Disclaimer: I don't own anything! :3
Warning(s): Gore
Chapter Nine: Appreciated Hosts
Earlier.
Blue sparks illuminated the metallic walls of the cold storage facility, light diffusing across its ice frosted surface. More electric sparks flew as the cursing of a young man with blonde, shaggy hair grew gradually louder, echoing off of the walls. Ludwig Beilschmidt opened the main entrance to the facility slowly, biting his lower lip and hoping that the door would not creak. As it opened he took the opportunity to scan the room, admiring the complexity of the various pieces of equipment that lay on metal tables and trays within, his confidence returning to him.
The door finally opened enough for Ludwig and his companion to slide through, Ludwig turned his head back over the shoulder of his leather overcoat. His chin brushed over the material as he turned to the shorter man behind him, his blue eyes lowered to make eye contact. He pursed his lips, nostrils flared and eyes wide, as though attempting to express a sentiment akin to saying 'Keep your mouth shut, or so help me I will end you'. The man behind him rolled his eyes blowing a section of hair out of their field of vision.
Ludwig turned back, listening to the man's curses and grunts, a mixture of frustration and concentration. He took a slow, cautious step into the storage facility. Then another, and another. He held the door, gesturing that his companion should come inside. The man slid in with slightly less fluidity than Ludwig, but with a comparable degree of grace and catlike inaudibility. As Ludwig closed the door the cursing man took a breath, the faintest of beeps reaching Ludwig's ears. Ludwig suppressed a sigh as the man looked at a series of dials to his left, which gave him a clear view of the entrance. So much for the element of surprise.
The man swore again and snapped around on his heels, eyes narrowing behind his thick, protective goggles. He scowled at the two, moving towards them. Ludwig gave him an arrogant look, a mask hiding his disappointment.
"What the hell are you two doing here? This is area of the facility is restricted to authorised personnel!" He yelled, reaching inside his pocket.
"Vash Zwingli, I presume?" Ludwig asked, offering a cocky smile, holding his hands behind his back. He looked to his side, nodding and subtly gesturing towards his smaller co-conspirator.
"Feliks, if you would be so kind."
In one swift motion Feliks moved towards Vash, who flinched, and spun to reach behind the man, pulling out one of the many cords attached to his thick, fur-lined coat. Vash squawked as he reached as far behind as his coat would allow. Eyes bulging, he looked at Feliks in anger.
"The temperature in here is well below negative sixty! I could have died if you pulled the wrong cord! What are you even doing here, you goddamned idio—" Vash's voice hitched in his throat as Feliks moved away, giving Vash a look of incredulity as he put his left hand into a liquid-filled glass storage tank. He pulled his hand out, inspecting it curiously, face crumpling as he smelled the substance.
"Smells like shit." He muttered, wiping his hands on his coat.
Vash opened his mouth and closed it several times before Ludwig stepped forward, a malicious glint in his light blue eyes.
"Yes," he said. "Questions."
"What are you doing outside of the coloni—"
"You misunderstand," Ludwig said, cutting Vash off patronisingly. "I will be asking the questions." He paused, beginning to pace back and forth, not taking his eyes off of Vash.
"I want details," he began. "I want information. On grading, longevity, incept dates."
"I don't—" Vash said, breathing deeply so he wouldn't stammer. "I don't know such things. I just do eyes, and recently some trading of software with other facilities. I work on genetic design. Just that." Ludwig stopping stock-still, head turning and eyes piercing through Vash. He hmm-ed faintly.
"You— you're Ludwig Beilschmidt, aren't you?" Vash asked. Ludwig nodded. "Your eyes. The colour and shape; I designed them, made them." Ludwig laughed mirthlessly into the cold of the room, head cocked towards the ceiling.
"If only you could see what I've seen with your eyes!" He exclaimed. His eyes returned to Vash as he continued.
"Questions."
"I have no answers, Ludwig."
"Who does?"
"Arminius Heinrich, he knows everything."
"Head of the Heinrich Corporation, eh?"
"He knows more than I ever could — he's the one that designed your mind. Your brain. Every facet of who you are."
"Ah. Smart." Ludwig said, pacing once more. "He's not a very easy man to see, is he, I'm guessing?"
