come_sailaway | Are you on the square? Are you on the level?

Entry tags:

Are you on the square? Are you on the level?

Who: Deputy Pratt & You
What: A reckoning is upon you (He's storming the halls looking for Sharky)
Where: Everywhere!
When: Mid-October
Warnings: Violence. Cult stuff. Cannibalism. Skinning. Gore. The standard Pratt warning buffet.
Notes: Bracket or prose, live your truth.

1. The World Is Weak - Laundry Room
It's already been well established that the best place to have a breakdown on the ship is in the Laundry Room, so that's where Pratt is. Though he's not crying, he's not yelling or throwing things or freaking out over a jacket like last time. No, he's pacing. Back and forth and back and forth, again and again while staring at the ground. He has his arms folded, clutching across his chest, which is an awkward position while walking but he doesn't move them.

He doesn't know what to do. Well, he knows what he wants to do, but he also knows that he is the master of terrible decisions so maybe he should think about it?

Back and forth. Back and forth.

Enjoying yourself?

"Shut the fuck up."

2. Eviction Notice - Decks

When Deputy Pratt leaves his room in the morning, he's wearing his full uniform, his belt jangling with every step, along with the dog tags around his neck. Idly he trails his fingers along the wall as he goes, dragging through some of those bloody notes left on doors without even seeming to react to it.

"Sharky! Shaaaaarkkkkyyyy..."

For all that people have seen him sobbing into mashed potatoes, enjoying himself in the arcade, or just generally being a morose but kind of endearing dork, there's another side to him that even Clarke hasn't seen. The last time he was walking like this he was losing himself to the conditioning and barely knew what he was doing. This is different. Pratt is in absolute control of himself and that is so much worse.

"It's been a day and we had a deal. A pact even." Pratt normally sounds like a raven with laryngitis, but right now his voice is so low and controlled when he talks that it could probably be used to grind glass. If it's not obvious Pratt is pissed. He's fucking furious. And that cold fury is being bottled up, saving it for later, for when he needs to act.

"It's okay, you can come out. We just need to talk. We're going to have a little chat. That's all."

He gets to the end of the hall of cabins, blood trailing from his fingers across all the doors from the loving notes left to Ebalon. He reaches up to his forehead, using the blood to draw a cross down his nose and across his forehead.

"Did you think you were finally free?"

This is probably fine.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hah, I knew someone had to be sustained by it," he nods. Well, actually he just suspected/assumed so, and said as much to Arthur. "The blood all around the corridors, that's probably from the buffet, right?" Otherwise they would need a place to actually bleed someone so much, and it seemed like more effort than it was really worth, and someone abducted to produce that much would have been noticed by now.

"Yosh."

"I don't know, I think someone died. I think multiple someones have died but I don't know who. Have you noticed anyone missing? Like my roommate is gone, but I don't think she died because she hasn't shown back up. Clara is gone too."

Hn. He'd like to think someone just got creative with the buffet blood, but... he knows better than that.

"Clara was Klaus' roommate, was she not? She didn't die. Unless the circumstances for them reviving changed. Klaus mentioned how weird it was to be alone, and her corpse didn't show up when I stayed over. One person I know was burned, but this is too much blood for him without bloodletting tools like a dungeon." Bluh. He'd rather not think of Crichton being tortured first. "How long has your roommate been missing?"

"Yeah that's her. A couple weeks. I'm pretty sure she's gone gone, but you know.. I'd rather she be okay and just I dunno.. hiding out somewhere. Found someone to shack up with. Whatever." He won't judge, he's done that plenty of times.

"I don't know what to do with her stuff either. I feel weird taking it down and getting rid of it cuz it's .. not mine."

"The information binder said people come back sometimes, right? So just leave it unless a new roommate hates it, or stash it in a closet, I guess," Nobunaga considered it thoughtfully. "That's what I'd want done with my stuff. Except the knives. Anyone can have those. I'd rather they were put to use." Because that's what Eterna needs: more knife club weirdos with stabbing issues.

"Yeah I think uh... Jinx maybe did? Left and came back?" Pratt's memory isn't to be trusted but that sounds right. "So store the swords, keep the knives?"

