deerington/deercountry Inbox - UN:A_Wesker013

[subject_013]

”Greetings. You’ve reached the voice mail of Albert Wesker. I can’t come to the phone right now, as I’m either at work in the laboratory or chasing some Beast off my roof. At the sound of the tone, please leave your name and number and a suitably short message and I’ll return your call as soon as possible.

“However, if you’re Chris Redfield, stay on the line….”

LUMENWOOD BLOOD MINISTER BUSINESS INBOX | HUNTER INBOX

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[subject_013]

[He tips one hand, fingers upward.]

The rest of the entire town has seen it by now. Another pair of eyes on it shan't change it. I tried removing the transmission, but the system locked me out. [A small pause] I wouldn't mind if you saw it, though be warned, one part is terrible, while another is personal.

[demonicbeauty]

I don't think I'm just "another pair of eyes."

[Not to him. She knows that they have a special sort of relationship. She can't quite put a name to it but...

Instinct. Instinct tells her that.

Although she hopes it doesn't seem self important.]

Tell me what you wish.

[subject_013]

[He smirks a little, his weird eyes narrowing slightly.]

Yours certainly aren't. And you may seek it out. Though I must warn you, I was not the man whom I am now. I had yet to become a patient and student of our mutual friend The Doctor.

[He reaches in, tapping at the edge of the screen. A link shows up in her inbox.]

[demonicbeauty]

[She's quiet a moment, going off to watch the video.

Her expression never changes the entire time. She's placid and neutral. Almost serene. Almost, except for a slight, occasional flicker in her eyes.

When she comes back, she regards the camera thoughtfully.]

Who was Enrico?

[CW: Murder, double-agent activity.]

[subject_013]

[He should have expected she'd ask a probing question, and for a moment, she catches him up short. Dissembling isn't an option: she's seen the climax of the Arklay Mansion Incident as he'd lived it. And like the Doctor, she deserves transparency. The question remains, how shall she react? Will it sever whatever this is which he feels forming within his heart?]

He was a colleague who'd suspected what I was and the things I was hiding. That creature which slew me was the Tyrant I'd helped to create. Enrico saw through my scrim of affability and marked me as one of the creature's creators. I couldn't allow him to compromise my persona. And so I killed him.

[He falls silent, bowing his head slightly, bracing for anything, including the snuffing of the small flame in his heart.]

[demonicbeauty]

[She's quiet for a moment, her face unreadable.

Of course, there's a lot going on beneath the surface. Ariadne isn't educated, but she isn't stupid either. She understands many things: war, betrayal, lies, and the fact that a person can change. Perhaps most of all that much.

When she speaks again, it's soft. Gentle. But not a whisper.]

Are you sorry you did it?

[subject_013]

[A flicker of something like relief flickers through his eyes, then then impassive look returns.]

Do you want the long answer or the short answer? Neither one will be easy for either of us.

[demonicbeauty]

Whichever you want to give, Albert.

I can't decide that for you.

[subject_013]

The short answer is: no, I don't regret protecting the mission.

The long answer is: I have a peculiar definition of protecting life. Enrico and I weren't close. We were colleagues, but that was as far as it went. I was assigned to a position he was hoping to fill, which created a certain amount of friction. However, we kept personal differences out of the work place. I will admit, no friendship was lost when I eliminated the threat he presented, to the mission, to the work I was hoping to accomplish for a different employer. Sometimes one has to sacrifice a life to protect others.

[demonicbeauty]

And did that sacrifice protect others?

[She doesn't feel convinced. But his world is entirely foreign to her. Alien.]

[CW: Messed-up/Blue and Orange morality]

[subject_013]

I'm puzzling over that myself. It was a part in a far broader picture; I'd call it a small part, but only because of the scope of the canvas I was striving to paint. And that canvas? Saving the world from itself. Or trying to.

[Something in the last bit suggests he's had reason to question the masterpiece had in mind.]

[demonicbeauty]

[Ariadne just raises her eyebrows at him.

Although she tries hard not to judge, the way he's saying these things sounds like judgment enough.]

[subject_013]

[And it's that look he wanted to avoid causing in her face. Its that reaction he wished to avoid. At one in the same time, he feels part of the connection unravel, while another part grows stronger.]

[He drops his gaze, lowering his eyelids, not quite closing them.]

[demonicbeauty]

[Now, that's a more thoughtful expression.]

I think you regret more than you're letting on.

It's all right, you know. To have regrets. It means learning.

[subject_013]

I regret that it's raised your suspicions. I regret that it was likely one of many missteps that led to disaster. I regret that from whatever angle I look at it, I failed to achieve whatever I set out to do. If someone like me is capable of regret.

[demonicbeauty]

Everyone is capable of it.

[Except maybe the Red Dragon, but she doesn't know for sure.]

Anyway, I'm not suspicious. At least, I don't think I am.

[subject_013]

I hope that notion proves true. [He's not even certain he still has a soul, given what he's endured.]

[He looks up at length, some of his calm sang froid returning.]

I would hope not. The only dancing around you that I'd care to do would be a waltz. I value our connection too much to compromise it.

[demonicbeauty]

I think you understand what would compromise it.

[At least, she hopes he does.]

And I don't think you're a person who would cross that line. Not any more.

[subject_013]

The version who came to Deerington might have crossed that line, but the version who walked through the door that led from the remains of Deerington to the edge of the Pthumerian Sea won't.

[He bows his head to her.]

You have my word, and if I break that word, I give you permission to help strike me down.

[Much as he expected The Doctor might.]

[demonicbeauty]

Albert, I'm not going to strike you down.

[She smiles slightly.]

Don't you know that by now?

[subject_013]

I know that, though I suppose, given how I've been reshaped, it's hard for me to comprehend on some level. "The light shines on the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it," as one writer put it.

[demonicbeauty]

Well, clearly, the darkness just needs someone to teach it a little better.

[subject_013]

Perhaps with you as a teacher, the darkness can lift, at least into a twilight state.

[In his mind, with all the tampering done to his mind and body, it's the most he can hope for.]

[demonicbeauty]

I've never been a teacher before but...

[She shrugs. Maybe it's her optimism speaking here but...how hard could it be?]

I will. If you want me to.

[subject_013]

From your memory, it seems you were an excellent student. Those who learn well and learn carefully often make the better teachers.

[A small but genuine smile.]

It's more a need than a want, but it's a need that has become a want, especially in this place.