Handsome Jack - Hero of Pandora (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thedifferencebetween) wrote2017-10-03 09:42 am
thedifferencebetween) wrote2017-10-03 09:42 am
Ryslig Inbox
WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, HANDSOME JACK. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 021.07.222.57 *** H.Jack69 has joined 021.07.222.57 <USERNAME> First sentence of message. <BANNED USER> SCREENED MESSAGE. UNSCREEN? Y/N -- sample for when you ban someone <USERNAME> First sentence of message. <USERNAME> First sentence of message. | ||||
no subject
It's how the God keeps her humans. Weak, docile. Subservient.
[ To illustrate his point, he plants his foot on the man's chest — courteously, after Jack's finished poking at him. With a crackle, electricity ripples through his body and he convulses... but that's about all he does. No cries of pain or desperate requests to spare his life. When Slade finishes, he rolls onto his side silently, breathing now labored. ]
...There's nothin' inside. No will to live. Makes for a good quick bite.
Javert has them all over. Snap your fingers and get a man in your lap.
no subject
[The only reason Jack's face isn't pulling into a disgusted sneer is that it can't move.]
That is severely fucked up! I'd feel dirty eating that. I'm a wrestles wolves kinda guy, not a kicks puppies kind of guy! Sure, I kill a ton of people but they know what's happening and have some tiny slim chance of fighting back. Make peace with their god while it's happening, that kinda shit. This just feels wrong.
[Like smothering somebody in a coma, it's just not cool. And nothing to be proud of. A toddler could kill someone in this state.]
Don't get me wrong, appreciate the thought, but I'm not eating that. I'll slit its throat and feed it to other people, but I need my dinners to be more sporting than this.
[His moral compass may be warped, but he does have one.]
I tell ya, I don't get how anybody can follow the 'gods' around here when they do this to the actual native population here.
no subject
At Jack's vehement dismissal, Slade doesn't appear to take much offense. After all, he'd stood in Jack's shoes just two months prior. Perhaps he should be more concerned by his own lack of moral objection. You see a man fall over at your feet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and you start to become used to it. You start to become desensitized to it. They become less like people — these humans — since the Fog's already gotten to them.
He'll deep dive into that later.
For now, he'll take whatever soul this human has left for himself. Brillant light floods the room, and then it doesn't. The man's shallow movements stop altogether. ]
You know my reasons for being in Dyster. [ Not that this comment was directed at him, but he feels it's important to make the distinction. ] It's the Fog God's heart. Best place to find an in.
You haven't taken up with either, then? Not the Fog, not the Fourth? [ It's how Slade would prefer it. The way he sees it, there are no good options. ]
no subject
[That's different. It's espionage, Jack's all for that.]
But nope! Everybody thinks I outta like the fourth cuz of tech shit and everything but I'm not an idiot. I'm not letting anything into my head willingly. That's basically screaming 'brainwash me, please!'. You gotta be careful, make sure your head stays on straight. They get into people's minds, get into their...their inside stuff. It's dangerous.
[Look what the Fog did Slade's current meal. That was a human that had been hollowed out inside. What makes anybody think the Fog can't do that to any one of them?]
no subject
[ Slade also believed Jack was in line with the Fourth. Must have been bad info. Jack seems too proud to lie, especially now, and his vendetta against the gods sounds genuine enough for Slade not to question it. ]
Been working on Javert's case since September. [ ...More like he killed Javert in the autumn and then never left his side. ] Been in and out of Dyster more times than I can count... Could be on to something.
[ While it's unlike Slade to admit to a mistake, it is entirely within Slade to listen to reason. And right now, Jack is sounding pretty reasonable. This is beginning to sound like a sit-down conversation, so he floats up the stairs to a living area. ( Who designed this place with bedrooms on the first floor? )
Pardon the dead body by the front door. ]
no subject
[Why does no one take this kind of thing into consideration? He's had this conversation before, but nobody ever listens. Slade...Slade sounds like he's listening.]
