Red (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
missedtheflag) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dear_mun2015-02-21 01:57 am
missedtheflag) wrote in dear_mun2015-02-21 01:57 am
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I don't even know how this happened
After all those minutes you spent thinking I deserved a beautiful, poetic user name, this was the best you could come up with? A terrible joke about my biggest mistake? Perhaps I expected too much from you.
But that isn't the point of this address. Is there a need to disturb the dead from their peace? My time passed long ago. Let an old man like me rest; it's time for the next generation to take the stage.
I suppose my revival is just an indication of the extent of your infatuation with the kid. You know that a chance for him and I to talk face to face here is slim, and yet, you've charged ahead with this.
Well, if I'm getting a second lease on life, I may as well see where it leads me.
But that isn't the point of this address. Is there a need to disturb the dead from their peace? My time passed long ago. Let an old man like me rest; it's time for the next generation to take the stage.
I suppose my revival is just an indication of the extent of your infatuation with the kid. You know that a chance for him and I to talk face to face here is slim, and yet, you've charged ahead with this.
Well, if I'm getting a second lease on life, I may as well see where it leads me.
o shit son
You... I mean, we saw you go down with the base, we...
So did you actually teleport out at the last second or is this some kinda sick joke because because [kind of hyperventilating here]
I knew you weren't dead, I knew that was bullshit! I knew that was too stupid a move for you to just... leave it like that!
Dammit, Red, how am I supposed to feel now?! I just got accepted into the Hunters, I'm workin' with Zero...
dang hello there
I am dead. Or was. This place warps space-time, makes the impossible possible, or so I've been told. You should have expected this if you were familiar with the area. [Recon and intelligence were 90% of the mission, so the saying goes.]
Stay with the Hunters. That is your new home now.
Re: dang hello there
So... basically we're just passin' by each other here? And you're plannin' to stay off the field?
no subject
That all depends on the miss in charge. I'm not the leader here, and she says she has no missions for me as of now. But she's rather weak of will, so it wouldn't be hard to convince her to send me to the field again.
[He was alive now, and if he got a chance to use his skills to take down Mavericks again, he'd take it.]
no subject
Shit, he's already changed a lot working with Zero and those Hunters, hasn't he? Getting used to being around emotional people... Shakes his head. Useless.]
I don't exactly think it'd be a hot idea for you to sit around doin' nothing. There's still lots of bad guys out there.
[And I still need your advice, he wants to say, but doesn't.]
no subject
I know. I don't plan on staying idle if I can help it.
[But it'll be hard without his group, a team of people to work with. Red Alert was gone forever, and nothing would change that.
He picks up on the unspoken words anyway (having raised the kid pretty much from activation, how could he not see how much Axl wanted to rely on him again), and chuckles lowly.]
Come now, Axl. Hunters aren't supposed to look to Mavericks for advice.
no subject
[Dammit, stay on top of this, stay on top of this! What if this is another shapeshifter? You'd have a fucking bullet in your head already carrying on like this! But his voice is still stressed and coarse, rough with the things he's trying his best to stifle like a good soldier.]
It was Sigma's fault. And he got what he deserved for jerkin' us all around like that, too. It just hurts, Red. It hurts a lot. It hurt that you let yourself die and ... kinda gave up?
I mean, yeah, some of those guys, we could do without them, right? You can't seriously tell me we couldn't do better than Splash Warfly this time around.
no subject
Stop denying the truth, kid. What I did was something a Maverick would do. What self-respecting Hunter would unleash the Mavericks they'd captured for a damn competition that could've ended in mutual destruction?
It may have been Sigma's fault, but it doesn't excuse my actions. Or would you say the same for all the Mavericks you've shot down as a Hunter?
[He pauses for a bit here. Giving up and rolling over to die wasn't like him, true. But he'd made a mistake that costed the lives of all his subordinates and... it hadn't been fair to Axl, at all. Exploiting his powers for their personal gain, and then letting him carry the burden of taking them down himself. He should have done it himself instead of caving into Sigma's blackmail.
What a poor role model he turned out to be.]
Don't speak ill of the dead, kid. Splash Warfly was a good warrior, poor attitude aside. And there won't be a 'this time'. I won't be reviving Red Alert.
OOC: back in the morning I'm passing out :(
I...I guess the whole thing was kind of dumb, wasn't it? When I think about it, none of it made any sense from beginning to end. That's Sigma's fault! He ruined everything!
But, Red, if I hadn't run away, then everyone would still be alive, wouldn't they? I kinda miss Stonekong and even that geezer Anteator... but Red, why wouldn't you? You're alive, you can start over with people that don't suck! You won't do that dumb stuff again, mess with DNA data... right?
Have a good sleep!
[And that's what he was for going with it. He smiles ruefully at Axl's insistence.]
But you could also say I'm to blame for not recognizing the signs in the first place. And that's wishful thinking, kid. No one but the best has survived direct contact with the leader of Mavericks. Even if you hadn't run.... they had all been infected already.
