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Post by mugenginga on Nov 5, 2009 0:24:54 GMT -5
(OOC: As in Invite Only. Continued from "And we shall call it... this land" - You have to get the full connection of both thread names to be accepted in. XD And permission from me or Jilak, we talk over IM so we'll discuss it.)
The door opened and a stereotypically large and intimidating bodyguard looked at Zero. He snorted, which was really more comparable to what a matador bull might do than anything else and opened the door wider. His eyes passed over Mal, but he didn't seem to move. It seemed he had passed whatever test the place put out...
Zero raised an eyebrow. That bodyguard hadn't been there before. He shrugged and walked in, not even bothering to see if Mal was behind him. For as diverse as it was outside, it wasn't quite the same in the bar. Although anyone with any ability to sense those that could fight... well, those in the bar seemed far more dangerous. Zero strolled right through them like he'd seen this kind of thing a million times before and sat at the bar. It was only then he looked back to see if Mal was there.
Malcolm was probably used to places like this. It was the kind of bar you'd find in the shady part of town, although seemed to be better kept up. Better constructed and such, although a lot of the newer construction looked rather new... a result of constant repairs. The windows were glass, something not exactly common in the hologram projecting world Mal came from. But it was the type of place Mal had been to before... after all, jobs rarely came from respectable locations.
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Post by Jilak on Nov 5, 2009 0:34:43 GMT -5
Malcolm was a tad hesitant in following the computer virus inside, still slightly unnerved by the buildings... until he saw the inside of the bar. It was right up his alley, to be honest. Shady, like what one would find in the bad part of a town. Then again... the mushroom cloud that destroyed a few buildings a ways up a while back didn't exactly make this the 'good' part of town... and then there was that fiasco at the mall, with all the malfunctioning electronics... but Mal knew about none of those.
In any case, he calmed down quite a bit upon entering. The only thing that could make this more like home would be if a fight were to break out soon. But that was so very unlikely, right? Right?
He caught up with Zero, taking a seat next to him. Everyone here was so welcoming, with their friendly glares, and what seemed to be whispered death threats. Oh fun.
"I think this qualifies as the best part of town, don't you?"
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 5, 2009 0:40:24 GMT -5
"I find myself preferring the more 'civilized' areas, but whatever floats your boat," Zero replied. The bartender was some random NPC, although she did have anime style elf ears. In a setting where aliens weren't exactly common, one could only hope Mal passed it off as another oddity of the Island. Then again, when she turned around Mal might notice the cat-like tail. Fun place this was. Zero didn't seem to even notice.
Zero wasn't used to interacting this much with humans, really. Well, at least not on friendly terms. Most people by now he would have deleted something. It should be noted that Zero wasn't ordering a drink. It wasn't that Zero couldn't eat or drink if he felt the need to put up the act, but he didn't need to. And while it was a facade, his human form was just enough human that alcohol effected it.
"I have to say, I'm rather surprised you didn't freak at my viral form. Most people trip over that," Zero stated.
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Post by Jilak on Nov 5, 2009 0:49:41 GMT -5
Considering the nature of this bar, Mal could've ordered any number of things. From the famous beverages of Star Wars to a nice bottle o' grull. Perhaps he didn't because he was a bit thrown by the bartender's ears and tail. Perhaps he didn't because with where he came from, those things didn't EXIST. But, for whatever reason, he chose...
"I'll have one of your finest glasses of water." Which is not to say that Malcolm couldn't hold his liquor. It's just to say that Jayne was the alcoholic of the crew... that, and the only thing he could be CERTAIN that was most likely the exact same as where he came from was good ol' h20.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. You see, we on my crew don't obsess over things like that. One of our own is a psychic, for example.We don't care if you have a viral form, can kill people with your brain, or are a whiny doctor, if you're considered one of us, you're amongst family."
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 5, 2009 0:57:16 GMT -5
Zero paused. It was entirely possible he'd misread something Mal had just said. But the implication had been there. Had the man just implied he considered Zero "one of them"? Zero chuckled to himself rather darkly. A human considering him something other than an abomination against all that lived. The chuckling got worse.
It was actually fairly dark. Zero was greatly amused by the thought. Dark.. and a bit psychotic. At least he was only chuckling, hadn't gotten to laughing yet. The semi-psychotic grin plastered on his face made it extremely unsettling though.
The elven cat girl glanced at Zero for a moment with a frown before turning her focus to Mal, "It's not free, y'know. If we gave out free water that'd be all anyone ever ordered. I assume y'all want tap, right?" She had a slight accent to her, and this author can't write accents. Kind of a mix between a Brooklyn accent and a country drawl if one can imagine it.
