damned_institute | nightshift 43: laundry room

Entry tags:

rolo,
teresa

nightshift 43: laundry room

[ from here ]

Rolo had been hoping for another stairway, or maybe something a little more interesting than a... laundry room. That's what this place looked like, since he could see washers (and dryers, on the other side of them), as well as assorted sheets and other various laundry-related things. That also included things like bleach and soaps, and large carts filled with clothing and such. Still, as mundane as the room was, Rolo decided not to entirely ignore it. Perhaps there would be something "off" or strange about this place too.

Besides, he had to answer Teresa's question in greater detail, lest he look even more suspicious to her. But... talk about Britannia? How could she not know about Britannia? He could only assume she was from the Euro Universe or something, in an area so far away maybe Britannia hadn't worked it's way into that particular place then.

"Do you mean the homeland, or one of it's conquered Areas? Life is a little different depending on which part of Britannia you're in." Though, Rolo didn't like her question at all. If Euphemia li Britannia was her friend, she probably told Teresa enough about Britannia, so he had the feeling Teresa was doing a cross examination of him or something, and he hated that thought.

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Nice? No place was ever 'nice'; it just presented itself that way.

Teresa didn't reply until she'd moved fully into the room, leaving the door cracked open, and looked around. What she saw was a bunch of metal contraptions she had no idea what they were and a sharp scent that reminded her far too much of the wing of the Organization she'd been created in. The scent was unnatural.

"Brittania main," she replied, walking over to the nearest metal thing and knocking on it's top lightly, cocking her head as she listened to the sound.

Rolo also moved towards the washers and dryers, curiously opening one of the washer lids to see if a festering soup of organs and blood would greet him. Of course, there was nothing, and Rolo was glad.

"It's ...advanced," Like a true Britannian, he immediately started talking down to her. Well, that's how he wanted to present himself, and he had the feeling she wasn't from somewhere like Britannia, with running water and electricity and advanced medical care.

"If you're rich, anyway. They have all sorts of attractions and entertainment to cater to the rich. Most people have jobs working for corporations or the government, or sometimes they don't need to work at all since they're nobility. Only Honorary Britannians and the poor do all of the grunt work, so it's very comfortable."

Rolo paused, realizing he started listing off all the things his brother hated about Britannia.

When Rolo opened up one of the contraptions, Teresa leaned over to look inside it as well. What she saw did not give her any real indication what it was used for. Irritating.

"Those humans are soft. They would never survive a winter on their own, removed from their manors, nor would they see the youma before their eyes, inside their own homes, until it descended upon them," she replied with contempt. "What is an honorary Brittanian?"

Nonetheless, Teresa shared his brother's opinion on the nobles. Rolo nodded in agreement. Of course, he agreed for completely different reasons: That sort of lifestyle did make them easier to kill for the most part, which made things easier for him. Unless it was a noble who gained the title through military feats, but even so, his Geass took care of that in the end.

Not like he was going tell Teresa that.

"An honorary Britannian is someone who wasn't born a citizen of Britannia. It's usually the conquered people of a region. They can sign up for citizenship and receive the same rights and privileges technically, but no one cares," Rolo continued, hoping Teresa kept asking him questions as he moved on to the nearby racks of chemicals, looking them over. This room might be useful to return to later.

"Discrimination is encouraged in Britannia, that's why no one cares. The current Emperor thinks equality makes you weak."

Teresa intended on asking questions, though if Rolo expected those to distract her from what the boy was doing, he was mistaken. The hybrid stayed close enough to watch what Rolo was up to, though her nostrils flared a bit at the scent of the chemicals.

"The only thing that makes someone weak is themselves," Teresa replied. It was she that had made herself weak by allowing Clare to rekindle the Number One's compassion. Priscilla may have taken her head, but it was Teresa's act of weakening herself that made her spare the whelp. It was weak human rulers like Brittania's that created bandits like the ones she'd slaughtered for their acts against the child. And they'd tried to tell her she'd done wrong by it. Disgusting.

She snorted. "That emperor must be a bloated pig ripe to be spitted." She crossed her arms. "Why would anyone wish to be part of all that if they are really not?"

He still wasn't sure where this line of questioning was supposed to mean, but Teresa seemed to be genuinely disgusted at what Rolo was telling her, like this was either what she wanted to hear or she truly hadn't heard of this before. But it couldn't be that... Yet, when Teresa continued to ask questions, he couldn't help but truly accept that she had no idea what he was talking about.

"... Because it's better than the alternative," Rolo replied when Teresa asked why someone would willingly join Britannia. Why not, since - oh, but if her area wasn't conquered by Britannia, she wouldn't know about how the conquered people are treated.

"Most people don't even have a choice. Britannia's involved in a lot of wars to claim territory. If you're a 'Number', then you really don't want to stay that way."