"Soka." A nod. "Maybe I'll make a living will. Souza Samonji is the conqueror's sword. His destiny is to conquer. Anyone who feels inclined to take absolute control could try to wield him, but you should let them know, he is cursed, and holding him is to hold the weight of history and responsibility of thousands of lives on one's shoulders." Dramatic as fuck? Yes. Somehow Nobunaga isn't even as dramatic about the katana as its previous owner, Imagawa though, so there's that.

"Heshikiri Hasebe is very heavy, but nothing compared to Ruby Rose's Crescent or Jinx's rocket launcher. Nor is he cursed. So he can probably be handled safely by anyone competent. I'd want them back once I returned, or course. Oh, but Clarke has dibs on my Tanegashima Akechi 1579 rifle. She tried to run off with it at Fight Club."

And that was how she recruited herself to the Demon King army.

He will absolutely not remember these names nor who gets what. He might remember one of the swords is cursed but no promises.

"We should all write this shit down and leave it in our rooms." All his shit can go to Sharky and Ava and Clarke. Well.... if Sharky is ever Sharky again.

"There were rifles in 1579?"

"Yeah, living will."

The question actually takes him by surprise.

"What? Yeah, of course." Maybe it wasn't an of course. Nobunaga's startled by the formal universal education in the future that still somehow lacks in history. Imagine not knowing that Amerigo Vespucci circled the continents even though the country was named after him. That's definitely one thing Nobunaga would fix. "Portuguese landed accidentally on our shores bringing their guns with them. The daimyo of the province instantly saw their potential, and while none of them spoke the language or understood the customs of the court, the daimyo did his best to negotiate for the arms. Then took off with vastly improving the crude devices." Ahahaha, yeah, his nationalist pride is really shining through here.

He takes off the rifle to offer it to Pratt should he wish to view it, however. "That was in Tanegashima. He began shifting his forges to production instantly!" Actually 'rifle' is a bit of a translation snafu. The process of spiraling the bullets inside (rifling) was not done for centuries to come, as it required shell casings instead of raw gunpowder.

"Akechi is my left hand. He designed this personally for the whole army, and it just rolled off the forges six months ago my time. He also designed and oversaw production of my castle. He's a genius." So. So proud. "And a perfect shot. 100 shots. 100 perfect hits. My best is only ever 95%. I get too impatient."

"I dunno they kinda seem super modern. Though I guess I never thought about it. I'm not a gun nut like some officers are." It's just a tool he uses, he's not a fanatic about them.

"Oh shit, that's awesome looking. Is it like... a musket? Like you have to tamp in gunpowder with a stick and only get one shot so you gotta make it count? Probably makes people way better shots, I get nine bullets with this," Gesturing to the bright red pistol in the holster at his belt. "So I can miss a few times, but it also fires on full auto so I don't need to worry about being real accurate."

Wait, he realizes how that sounds, "Not that I'm sloppy, just.. it's different styles yeah."

"It's not a hand cannon," he's amused as the idea of literally using rods. That would take forever. As it is, the minute and a half it does take to reload is immense in the heat of war. "It pops open here," he opens the bullet chamber with the fluid motions of a general who's literally been doing this for decades, albeit with different designed arms, of course, but still also one who's trained countless dozens of soldiers; and shows inside the mechanics. "Arquebus. A type of matchlock." Now that he's trying harder, the translation kicks in better. "Locks back up. Powder goes here. Bullet goes here." The bullet is basically metal rocks. Metal balls. Basic as fuck. "Then the matchcord connects here, when you're ready, aim." A nod.

Nobunaga is absolutely a fanatic about guns. "It is difficult to see in battle with a lot of gunpowder smoke and the rest anyway, not every shot counts. I used volley fire, partition some men to fire, duck down to reload, next group behind them shoots over their head, and then the third group. Much faster. More effective." Another nod. That's how he took over the 'world,' as it were.

He lights up all over again about auto. Never was there so sweet a word referring to guns as that. "I have an auto mode for my coilgun too, though getting that many bullets in at once..." Shoot and spray man. A small laugh. "I am not sloppy, but I am not a -- how shall we say? Sniper. I am not finesse! I am more willing to blast a target completely than to get maximum points for precision!"

