Into the Night
First: Negotiation
by Lady Virgo
"Endless dark
Ride upon
the sea of
midnight"
///
The music was smooth and deep, urging him to let go of anything troubling him,
that the problems that wailed on brass and heavy strings would soothe his and
let him forget. Everyone forgot here, that's why they came. They never
remembered what was bothering them nor did they remember what it was they had
come to forget in the first place; just remembered that they had forgotten. He
didn't know if he wanted to forget, or what it was the music wanted him to
forget.
He never really listened to music as it was. The silence was his orchestra and
nature his opus. What need had he for people spreading word of their sorrows and
heartbreak and problems and abuse? He knew that personally, he was so in deep
with those of his own, the last thing he wanted was to wade into another's. But
listening to this seemed somehow... fitting. Not because it fit him, but because
it fit /him/.
He, in question of the music, was sitting at another table, listening
distinctly, raptly to the melody though he seemed to only notice it passingly as
he swirled his shot of... whatever it was. He also knew of the one that was
watching him but ignored it. Because it made the watcher annoyed and he got a
kick out of that.
The session ended and he clapped politely with the rest of the audience. But the
watcher just glowered at the line of his shoulder and back. He knew he knew he
was being watched, so why didn't he just acknowledge it?
Or rather, maybe he wanted him to acknowledge that he knew he knew he knew he
was being watched...
Shadow put a hand to his forehead. This was getting confusing. He came here for
a reason, but he certainly wasn't getting anywhere with it.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one getting bored of this waiting as his target,
Blues, stood with his drink in hand. With deliberate slowness and calm, he
coolly wove his way around the close set tables of the jazz bar and sat down
next to Shadow, bodily invading the bioroid's personal space, knowing that he
would be too proud to move aside.
"You," he said pointedly, lashes low over eyes shielded by his shades, "are a
very boring tailer."
"I'm not here to entertain you."
"You can't very well get what you want unless you do something. And something's
much more entertaining than just shadowing me." He grinned maliciously. "But I
guess that's what you do best, isn't it?"
He shot the older robot a violet ice glare. "So sorry I'm bruising your ego.
Can't even shake a minor copy."
Blues' grin widened. He loved bantering with Shadow. Whenever he hit a sore
spot, he just cut right back with something equally hurtful. They were on equal
footing on everything, their thoughts, their movements, their habits, even their
voice pattern were exactly the same. It was a battle every day, but neither
would submit. But that was fine by Blues. It'd been so long to speak to someone
as sharp and clever as himself. Not meaning to be conceited, he reminded
himself, but it was hard level for anyone- born or built -to attain. In a way,
an odd, dark sort of way, he was glad to be copied. Well, maybe he didn't want
to be copied, but he was glad to have /someone/ of his same capacities.
Shadow, however, wanted answers. But he, like Blues, walked a fine line between
straightforward and manipulation. He didn't have to get anything from anyone by
being blunt and just asking, he could get more information by prodding the one
in question with roundabout comments. Blues, however, couldn't be tricked so
easily, nor could he just come out and ask what it was he wanted to know. First
off, it wasn't something that could simply be put into words. Second of all, by
being blunt, it would be submitting that Blues was his superior. And that, as
someone trying to pull away from the 'shadow' of his predecessor, was something
he would never acknowledge.
"Enjoying the music?" Blues asked conversationally. Shadow replied with a mere
shrug to which the other just smirked a bit. "Not your style?"
And he would never allow him a handhold to grab.
"Music is music."
"Is it? I recall you mentioning that you didn't like Flash's 'gangsta rap'."
Because any information, no matter how insignificant, would be used to edge
themselves if not the slightest bit above the other.
"Music is a series of differentiating sounds that has a pleasing psychological
impression. What Flash listens to is not music. It sounds vaguely like a cat
eating a frog in an active blender."
The statement made Blues pause in his mental tracks. For a moment, he wanted to
ask if the cat was eating the frog and both were in the blender while it was on,
or if the frog was in the blender and the cat was eating both the frog and
blender. But then he decided that it, either way, it wouldn't make a pleasant
sound.
