[Gold pockets the communicator, still staring at Silver, their interactions made all the more inscrutable by the fact that both of their faces are hidden.]
What were you even planning on following this up with? Is this somehow your scheme for saving face?
You know it'd be easy to deal with. We have a lot of ways of dealing with it. I was going to do it the nicest way, too.
No.
[Silver's anger spikes a little again, but not enough to be deafening. Gold is still ghostly quiet.]
No, Gold, you're better than that.
Silver. [The word is said very precisely.] How did you know I was here?
Uh.
[Silver get about four second to answer before Gold performs some kind of athletic stunt faster than the eye can see, and ends up right in front of them. It is clearly a threat. Silver raises their hands in feigned surrender.]
Buddy. You're acting like a crazy person. Just putting that one out there.
[J has gone very, very still, and he's going to stay that way until the war zone on the other side of the warehouse has calmed down.]
[But...saving face? Dealing with it? J knows too much - that much is obvious to him right now - but Gold's reaction to his refusal to take no for an answer...]
[It's Gold, isn't it. Gold's the third leech. And he came to Gold with his questions-]
[He probably owes Silver his life at this point.]
[He's just going to stay here and breathe as quietly as he can. And listen. And hope a fight doesn't break out, because that is the one thing he won't survive.]
[Gold's body seems to relax slightly, even if they don't say anything. Silver waits a few moments before speaking again.]
Look... I already know what you did with that stunt, so... You don't have to be so defensive about it.
Then why didn't you say anything?
Because I trust you, I guess? Even though you just bumrushed someone from our team, and everything...
[There's another pause, and Silver takes a step to the side, to start walking around Gold and towards J. There's a tense moment where it's unclear if Gold will stop them, but in the end, they don't. Silver kneels down in front of J and shakes his shoulder.]
[The ruse is up; J sits up slowly, one hand held to his head like he's just coming to and hasn't been eavesdropping this entire time.]
Not today. Just the proud owner of the headache of the century.
[On one hand, asking questions is what got him here, on the ground. On the other hand, he has to know how deep this goes, and Silver not wanting him dead is an advantage. Kind of. He leans around Silver and looks at Gold, voice quiet when he speaks.]
An' then what? Go for round two when I hear it again an' ask you about it?
[He's at the edge of outraged, and despite his best efforts it shows. Reining it in isn't working too well. He looks at Silver.]
Great. I'm glad you trust 'em. How the hell are the rest of us supposed to?
[Gold used them all - used them to get the powder to the musicians in Fairy Trial - and he lied to J about what it did, and Silver just...let it happen. They've all been used, like pieces on a chess board, with none of them the wiser, and Gold tried to silence him when he found out. The enormity of the situation is only just starting to sink in, and it's all J can do to keep on an even keel.]
[Silver is trying really hard to come up with some sort of explanation. But, before they can, they are interrupted by the sound of Gold getting onto their hover bike and slamming it into gear. Silver bolts to their feet again.]
Gold, wait! Come on!
[But before Silver can stop them, Gold has already zoomed off towards the doors and busted through, the exit opening before them without them having to stop.]
Gold!
[Silver follows them for a few steps, before finally slowing down and stopping. They sink down to the floor and onto their knees, gradually resting their helmet against a hand as if they need it to keep from sinking lower.
[Y'know, J is really tired of getting taken by surprise. What the hell.]
[It takes him longer to get to his feet and follow - by the time he makes it outside, Gold is gone and Silver is on their knees.]
[...it's very much against his better judgment, but...he can't do nothing. He just can't. He approaches Silver, slowly, and lays a hand on their shoulder.]
[The voice digitizer in their helmet makes the crack in their voice sound strange. For once, they don't react negatively to this presumption of closeness.]
Please don't bring this down on their head. They didn't...I know they didn't mean to hurt anyone with this.
[They're in the middle of the street - it's a back alley, but they can't afford to be here. This is not the kind of conversation that belongs outside, for more than one reason.]
