A Thanksgiving Gathering

Well, I think I can say that this has been the absolute worst Thanksgiving ever.


Before we start, let me say that I've got a lot to talk about.  This might be a bit belated or get split into multiple parts.

Jacob decided that he'd prepare us a Thanksgiving meal.  I don't know why the hell he thought it was a good idea, but he insisted, and hey, free food.  Not like we can usually afford to eat like kings.  I think I've lost about twenty pounds in the last half a year or however long it's been.

I think I would have preferred leftovers.  Wouldn't have been as good, but it would have been better than what we usually get and we wouldn't have had to socialize.  Getting about forty people with varying levels of sociopathy together (Around fifteen "agents" and twenty-five "hollowed" or "broken" or whatever you want to call them) is probably not a good idea.

Yeah, there's about forty of us that Jacob funds.  We all fit in the rich bastard's house pretty well.  Talked to a few people, and it sounds like half of the total funds go to this man named Eddie.  He's...I think the term he used was a "Caretaker."  Basically, he's responsible for overseeing the...the ones that can't take care of themselves.  I still never know what to call them.  Apparently, Eddie has a job similar to the one Andrew had.  I think he's probably the most "normal" of anyone I've met who's here of their own accord.  It's obviously hard on him, though.  He has very hard eyes.  That's the only way I know how to describe them.  Eyes that look like he's seen so much that nothing bothers him anymore, and if it does, he can't outwardly emote.  Things I'm thankful for, #1: my job isn't nearly as stressful as Eddie's.

Didn't get to talk to Eddie that much.  I only saw him for a few minutes with everyone else, then he went to a separate area of the house to keep an eye on the ones he's supposed to keep an eye on.  Visited him there for a few minutes to ask about his job, but it didn't last very long.  He kicked me out pretty quickly.  He didn't seem too happy I was there (even though I told him I was just curious about his job and his...charges, I guess), but I convinced him to give me his contact information.  Might go talk to him again later.  Don't think he likes me, but he seemed to want to talk to Poe some.  Curious as to how things were going.  She seemed more intent on avoiding him.

Anyway, that left about fourteen of us, plus Jacob and Eternity, sitting around and eating and...doing other Thanksgivingy stuff, I guess.  Eternity's not funded by Jacob (pretty sure he's on some higher level of funding) but showed up anyway for some reason.  Maybe we were the only group who had a Thanksgiving gathering, maybe he gets along well with Jacob, or maybe he just wants to fuck with me or something, but for whatever reason, he was there.  Gave me that same patronizing routine, so I tried to avoid him as much as I could.

Watched the game with some others for a while before eating.  Eternity and Theta both watch football, apparently.  Theta's kind of strange about it, though.  Just sits there and stares at the screen.  Doesn't talk.  Doesn't cheer.  I have no clue which team he was going for, or if he even had a preference.  Gave up on watching after finding out that Eternity's a Packers fan (wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing then that we were going for the same team), and decided to use the opportunity to talk to some other people more.  Besides, Poe refused to leave my side, and I have the feeling she wasn't exactly enjoying the game.

Glasses came up to me at one point.  Turns out he calls himself Muad'Dib (and I only know how to spell that incredibly stupid name because of Poe).  Anyway, Muad'Dib comes up and starts talking to me.  Says he recognizes me and that I'm a friend of Nee-chan's, right?  I can't really say that Nee-chan's a "friend," exactly, but I nod.  He starts sighing and talking about how cute she is and how lucky I am to be so close to her.  Asks if I think he has a chance.  I'm not sure this guy remembers the night he and Ginger had to pin her down (speaking of Ginger, didn't get the chance to talk to him at all and ask for his name.  He mostly stood off to the side the entire night, with what looked like a grimace on his face).  I reminded him of how unstable Nee-chan is, and how he should know that, having experienced it firsthand.  The kid must be a dumbass, because he looks at me and says this, verbatim:

"Well, yeah, but look at her.  I mean, she's probably all sorts of kinky.  She's gotta be a freak in bed."


I may be wrong, but something tells me neither of those kids has gotten laid in their life.

