sixthiterationlogs | i'm done being a pawn

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i'm done being a pawn

WHO: Desmond Miles
WHERE: Fountain; around the village,
WHEN: 12/3
OPEN TO: Anyone!
WARNINGS: Swearing for sure

Fountain arrival; ota

His hand was going in slow motion as it reached for the key to saving humanity and releasing Juno. Despite knowing it was right, despite saying goodbye to the remaining people in his life, he was afraid as he took a deep breath and prepared for the end. His eyes closed ... and then suddenly he was opening his eyes surrounded by water. Desmond flailed, shocked and horrified, this was not the way he expected Juno to take him, and was he supposed to just wait until he drowned? No, this can't be right. His feet kicked and he broke the water into air, gasping and scrambling for the side of ... what the hell was this? His eyes hurt from the water and he dragged himself out, immediately shocked by the cold of the air around him. It hadn't been cold before, why was it cold?

Desmond shakily tried to stand but collapsed hard onto his knees, his hands catching his weight. He should be dead. Maybe he was dead. Or maybe this was something else. He sat back on his haunches, breathing unsteadily, and dropping this strange pack from his back to toss it aside. Who put that on him? Juno's face hazily appeared in his mind's eye, and his confusion turned into rage. Maybe he failed. Maybe this was Minerva, furious that he disobeyed. Frustrated, he did something very stupid and dove right back into the water, going as far as he could. He had to finish this. He couldn't thwart fate. He reached around of any sign of what to do, but it was dark and he sprang out of the water again, colder and more exhausted than before.

"Juno!" He yelled, searching the sky. "Minerva! Which one of you bitches did this?" Desmond spit out water, shaking from cold or shock. "Juno! Goddamnit."

Around the village the next few days, OTA

Desmond was unnerved by everything so far and deeply suspicious. It was an elaborate lie, it had to be. A trick. He went to the inn just because there was no where else to stop freezing and not starve as far as he could tell. He sat by himself in the furthest corner away from others, making certain nothing was at his back but the wall in case of stabbing. Occasionally he ventured up to the records there, reading it but skeptical.

Later on he can be seen in the bunker trying to make sense of what was down there and if his hacking had any use. He was wandering around the village, admittedly being a little creepy as he glanced at the houses and cased the joints. Eventually he claimed House 46 and sat outside, staring off into the distance, scowling.

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"Census. Like people have written down the names of everyone else who is here?" Now that was of great interest to him. Connor was there, so he had to wonder about if some other names might have popped up that he'd recognize. Desmond didn't know what to expect, but how could he? This was all fucking insane. He doesn't know what to make of the whole group contribution part. That's what the Assassins did in their little community, but it was not the healthiest of situations. He left for good reasons.

He rubbed a hand against his eyes, sighing. "This is all just ...." There was really no word for it. Nothing that wasn't a stream of curses. But he was breathing. Jury's still out on whether that's a good thing. "How long has this thing been going, and do you know anything about whether people have talked about this being purgatory?"

"That and skills that people are willing to teach or use for those trapped in the village. Many people fish, hunt, prep food stores or garden. We all have different skills and it's the way that we can work together." The bulletin board was in plan view but a lot of people seemed to miss it or walk right past it.

"This is not purgatory." Kat's expression grew grave. "I would know." She'd spent a great deal of her life traveling through Limbo and this wasn't the same plane.

"I think the first person here arrived a few years ago. I'm not sure exactly how long. I've only been here a few months."

"That's ... an impressive amount of survival skills for a small group of random strangers." And suspicious too. It was a little too perfect. He wasn't sure what that meant, but it felt like it meant something. Desmond frowned and crossed his arms against his chest. "I ... know how do do some of that. Hunt and track and stuff. My two major skills won't be any help here, since we don't have booze or computers." The latter he was really freaked out about. He liked technology. This was weird.

She seemed certain about that, but he wasn't so sure. "There are a few people here who I know are dead." Himself included. "That feels very afterlife to me." Maybe not purgatory, maybe flat out the other side of life. He never believed in much. So who knows.

"A few years? Shit." Well. If his was the afterlife he'd be there forever anyway. It's not like getting out of here would help.

"You think so?" Kat looked over at him and met his gaze with a steady stare. "Some of the people here have been trapped for years. I'd think it'd be common for them to have adapted to the environment or they wouldn't have survived." Which made sense to her and there were plenty of gaps in peoples knowledge that could be filled. "I've learned about gardening since my arrival, also chopping wood." Which was a lot harder than it seemed. Kat was small and not at all good at finding wood to cut into pieces that fit into her stove.

