Do they... come true? These bad things that you see? Is it a guarantee?
[ Do they have the advantage of information as well as the playing field? His fingers drag against the map, tracing one line that moves underneath patho-gen. ]
How big could this be?
[ He can't let anything get in the way of what he wants. Of returning home. If it is that bad, does he need to move up the timetable? ]
[ See? They don't even know what it is, and Silco is already upset with it! This is why he didn't want to tell people! This! ]
I... yeah? Probably? I mean, no one's ever. We've never been able to stop one before. Not that a lot of people have tried. They just, I don't know, accept it and then... blame me... for...
[ Okay, maybe he will retreat back from the desk a step or two, because he's already mentally preparing for Silco to do the exact same thing. He's becoming far more nervous the more they talk about this potential vision, almost as though he wants to slink back into the shadows and hide again.
If it does come true, it'll be his fault, right? Even if it would have happened anyway, which makes no sense, butβ ]
I can't. I won't. Know until. I see what it is again.
[ he asks. Sure, Silco is unreasonable, but not so unreasonable that he's going to blame Bruno for what he sees, just that he didn't know about it until now, when clearly he would get a great deal of use out of the ability to see what was wrong with things ahead of time.
Then again, it didn't sound like he controlled it, either. Maybe there was nothing to control. ]
Can you make it happen again? Or are you stuck to waiting until it arises?
[ "Shoot the Messenger" is essentially the story of Bruno's life; the reason he's so nervous, the reason he thinks he's always a problem, the reason he retreats from people, the reason he wishes to just be... normal. If only he could be normal...
He'll only nod mutely to that. He doesn't want to talk about it more than he has. He doesn't want Silco to start thinking maybe, just maybe, everyone back home was right. ]
...um. I can choose to have visions when I want to, there's a whole... ritual for it... and I can show other people... but sometimes it's out of my control. They can just happen? I think they... must have forced one...
[ He shivers at the thought, pulling his ruana closer. He doesn't even want to think about how they managed that. ]
But if I don't know what it was, or what they wanted to know, I don't know how to find the same vision again.
They yet again have all of the information. They yet again manipulated things to their advantage.
Is it that they are able to use what they have, to take what they must? Likely, and while Silco will take anything he most from the other Augmented, Patho-Gen has the advantage of these devices. Silco can't stop half of the individuals here if they decide he's gone too far. No, no. He has to play this carefully, even while impatience slithers under his skin and itches like fire. ]
Did they make the ritual happen, or do you think they simply stumbled on it? I suppose in the end, it doesn't matter.
[ He pinches the bridge of his nose. ]
Have you considered trying to recapture the knowledge? By using the ritual?
I mean, I still don't remember, s-so, how they did it, I don't remember that, either...
[ But he's right. It doesn't matter, in the end. They got a vision of something, and Bruno can't shake the feeling that it was important, important enough to have to do with the barrier. ]
I... could try... Only it's. I need to know what someone wants to see? To look? A-and it's just forward, not backwards. I can't do the past. I mean, if I could, I'd just... That's what I would do, just look back, but I can't.
That would be useful for espionage, but the future is where prediction lies, yes?
[ Cold pragmaticism, of course. ]
If I told you I wanted to see what they saw, would it work?
[ He leans forward just so, his thin fingers laced together as he stared at him with one unblinking eye. He wants to see if he can draw it out of him, that truth. Whatever they stole from him. ]
...espionage? [ Wait, hold up. ] Uh, I. I don't. I don't know? M-maybe? That's really vague, though. I don't know if they... if they ran multiple tests for. For multiple visions, or.
[ Sorry, Silco, his nerves are starting to spike. That Silco would even consider using any kind of power for spying? Sure, he can't see the past, but that could still apply to the future!
There's a quiver in the lights, a flicker, not unlike when Silco had first met Bruno, panicking and letting his glire powers go wild. He looks away, gaze flitting elsewhere, prey seeking a way out, and there's a faint gleam of green light in his eyes...
His eyes always glow green when he's going to change forms. That's true for the giant badger, same as the mouse. ]
[ He sees the way he's starting to panic. The lights flicker. ]
I'm not suggesting you do that.