Muad'Dib started talking to Poe some then.  I caught a few things from their conversation.  Apparently the kid's a pilot (I'd ask why the hell we need a pilot, but then I'd have to ask why the hell we need a hacker), and he's flown Poe around when they need to do more hands-on field tracking.  Apparently she's got an assignment coming up soon.  Speaking of which, Poe, would have been nice if you had mentioned that earlier.  Or, you know, at all.  But anyway, Muad'Dib takes a deep breath and heads over to talk to Nee-chan.  Don't know how it went, because I didn't stick around, but I guess I also don't really care.  If he has a chance with her, good for him.

I talked to a few other people, but I didn't have enough time to hold any sort of meaningful conversation or gauge them before the meal started.  I have no clue how exactly Jacob figured out the seating, but I could tell he was being pretty deliberate.  He put Nee-chan between Poe and Screwtape, for example, probably to keep Poe and Screwtape fairly close, but separated in a way that doesn't require them to look at each other.  I ended up between Poe and Muad'Dib.  Clearly, Jacob had gone out of his way to try to avoid conflicts.

A shame that it didn't work.

We ate in silence for a while.  Everything was fine.  And then Jacob said something about how he was hoping this could be an experience to bring us all closer together and how he'd like it if we at least tried to talk to each other.  That's when things sort of went to hell.

There were a few murmurs of conversation.  Couldn't catch most of it, but it sounded relatively normal.  Then things exploded.  As great as Jacob is, he clearly doesn't spend enough time around us.  Getting us all together is one thing.  Getting us all together and forcing us into conversation is going a bit too far.  You absolutely cannot get people like us together and expect the conversation to be anywhere near healthy.  You know that uncle who always makes family gatherings awkward because he's vocal about views no one else in the family holds, or something along those lines?  Well, imagine a big family where everyone's that uncle.

Screwtape started talking to Poe, telling her how happy she must be to see Eddie again after all this time.  Eternity started asking me how Kyle was.  Nee-chan brought up Morningstar, and apparently opinions on this new guy and his predecessor are pretty mixed.

Jacob decided to remove all the knives from the table pretty quickly.

Anyway, the whole thing degenerated into shouting matches until Eternity stood up and yelled something about us being a family and that we should be simply enjoying each other's company.  You can't tell from the syntax I used, but he used second person plural, not first person plural.  Bastard made a big show about caring about how much we get along, but didn't even include himself as "one of us."

After that, everyone pretty much stopped talking and just ate.  Except for one couple (didn't get their names or anything), and they didn't even talk.  Just acted all flirty with each other.  Fun facts about eating: Theta's apparently a huge eater, Screwtape eats very simply (he apparently only drinks water, didn't eat anything particularly sweet, and didn't add any additional seasonings), Nee-chan's kind of a picky eater, and apparently Ginger's a vegetarian.  After we finished eating, we took off.  Some said goodbye to others, some thanked Jacob as they went.  Others (Theta was the one I remember, but there were a few others) just stood up and left the table without a word.  The whole thing was  just...really awkward, like no one really wanted to be there.  Easily worse than any family gathering I've been to.

Let's hope that I don't have another thanksgiving like this for a long time.

-Don't Shoot The Messenger-

Everyone else is completely batshit, too

First of all, check the Observe and Terminate report out so that it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.  I'd hate to write something for everyone and then not have anyone read it.

Done that?  Good.  Now let's go back to talking about how I've somehow ended up in a mental institution without wardens.

I decided that I'd go down to Screwtape and Nee-chan's room today after gathering some more information for the upcoming reports to check on Nee-chan and maybe see if I could arrange an interview with Theta.  Screwtape was attempting to clean up while Theta and Nee-chan were sitting on the remains of the couch.

Waved as I entered.  Asked Nee-chan how she was doing.  She just sort of crossed her arms and glared at me.

"Better," Theta told me.  "Still unstable, though.  Not to leave until she can control her emotions."

She stood up and started screaming at him about how she was in control and how she had to go and kill Mitch (the person who killed Morningstar apparently) because she was a bully and she kept going on and getting more and more agitated.

That's when Theta stood up.  Looked at her.  She started to trail off, fear in her eyes.  "You are not to leave this room," he told her.  And then he backhanded her.  Just...just hit a nineteen-year-old girl.  Smacked her down into the couch.  Screwtape glanced over, but otherwise didn't even react.

"But I have to," she said, looking up at him and sobbing.  He pulled her up, threw her to the floor.  "No," he told her, "you don't."  Picked her up, dragged her to a back room.  Shut the door behind him.