C'mon. Let's go inside.
[Give him the extra thirty seconds to process this.]
[There will be a delay before they follow, but they will, closing the doors after them. They don't seem to know what to say, beyond that part, so instead of saying anything more they will just wander ahead into the warehouse, ostensibly lost in thought.]
Question still stands. What happened to you? To them? To make them think that usin' all of us - that usin' the people we're tryin' to save - that all this - is okay?
I mean- I get that they're your friend, or somethin' else, I dunno. I get that it's just you guys. I just- I don't get what you're doin'. Not anymore. Not after this.
[It all comes tumbling out of him, desperate and afraid despite his best efforts. He wants to help Silver; he needs to understand. When he speaks again, his voice is quiet.]
[That's all they say for a moment, and it's a few moment before they carefully continue.]
Gold was doing exactly what we're supposed to be doing... or at least I think they were. They just ended up doing it in a way that they knew would be controversial...and so it looks like they decided to not tell anyone about it. Not even me.
[They sigh tiredly.]
You figured out that they got you guys to help them forge a symbiotic connection with the musicians in that game show. It took me a while, but I realized that too. It's not pretty, but it could be effective...considering one of our primary goals is taking away as much power from the labels as possible.
What Gold has, Santiago and Blanche will not. I'd be surprised if the captives involved even know the difference.
They told me it was supposed to sever the musicians' connections with their labels. [Obviously that hasn't happened. He's also not fond of could be in that explanation - it's untested, leaves room for error that could hurt someone they're trying to help.]
[Really, he doesn't like any of this anymore, but that's what betrayal does to a guy.]
So what do they have? How's it different? An' how can we be sure it won't hurt the musicians?
I just mean that we're trying to take that energy away from the labels...and so what Gold steals from the musicians, the labels won't be able to get their hands on. It won't hurt the captives because taking music energy never has. It's not something anybody needs to live or be healthy.
But we both know what it looks like, to start playing the same game the labels do in order to defeat them.
It's not exactly taking the highroad. But that's not really a luxury either of us have ever been afforded.
[J isn't sure what he wanted to hear, but he knows that wasn't it. He's quiet for a few moments, face buried in one hand. He's very quickly approaching the threshold of what he can handle, if he hasn't gone over it already.]
An' now they're gone. Connected to all those people and they just...left.
[Silver sits down again, cross legged. They are hard to read now, with their face covered.]
If you leave this be, I can track Gold down and talk sense into them. We can get more of the captives free and see where this whole final stand thing gets us.
Or, you can tell everyone, and do your best to persecute them. I can guarantee you they won't come back, at least not is any way that will be good for you. Gold probably gets themselves killed trying to fight the execs on their own. When it comes down to it, Shep will side with us, and there goes your only way to get home.
[Great. Great. So his choices are keep lying or tell half the truth. Fantastic.]
[He's still scared - he always is when the fact that he's playing against forces much greater than he is rises up and slaps him in the face. He's disappointed. Above all else, he's angry - angry at being used, at being lied to, at Silver for laying it out like the situation is his fault.]
[And now Silver wants him to make a choice.]
[You must be out of your GODDAMN MIND-]
[But that's not going to help, is it. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, backing away from that explosion, and looks at Silver, expression guarded.]
Because we've never done anything that hasn't been for the exact goals we sold you at the start. This isn't some kind of conspiracy, J. Gold may have made a controversial, stupid decision... but it's 'cause they were trying to help all of you the only way they knew how.
We're scared too, you know. Gold panicked because they know as well as I do that if this plan doesn't pan out for us we'll be dead within two months.
[He snorts. Yeah, that's not a good enough answer.]
Your motivations got me here in the first place. It's your methods that're the problem. We're your team, not your tools. Make all the excuses for Gold that you want - it doesn't change that they used us, lied about it, an' tried to silence me when I found out about it. None of that's helpin' us.