The audience applauded louder this time, in the back, a small group stood as the
music troupe making their way off the stage. Blues clapped, not the least bit
annoyed at the fact that Shadow made no sign to do the same. The elder stood up,
a woman and a bassist coming on stage, and left a small- yet impressive,
considering those who frequented the bar -tip on the table.
"Jazz singer just aren't what they used to be." He turned to leave. At first
Shadow thought it was another game of 'hide and seek'. "Lack the same grace and
charisma and appeal the older singers had." But Blues kept talking to him,
leading him to follow. "Nowadays they sing just to sing. No soul, no emotional
sway. How dull."
"But, then many things /are/ better the older they are." Shadow said, the
comment catching Blues by surprise.
He turned to look at the other robot. "True, true."
"And yet," he continued, his face as stony as ever, "the useful things get
replaced by newer, better ones as they grow old."
Ah yes, the deflect-strike.
"And the new ones will still be replaced by those even newer."
Counter strike. Depending on how Shadow answered, Blues was prepared to give
himself a mental point.
"But they can't deny that they've been surpassed."
Falter attack... the argument seemed weak to Blues, but he turned it over in his
mind, examining its smallest parts before he saw the almost fatal blow it held.
"That depends on how comfortable and powerful that which the replacement is."
"Perhaps."
He grinned. "Perhaps indeed."
They backed away from each other slowly, weaknesses still laying undiscovered,
defenses still up and high. It was a battle of endurance, the first one to be
worn down would be the one that would lose. And both were determined that they
would come out on top.
The two walked out of the bar calmly, seeming like an ordinary pair to anyone
else. But they could feel each other probing, trying to find a chink in which to
drive their blades into. Crack the armor, determine the superior and end their
stalemate once and for all.
Who so won the battle would win the war.
They took the path that led behind the bar, off the street corner and into the
woods that gradually became denser the further from the city limits they went.
The road extended out, eventually connecting to a highway that led far, far
away. They were barely beyond eyesight of the bar's backdoor when Blues made a
sudden pivot on his left foot, charging 90 degrees into the bushes on his right.
Anyone else would have been startled and lost by such a sudden movement, but
Shadow had anticipated it. Already he had dashed into the thicket, calling his
armor around him as he ricocheted off the trees.
His senses were on high alert. In some odd way, it thrilled him. During his time
in the fortress, all the training and practice and missions that Wily had put on
him did nothing. But this... this was a challenge, this forced him to his peak
and demanded more than he might have originally been able to put out. But he
strove to become better, just so he wouldn't be left behind, and so his skills
became enhanced. And somewhere along the lines-
Wait a minute. He came to a sudden halt in the treetops, the branch arching
sluggishly under him as it struggled to hold his weight and momentum. Where did
he go? Perhaps because of how he was made, Shadow had the ability to sense and
instinctively know wherever Blues was. But now... he seemed to have lost it.
Like the elder had suddenly disappeared.
Looking around, he saw nothing but undisturbed wilderness. And then it struck
him and Shadow jumped back a branch, eyes sweeping up as he did.
At that moment, Blues swung down, grinning at Shadow for successfully avoiding-
however narrow -his 'attack'. The younger bioroid noticed his position with a
bit of wariness. Blues was hanging upside down from the branch above, knees
locked around the wood, face hanging about the same level as Shadow's when he
crouched slightly. His yellow scarf dangled teasingly and Shadow's inner urges
commanded him to take it and jerk Blues to the ground. But he quelled it,
sensing Blues about to draw him into another one of their 'talks'.
"Do you find this entertaining?" Ah yes. That talk again. However... Shadow
thought to himself, the undertones hinted towards something different.
His mind searched for a response. "Does it matter?"
"Doesn't it?"
"You'd continue this if it suited you. And I'd continue to follow because it
suits me."
"Does that mean that it can't be fun as well?"
"Do you want it to be?" He had a feeling he knew where this was going. He was
prepared for a serious gamble, but then... between them, any sort of gambling-
no matter how certain one was that they would win -was a desperate act, a stab
in the dark.
Blues shrugged, a rather odd effect when one is upside down. "It's worth more if
it's something more than just being done because it's to /be/-"
He put his hand on the table, face up.
"We're going no where with this."
Blues' mouth shut with a barely audible snap. Looks like the pot was Shadows,
this round.
