[Ugh why you gotta do the thing Bull--no he'll hold his tongue on that. It's miles better than what he was expecting. And it's not like he hadn't seen naked guys before. HE HAD A GANG OF SOME HOMELESS KIDS THE D-CLUB PROBABLY EXISTED SOMEWHERE.]
What, you'd lie to me?
[A smug little reply as he walks in, those brows furrowed. Something's bugging him, obviously, hand pulling at one of the edges of his gloves.]
[He has a million reasons, but he's cycling through them to figure out which one to start with.]
America hasn't changed one bit from the way it was back in my world. Still the propaganda and war-mongering piece of shit it always was. If it's not Neo Tokyo, it's the 'commies'.
[He won't even deny that. Tetsuo's the biggest goddamn asshole this side of the United States.]
Yeah, then the Swear In starts spewing shit about how America's some utopia and all about loving your neighbor! I had to keep myself from throwing up it was so gross!
[He slings his hands behind his head, frowning for a second.]
There's a part of the Ariqun, the... priesthood kind of, called the Ben-Hassrath. Supposedly, we're there to "protect the faith, the innocent, and the Qun".
Crap like that. Supposed to be... upholding that kind of propaganda.
Soon as I was old enough, they shipped me out to Seheron. It's... it was a shit-hole. Probably still is. Almost quit -- almost just... up and walked away. Because all the good of the Qun crap in the world couldn't make the shit I saw out there better. Or make it make more sense...
[He trails off, losing focus for a minute. Then shakes his head, the next words more clipped.]
... Didn't, though. Stuck around. Figured I'd be able to do something good so long as they thought I was playing by the rules.
[A shrug.]
Sort of like now.
[Staying under the radar, staying predictable. Taking the benefits without taking sides.]
[He shoves that chair up immediately, getting to his feet and practically whipping it away. It's almost too easily done--he's obviously much stronger than when they had that training back in August. And if he were a fraction more careless, that chair would've flown across the room.]
The way they talk about respecting their neighbors and freedom and 'paying it forward'?!
[Stay calm. Keep a calm tone of voice. Don't shout. Or react badly. Just observe -- poker face.]
No need to follow all the rules. Like me, for instance. That's what I'm saying. You paint a bigger target on your back by throwing their shit back in their face.
[He pauses, still maintaining that calm voice.]
No, kid. I don't know. Not from around here, remember?
That's what I'm doing. That's what I've been doing.
[It takes everything in him not to call Bull something he'll regret. So instead, he'll direct his anger at the government. That's really what this was about, wasn't it.]
America dropped BOMBS on Japan back in...whatever. AWHILE AGO! Not on an army. On people. In houses JUST LIKE THIS.
[The date...one he and Tetsuo knew too well. And while it wasn't America that time--it may as well have been. America now kept close eyes on Japan, ready to bomb if they didn't get their act together.
America shutting the lid of the Pandora's Box they opened. Acting as if nothing happened, pretending to look away as Japan swirled into a black hole of crime and punishment.]
Like hell I'm gonna listen to that shit they spew.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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What, you'd lie to me?
[A smug little reply as he walks in, those brows furrowed. Something's bugging him, obviously, hand pulling at one of the edges of his gloves.]
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Yeah. Because I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear "I'm in the middle of getting off".
[SHRUG.]
Anyway. What happened now?
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[Then he wouldn't have come in!]
...
[A pause.]
How do you unregister.
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[That makes his eyebrows perk up.]
Un... register. Why?
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[He has a million reasons, but he's cycling through them to figure out which one to start with.]
America hasn't changed one bit from the way it was back in my world. Still the propaganda and war-mongering piece of shit it always was. If it's not Neo Tokyo, it's the 'commies'.
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Asshole.
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[He won't even deny that. Tetsuo's the biggest goddamn asshole this side of the United States.]