Like it or not, you're both leaders. It doesn't matter how scared you get - you deal with that on your own time, an' you don't take it out on your team. How's anyone supposed to trust you guys if this is how you treat us?
[Silver's voice is sharp now. They're done getting talked down to over something they didn't even do.]
I've been backing you assholes since the beginning and I don't know if you noticed, but this wasn't my plan. I didn't even know it happened until it was over. And then - guess what - I actually stopped Gold from putting their boot through your brain, so you're welcome.
Stop scolding me like a teenager when I'm probably at least three times as old as you.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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What were you even planning on following this up with? Is this somehow your scheme for saving face?
You know it'd be easy to deal with. We have a lot of ways of dealing with it. I was going to do it the nicest way, too.
No.
[Silver's anger spikes a little again, but not enough to be deafening. Gold is still ghostly quiet.]
No, Gold, you're better than that.
Silver. [The word is said very precisely.] How did you know I was here?
Uh.
[Silver get about four second to answer before Gold performs some kind of athletic stunt faster than the eye can see, and ends up right in front of them. It is clearly a threat. Silver raises their hands in feigned surrender.]
Buddy. You're acting like a crazy person. Just putting that one out there.
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[But...saving face? Dealing with it? J knows too much - that much is obvious to him right now - but Gold's reaction to his refusal to take no for an answer...]
[It's Gold, isn't it. Gold's the third leech. And he came to Gold with his questions-]
[He probably owes Silver his life at this point.]
[He's just going to stay here and breathe as quietly as he can. And listen. And hope a fight doesn't break out, because that is the one thing he won't survive.]
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...Look, you do not get to scold me right now...
You're being a hypocrite.
[The two of them stand in silence for a few moments.]
...Could you stop muting yourself already, I hate talking to you like this.
Do you really want me angry instead?
I want you human. [They pause for a moment, and then laugh stiffly.] You know. Ish.
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[Very dangerous, he remembers in the next moments, and stays silent and still.]
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Look... I already know what you did with that stunt, so... You don't have to be so defensive about it.
Then why didn't you say anything?
Because I trust you, I guess? Even though you just bumrushed someone from our team, and everything...
[There's another pause, and Silver takes a step to the side, to start walking around Gold and towards J. There's a tense moment where it's unclear if Gold will stop them, but in the end, they don't. Silver kneels down in front of J and shakes his shoulder.]
Hey, are you dead?
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[The ruse is up; J sits up slowly, one hand held to his head like he's just coming to and hasn't been eavesdropping this entire time.]
Not today. Just the proud owner of the headache of the century.
[On one hand, asking questions is what got him here, on the ground. On the other hand, he has to know how deep this goes, and Silver not wanting him dead is an advantage. Kind of. He leans around Silver and looks at Gold, voice quiet when he speaks.]
What were you gonna do to me?
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I was going to make you forget this happened. If I even could.
[What would have happened if they couldn't isn't mentioned.]
If I haven't already made my opinion clear, that was dumb and this shouldn't have happened.
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[He's at the edge of outraged, and despite his best efforts it shows. Reining it in isn't working too well. He looks at Silver.]
Great. I'm glad you trust 'em. How the hell are the rest of us supposed to?
[Gold used them all - used them to get the powder to the musicians in Fairy Trial - and he lied to J about what it did, and Silver just...let it happen. They've all been used, like pieces on a chess board, with none of them the wiser, and Gold tried to silence him when he found out. The enormity of the situation is only just starting to sink in, and it's all J can do to keep on an even keel.]
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Gold, wait! Come on!
[But before Silver can stop them, Gold has already zoomed off towards the doors and busted through, the exit opening before them without them having to stop.]
Gold!
[Silver follows them for a few steps, before finally slowing down and stopping. They sink down to the floor and onto their knees, gradually resting their helmet against a hand as if they need it to keep from sinking lower.
They're quiet.]
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[It takes him longer to get to his feet and follow - by the time he makes it outside, Gold is gone and Silver is on their knees.]
