Note: I don't own Ergo Proxy.
Re-L
It had been a week before we got enough wind to move, even with the small gusts that brought us rain water to drink. Our rations were almost gone; water almost depleted when the storm came. I had woken up just as I always had with one exception. It felt like we were moving. I continued my regular routine and finally came out of the Rabbit's hull. "Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked Vincent.
"I tried to wake you up, but Vince said no. Then Kristeva told me to listen to him and we've been collecting rain for drinking. Here!" the child AutoReiv explained while holding up a cooking pot filled with water.
"Thanks," I said with a smirk. I hated to admit it, but the brat of a robot was growing on me. Although she was no replacement for Iggy, she was starting to fill the void that his absence had created. I grabbed the pot from her and took it over to the funnel system that held our potable water. She watched as I carefully poured the water, making sure not to spill a drop.
"Hey Re-L?"
"Yeah?"
She smiled at me widely and turned around "Only 42.63 units 'til we reach the next city!" She rocked back and forth on her heels with her hands positioned behind her. "And you know what else?"
"What?" I asked.
"Kristeva says that she'll be able to scan the area to see if there are any other humans when we get close enough.
I managed to plaster a smile on my face, even though this was the exact line she had fed me at the last two towns where we had only found a few dying humans that didn't want to join us. What person would want to join two AutoReivs, a human, and a monster to find other humans? I was part of the group and it sounded odd in my own head. "Good, I need some new clothes," I told her, trying to make light of the situation. Pino turned around, her smile grew to double its size.
"Pino needs something new too!" she told me. Kristeva joined her side.
"If you'd like I can prepare a detailed list of essential supplies we need along with a list of tools that may be required if the Rabbit breaks down?"
I nodded my response and looked over to Vincent. There were a few holes in the orange uniform he acquired in Romdeau that he had yet to patch. I looked at the many rips and snags it had adorned in the past year I had seen him. It was time that he got some new clothes as well. Plus, the outfit was hard to wash in such a small facility. "Vincent, you'll need to look for something else to wear as well. You'll also need to find a jacket since we're heading north."
I wasn't even sure if my jacket with the fur-lined hood was enough to contend with the negative temperatures of the northern lands.
"Are you sure you want to head that direction? It seems like we would find more people going south, right? To escape the cold?"
I scowled. "We came from the south."
"It wasn't that far south, Re-L."
I was annoyed with him again. It seemed I was always annoyed with Vincent these days. He was always trying to change my mind, contradict my wishes. As he turned to face me I saw that hint of something sinister in his eyes again, something telling me that Ergo Proxy was not too far from coming out. Perhaps it was our proximity to the next city or maybe it was the way I carried myself. Even though Vincent was the one who was on the outside, in the conscious world, I felt that maybe on a deeper level Ergo Proxy could snap into action and overtake Vincent. I hoped this irrational fear wouldn't come to fruition.
Vincent
There was no one around when we made it to the city of Taketna in the north. It was a city of snow-covered huts and fur-laden animals, but no other life was present. The cold was too much for Pino and Kristeva, whose metallic bodies moved like molasses through the arctic tundra.
"I don't think there's anyone here, Re-l. Not even a Proxy would be able to live in these conditions."
She cocked an eyebrow and vindictively asked, "Would you like to test that theory? Or would you rather just pick up supplies?"
I bowed my head and picked up a dead animal carcass. It's antlers dragged in the snow leaving marks like someone clawing through soil. I grimaced at the thought and swallowed my vomit.
Can't handle the dead? The body seemed to ask me in Proxy One's voice. My body froze, as a shadow in the distance seemed to loom closer and closer to our whereabouts. I picked up my pace, as I struggled with the unfamiliar beast.
"Vincent," Re-L called from the path to the Rabbit, "What is that?"
The presence moved with amazing speed, closer and closer to us. It looked like a bear, but more humane. I numb hands started to shake in fear and I tried my damnedest to move closer to the safety of the Rabbit. "Vincent, it's getting close!" She screamed. Why is she standing there? I asked myself.
Fear is coursing through her body. She is paralyzed. Shall I come out to play with this Proxy or do you think you can handle it yourself?
