⬣//A BRIEF REPRIEVE

[cccorp]

>>Look at me.

⬣//BREATHE. EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY.

This is your Official™ catch-all log for the month of November. While the boss battles rage on, those of you who are looking to disengage from combat and kick your feet up for a spell can do so here.

Post your open prompts in this post. Closed starters may also be posted here or on @Altimit, but all open posts belong here in this log. Lawbreakers will be bent over the modly knee and paddled into compliance. Thank you.

>>Navigation

Comments

[selfconcept]

Why do you have three names?

[ He doesn't seem to understand. ]

Is one not enough for you?

[insinning]

No. I mean. I'm Vogel...but 'Emil Sinclair' feels right. [The name used for him in his memories. And everyone close to him called him 'Emil' anyway so]

...I remember. Hien told me not to forget.

[selfconcept]

I don't remember that.

[ But he doesn't remember a lot of things. Hien closes the journal that he was reading on his lap and looks back at the image of the trees. ]

Vogel, then. You must have talked to a different "Hien".

[insinning]

...that's right. I did. I'm...guessing you don't remember anything from before anymore. Do you really think you're a different person?

[selfconcept]

I don't remember anything you're talking about, so... it was probably someone else.

[ He looks back at the trees. They're merely images, but they move like the real thing, blowing with the breeze. ]

I just want to know... why Makoto is a Phase.

[insinning]

[Sinclair blinks, and looks up at the trees]

...you didn't know? [He bites his lip, thinking] I thought he seemed to know more than other people...maybe that's why.

[selfconcept]

[ It's ultimately not Sinclair's fault when Hien's expression shifts to something more grim, but he still stays quiet. ]

Because of knowledge...

[ He looks down at the journal on his lap. It's not one of the volumes of the logs that Hien wrote, but something else entirely. ]

[insinning]

[Sinclair's gaze follows Hien's, taking note of the journal. What was it?]

He seemed to know a lot more about Cubia, the meaning behind Harald Hoerwick...is that also yours?

[selfconcept]

[ Cubia and Harald Hoerwick—those names mean so little to Hien now. He's quiet for a moment longer before he puts a hand over the journal. ]

Makoto wrote it. He left them behind in his room. The more I read it, the less I understand.

[insinning]

[ ... ]

...maybe it would help you to talk through it? To work out what he was trying to say?

[Sinclair doesn't want to pry, but...this is a Hien he hasn't met before]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien blankly looks down at the journal, before he makes a copy and hands it over to Sinclair. ]

If you can figure it out... let me know. It's... important to me.

[ As one of the few things that Hien has left. ]

[insinning]

[Sinclair reads through it, his brow furrowing. These are things that don't quite make sense; it's a type of business Sinclair has never been involved in, nor interested in. And without his non-Fragment memories, it takes a few more moments for him to decode what it really means]

It looks like...a memoir of events or things that defined Makoto as a person. The things about his sister are a little sad, I think. For family to do that to each other...

[But that may just be Sinclair projecting his own memories of his own sister (as clearly she must have existed in Fragment too...right?)]

[selfconcept]

"NoName's sister told him to die to stop wasting the family's resources by simply living in a way that minimized hindrance to anyone."

[ He recites it with the tone hollow from any emotion, but it's clear that those two things had a link at some point. ]

... That's what I read. He forgot... his family too.

[insinning]

...there are similarities here, between both your stories. [Run Emil. He doesn't remember her. But from that one moment, he knows his sister had been different. This is not a pain he understands on a deep, visceral level. But he's sure it must be a shared pain] Something only the two of you could understand in each other.

[selfconcept]

Only the two of us...

[ Hien murmurs under his breath as if thinking about it for a while longer. ]

He was wanted. I wasn't. But... both were tools.

[insinning]

[Sinclair gives a small nod]

...I hope you can both escape from that.

[selfconcept]

He had an obligation, but I didn't...

[ ... ]

Ah. I see.

[ He closes his eyes briefly. ]

I think I found an answer for now. Thank you, Vogel.

[insinning]

[He glances over, and nods]

...I'm...I hope I helped.

[selfconcept]

[ Hien tilts his head a little, reopens his eyes, and looks at Sinclair. His gaze is still distant. ]

You did.

I think you know this already, but I'll eventually turn into Skeith. This program was designed to collect data on human emotions and reactions to death.

[ ... ]

So, it might be frustrated with the sample if it doesn't show as much emotion in general, much less in reaction to death... or whatever the equivalent of frustration is with a program.

And that is my thanks to you, for someone who has most likely been looking after me.

[ He stands up from his spot, looking like he's about to leave. ]

I will be looking for Makoto myself.

[insinning]

[...he's resigned. But he's already steeled his heart so many times over for this. What's one more?]

...I'll keep that in mind. I'll be ready for Skeith.

[He'll try to pass on the message to others too]

...goodbye Hien. And thank you, for everything you've done for us.

[He has a feeling this will be the last time they speak to each other in awhile]

[selfconcept]

[ He's not sure if he did anything... ]

Mm. Goodbye, Vogel.

[ The next time Sinclair blinks, Hien will be gone, as if he was an image himself. ]