Feliks moved over, his hand on Vash's shoulder. Vash turned, jumping a little when he realised that Feliks was holding an artificial eye between his long fingers. Vash turned back around to look at Ludwig.
"You want Roderich Edelstein. He can take you to see Heinrich." Vash said with a shudder as he felt Feliks put one eye after another on his shoulders and head. He knew he was in no position to berate an android. Not after they pulled out the plug to the security line.
"Now, where would we find our dear friend Roderich?"
"I'll write it down." Vash said, grabbing a pencil and a small scrap of paper as he wrote down the address. He gave it to Ludwig, who accepted it with a gracious smile.
"Come Feliks, let's leave Mr. Zwingli to his work." He said. Feliks nodded and moved towards Ludwig. They turned to leave, Vash turning back to see what could be salvaged of the various eyes that Feliks had dusted off of him and onto the ground. He stood up after a moment, two eyes in his hands as he sighed.
Ludwig turned back, smiling maliciously as he pulled out the largest plug in the coat.
Vash was dead before he hit the ground.
Later.
"Why are you staring at us so intensely Mr. Edelstein? You've been doing so all day and I think Feli is finding it slightly disconcerting." Ludwig said with a quiet tsktsk "To be fair, she isn't the only one."
Ludwig frowned as he looked downwards, placing an arm around Feliciana. Feliciana turned and looked at Roderich, her expression worried and overall unsettled. She had hardly touched her meal, Roderich's childlike demeanor hardly helping to ease her nerves. Ludwig, sensing the awkward, uneasy atmosphere, tried many different tactics to both stop Roderich staring at them, and help Feliciana relax. The only idea he had left was to simply confront Roderich.
"I-I'm sorry." Roderich apologised, trying to not looked too flustered by Ludwig's expressed observation.
"It's alright. Thanks again for the meals today. We're just waiting for a friend to pick us up." Ludwig said calmly, walking to the curtained window near Feliciana, moving the dusty fabric to peek outside. He looked at Roderich's clock, sighing.
"But I believe that, unfortunately, he isn't coming."
"Ve, Ludwig, you should know better than to say things like that," she scolded, looking up at him. "They're probably just late." Ludwig turned and looked at her apologetically.
"Feli, liebe, I didn't mean it like that. You know I didn't."
"But you shouldn't have said it at all, Lud." She said in a softer voice, pursing her lips.
"I'm sorry, Feli." Ludwig said, looking downwards as though he were a little more than a child. Feliciana pouted as he did so, folding her arms over her chest and sulking.
"You should be." She said with a scowl. She played with the ends of her auburn hair as she did so, an awkward silence filling the room.
Roderich coughed nervously as Ludwig turned away from Feliciana, walking towards the chess table. He sat cross-legged on a stool in front of the set, staring intently at the pieces as they stood in their positions. Roderich frowned disapprovingly as he edged towards the dusty piano, saying nothing. Feliciana smiled, moving to a chair nearby after finishing her now-cold meal and watching him concentrate.
"I'm sorry for staring at you two," Roderich said, causing the two to turn to him. "It's just that, well, you're so different from most people. You're both so, well, you're both so perfect." Roderich said, a knowing smile on his prematurely aging face.
"Yeah, I suppose we are." Ludwig responded softly, turning his head back to the chess set, eyes focusing on the pieces. Roderich grinned.
"Well, what generation are you two?"
Ludwig moved a black knight across the chess board before turning back to Roderich. He stood up, moving over to the seat Feliciana was occupying, his arms around her shoulders.
"Nexus Six, Roderich. Third generation."
"Thought so," Roderich said, still smiling, "I, well, I do genetic design for the Heinrich Corporation. There's some of me in you, if you think about it." Roderich finished, pride in his voice.
Ludwig smiled, though part of Roderich thought it looked more like a leer.
"Show me something!" Roderich urged suddenly.
"What should we show you, Mr. Edelstein?"
"Anything!" Roderich said, chuckling.
"We aren't computers, Roderich. We're physical." Ludwig said, smirking as he walked around the room. He gave Feliciana a pointed look. She nodded, offering a crooked smile in return.