Yeah, then the Swear In starts spewing shit about how America's some utopia and all about loving your neighbor! I had to keep myself from throwing up it was so gross!
[His hands stuff in his pockets.]
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[He leans back a bit, propping himself up on a literal mountain of pillows.]
So... you figure the best thing to do is cut ties. Bail out? That sound about right?
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Yeah.
What's the American Government done for me?
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Look. I'm not going to say you're wrong. A lot of this crap is shady. I don't like it either. But...
Did I ever tell you what I did before I got here?
[There's a point to this, Kaneda. Really.]
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Nope.
[But he takes the chair sitting in the room and sits backwards on it, hands dangling over the back of it.]
But I've got a feeling you're going to tell me.
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[He slings his hands behind his head, frowning for a second.]
There's a part of the Ariqun, the... priesthood kind of, called the Ben-Hassrath. Supposedly, we're there to "protect the faith, the innocent, and the Qun".
Crap like that. Supposed to be... upholding that kind of propaganda.
The 'utopia' under the Qun.
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You were a part of that shit.
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Soon as I was old enough, they shipped me out to Seheron. It's... it was a shit-hole. Probably still is. Almost quit -- almost just... up and walked away. Because all the good of the Qun crap in the world couldn't make the shit I saw out there better. Or make it make more sense...
[He trails off, losing focus for a minute. Then shakes his head, the next words more clipped.]
... Didn't, though. Stuck around. Figured I'd be able to do something good so long as they thought I was playing by the rules.
[A shrug.]
Sort of like now.
[Staying under the radar, staying predictable. Taking the benefits without taking sides.]
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[He shoves that chair up immediately, getting to his feet and practically whipping it away. It's almost too easily done--he's obviously much stronger than when they had that training back in August. And if he were a fraction more careless, that chair would've flown across the room.]
The way they talk about respecting their neighbors and freedom and 'paying it forward'?!
After what THEY DID?!
[He stops cold, hands clenching tight.]
You don't even know what they did....
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[Stay calm. Keep a calm tone of voice. Don't shout. Or react badly. Just observe -- poker face.]
No need to follow all the rules. Like me, for instance. That's what I'm saying. You paint a bigger target on your back by throwing their shit back in their face.
[He pauses, still maintaining that calm voice.]
No, kid. I don't know. Not from around here, remember?
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[It takes everything in him not to call Bull something he'll regret. So instead, he'll direct his anger at the government. That's really what this was about, wasn't it.]
America dropped BOMBS on Japan back in...whatever. AWHILE AGO! Not on an army. On people. In houses JUST LIKE THIS.
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[Honestly, the kid's so worked up, he'd probably chalk it up to the anger talking. But hey, they're making progress, right?]
Kid... Hold on a minute. Pretend I'm an idiot for a second and define bomb.
Because anything explosive I know of sure as hell isn't enough to take out a house, unless you pack it full of gaatlok.
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Don't worry Bull, he'll be back. He's just fumbling around his room for somethi--and there he is. Storming back with something in his hand.
One of his handmade bombs, although it's only capped and not even ready to be blown up. A dud until he works the actual ignition in.]
Take this.
But make it the size of me. It took out the whole damn city.
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... How does something that small take out a city?
[He's not calling you a liar, Kaneda. He doesn't sound disbelieving, just... mystified. Atomic Bombs aren't really A Thing.]
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Hell if I know how it works but...it's small, and it kills everything.
America made it just to drop on Japan.
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[He's just going to equate "atomic" with "magic" right now, until he finds out otherwise.]
No wonder you're so pissed off.
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[The date...one he and Tetsuo knew too well. And while it wasn't America that time--it may as well have been. America now kept close eyes on Japan, ready to bomb if they didn't get their act together.
America shutting the lid of the Pandora's Box they opened. Acting as if nothing happened, pretending to look away as Japan swirled into a black hole of crime and punishment.]
Like hell I'm gonna listen to that shit they spew.
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