Perhaps. But Red Alert's time is over. The legendary Hunter X has returned to the field. Vigilante groups like us aren't needed anymore.
[That was a bullshit and he knew it. The fight against Mavericks still raged on without fail, and people were needed to combat them. But truth be told, he was afraid. Afraid that he would mess up again, and get everyone killed.
Afraid that he would hurt Axl once more, and force him into an unpleasant situation. Taking in the kid had dulled his blade somewhat, but he couldn't say he regretted the choice.]
Man X7 was a weird game.
He eyes the old man. Awfully reticent, aren't you? No, there's somethin' else to this, isn't there?]
Well, I'm in with the Hunters now, and they've got problems. There's some org issues I really didn't expect. We have to bend over a lot and spread 'em for government dumbasses who don't know what they're talkin' about. X and Zero are... well, right now it's still mostly Zero, and now me.
I guess if you don't want to fight any more, especially after all this, then it's okay...
it really was
The government has always been a foolish lot with no place in the war. Just remember not to lose sight of the big picture, and what we fought for.
[If they try to make you do otherwise, you better not just roll over and take it, alright?]
I never said I'd be out of the field entirely. I just... won't be leading a group this time. [Won't give himself a chance to shoulder a responsibility he's not sure he's fit for anymore.]
no subject
[He lets that ominous statement trail - no need to go further, right? I really can't handle Hunting you a second time, Red. Of course, he won't be spilling any beans about Red's return! He also won't suggest Red join the Hunters - he remembers one too many rants about Repliforce and the government over late night Life Bottles.]
But... it's okay that I want to stay with them, right? I know you're sayin' I should but... is that really how you feel or are you just doin' some kinda stupid fall on your sword thing?
[Being near Zero and X is too important to him, but his core is filled with a sad longing to also be close to the old man, to familiar things. Even if it isn't really the best idea.]
do you have a plurk i could maybe friend you on... ;v;
[He hesitates for a second, and then decides why the heck not, and reaches out a hand to settle it on top of Axl's helmet in a familiar pat. Axl was a Hunter now, but... he was a kid still, and he needed the reassurance.]
You worry about climbing the ranks and becoming the S Class Hunter you've always wanted to be. The Hunters are where you should be now. Don't let my presence sway you into thinking otherwise.
[Restating that more firmly, but he doesn't comment that last part. It would be nice to have Axl by his side again, but he couldn't drag him down into the shadows with him. He deserved to be in the light.]
no plurk but do have skype - drop me a PM for it? :D
I won't let you down.
[He kind of smiles and kind of looks like he wants to cry at the same time. Won't cry won't cry won't cry won't cry]
no subject
I know you won't. You've done a lot of good work during your time with Red Alert, and I know you'll continue doing the same with the Hunters.
I'm proud of you.
It happened because Red's great.
The Hunters also are set on ruining the opportunities of subsequent generations; any efforts at moving past the status quo must surely be stopped, I regret to inform you.
[A faint scoff because that won't work forever, but... peers at.]
So. You're the prototype's mentor.
[Gonna just perch here in midair, cross his legs, peer down at, nbd.]
Have an Axl who hasn't already shot you, Lumine ;D
Aren't you kinda overstatin' that? The Hunters are just cops, you know, not like the political heads of state or anything...
But can he mindscrew Axl?
Overstating?
[. . .How do you n-- Hmm.]
They took out eight of my generation--a generation whose design grants a programming quirk that prevents all possibility of infection by the Maverick Virus. They simply thought differently about how the world's being run.
[Lumine dons his best impression of being mutely upset.]
They Hunters aren't police; they're hounds.
that depends on how he plays this. ;)
If they went around acting like bad guys they probably got treated like bad guys. It's that simple!
bwehehehe
[Okay, he can't really mask the baffled indignation there completely.
Moving on.]
And wanting more than to be used warranted their execution?
[Thoughtful, and then:]
Theirs weren't the only lives taken without any evidence of infection. They weren't the only ones taken down for protesting the way they and the rest of us are treated.
Or, [headtilt] do you not care that we're treated as a labourforce rather than individuals. Have you seen the civilian sector at all?
no subject
Spend an hour in sector 4 watching the pimps pushing their broken down slave 'loids around to other Reploids and tell me that isn't a bigger problem.
You got a problem with the system? Go write a damn letter to Congress or whatever. In the meantime, me and the Hunters are gonna clean up the real victims on the streets!
rapunzel here's gonna take that and run--
[A beat and then, with a small, saccharine smile:]
Do you think there aren't those who reach out? They're shut down. Rejected. Denied. Because they're only as cogs in a machine.
My point isn't that Mavericks don't need to be dealt with. Of course they do. They can't be helped, so they must be stopped. But some claims of "Maverick" behaviour are just people crying "wolf". It's behaviour outside a set of acceptable boundaries that the government--and thus the Hunters--seems to deem punishable by execution.
