ya gotta wanna be a battering ram

[headandhand]

WHO: The entire dang city.
WHAT: Dualis Days, a week-long summer celebration.
WHERE: Central Square Park and the rest of the city.
WHEN: June 17-23.
WARNINGS: Terrorist violence, likely some blood and injuries. Please warn in individual threads!

June 17; Central Square Park.

Every year for as far back as anyone can remember, the start of summer is heralded by the week-long festival known as Dualis Days. This celebration officially kicks off at midday in the middle of Central Square Park with a commencement speech by the current mayor. This year marks Marcelina Dubanowski's third term as mayor of Dualis; she is an average-sized, middle-aged human-presenting woman with blonde hair styled in a short bob and a plastic, toothy smile that never seems to turn entirely off.

"Welcome, one and all!" she begins, with the practiced cadence of someone who is quite comfortable with public speaking. She invites all citizens, new and old, to spend the next week indulging in festivities in all districts of the city and getting to know their neighbors a little better. This is a joyous time of celebration, and the crowd responds with enthusiastic applause as the mayor finishes her speech and introduces this year's parade marshall, Peshtigo Tengfei.

Tengfei blows a whistle six times to signal the start of the parade - and this is where the celebration goes sideways.

A loud explosion tears through the air, and it's followed by panicked screams and the sharp screech of microphone feedback. A bomb has gone off at the platform where the mayor was standing, collapsing the wood and tearing it to splinters and dust. Chaos erupts in the gathered crowd, and as the people shift in all directions to get clear of any possible additional bombs, a loud siren cuts through the cacophony, calling attention to the sudden crackle of video feed present on all television screens throughout the city, including those set up in the park to broadcast the mayor's speech for those standing far from the stage. The picture is plain, a black background and bold white block letters filling the screen:

WAKE UP
WAKE UP
DON'T BELIEVE THE LIES

The final image is an anatomical graphic of a human heart, displayed for about three seconds, and then the feed goes black again.

Confused murmurs sweep through the crowd as citizens resume tending to the injured and evacuating the area until official first responders arrive.

June 17-23; aftermath around the city.

Dualis Days continues as scheduled, though Mayor Dubanowski is unable to enjoy the festival, as she is spending the week in the hospital recovering from her injuries. A team of Iterations guard her door - no visitors allowed - but the news media frequently report updates on her condition. Nothing to worry about, folks! Return to your celebrations, and don't mind the increased visible presence of the Hand as Iterations are stationed every few blocks throughout the city. It's only for your protection, after all.

Comments

[firacrux]

Hold on, there was a lot to unpack from just her first statement. The implication that not a single person here in the city is a native. Every one of them had been taken from their homes. Then that posed the question of not only why, but how long had they been there. Had they been fed the same line about their DNA being needed to "save the world" or some shit? The whole back from the dead thing was alarming, don't get him wrong, but he wasn't taking it nearly as hard as Nida was right now. Mostly due to the blase way the officer was taking it.

"This happens often here, people back from the dead? Just once?" Or was it many times? Because the Iteration had also brought in people who were dead in their own worlds. He did have to smirk and gesture at the window. "Oh hell I'd think he was up to somethin' if I didn't know the idiot." He was definitely suspicious looking. And acting, he's sure.

Following along after Nida's explanation Seifer added. "Brothers, of a sort. Found family. Figured it'd be a nice way to keep track when one of us inevitably ended up unconscious in a police station somewhere."

You know, like what happened today!

[scathefires]

The woman picks up Nida's dog tags to inspect them, read the words and compare them with the ones on the tags taken from Jason. Satisfied, she slides them back across the table to Nida and turns her attention to Seifer.

"The Head works in mysterious ways," she says, with a light smirk curling her lip. "But yes, it's not uncommon for citizens of Dualis to be restored from death, even multiple times. The Head has a vested interest in keeping as many of us alive as possible for as long as it needs to finish its study of us."

She picks up the device on the table and turns it back on, then taps in a few notes. "Found family," she murmurs, repeating Seifer's words, "brothers, but not officially or biologically related." She nods, finished with her notes, and rises from her chair. "Well, that's all I needed to know in order to release Mr. Todd to the both of you. You're all free to go. If you'll follow me?"

The woman turns and opens the door without waiting for Nida and Seifer, then heads into the adjacent room where Jason's still leaning back in his chair, waiting. His head snaps up at the sound of the door opening, and his eyes narrow at the sight of the woman entering.