[...it's very much against his better judgment, but...he can't do nothing. He just can't. He approaches Silver, slowly, and lays a hand on their shoulder.]
...you okay?
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Please don't bring this down on their head. They didn't...I know they didn't mean to hurt anyone with this.
[Their next words come out softly:]
They're the only one I have left.
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C'mon. Let's go inside.
[Give him the extra thirty seconds to process this.]
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What happened?
[To Gold. To Silver. This whole mess. Everything.]
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[Sort of dodging the question even now, but it's said wistfully instead of argumentatively.]
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[Feigned ignorance isn't going to help here.]
Question still stands. What happened to you? To them? To make them think that usin' all of us - that usin' the people we're tryin' to save - that all this - is okay?
I mean- I get that they're your friend, or somethin' else, I dunno. I get that it's just you guys. I just- I don't get what you're doin'. Not anymore. Not after this.
[It all comes tumbling out of him, desperate and afraid despite his best efforts. He wants to help Silver; he needs to understand. When he speaks again, his voice is quiet.]
I thought we were here to help.
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[That's all they say for a moment, and it's a few moment before they carefully continue.]
Gold was doing exactly what we're supposed to be doing... or at least I think they were. They just ended up doing it in a way that they knew would be controversial...and so it looks like they decided to not tell anyone about it. Not even me.
[They sigh tiredly.]
You figured out that they got you guys to help them forge a symbiotic connection with the musicians in that game show. It took me a while, but I realized that too. It's not pretty, but it could be effective...considering one of our primary goals is taking away as much power from the labels as possible.
What Gold has, Santiago and Blanche will not. I'd be surprised if the captives involved even know the difference.
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[Really, he doesn't like any of this anymore, but that's what betrayal does to a guy.]
So what do they have? How's it different? An' how can we be sure it won't hurt the musicians?
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But we both know what it looks like, to start playing the same game the labels do in order to defeat them.
It's not exactly taking the highroad. But that's not really a luxury either of us have ever been afforded.
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An' now they're gone. Connected to all those people and they just...left.
Now what?
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[Silver sits down again, cross legged. They are hard to read now, with their face covered.]
If you leave this be, I can track Gold down and talk sense into them. We can get more of the captives free and see where this whole final stand thing gets us.
Or, you can tell everyone, and do your best to persecute them. I can guarantee you they won't come back, at least not is any way that will be good for you. Gold probably gets themselves killed trying to fight the execs on their own. When it comes down to it, Shep will side with us, and there goes your only way to get home.
So...you tell me, J.
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[He's still scared - he always is when the fact that he's playing against forces much greater than he is rises up and slaps him in the face. He's disappointed. Above all else, he's angry - angry at being used, at being lied to, at Silver for laying it out like the situation is his fault.]
[And now Silver wants him to make a choice.]
[You must be out of your GODDAMN MIND-]
[But that's not going to help, is it. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, backing away from that explosion, and looks at Silver, expression guarded.]
Give me a reason to trust you. Either of you.
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We're scared too, you know. Gold panicked because they know as well as I do that if this plan doesn't pan out for us we'll be dead within two months.
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Your motivations got me here in the first place. It's your methods that're the problem. We're your team, not your tools. Make all the excuses for Gold that you want - it doesn't change that they used us, lied about it, an' tried to silence me when I found out about it. None of that's helpin' us.
Like it or not, you're both leaders. It doesn't matter how scared you get - you deal with that on your own time, an' you don't take it out on your team. How's anyone supposed to trust you guys if this is how you treat us?
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[Silver's voice is sharp now. They're done getting talked down to over something they didn't even do.]
I've been backing you assholes since the beginning and I don't know if you noticed, but this wasn't my plan. I didn't even know it happened until it was over. And then - guess what - I actually stopped Gold from putting their boot through your brain, so you're welcome.
Stop scolding me like a teenager when I'm probably at least three times as old as you.
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