people. [So he's not a hypocrite at all.] You may not like what I do, but it's not in the same league as murder. [And he's not the inmate here.]

You can destroy someone's life just as easily as I can. You told me, said you could "destroy a person with an idea". Inception, right? Like Mal? [He gives a little humourless half-laugh.] You did that back home, and you didn't stop to think about whether you had the right. The only thing you thought about was if it was possible, not if it was right or wrong.

[Damn it, foiled by his own criminal background. Inception. The whole reason why he's even here. Arthur frowns tightly.]

I made a mistake. But the difference between you and me? I reevaluated my decisions; I realized what I did was wrong. [The inception part, anyway. EXTRACTION IS STILL A-OKAY.] You're still bent on justifying every goddamn thing you've done to these people.

So you're assuming I haven't reevaluated my decisions just because I haven't changed my mind to something you like.

Maybe I'm assuming it by the fact that you're still an inmate.

I'm only a fucking inmate because some mystery interstellar psychopath arbitrarily decided I should be. You think the Admiral's always right?

Edited 2012-09-15 17:56 (UTC)

I think he's right on this one.

Yeah. Of course you do.

[Arthur rolls his eyes, keenly mature, and starts to head towards the door to let them out.]

I've opened myself up to change here. [About the inception, anyway. He can't justify it any longer, not after Perry and Mal.] You should give it a try sometime.

[Perry doesn't reply; he's too busy seething. He just follows Arthur to the door in stony silence, eager to get the hell away from his warden as soon as humanly possible.]

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069 | Video.

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