The system no longer works for the world we live in. It was outdated the moment AIs became sentient--became sapient. We are not unthinking, we are not non-living. So yes, deal with the visible problems. Do, please. They are the product of perpetuated abuse and objectification of reploidkind, started historically by human behaviour. But the Hunters are insufficient. There is no attempt at prevention, only reaction. Knowing colleagues died at their hands for simply staying in their former place of employment? For recognising that not every body incinerated was Maverick? For questioning the identity of the Maverick Hunters? I can't confess to being particularly impressed by their decision-making capabilities, either.
A dog on a leash is just as guilty as its owner.
are you still talking?!
That seems fair to me!
"Listen to *me*!" /Eng. Palette
hello there bby
[He didn't witness the advent of new generation Reploids, but he's heard the stories and isn't impressed.]
The Hunters have made several poor choices before, but stopping an Uprising caused by you isn't one of them.
[Really, is causing war really improving the opportunities of future generations?]
The kid has a name, you know.
hi thar
[The stories are only what the media outlets cover, Red; you should know better.]
What else could be done? The Hunters, the older generations, and the humans are so entrenched in their way of thinking that they left us no choice. In a perfect world, I wouldn't have to realise the problem. I wouldn't have to organise to struggle against it. It would have long been rectified.
[He smiles gently, but it's little more than mockery.]
Oh, I know. But he's given me no reason to address him by it.
o hai you
oh hello 8DD
[Hell, he could even say he's been there, done that now. Fighting had definitely not fixed a single damn thing.]
There is no such as a perfect world, new gen. There's only one world here, and it's our broken, war-torn world. It's up to us to find a way to make the best of it, and both of us can tell you that rebellion is one of the worst ways to get things done.
[He'll just frown at that last part. Pretty sure it should be the other way around, new gen. Rumours and stories aside, Lumine's done absolutely nothing so far to earn his respect.]
wow ganging up on the babby, rood
A better solution? Then why hasn't anyone found it yet? Tell me: why do our objections fall on deaf ears? The problem lies in the deep-seated perceptions of those in control, doesn't it? Of those directly manipulated by that controlling force. Of reploids of previous lines being taught that they are tools.
Is there really a way to accomplish change when no one listens, or refuses to do so? Are the rest of us condemned by that?
get back in your crib, infant!
Because of our endless battling each other, there's been no time to build coalitions, create political power for ourselves, gain allies who could help us... no, we're too busy trying to slaughter each other! Of course humans distrust us now - we've proven we're incapable of leading ourselves anywhere except into mass graves.
We have more than just physical repair work to do in this world, but every time another self-styled Maverick 'leader' gets up and starts spouting propoganda, everyone suffers. Reploids suffer the most from what Mavericks do to other Reploids!
you have a lot to learn before you match up to us child
He's right, new gen. All fighting does is show the humans we're just as incompetent as they are, at the least. At most, we're a bunch of idiotic children with too much power in our hands.
[Because a good majority of the Reploid race were children. A decade was the average age of a Reploid, and that wasn't even considered an adolescent by human terms. It was ridiculous, if one stepped back to look at the whole situation.]
If you thought you were the first to try using force to level the political playing field for Reploids, you are quite mistaken.
no subject
...and for what it's worth, I'm sorry, X.
[He has no excuses for himself.]
someone give lumine his pacifier pls
You're both trapped.
[Painfully calm. Perfectly level.]
X, I'm sure you heard what Rooster said--that not every body in that incinerator was Maverick.
[He doesn't look at Red, even if he hears him. They're both infuriating, though.]
You don't learn. None of you ever have--can you really claim to be trying to help when after a point, even you stop listening? This is why eradication seemed the most effective course. I wonder...
[His head drops smoothly towards a shoulder, every degree precisely measured.]
What would have happened if I'd managed to wipe you three? What would have changed, if anything, about that world?
[shrug]
Probably nothing. It would have descended further into the chaos it's already stewing in until it was devoured.
come here to mama, mama hug it better
Lumine, please understand, yes, that was true in the past. We've made mistakes, every single one of us here. You, me, Red [a quick glance his way and a nod - he accepts the apology, they can talk more about this later if desired]... everyone alive. We've all made mistakes and we've all done each other wrong. If we continue on the same way we have been, we'll continue to make mistakes. Being alive - we'll sometimes make mistakes.
I may not have listened before, but I am listening now. And if you intend to carry on punishing me for my mistakes, then I can't stop you from that course - but the one who isn't listening right now is you. You have both a former Maverick and a Maverick Hunter right now begging you to reconsider your course of action. Are you missing what that moment actually means?
Reploids are tired of war. All of us are tired of this, Lumine. We fumble toward understanding, and if it comes late it's better than never arriving at all. Launching a new crusade won't save us. Working with us might.
Killing us - Axl, Zero and I - would have only made your cause that much harder to sell.
mama x always makes things better; also you guys can go on without red