But you're hurting me from inside of my head

[have_your_lives]

[Filtered to the Legion of Doom, Edward Nigma, and pretty much everyone he's contacted in regards to this post]

I think our friend Nigma has, once again, neglected to consider the finer points of telepathy...as, perhaps, all of you may have. Namely, if he's asking you all for ways to defeat a telepath, then he doesn't have any now. So he's blithely led me to being aware of each and every one of you.

I know who you are. I know everything you've cared to pass on to Edward Nigma. For your own sakes, I'd suggest questioning the risks you're taking, aligning yourselves with a self-proclaimed genius who can't even wrap his mind around the basics of mind-reading. Look how badly he's stumbled right out of the gate, exposing every one of his allies. Is this really the horse you want to bet on? Because, if he suddenly becomes more well-equipped or more competent than he is now...

I'll know who to blame.

[OOC: All information Schuldig is working on is courtesy of Edward - with permission - and whether it goes further than that is up to you. :3 ]

Comments

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

You wouldn't even have a throat if you had. [It's not said with any particular emphasis; it's merely a statement. Schuldig's past was agonizing to live through; the sharing of it would be unbearable. Fortunately, it seems he was successful in conveying to Ema just how private even what little she knows, or can guess at, actually is.] But I suppose even you know that wouldn't be fair, hm? I might as well come at you with a knife in a thunderstorm.

[He leans against the kitchen counter, studying her.] I assume you want him to kill me.

[glowing-science.livejournal.com]

[Ema tenses automatically when he references the night Joe Darke came after her. When she speaks, her voice is pure ice.] Was that necessary? I didn't tell him. I'm not going to tell him.

[With a few deep breaths, she forces herself to relax. Schuldig's next question requires a bit of consideration. As a completely separate entity from Keane, Schuldig is... well, a monster. A monster that's becoming uncomfortably human, in Ema's perception, but a monster nonetheless. He's a danger to just about everyone here. And Edward has a point in saying that Schuldig could afford to be taken down a few pegs... although she doesn't dare dwell on that thought long, remembering the reaction she got out of him the last time she tried to do exactly that.

And yet, she's seen Schuldig slowly begin to unravel. And she's seen a side of Schuldig that makes them both uncomfortable, the almost-human part of the Mastermind. And the idea of vigilante murder makes her incredibly uncomfortable, regardless of the circumstances or the target. It doesn't matter that Schuldig will be back immediately after. It doesn't matter that, on some level, Schuldig might deserve it. It doesn't even matter what Edward's motives even are. It's the principle of the thing.

And, to her, principles still matter.]

I want him to change his mind and not go through with whatever he's planning.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

Out of reasons of self-preservation, and to protect him. I was wondering if you'd actually considered any other reasons not to hand him those sorts of tools. [His message is fairly clear, even if he's skirting around actually saying it - that to give an enemy information so personal and so painful, simply to be weaponized against him, would be cruel and unfair, perhaps even by his own sadistic standards. Oh, he's used people's pasts against them before, but that is a bit different. For one thing, he can't help knowing, and the knowing causes him suffering even as it gives him an advantage. And, of course...Schuldig's past is a hell of a lot darker than most.]

But he's going to persist; we both know it, he's too stupid not to. And your ideal outcome would be him killing me, right?

[glowing-science.livejournal.com]

Does it even matter?

[For the record, the answer is yes. Self-preservation and protecting Edward are the way she justifies her silence, but there's also the fact that she doesn't feel that she has the right to share what she knows. Just as she keeps her own past close to the chest, and just as she's kept silent about Edward's confessions... Schuldig's past is his to share or hide as he sees fit. So she's kept it to herself. It's out of something almost like respect.

Which is why she'll never consciously own up to it.]

What do you want me to say? That I'd love to see him murder you in cold blood? The answer is still no, Schuldig. Just as much as I'd rather you not kill him.

[Not that she expects him to hold back. But ideal doesn't have to equal realistic.]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

You tell me.

Hah. If the situation were reversed, what would you have done to try and stop me?

[glowing-science.livejournal.com]

Hmph.

[Still not going to own up to it. Take her thoughts on that question as you will, Schuldig.]

Try to talk you out of it. Try to bargain with you to get you to back off. Maybe even try to physically stop you.

[Considerably more than she did to try and stop Edward. But then, this is hypothetical; if really faced with such a thing, she might relent fast than she herself thinks.]

It's not like I'm thrilled with you running around killing people. And I'm just as bothered by what Edward's doing. Why are you trying to force me to give you an answer more to your liking?

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

I'm not. I'm just exploring the answers you do give, and why you give them. [Schuldig shrugs.] I don't have much else to do that's worth doing.

[It seems his dark mood from before has morphed into something more like exhausted resignation...? But his moods are always shifting, and there's no saying how long this one will last.]

[glowing-science.livejournal.com]

...

[Ema's bad at reading him on a good day. This? She doesn't know what to do with this.

After a few moments' silence, she gets up, crosses to the coffee pot, pours him a mug, and returns to the table, setting it down in front of him.]

Here. If you're going to sit here and interrogate me, might as well have a drink.

[And she retakes her seat across from him.]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Schuldig cocks an eyebrow at this, but he's never turned down coffee for as long as she's known him, and he doesn't now. He picks up the mug and takes a sip.] Technically I'm standing here interrogating you. [He's obviously trying to annoy Ema a little with semantics, which is perhaps the most innocuous his taunting has ever been.]

[glowing-science.livejournal.com]

You're still interrogating me, aren't you? [Ema huffs a little. She's gotten better about not rising to Schuldig's bait, but she's not perfect at it... particularly when it comes to minutia like this. She takes another drink of coffee--filled with sugar and cream, a contrast to his--and gives him a critical look.]

I don't suppose there's any way I can stop you from rising to whatever bait he sets out, is there?

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Schuldig looks amused.] If I did, he'd just become more insulted and try even harder. What would be the point? He's pursuing me harder than he's gone after you, and the chase has to end somewhere. Playing hard to get only drags out the inevitable.

I'd suggest turning him aside for his own good, but you've already tried it. [He shrugs easily.] One of the most useful bits of knowledge for a sadist is knowing that people will rip themselves to shreds without you lifting a finger...and knowing when to sit back and let them.

[glowing-science.livejournal.com]

[Ema frowns.]

You're... not going to go easy on him, are you?

[Not that she ever expected him to. She sighs, heavily.]

For a man as bright as he is... he's such an idiot.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

That depends on him more than me at this point, doesn't it? He's forcing all of this. I may harass him, but I haven't taken it any further than that.

[glowing-science.livejournal.com]

Trust me, I know.

I just wish I could stop him.