tvk | Unit 2 - Video and Voice : Hotel

Unit 2 - Video and Voice : Hotel

[[ooc : Italics is the shadow, normal writing is Gaignun himself.]]

[Surprisingly, its at the hotel that the video clicks on. He had only been meaning to make a call to check up on his brothers when his finger had slipped to the 'video-all' button when he was startled by his shadow suddenly materializing out of who knows where. The phone is forgotten and you're treated to a nice view of the ceiling for this discussion.]

There you are, you're a difficult person for even yourself to track down.

I was wondering when you were going to show up, though I don't know why you bothered. I don't really have the time to talk with you, or really anything to discuss.

Father.

There is really nothing about Dmitri Yuriev that needs to be discussed. Now if you'll excuse me I have things to d---

It's embarrassing you know! Here we are, a genetically engineered bio-weapon and we couldn't even oust one squishy scientist's mental intrusion. Or maybe...

Maybe what...? [Gaignun's voice is low and guarded, like he has a feeling he knows what the shadow is trying to imply.]

Poor 666 and 667, they tried so hard to help you, and nearly broke their hearts in the process. We tried too, didn't we? Not hard enough that's for sure. Father was always good at manipulating us to get what he wanted.

Hey! Don't call them that! They have names! [Totally avoiding the point and hoping to distract the shadow, which unfortunately doesn't work]

DON'T AVOID THE ISSUE 669!

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[There is a long moment of silence as he just looks at you Allen. It's very rare that he's called out on anything and he isn't sure that he likes it.]

Well...I suppose I should encourage you to actually come out with what you want to say. It's just...awkward.

*At least he's calling you on it gently instead of just calling you a hypocrite?*

I understand, it was awkward for me to listen to mine, too. But there's something about them...now that I look back, everything mine said was stuff I was trying not to think about because I was scared to admit to it. Maybe what they really want is for us to stop running and deal with it properly.

[He thinks back to Albedo's shadow, and Devola's] I suppose so. Or things you just don't want other people to know.

[Or things you're just not sure of anymore but hey, who's paying that much attention.]

Allen, tell me. What do you know of Dmitri Yuriev.

*He presses his lips together, like he has a bad taste in his mouth. Obviously he doesn't like the guy.*

He's your father, the creator of the URTVs. He was also the leader of the Salvator faction in the Federation government, probably using his status as a designer child to get extra favor from officials who were afraid of seeming biased against people like that and overcompensated. He used that influence to raise funds to found the Yuriev Institute, supposedly for the good of humanity, and to make sure nobody could touch him without going against most of the government.

He was actually working on his "projects" for personal gain, though, and raising the URTVs to confront U-DO even though exposure to it drove them insane and he knew it couldn't be destroyed, anyway. He was using all of you to do his dirty work as a cover, up until he died around the time of the Miltian Conflict. But he came back recently without warning or explanation, at least as far as most people know, by hijacking your body and then tried to use the Zohar and Omega to become some sort of godlike being.

[Even Gaignun's shadow looks impressed at the outpouring of knowledge, but it is content to remain silent for now since it seems like Gaignun is willing to at least talk a bit.]

Bravo Allen. There's a little more to it then that, but most of that is quite true.

I suppose I should fill in a few of the blanks that I can see right off the bat. First off, Dr. Yuriev was a couple hundred years old...I was not the first of his horses. [He snorts a bit, not really having meant to make that joke but he'll roll with it.]

He was the only survivor of the UMN transfer experiments, which of course is what got him infected by U-DO, and gave him his body hopping powers. His death just before the Miltia conflict was because...[There's a pause, he wants to lie or be ambiguous but the Shadow just gives him a look]

Fine. Because I shot him.

I didn't know that. Though honestly, I'm not surprised he's been stealing other people's bodies, too. And...

*He's silent for a moment, thinking.*

I'm pretty sure you were right to do what you did. I doubt you knew he would just take your body instead, and his plans probably would have gone a lot faster if he'd had a hand in the cleanup from the Conflict. Not to mention how much harder it would have been for you and Jr. to live your own lives.

He planned for me to survive. You see Allen, I was not built like the other URTV's. For the longest time I didn't realize it until I spoke with Citrine a few days before we were shipped off. I was designed to be non-reactive to U-DO.

[Knowing what he did now, it was clear that this was mainly just to accommodate Dmitri's infection, but it also served as a protection for when things would go wrong when confronting a major U-DO part.]

It wasn't until I talked with him as we were preparing to leave did I realize what else made me different. Hah, 'subdue the Red Dragon's violent nature' she said, like it was the easiest thing in the world. I had to choose Allen. Father or my brothers. Thinking back on it now, I realize that he planned for Jr's powers to go out of control, shutting down the terminal on Miltia so that he could obtain the Zohar.

I didn't know that he would be using me later however. The other reason I had to survive...

That's-I can never understand how some people can throw lives away so easily and knowingly make people suffer for their own gain. How could anyone really be that selfish? And to make a bunch of kids do his dirty work, knowing that most of them would die and the only planned survivor would only last until he decided he needed a new body...

To be fair, Citrine would have been alright too, and it wasn't guaranteed that the fail-safe would have to kick in.

Anyways, it was all completely justified in his mind, a 'sacred sacrifice' in order for him to transcend U-DO.

Still. It doesn't make any sense that someone could consider that justified because it lets him get the power he's after.

That's where you're wrong Allen. Father was never motivated by power...not really. He just, at the core, did not want to be afraid anymore. What I dislike is that I can understand that.

That fear consumed him. It ate him up and took away any real emotion or compassion for other people. He could fake it quite well but he never really felt it.

Everyone's afraid of something, and nobody likes to be afraid. It's nothing to be ashamed of to understand how fear could drive people to do insane things. It's when you take it to extremes like Yuriev or most of the Testaments and stop paying attention to how your attempts to deal with that fear affect everything else that I wish I couldn't believe.

That's U-DO contamination for you I suppose. [He spreads his hands in a gesture of 'what can you do']

Oh he payed attention. He just didn't care. After all, you know how many people he had dancing to his tune.

It's close enough.

Still, you shouldn't be bothered by the fact that you understood what it was that made him do all that. I'm sure just about everyone has at least considered doing something they wouldn't otherwise because they were afraid, most people just care enough about the rest of the galaxy to decide against doing anything really harmful or to feel bad if their selfish decisions hurt people.

I suppose so. He was a very good actor though. Juli Mizrahi thought he genuinely cared about Sakura's health I'm sure, not to mention most of his subordinates were rather devoted to him.

I noticed that when I was watching the dive into MOMO's subconscious...

You...? Oh that's right. Yes, that makes sense. [He shook his head] Very charismatic wasn't he, even in his old body.

Yeah. It's pretty easy to see why the Federation let him back into a position of power, if he can keep that act up.

It was easy for him, he understood people very well you see. He knew what made them tick and how to make them dance to his strings. [A bitter look appears on his face and the shadow seems excited.]

Sounds like most people who work in politics or business to me...ah, present company excluded, of course.

Believe me, I know. Jr. managed to escape having to go to the parties but I didn't. The food is the only thing that exists above table in those groups.

I'm not surprised. I met some of the people my father invited to dinner.

*His tone is so dry right now.*

You poor, poor thing. Still, those parties were useful. It's easier to not be so intimidated by powerful people when you realize they're so hung over that they probably really just want to be puking into a bucket.

*He can't help but snicker at that thought.*

Now there's a mental image I can keep.

I figured you'd be able to appreciate it. It doesn't always work, Helmer for instance has quite the liver.

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