That's way too much time in a god place, buddy! Watched it happen to my best friend a couple years ago. He was like me but the fourth got his hooks in. Shit, look at Javert! I met that dude the night he first started changing. He's changed a lot more than physically, trust me.
[Jack has multiple examples of how he thinks the gods mess with people's minds, but not many that would mean anything to Slade, who really hasn't been here long in the grand scheme of things. He takes a seat in the main sitting room, joints creaking and squealing slightly as he sits.]
But that's one thing I've found in a lot of Foggies. All the superiority, all the 'humans don't matter they're basically our cows' bullshit.
I mean I think most humans are idiots but I think most people are idiots in general. Maybe its cuz my brain's human and I'm still human shaped but I sure as hell don't feel like I'm not human at all. Shit, look at you! You're not actually an angel, you're just shaped like one. You're a human dude who was magicked! Just like most of us. Magic already changed us all. That magic is what the gods have. Haven't you ever watched a single horror movie about demons or whatever? Joining with a god is like a reverse exorcism, you're just inviting something powerful and dangerous into your head.
no subject
[ To his credit, by the time Slade arrived ( let alone set his sights on Javert's antics ), the vampire in question had already pledged himself as one of the Fog's own. Javert sans his Fog lust isn't something Slade's ever been privy to. ]
Besides, the Fourth is supposed to be the good one. Supposed to be — we've established they're both bad. Figure I shouldn't be surprised to hear that the Fourth uses the same mind-control tactic that every great and terrible leader's figured out.
[ When Slade sits, he leans forward on his haunches. Any period of time with his wings pressed against furniture grows to be uncomfortable, so he sits on the edge of his seat with his elbows planted above his knees. There's a wince when he lowers himself down, but he doesn't draw attention to it. His wings flap idly once or twice before folding closed. ]
It's what She teaches. And if your supreme overlord tells you people are meant to serve the monsters, you'll listen. Once you're in deep enough. Dunno, I'm sure there are some folks who get their first taste of monster powers and don't look back.
And it can be undone just as easily. You were in Felfri. These magic forms aren't permanent.
Didn't imagine being in Her realm was equivalent to joining Her ranks. [ He could have thought this through. Lack of foresight paired with fundamentally underestimating the power of the Gods is to blame here. ]
no subject
[But he had woken up and Jack hadn't even started hacking into him yet. Anyway, more important things were on the current table.]
I mean...you just chowed down on a coma patient, I literally watched it happen ten minutes ago. You've got a foot in the 'humans aren't people' lake already, buddy! You're testing out those waters and you seem pretty okay with them. Just...ya know, pointing that out. Would not have pegged you for a dude who'd normally be cool with that shit. Plus...dude. Have you ever read any cautionary tale? What's the one thing you don't do in the fairy world or the land of the dead or any of those magic ass places that can fuck with you? You don't eat the food!
no subject
I've seen horror movies. Can't count how many fairy tales I've read in the past couple of years. Humans are people. We don't disagree. Our entire business is run on that principle. Respectable deaths. Ethical meats.
But the Fog's already got to them. Just those humans in particular. Dyster humans. You should see them, like cheerleaders at a Dallas game. They treat monsters like royalty, see it as an honor to give themselves over to you. I've seen cults before, but I've never anything like them. Different kind of death cult.
They've been getting too convenient. It's having a simpler option. Fly back to Bavan to get the man who didn't tip his waiters, or have someone at my feet, begging me to kill them, within seconds? ...There's something just about giving someone what they want. [ In case Jack forgot he was talking to a Nephilim, Slade's halo grows brighter as a reminder. ] Who am I to deny them?
[ Thankfully, this flash of holy talk is curbed pretty quickly what logic still remains. His halo dampens down.] Better option would be to emancipate the humans. Which we'd be able to do with the Fog gone.
no subject
[Jack's not gonna knock convenience in general, he's a big fan! Instant gratification, it's awesome! But this whole thing is just creepy. Like face pizza levels of creepy.]
