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[mousquetaire]

 

DARTAGNAN@CDC.ORG
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Comments

[desequilibre]

I'm not sure. I would ask one of the instructors but I'm wary of them.

[mousquetaire]

I know what you mean. It's difficult to know who we can trust, aside from each other.

If anyone at all.

[desequilibre]

I wouldn't be so ready to trust anyone. Some might have been tricked like we were. Others may have chosen this life.

Who knows what they would agree to?

[mousquetaire]

FROM: d'artagnan@cdc.org

I've met one like that. A man named Ambrose, who by all other accounts seems an honourable man.

None of them are here for simple reasons, Athos.

[desequilibre]

Then we should be careful.

But what of you? How are you holding up?

[mousquetaire]

[ A few minutes' delay, while he works out how exactly he's supposed to answer that. ]

Holding.

I have to, Athos, we both have to. Nothing's tried to eat me since the wolves. It's progress.

[desequilibre]

Progress only works when you feel it too, d'Artagnan. How are you really?

[mousquetaire]

Honestly? Still hoping that I'll wake up and all of this will be a dream.

Stupid, I know.

[desequilibre]

It isn't. This is a nightmare we are ill-prepared to manage, you're allowed to feel the way you do. But we will manage.

[mousquetaire]

It's not helpful, though. Moping about it won't get either one of us out of here.

Nothing will, by the looks of things. We just have to endure it.

[desequilibre]

I feel as though they're building up to something. I don't believe we'll like what they decide upon.

[mousquetaire]

Destroying worlds, Athos. I can't imagine being thrilled by the idea.

It's everything we ought to stand against. You know that. We both know that.

[desequilibre]

But what can we do? Who will pay the price of our refusal?

[mousquetaire]

If we should refuse?

Then everyone we care about. Aramis. Porthos. Constance, Athos, I can't have that on my head. [ Or his heart. But he won't say that. ] For all their sakes, we have to.

[desequilibre]

But what of the people we're destroying? Fathers, mothers, wives, children. That's the decision we must make.

[mousquetaire]

[ Another delay.

Because no matter what's on his heart, he can't say Athos is wrong. He knows that he's not. ]

We shouldn't talk like this here.

[desequilibre]

Do you wish to meet?

[ TBH d'Artagnan he's been aiming at that since he texted you. He doesn't like this machine. ]

[mousquetaire]

[ These are their machines. Their communicators. They could be watching, they have to be watching.

He'd be watching. ]

At the edge of camp. Where we came in.

[desequilibre]

I'll come now.

[ And he's pretty much leaving immediately, doing his best to ignore Sturmhond's sleeping creature as he escapes. ]

[mousquetaire]

So will I.

[ He does. He doesn't check in with anyone first, doesn't mention where he's going. His CDC handgun is in his belt, where his pistol would be if he still had it, and his sword is at his side. He waits for Athos, arms folded and hands tucked around his chest. ]

[desequilibre]

You look pensive.

[ Just appearing out of the middle of nowhere, nbd. His voice is light, almost mocking, but there's a tired seriousness to his face now. ]

[mousquetaire]

[ He turns, and a smile flares momentarily when he sees his friend. Automatically his shoulders lose some of their tension, and he steps close to Athos. ]

You got me thinking. Always a dangerous game. You're worried, aren't you?

[desequilibre]

I wouldn't go doing that, we're in a dire enough situation as it is. [ And people think he hasn't got a sense of humour. ]

Yes. [ No point beating around the bush. ] We're not safe here, d'Artagnan. They have control of our every waking breath. Where we live, how we talk, how we act. I don't appreciate the knife hanging over either of us.

[mousquetaire]

Then don't give them a reason to swing it. [ He frowns, his gaze intent on his friend. ] Didn't you see the girl whose arms were broken, for disobeying? We have to be careful, Athos. The control they have is real.

Do you suppose there's anything we say on those...devices, that they aren't listening to?

[desequilibre]

What if there's no other option? [ He's struggling to think of what he might do. He knows what the CDC want of them, what they have planned. Can he truly go through with it? Can he allow himself to become a person who takes the lives of others simply for personal gain? There is no honour in it, the people who's worlds they destroy are just like the people he knows back home. Not villains or crooks, but innocent beings. ] I won't give them a reason to doubt me.

[ Not yet, at least. ]

No. Why wouldn't they listen in to everything? But what can we do. They've separated us. I'd like to still know you're safe when I can't see for myself.