What the fuck.

I tried talking to Screwtape some.  Asked him what the hell was going on with that.  He said that it was just how Theta handled things.  Nothing out of the ordinary for him.  It didn't seem to bother him.  He said that it worked well enough and with someone as volatile as Nee-chan, and if he could control her, what business of it was his.

There was crying coming from the back room.  I didn't know how to handle it.  Screwtape didn't seem to care, and that made me a bit uncomfortable.  I...just left.  I don't know.  I feel now like I should have done something.  But what could I have done?  I can't exactly report this to the authorities.  That compromises everyone involved in this.  Brings in unnecessary investigation.  I can't exactly step in, considering that Nee-chan would probably be able to hold her own better than I could.  I could try to figure out who Glasses and Ginger are and get their help, but they probably wouldn't be able to hold their own against Theta either.  Screwtape wouldn't step in.

And then there's the fact that I never really expected I'd be worried about Nee-chan, either.  I don't know.  What the hell else goes on around me that I don't know about?  I mean, I'd probably notice if Screwtape was somehow abusing Poe, but I guess there might be stuff going on that she isn't telling me?  I just don't know anymore.

Almost enough to make me wish I was up against The Boss himself instead sometimes.  Almost.

Anyway, Morningstar and Maduin's reports should be up soon.  Morningstar's tomorrow for sure, Maduin's within the week, hopefully.

-Don't Shoot The Messenger-

My Ex-roommate is Completely Batshit

I think the title pretty much sums up the situation.

Earlier today, Screwtape stopped by.  Knocked on the door.  Seemed pretty urgent.  I opened the door and let him in.

"Messenger, Raven," he said, "Follow me to my apartment.  We need your help."

"What's going on?"

He looked at me and shook his head.  "You still know so little about your old roommate.  Just please, follow me."

So we followed him down the hall to the room.  Last time I had been there was...a while ago, I guess.  I might be remembering this wrong, but I don't think I'd been down to the room since that night Caper died.  But I don't want to get into that now because it brings up all sorts of bad memories and it's not important anyway.

As we got closer, I heard yelling and screaming.  Always a good sign.  Screwtape opened the door to reveal the apartment.  Remember how when The Boss tossed Caper around, the apartment was kind of a mess afterwards?  Well, evidently, he's more careful than Nee-chan, because the place was ripped up.  Nee-chan was storming around the apartment, pounding on walls, slashing at the furniture with a knife, throwing things around...it was bad.

Poe and I just sort of stood there in shock for a few seconds.  "When she found out about Morningstar's death she was...upset," Screwtape said.

There were these two guys about her age, maybe a little older, sort of scrambling around the apartment, unsure of how to deal with the situation, sort of shouting at each other.  Kid with glasses and a ginger.  Ginger told Glasses Kid to grab her and hold her back.  Glasses Kid shouted back how he was trying but "she's waving around a freakin' knife, man!"  He ducked a second later as a drinking glass shattered against the wall above his head.

Screwtape turned to us.  "Raven, try talking to her to get her attention.  Messenger, we'll get behind her and grab her arms.  You take left arm, I'll take right arm.  Right arm first so that the knife is out of commission.  I'll let the other two know to grab her legs once we have the arms restrained."

I just nodded.  He sounded like he knew what he was doing.  As Nee-chan walked into the bathroom and started shouting at the mirror, Screwtape briefed Glasses and Ginger.  And I just sat there for about three minutes as she screamed at herself.  During those three minutes, between bouts of "holy shit I am dealing with someone who has gone off the deep end," something occurred to me.

"Screwtape," I yelled, "Why is Poe the one distracting Nee-chan?  You're using her as bait, aren't you?"

"Theta hasn't arrived, and she has the strongest connection with Nee-chan," he said.  "Plus, she's the most expendable of us." 

Right.  Of course.  Bastard.  She was standing right there, too.  But Nee-chan chose that moment to come out of the bathroom, so Poe just sort of...called her name, I guess.  Said something to briefly distract her.  Worked well enough.  Screwtape got ahold of her right arm, and got her to drop the knife in a matter of seconds, while I tried to grab onto her left arm.  Her flailing hit me in the face a few times.  Shins are bruised now from the kicking.  Glasses took a foot to the face as he tried to hold her down.  We got her on the floor and just sort of pinned her down.  The whole time she just kept yelling about how she was going to "fucking kill that stupid bitch."  Those words made up probably about 50%  of what she said, actually (the rest of it consisted largely of "Morningstar," and about five Japanese words I don't remember and didn't understand), although it was mostly incoherent.

