TYL Event - after Nagi's return to his normal age

[have_your_lives]

[You know who has no respect for personal property? Or, apparently, bazookas? This guy. He literally tried to just grab the thing off of Lambo, because there is no possible way wrenching a bazooka out of someone's hands could end in anything other than candy and rainbows. Or whatever would be the evil equivalent as far as Schuldig is concerned - probably tears and kicked puppies.

It's been mentioned before that Schuldig has no inkling of common sense, and this should be an excellent reminder to everyone how crippling of a disability that is.

What actually happened was that the bazooka got dropped onto hard concrete and went off more or less in the telepath's face. And instead of being blown into the bloody, quarter-sized pieces he probably deserved, he got rocketed back into the past, while his twelve-year-old self has been jerked forward in time and dumped into Mayfield.

The upshot of this is that a small, skinny boy with scruffy orange hair is prowling around Mayfield. He's dressed in worn, nondescript grey clothing and looks kind of malnourished; there are many methods of discipline in Rosenkrüs, and denial of food is actually one of the pleasanter ones. Unlike others in this same situation, he seems less confused than wary and suspicious...but those who expect Schuldig's usual personality in a smaller package will be significantly surprised if they approach him. He's fairly easy to recognize with that hair, in any case.]

[OOC: I wish I had more icons for him as a kid, but this is pretty much the only one that even looks remotely close. :| You may see a lot of it.]

Comments

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[You keep puzzling Keane, Crawford, though he seems much more relaxed about this than Schuldig would be. Schuldig needles and questions; Keane trusts almost unreservedly as far as Brad is concerned. The possible reasons for this switch are known only to Crawford and Schuldig himself.] Japan? Really? What do we do there? [He's already resolved to take back as much knowledge of his future as he can.] Why doesn't it matter?

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

[] Japan because it's where Eszett finds us to be most effectively and fruitfully deployed. You'll enjoy it while it lasts.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

...we work for Esset? [It's hard to tell what Keane thinks of that. Not because his face is hard to read, and certainly not because he's learned to hide his emotions yet - even if he had, he wouldn't from Brad - but because he seems conflicted. On the one hand, even after only two years, he hates Rosenkrüs and Esset and has harbored quietly seething fantasies of ripping them apart...on the other hand, Brad said he'd like this future. Does something change? Or is there something he doesn't know?]

...you keep talking like something's going to happen.

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

We do, after a fashion. It's convenient for some time. They provide a high level of utility for minimal deviation from our own objectives. You'll have to trust me on this one, Keane, but... it's worth dealing with them, in the end. We get to see the end of the world.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Keane's mouth opens, then shuts without anything coming out of it. It's fairly early days for him yet in Rosenkrüs, long before he became Schuldig and developed an actively sadistic streak, and to him - or at least him as he is now - seeing the end of the world holds little appeal. He tries to think of a way to phrase the question properly before he eventually ventures it.] ...why do we want to see that? [Because it's clear that Brad is holding this up as some kind of reward.]

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

[] Because it's coming rather quickly, whether we like it or not. We'll see it from the position to weather it.

And... it's a long ten years.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

...what happens during those ten years, anyway? You seem pretty much the same, just - older. But I don't even have the same name.

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

[]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Keane suspects that's not a good sign, and looks uncertainly at Crawford.] ...is it that bad?

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

You've been through two years already. Does it really surprise you?

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

...I didn't think it could get worse.

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

It gets long. That's all.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Shame on you for lying to this face, Crawford. :| Which is currently looking determined.] All I need to know is that we get out.

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

[] In most of the futures I've seen. Keep your head down, Keane.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Keane...tries not to look crestfallen. He really does. But he was never as good as Schuldig at concealing his less desirable emotions, and it's a rather poor job.] ...so there's no guarantee I'll get this far, even with all this. [Whatever his emotions, though, his voice is perfectly level and impassive. This possibility is nothing new to him, even if he just had a few blessed minutes of believing it had been ascertained otherwise.]

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

...do you know what the secret is? To getting out of there?

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

I didn't know there was a secret to it at all.

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

When the future has paths, multiples, different potential outcomes, Keane, they all have... themes. Choices we make which by and large force different outcomes. [] There are insubstantial futures where neither of us make it out of that place. When we do, it's... it's always together.

[]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Keane's pupils seem to dilate a bit, or perhaps it's a trick of perception; whatever the case, his eyes seem to get wider and darker all at once.] ...so as long as I hold out, so do you? [His mind is already curling itself tightly around this vitally important certainty, with all the bloody-minded determination that not even the shift to Schuldig ironed out of him.]

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

Something like that, yes. When either of us becomes sloppy, things change for the other.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

Well, I wasn't going to let them break me when it was just me. There's no way in hell I'll let them break us both.

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

[] Then I'll be seeing you again in about... ten years.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Keane grins. Crawford's probably keeping him from detecting that there's anything strange about that smile.] Technically, you'll be seeing me the whole time.

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

[]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Only a year before Keane does break, and painstakingly puts himself back together as something new. Smashed to pieces, but re-purposing those jagged edges as weapons and defenses.

But someone will make it out of Rosenkrüs, because if Schuldig carried nothing else of Keane over - and some things did transfer, more than he'd care to acknowledge - his promises were kept.]