"What, is it electroshock o'clock again already? Or are you gonna switch it up with some good ol' fashioned waterboarding this time?"

[skyward_eyes]

That is a lot of information for Nida to take in. Information he should focus on of course. But the thing is, there is too much. And the thing he focused on is taking his tag back. Gets it around his neck and when the woman says she’s releasing Jason, he is on his feet and moving. Follows her out of the room and the barely even waits for Sefer. And Hyne, it really is Jason in the room.

Electroshock? Oh no, Jason is going to get something else. Nida pushes past Detective Karen. Pushes past her and across the room.

First rule of greeting a man who has been dead? Don’t slap them. Nida immediately breaks that rule, crossing and slapping Jason.

“You fucking idiot!” he snaps. And then he wraps his arms around Jason. Only thing getting him out of this hug may well be Seifer prying him off. “Hyne damn you. Where the fuck do you get off dying!”

[firacrux]

Seifer wore an expression that clearly stated he wasn't certain if that was a good thing or a bad thing, that the Head would bring them back from the dead. However, at least in this instance, it had given them another chance with their brother. So for now it would be deemed good enough.

Thankfully their explanation was enough for the officer to return their wayward brother to them.

Upon entering the room and overhearing he frowned, looking over at the officer. "Electroshock?" Wait were they seriously torturing him or is he just being dramatic? Never mind Nida appeared to make it...worsebetter?

Yeah he's going to hover back a little bit and let Nida get the slapping and hugging out of his system before he pries Jason free. This is the punishment for dying. "He's got a point, asshole."

So much love.

[scathefires]

The defiant expression drops from Jason’s face when he catches sight of Nida, replaced by one of wide-eyed surprise. He’s too surprised, in fact, to do anything to block Nida’s strike or resist the hug, relaxing without resistance into Nida’s arms after a moment of reflexive tension.

“Nida? What ... ?”

His hands are still shackled, so he can’t do much more than sit there awkwardly and let Nida do his hugging until he’s ready to let go. The policewoman stands back, observing the scene before her in amused silence. She nods in acknowledgement to Seifer’s question.

“Iterations are authorized to use up to fifty thousand volts of electrical charge in order to subdue a belligerent suspect,” she explains calmly. So no, Jason’s not being dramatic - he really was electroshocked into submission. And sedated.

Jason shakes himself from shock and levels a nasty glare at the woman, who remains unimpressed. “Lady, you haven’t even begun to see me get belligerent,” he says, then shifts his gaze, questioning, to the other brother in the room.

“What? Not like this is the first time it’s happened,” he says, managing a bit more of his usual dry, snarking tone. “Can’t really’ve been that much of a surprise.”

[skyward_eyes]

“Oh wow, you think you’re allowed to talk?” Nida asks, voice sharp. And yes, he pulls away to turn on Karen. “And can we talk about fucking messes? I’ve used thunder spells that didn’t have that much juice. Add in someone wearing rubber soles boots, what then? Fucking Hyne this is insane. Unlock these cuffs!”

Rational thought has sort of faded for the man. Protecting his brothers matters more than anything and he isn’t letting Jason down twice. And with his snapping at Karen done he turns back to Jason, still angry.

“And you, stop being a punk right now. This woman came to find us for you. She didn’t have to do that.”

[firacrux]

"Up to..." Seifer murmured, mulling on the words. That didn't necessarily mean they used as much force as they possibly could out the gate. Just as much as it took. Then he huffed a laugh. "You got your ass tased," Poor Jason, he didn't deserve the mocking but it made the situation a little less tense. He then gestured dismissively. "We've got spells that hit for more, too. Come on we'll take this dumbass home." Seifer just shakes his head, heaving a sigh. What's he going to do with you two?

"You can't be here for more than five minutes before you start a fuckin' fight with the police. Hyne." Nida did have a good point, at which he does offer Karen an apologetic look. "He's right, nice of you to find us so thanks for that. Sorry about this, tensions high and all." Surely she understands why they'd all be on pins and needles after everything that exploded, literally.

[scathefires]

Jason's low-grade angry expression shifts to Nida next. Hearing someone try to tell him what to do or what not to do is like nails on a chalkboard, the quickest way to get his hackles up, and frankly, he's still not thrilled about the whole getting slapped thing.