He was about to ask her if Euphemia told her any of this, but he decided against it. Drawing attention to Euphemia didn't seem to be 'safe' around this woman. Instead, Rolo now moved to the carts holding all of the laundry, poking at the mass of fabric with his baseball bat.

Edited 2009-09-09 02:49 (UTC)

"I am a Number," Teresa stated, completely missing that Rolo wasn't referring to the Organization. "Number One - the greatest of the forty-seven," she clarified scratching her personal sigil (http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o202/ninjasin/numberone.jpg) into the paint of the nearest metal contraption with her fingernail.

"I have heard many things about the Organization, suspect many more, but I have never heard the name Britannia until the girl."

When Teresa proudly boasted about her "rank", Rolo could truly accept that they had no idea what the other was talking about. Number One, huh? No one was proud to be a number and besides, Area One was...

He could guess that "the girl" was Euphemia, but he left that alone for a moment. She also mentioned some Organization, but Rolo never heard of a terrorist group by that name. But no, it couldn't be a terrorist group if it knew nothing about Britannia (after all, Britannia was the only nation worth attacking). Just what was this girl talking about?

"... Where are you from? I think we're talking about two completely different things," Rolo asked, crossing his own arms and devoting his full attention to Teresa. He looked briefly at the symbol she scratched onto the paint of a nearby appliance, but it rang no bells.

It wasn't so much that Teresa was boasting about her rank as much as she just didn't know any other way to reference her position as Number One. She'd cut her ties to the Organization only to have the death squad find her and that whelp awaken on her, so she held no love for the Organization. She did know she was the most powerful hybrid ever created. She'd be the worst possible thing to happen to existence if she ever awakened. It wasn't a real possibility given how very little of her youki she ever needed to use, so it didn't matter.

"The land I am from has no name as a whole," Teresa replied, crossing her arms again. "It is a large mass surrounded on all sides by water. There are harsh icy mountains to the north, warm lands to the south and the Organization in the center. It takes several weeks to walk from the farthest peaks to the southern tip. On the western shores, one can see the faint outline of a very large land mass on the horizon across rough waters."

He listened to the description of Teresa's homeland, since it had no name according to her. But, a single landmass... surrounded by water on all sides... It sounded like the continent Britannia was on, with the icy north and warm south, but it would take years to traverse it from tip to tip. He frowned, realizing that it couldn't have been Britannia. And it sounded small, with a single body of government ruling over it. So it wasn't one of the other continents, was it? That did leave... one possibility.

"... You mean Australia?" Rolo guessed, sounding quite unamused. He didn't know Australia was that behind the rest of the world.

Edited 2009-09-09 03:32 (UTC)

Teresa was silent for a long moment as she looked at the boy. Did he choose not to listen to her or was he just an idiot?

"The land I am from has no name," she repeated slowly. "If that is what those on other lands call it, they haven't felt inclined to inform us."

"The Elevens still call their land Japan, but everyone else knows it as Area 11 now," Rolo shrugged, not caring. Of course, she probably wouldn't know her home as 'Australia' if she never even left it, so Rolo could understand that much. "So, that's why you don't know what Britannia is. They never touched that place."

From what Rolo could understand, there was just nothing there. The coast had been transformed into a resort area of sorts, but overall, the land had been untouched. It was a little surprising to know that people actually lived in that wasteland, but suddenly, her lack of knowledge about Britannia and everything made sense.

Except one thing.

"Now, answer me another question: If you have never heard of Britannia, why are you speaking fluent English?"

He really didn't like this girl, all of the sudden. She had to be making all of this up.

Teresa cocked her head a little, the only indication that she was confused. English? What was English? She spoke the common language that everyone else did.

"I have no idea what you mean by English, boy," she replied. "I speak the same language the entire land I am from does. There is no other language."

He really wished he could use his Geass. Rolo had the idea of smashing her skull until she finally gave up this charade, but he had no choice but to keep pressing her until she finally realized he wasn't going to swallow this story about her being some ignorant native.

"So, you mean people on an isolated island somehow managed to learn the same language that the world's strongest superpower speaks on their own?" He snorted, but... there were the resorts. Maybe she came into contact with those people and learned the language. But then, why didn't she know anything about Britannia? It just didn't click and Rolo didn't like it.

"I don't trust you, and I know you don't trust me. So just drop the act, and stop asking me questions." Rolo refused to budge, knowing he was dealing with a potentially dangerous person without an adequate way to defend himself.

But he would rather die than reveal anything that would harm his brother. He already said too much, when he underestimated her, and Rolo wasn't going to make that mistake again.

"I have never encountered another language, boy. Perhaps your superpower learned the language from the Organization well before my time."

Silver eyes narrowed. "And exactly what act do you think I'm putting on? I ask questions because I wish to know more about the land you are from."