Fighting back the urge to scream, the urge to let Proxy One out was a tenuous battle that I was losing. I could feel the muscles in my arms contract and the tone of my skin turn colors, the edges of my vision blurred. No longer was I in control as I made my way o Re-L.
Proxy One
My cage within the mind of Vincent Law was not a place I enjoyed being confined to. Suppressed by a weakling who could barely fend for himself, our story was like that of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I waited in the darkness, watching the sap's every move. I listened to his every thought, from worries about me taking over to his lusting thoughts for Re-L Mayer. Our presence within each other sickened me. I wanted to immure him like he did me on a daily basis and when I saw the Proxy through his green eyes; I knew it was my chance.
I tore through the bars of his mind as though they were mere paper, burst through locked doors and long hallways to the great hall of his mind. With what felt like a brief fit of insanity I reached with a grotesquely long arm to the chair in which his conscious self sat. There he was prisoner, my fingers gripping him like chairs; nails acting like padlocks that he could not get at.
A cackle left my throat and roared like a lion. I could see his form wracked with sweat, drenching the undershirt he wore. "Don't piss yourself, Vincent Law." His name ripped out like thunder and he struggled against me. Finally my legs caught up to my arms and I was sitting next to his bound form. "Pleasure to see you, Vincent."
The putrid, human image of myself watched in terror as he felt his limbs grow and stretch. His physical for was being tormented as I took his place. A large smile crept onto my face as I watched Re-L's horrified form come into view.
"No," she uttered as I stepped in front of her.
"How are you, Re-L?" I asked her whorishly caked face seemed to grow whiter as I stepped mere inches from her face. Her eyes started to water and I felt a strange twinge, something like pain. Monad. "You better run before she gets you." I felt metal against my chest and looked down to see the gun with the modified bullet that doctor had made. "Monad—" I uttered, not understanding why I was feeling grief.
Re-L darted to the side and I watched as she squeezed the trigger. It was a few moments in passing that I finally realized what she was shooting at. I turned to see the beastly fangs come out like sharp knives from under the mask the other Proxy wore. I rushed forward with my claws, as the bullet pierced her arm. She stopped her movements and grappled her arm before coming at us with full speed. I blocked her path to Re-L and shoved my hand into her stomach.
Torn flesh and Proxy blood clung to the tips of my fingers, splashed onto the front of the fabric that was draped over me. The body pushed forward, its organs squelched against my forced entry and caused her to moan. I pushed upward into her chest cavity, feeling her lungs. My fingers closed around an organ, soft and slick. It throbbed erratically. With greatest of ease I clenched my fist. An audible popping noise echoed in my ears and a sense of calm dispersed through my presence.
The anger and bloodlust that had been pent up within me withered like a rose. It was in that second that I let my guard down and felt the rip of something vital. The life force substance on my hands changed into tight bindings, my surroundings were purged into darkness. I looked over to see my shadow standing free from his position in the chair, looking out to the scene that I had created.
Re-L
The taste of stomach acid rose into my throat and stung my senses. It was painful and kept my stomach lurching, or maybe it was the way everything looked to be covered in blood. Ergo Proxy stood, peering at the blood and guts covering his hand. He's going to kill me next, I thought as I tried to move my legs. My form felt heavier as the pungent smell of innards wafted towards me. My eyes grew wide, but the edges of my vision were turning white. I heard footsteps crunching in the snow and coming towards me as I fell.
When I came to, I was in the rabbit huddled under a blanket, pelts of fur and my jacket. I was still shivering and screaming for Vincent to get away from me. I had seen him turn into Ergo Proxy before, but the monster that he had changed into was something far worse than the agent of Death.
"R-re-L," he stammered as he tried to approach me once more. "You need to eat something. Here, I made some soup." I looked at the chunks of meat floating around in the steaming broth. The sight of pieces made the smell of blood come back. The acrid taste built up in my mouth even though there was no bile.
"Get that away from me!" I screamed in his face. I didn't correlate the smacking sound and Vincent's deep groan with the action of my hands movement. I opened my eyes to see him on his back, the bowl of food lying on the ground causing broken ceramic to mingle with the meat.
Vincent squinted. "Re-L? Are you all right?"
"Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Clean that mess up."
