THE FIRST INVESTIGATION

[strangerpeople]

THE FIRST INVESTIGATION

[Friday morning dawns. It's a surprisingly brisk day; the winds are cold outside, and the sky is dark with its lack of sky. Well, a normal sky that one would be used to, at least.

The rats can be heard scurrying to and forth, in the walls. All seems to be as normal as it can be, this morning.]

Comments

[katzenpfote]

[Caleb just gently leads Minato away for a moment.]

Go sit down.

[biddentodance]

[Metal casing. Sparking wires. Minato sees white where there's red, god at the highlights. He sees a different robot entirely.

Collapsed to her knees on the bridge that night, eyes going dark as the last of her power supply gave out. Again. A battle ten years deferred, resumed, lost...and always the goddamn bridge.

Minato lets Caleb lead him away. He'll... He has to help, he just needs to clear the wrong scene from his eyes.]

[katzenpfote]

[He's just going to steer Minato into the lounge, sit him down, and get him some water.]

Take your time.

[biddentodance]

Happening again. Just like--

[He looks up, meets Caleb's gaze. He hates what he's about to ask, hates that any tiny piece of him doubts Caleb.]

Wasn't you this time. Right?

[He doesn't want to see the man on the chopping block again.]

[katzenpfote]

No. I was asleep.

... And I would not have left the body for everyone to see.

[biddentodance]

[He exhales deeply, relieved. He knows it's not sure. Knows they could still mess up, vote for the wrong person. Even the right person - it's not okay.

But Caleb wouldn't lie to him. He's....nothing like Ikutsuki. Nothing at all. Doesn't even crack puns often.]

Have to investigate...

[katzenpfote]

You need to be able to think clearly, and I do not know if you can do that right now. So take... take ten minutes. Sit. Drink water. Use the restroom. You can join us when you are not so shaky.

[biddentodance]

[Ten minutes leaves fifty. One hour. It's always one hour, isn't it? And doesn't that tell him exactly what needs to be done?

He steels himself. Even his glass hands stop shaking. And there's something more hardened in his eyes. After all, in many ways, SEES has made a soldier of him.]

Five minutes. Don't have time for more.

[katzenpfote]

Yes, you do.

[He knows that look.]

We have it handled. You do not have to be the hero in every situation. Now stop it. There is no one you need to prove yourself to, and we will need you to be thinking clearly. Right now, I do not think you are.

[biddentodance]

Not a hero. [His tone may be neutral, but the sheer amount of finality in it... He's no hero. He never was.

He's a failure.

But that doesn't mean he gets to stop moving.]

Time never waits.

[katzenpfote]

It doesn't. But we need you to not fall apart... and if you try to fake it, you will.