"Or what," he asks, challenging, "ya gonna hit me again? Make sure you get the other side this time so I have a matched set of bruises."

He won't disagree that it's time for the handcuffs to come off, though. Jason holds his wrists up to the policewoman, eyebrow quirked, a silent Well? Get on with it. She produces the key from her pants pocket and makes her way toward Jason, one wary eye kept on him while she unlocks the cuffs, just in case he has any ideas about attacking her while she's standing close. Jason's on his best behavior, however, no funny business or headbutts, just an irritated sigh once the cuffs are finally off. He rubs his hand over the opposite wrist and turns the flat, annoyed stare up to the woman.

"So am I free to go now? Or have you got some other bullshit charges for me?"

"You were never charged with anything, Mr. Todd," she says, coolly, pocketing the keys and cuffs. "Again, we simply had questions for you, and you resisted. Next time, consider being a little more cooperative." She punctuates her suggestion with an extra-sweet smile, and turns to Seifer, who is clearly the most reasonable person in this room, after herself.

"Reuniting lost children with their families is part of what we do here," she says, then turns to address all three of them. "I sincerely hope we don't see any of you here again under similar circumstances," though her tone seems to indicate that at least in Jason's case, she doubts that will be the case. She waves her hand toward the open door. "You're all free to go. Please take care to stay aware of anything that seems suspicious - the investigation into today's attack is still ongoing."

Jason shoots to his feet, knocking the chair backwards onto the floor, and beelines for the front door without another word.

[skyward_eyes]

“Our lives are suspicious,” Nida mumbles. He slips out after Jason, quick to follow him. And then just as quick to fall behind. Jason is pissed at him. That’s fair. Nida is pissed in return.

“Jason, will you stop for half a second?” he asks. It’s been a long day and the coffee in his system from coffee with Steph isn’t doing much for him anymore. The whole day is just a weight on his shoulders. “I’m sorry. I just... fuck, you two not withstanding, people don’t come back. You don’t get to tell them how much you hurt to lose them.”

Which was so much. Completely much. Like right now he wanted to lay down and not get up.

cw mildly suicidal w/ bonus reference to child physical abuse

[scathefires]

Jason doesn’t stop until he’s cleared the police station doors and reached the trash can just outside. He then begins shrugging off his coat, allowing it to drop to the ground without a single care as to where it lands, and tugs the bloodstained scrubs top up over his head. That’s a stain that’s not coming out, and frankly, the fewer reminders he has of the village and his second death, the better.

When Nida catches up to him, Jason angrily huffs and tosses a fiery glare over his shoulder at him. “You think I wanted to come back? Again? You really think I wanted to do this dance a second time?” He shakes his head and turns back to the trash can, throwing the wadded-up shirt down with an excess of force.

“Do me a favor, Nida - quit acting like you’re my dad now, ‘cause you’re not. For one thing, he hit a lot harder than you do.”

[skyward_eyes]

Fuck.

“You’re right,” he says after a silent moment. After watching Jason discard the reminder of another messy death. After being reminded how shitty Jason had it. A murdered family was actually better than what Jason ever had. “I... you’re right. I’m sorry. It’s been... it’s been hard since we lost you. But that isn’t something I should hold against you. Not when you went through worse. And did it to save people. I just-“

Hated himself. Feels guilty. Wonders what right be should have to having someone back. Wonders if he even has any claim on Jason now. In the balance of the lives of child soldiers and warriors, even small breaches of trust are almost impossible to bridge chasms.

“Sorry. I know that isn’t enough, but I’m sorry. Been through a lot lately.”

[firacrux]

While the other two raced off, probably to have words or try to dodge each other, Seifer hung back. He wasn't likely to have another opportunity present itself so nicely to him, so he might as well glean what information he might from Officer Karen while she was feeling generous and equally exasperated at his brothers. He glanced over at her and offered a kind of lazy 'what can you do?' shrug.

"So, while those two idiots duke it out or whatever, just how long you been doin' this reuniting thing anyway?" He was curious to know how long she might have been here, how long on average anyone might be there honestly. What were their odds of getting out of there, really?

[scathefires]

The woman looks at Seifer with a mildly amused expression. This is quite a change from his previous attitude, but it’s not unusual for newcomers to ask these sorts of questions.