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Post by Jilak on Nov 5, 2009 1:06:30 GMT -5
Malcolm paused for a second. That was... different. Zero's chuckling, mixed with his smile was rather... the word 'unsettling' doesn't quite sum it up, this author feels. Perhaps 'no. Just. no.' is suffice? In any case, Malcolm was officially taken aback for a moment.
"...yes, well, I suppose yours is an evil laugh." If anyone actually gets who this is a reference to, you get epic points. But in any case, he turned back to the bartender. Charging? For WATER? As long as it wasn't extremely high-priced...
"Yeah... tap'll be fine. Is there somethin' I'm missing here? Because, y'know, it sounds pretty funny."
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 5, 2009 1:11:00 GMT -5
Zero shook his head as he allowed the laughter to trail off. The dark smirk remained though, "Either you're stupidly brave or my abilities have completely gone over your head," Zero stated. He appeared to be looking for something and spotted a small container of peanuts that seemed to have something growing on them, "Let me give an example."
Zero held out his right hand, the palm facing the peanuts. Suddenly, as if as switch had been flicked, the digital distortions that had danced on Zero's fingers before and he had burst into surrounded the peanut dish. It was almost the effect one might see on a broken cable signal, albeit transparent. With a slight furrowing of his brow, an indication of his concentration, the data burst into nothingness... and where there had once been a small bowl of peanuts was empty space. Zero smirked. While he still didn't seem to be able to run around destroying living things, he seemed to be regaining skill on inanimate objects. He gestured to where the peanuts had been.
"Don't bother trying to figure out the trick. They're gone... deleted from reality, I should say."
The bartender looked annoyed, "That was cute. The peanuts might be free but I do hope you're willing to pay for that bowl."
Zero dug into his pocket and pulled out a gold colored Visa, "I'll pay for his drink as well," Zero turned to Malcom, "Before you object, consider it my thanks for amusing me."
The woman scowled and took the card, going over to a cash register and swiping it.
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Post by Jilak on Nov 5, 2009 1:48:14 GMT -5
Okay, so. First he breaks into digital distortions to dodge an attack, now he deletes a bowl of peanuts. Malcolm was starting to think he should have reconsidered Serenity's claims earlier... but that wasn't important at the moment. Had to focus on the NOW not the THEN. The present, not the past. And all that.
"Well... uh..." Mal was at a loss for words for at least half a minute. He paused, thinking, before speaking up again.
"As interesting as that was, where I come from, it's not what you CAN do. It's what you do." For perhaps the first time in a while, Mal looked Zero directly in his eyes, before continuing.
"Now I don't know what your plans are, I don't care. I just know this. Must get pretty lonely out there, doing your... erasing thing. 'fore long, you probably start to question yourself. Why?" After finishing his glass, he got from his chair, heading in the direction of the restrooms.
"World never stops turnin', Zero."
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 5, 2009 1:56:09 GMT -5
Zero opened his mouth to object, but closed it. Worlds did stop turning, after all. Worlds ended. Realities fell apart. At his hands if he had anything to say about it. But as Malcom walked off her looked at the glass the bartender set down as she handed Zero the card.
At the end of the day, Zero was a virus. He was a program. Programs had a purpose. Even those created by mistake had a purpose. His was to delete things. All things, really. Anything he could. He looked at the water for a few moments and found a strand of loose hair. He looked annoyed as he brushed it out of the way. He'd described himself as a sentient computer virus before, its what he was. He could make decisions about what he did, what he deleted. Never before had anyone, even the Legends and the PokeChosen... even the one he suspected was the PokeDestined. They'd never approached him with a goal of anything other than destruction.
Zero scowled. People weren't supposed to not care about a person's past, their abilities. He decided Mal was annoying. Idiot didn't know danger when it stared him in the face. Still, for whatever reason, Zero would be there when Mal came back. It was entirely possible the captain had altered Zero's data.
And while he'd still be there, he'd look extremely annoyed. Mal didn't look at him as something to study nor as something that shouldn't exist and needed destroying. That had been... an unrespected response to say the least.
Lonely? What a laugh. Annoyed? More than a little. Mal would be met with an aggravated glare when he returned.
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Post by Jilak on Nov 5, 2009 2:10:20 GMT -5
Malcolm returned within a minute or so. Now was the part where Mal made a completely idiotic decision, went in without a plan, and hoped for the best. Last time he'd done something of the sort, he'd gotten half of his crew shot. But now he was without a crew... for the most part. If all went well, he'd half at least one other person he'd know he could count on. Which was good.
He noticed Zero's glare and inwardly chuckled. This wasn't going to be easy, he knew that. But Zero could prove to be a rather useful ally, as well as a good friend.
