Even though we're so sharp, even if we tell a lie, no one's gonna know til we fall back [Monday W9]

[chiseler]

[It's far too early in the morning. It's early, maybe 7am or so when he makes the (probably) poor decision to seek out Dorian. It's been bothering him since the trial ended. The entire set-up, the fact that they had dragged him and Adam and Grell into this, everything about the scenario sucked. And yet he wanted to understand a little better. Doesn't hurt that Adam thought highly of the man and Luke himself had respected him to a point.

It's not hard to find Dorian's room on the way back to his own. It's a little harder to negotiate with one of the kids guarding him but at least he promises not to kill the guy and seems to alleviate those worries while placating them enough. It takes effort, but Luke's always been one to demand answers. He doesn't speak immediately by the time he finally gets to Dorian, though his eyes are narrowed and he's keeping his arms folded across his chest.]

I wish I could say I was even surprised by all of this.

Comments

[tevinteriscoming]

[Dorian hasn't really slept; his alcohol has all been thrown out, he's under house arrest, and he hasn't had anything to read, but that's all right. His own thoughts make terrible company, but he feels that he's invited this on himself. May as well allow them to stay.

When Luke comes in, he sits up, combs a finger through his hair to look presentable. He looks much, much less put together than he ordinarily would, with his kohl smudged and his mustache not waxed into place, but he still cares enough about his dignity to do that much. It would be a shame if Luke was here to kill him and he left an unsightly corpse.]

Really? I have to admit, I'm surprised by all of this.

[chiseler]

[If the situation weren't so serious, he'd almost laugh at the way Dorian moves to make himself presentable. He'd joke about how he doesn't have to make himself pretty on his account, maybe express disbelief that his mustache isn't perfectly situated on his face...but this isn't the time for that. His eyes are fairly blank as he watches Dorian move, but his voice is steady enough.]

Which part surprises you the most? The part where you were going to let three of us take the fall, or the part where Bull 'fessed up last minute? Think we've got a little time to compare some notes about what you think just happened out there.

[tevinteriscoming]

Hard to say, when there's so many surprises to choose from. No, I hardly expected him to confess that way. And yes, we were going to let you take the fall, if we could. I - [He's speaking confidently, almost defiantly, but his tone changes to something hesitant here.] Adam wasn't meant to be involved. I should like to think I'd have stopped it, if it came to it. I owe him at least that. [And back to defiant, though his voice is tinged with disgust.] But who knows? That's the nature of surprises.

As for you? As for Grell? Yes. We'd have killed you if we could. It wasn't personal.

[chiseler]

[Probably to no one's surprise, his face clouds over at the mention of Adam's involvement (or lack thereof, rather.)]

I don't even know how he got involved in all of this, but way to be a disappointment to him. [It seems as though Luke's more prone to throwing words than punches at the moment, and it's also no secret to him how much Adam respects (respected?) Dorian and Bull both. There's a whole ball of issues attached to that, but he's ignoring it.] I'd like to think you would have stopped it, too, but I also wanted to think you guys wouldn't have done this in the first place.

[There's an incredulous, bitter laugh suddenly.] What part of making us your fallguys isn't personal, Dorian? Why us? That's the first answer I want before this goes anywhere else.

[tevinteriscoming]

I should hope that's obvious. I may be a murderer but I do not kill children. There are fewer and fewer adults about; we must get used to being targets. That's the reason, no more, no less.

[chiseler]

[He ends up biting the inside of his cheek, hand clenching into a fist.]

Yeah, I don't think I'm getting used to that anytime soon. That's a terrible reason. Besides, you target all the adults you're leaving the kids defenseless. Think about that.

[He doesn't expect a real argument, but he pauses again.] All that aside, I actually had some other things to ask you if you're willing to explain.

[tevinteriscoming]

I wouldn't say they're defenseless. Most of them are doing a better job of this than you or I are. But you're right, it's a terrible reason. At any rate, it wasn't personal. You may not be aware of this, but we don't get to pick the suspects. Alice does.

[He's curious what Luke is actually here for, and he's happy to get away from the debate.]

I'll explain anything you'd like me to. I've nothing scheduled.

[chiseler]

Speak for yourself, man. I know how to defend myself just fine. [It's a prickly sort of answer, but then Dorian continues and Luke looks mildly mollified.] Wait, really? But then...[...it's a hard concept for him to grasp considering how some cases have involved specific people targeting specific people to frame them. But on the other hand, he trusts Alice about as far as he can throw one of her statues, so.] Just one more thing for us to figure out the pattern to.

[Surprisingly (or maybe not that surprisingly), Dorian's confirmation that it really wasn't personal is enough to take most of the wind out of his sails. He's not entirely angry anymore, more frustrated and tired but focused on the subject at hand.]

