End of the Beginning...

We're in the car... Onewinged and I... his car... my seat is leaned back for some reason... can't see over the dash... don't know why... I never rode like that normally... He's not saying anything, can barely see his face in the dark. Weird... He never liked driving around at night.

"Hey" my voice...

He looks at me, briefly. "Hey. You awake?"

"Think so... ... ... ... the fuck am I?"

1 - "You're in my car. I'm taking you back home."

2 - "Oh... ... ... ... is everything blurry for a reason or did I wake up in the twilight zone?"

1 - a laugh... "Little bit of both probably."

2 - "Wonderful... do elaborate."

1 - "...couldn't give you the details. But seems you got knocked up on something. You remember anything? Anything at all?"

2 - "I remember plenty of things. For instance... you're a shitty driver... so you should pull over and let my clearly drunken ass drive before you run us off a bridge or something."

1 - "Yeah, I'll do that right now." ...the car doesn't stop...

2 - "Soooo.... I'm guessing there was a party or something.... and I got absolutely wasted... again... and you're so embarrassed that you're not gonna tell me what happened for like a month or something?"

1 - "...yeah. Yeah, lets go with that."

2 - "This didn't involve that thing with the yoyo and the pineapple again did it?"

1 - "Christ. NO."

2 - "Oh good. That one was kind of awkward before... lets not talk about that again."

1 - "We wouldn't if you didn't keep bringing it up."

2 - "Sooooorrrry~"

.......

2 - "Hey bro...?"

1 - "Yeah?"

2 - "There's like... blood all over you, you know?"

......

1 - ".....it's not mine."

Purge

Onewinged is there... appears restrained... the scene seems to wobble... back and forth... a haze... but otherwise transfixed forward...

that man is here... he's standing up now... he has something in his hand...

3 - "You should have listened you know." turning back... dancing around the room... like he's having the time of his life... "This would have been SO much easier. On the both of you. Willing subjects are so much easier... so much easier... much less restraints, far fewer cuts and bruises..."

syringe... fucking needles... it's glinting in the light...

3 - "You never listen though... Never, never... too caught up in those blogs of yours. Flights of fancy with your precious runner 'friends.' You've never even spoken to a one of them have you? How do you know they're even real?"

1 - "If they weren't real you wouldn't be acting like this... and you wouldn't have gone after the acid..."

3 - "Hu~mmm. Yes. Yes I suppose you're right. But still not completely right. You should have listened to me more... instead of Them. Your Hermit and your Sages aren't going to get you out of this... but I can. That's what I'm here for. To save my precious little friends from the big bad suit. Hee, heee~"

1 - "You've completely lost your mind haven't you? Is there anything left in there that he hasn't taken from you? Should I just start calling you 'Redlight' now?"

something flies across the room... onewinged flinches at it...

3 - "Don't you EVER Call Me That!!" rage... brief... but intense... "I'm more than some meat puppet for him to dance around in! I was Chosen! I will rise above all of this as a new man! You'll see... You'll See!"

in front of me now... can't see anything else...

3 - "You should feel lucky... you're not nearly as infected as the rest of us... hardly a worthy test subject." needle... needle... needle... needle... "Perhaps in time... But this is much better... This is Poetic... what better to experiment on than a Rat? It's too bad I couldn't find more... I wonder what the reaction would be to a purer concentrate? An overdose of pure substance? But alas, there wasn't enough of a dose for all of us... I've had to dilute the solution... but perhaps that will be enough. Perhaps this is the key to the proper dosage? Just enough to cleanse the infection, without rotting the brain."

1 - "Don't you dare! You know the side-effects! You could kill him!"

3 - "Good." that grin again... "All the better then. This is all his fault after all. He's the one who dragged us into this. He Made Me this Way. Neither of them would have found me otherwise. I wasn't involved. HE inFECTED US! He's one of Them. One of their filthy little Tools. But I don't despise him... noooo~ He's given me so much mooore~ Haa ha ha haaa~! I've become something greater now... and soon... soooon~ so much mooore~"

1 - "@#$%" can't hear... the laughing is too loud... there's some other noise... the needle comes closer...

3 - "Time to Wake up Dearest~"

Memory

3 - "Most of them can't remember it, you know?" same place as before... but Onewinged's not here... he doesn't move around a lot... i think he's tied to the chair... "Most of them go about their lives never even realizing he was there. But me? I remember... I remember it all. That makes me special. I'm one of his favorites, don't you see?"

"Tch, you're a pawn like all the rest."

3 - "Well, you would know, wouldn't you?"

"Stuff it"

3 - "I think you're just jealous. Jealous because I'm better than you. Because I was chosen for a higher purpose. You're just another scrap of meat at the bottom of the pile, waiting to be thrown to the dogs."

"I said Shut Up."