"Before you say anything... everyone needs somebody. Simon's got River, Zoe's got Wash, Inara has Kaylee, Jayne has... his gun. And I have my entire crew. But you don't seem to have anyone. Not just someone to depend on in times of war, but someone to talk to. Someone to be... a friend, even. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't go 'round makin' friends everywhere I tread." Mal reached for the area his holster was, surprisingly.
"I believe you, no matter what you define yourself as, are a person. And I'm willing to die for that belief." He pulled his gun out, sitting it on the counter next to the sentient virus, stepping back.
"But that's not plan A."
So here he was. Malcolm Reynolds. Unarmed, with no way to defend himself if Zero decided to kill him. But he trusted the man, even if they just met. Trusted him like he trusted Shepherd, Wash, Kaylee, Inara, Zoe, and Jayne... well, maybe not Jayne. But still.
"If ya can't walk you crawl. If ya can't crawl, well... ya find somebody to carry ya."
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 5, 2009 2:18:19 GMT -5
Zero opened his mouth and looked decidedly more annoyed as Malcom cut him off. Step one seemed to be going good. Zero was listening and didn't look ready to jump the man any time soon. He let data dance across his fingertips as Malcom pulled the gun, but let them die down when he set it on the counter. He paused.
This was... definently a first. Even those that trusted him stopped after they saw his powers. Zero slowly stood up, looking at the gun distastefully. He glanced at it and then looked Malcom in the eyes, "Do you have any idea what my purpose is?"
A first. Right. But Malcom still didn't know that his purpose was the destruction of all realities, including the one Mal hailed from. Or had been. Or was. Zero's already annoyed look got even more annoyed. Never in the billions of years he had existed had his mind tripped like that. "Or had been." What. The. Hell. He was still looking Malcom straight in the eyes and the gaze wasn't what you would call friendly.
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Post by Jilak on Nov 5, 2009 2:29:50 GMT -5
Mal had been kinda hoping Zero would ask him that. He wouldn't have phrased it that way, but still. He replied, unflinchingly, without hesitating.
"'course I know what your purpose is. Your purpose is whatever you choose to do with your life. Reckon you could go around and destroy anything you wanted, and no one would be able to stop you. Just 'erase it from existence', as you said. But once you're done, once you've wiped everything that exists except yourself... where will you go from there? Will you yourself cease to exist, or will you just float around in nothing, bored until the end of all eternity?" Mal carried on, pacing a bit.
"But what do YOU want to do, Zero? Do you want to be amongst friends, not have to worry about folk like Serenity back there trying to stop you at every corner... or do you want to destroy everything until you yourself become obsolete? If it's the second, you damn sure better kill me right now. Because for the little while I've known you, you haven't done wrong by me. And I ain't gonna try to stop you from your doom and destruction if that's what you so choose. But I refuse to watch."
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 5, 2009 2:36:18 GMT -5
Zero kept his gaze. This human didn't grasp the concept of a program. Although, and remember this thoughtframe had never occurred to Zero, was he really still a program? Programs were completely incapable of acting outside the data that created them. The mere fact that these thoughts were even occurring was a challenge to that. And he was an error. A glitch created by faulty programming, whose "binary" consisted of only zeroes and yet somehow carried far more power than it would allow. His eyes narrowed. What did he want?
A few hours ago, had someone asked him that he would have replied the end of all things. Mal had asked what would happen if he erased everything. He could answer that, of course. He'd cease to be. That indescribable mind snapping nothing he had spoken of? It would be all that existed/didn't exist. The human mind was incapable of grasping the concept of zero, and that is what it would all become. For even nothing is something, so not even nothing would exist.
"I thought you said Jayne was a girl," Zero replied, the harsh look his eyes had remaining, but his frown shifting to a dark smirk. Created an extremely psychotic and creepy effect, really, but the tension seemed to vanish into thin air despite it.
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Post by Jilak on Nov 5, 2009 2:54:55 GMT -5
Mal returned Zero's smirk. Though his wasn't nearly as dark... or psychotic. Still. He'd call this one a win. Anyone you could walk away from, right...? That was the point at which he'd probably have returned a dark 'yes' to Jayne, but that was neither here nor there.
"Heh. Well, she is. But she's rather... masculine. It's occasionally hard to tell that she is, in fact, a girl. The facial hair doesn't help much." Mal responded. All good so far...
"Is this conversation right now a good thing, or should I be calling Shepherd Book up to pray to God for me?" Mal asked.
It should be noted that he was talking rather liberally about his untimely demise...
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 5, 2009 3:01:36 GMT -5
"I do hope you lie to authorities better than you are to me," Zero chuckled, a bit of the darkness from his expression slipping. He shrugged, facing both his palms skyward as it shifted to a normal level of amused smirk, "As for your question, it's not a bad thing. I have no intentions of deleting you anytime soon as it is."
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