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Post by DataNinja on Nov 11, 2018 3:46:52 GMT
Silas
The medical wing seems to have gotten all back to normal after the apparent panic that had gone down back during the Pokémon incursion into the base. Liz is working there, much as before, and lets Silas into the room as before. He almost feels the presence of the Cleanse Tags this time, more than sees them, unlike before. It's a bit of an odd feeling, a bit confining and pressured.
But, then he's inside, Lillian looking up at his entrance from the book that she's laying on her bed reading, facing away from the door. It seems to be a book more for children, judging by the size and uncomplexity of the text inside that he's able to glance at briefly before she closes it. "Oh, Silas!" she says. "You came to see me!"
Blake
It's not hard to find Austin when it comes down to it, Blake's search ending in the Gym - perhaps somewhere he might not have wanted to be, but, it's where the man is. The silver-haired Technician seems to have just finished a set of lifting weights, drinking from a bottle of water when he notices Blake enter. There's a little bit of curiosity apparent in his glance, but just silence from him, apparently just waiting for Blake's move.
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Post by Moriya on Nov 12, 2018 3:24:15 GMT
As he walks through the door, Silas pauses for an instant as he feels the influence of the seals on the room. It's a strange sensation, but it's also one of the reasons for his visit.
Silas smiles at his sister when she greets him. "Hi, Lily. Have they been treating you well?"
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Post by Bowyer on Nov 13, 2018 3:14:53 GMT
He'd finally found the other technician in the Gym, a place he was familiar with...even if he'd rather do his training on his own terms. The pungent smell that persisted even with routine cleaning couldn't be avoided whenever Blake had a need to do some heavier weight training. And so he'd prepared for the occasion and dressed accordingly. Best to not waste the opportunity after all.
Striding into the room, he doesn't directly engaged Austin at first. Simply giving the man a friendly nod and sitting himself nearby. Getting a few reps into his routine before asking a question he already knows the answer too, "So, you're Austin right? I work with Silas and Thoron. I believe you're acquainted with them. Blake Rowell, just started on with them myself." A slight pause manages to work it's way in through the barrage of information, "I'm afraid I haven't gotten to know them too well just yet...they seem a little closed. Hoping you might know a bit."
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Post by DataNinja on Nov 13, 2018 3:45:37 GMT
Silas
"It's been fine, I guess," Lily says, swinging around to sit on the bed, legs dangling off. "Lizzie has been nice, and they gave me books and stuff... but it's so stuffy in here. Like the walls are pushing on me. I just want to get some space, but they keep saying I have to stay here." She pouts.
Blake
Austin nods, but takes a moment to respond, picking up his datapad and typing before words emerge from it. "They seem reliable," he says. "Thoron perhaps is a little too concerned with ensuring that the rules are followed and keeping things safe, and Silas plays possibly a little too lose with them, but neither unduly so." He pauses again to type more. "Are there any particulars you were wondering about? I was not on active duty with them for terribly long."
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Post by Moriya on Nov 15, 2018 2:33:46 GMT
Silas nods. Now that he can feel the effect of the Cleanse Tags, he can understand how frustrating it could get. "I'll talk to someone, but I'm not sure they'll allow it." Silas hesitates for a moment then decides to take a calculated risk. He continues in a half-joking tone and watches Lily's reaction. "It's not like you'll just fall through the floor and leave, right?"
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Post by Bowyer on Nov 15, 2018 21:57:16 GMT
Shrugging, Blake shakes his head. "Nothing in particular. Just hoping to get to know them a little better since they seemed so reserved. Although it might have just been the urgency of our last missions. Difficult to make an acquaintance when there's hostile Pokemon rampaging." He sighs, tapping a rhythm on the bench. "Should have expected they would be much the same with you. Ahh well. What about you then? Anything to share with someone who's life never was supposed to involve being a Technician?"
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Post by DataNinja on Nov 16, 2018 3:01:55 GMT
Silas
"Man, that would be great, to be able to do that..." Lily says, wistfully, while kicking her legs. "I'd love to just be able to go for a walk and stretch properly. Breathe. The people here are nice and all, but I just want some space." She flops around onto her bed, laying with her face buried the pillow for a few moments, before raising her head again.
