Private 「Shadow」

[sotoshini]

Comments

[sotoshini]

Yeah...I think so. [ This is all pretty new to him still. ]

What about you? Do you still enjoy running from death?

[chaoscontrol]

[Shadow chuckles a bit]

I've always been too fast for death to catch up to me. Even though that day... I was ready to die... I'm glad I didn't. I still have work to do.

[sotoshini]

[ A beat. ]

Because of Maria? [ He was listening, that day. ]

[chaoscontrol]

.... Yes. [He looks away]

I have a promise to her I must keep.

[sotoshini]

[ He's quiet for a while but- ]

If there's not another path, you make one.

[chaoscontrol]

.... [Shadow frowns, looking into the distance]

What you saw... that happened 50 years ago. The way it happened for me... she managed to save me by shoving me in that capsule, and I saw them shoot her dead. [he leans back against the chair, eyes overbright] Maria didn't have a mean bone in her body. She was sick... she'd always been sick. They didn't... I still don't know why.

[sotoshini]

I don't know. [ ... ]

Maybe they didn't understand, maybe they were scared, maybe they were selfish—humans come up with so many excuses.

Do you want to find the answer?

[chaoscontrol]

[Shadow sighs. He can't get super drunk, but his thoughts can still get... fuzzy. Hazy, around the edges]

I didn't phrase that correctly. I know why -- she got between them and their goal, which was capturing me. But it's the cruelty I don't understand. They could have just... taken her into custody. [scoff] And then they had the gall to call it an "accident".

[sotoshini]

[ Natsuno leans onto his palm, almost looking bored but his tone doesn't match. ]

Humans are capable of intense cruelty. I was one, and I remember. They're also fond of their excuses too. They hate having a guilty conscience as much as they hate accepting responsibility for their actions.

They don't understand themselves.