I wanted to talk to you about your theories you've got on our space-friends living in the vent. I know you have some. [And it didn't feel right to ask Adam directly.] I'd also like to talk to you about some stuff Bull mentioned yesterday. [He should be more sensitive, seeing how Bull's gone and he's aware enough that they were important to each other, but nobody ever claimed Luke is a sensitive human being.] Think that's cool?

[tevinteriscoming]

She likes to keep it competitive, I suppose. Otherwise, Jack and I would be the suspects every week, wouldn't we?

[He raises an eyebrow at the mention of Bull, but there's no other emotional reaction. Instead, he rubs at his face, massaging away the sleep and stray lines of kohl from his eyes, suddenly self-conscious of how he looks. It won't do to be too pathetic.]

Of course. As I said, ask whatever you'd like. I'm not sure how useful my theories will be - as you may have noted, Arumat was not one of them, and I wasn't the one to choose him anyway.

[chiseler]

Jack, you, me and Jason I imagine. From what I've heard we're all kind of shady people. [If he sounds amused it's mostly an act. But he at least turns his head a bit while Dorian pulls himself together to give him some semblance of privacy before he continues.]

If you weren't the one to choose him, then I think your theories probably still have some things to consider. When did Bull tell you about his role in the game? From the beginning?

[tevinteriscoming]

No. That wouldn't have been like him. He told me after Kazuma's death. He'd been a suspect that week, if you recall. We spoke after the trial, and I suppose he decided that he could trust me. It was quite a risk for him; if I'd disapproved, I could have revealed him, sentencing him to certain death and jeopardizing his mission. But I didn't. I couldn't, not after watching the video they gave him.

[chiseler]

[Sounds about right from what he knows of the other third party members they've found so far.] The entire ship is a risk, but I can see your point. You really think the video was real though? I know when I spoke with him he seemed convinced it was real because Alice knew something about chargers? [Whatever the hell that means.]

Maybe I'm still not entirely convinced everything she's pulling on us is real. Is that naive?

[tevinteriscoming]

No, it's sensible. I'm not convinced it's real, either. For that matter, neither was he. It was more the risk that it was real was one neither of us could bear.

[Rubbing at his temple, frustrated. It's more a matter that he wishes he believed it wasn't real; then it would be easier to ignore.]

The Chargers. His mercenary company, though don't let that description fool you. They follow him about rather like ducklings. She showed them killed in the battle, and then brought items as "proof." I'm not sure what exactly, save that I think the gouged out eye of his lieutenant was involved.

Manipulative to the extreme, and hardly proof of anything. But it was enough to convince him, such that there was no unconvincing him.

[chiseler]

[He wrinkles his nose at that thought. What's with this ship and gouged-out eyeballs? He doesn't know much about mercenary groups and he doesn't know Bull that well, truthfully, but he can sort of understand that. If Alice showed him "proof" like that he'd be a tad wary, too.]

Charming. [He can't help but frown all the same.] Did he say how exactly Alice knew about the Chargers? That's the other part I can't figure out is how she's even getting all of this information to make sure it's authentic. [The alternative is that it's real, but they've already been over that. There's no way.]

[tevinteriscoming]

No. She either has something approaching omnipotence, or she's in all of our heads mucking about. I know which answer I find most likely.

[chiseler]

Then in that case we find a way to block her from getting into our heads. Makes her about as dangerous as the aliens. It becomes a matter of making sure we don't believe anything she has to tell us. But if Bull was convinced...how many other people will be, too.

Adam said you'd also been tracking people's behaviors and stuff after the aliens came into play. That true?

[tevinteriscoming]

It is. I don't know if any of what I've found is useful. It relies on the theory that the aliens can manipulate their hosts' actions, but I'm not sure they can. If they can't, there's truly no way to be sure.

...Well. There is one way. Elizabeth acted as soon as she learned of Hancock's role. They're hostile to the third parties. I'd felt certain Bull was not one, as he had a different role to play. Now, I feel rather persuaded I am not one. I knew his role for weeks, and didn't harm him, though I could have done so easily. Arguably, perhaps a parasite in me decided to let Bull's murder play out. But I should note that it is for this reason I had nothing to do with the selection of the victim; it would have been too easy for a parasite to manipulate. And in the end, he would have gotten away with it and resigned all too easily, had he not decided otherwise.

[chiseler]

Generally speaking when somebody's possessed, whatever's possessing them has a good amount of control over their host. Just…throwing that out there. [But let's not talk about that.]

I hadn't realized the timing was that close, but that's a good point. It's not hard to imagine they'd be hostile to someone actively working to either help us or be against them. The two aren't exactly mutually exclusive. They've struck me as the kind that will bide their time. Maybe they did want to play out Bull's murder…but then again I think we'd have a little more backing if you were one by now, too. The other thing I wonder is if they can choose to swap hosts whenever they want or if they're bound when they choose one.

[He narrows his eyes slightly.] I'm just glad Bull decided otherwise. I'd rather focus on this than potentially be dead.