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No, or...yes? You know how I've got this thing on my head right?

[ Rhys brings a hand up and points to the the ECHO port on his temple, a small metal circle with a circular opening for cable connections. ]

It's an ECHO port. It means I can upload data directly into my brain. It's connected to my eye and my body and when I was trying to put someone else's credentials into my, uh, sub-systems I accidentally uploaded a digital copy of Jack into my brain's cybernetics.

[ It was as horrible an experience as it sounds. ]

[It takes her a moment, but . . .]

And then you . . . what, deleted the file? That's not precisely killing him, is it? I mean . . . what would be the difference between that and deleting a, a video of him?

It was a bit more than, um, deleting. Jack was dead in the flesh at the time. His AI was all that was left of him aaand I sort of pulled that out of my head and crushed it?

[ Jack begged him not to when he did it. He told Rhys there was nothing there, just darkness. He didn't want to go back, Rhys couldn't send him back.

Rhys chose to destroy the eye. ]

An AI is an artificial intelligence. They're basically their own people? So once you kill them, if theyre's no copy they're...y'know. Dead.

[ Robots may as well be people in the Blands universe, honestly. Ethical and moral treatment of them hasn't quite caught up in all places of the universe but no one doubts their sentience or autonomy when it comes to thought. They're not lesser in a cognitive sense.

Just, you know. More expendable. ]

. . . ah.

[Well, that sheds a bit more light on it. And certainly explains why he chooses the words he does.]

And he doesn't know that happened . . . he doesn't know he's dead. And he certainly doesn't know you killed him, but if you give it away . . .

[The man is capable of seeking revenge. Hm. That's worrying, given she just pledged to work with him, but then again, it seems her life is constantly filled with murderous men.]

Well. What do you plan to do now?

I don't know... Kill him again? I guess? I mean that's what I should be doing. He made things awful back home, he was insane.

[ And Rhys is worried he might do the same here. It seemed straightforward and easy when he'd made his network post months and months ago. ]

Angie wants me to play along and pretend I still work for him. But so much happened. He...used me. All of us back home. And when he's finished with you it generally doesn't end well.

Is her name Angie or Angel?

[Which is literally the least important point here, but Rosalind still says it-- for clarification, yes, but also because she's trying to think.]

. . . it's a good idea, though. What other option do you have? You're in no position to confront him.

...Angie?

[ Rhys makes a noticeable pause at the name "Angel" and for one brief moment he can't help but think back to the last moments he spent with Jack, both on Helios and in its remains. The little girl's portrait. How Jack found out she'd killed herself.

He still doesn't know how to feel about that. How much of it was real, how much was Jack trying to manipulate him? ]

I don't know anyone named Angel. And I know, I just...

[ Rhys lets out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his hair. ]

I wish he'd stay dead, you know?

[Are they speaking of the same girl? They must be. But perhaps not, and Rosalind frowns slightly. She'll chase after that thread in a moment. For now, she crosses the room, heading to sit.]

There's no one here who doesn't have ghosts from their pasts hovering around.

There was someone on the network . . . before I woke up, frankly, but I couldn't sleep one night and I was scrolling back. They wondered if you could kill someone who was still asleep. I'd wondered the same thing. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the answer was no.

There's two still up there I'd murder if I had half a chance. They died once, and it would've been better if they'd stayed that way. But as they didn't-- as he didn't-- you've simply got to stop wishing and start acting.

Oh...okay, uhh. Confession time haha. Thaaaat was me.

[ Rhys lets out a weak laugh as he brings a hand up through his hair and offers a very weka grin. ]

And I was sort of definitely talking about Jack. I dunno how much you read or anything but Jack's...he was--is bad news. Which doesn't really mean a whole lot here yet but I'm not kidding when I say he really, really wanted me dead before. he hasn't acted like it yet but I feel like he knows, you know? Is that me being paranoid? That sounds a little paranoid doesn't it.

It does, yes.

[But it's only paranoia if they're not out to get you. And Jack, for whatever homicidal faults he might have, seems very clever. Rhys might be right; he might just be on to him. Rosalind hums, tapping two fingers against her lips as she contemplates this.]

Have you given him any reason to suspect you'd want to kill him?

No...? I don't think so. It's not like--like I want to. I just feel like I should.

[ It's Complicated. Rhys pinches the bridge of his nose. ]

I'm from his future and he's started to notice. That part I'm definitely not just overthinking things. He told me. He just hasn't...asked about it yet. And when he does I don't even know what I'm going to begin saying to him. The first time I tried to tell him he was dead he tried to rip my throat out.

The guy has anger issues.

[ ... ]

Everything issues.

Edited 2017-12-07 03:29 (UTC)

Well, he does call himself Handsome Jack.

[That's not actually an offensive thing, but it is a sign of an ego, and she knows what that kind of person is capable of.]

Do you think you'll let it slip if you try and lie?

Maybe...? I don't know. I wouldn't try to but he's...Jack's. [ A Problem ] He might act like an ass but he's actually pretty good at getting what he wants. I think even if I don't tell him he's going to figure it out.

Then you ought to plan for it.

[She crosses one leg over the other, leaning back against the couch.]

If it's inevitable he knows, then you ought to tell him: in your time, and in your choosing. Preferably when he's in a place you know, but that's far from him. Don't tell him you killed him-- what was it that killed his physical body?

A bunch of Vault Hunters. They're kind of like paid mercenaries? Only they hunt alien treasure. I think one of them was a teenager.

[ AND THUS HANDSOME JERK DIED AT THE HANDS OF A NINJA, COMMANDO IN LOVE WITH HIS TURRET, A CANNIBAL, SEXY SIREN LADY, A PSYCHO........and a teenage girl ]

And I assume none of them are awake? You might well blame them and, when they wake up, warn them.

Actually...two of them are. I haven't really spoken to the one because he's probably more interested into turning my face into a pizza than having an actual conversation, but that's just how those guys are. Totally nuts.

What did you do to provoke him?

[Ros that's such a rude assumption]

What?? Nothing! I literally just finished telling you that's how they are. He is an actual crazy person. As in, screaming-about-meat-and-bicycles-while-running-at-you-with-an-explosive. Psychos?

And Jack . . . would believe that? That a madman could kill him? It seems like it'd be a lucky shot at best, if he's truly as insane as you say.

You'd think that right? But this particular Psycho happens to hang out with a bunch of Vault Hunters for...some reason. And they're the ones that--uh. They were a problem. When I worked for him.

A problem in that they were trying to kill him, or a problem in that they were trying to kill everyone?

Mostly the first? But a little bit of the second if you happened to work for him. He did order everyone to kill them if they got the chance.

[ s h r u g ]

Do you think you could have?

[A beat, and then she clarifies:]

Not physically. Emotionally. Do you think you could kill someone in person if you could?

[Because while he'd killed that digital copy of Jack, she wonders if, should the worst happen, she can count on him to help her slaughter the man in person.]

...Yeah, about that. [ HAAA. Rhys brings a hand up and runs it through his hair, lips pressured together in an uncomfortable but somehow sheepish smile that isn't so much of a smile as it is one of those "boy this is awkward" looks. ]

I sort of have, already? Or actually not some--someone. More like some...people. Lots of them.

A lot of them. T-technically. I guess? Which probably sounds really bad and--and it is, I know that. But most of them were trying to kill me too and it's not like I wanted to or went out of my way to do it or anything. It just sort of..you know. Happened.

[ He shoved his stun baton into a dude's eye socket once. Good...times. Yeah. Hrghhgg. ]

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