"There is some alcohol but it's limited and highly sought after." Kat had a feeling that 75% of the village were alcoholics. It was understandable but it made liquor harder to come by.

She paused next, trying to thoughtfully address his concern. "I think we are clones. So it would make sense, if they were dead but their memories and consciousness were brought here. I don't know for sure but I have been to Limbo and this isn't it."

Kat had a close relationship to the land of angels and demons.

"Well, now that I know it's been years, maybe not so strange. I guess I can't trade this afterlife in for another one." Yeah, he's still sticking with afterlife. Even if it's not a strict version of the word, it will be the life he leads after death. So whatever. Desmond scrubbed a hand across his stubbly jaw, so very tired of everything being confusing as hell. Why can't something just be simple for once?

"Maybe it's not your Limbo we're in." There were several people there after all. It could've been any of theirs. Or his. He could really use a drink honestly, but it won't make him feel any better. "Clones, though ... that's interesting. That's very interesting." Desmond peered at her, eyes narrowed. "Why do you think clones?"

"There is a list of names and what look like tests in the bunker. My name is on there a few times as are people I know. It looks like it's the names of those who have died here." So not afterlife but Kat wasn't going to argue with him. She wasn't dead though she did agree that this world was a new life. It was a chance to start over and have something new.

"I can show you, if you'd like but I think you should get used to the village first. It's a long walk to the bunker and we wouldn't make it back before dark." Which meant camping or hiking back at night, which was dangerous.

"You're taking this all very well."

Desmond's eyes narrowed. A bunker with some scientific tests? Well that was fucking wild. And not at all okay. Ashley did tell him there was some potential science involved, but this seemed higher level. "Your name is on there a few times, does that mean you've died here a few times?" So if it corresponded with her experience here, that was a pretty good indication. "And does it have people listed who haven't died?"

He wasn't so sure he should go there with some random stranger, but he could also take care of himself, and she didn't feel like a threat. "Maybe, but yeah, I should get used to this place first, thanks." She was right though, comparatively he was probably taking this pretty well. "I've been through a lot of crazy shit. This is still worse than what I'm used to though. At least in my life I still knew where I was at generally."

"That is how it seems but I don't have any memory of it." Which also didn't really surprise her. "And no. Those listed in what I assume is this current test have all been killed here. No one who is alive is in that list." It was where the theory had come from though Kat was relying more on those who had been here longer.

There were a lot of details that she didn't know.

"Me too." Her expression softened some. "It's easy to get used to things going insane." Though things here were marginally more calm than what she was used to in Limbo City.

"Take your time. The offer stands but I understand if you don't want to be lead by a stranger. There are many people who know about the bunker. Ask around and you'll learn more." She was by her very nature, very understanding.

"Well fuck," he said, articulately. "But you don't remember dying before. I wonder what they're playing at." Desmond assumed there was a reason for it. There was always a reason for it. That much he knew for sure. "There's an end game of some kind. I just dealt with some super powered bullshit recently, people far more powerful playing with the rest of us. But they had reasons for it." Like taking over the world with the help of a certain exhausted dead Assassin.

"It is easy, yeah. Then normal things feel crazy. I had normal for a few years, it was pretty great, actually, but I'm not sure how easy it would be to go back now." Impossible, honestly. To go back to working at a bar and living in a hole? It would be nice, but Desmond was changed, he'd still be paranoid for the rest of his life, if he survived. He wouldn't know what to do with normal anymore.

"You see pretty calm about all of this too. Or are you just used to it now?"

Kat shook her head. "I don't." She'd been close to death, tortured and tormented but Kat had never died.

Dying was easy... living was difficult.

"I'm sure there are reasons for this but I don't know what they are." She could guess but that's all it'd be. Kat didn't know enough about the nature of whatever race had brought them here. "I'm not sure I can imagine normal." She looked at him with a small sad smile. "Used to it. I've been here for a few months and even before that, I've been encountering odd things my whole life."

She'd rather see the oddities than just ignore them.

"I'm getting the feeling no one knows what the reasons are. I'm not sure if these douches are the type to give any hints or keep us in the dark." Eventually it all came out. Juno tricked him for a long while before it all came into frame, what she was doing and how she'd controlled him his whole life.