We sat there for ten minutes.  Ten minutes of her screaming, sobbing, and struggling underneath us.  Screwtape and Ginger seemed to know what they were doing, but Glasses and I were kind of holding on for dear life.  And Poe just sort of stepped back into a corner of the room and froze up.  But Nee-chan would just sort of cycle between screaming, sobbing, and then falling silent and just breathing heavily.  And then screaming again, her torso and head writhing as she tried to get free.  It's...I don't even know how to describe it.  I can't do it justice.  She had four people pinning her down and I still felt like she was the one in control.

But at the end of the ten minutes, Theta showed up.  Looked at Screwtape, and said just a few words.  "Did you tell Jacob?"  Screwtape nodded, and he just responded with "good," before walking over, reaching down, and pressing somewhere on Nee-chan's neck.  Pressure point or something, I guess, because she lost consciousness almost instantly.  Screwtape and Ginger stepped back.  It took me a bit longer to feel safe letting go.  Glasses was still gripping her leg, and his face looked like it was going white at that point.  But I guess I shouldn't point fingers, since I probably wasn't looking much better.  Theta picked her up, hoisted her over a shoulder, and carried her to a back room (her bedroom I guess, probably).  He came out, turned to Screwtape, and told him that he'd be staying for a few days.  Screwtape didn't raise any objections or seem even remotely bothered by announcement. 

Anyway, Screwtape turned to the rest of us.  "Thank you," he said.  "You've been a great help tonight.  Except for you, Raven, but I didn't expect you to be pulling your weight at this point."  I swear, Theta was the only thing keeping me from beating his ass into oblivion.

But yeah, no reports today (I've got Morningstar's to write up now, too) because I've been too busy with all that shit.  Sorry to let you all down.  I'll try to get one or two of them up tomorrow.

-Don't Shoot The Messenger-

Meeting Theta

This Occupy Wall Street thing, huh?  Crazy, huh?  A bunch of dumbasses (some of whom wear masks) making demands when they don't even know what their demands are, and another bunch of dumbasses brutally opposed to this first group taking the law into their own hands.  It all seems marginally familiar somehow.  And then there's me, not really choosing to take either side.  Wow, I'm really forcing this metaphor, aren't I?

But really, Jacob's been pretty stressed about all this, since these protests affect him more or less directly.  Or they would if the protesters decided why exactly they're sitting out there.  They decide that they're all going to take up space on Wall Street to fight corruption, but when people finally say "okay, fine, what do you fucking want?" they just kind of go "um...we...don't want corporate greed."  Oh.  Okay.  That's a noble cause.  I can get behind that cause.  Just one question--how the hell exactly do you go around changing that?  "Hey, it'd be really nice if you people completely stopped loving money!  Do that and we'll go away!"

But I'm not here to discuss politics and the economy, because I tend to make myself look like an idiot when I do.  I'm here to talk about what's been going on the last few days.  As usual, Poe and Nee-chan had their Saturday anime session.  Only thing that makes this time notable is that Nee-chan brought Theta over for a visit.

Theta is...well, built like a bodybuilder isn't a good phrase, because while he's one of the most muscular people I've ever met, he's not really that stocky.  Built more like a gymnast or a stuntman, I guess.  Tall.  Bald.  Necklace of Theta symbols (θ) tattooed around his neck.  He walked in and just sort of stood there, as if perfectly content to remain standing in one spot.

"Uh...hey," I said.  "I'm The Messenger."

He looked at me and gave me a slight nod.  "Theta."  Notably deep voice.

"You...need some coffee or a glass of water or something?"

"No."

"You...wanna at least sit down?"

He gave another slow, slight nod.  "Thank you."

I led him to the kitchen, sat down opposite him.  Tried to talk to him some.  Theta is...not a conversationalist.

"So, you're Nee-chan's partner, right?  The two of you are Hunters, right?  What exactly do you do?"

"Hunt."  He said it in dead seriousness, though maybe with a hint of confusion, like he couldn't understand why I'd ask such a stupid question.  Didn't bother asking him to elaborate.