"Being confined to the same two rooms is driving me crazy. I'd like to be able to be able to be somewhere that's not my bedroom or bathroom... but, nobody seems to want to let me do that." She looks up at Silas, sadly. "Did I do something wrong, or something?"
Blake
"That describes me, yes," the artificial voice says. "I was never planning on being a Technician. But, I suppose it was inevitable." More typing. "My advice is to not focus on the could-have-beens. The what-ifs. Concentrate on what you have now. Look to the future, do not dwell on the past. Think to the reason of why you are doing this, and use it to drive yourself." Austin gives a wan smile. "That person, that choice, that event... remember them. They are the most important thing."
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Post by Bowyer on Nov 20, 2018 3:56:10 GMT
Surprised that Austin considered to open up a bit, Blake does little more but listen to him complete his advice. His own bitter grin finding it's way to his face. "Sage advice. I'd been referring to myself actually but I suppose Technician isn't exactly the most envied position. Too much uncertainty involved." He sighs, then waves off the darker feelings. "I'd rather things had turned out differently but they didn't. I'm glad I stepped up afterwards. It's a nice...change of pace. And who's to say I have to give up my past entirely? Having some hobbies is a great way to avoid going mad."
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Post by Moriya on Nov 21, 2018 2:28:49 GMT
Silas does his best not to sigh in weariness with the world that created this situation. He's a little surprised to find that he can't even muster up anger toward that thing with Lily looking at him like that. This was supposed to happen later, after growing more mentally mature. Still, he's earned her trust by being honest, and he's not going to betray it now. "It wasn't really 'Lily' who did those things... but yes. The first time we met, you attacked us on someone else's orders."
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Post by DataNinja on Nov 21, 2018 4:55:33 GMT
Blake
"I cannot tell you what to do," Austin types, "but for some, giving up the past is the best thing to do. For me, that is what had to happen. If I dwelled on her, I would not be able to do my job. I would want to go back, and that would be bad for both of us." He sighs. "Cutting yourself off from your past entirely is the safest option. There's less risk of problems that way."
Silas
"What?" Lily says, with uncertainty in her voice, looking down at her hands. "I'd never... I could never do something like that..." She looks back up at Silas's face, seeing his expression as she trails off. She stares at him for a few moments, eyes getting watery, before she buries her face back in her pillow, with the muffled sounds of crying and "I'm sorry..." coming from within.
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Post by Moriya on Nov 24, 2018 2:48:17 GMT
...And perhaps there's a limit to how honest you should be with a kid. Good work, Silas, you made her cry. Silas reaches out to stroke her hair, doing his best to run damage control. "It's alright. I know you wouldn't. I'm still here." He continues with this as long as he needs to. She's been through a lot, and it will be good for her to let some of it out.
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Post by Bowyer on Nov 26, 2018 5:28:20 GMT
Ahh so that was Austin's sorrow. He'd lost someone. Or at least felt like he had. A sad smile hovers on Blake's lips as he gently shakes his head, "I don't know how this woman plays into your becoming a Technician but I could never cut out my sister from my life. She's the reason that I'm in here at all or at least...her injury is. Vayne was better at this than I was and things still turned out poorly. But she's moved on and made peace with the fact. Helped myself to be a bit better. Look. What I'm trying to say is...just because you're a Technician doesn't mean you can't be someone else too. Guess I kind of botched that explanation huh?"
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Post by DataNinja on Nov 26, 2018 22:02:56 GMT
Silas
"But it was me!" she says, looking up at him, eyes red from tears. "Even if I don't remember it. If I did it, even if someone else told me to... that means that it was me, and that I would do it..."
Blake
Austin gives a sad smile, before averting his gaze. "My sister was exactly who I had to cut out. She thinks I'm dead right now. And as much as I'd love to see her again, to find her, to tell her that I still love her, that someone close cares for her... I can't." He exhales sharply, pausing, before typing again. "I'd have to tell her everything. That I'm an elementalist, a monster, one of the boogeymen. That our family was one big dysfunctional mess. That mom got ahold of one of dad's guns, and just... broke." Everything's coming out in much smaller fragments of sentences, rather than the longer more methodical paragraphs that Austin tends to write. "That I ended up killing my own mother to stop her from shooting my sister too. I should have died that day. I would have, if I wasn't an elementalist. A part of me probably did." He looks up at Blake again, eyes heavy with emotion. "All I am now is a Technician. And that's all I can ever be. I still haven't managed to fully let go of the past... but enough to help. It's the best way to deal with it all."