Okay that is RAD AS FUCK. He may be a total fan boy about swords, but this is a rad gun. It's so neat and ornate and there's a rope thing and getting shot by it would fucking suck.

"Basic but I don't want a metal rock embedded in my sternum. Doesn't matter if it's a bullet or a chunk of iron, still gonna suck. Guess a bullet might also give you lead poisoning and is more likely to go right through you." Recently he'd not been dealing with many people who survived being shot. The army of the Eden's Gate was ruthlessly efficient.

"No lie, feels awesome to shoot like a zillion bullets at once. Especially if you do it while screaming." He nods knowingly having done just that a few times. Granted the last time he shot something up it was a missile, he blew up a whole bunker, and flooded the damn place before he and Rook could escape.

Of all the things he regrets, that's not one of them. Shooting the fuck out of the bunker after starving to death for weeks felt fucking amazing.

"Poisons take too long, and are a pain the ass if you want to make someone join you instead. You should always give them that option. Then their strength is an addition to yours."

A head tilt. "Screaming huh? Usually I have to save my breath." Breath control in battle is very important. It's one of the few times Nobunaga actually shuts the fuck up. Probably why he overcompensates all the rest of the time however. "I really want to try auto at some point, but can't waste it. I'll just keep waiting for the right moment. That's all that strategy seems to be, truthfully."

"Yeah, if you can recruit them to your side by force then..." He looks away, "That's what we did back home, to make the army stronger. Kidnapped people and forced them into it against their will. Which worked but..."

He makes a disgusted sound, because of everything he needs to atone for, that's probably the worst. Everything he did to Rook.. what he helped Jacob do to others. He chokes down another awkward noise and tries to not think about it right now.

"Yelling is good stress relief. Makes you feel better."

Nobunaga stops dead in his tracks. What the fuck?

"No!" A little hoarsely. "Not like that." A double facepalm. Did he fuck up history with an over-correction? But how could that be? Importantly, "Is that what happened with Vietnam?!" Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

He'll have to rethink how he's been seeing Klaus in the best possible light as an ex-soldier, but wow that explains a lot about why Klaus wouldn't want to ever talk about Vietnam.

"How can that possibly work? Even if soldiers are at their strongest with their backs to a wall, that just means they'd fight you. So would the entire country, all their family and the rest. What absolute fucking dipshit moron decided to implement those tactics? And to have the audacity to call it strategy..."

"No. Well.. uh.. actually yes but that was different?" He blinks because he's not sure where the Vietnam connection came from since unlike Nobunaga he occasionally thinks about things other than Klaus.

"Vietnam was a draft, like they made everyone of age go fight whether they wanted to or not, or they got thrown in jail. That's ... not what I'm talking about. You know uh.. how I'm ... Like I'm all fucked up right and sometimes talk crazy shit? That's from the conditioning." He snorts, because fuck that shit. "Torture. Drugging. Sleep deprivation. Starvation. Til you forget who you are and you're only what the cult wants you to be. After a while people stop fighting back because they can't, you can only fight so long before your body gives out or your mind breaks, one of 'em will get you in the end."

Hey now, Nobunaga thinks about more than Klaus. But yes, 99% of his brain is wars and stuff.

"The cult," Nobunaga nods. Because the Ikkou Ikki and a lot of the varying degrees of Buddhist monks were like that too. Though they preferred raising children into it, and with broader social outreach than what Joseph Seed did (presumably.)

"Wait, drugging?"

"Yeah. Lots of it. Ketamine and sedatives and fucking Bliss. Weapons grade meth bullshit, it's ..." Suddenly his eyes go wide.

"Oh fuck. I can't still do the thing can I? Oh shit, I didn't even think about that." He backs away from Nobunaga, not explaining whatsoever. "Nevermind uh, that's just.. well that's something horrible for me to find out later."

He laughs nervously running his hands through his hair. Fuck.

"Starvation and Bliss, makes people go crazy. S'why I'm so fucked cuz my brain had been rewired too many times and not all of 'em are in the places where they're supposed to be anymore. I'm just constantly short circuiting all the time."

