SILENT HORIZON - [Part 2: Facing the Faceless/Escape] [modplot]

[letsgolegion]

Who| Everyone in Silent Horizon plot
What| Fighting the Faceless, a perilous escape, and a chance to have a breather
Where| In the In-Between, the Silent Horizon, and then the Legion Cruiser
When| Chronologically, only hours have passed in the outside world from when the team disappeared, but it's up to players whether their characters perceived it as being hours or days
Warnings/Notes| Gore, blood, body horror, all the usual


They hear the voice again, calling out to them. Not the Faceless, not the dark whispers of this world. It's the same tinny voice that warned them, that told them not to give into the Faceless' offer. It's the voice that told them their Phalanxed teammates can still be saved if the Faceless is killed in time before they die.

It calls out again. Wherever they are, whatever the landscape is doing, they can hear it.

"I know you have no reason to trust me. I know you've been probably hearing lots of voices in this place, telling you all kinds of things. But I'm trying to help you. There's a way to end this, to stop the Faceless. Just follow my voice. My language synthesizer is broadcasting in the telepathic range like telepathic earplugs and I've managed to reconfigure it to broadcast through the entire In-Between. You should be hearing it wherever you are and you should be able to use its broadcast strength to navigate. I think I've managed to secure it from the Faceless and his Phalanx but there's no way to be sure."

How loud the voice is changes as they get closer or farther away. They can use it to navigate, albeit very crudely. And now that it's clearer, it's far more recognizable: it's the voice of the Robotican in the horrible footage that played before they were taken -- the one that had his head knocked off.

"My name is N-45LEN/Keth Series. My organic crewmates call --" He pauses, and sounds distraught. "--called me Lenny. I was a crew member of the Silent Horizon. This entire dimension is called the In-Between. It's made up of the body of the Faceless and I'm currently trapped at its core. I can see you Legionnaires from here through...what appears to be some kind structure for processing what equates to ocular stimuli for the Faceless. If any of you get lost, I can see enough to guide you here."

If they need it, they'll find that he can give them individualized directions, no matter what the landscape does, and he can give them to multiple people simultaneously. Having a complex processor for a brain has its perks.

"My organic teammate and I managed to discover the core of the Faceless and its nature, but I'm currently incapacitated and Bob...he just lost it. He nearly destroyed what was left of me and ran off before we could stop the Faceless. I saw him eventually accept the Faceless' offer and turn. If you make it here where I am, you may be able to destroy the Faceless' body enough to kill him, save your teammates, and destroy this dimension once and for all."

A pause.

"And if you could maybe take me with you when you leave, uh, I would appreciate that. Like, a lot."

[ooc post here]

Comments

[goddamngrenades]

It takes a moment for Delta to work through the limited means available to him before he can form a more concrete image. Hovering and green, armored and still, he tips his helmet up to Locus. A tinny speaker crackles to life on the underside of the storage unit.

Hello.

[agnominal]

The image chosen doesn't surprise him. He's already seen Cortana here, but Delta more closely resembles Epsilon in form. Just green, instead of blue.

"York didn't mention that he had an AI."

Hopefully the lack of niceties doesn't offend, but...Locus is rather to-the-point on the best of days. There was a reason he wasn't the 'people person'.

[goddamngrenades]

He wanted to get to know you as himself rather than as a former member of a classified military project. Something that was a moot point considering Locus' experience with the freelancers.

[agnominal]

It doesn't explain much, nor satisfy him entirely, but that hardly matters now. He stares at the little figure in his hand, his eyes weary.

"...you were what transformed in him. What I felt."

What he'd assumed was finally some sort of kinship and understanding from York hadn't been at all. And wasn't that just so terribly fitting?

[goddamngrenades]

Affirmative. He isn't proud of it, doesn't wish to discuss it- but that is the case.

He was going to speak to you after this mission, regarding Chorus and your actions. Where you stood. He feels obligated to say that much at least.

[agnominal]

Why he feels obligated, he's not certain. Perhaps there's some loyalty there, even after York pulled him and threw him aside as he had. AI are not something he's terribly familiar with.

His expression, instead, goes carefully blank. "...there's no need for that now."

He knows what he is, what he's done. York needs no monsters in his life, they'd all be better off without him, he can't...

The thoughts are brushed aside for the moment.

"I take it he made no such commitment to speak with you."

[goddamngrenades]

On the contrary, there is more need for it now than there was before. But that is for him to choose.

As it is for him to choose to talk to Delta again one day. For now- this limited existence is punishment enough for the betrayal he'd caused. It's- difficult to articulate and process especially since even now that he knows it's over, he knows they're safe- there's the phantom sensation of those many limbs he'd had.

But he shakes that off in favor of the conversation. No. He has not, though I suspect it shall be some time before he trusts me again.

[agnominal]

"...did the Faceless approach you?"

Admittedly, talking about it was the last thing he really wanted to do at the moment. But it was admittedly curious. Delta had fallen prey to the Faceless, while York had remained himself throughout. For such a symbiotic relationship, the fact that that was even possible...

Maybe it gave him something to contemplate other than the horror of what they had just gone through.

