03 ❧ video; iphone

[poisonousflame]

[It was intentional. Stupid, but intentional. He'd wanted to get just close enough for an echo: to get some control over what was happening to him, rather than just waiting for it to happen.

[Then he'd gotten too close. His expensive clothes may as well have been a bright, flashing sign. The guy moved in, and then....

[The redhead trembles, staring at the thing that had appeared. It took the man down like it was nothing. Just a few quick slashes of its bladed arms, and the guy was down. Dead.

[And now, the creature stares at him, like he's supposed to do something. Like it's waiting for him.

[If it got away from the body, he could show it to the network. Much as he scoffs at most of those idiots, maybe—

[As though reading his thoughts, the creature moves obediently away from the body.]

... Fuck.



[The screen is dark, camera currently covered by a hand. When Axel speaks, his voice is calm and measured.]

Alright, Numbers Club. Let's see if any of you know.

[The hand moves, and the camera struggles to focus on ... something. It's not human, that's for sure. The combination of bad lighting and a slightly shaking camera makes it a little tough to see, but eventually, the creature comes into view. It bobs gently, appearing to be floating slightly above the ground. The four blades on each arm look like they're colored slightly different than the rest of it.

[Look closer: it's blood.

[Axel speaks again. Despite the slight shakiness of his hand, his voice is still stubbornly calm.]

What the fuck is this thing?

Comments

[show_my_cannons]

... That's ominous.

[poisonousflame]

Can't argue that.

[He just saw the thing in action, after all. And that was only its most basic attack.]

[show_my_cannons]

...

It just... stand there or...?

[How are you going to walk home with that, sir.]

[poisonousflame]

No, it moves.

[A pause. At Axel's thought, the creature rises up, then curls into a floating disk. Just like that. As though the flexibility involved in such a feat weren't completely impossible.]

... Kinda like it better when it just stands there.

[On cue, the Assassin obediently uncurls and goes right back to hovering, its bloody bladed arms swishing gently at its sides.

[At least when it's just standing, it's not attacking.]

[show_my_cannons]

...

Yeah, that's. More disturbing. A lot more disturbing.

[That's worse than a lot of stuff that's cropped up here.]

You can't. Make it leave?

[poisonousflame]

Haven't tried it yet.

[And he doesn't really want to, until he leaves the area. The Assassin may have brutally killed a man, but Axel is unscathed. And that's what he wants to continue being.]

[show_my_cannons]

So you're... what?

Just gonna walk around with it following?

[poisonousflame]

That's the plan, for the moment.

[show_my_cannons]

That's a terrible plan.

[poisonousflame]

It beats the alternative.

[show_my_cannons]

Stash it somewhere it can't get out of?

[poisonousflame]

Can you think of something it couldn't get out of?

[Seriously. Look at those arms. They are MADE OF BLADES AND ARE DRIPPING BLOOD. It's not gonna have any problem slicing its way through things.]

[show_my_cannons]

...

Cement mixer.

Seal it up in one of those.

1/2

[poisonousflame]

[LONG PAUSE. He's not actually considering locking the thing up in one: he's wondering if it would actually hold.]

... Right. I'll try to find something.

Give me a minute.

[And he's just gonna go walking oh-so-casually away from the crime scene, now. He'll check back in a few minutes.]

voice now 2/2

[poisonousflame]

[Lo and behold, a few minutes later, Axel's back in a safe area. And he's successfully dismissed the Assassin. Which was really fucking weird to do, but he can't just let it follow him around forever.]

It's gone.

voice

[show_my_cannons]

[He waits. It's an uneasy wait, but, he does so anyway. What else is he going to do?]

[Except that answer is a little foreboding.]

What do you mean, it's gone?

Gone how?

voice

[poisonousflame]

I mean, it's gone. Vanished. Not a concern.

voice

[show_my_cannons]

If it's just gone, that seems like it should be a little concern.

Ing.

Concerning.

voice; private

[poisonousflame]

[Private, now that he knows there's at least one person very interested in his other conversations. Not that he hasn't already exposed a bit of control over this thing, but:]

You asked if I could make it leave.

I made it leave.

voice; private

[show_my_cannons]

What, you just asked it nicely?

voice; private

[poisonousflame]

If you wanna know the how, I'll need your word you'll keep it to yourself.

[It's not vital information, really. Something he'd prefer to keep quiet, but not vitally important. (Otherwise, he wouldn't share it at all.) But it's a decent way to measure how good this man is at keeping his word, if he accepts.]

voice; private

[show_my_cannons]

Yeah, sure.

[He has no one to tell, really. The benefits of being a relative loner, he supposes.]

voice; private

[poisonousflame]

I didn't 'ask it nicely.' I commanded it to leave. [There's a sharp difference there.] And it disappeared. Just like that.

voice; private

[show_my_cannons]

...

You're saying it listens to your orders.

voice; private

[poisonousflame]

Sure seems that way.

Considering the nature of that thing ... I'm not quite sure what to make of it listening to me.