ellie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
vaccination) wrote2020-07-25 10:45 pm
vaccination) wrote2020-07-25 10:45 pm
TLV | inbox
AUDIO | VIDEO | TEXT | ACTION
AUDIO | VIDEO | TEXT | ACTION
Yeah, I learned a lot when I interrupted Rebecca's Sailor Moon game at lunch hour. She tried to stop me by yelling some shit at me in Japanese but fortunately her powers were imaginary so it wasn't too hard to get her into the locker.
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<face="courier">It scares me that I can't tell if you're bullshitting or not. I can see it.
What can I say? Blunt honesty's kinda my thing.
Hello Ms. Willams,
I'm compiling a document of information about The Barge. Cheif Zhao said I should contact you with any questions I had about Wardens in charge of Zero. Could you answer a few questions about it and your responsibilities there?
I can understand if you have limitations on the information you would want to provide to an Inmate, but anything you could offer would be appreciated.
I'm compiling a document of information about The Barge. Cheif Zhao said I should contact you with any questions I had about Wardens in charge of Zero. Could you answer a few questions about it and your responsibilities there?
I can understand if you have limitations on the information you would want to provide to an Inmate, but anything you could offer would be appreciated.
Ellie is fine. Ms. Williams weirds me out.
I mean, you can ask? I don't see the harm. It's really not all that exciting being on guard duty.
I mean, you can ask? I don't see the harm. It's really not all that exciting being on guard duty.
Ellie, then.
Feel free to answer what you can. If you think there's anything worth adding, please let me know.
Feel free to answer what you can. If you think there's anything worth adding, please let me know.
• What are your responsibilities in Zero
• Can Wardens be put in Zero and if so for what reasons
• What's the process to get Inmates to Zero
• What should Wardens avoid in Zero
- I pretty much just make sure the inmates in Zero don't cause trouble and no one comes down there to cause trouble
- That's a good question. Maybe one day Yunlan will piss me off or I'll piss him off and we'll find out that answer
- It's not a really complicated process, you just kind of put them in a cell and they're there until time's up or someone gets them out
- Wardens should avoid provoking anyone in Zero and letting anyone in Zero provoke them. It's like a drunk tank, you know? People are in there to cool off. People really overplay what Zero is. It's not a cure to anything, it's a temporary bandage.
[ The briefest huff of amusement at the question about Wardens. ]
That clarifies everything I needed to know. Thank you.
That clarifies everything I needed to know. Thank you.
Once the Barge deposited him back on the deck, B spent the morning fussing over the cat and then scrubbing and soaking way too long in Lark and Steve's bathtub, but he can't put it off any longer. Hair tied back, and back in three layers of hoodie and combat boots, B tracks down Ellie. He hadn't seen her on the port, or he might have reported sooner.
But he's here now. He starts at her cabin, tapping on the door with metal fingers, then will circle out from there if she's not there. He has to report. She's his warden.
But he's here now. He starts at her cabin, tapping on the door with metal fingers, then will circle out from there if she's not there. He has to report. She's his warden.
She's exhausted. Dusty and filthy, but that's something she's used to more than being squeaky clean, so she's late in waking up after flopping onto her own bed once they're back. Just a few minutes. Just a little nap.
Ellie sits upright when she hears the tapping at the door. Bucky.
"Shit," she hisses, getting to her feet. She checks in on him after these things. That's her job. At least he comes to find her, and she yanks open the door, looking like she just woke up and that's because she has.
"Hey. Hey, come in," she tells him, stepping aside. The sofa awaits to be sat upon, and if there happen to be more blankets on it than before, it's probably because she thought he'd appreciate it at some point or another.
Ellie sits upright when she hears the tapping at the door. Bucky.
"Shit," she hisses, getting to her feet. She checks in on him after these things. That's her job. At least he comes to find her, and she yanks open the door, looking like she just woke up and that's because she has.
"Hey. Hey, come in," she tells him, stepping aside. The sofa awaits to be sat upon, and if there happen to be more blankets on it than before, it's probably because she thought he'd appreciate it at some point or another.