[And Slade's better than this. He's smart, he's rational, he doesn't trust shit.]
You're drinking the friggin koolaid and you better watch it before you're back here next month trying to tell me the Fog's not really that bad....
tftbl flashbacks are a blessing
But this is strange. Talking is strange. Anything that isn't planning, giving orders, or hunting for information tends to fall outside of Slade's range of conversation. Rarely is he one to chat — especially about himself — in any significant way. ]
The Fog is that bad. And then some. If I ever start singing Her praise, feel free to take me out. [ Which he wouldn't offer, not even glibly, without knowing how this place works. Death doesn't seem like much when the Fog gives you what seems like infinite re-dos. ]
What's your solution, Jack? We're past the propaganda phase. We've reached the point where the Fog is everywhere. As in always here, always watching. As in I can hear Her.
no subject
You hear her.
[He lets that sit another minute.]
You realize that's not normal, right? Your average Joe Shmoe monster doesn't hear dark gods! Yeah, you need to pull your ass out. Or get a Fog blocking helmet or something because I will take you down if you get any further in, and I know how to keep somebody just at the edge of dead for months. Killing somebody doesn't put them out of commission here, but there's ways. Believe me, there's ways. I'm not even trying to threaten you right now, by the way, I'm just being honest. You're going foggy and that's not okay, Slade.
no subject
[ Still, when you put it all together like this, there's not much room for argument. ]
The mission is to leave this place by any means necessary. That's what I'm beholden to. Pulling out isn't an option.
This? [ He gestures to a space of open air. ] This is collateral damage. Until it isn't. Might not have been noticing them, and I couldn't tell you when they started. But it's a path in.
no subject
[Jack gets up, pacing in agitation, the whirs and clinks of his metal chassis filling the room.]
You....what is wrong with you? Why didn't you look into some sort of protection? Why didn't you take note when you realized you were hearing the bitch in your head? You're a fucking trojan horse now! Cuz no, she has never made me an offer or tried to talk to me. And I don't wanna talk to her, either. Of course she probably knows everything I've friggin said to you now....
[Oh fuck all of this with a rusty buzz axe.]
no subject
[ A better explanation for Slade's lack of planning might be his own naivety. Three months in with next to no knowledge about the gods, there was no way of telling just how large a fire he was playing with. ]
Didn't want to talk to her. Didn't ask her to reach out. [ But this is good to know; not everyone is on a first-name basis with their kidnapper. ] I've been tailing one person, an outlier. Javert talks to Her every second of the day, it seems like. Fog follows him; he's got it at his fingertips. Shifts the perception of what's normal and what isn't.
[ Still seated, Slade watches him walk past, and then walk past again. Some of his eyes glance off to take in the scenery. ]
My mind's still my own. She hasn't made it in. It's easy to turn down offers that're too good to be true.
no subject
[Other Fog voices have been more...quiet. Aside from the handful that's always trying to make people think they're totally nice and good people who just want to help. Bullshit.]
You might not have meant to ask, but yeah, you opened yourself up to this. You know what you are right now?
[Jack stops, hands on his hips, to fix his eyes on Slade again.]
You're the dude who's opened the doors on cosmic horrors from beyond. You're hearing it in your head, you're going to the places it owns...how can you even trust your own mind right now? How much of this is you, and how much of it is whatever influence is already inside of you? And now I gotta deal with being all worried about you and shit, and I hate that. I have way too much to worry about already!
no subject
He has to stand up because being talked down to — literally — is too damn strange. ]
I can trust my mind because I know what it's like to lose it. I've already been there: Gotham's Bedlam with a head stuffed full of cotton, nanochips, and Vicodin that left me doubting my own name. [ It was a strange time. He taps a finger against his temple, just below his horn, and holds it there. ] This isn't that. I know who I am. I know what's important to me. The Fog's not going to take that; I won't let her.
No one's asking you to worry. In fact, it's the last thing I want you to do. You got a kid. I do, too. Keep your worries there.