"..." Why was she lying to him?! Rolo just wanted her to at least admit that she had some other reasons for taking an interest in him, and he already called her out on it. Why was she making things difficult? It never even crossed Rolo's mind that this woman was telling the truth, not with so many discrepancies in her story.

But in the end, it looked like she wouldn't budge and neither would he. He stared at for a moment, as if assessing the situation. The other thing he wanted to ask her was her connection to Euphemia li Britannia... but why ask her, when he could ask the famous Massacre Princess himself? He wasn't going to tell Teresa that, of course. She must have had some sort of contract or deal with the princess, so Teresa would probably not tell him anything, or at worse, assume something about his plans with Euphemia.

So he just shook his head dismissively and moved on, this time looking at another batch of chemicals.

"... In Britannia, 'Numbers' are people from conquered territories. They're treated worse than dirt. When Britannia took over Japan, they renamed it Area 11 and now everyone knows the Japanese as 'Elevens'."

Now that he had a better plan sorted out in his head, Rolo went right back to pretending their previous conversation never happened. Instead, he would indulge her. Maybe if he shared enough, she'd tell him more about this 'nameless land' she supposedly came from. Hah.

For the briefest of moments, as Rolo decided to change the subject, a dark contempt flashed in Teresa's eyes. Humans.

Leaning against one of the metal contraptions, the picture of calmness, she noted that she'd never heard of Japan before she arrived here. Some of the others claimed Japan as home. She decided to clarify what she'd meant earlier about numbers since Rolo did with Britannia's. Though, she decided she would need to clarify this all with Euphy the following day.

"In my land, all of the Organixation's active hybrids are given a ranking number based upon their strength and abilities. There are forty-seven of us active at any given time, our ranking may change throughout our service depending on the rise and fall of each individual warrior," she explained. "Each hybrid has a sector of the land that is theirs to patrol. We're only supposed to ever leave out sector when ordered to."

He didn't expect Teresa to share what she meant by 'Numbers' to quickly, but he was a little interested when she went into detail. So, she really was a professional soldier. But only forty-seven, for a whole continent? It must have been smaller than Australia, or the hybrids had some technology to help them.

"Hybrids?" He wasn't exactly sure what context she was using that word in. It almost sounded like she was referring to people like her. Hybrid? An interesting term - he had never heard it used before. It conjured up images of laboratories and experiments, things that made Rolo frown the slightest before his expression returned neutral.

If Teresa was going to bore him by making him explain things any rational person should know, she could at least explain what all those odd terms she used meant.

"Claymores, silver-eyed witches, hybrids - they're all the same, though hybrid is the proper term the Organization calls us," Teresa replied.

"I am what is created when humans take young girls and fuse them with demon flesh." She paused, her eyes meeting Rolo's. "I am half-human/half-youma."

... Really, now.

This was enough to catch Rolo's interest, and even though he thought a lot of her story was made up bullshit, this was actually something he could believe. Some sort of enhanced human, then? Funny, did this 'Organization' end up beating the Geass Directorate at creating the perfect soldiers?

"So, that's why you can sense youma?" It made sense, if she was connected to them. Rolo had the feeling the process wasn't voluntary either, but he refrained on commenting that much. He had no desire to share about his own experiences in the military.

Besides, she sounded like a success... that stray thought made Rolo sulk for just a moment before he went back to inspecting the room. Normally, he would not have wasted this much time on one room, but he couldn't look for Lelouch now. He could not afford to lead this suspicious woman to him. It was better that they stay apart, until he could lose her one way or another.

"They only use girls, though?" That was also sort of interesting. Maybe only women were compatible with the demon's flesh or something odd like that. Or maybe, she was disliked men. That explained a lot as well.

"All hybrids can sense youma as they are a part of us," Teresa clarified. "We were created to exterminate them." Teresa's ability to sense youma was special, in comparison to the rest of the hybrid's, though. She had no desire to discuss that.

"Now they only use females. The first hybrids created were male, but they discovered that males had a harder time controlling their youki - demon energy - and quickly awakened," she answered. "After the first generation, they decided to stop male fusions as females were far more capable of controlling their youma half."

Teresa prattled on about demon energy and how males were unsuitable for those sorts of experiments. Rolo understood the gist of it: it seemed like males were just more unstable than females. He intended to ask what she meant by saying they "awakened", partially to also keep the conversation off of him when he was interrupted by a scratchy, robotic sounding voice.

An announcement? Unlike last time, 'IRIS' seemed to be... broken wasn't quite the word, but it seemed adequate. It was difficult to make out words when the synth speech was garbled sounding and fading in and out, but he caught something about 'manual override' and 18%. It didn't sound good for him, either way.

Brother... Rolo frowned. If it weren't for this woman tailing him, he probably would have found his brother by now. Now was not the time to waste time, when he was running out of it for once. He needed to find a way to get rid of her, somehow!