He comes in, but doesn't sit, looking perfectly blank-- something she'll probably recognize as a warning sign by now-- and standing just inside, hands clasped behind him. "I am here to report," he says, sounding perfectly calm and uninflected. "I killed a total of nine people over the course of the port."
Ellie's awake now. She scrubs a hand over her face to give herself a moment to process.
"First thing's first: you're not in trouble with me. Okay? You can relax. So take a seat, B."
"First thing's first: you're not in trouble with me. Okay? You can relax. So take a seat, B."
Now there's a flicker of reaction, though it's uncertainty. He unbends enough to come sit gingerly on her couch. He does, in fact, drop the flesh hand to rest on one of those blankets. "I should be. I killed people I wasn't assigned to."
Funny how there's so much to unpack in so few words. Ellie sighs, sitting down on the other end of the couch.
"First of all, you're not ever going to be assigned to kill people again. Only in self defense, or... I don't know, if someone's trying to kill me. Those sorts of situations."
It's not always that black and white, but it's a start.
"Secondly, just... what happened?"
Before she simply tells him it doesn't count.
"First of all, you're not ever going to be assigned to kill people again. Only in self defense, or... I don't know, if someone's trying to kill me. Those sorts of situations."
It's not always that black and white, but it's a start.
"Secondly, just... what happened?"
Before she simply tells him it doesn't count.
"My arm was magic. There were people who wanted that magic. So they kept trying to corner me to take it." They've still got some damage under their clothes, things still healing, but it's not too bad. "They weren't expecting someone trained like I am."
That makes it easy, then. Ellie angles herself towards him, giving him her full attention, and shakes her head when he's done.
"Then that's their own damn fault. You were defending yourself. Like I just said, B. If it's you or them, you have to protect yourself. It's okay."
"Then that's their own damn fault. You were defending yourself. Like I just said, B. If it's you or them, you have to protect yourself. It's okay."
He looks briefly uncertain, but if anyone was going to punish him for it, it'd be his warden, so.... "If you're. Sure." He knows there was at least one he killed just because he didn't want to leave a witness. That wasn't self-defense, that was programming.
"What if one was already down," he says after a moment more, looking down at his hand digging into the blanket. "And I killed him, anyway."
"What if one was already down," he says after a moment more, looking down at his hand digging into the blanket. "And I killed him, anyway."
"Loose ends are dangerous. You didn't go out and hunt people down like rabbits, B. You protected yourself." And none of it really matters, does it? But she knows he sees it differently. It's not the time for that discussion again.
"It's okay. I would have done the same thing. I'm just sorry you were put in a position where you had to do it."
"It's okay. I would have done the same thing. I'm just sorry you were put in a position where you had to do it."
He finally loses his stiff stance and lets go of the blanket, sagging forward to put his head into his hands, elbows braced on his knees. "Okay," he says. "Okay. If you're sure it's not. Bad." He doesn't want to get her in trouble, either, for his mistakes. He isn't sure if that's a thing, but he's been so careful not to get in trouble, that he really doesn't know for sure.
Ellie purposely bounces on the sofa a bit as she scoots a little closer, so he knows she's doing it, near enough to be able to try and reach a hand out to put on his back.
"It's okay, you didn't do anything bad," she confirms. "You gonna be all right, B?"
"It's okay, you didn't do anything bad," she confirms. "You gonna be all right, B?"
"I don't know." It's a relief to know he's not going to be punished, but for some reason he still feels bad. He doesn't know what the feeling even is, besides bad. Maybe it's related to the birthday thing, which is clearly still adding sand to the gears of his brain. "I have a birthday," he says after a pause. "Steve made me cupcakes."
"Yeah? That's cool," she says, and kicks herself for not looking at his stupid birth date in the file. Of course he has a birthday. Everyone does.
"You're like, what--five hundred, now?"
"You're like, what--five hundred, now?"
He doesn't take the bait into levity, not right now. "Ninety-eight. Steve told me." He lets his hands fall from his face, hanging down between his knees, looking at the floor. "I don't know what to do with it. With that. Having a birthday."
"Everyone has a birthday. That includes you, too. You didn't just pop out of a lab or whatever, B. You come from a long line of humans."
An undeniable truth.
An undeniable truth.
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