“Let’s see ... I’ve been on the force about ten years, give or take,” she answers. “But thirteen years total - I’ve been living here since I was nineteen. Showed up right before midterms during my freshman year of college.” She laughs quietly. “I still can’t decide if I was more relieved at not needing to take the statistics exam or irritated that I’d already wasted so much time on studying for it.”

Meanwhile, outside the station, Jason is still in a foul mood. He’s had an extremely rough day, and Nida’s apologies aren’t doing much to soothe the sting of his violently emotional outburst. Jason bends to pick up his coat from the ground - no sense in letting the coat go to waste, even if it’s currently not needed. He gives the garment a hard flick to remove the dust it’s collected on the ground and turns to face Nida, still scowling.

“What do you want from me, Nida? I can’t take it back. I can’t do anything about any of this, and this is exactly why I told you I’m no good at this family crap! You shouldn’t get attached to me, because what happened back in the village? I can’t guarantee it ain’t gonna happen again. Running straight into the line of fire to save other people is what I trained for, and I can’t just ignore that because you don’t like it. This is who I am. I knew when I was a kid that I wasn’t gonna make it to retirement age. But I accepted that, because I got to make a difference. And that means more to me than saving my own skin when danger shows its ugly head.”

Jason looks a little shocked at his own words by the time he finishes ranting. This is the first time he’s admitted any of this aloud.

CW: mentions of death and suicide attempt.

[skyward_eyes]

Yes, Jason did warn him. And Nida chose this anyway. Chose him. He hesitates before taking another step forward.

"You think I don't get what it's like to live like that? It's what I was trained to do from childhood. I get that. I knew I wasn't going to make retirement either. The last time I was home I almost died three times in two weeks. But losing you... I should have been there to help you. And I wasn't ready. I'm never going to be ready."

Which means he should force himself. Because nothing else is fair in n life, so why should this be?

[firacrux]

Sure is! Earlier conversation he had his heels dug in expecting to be questioned over a bombing he had no part in, by someone in a position of authority no less. Of course he was ready to be an absolute pain in her ass over it. Now that the officer had brought their brother back to them and somehow tolerated them patiently he's feeling much more reasonable.

And eager for something of a real clue as to their situation here. "Thirteen years?" He repeats, near squawking. The Head made it sound like it was just going to be a temporary thing, not some life-long study! He doesn't want to be in this world for that long! Shit. He leaned back on a heel, brows furrowed in thought and concern. While he did not agreement with her assessment, impressed at how in stride she's taken it, it's still a lot to swallow.

"So that whole short-term implication really ain't that short term." He shakes his head, running a hand back through his hair. Well. Shit. Now they're going to have to decide if they want to settle in or figure out how to get out of there more quickly. "Anyone leave sooner than that?"

cw still sorta suicidal

[scathefires]

“Oh, no,” the woman says, shaking her head, “no, I didn’t mean to give you the wrong idea. The Head held up its end of the agreement and offered to send me back after one year. I chose to stay.” She smiles apologetically, and continues:

“I’m not aware of anyone leaving before their year is over. We sometimes have missing persons reports, but the person missing usually turns up after a few days with an explanation about getting lost in the city.”

Outside the station, Jason huffs in response to Nida’s words, mouth pressed into an angry line. “If you’d been there, you would’ve been killed, too. That guy was - I don’t even know if he was human, he was more like a machine. And I couldn’t stop him. You couldn’t either.”

He sighs and flips the coat over his broad shoulder, hanging onto the collar by a crooked finger. “Believe me - if I’d had any say in this, I wouldn’t’ve come back. I don’t want to be back. And I sure as hell don’t need any more reminders about what a disappointment I am.”

Re: cw still sorta suicidal

[skyward_eyes]

Woah, disappointment? That isn't right, okay. That isn't what he was getting at at all.

"I wouldn't feel like I failed my family, the one that I asked for," Nida counters, and his fingers move to start messing at the hem of his shirt. He hates being nervous.

"You're not a disappointment. You saved them. I just... I wanted my family together. With you included. I've fucked up. But I want to make this better."

[firacrux]

Oh, phew, alright he does relax a little. "Huh," He nods thoughtfully. "Yeah, I can understand choosin'." He'd been on his way elsewhere than home after all. Just didn't expect that elsewhere to be here. Not that he has too many complaints about the situation, yet. Again he nods as he continues.

"A year ain't so bad. Dunno what all this is about DNA and shit but whatever, guess I can lend a year to the cause." It doesn't bother him any. Hell, who knows, maybe they'll like it so much they'll settle in as well. His eyes sweep toward the door.