[ Yet. In fact, he probably won't now. Just manipulate him into it. ] Don't lose it and break my walls.
[ Silco, as always, is a cold man. A hard man. Bruno has a use... and more than he'd thought, but he also... doesn't see the man as useful right now. Not when he's easily panicked, and so ready to flee. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ A hiss of annoyance. ]
Do they... come true? These bad things that you see? Is it a guarantee?
[ Do they have the advantage of information as well as the playing field? His fingers drag against the map, tracing one line that moves underneath patho-gen. ]
How big could this be?
[ He can't let anything get in the way of what he wants. Of returning home. If it is that bad, does he need to move up the timetable? ]
no subject
I... yeah? Probably? I mean, no one's ever. We've never been able to stop one before. Not that a lot of people have tried. They just, I don't know, accept it and then... blame me... for...
[ Okay, maybe he will retreat back from the desk a step or two, because he's already mentally preparing for Silco to do the exact same thing. He's becoming far more nervous the more they talk about this potential vision, almost as though he wants to slink back into the shadows and hide again.
If it does come true, it'll be his fault, right? Even if it would have happened anyway, which makes no sense, butβ ]
I can't. I won't. Know until. I see what it is again.
no subject
[ he asks. Sure, Silco is unreasonable, but not so unreasonable that he's going to blame Bruno for what he sees, just that he didn't know about it until now, when clearly he would get a great deal of use out of the ability to see what was wrong with things ahead of time.
Then again, it didn't sound like he controlled it, either. Maybe there was nothing to control. ]
Can you make it happen again? Or are you stuck to waiting until it arises?
no subject
He'll only nod mutely to that. He doesn't want to talk about it more than he has. He doesn't want Silco to start thinking maybe, just maybe, everyone back home was right. ]
...um. I can choose to have visions when I want to, there's a whole... ritual for it... and I can show other people... but sometimes it's out of my control. They can just happen? I think they... must have forced one...
[ He shivers at the thought, pulling his ruana closer. He doesn't even want to think about how they managed that. ]
But if I don't know what it was, or what they wanted to know, I don't know how to find the same vision again.
no subject
[ Annoyed, again, but it's without direction.
They yet again have all of the information. They yet again manipulated things to their advantage.
Is it that they are able to use what they have, to take what they must? Likely, and while Silco will take anything he most from the other Augmented, Patho-Gen has the advantage of these devices. Silco can't stop half of the individuals here if they decide he's gone too far. No, no. He has to play this carefully, even while impatience slithers under his skin and itches like fire. ]
Did they make the ritual happen, or do you think they simply stumbled on it? I suppose in the end, it doesn't matter.
[ He pinches the bridge of his nose. ]
Have you considered trying to recapture the knowledge? By using the ritual?
no subject
[ But he's right. It doesn't matter, in the end. They got a vision of something, and Bruno can't shake the feeling that it was important, important enough to have to do with the barrier. ]
I... could try... Only it's. I need to know what someone wants to see? To look? A-and it's just forward, not backwards. I can't do the past. I mean, if I could, I'd just... That's what I would do, just look back, but I can't.
no subject
[ Cold pragmaticism, of course. ]
If I told you I wanted to see what they saw, would it work?
[ He leans forward just so, his thin fingers laced together as he stared at him with one unblinking eye. He wants to see if he can draw it out of him, that truth. Whatever they stole from him. ]
no subject
[ Sorry, Silco, his nerves are starting to spike. That Silco would even consider using any kind of power for spying? Sure, he can't see the past, but that could still apply to the future!
There's a quiver in the lights, a flicker, not unlike when Silco had first met Bruno, panicking and letting his glire powers go wild. He looks away, gaze flitting elsewhere, prey seeking a way out, and there's a faint gleam of green light in his eyes...
His eyes always glow green when he's going to change forms. That's true for the giant badger, same as the mouse. ]
no subject
I'm not suggesting you do that.
[ Yet. In fact, he probably won't now. Just manipulate him into it. ] Don't lose it and break my walls.
[ Silco, as always, is a cold man. A hard man. Bruno has a use... and more than he'd thought, but he also... doesn't see the man as useful right now. Not when he's easily panicked, and so ready to flee. ]