"Deputy..." Nobunaga is mentally taking notes to add to his dictionary for later. "I'm from 1582. What is...? We only just refined sake by using only polished rice. I did that. We've imported tobacco, because it is one of the few things that grows in Hell, but I don't understand. What is..." a head tilt. "Long slow acting poisons? Like being constantly drunk, but worse? What is short circuiting? What is the purpose of it? There's an actual method to cultists starvation? Not just religiosity and weakening people's resistance and strength? This is what... ketamine and Bliss or.... meth does? What is meth? Like a method? But a physical ingestion instead of solely technique?"

Oh god.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." That sound will persist for a solid minute while he tries to figure out how to explain literally any of that to someone from the 1500's.

"Poisons would be close but not.. right. Okay hold on. One thing at a time. Ketamine is a drug that makes people hallucinate, and it's a sedative, numbs pain. But you go fucking nuts with enough of it because you don't know where you are or who you are and can't really understand people talking to you, and it fucks with your brain and how it works. Pretty sure that's why my memory is so garbage, my brain just doesn't function anymore. And Bliss is some shit the cult cooked up that made people super susceptible to being told what to do, and what to think. The uh.. Power of Suggestion I think is what Faith called it. Brainwashing people."

He's getting kinda twitchy the longer he talks about this.

"They'd uhm, strap people to chairs, drug 'em up, and make them think they're someone else. Make them think their friends are enemies and the only way to save them is to kill them. Jacob could make people do whatever he wants. Conditioning is uh.. It's called Classical Conditioning. You repeat something enough and it becomes muscle memory, your mind just does shit without your control."

"Jesus fucking Christ."

In his own head, Luis Frois frowns at him for that, but his mental Luis Frois has done a lot of that to Nobunaga on the ship.

Nobunaga sees the twitching, and half debates setting Klaus down and holding him there.

"Fucking cults." A double face palm. Give him a few seconds. "I know what conditioning is. I've been fighting cults for the last two decades." Give or take. "And army does it too. It's why I cannot, will not ever teach swords. It is conditioning done by the monks, and even if I hadn't declared war on religion in the most tangible way I knew how, I don't enjoy it in the least, and I don't think I ever could."

All right, give him a bit. "This is how Sharky and I became acquainted in the first place. Our mutual desire to set cults on fire. Literally." He forgets how they went from marshmallows to that, but yes.

"So these drugs... they were invented by doctors for healing, or were they invented by the cults?" Nobunaga pinches the bridge between his eyes, ready to grab Pratt with a pincher hold to the neck or the scruff like he did with Clarke when she tried to run off with his gun. "And they made you immune to pain, I assume?"

"That sounds just like Sharky." A little wistful because he misses him so damn much, and right now has no idea if he'll ever get him back.

"Ketamine is for uh.. Like surgery? It's a sedative and they mix it with something else to knock you out so you don't feel it. Bliss the cult cooked up, their chemist, Fenney, he made it for them specifically do do their creepy brainwashing shit. Like it's geared to that."

He flexes his fingers and looks down at his hands, wanting to look at anything that isn't another person right now. "Sorta. Kinda numbed it more so. Well when I'm like this and I'm uhm.. me. There's a... state I can get into where I don't feel pain at all, but I'm also not me anymore and I'll just attack everything so I don't even get the benefit of the whole pain immunity thing. Well sorta, I mean you could stab me right now and I might not react, but it'll hurt eventually."

"Makes sense."

Oh good, Pratt's in control and not running away. Improvement.

"Soka." A quiet hum. "I see where that'd be useful for soldiers, but only in the very immediate short term. I'm sure it would get untenable quickly." For obvious fucking reasons. "Try to avoid that here. I'll take responsibility for trying to help you manage. To make you stronger without going so far as to completely break yourself constantly. Do you miss it? Or are you just worried about your skills without it?"

"I ... miss it because I've been trained to? But it was fucking miserable, so I really don't. When I died here... few months ago. I woke up with a knife still in me, like right in my shoulder, and after that Sharky found me some straight up opium shit at the infirmary and I fucking drugged myself to oblivion for like three days. Like I was probably straight up drooling and if I rolled over in my sleep would have suffocated cuz I couldn't even raise my head. But man.. I woke up feeling fucking amazing." He sets his jaw and looks away, "Totally see how people get addicted to that shit. But I'm good. Don't need it. Especially don't need the torture and shit."

NSFW cw: blood stuff

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