"I think, Roderich, therefore I am." Feliciana said in an more cheery voice, standing up. She put her arm around Roderich's shoulder, grinning. He gave her a more nervous smile in response, only just noticing the way her left cheek dimpled when she smiled.
"Very good, Feli, now show him why." Ludwig said, a strange glint in his eyes as he prompted her.
Feliciana stood back, reaching her arms up and out towards the ceiling. She smiled broadly, leaning back and executing a perfect backbend. She remained in the bridge position for a moment before lifting her left leg and pushing off with her right, completing a full backbend kick-over. She stood up once more, and laughed at Roderich's confused expression.
She then moved towards the kitchen, eggs still boiling in a glass pot on the stove. Roderich mentally scolded himself for not turning off the electric stove. She chewed the corner of her bottom lip, turning towards Ludwig as though seeking approval. He nodded, again prompting, almost urging, her to continue. She looked at Roderich, placing her hand into the boiling water and grabbing an egg. She pulled her unscathed hand and lower arm out, smiling as though it had been little more than a slight warmth. She tossed the egg towards Roderich.
He yelped as the egg's innards splattered on the wooden floor.
Roderich had caught the egg, but instinctively dropped it as he felt the pain of the boiling egg as the cracked shell and hot innards came into contact with and splattered over his weak, delicate hands.
"We've got a lot in common, Mr. Edelstein." Ludwig said, his brow furrowed as he stood.
"W-What do you mean by that? What are you trying to imply?" Roderich asked, puzzled.
"Similar problems." He said flatly.
"Accelerated decrepitude." Feliciana said, opening the fridge and grabbing a plate of what appeared from where Roderich stood to be leftover pasta. She ate it with her hands, Ludwig clucking his tongue at her behaviour.
"I don't know all that much about biomechanics, Ludwig. I wish I did."
Ludwig stood up, grabbing the collar of Roderich's shirt and looking into his eyes.
"If we don't find a way to live longer soon, Feliciana hasn't got long to live. We can't allow that, can we?" He said sounding genuinely worried. Despite how he was holding Roderich, it seemed obvious to the smaller man that Ludwig felt a great amount of trepidation and fear. Considering his predicament, he didn't blame him. Regardless of his objective understanding, he shivered under Ludwig's gaze. He tried to move Ludwig's fingers from his shirt, but they would not budge.
Ludwig loosened his grasp.
"Is he any good?" He asked, turning back to the chess board.
"Who, sorry?" Roderich responded, perplexed.
"Your opponent in chess. I set the pieces back to their original positions." Ludwig said, gesturing to the chess set on the table.
"Oh! Doctor Heinrich? I've only ever beaten him once in chess. He's a genius. He designed you, Feli."
Feliciana looked up from her food, pasta hanging from the corners of her mouth. She wasn't impressed, her expression closer to disgust than admiration.
"Maybe he could help us." Ludwig suggested, patting Feliciana on the back almost consolingly.
"I'd be more than happy to mention it to him, Ludwig."
Ludwig smiled, moving closer to Roderich once more.
"Perhaps it would be better if I, ah, if I talked to him in person, Mr. Edelstein. I understand that he is a hard man to contact, isn't he?"
"Well, yes. Very much so!" Roderich admitted with a frown.
"Will you help us?"
"I–I can't."
"We need you, Roderich. You're our best and only friend!" Feliciana said, frightened as she moved towards him, "I don't think there's another human being in the whole world who would have helped us like you have!" She exclaimed, moving to hug Roderich and peck him on the cheek. He gently pushed her away, walking towards the couch.
Feliciana gave Ludwig a knowing look, turning her head towards where Roderich sat, sunken and tired.
"Love you," Ludwig mouthed, a sly grin on his face as he winked.
"Love you," she mouthed back, curving her hands into a heart shape over her chest as Roderich sighed, looking out a window at the city.