"So where do you live, then?  I know you don't live with Nee-chan."

"Fortunately.  She accidentally killed her last partner.  Living about half an hour away.  Lived there with Helios until her partner killed him."  He nodded over at Poe.  I attempted to change the subject.

"So what exactly do you think of Nee-chan?"

"Nice girl.  Dedicated.  Good at her job."  A pause.  "Glad I'm not living with her."  I chuckled a bit.  He didn't.  I stopped pretty quickly.

Theta didn't stay long.  I'm kind of glad he didn't, as he's kind of got this intimidating presence.  He rarely speaks, and when he's not speaking, he looks deep in thought.  It worries me, not knowing what he's thinking about.  Nee-chan left later, enthusiastically waving goodbye.  Poe told me that I should watch with them next time, or at least pretend to watch.  I might, but I'm not watching anything in Japanese.  Nee-chan's going to have to understand that.

And of course, Big Brother decided to call me yesterday.

BB: Messenger!  How nice to hear your voice again!

M: So Theta's big and silent and intimidating.  Your point?

BB: Well of course you don't know what my point is.  That's why I've called.

M: So what is it about Theta?  So he's kind of creepy.

BB: I wouldn't go with "creepy."  More along the lines of "heartless."  Complements Nee-chan quite nicely, actually.  Nee-chan's overly emotional.  Wears her heart on her sleeve, so to speak.  Theta?  You can never quite tell what he's thinking, can you?  Nee-chan's stupidly innocent and naive.  Can't quite seem to grasp the consequences of her actions?  And Theta?  Theta understands, he just doesn't care.  He doesn't have some convoluted sense of loyalty and duty like Screwtape.  Doesn't second-guess himself like Caper.  Doesn't really have a reason to be on the side he is like you or Poe.  He's just here, doing Father's bidding.  Try interviewing him.  I'm sure that whenever you ask "why," he'll just answer "because."

M: So he's mysterious.

BB: Not mysterious.  Emotionless.  Heartless.  Cruel.  Very devoted to what he does.  Practices a lot.

M: Practices killing people?  Like down at the shooting range or something?

BB: Shooting--really, Mr. Funeral, you know how strict the gun laws are.  No, Theta doesn't carry a gun.

M: Then how the hell do you practice something like that?

BB: Well, there are some particular people he views as...disposable, shall we say?  People who aren't really people anymore?  Can't really say yes or no either way?

M: Wait, what?

BB: Oh, wait, sorry, that's an uncomfortable subject for you, isn't it?  Your girlfriend used to be one.

M: You know she's not my girlfriend.

BB: All but name, Messenger, all but name.  But while we're on the subject of Miss Poe, why don't we talk about what she hasn't been telling you?

M: I don't know what you're talking about.

BB: Well of course you wouldn't know, she hasn't been telling you.  You know her partner Screwtape, right?

M: Of course I do.

BB: Well he's a lot different than Caper.  A lot more overbearing.  If you had a mind to, you could probably call it harassment.  It maybe is, considering how much he hates her.  You see, he's not exactly too fond of "Father's dolls," as he calls them.  Thinks that the "Chosen" are the people Father's choosing to build a better society.  The "dolls," on the other hand, oh, they're being punished, because clearly they're the worst of the worst.

M: Sounds like you don't agree with his assessment.

BB: Maybe I don't.  But maybe I do.  I'm just trying to be neutral here.  Let you form your own opinions.  Chances are, he's must as right, if not moreso, than you.  But anyway, can you see why he might have, shall we say...problems working with someone who he thinks deserves to be a brainwashed mindless slave working among the elite?

M: You're an asshole.

BB: You want the truth, don't you, Messi?  I'm just giving you that inside scoop that reporters like you love so dearly.

M: I'm not a reporter, I'm a hacker.

BB: Really?  Well, you had me fooled!

M: Look--

BB: Ah, ah, ah!  I've got the conch shell yet, Messenger.  I'm calling to let you know that...well, I'd like to meet you soon.  Talk to you face-to-face.  Would you prefer that?

M: Yes, I think I would prefer that.

BB: All right, then.  I'll get back to you once I've made time in my busy schedule.

And here he hung up.

So.  Looks like I'm finally going to be meeting Big Brother at some point in the future.  Wish me luck.

-Don't Shoot The Messenger-