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forensicks) wrote2024-03-10 08:59 pm
forensicks) wrote2024-03-10 08:59 pm
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[Walter has recorded a video message from the point of view of someone who has just come through the door into his cabin and sees Walter at his desk in the chair turned around to face the viewer. He gives a little salute-wave.]
Didn't get me. But nice try.
no subject
[Walter raises both hands to protest the accusation of letting John Doe into his head, then points his fingers towards each other to explain.]
We ran into each other before. [Contemptuous at the sheer frivolity of it:] He was using his powers to look like a talking cat, a cat that talks right into your mind. It's all about what he wants to show to you. Not to trust him, but I don't really see what the point of letting this play out would be. He's sure pissed off now.
[He rubs his temples hard for a few seconds, allowing the hatred of John Doe to fill him.]
Fuck that guy for real. Literally, John and Arthur, good cop bad cop, if there were any doubt. They didn't give a single shit that I thought they'd been jerks in the past, just, "no we weren't, nutcase". Poor John just had to stand back and watch as poor Arthur doesn't feel safe on the barge anymore. [Score one for Matryoshka doll theory.] Because someone hurt him. Yeah, well, join the club.
[He decides not to get into the detail about Arthur being starved like Silver - though he imagines it'll come out at some point when he clarifies that he did not technically kill Arthur.]
And screw Trevor, while we're at it. I'll probably have to talk to him after this, and act normal, but I am still mad. I don't even know what it's possible to do with the jobs at this point... And so many inmates are loyal in their pairings... [Could the "female inmate" in the memory be Arthur's inmate Root? It doesn't exactly matter. Walter's next words are slower, nearly forceless, as a lot of emotions are going through his head over the course of several seconds:] But... at least you and I have each other...
[There is of course a volatile quality to Pyotr's companionship - when he almost designed their secret group as a cult, when he almost agreed to help Walter kill Arthur - that is very much present now. Even so, Walter appreciates Pyotr's desperate cloying attempts to continue wringing something useful out of him as an ally, rather than outright rejection in the moment. Does Pyotr need him too? Perhaps not to lead the group, Walter can't actually flatter himself that much, but to stay strong after that particular unpleasant incident?
What he so nearly lamented out loud in this moment was: Why does it have to be us? Walter feels himself constantly on the verge of giving up, constantly surrounded by cultists pressuring him as almost the only form of human interaction (and he can barely bother correcting himself "or equivalent" at this point). Resistance is something very sharp gripped in his palm to keep him awake. There's no substitute for friendship with someone who cares and understands... Oh, yeah, that's actually one of his talking points in his defense, it's actually relevant.]
Maybe there's parts of this that could be a good thing, for us-us. Even if I have to be cut off as someone who's compromised or under scrutiny, using the network as a recruiting ground is normalized here. You can watch me rant and rave about the cult to anyone who'll listen, and that could be a way to find "friends".
no subject
Yes, perhaps you can still be of use. [He clasps his hands together, suddenly grinning like a demon.] It is a good thing too, or else I'd have to leave you to fend for yourself while concussed. There is no one else here who cares about you, is there?
[He hadn't meant to say that, but oh well.]
The important thing is that you realize your mistake. Everything would be better if you'd listened to me, so from now on, you had better do as I say. I'm willing to give you another chance—I won't even punish you, even though I could and have already planned for it—but I won't be taken advantage of just because I'm sentimental.
If you cross me again, we are done, and then you will have no one. No one. Understand?
[Walter hadn't seemed to care about losing him before, but that was because he still had delusions about Misty running into his arms. Maybe it's different now? Maybe it really was for the best that Walter did this ridiculous, idiotic thing. As long as Malcolm doesn't trying to use this as a 'teaching moment' or whatever they call it—he can't let that happen.
And after a moment:]
What exactly did you do, anyway...?
no subject
[Walter says with a nervous smile, clearly having several more questions. Wouldn't Malcolm, if no one else, track an injured Walter down eventually? What the hell kind of punishment would that be? Pyotr is one of the only people Walter can imagine thinking of something worse than what Walter has already experienced, something that would actually make his life more miserable than it already is... You could say Walter took him for granted, since they have so few people available to them who actually think about their terrible circumstances, and really Misty loyal to Walter would be a boon to their side, right? Speaking of her:]
She was forced to participate in a sort of mutilation ritual in the past. That's one of the main things that tied her down to the comrades. I thought if I recreated it, she'd understand that I cared about her, more than they did. When I was talking about killing the guy, that was actually just what I figured I'd have to do to get him down long enough. [He makes the hand gesture he's going to make to Trevor, though at least his description is slightly more open-ended, less concretely understating.] To take about this much.
[And leave him alive for the experience, non-reset. Just in case it wasn't clear that Walter can also think of insanely violent things.]