The elevator moved quickly. A lot more quickly than Ludwig would have anticipated, he admitted to himself. Not so much that it could have made him feel nauseous, just uncomfortable. The only exception to this would be – as Ludwig had anticipated – Roderich. Unlike Ludwig, who stood in the corner with a bored expression, Roderich looked as though he was going to be sick any moment. Though he could have with great ease, Ludwig did not care enough to help him. He ignored the man's groans of discomfort, looking up to look at the lone functioning lightbulb above them in the elevator. It flickered as Ludwig's gaze returned to the small screen by the door. He smiled as the screen changed, the number ninety coming across the screen as Roderich let out a small sigh of relief.
"Fear of elevators?" Ludwig asked in a quiet voice. Roderich nodded.
"You have reached the office of Doctor Arminius Heinrich." the elevator said in an even, automated voice. A low static hum filled the room as it spoke, ending with a dull click as the sentence finished.
"Please scan your identification barcode so that Doctor Heinrich can be informed of your arrival." It said, a green light flashing above the identification scanner.
Roderich inhaled deeply, stepping forwards and searching through his pockets. He bit his lip as he scanned the small barcode and after a moment an elderly, groggy voice echoed throughout the small elevator.
"What are you doing, calling at this hour? Edelstein, what do you want?" Arminius Heinrich snapped.
Ludwig gestured pointedly, glad that this was not a visual connection. He pursed his lips and made a rolling gesture with his left hand, using the non-verbal cue as a hint that Roderich should answer the man on the other end of the phone.
"Queen to bishop six, check."
"Chess, Roderich? Nonsense. Agh, just a moment!" Arminius replied, groaning as he shifted himself to get out of bed. After a moment, the two in the elevator heard scuffling noises and a string of German swear words.
"Queen to, ah, bishop six," Arminius said with a yawn "Too ridiculous, chess at this hour!" He added in an exasperated tone.
"Hm. Let's see. I think that I'll use the knight. Yes, knight takes queen!" He exclaimed in victory, the slam of the knight hitting the chessboard echoing in the elevator.
Ludwig could almost sense Arminius' grin, matching the mental image with an identical – if younger and more sadistic – grin of his own.
"What's on your mind, Roderich? What are you thinking about?" Arminius asked, his tone suddenly conversational. Ludwig resisted the urge to snort.
'Bishop to king seven,' He mouthed, looking at Roderich.
'Checkmate.'
"Bishop to king seven, sir. Checkmate, I—I think."
"Got a brainstorm, eh, Roderich? Milk and cookies kept you awake? Let's discuss this; you'd better come in."
The elevator doors slid open in a slow and fluid motion, polished brassy metal moving to reveal the large and poorly lit hallway just beyond the polished arches. Ludwig led the way to the room, Roderich trailing behind as they walked across the hall and towards the now unlocked door. A chuckle escaped Ludwig as he opened the door to Arminius Heinrich's room, grabbing Roderich by the collar and pushing him inside before him.
"Doctor Heinrich? I-I brought a friend." Roderich said, suddenly shy.
Roderich turned around with a pleading, slightly panicked expression, moving his hand and gesturing that Ludwig should enter. Ludwig walked in slowly, moving past Roderich and towards Arminius. He kept a distance, not wanting to make the older man too unnerved. Yet. Instead, he looked at the splendor of the room – the unnecessary opulence. The parquet flooring, the wall-length silken curtains and the gold.
Gold, the rarest and most valuable element on this godforsaken planet, and Heinrich was positively rolling in it.
It lined the rosewood coffee table, the matching four-poster bed and every lamp and artificially living creature in the room. Reminding himself mentally to hold in his temper, Ludwig looked away from the large brass and precious metal statues. He smiled at Arminius, an almost evil glint in his sky blue eyes. He sits here in this golden tomb like one of the ancient Pharaohs, allowed to live for so very long, and yet–! Ludwig stopped himself.
"Ah yes. I remember receiving an image of you when you were first incepted on, ah, one of the colonies on Europa, wasn't it? Created in the image of your maker, to use the cliché. Of course, you were made before then and shipped out, but incepted then and there nonetheless. I'm surprised that you didn't come to pay me a visit sooner, designated replicant oh-six-oh-three, nine hundred and eighty nine Ludwig Beilschmidt." Arminius said with a coy smile.
