capeandcowl | one bite

Entry tags:

kyouko sakura | ophelia

one bite

[ video ]

[ CRINKLE ]

Hey, so, that machine lady--

[ CRUNCH. ]

Y'know, the one that starts nagging us right when we get here.

[ A lurching blur, another CRINKLE. ]

She's not so bright, is she, huh?

[ And the blurry, disjointed image on the communicator's screen finally resolves into something coherent: a teenage girl eating chips and staring at the device with a fiercely unimpressed expression. ]

If she's not gonna listen when I tell her I ain't no hero, she kinda sucks at this importing thing!

[ CRINKLE CRINKLE CRUNCH ]

Seriously.

[ She balls up the now-empty bag of chips and flings it away off-screen. ]

Someone better tell me how I get outta here soon or I'll just hafta mess up the place. That'd prove I'm no hero, right? But it's a waste of time if there's an easier way, so you should probably just let me know now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I have discovered a method of escape, but it requires the devotion of a great deal of time and patience.

First, you must become deeply emotionally invested in the relationships you will form here. This will seem pleasant on the surface, and you may even enjoy it, but there is a sinister truth underlying it that you will eventually discover. Your escape is in that truth.

You see, when your life is so positively connected, just when you have allowed yourself the illusion of happiness, this is when Lachesis will elect to export one of you. If fortune favors you, you will not be the one remaining with the memory of the bond broken by this departure.

Be warned, however. Fortune tends to be fickle.

I'd have to be pretty stupid to use that one, wouldn't I?

Since you're talking about making friends.

It's inevitable so long as you remain here. Perhaps you can avoid it with deep isolation, but few could succeed with such a maneuver indefinitely. Eventually you will discover that someone has become your friend, and eventually you will be separated from them.

This is an immutable fact of life. ...Or unlife as well, actually.

That sounds bad. But I have a way it's not a problem.

If someone seems like they're gonna become my friend, I make 'em fight me. I go all out. Then either they hate me, or they're dead. Easy, right?

[ Wait. ]

What the hell's unlife?

For one thing, it means you'll have some difficulty in killing me. Someone already beat you to it. Moreover, you'll forgive me if I don't feel particularly invested in hating you, either. [ her hatred's a bit...preoccupied lately ]

I don't recommend killing anyone for innocent reasons, either. You'll likely draw the ire of someone who would see fit to have you punished.

...mmph.

[ She stops in mid-bite on a chip. After a moment, she goes back to crunching it. ]

You're kidding around, right? Y'know, I've seen dead people. They don't get to come back.

[ ENTIRE HANDFUL OF CHIPS, MEET HER MOUTH AND BE VANQUISHED she's not upset or anything ]

...Not usually, no.

[ she's almost tempted to leave it at that, flicking her eyes away from the camera. but the only thing that would make her feel more guilty and hypocritical about being an exception would be to neglect the mention of them. ]

Certain conditions have been known to circumvent it, however. Among those imPorted as we are, those conditions are typically broader.

Broader...?

[ She finishes the mouthful of chips and just gnaws at her lip for a moment instead. ]

So you mean I gotta smash any enemies I make here extra hard so they don't start coming back. That's kinda bad. But I can handle it.

No. That's stupid and the very opposite of what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that you shouldn't bother at all.

[ even though that's exactly what she does herself. shut up don't look at her hypocrisy! ]

That ain't happening.

You cross me, you get in my way, I'll end ya. You think I'm gonna stop here just 'cause death's not the big deal it oughta be?

And attempting to befriend you would now qualifying as an attempt to draw your ire?

It would be better if you simply ignored them, instead.

Huh?

[ Oh...they're still talking about friendship? She got kind of distracted by that death thing. ]

If you're trying to befriend someone, either you want something from them, or you're stupid. Either way...

[ BIG SHRUG. ]

Either way you're a big pain in the ass.

You're doing little to convince me that this stupidity does not extend to yourself in a far greater exponent than those individuals you may attribute it to.

[ Blank stare for a moment as she processes that comment. That's a lot of big words, but since she catches that the gist of it is calling her stupid, she's not going to complain about that just now. ]

Yeah?

[ She straightens up like she's shouldering a weapon. ]

I'm still alive. I haven't died even once. That puts me ahead of most of the ones who go around trying to be friends with other people.

Just because I'm dead doesn't mean it's a common state of being! The majority of those with whom I'm acquainted have, as a matter of fact, managed to avoid the quality altogether, and very few of those that have returned undead.

You're jumping to the most inexplicable conclusions.

There's nothing inexplicable about 'em! What makes you think I'm talking about you and your stupid friends, huuuuh? Maybe I'm talking about some stupid people I know.

Face facts! You spend a lot of time sticking your neck out for your so-called friends and you're probably gonna get dead. That's just how it is. And all your big words can't change it.

I don't know any stupid people in your acquaintance. I don't know who you're acquainted with to begin with, so discussing it is ridiculously pointless!

But you're mistaken, actually. It was a failure to assert myself to ensure the safety of a friend in a timely manner which resulted in my death.

[ And she subsides rather abruptly, letting out a frustrated breath, her posture sinking back down. ]

Yeah, it's a pretty dumb thing to talk about. Forget it!

[ She's ripping open another bag of chips when she processes Kanaya's next words. ]

That makes no sense. Well...you weren't relying on the friend to protect you or something, were you? That'd be stupid too.

It means that I acted too late to interfere, and for this was repaid by becoming the second victim.

No way. You make it sound like you were being punished!

[ Or at least that's the conclusion Kyouko reaches rather than slow down to think about the course of events Kanaya must be describing. ]

Really, you probably just didn't do a very good job of looking out for number one. That's how you get to be a victim in the first place, y'know.

[ no, kyouko's pretty much got her number, there. the only thing worse as far as she cares is that she had to wake back up. ]

That's a terrible sense of priorities. Why shouldn't I have been punished for my contribution to the matter, and the lack thereof?

Why shouldn't...? It's more like why should you!

[ She's regained a bit of composure by now, though, and makes a show of not even quite looking at the screen as she shakes the last contents of the bag of snacks out. ]

Strong people eat up the weak people. Weak people die or just fall apart. It's not anything like punishment.

[ And she crumples up the tinfoil bag and tosses it away. ]

So...you're not right about being punished, you're probably lying about the dying thing too.

Being incorrect does not mean one must be lying. As an example, I expect you're wrong in everything you say! But your ill-advised belief in it I have no reason to question.

There is no reason to devour the weak. They, if anything, require our protection more than any other. I would much rather battle the strong on behalf on those in lack than to dominate those beneath my abilities.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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