"I just got here so you'd know better obviously. It sucks that everyone seems to be used to this shit? Everyone I've talked to at least." Which admittedly was a very short list. Desmond seemed to forget a lot of social graces. He wasn't sure if he'd get that comfort back. Desmond tried to smile back. "It was nice. I had an apartment and a job I liked and did boring things like pay the bills and go grocery shopping. I thought about getting a fish." Not a real pet as that would be a little too hopeful. "No one tried to kill me for a few years." He was kind of lucky that way. "Where are you from?"

"I think that they were given to us for a reason but like you say, I don't know what that reason is." Kat was used to being kept in the dark and so far, she hadn't faced anything in the village that she hadn't been able to over come. It got harder at times but she was determined to keep going.

"I am used to weird things but nothing like this. The city I grew up in was called Limbo City. It was called that because the city was at a convergence to Limbo. There were a lot of demons who came into the city and ruled it." Which was something that Kat was used too. "It's a violent place and I was apart of the rebellion who fought to free themselves."

She usually wouldn't have told anyone so much but Kat had longed learned that those demons aren't here.

Desmond stared at her for a few long seconds. Okay, that felt like a story that his mind probably wouldn't come up with for a delusion. He was pretty sure now that this place wasn't part of his fractured mind but something else. If this was all real, he wasn't sure what to do about it. Outside of probably nothing.

"Yeah, dealing with demons in a Limbo city sounds pretty weird. And intense." And like some fantasy story. "So you're a rebel. Do you plan to rebel against all of this too? Or is this a better option enough to overlook it?" Desmond gestured around to the village they were in. It wasn't meant in a judgmental way, he was just gauging whether people here were looking to buck the status quo or this quo was the type of status they preferred to stick with.

"It is." Kat wouldn't go into details about how intense it could be. "I plan to fight for my freedom, in the ways that I can but I won't put anyone else in danger while doing so. We don't know enough here and until we find out more, it isn't safe to act." There was also no way that they could act and kat wasn't a fan of running around without a plan.

Her head tilted curiously to the side as she guided Desmond towards the inn. It was too cold to remain outside for long periods of time and Kat was losing the feeling in her fingers. "What about you? Are you a rebel?" Dark emerald green eyes studied him curiously, her expression open and passive.

"I guess we're all waiting to see what this is even about, let alone how to rebel against it. If that's what people want to do." Desmond can't, but he's also not of the mind he'll require everyone to stay just because he's dead. If ending this means dying again, so be it. He didn't sacrifice his life to help other people if he was going to swing around and be selfish now.

He followed her lead and started toward the inn. It was fucking freezing, yes. He thought about the question. "I've rebelled against people and organizations but I wouldn't call myself a rebel." He rebelled against the Templars and the Assassins both, and then Minerva when she asked him to sacrifice most of humanity. "We were out to save the world. Solve mysteries, figure out how to set off this piece of technology that would protect the earth from a coming disaster. That part didn't require rebelling, just getting ahead of the enemy."

"I think your enemy might classify you as a rebel." Kat's expression softened into something warm and kind. She understood not wanting to return home. Her home was a waste land that had to be rebuilt and Vergil, for all she knew, was dead.

She pushed the door to the inn open and a breath of warm air washed over them. "You'll find that it isn't so different here. Most people gather here. It's warm and there is probably an empty room upstairs. You'll have a safe place to sleep while you're getting your barrings here."

She hoped that this much helped.

"Rebellion in my head is reacting to someone that has more power. Which I guess does work. Our enemy was much stronger than us. They were winning that war for sure." Desmond hated seeing it as easy as Templars vs. Assassins. He really did want for awhile to consider actually working together for a joint cause, but it was impossible at that point. They weren't capable of understanding that Desmond was required to save the world. They thought they could do it on their own. And everyone would be dead.

"Thanks, Kat." He smiled at her. He didn't know many people yet, but she seemed kind of cool. This wasn't so bad of an intro to someone new. "I'm going to check out the rest of it. But thanks for talking it through with me."

[Ooc: Maybe a wrap-ish since we have our new one? ]

Kat smiled as if she had known what his answer was going to be. She liked seeing the world through the eyes of others though it often complicated things. When you looked at both sides, things were rarely black and white.

"You're welcome. Let me know if you have any more questions."

[ooc: sounds good! :D]

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