Inspired by and based on the song "The Man Who Sold the World" written by David Bowie, but performed by Nirvana.
* Denotes lyrics borrowed from "How Much Longer" by Eve 6
The Man Who Sold the World
It wasn't the Visser who recognized him, it was the host. This was interesting because the host had essentially become numb to everything that ever happened to his body or went on around his body. This was simply due to the fact that it really was no longer his body. Even when it was his body for those few precious hours every three days, he simply lay there. With no hope for escape, what was the point to do anything other than to enjoy the sickeningly comfortable privacy of his mind.*
You are face to face with the man who sold the world.
That was all he said to him. When the Visser sought explanation immediately afterwards, he received no acknowledgment. He made the mental note to punish his host for his blatant disregard towards his master's demands, but that thought was forgotten soon after.
The man's appearance had not changed that much. Father Time had been fairly kind. The Visser did not regularly make it a point to remember the face of men he'd once met. But now that the man had been pointed out, the Visser became intrigued and removed the man from the line for personal interrogation. Personal interrogation, as in, not infested.
When it was simply the Visser and the man in a room, the host surfaced again. The Visser was on the verge of mocking his host, but instead, gave way. Barely in control, his thought was allowed to be voiced.
I thought you died alone a long long time ago.
The man seemed to be taking the situation relatively well. The fact that he was standing before a strange being of which he had no recollection did not seem to bother him. The man and the host simply gazed at each other, seemingly hypnotized, but completely aware.
The man laughed and said Oh no, not me.
The Visser was confused. But while he never lost control, he continued to allow his host to speak.
I was never his friend.
The man spoke into the host's eyes. Who knows? Not me.
Years and years I roamed. But…
Perhaps he was speaking of was and when. But the man seemingly understood. I wasn't there.
The Visser felt a small flow of satisfaction from the host as he made his way back home, leaving him the reins. Although the Visser could have instantly read into his host's thoughts, he left them alone. Perhaps it was simply the matter that the Visser felt he did not want to taint his own thoughts and opinions with that of his host's. Even so, the Visser was not completely satisfied.
The man had not been meant for any Yeerk in particular, but now, he was given one with a reputation for being trustworthy.
The infesting Yeerk could provide no answers for the Visser. The man had only a vague memory of waking in a hospital, being told he had been in a car crash with severe head trauma and permanent short term amnesia. So while the host could remember the man, the man knew nothing. His behavior towards the host remained unexplainable.
But that didn't change the facts. It didn't change who the man once was. It didn't change his significance. Even if he didn't remember his transaction, the Visser decided to respect it.
The man's desire to protect his child in exchange for full cooperation would have normally been laughed at and dismissed. But the Visser deemed it a small price. What was one host anyway when the man had delivered six billion others?
And so the man was kept close, but never again spoke to the host. His Yeerk, while he knew of the conversation, never understood it and never understood why the Visser granted the man's one wish.
But that didn't matter anyway. The only ones living that knew what happened in the time before was the Visser and the host. All others were either already dead or in the same state as the man.
The host only ever thought of the man once after the conversation. It was at the moment when the realization hit his mind that the Visser was no longer his master.
What made that man become the man who sold the world? Who knows? Not me. Because I must have died alone a long long time ago.