poly_chromatic | ☞ 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

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.

[Again, he finds himself seething without really knowing why.]

Fine
Just as long as we understand each other now

We do.

[As much as he can really understand any of this. It's going to take awhile to process all of it, and there's a part of him that, likely, will never quite come to terms with it.]

I wish you the best of luck with your dragon.

[He's not sure how well he's going to deal with this either, even if he's not sure exactly what it is he needs to deal with.]

Thank you

[And that's that.]

☞ 034. (accidental video + text)

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