poly_chromatic | ☞ 034. (accidental video + text)

Entry tags:

bioshock - jack

☞ 034. (accidental video + text)

[When the feed clicks on, it shows . . . a pair of jaws adamantly chewing at the camera lens. They retreat after a moment, revealing the owner to be a small black dragon, evidently one of those left over from the infestation a few weeks ago; it cocks its head, scratches at the camera lens, and then resumes chewing on it.

After about a minute of this, though, it's interrupted by a noise: a loud, low rumbling sound reminiscent of the bellow of a whale. The dragon's head jerks back at once, looking somewhere beyond the camera, and it makes a high-pitched trilling noise in response before it tries to chew on the camera again. Before it can do much more damage, however, the device is lifted up and away, and the feed clicks off.

A short time later, a text post follows:]

Sorry about that, if anyone saw
I dont know how he got a hold of this thing
Anyway

1 wrench, $25
4 first aid kits, $60
3 EVE hypos, $75
1 pistol, $100
36 pistol rounds, $150

This is all thats left of what i brought from home
I dont know what anything else here might be worth
In terms of money i mean
But thats all

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Again? Is this another oblique reference to things that happened around the time of my unfortunate demise?

[Well, if he wants the truth...]

Yes

[As always, his incessant curiosity is fighting against his urge not to hear more bad things about his future.]

Is it the kind of thing you prefer not to discuss?

Well
Not where other people can see

[Because somehow, for some reason, some part of him wants Ryan to understand just what he's been through — without being able to use it against him.]

But its not like i can talk otherwise

Can't you make these private?

[Oh. Whoops. Give him a moment to do that.

Still—]

Are you sure you want to know

Not at all.

[That's the most honest he's ever been with you ever, Jack. A few moments later:]

But I feel as though I should, for the sake of understanding the whole story, at the very least.

[He'll be sure to cherish the moment.]

Fine

[This is going to be difficult.]

Fontaine had me conditioned to do whatever i was told when i heard a certain phrase
No matter what
No matter how much i didnt want to
Then he messed with my memories so that i wouldnt remember that he did it
And so i wouldnt even know i was being controlled whenever he said it
So i never knew he was using me
Not until it was too late

[Please wait while he pauses for a very long time before formulating his response.]

And am I correct in guessing that his entire purpose for conditioning you in this fashion was to use you as a weapon, of sorts?

Yes

[Why else would Fontaine go to all that trouble?]

But you figured it all out
Just before i got to you
And when i did get to you
That's when you used it against me

[This part is going to be especially difficult.]

The way you decided to tell me the truth was to order me around like i was some kind of dog
You told me that a man chooses
A slave obeys
And then you used the phrase again
After you made damn well sure i knew that i could not have a choice
And you made me kill you

[It's incredibly tempting to treat all of this as though it's nothing more than some imaginative lie, thought up to disturb him, and he begins to write it off that way immediately.]

That's ludicrous. Why would I do something like that? I would have to be out of my mind.

[It's a good thing tone can't carry via text, because there's no conviction in his words. It makes far too much sense, and he can see how easily it could all come together.]

Even had you done so...

[Pardon him for not using the phrase 'killed me.' It's just a little uncomfortable.]

The Vitachambers existed for a reason. Surely Fontaine's unique... tactics couldn't overcome that.

There was a vita chamber in your office
Right next to your desk
But it was turned off when i checked it

[The next part makes him hesitate. But it's the only thing he can think of.]

You had planned ahead

I don't understand why I would ever do something along those lines. It's completely ridiculous, completely unthinkable.

[But it's not, not really, and threads of the whole story have already started to come together, even in his time. Jasmine... the New Years attack... the erosion of the very fabric of the city...]

Did I realize who you were, as well? What you were to me?

Yes
You called me your child
And you also called me your greatest disappointment

[He's processing this very slowly, almost thankful for the fact that they're using a text medium instead of speaking face to face; of course, Jack can't speak, but even if he could, he's not quite sure this is the kind of conversation he'd care to have via audio or video.]

And you were aware, by this point, that I was your father? Am your father.

[That was the hardest thing to write. Admitting that he'd been killed had been difficult, but it had all been hypothetical -- it hasn't happened yet, it's in a time and place that might as well not exist here. The fact that Jack's his son, however, isn't hypothetical at all, because they're both stuck in the same place.]

No
Not really
I think i must have figured it out before
But it didnt really sink in until after it was all over

And now? Here? You're not still under his control somehow, are you?

[He doesn't think so. Jack has given no sign that he intends to harm him, but it's a question that needs to be asked regardless.]

No
After he tried to kill me i managed to break the conditioning

[Somehow, saying it (or, well, typing it) doesn't feel quite as liberating as he'd imagined.]

I cant be controlled anymore

And now that you have the choice, would you kill me again? Now that you aren't anyone's slave?

[That makes him seethe, just a little, though he's not fully sure why.]

No
Not unless you tried to kill me first
For whatever reason

I can think of very little reason for doing so. If what you've said is true, and you're no longer under anyone's control, the threat you may once have posed to me is largely irrelevant.

Everything ive said is true
Im not a liar
And since im irrelevant to you, i guess that means we can go on with our lives

I don't disbelieve you. Furthermore, I hardly said *you* were irrelevant to me, simply that your would-be murder of me is irrelevant, given the difference of time, circumstance, and place. However, going on with our lives is the only possible option at this juncture.

[He should leave it at that, just leave well enough alone.

But.]

I dont see what else could be relevant
Ive already told you about everything that matters
What else would you want from me

Is it so inconceivable to believe that I may be curious about other aspects of you? One can hardly expect to have information so potentially life-changing imparted to them and then lose all interest in the person who imparted it.

☞ 034. (accidental video + text)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

private;

Re: private;

private;

Re: private;

private;

Re: private;

private;

Re: private;

private;

Re: private;

private;

Re: private;

private;

Re: private;

private;

Re: private;

private;

Re: private;

private;

Re: private;

private;

Re: private;

private;