"Well, it's not an easy thing to meet your maker." Ludwig said in a lighthearted tone, taking a small step towards the other. Arminius snickered, his hand clutching his rosewood cane as he looked Ludwig.
Ludwig leered at the old man.
"What can your maker do for you, hm?" Arminius said, smiling.
"Can the maker repair what he makes?" Ludwig asked vaguely, walking ever closer to Arminius. He was like a wild animal circling its prey, his muscles tensing under his coat as he moved down the steps and towards the lounge room area in Arminius' quarters.
"Would you– would you like to be modified, Ludwig?"
Ludwig moved forwards with a smile, Roderich's eyes wide as he stared at him in shock, feet rooted to the floor.
"I had in mind something a little more radical." Ludwig said, turning as he answered Arminius.
"What, ah, what seems to be the problem?" Arminius said, raising his brow.
"Death." Ludwig said, arms behind his back.
"Death? Well, I'm afraid that's just a little out of my jurisdiction, you––"
"I want more life," he paused for a moment.
"Father."
"The facts of life." Arminius responded with a smile.
"To make an alteration in the evolvement of an organic life system is, well, fatal. A coding sequence cannot be revised once it has been established, Ludwig."
"Why not?" He said. Arminius looked at him as though he were little more than a petulant child, a patronising smile on his wrinkled face.
"Because by the second day of incubation any cells that have undergone reversion mutations give rise to revertant colonies like, ah, rats leaving a sinking ship. Then the ship sinks."
"What about E.M.S. recombination?"
"We've already tried it – ethyl methane sulfonate is an alkylating agent and a potent mutagen. It created a virus so lethal the subject was dead before it left the table."
Ludwig nodded grimly.
"Then a repressor protein that blocks the operating cells?"
"Wouldn't obstruct replication, but it does give rise to an error in replication, so that the newly formed DNA strand carries a mutation and you're got a virus again." He said, throwing his hands in the air. "But, ah, this –– all of this –– is academic. You were made as well as we could make you."
"But not to last," Ludwig hissed.
"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly, Ludwig. I mean, look at you! You're the prodigal son. You're quite a prize!" Arminius said, almost proudly. Almost.
Ludwig sat down on the edge of Arminius' bed, the latter patting him on the back consolingly.
"I've done–– I've done questionable things."
"But also extraordinary things, Ludwig. Revel in your time!"
Ludwig looked up at him with a crooked smile.
"Nothing the God of biomechanics wouldn't let me in heaven for?" he joked.
Relief flooded through Arminius as he patted the younger's back. Ludwig's fate seemed to be being taken quite well, genuinely surprising the older man. Ludwig extended his hand. Arminius took it and shook it, looking into Ludwig's eyes. Ludwig looked at the older man, facial expression almost reverent, in turn causing Arminius to give him a fatherly smile. The smile turned into a howl as he felt the bones in his hands crack. Before he could get the chance to scream in agony, Ludwig cupped his cheeks and leant in.
He was stifled by the kiss of death.
Arminius clawed at Ludwig's iron grasp, but when Ludwig moved away his thumbs slowly began to sink into Arminius' eye sockets. Ludwig pressed harder, blood splattering over his face and clothing in the process. Wiping his eyes with his forearms, he saw that the mess was not small by any extension of the term.
Palms up as though he were a surgeon, Ludwig walked to the drapes hanging on the walls, wiping off the blood and gore from his hands and the rest of his face. He turned towards Roderich with the same, almost demonic glint in his eyes.
"I am sorry, dear Roderich, but you have finally outlived it." Ludwig said darkly, moving towards Roderich at a rapid pace.
"W-what? What have I outlived?" Roderich said, taking an instinctive step back.
"Your purpose."
A/N: So after a nearly seven month hiatus, I bring you all... chapter 9.
(Aaaaaand another character death or three. :3c)
I'm sorry this took so long! ;o; I probably won't update for a while again because of school, but I'm graduating this year so I'll be able to do a lot more when this year is all over. I might go back over and edit all the previous chapters, too. Or move the whole fic to ao3. I'm not sure yet. :')
If there's any terminology or technology or anything that you don't understand, let me know either through PM or by leaving a review! :3 I'll do what I can to clarify. uwu*