snowblindrpg | Event: Consolidation Theory, Part Six

[That'll earn a soft laugh.]

Hey, don't you think it's bad enough that you're not real?

I'm already gonna look pretty dumb if I give in and try to hug you. You don't need to go and convince me to walk into a wall, on top of that...

Not...

[Alarm shoots over Quark's face as he falls silent. He stares at Junpei, flabbergasted. His expression flips and flops. Despair--frustration--heartache--disbelief--

Quark leaps forward and pulls Junpei into a tight, fierce hug, not thinking about the injuries covering the older man's body. But maybe the pain will help Junpei realize how real this really is.]

Don't ever say I'd make you do something that would get you hurt. I'd never do that, not even if I was just an illusion.

[Hey, sometimes pain isn't all that bad. That's something Junpei's aware of right now, as this kid-- no, his own child-- hugs him, and he can't stop himself from returning it just as intensely.

It's really nice, even if uncomfortable, that it's possible to feel this. But it makes enough sense. He could feel that fever he didn't really have, too.]

I never said it'd hurt.

[Because walking into a wall sure couldn't hurt any more than this. Just.. he knows how stupid it'll look to give in and try. It was embarrassing enough asking Squalo to help break him out. If that didn't work, why would anything else?]

Only thing that's gonna hurt is when these drugs wear off and I can't see you anymore. I guess that means I gotta hope that they don't.

I'm right here, you big jerk!

[Quark hiccups in a gulp of air, feeling his throat and his face start to burn. He just holds onto Junpei tighter, feeling as if maybe somehow he can get through to him that way.]

If I wasn't real, I couldn't tell you things that you didn't know, right? So here's one: I made a promise to myself that no matter what happened, no matter what you ever did or where you ever went, I'd always stay with you. That's why...that's why I wouldn't stop until I saw you again. And now I won't leave, not even if it killed me.

... Huh.

[It's not that he's uninterested. Rather, it's a lot to take in. When he thinks about it, the reactions he'd heard around him the previous times never really sounded like anyone got upset about being called out as fake. Of course he'd never tested it himself before now, but...

This is weird.

Unless...]

W-wait, no, okay, I get it. We got a third--

[Wait.

Junpei forces his way out of that hug, moving Quark around to look him over carefully.]

Nobody hurt you, right!?

What?

[The sudden change in tone takes Quark by surprise, and he blinks as the hug comes to an abrupt end. His hands still on Junpei's shoulders, he steadies himself.]

No, no. I volunteered to come down to help. There were these...static figures I had to hide from, but none of them saw me.

To help..?

[... Well, okay, maybe. That still doesn't solve anything, yet.]

A-alright. These cells, you can't see it cause you don't have the markings, but there's this force field keeping us locked in.

[He'll just stand up and go over there, to put one of his hands against it.]

There's some really weird stuff going on with the place. The other guys think everything's all moldy..? So, maybe your group's seeing something different, too. Is there a control panel or something to shut it all down?

No, nothing, I already told you.

[Quark shakes his head and sighs, standing up too.]

It's just one big white room. Nothing's separating anyone or keeping them held in place for any reason.

So you just get nothing? What are we supposed to work with, there?

Why don't you try considering that you're the one with the problem, here.

[This mood whiplash is really ridiculous. Quark wipes his face on his sleeve.]

If you were seeing things to the extent that you thought I wasn't real even after I proved I could touch you, don't you think that the rest of what you're seeing could be fake, too?

[It probably won't help, but he deliberately sticks his hand through where he'd imagine a wall must be based on Junpei's steps.]

[Okay but that just looks like Quark's touching the wall.]

Some of it's gotta be. That doesn't mean any of it feels fake.

Neither does the Matrix.

[There is no spoon, Junpei.]

So what makes your version real?

Because the point of the Matrix is to add features, not get rid of them. So why would the plain empty room be the fake one?

[He points to the hospital bracelet on Junpei's wrist.]

That, and only one of us has been drugged.

[He pulls at that band, once it's pointed out. Not enough to remove it, but...]

Only one of us remembers being drugged, you mean. The others didn't get one of these with their dose. And that's if it even...

[No, he can't say it. He can't say that it might not be medicine. That it might be more nanomachines. The conversation that he'd had with House... It's not something to worry Quark with. Drugs wear off with time. They have to leave it at that.]

...

Can you try pulling me out?

It didn't work at all, last time. Just got crushed against the force field with the other guy almost shoving his foot up my ass. He seemed to think I was getting through it, but I sure don't remember it that way.

Maybe it didn't work cause he was a captive, too?

[Look, it's worth a shot, isn't it? He'll hold out his hand for the child to take.]

I...I'm not sure. Do you really think that'll work?

[How is this so difficult? Quark isn't sure what the best thing to say here, is.]

If he was seeing different things from you just like I am, it might just be more of the same, especially when you're so sure about it still being there.

[He pauses.]

I was serious about not wanting to do anything that might get you hurt.

Well, no, but.

If you can just go wherever, I gotta find some way to follow, right? I'm not leaving you, either. I'd rather get hurt than have to split up again.

[So they've arrived at a terrible impasse. Quark stares at Junpei, unsure of what to say. It means a lot, hearing him say those things...but that isn't what he wants. He doesn't want Junpei to follow him to somewhere that could cause him pain. So with a sigh, he finally reaches for his future guardian's hand.]

Do you trust me?

[Mostly. He wants to. The whole future thing is still pretty weird, but there's something about this child that has Junpei fairly sure he'd trust him even without knowing their relation. What he doesn't trust is this town. This building. Which of them is seeing what's actually real.

But who cares, right? Anything's worth a shot.

He nods, closing his hand tightly around Quark's.]

Of course. So let me follow you.

[Quark gives a solemn nod as Junpei's hand envelops his own. Good.]

Okay. If you can't stop seeing the cell, close your eyes. Just don't think about it. Just think about putting one foot in front of the other. Think about following me.

[Maybe that will be good enough to work.]

I'll tell you a story.

[... That's actually a good idea. Junpei closes his eyes as instructed, his focus only on where he knows Quark is.]

A story? Alright. What happens?

Well, it's not really a happy story, but it's an important one, anyway.

[Quark doesn't start leading right away. He figures he'll start talking, and then once Junpei's focused on his words, that's when he can begin to walk.]

It's about us.

H-hey, don't say that. I bet it gets happy as soon as we're outta that Nonary Game.

[But trying to cheer Quark up defeats the point, doesn't it? He can't take the lead, here.]

But I'll listen. I'm sure it's important to me, too.

[Quark hesitates. Right...Junpei still doesn't know much about the future they're from. That's his own fault. But right now isn't a good time to explain that much, so he'll be careful about what he says. Once they're together again and out of this mess...he'll tell him the truth.]

I don't really have any friends back home. I guess I'm kind of a weird kid--you adopted me, but I didn't really know that I was adopted. I just knew that you were my grandpa, and that's all that mattered.

[He frowns, and starts walking.]

This kid started bullying me about it--he found out about me being adopted from his own parents, and made me feel bad about how my own parents got rid of me.

... H-hey... Some people just don't know how to look after a kid. Or they can't afford to. Or.. well, I guess I probably couldn't, either, but...

[Ah. What good is it to try to defend them? He shouldn't keep talking as he follows. ... But he can't help it.]

I bet that kid was really just jealous. 'Cause you had someone as cool as me, and he didn't.

Event: Consolidation Theory, Part Six

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