Semi-Hiatus

His pupils dilate, and he takes in the moment in detail.

The blond is still a boy and a number. He has yet to graduate to receive a name, but already he has shown promise within the group. The scientists which monitor each and every test have noticed this too, though they hesitate his advancement due to the examining eyes with which he stares down every other challenge given. That is, until the challenge must be terminated and he has extracted the information desired. 

“Doubtful--”

“Oh? On the contrary, I have enough emotion to be satisfied with simple little pleasures of life.” He spoke calmly, without implied affliction towards the accusation. In fact, he felt a little driven this time to give a demonstration on why the other was incorrect to assume that. It’s why he called the hooded group standing not far off.

“If you are talking about emotionless dolls--” He pulled down the hoods of some Morphine members, Morphine puppets, “--I’d say you’d have to refer to these.” Virus exhaled an amused breath, almost a short laugh. “Their leader’s a little more willful, so he managed to keep some of his mind but these-” He casually pulled out a gun from its holster--the one under his jacket--and pressed the object against one of the doll’s cheeks, hard enough to elicit a slight tilt. “-Are emotionless.”

Virus dug the barrel into the skin as if giving a demonstration. “No reaction as you can see. No fear. No nervousness. No interest. No sense of survival.” He pulled the trigger easily, to him the action had no bigger consequence than turning on a light bulb, and the body fell to the floor having let out nothing more than a scream, probably from the split pain, and cut short by the second bullet, which did the trick to cut down the shrill to a silence. 

Virus turned. “Dispose of it,” he indicated with a calm demeanor, letting the spectator watch how simple a task it seemed for those who were probably old team members. He turned again, this time to face the stranger.

“I have strings, but it’s a little different from outright being a doll.” He laughed faintly, “I have motives--dispassionate as they might often be. But it makes a difference.” He glanced nonchalantly at the task in process, then turned again to this individual and smiled amiably, “Autonomy does, as you can see.” 

“Do I believe in it...--”      What a deep question. He’d let his mind swallow the concept whole this time as opposed to picking it apart bit by bit. Perhaps some other time Virus might entertain the topic at a deeper level. As it was, he saw a simple answer befitted it best. 

“Anonymity is known to increase one’s bravery, Aoba-san, whether it be to act in a way they are not accustomed to or in a way they shouldn’t.” But, how unusual was it to get a compliment from his idol himself? He had to admit with amusement, that was flattering.

“It’s true! But just because someone does something to benefit themselves doesn’t mean that they can’t also benefit others. I think that would be the better option, because if you keep people happy then they’re less likely to overthrow you.” In the land of kings and knights, wasn’t it more intelligent to form a stronghold of people that cared for your future? Even if the king reaped the benefits of the serfs beneath him, it would make his life easier if his position on the throne was not threatened.

“I think the word power has a lot of different meanings than people think it does. Usually it’s used when you talk about bad people, but there are people who are in good positions of power, too. It’s just that a lot of the time they don’t use it for much of anything.” Maybe that went hand in hand with the ‘using it to benefit those below you’ deal… in that case was it so good after all?

Erika turned her gaze back up to the screen, and although the man’s words had died into the back of her mind she focused on his face; “This guy, do you think he does want to do bad things to the island? Ah, more?” move to the mainlands? Or more than that? “But what can a guy like him, in a tech company, do? Ah! Maybe he can create mind control devices!”

Virus watched, gaze passive and inviting to the bounteous ramblings of what seemed to be a creative mind. Albeit, her view was a bit passive. No. Perhaps that was not it. Rather, she labeled most of things being talked about. The picture was too clean. It was never that way. Reality was seldom pristine. Not in his eyes. 

“Hm--” Did power truly have different meanings? Power was the ability to exert one’s will over others. Power was a force,  Whether physical or emotional, the definition fit the puzzle. Was there something he was missing which this imaginative lady seemed to have her eye on?

The idea was gray, no matter how many labels she attempted to propose. Good or bad; those were perspectives that had nothing to do with the definition the conversation attempted to capture. 

‘Oh.’ 

He blinked suddenly, mentally scoffing at the tiny jest which had been perhaps taken seriously. Had it bee his own comment which had made the girl go on to the side-long rant rather than focusing on the more important theme? My. Here he thought she might have been able to follow the little philosophy a little longer than Trip. Then again, with Trip, Virus had no reason for pretenses of morality. 

“How kind of you.“

Series? You mean following in regards to shows or games? 

Hm--I don’t watch tv shows that often. I followed House and Leverage when they were out, I was debating on watching Hannibal and Supernatural some time ago but never got around to it.For anime, I tend to lean towards shonen: Boku no hero academia, Haikyuu, and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. In games I lean towards puzzles. I love puzzle games, though I honestly like most things with an enjoyable story or fun mechanic. Books are mostly fantasy oriented because I borrow them from friends. But I love crime books. My favorite had dual point of view. At times it’s 3rd person and sometimes it’s 1st person from the murderer’s pov. George Orwell’s books were also big for me. Can we count that as a series? 

This man seemed well-informed. A rather finely put-together person, like a pencil drawing with all of the mistakes erased. She could not help but watch his face as he spoke, noticing how he moved so gracefully.

Or perhaps she only thought so because he was attractive.

“That means that he’s doing a good job, right? At least at what he wants to do. If you don’t know what he’s planning then it’s probably what he wants. If he says the same thing over and over then eventually people will stop listening, because they’ve heard it all before. Then if he finally does say something that you don’t like, you don’t hear it anyways – because you stopped paying attention long ago.”

Erika didn’t know much about professional trickery and manipulation but she did think it was a clever ploy to use, if people didn’t already do so.

“But people on top always plan bad things. The world is still alive, though, so maybe it’s not so bad as long as the people underneath are still benefiting. Is it really the same, though? Maybe this guy is so evil he’s going to destroy life for those underneath him, in order to better himself.”

Virus emitted a soft chuckle as he heard the suggestion. The idea proposed was childish and imaginative. It made sense in and not quite. No doubt. The idea would fail if implemented in the real world. The decisive factor for this being: someone would always look for a crack in a perfect image. 

Still, the blond remained silent and attentive, favoring to listen with an opened mind and able to entertain the idea even if a bit outlandish. His courteous gaze veered to the girl as the latter spoke now of the division of power. 

“Benefiting or living?” He added softly, gaze amused, prodding almost amicably yet understanding deeply the distinction, “If there is a difference between the two of course.”