"Thanks for humoring me, I should probably go make sure those two ain't duking it out in the alley."

[scathefires]

“Of course,” the detective says, with a nod. “And we’re very happy to have your help. The year will be over before you know it.”

She smiles warmly at him, possibly the most amicable expression she’s given any of them since they met. “I hope you and your brothers work everything out amongst yourselves. And I meant what I said - I truly hope I don’t see any of you brought in here again.”

As far as working things out goes ... if asked at this particular moment, Jason’s not sure he would say it’s possible. He’s angry and hurt, disoriented and traumatized and hasn’t had time to properly recover from being killed, has been beaten and electrocuted and drugged and locked up. It’s too much for him to parse all at once, much less mitigate his feelings of guilt and inadequacy on top of everything else. Jason stares Nida down for another moment, then drags his hand down his face and shakes his head.

“Nida, I just ... I can’t do this right now.” He turns and stares out at the city, overwhelmed by the newness of the location and the cacophony of sights and sounds.

“I need to go find a new shirt.”

[skyward_eyes]

Nida would even offer the one off of his back, but the thing is, he's smaller of form than his brothers. But he gets it. He gets that he shouldn't be here. Nida frowns and nods.

"Do... you mind if I stick around just long enough to make sure Seifer can take you back to the dorms? He might even have a spare shirt already."

Because he really is the one who made the issue here. And it's probably best that he isn't around. But the thing is, he can't just leave Jason alone like this.

[firacrux]

"Is it helping, has there been progress in whatever the hell we're doing here?" He's not too worried about the year himself, it wasn't like he was going home anyway. But for the others... yeah they probably wanted to go back.

He nods his thanks to her, and while Seifer's not the best at smiling he does offer an appreciative look regardless. The last comment earns a huffed laugh. "Yeah, we'll see how lucky that is." With Jason's attitude? They'll be back. "Hey, any chance I can get his tags back for him?" Jason would appreciate that, he's sure. Then he can go try to find the yahoos and get them fed or something.

[scathefires]

"I believe that there's been progress," she answers. "We get news updates every so often about breakthroughs in research, but they always say that there's much more work to be done." And the detective seems satisfied with that explanation.

Seifer's request for Jason's dog tags is met without hesitation. She pulls the plastic evidence bag out of her back pocket again, opens it, and retrieves the chain and tags from within. "Of course," she says, holding them out for him to take with a warm smile.

Outside on the sidewalk, Jason has a number of arguments building on his tongue: he doesn't need Seifer to baby him; he doesn't want to go to the dorms and settle in; he just needs to be alone right now so he can get his head together. But none of those words find their way out of his mouth. Jason just sighs tiredly.

"Fine." Which, of course, is Jason-speak for I don't like this, but I don't have the steam to fight about it. He walks to the edge of where the sidewalk meets the street and takes a seat on the curb, bent forward with his elbows propped on his legs and both hands raked up into his unruly hair. Jason isn't going to bolt if Nida chooses to sit next to him.

[skyward_eyes]

Nida pauses for a bit, moving to sit on the edge of the curb next to Jason. Just a few more minutes. When Seifer shows up he'll go. As it is, he sits there. Sits and stares at the road.

"You're... healthy though, right? Except for the whole getting tazed thing? We could get you to a doctor if there's any lingering wounds."

[firacrux]

"At least there's somethin'," He murmurs, accepting the tags and stuffing them into his pocket. The explanation didn't sit well with him, seemed too vague, but he wasn't going to push his suspicions and paranoia on her. Instead he just nodded his thanks and finally turned to go find his brothers outside. Hopefully they haven't gotten into too much trouble.

They're not hard to find, thankfully, so he just strides out after them. "Hey you two, who's hungry?" He calls, moving to join them.

[scathefires]

Jason's fingers curl more tightly into his hair, but he shakes his head. "Far as I can tell, I'm fine. No holes, nothing broken. I'm just - tired." Whether that's physically from the electrical jolt and shaking off the sedation or mentally from the strain of being resurrected once again or both, Jason couldn't even say, if questioned. He just knows that bone-deep exhaustion feels like a scarf knotted tightly around his neck, threatening to cut him off from breathing.

He releases his hair and raises his head, dragging both hands down his face when Seifer arrives. "I'm fine," he repeats, tense but not actually angry with his other brother.