#| keepsake |

| ooc | Stephen Lang would make for an AMAZING live action Silas. -wheeze-

Take Silas, for example - the duplicate of a man who's responsible for much of Jaden's more recent trauma. He had absolutely no hand in the events that mentally and emotionally scarred Jaden, but he bears the same face, characteristics, and ideals as the individual who did and that's damning enough for Jaden.

It took forever and a half for Jaden to warm up to Silas, and then a bit more to even start trusting him. The freedom Silas granted him, while limited due to legality issues Jaden has, and the poorly unfiltered care Silas has for Dennis though finally softened Jaden's heart enough to call the old wardog his friend.

Somewhere along the way though, Silas started being a figure that invoked a sense of safety for Dennis, and had a level of intelligence Dennis felt comfortable seeking when he needed it. Could have been when Silas hauled his ass up out of the canyon. Could have been the whole quintessian mess when Dennis was sick and no one else could figure out why. It's hard to say. But when Silas stopped being an active threat, he started being a friend, and a mentor.

Agent Shale's name and status is highlighted in orange, standing out above the rest of the agents who were noted as still alive or KIA'd at the time the roster was written. Cylas' name is under lined only once with ink.

Let that sink in for a while, sir.

It takes a lot to get Silas to pause. 

Not the sort of pause that any human might need to formulate words, or the pause someone would take to process something. No, this was those sort of freeze that sinks its claws into your very bones and brings every single atom to a halt. 

This was an absolute zero kind of pause; and the commander had only experienced something like that twice before. Until now.

Silas was thumbing through the pages of the hastily delivered report when his eyes were drawn to the highlighted name... and the cause of death. There wasn’t a single indicator on his face that he was shocked, only an intense stillness that gripped his body in its entirety. 

Beyond the caffeine laden bubbliness that he found irritating at times, beyond her waxing and waning sheepishness that held her back, Shale was a brilliant young woman. She had every ounce of potential to outshine him with engineering talent one day, and she certainly had the passion to launch herself in that direction. Hell, it was never just anyone he would take the time to personally recruit into MECH. 

Yet, in one world- a world so painfully close he could touch it- she was transformed from a spark.. into a memory; if even that. Little more than a name on a list recovered from the husk of a collapsed entity. By a hand that very well could have been, and in a way was, his own. It would have been easy to callously state that it was a shameful waste, but that highlighted name hit deeper and harder than he cared to admit. 

Silas had no clue how long he had sat there staring blankly, but eventually a burning sensation in his lungs made him realize he had ceased breathing. In an instant, he felt the ability to move again and sucked down a slow breath through his nose. He blinked hard and rolled his shoulders before removing the roster from the report. To his right, a drawer that remained locked at all times was clicked open. Inside was a collection of truly priceless items and records. This was a collection that he viewed as wholly critical to MECH- to him. 

“.........”

“The thought has crossed my mind. Given Achim’s beastial appearance now, it seems fitting to throw him to the wolves that are the greater public. He deserves to burn the very fire he started.”

“Unfortunately, what he started is a wildfire. It would be far too easy for that situation to get out of control and swallow MECH up along with him and the TCCS. That’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

“The one, and only, grace Achim has left in me is that I’m a man of my word when I say my lips are sealed. If anything, because I want to avoid mutually assured destruction. This war is between me and him.”