"What do you think that means?" He was sure Teresa knew nothing about the announcement, but the question was meant as a distraction as he thought of a way to distract her long enough to either slip away or kill her. Both would work.

Raising her head to look in the direction the sound came from, Teresa listened to the voice. It was broken and grated on her ears. She still wasn't sure where the voice was coming from, but she did realize that whatever it was it was being projected into the room.

"It sounds as if something is being reset," she replied. A pause. "Tell me, boy, how many people have you killed?"

The conversation was going quite well for him. Until Teresa asked him that question and Rolo stood perfectly still, ceasing all movement as he simply stood with his back to Teresa.

She just told him that she was a soldier, so Rolo already knew that she probably had him outmatched in speed and strength. Even though her weapon was crude, it was probably more damaging than the bat she had. But Rolo knew he had some tools at his disposal. The cart filled with clothing could be used as a distraction, and the bleach... if she were blinded or burnt, it was still an advantage, no matter how slight. But she could not get away. Rolo steadied himself, trying to prepare himself for his one shot a surprise attack.

And then, the explosions came.

The floor rumbled as Rolo heard a large bang, and his head snapped up as he turned around. An attack? No, wait, this was it! Rolo already knew that an attack was more or less futile, but there were always discreet ways of killing someone. Teresa could suspect him, but until he spoke, there was no proof.

A second explosion rang through the air and the room shook once more, and Rolo took his chance, darting out of the way and through the door. But this proved to be a fatal mistake when a final explosion rocked the building with such force that the dust actually fell from the roof. It was enough to trip Rolo, the sudden shockwave proving more than he expected and he fell right onto the ground, right in front of the door.

That was the least of his problems, though. One of the nearby metal "shelves" holding many heavy bottles of bleach and detergent broke, sliding towards Rolo. He heard it before he saw it, a paralyzing fear gripping him as he recalled that his Geass couldn't stop physical objects. And then he remembered that his Geass didn't even work.

One way or the other, he knew he was screwed.

Patience might not be fleeting to many, but Teresa understood that sometimes patience was exactly what was needed. Rolo had gone still upon her question, the boy's posture indicating that she'd certainly hit a nerve. If the boy thought his silence would keep her from knowing, he was certainly foolish; he'd given himself away back in chapel. So, calmly she watched him, wondering which of the two typical human responses he would choose.

For the briefest moment, it looked like he was going to choose fight over flight and she shifted her stance just enough to give her a more stable base for when he finally attacked. This was the only reason she maintained her feet when the room suddenly shook from an explosion. Already, the hybrid was searching for the source, quickly coming to the conclusion upon the second explosion that it was several hundred feet away toward the northwest. She was somewhat glad they were no longer in the chapel.

Silver eyes tracked Rolo as the boy shifted to flight and bolted for the door. Her lips curling up, Teresa moved to cut him off when an even larger explosion rocked the room with enough force to put the room's stability in question. As it knocked Rolo off his feet, she caught sight of the contents of the nearby shelf rattling coupled with the sound of metal snapping.

Without hesitation, Teresa shot toward Rolo in an instant to put herself between him and the falling shelf. Her left hand scooped under the boy's torso, pulling him slightly against her as she dropped to a knee, covering the boy. The sound of metal crashing against metal echoed through the room as the position Teresa had settled on allowed for the shelf itself to be mostly blocked by the weapon across her back. It wasn't a perfect defense, though, as the sharp corner where the metal had broken away cut reasonable deep into her back before the weight of the bottles ripped it out. Pain flared, but the hybrid did not even give an indication that she'd been injured. The only evidence was the ragged tear in her shirt and the blood soaking
through the tattered remains. She paid it no heed; it would heal soon enough.

She looked down at the boy through her blonde hair, as she realized that her action of saving him had not been a conscious decision as much as it was ingrained behavior she'd picked up thanks to Clare. Yes, humans were to be protected from youma, but Teresa had always been content to let them fall to their own tragedies. But that had been before Clare. Now, the young human boy who was, by chance, associated with Euphy through his brother, had been the fortunate recipient of the condition Teresa had contracted - compassion.

Chemicals from the broken bottles started to soak into her pant leg, so she gripped the boy just enough that she could leap away from the puddle of chemicals to a place of reasonable safety. She vaguely noted how easy it would have been to snap the boy in half like a twig; he weighed practically nothing. She did not let him go, but she wasn't going to hurt him. Probably.

Blood pattered on the ground from her back, the hybrid noting that it was taking an awful long time for her body to repair the damage and she shifted some of her youki to the area. She didn't say anything to Rolo but simply watched him. The idea that he might thank her or that she even deserved a thanks was foreign to her, so it never crossed her mind.

[approved by mun]

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