[goddamngrenades]

...Assimilation was the only opportunity for survival.

The only way to keep him from losing York like the director lost both his wife and daughter. To keep what happened in their home from happening again. The only, logical route-

And it had been incorrect.

[agnominal]

"Survival."

He echoes the sentiment, softly. That's what mattered, wasn't it? Those that survived did so because they'd earned the right to. They'd done whatever was necessary. Locus's gaze fixed ahead in the hallway. Just a little further to somewhere where they likely wouldn't be bothered for a while.

"Well. We survived. For what that's worth."

[goddamngrenades]

At what cost?

An incalculable loss of trust. A loss of self- as 'true' as the Faceless attempted to make them to what it thought they were- it carved out a space of them that they will ever get back and left its mark.

...the being on your back- the corpse. That was Felix?

[agnominal]

Even the name has his guts twisting. He'd been there, or some semblance of him, and even now that voice lingered. Followed him. He should have known he'd never truly be able to shake him off.

Locus's jaw set tightly.

"...what do you know of him?"

[goddamngrenades]

Only what little Agent Washington was able to share with us. To...'fill in the blanks' as Taylor-

That was how he wished to be addressed now, that was how they were since they put the Project behind them, that is how he wanted Locus to address him.

Invited you to do yourself.

[agnominal]

What Washington had shared. Did he even want to know? Every step of the way he'd meddled, and he...

He'd had every right to. He'd known what Locus was from the beginning, and sought only to protect his friend. Undoubtedly he'd be able to say that he'd told him so, as this venture only proved how little he could be trusted.

"...yes. That was him," he manages, finally, letting out a breath and slipping into an unoccupied room, shutting the door behind them.

[goddamngrenades]

He was literally puppeting you.

Much in the way he had been doing the same thing to York, although to likely less horrifying effect. Felix is a figment, a ghost. Delta-

York will have to adjust and Delta will need to learn how to draw the line between where he is and where York begins. For the past several years he has not had to do so.0

[agnominal]

There's no argument there. When he wanted to stop, Felix was usually the impetus to continue. And so it was, even now. He was allowing his ghost to continue to manipulate him, until he could find a way to silence him.

So far, he's been less than successful.

His head drops forward for a moment, one hand lifting to rub against his eyes.

[goddamngrenades]

...I was doing the same, with less reason.

A point of commonality in the midst of this horrorshow. The display flickers and Delta, concerned by the storage unit's damage, clears his throat. If you could- there is a more stable storage unit in the munitions locker.

[agnominal]

"Survival is reason enough." He says. He's not sure how much he still believes that.

But then, Delta has a request. It's something to do that doesn't require focus on what they've just come out of. A welcome respite. The further away he can push this, the better off he'll be. A quick glance around tells him exactly where said locker is.

An AI storage unit ought to be relatively easy to spot amidst everything else.

[goddamngrenades]

At first glance it is much like his current setup- though isolated and in much better condition. If you would remove the chip from this armor and insert it into the slot there-

Designated by a slight depression, something that would recede to protect him properly. I would be grateful.

[agnominal]

Simple enough.

And a reminder that he wants to put as much distance between himself and what remains of his armor as he can, once they're through here. It'll have to hold until they return to Legion World. Delta, meanwhile, has the option. So he'll oblige him.

The chip comes out with a firm tug, and there's some resistance at first, but it's clearly a slot made for him, and after a solid push in, the device takes the chip with a securing 'click'.

[goddamngrenades]

The hologram blinks out without so much as a word. The space between one slot and the next is a veritable infinity of silence and darkness- then the chip is pressed in, the unit hums online as his chip recedes into the storage device. A plate slides over where it'd been to leave a smooth, unbroken surface and for a moment? All is quiet.

Then the unit blares to life and the unit uncurls. Unfolds into the shape of a solid armored man, roughly ten inches tall. A physical replica of his hologram in full articulated detail from the lights on his helmet to the shade of green on the armor's plating.

Delta stands, taps his fingers together before peering around the room, looking back to the door where York lies beyond. "Thank you."

[agnominal]

A miniature body. A wonder why they didn't grant him a full-sized one, but given past events? That seems an unlikely venture. Locus merely nods before following his gaze.

"...he will recover." He'll need time. They all will. But given that time they can overcome most. York at the very least has his mind intact, his sense of self. He wasn't the one to transform, after all.

[goddamngrenades]

"He will never look at me the same way again." The trust won't be there. The understanding. The implicit, instinctive way they communicated with one another-

Those doors are closed to him.

[agnominal]

"You wanted to protect him. But even with the best of intentions..."

Even meaning to do well, they could do serious harm. Delta had been closer to York than anyone, in a very literal sense. And even he could choose incorrectly, while intending to do good.

In that, at least, Locus could sympathize.

"It's not enough. To want to do good. Not for some."

[goddamngrenades]

"The path to hell is paved with good intentions. A human saying I have not understood well until..." Until it suddenly became applicable. Delta's helmet dips for a moment, hands flexing in his tiny gloves.

He meant well and nearly destroyed them both. Nearly killed their associates, their team.

Easier to focus on Locus than himself, truly. "You wish to do good, do you not?"