driftfleet | (no subject)

I guess? But what makes it good for others and not such a good idea for me? [She thinks.] You don't have to worry about my feelings or anything, Wanda. I know that I'm still figuring out how real people are supposed to behave.

[That last comment catches Wanda's attention.]

Wrath, what makes you think you're not a "real" person?

[She asks affectionately, looking to reassure Wrath if she's feeling down for some reason. But... she's also curious as to what would provoke such odd phrasing.]

Oh, I wasn't for a really long time. Or like maybe I was, but all those memories are gone. I didn't really get to live on my own or... like probably even make real choices on my own until my back got broken. And only then because the Immune took me in.

[Okay, that was suddenly a lot to take in all at once, and Wanda's not sure she was able to follow it all.]

You were injured. Your back broken? And then this "Immune" took you in. That's when you finally felt able to make your own choices?

[Wanda checks the details with Wrath to see if she's getting it right.]

So then, what was keeping you from doing so before?

[She worries this might be too personal a question to ask of Wrath. But if that's the case, Wrath would just tell her so, wouldn't she?]

Oh. Sorry. I never remember who I've told this story to.

Um. I was a soldier in the Proles Army. Then when the army got disbanded, I ended up in the militia, which... um. Basically got used like private corporate security. The Immune are people kind of like... we are here. They got brought from other places to Proles. A lot of them weren't happy about it. A group of them decided to attack the Bifrons corporate tower and I got dispatched to stop them. I kicked most of their asses and then Carolina--one of the Immune--threw me out of the 99th story window. When I hit the ground it basically liquified all my bones but didn't quite kill me. So my doctor grew a new composite skeleton for me, but the back was all messed up and for a long time I had trouble walking and stuff.

Because my back was all fucked up, I got discharged from the militia. I didn't know what to do with myself because the army and the militia is... all I remember. But the Immune took me in. And that's when I found out like... Bifrons had been altering everyone's memories. They're probably the reason I don't remember most things.

There's a thing in Proles called the Department of Compliance. If you're antisocial, they... fix you. Only a bunch of my Immune friends were sure it was worse than that. That they were messing with people's brains. Like mine.

[Wow. Okay... that is A LOT for Wanda to process all of a sudden. Please forgive the slack-jawed look she might initially be giving to Wrath's story. Wanda had remembered Wrath telling her before that she'd been a soldier, but this... this was so much more than what Wanda could ever have thought to be Wrath's background.]

So, after... all that... you sided with the Immunes? Even after being thrown through a 99th story window?

[It didn't sound like Wrath's other option, this Bifrons organization, sounded like much of an alternative, but still Wanda's surprised by her ability to forgive being dealt such injuries. Let alone, these "Immunes" seemingly forgiving Wrath in exchange.]

[That's what you get for asking.]

Well, it was a fight. It wasn't anything personal. [Keep telling yourself that enough... and it's an easier internal sell when you literally have no friends. Someone offers you a sincere personal connection and it's hard to say no to that.] And I kind of figured out that... they never really did anything to hurt me. Other than that. The people who had fucked me and my friends over again and again were all in Bifrons corporate.

[That's true. She definitely walked right into this one.]

[There is, however, a connection that begins to form in Wanda's mind between her and Wrath. Their stories... thinking they knew who their enemies were, who their allies were... misguided aggression and a battle with real consequences... and yet forgiveness and a truth that comes afterwards... finding out who the true villains and heroes are. Oh yes, this is a story Wanda can deeply relate to. The stark similarities between the two women's stories -- it makes Wanda smile. Once again, it seems she's found another person in the Fleet that she has far more in common with than she initially thought.]

It's not easy, is it? Coming to grips with the truth that... you may have been on the wrong side. That those you thought enemies actually are your greatest allies...

It's not. [Wanda seems to get it, which is a relief.]

I still don't really know what they used me for. What they used my friends for. I'll probably never know. When I realized... I wanted to make sure they couldn't do that to anyone else.

[Wanda gives a small nod of her head. She didn't know what sounded worse -- knowing that she had willingly made the wrong decisions, chosen the wrong side out of a misplaced sense of anger and revenge? Or being kept completely non-cognizant to it?]

Were you able to stop them? The Bifrons people?

I wasn't really able to do jack shit after I got discharged. Just paint. Some of the guys said that was important, and I put a show together that caused some trouble but... didn't feel like much. Then I woke up here.

So, loose ends then? You don't feel as though you got any closure.

[In Wanda's case, she'd gotten closure all right. Maybe not completely yet with HYDRA, but Ultron... she can still remember of that mechanic heart in her hand, bleeding oil. The anger and the power flowing through her in that moment. It's enough to make her look down at her hand for a moment, curling it into a fist and slowly uncurling it.]

Yeah. It's like... nothing but dangling ends. I never got to stop Bifrons. And I'll never know what they really have to pay for. No one knows, probably.

Something to do when you return from here then.

[She states her thought very calmly blunt. She hopes Wrath gathers that she's trying to help, trying to provide Wrath with a feeling that she doesn't have to let things end here. After a moment, she adds:]

I hope you get your closure.

[Again, her fist balls up and uncurls, looking as though it's feeling something not there.]

[She shakes her head.] I don't want to go back there. I don't--

[Because Compliance will find her. Or she'll turn into a dysthrope because she doesn't have ports any more. Or...]

I want to get my friends out of there. But I can't. I can't go back to that.

[Wanda can see and sense Wrath's fear. Her expression and tone become more sympathetic in response.]

It's okay. I understand. I do.

[She's quiet for a moment, her eyes drift down and away looking as if they're searching for something, but soon return to Wrath's face.]

I am sure there is a way to save your friends.

I hope so. I mean. If we find a way to leave, there has to be something. [The planet she's on is basically dying. She wants to save everyone.

Well. Almost everyone.]

[Wanda bites her lip. She wants to help Wrath. She really does. If for no other reason than the fact that the two of them apparently are so similar. And yet, Wanda gotten her closure with Ultron. Wrath had been denied her's. But she deserves to receive it just as much as Wanda did.]

Wrath, if there is someway I can help... let me know.

[She can tell Wanda's serious about this, and appreciates it. Somehow, she's sure they'll find a way.]

Thank you, Wanda. It means a lot.

[Wanda nods back, smiling sympathetically. Now feeling a deeper connection to Wrath than she had before their conversation. To think their situations were so similar... this place, her fellow fleet members... they never cease to surprise.]

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Wrap?

Sounds good. Good ending spot. :)