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Post by Moriya on Nov 30, 2018 4:10:00 GMT
Silas wises up this time and doesn't say his full thoughts right away. Everyone has a price and a breaking point, so anyone can be convinced to do just about anything. Psychics just speed the process along. "Would you do them right now? No. So you aren't that person anymore. Now, you can be someone else."
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Post by Bowyer on Dec 1, 2018 6:34:50 GMT
Blake had been hoping for a little bit of a revelation. He hadn't been hoping for the truth to come spilling out in a torrent. Austin really did have a good reason to want to forget it all. Leaning in a little closer and speaking softly, Blake tries to comfort him at least a small amount. "I can't even imagine what that must have been like. And you managed to survive and live with the haunting memory. Killing anyone would be traumatic let alone someone you trusted and cared for... but you're wrong about one thing." He speaks more sternly, losing the softness. "You are not a monster. No one else could have done what you did. You saved yourself and your sister. That sounds very different than a dark monster. Sounds more like a knight defending the weak. A Technician then as now."
Hesitating he eventually pushes a little bit further. "I think that...your sister might understand that too. Maybe you're right and burying the pain is the right choice. But maybe someday it might be nice to...have someone to bear it with. After all...she's lost everyone too."
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Post by DataNinja on Dec 1, 2018 7:58:59 GMT
Silas
"I... I guess you're right," the girl says, slowly managing to pull herself more together, and stop crying. Her face still wears the signs, but at least she's relatively composed now. ...for a given definition of composed, at least.
"I guess I should... try and be a different me. A better one..." Lily runs a finger through her hair. "Thank you, Silas... I'll try and be strong, for you."
Blake
Austin shakes his head, before extending his hand out and clenching his fist. A silvery metallic sheen covers the limb, before dissipating back into a flesh tone. "I am more than human. Less than human. I am part that which we fear, the abilities of Pokémon. That is why I am a monster, regardless of who or what I fight for. Deeds do not erase being."
He is silent for a time. "If a day ever came when it was all over, one way or another, for myself, the city, her... perhaps that would be a day that I would consider seeing her again."
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Post by Bowyer on Dec 5, 2018 3:01:13 GMT
Well it wasn't quite the rousing response that Blake had hoped for but it held the promise of something. He'd gotten under Austin's armor with his words. He can't hide the smugness that creeps into his voice. "Monster or not you've still managed some good. Hopefully you can see it someday." He claps the man on the back, "Ahh but enough of my questions, you came here to avoid the pestering. Best I spend some time on my own self-improvement."
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Post by Moriya on Dec 5, 2018 3:15:43 GMT
Silas isn't exactly comfortable with this solution, but it's the best he can do, for now. However, there's another reason that he came to visit, and he can't put it off any longer.
"Also... there's one more thing you should know about that time. I think it was part of the reason it all happened in the first place." Silas holds his right hand in front of her and concentrates. He's still not used to using this power, but it should be enough to get the point across. A few shadowy wisps flow out from his sleeve and gather in the Technician's palm. "I didn't even know I could do this a few weeks ago, but you were good. Very good."
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Post by DataNinja on Dec 5, 2018 3:31:22 GMT
Silas
"What... what do you mean?" Lily asks, backing away from Silas, "What are you doing? I was good? I don't understand!" There's fear in her voice as she presses against the wall, breathing heavily. She doesn't seem to notice, but her own form has gone rather wan and insubstantial again, as if she's instinctively trying to get through the wall.
Blake
Austin merely half-nods wordlessly, before returning to his own tasks. He seems to have nothing more to say.
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Post by Moriya on Dec 6, 2018 4:19:11 GMT
And he's done it again. At this rate, Lily is going to stop seeing him as trustworthy and more as a bearer of bad news. Still, the damage is done, and he doesn't have any more disturbing revelations for her. "I'm not going to hurt you." To prove it, Silas holds up his hand and lets her see the shadows fade. "It seems we're both elementalists."
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