3 - "At the end of the day, you and I both know that I'm our only ticket out of this. I'm the only one with a plan. The only one that stands a chance in the grand scheme of things. Without me you'd be nothing. You'd be dead already. Your little 'friend' too. You're lucky I still have a use for you."

the angle changes again... there's a gun pointed at the man... he's still smiling...

"I've had enough of your bullshit!"

3 - "What's this? Have a struck a nerve? Is the little Mouse trying to frighten the Cat?"

"Stop acting like you're better than us you sick freak!"

3 - "Now now deary, that would require me to have started acting in the first place. The truth is that I've always been better than you. This latest matter merely confirms it." smug... always so smug...

1 - "What the hell are you Doing?!?" another shift... Onewinged is here... "Are you crazy?! Put that thing away!"

"No! Fuck this! I've had enough! We're not dealing with this bastard anymore!"

1 - "Damnit, you know he's delusional, stop letting him get inside your head!"

3 - "Yes, that's right, you know I'm delusional. Stop making it so Easy~" sugar-coated venom...

"I will fucking kill you right now."

1 - "If you pull that trigger I swear to god I will never forgive you. Do not stand there and let yourself be lowered to his level!"

the gun is shaking...

3 - "Noooo~ don't listen to hiiiim~ Do iiiiiit~! You knoooow you want to~! Be a man! Kill me!!"

1 - "***!!" ...he yelled my name...

...the gun is lowered...

3 - "Heh... I knew you didn't have the ba-" he was cut off... by what appeared to be my foot colliding with his face... knocking him and his chair over onto the ground...

"We're leaving."

Onewinged looks upset... the room begins to move towards a door... all I can hear is laughing...

Faded

Onewinged is here... he's leaned against a wall or something... there's another man sitting... across from me? Angle keeps shifting... don't recognize him... talking...

3 - "But that's the beauty of it, don't you see?" there's this smirk on his face, like he's proud about something... like he's smarter than the rest of us... "It doesn't just wipe your memory, that's just a unpleasant side-effect. The acid counteracts the infection, it nullifies His hold on you, breaks it. The chain's been severed, like you never had contact. Complete Freedom."

1 - "I've read the same blogs you have, it's not that simple." his expression... can't tell if he's angry or just really skeptical... "It leaves you stupid and vulnerable because you don't know what's going on anymore. By the time you recover, it's too late, he's already got you again."

3 - "They weren't careful enough.... they kept blogging, kept digging, trying to get their memories back." smug... smug... smug... look on his... "Went down the wrong path and straight back into His arms. Didn't have a chance that way. If they'd just left it well enough alone, let the past lie, like so many childhood memories lost, and they'd have been fine. Without seeking the truth in Him, He'd have never found them again."

1 - "So you say... but you can't prove it."

3 - "On the contrary, I've seen it all play out quite a few times now. The bastard keeps watch on his test subjects you see and I get to go along for the ride from time to time, as you well know by now." familiar... familiar... familiar... who the fuck is

1 - "You'll excuse me if I don't take your word for it. Anything he's shown you could just be another one of his tricks. He plays games with lives. How could you trust anything that man-"

3 - "Because he's on our siiiiiide~!" interruption... pissed... Onewinged is definitely pissed... "Think about what we're dealing with for a moment. He can't very well just act against him outright. Luckily for us he's so clever... he's got it all figured out you see. He uses what power our mutual 'friend' provides him to serve while subtly acting in defiance. How many runners has he let get away when he had them right where he wanted them? You really think it'd have been so easy to rescue them if he'd been working against us? Hmm hm hmm... and of course, that's why he makes The Deal. He needs willing subjects for the experiment. Willing souls are so much easier to work with, you know? It allows him to further his goals while still giving the appearance of following orders. The true nature of his plans will all be revealed in time. They're too far reaching to be stopped."

"Bullshit"

....I think that was me....

3 - "Oh? So you doubt me then? You've got all the answers do you?" that look... "I suppose you would think that, wouldn't you? I'm just a lowly vessel after all, I'm not really in the service of He That Is." that stupid... smug...

1 - "That's Enough! We've already been over this!"

3 - "Have we?" shit eating grin... "I must have forgotten... I'm not always here you know."

1 - "Please, just- I'm trying to trust you, but you're not making this easy for any of us."

3 - "Yet you trust that one without question?" nodded at me?

"Watch It" a growl... the angle shifts again... higher than before...

1 - "Stop! Just stop!"

a calm...

1 - "We're not doing the acid."

3 - "It's the only way."

1 - "We'll find Another Way."

3 - "Like what? The only weapon we ever had was The Heel and I destroyed- Kkhhkk!!" some kind of cough... he looks angry at himself for a moment... then he recovers... "HE destroyed it. There wasn't any choice of course... He wasn't ready to act yet. But soon... soon... that's why we have to find the right dosage. If we can get the delivery right then it will help him to-"

1 - "We're not helping that bastard. We're only associating with him at all because we're trying to save you."

3 - "......who said I wanted to be saved?"