Not only was he caught off guard by Shadow's bluntness- that in its own was
enough to make him stop in his tracks -but the fact that it was also what he was
beginning to steer their 'talk' towards... Shadow had to give himself props for
that.
He couldn't help but to prod it a bit. "Isn't that what you were trying to get
at?"
They stayed like that for a moment, and then the corner of Blues' lips twitched
and a chuckle escaped despite his half-hearted effort to stop it. "First blood,
congratulations."
Shadow's lips twitched itself, however his was turned more towards a frown, but
said nothing. So Blues continued: "New game?"
He nodded. "Ground rules?"
"You first."
"First off, all parties are no longer primarily competitors."
"Fair enough. Second, all parties are to stick together."
"Third, all verbal sparing are to probe yourself, not the other."
Blues raised a brow behind his visor. " 'Probe yourself'?"
"That's right. You're no longer allowed to engage in verbal combat in hopes to
strike at your opponent. Since this new game is to distinguish both parties from
each other, communication is to find differences between each other." He raised
a brow of his own. Surely Blues knew that?
Instead his grin widened. "Just making sure both parties understood what exactly
the rules stated. Fourth, once both parties accept all terms, they may not back
out of another's challenge. To do so is to state yourself the inferior. All
terms agreed?"
Shadow braced himself. He knew that Blues had had that particular rule in mind
when he had wanted to change the rules of the game. He didn't know what he had
planned, but he knew that he'd be used to Blues' own agenda. But that was fine
by him. He had his own plan to follow, and for that, he would use Blues just the
same.
He gauged the other hiddenly. Though they were no longer allowed to measure and
attack the other directly, by being able to separate themselves from each other,
the first to gain their own identity would be deemed superior. And by simply
being the copy, he wished that separation more than Blues ever would. Therefore,
he knew he would already be the winner.
Shadow allowed himself a small, grim smirk to Blues' masking grin.
"Agreed."
First: Negotiation
by Lady Virgo
"Endless dark
Ride upon
the sea of
midnight"
///
The music was smooth and deep, urging him to let go of anything troubling him,
that the problems that wailed on brass and heavy strings would soothe his and
let him forget. Everyone forgot here, that's why they came. They never
remembered what was bothering them nor did they remember what it was they had
come to forget in the first place; just remembered that they had forgotten. He
didn't know if he wanted to forget, or what it was the music wanted him to
forget.
He never really listened to music as it was. The silence was his orchestra and
nature his opus. What need had he for people spreading word of their sorrows and
heartbreak and problems and abuse? He knew that personally, he was so in deep
with those of his own, the last thing he wanted was to wade into another's. But
listening to this seemed somehow... fitting. Not because it fit him, but because
it fit /him/.
He, in question of the music, was sitting at another table, listening
distinctly, raptly to the melody though he seemed to only notice it passingly as
he swirled his shot of... whatever it was. He also knew of the one that was
watching him but ignored it. Because it made the watcher annoyed and he got a
kick out of that.
The session ended and he clapped politely with the rest of the audience. But the
watcher just glowered at the line of his shoulder and back. He knew he knew he
was being watched, so why didn't he just acknowledge it?
Or rather, maybe he wanted him to acknowledge that he knew he knew he knew he
was being watched...
Shadow put a hand to his forehead. This was getting confusing. He came here for
a reason, but he certainly wasn't getting anywhere with it.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one getting bored of this waiting as his target,
Blues, stood with his drink in hand. With deliberate slowness and calm, he
coolly wove his way around the close set tables of the jazz bar and sat down
next to Shadow, bodily invading the bioroid's personal space, knowing that he
would be too proud to move aside.
"You," he said pointedly, lashes low over eyes shielded by his shades, "are a
very boring tailer."
"I'm not here to entertain you."
"You can't very well get what you want unless you do something. And something's
much more entertaining than just shadowing me." He grinned maliciously. "But I
guess that's what you do best, isn't it?"
He shot the older robot a violet ice glare. "So sorry I'm bruising your ego.
Can't even shake a minor copy."
Blues' grin widened. He loved bantering with Shadow. Whenever he hit a sore
spot, he just cut right back with something equally hurtful. They were on equal
footing on everything, their thoughts, their movements, their habits, even their
voice pattern were exactly the same. It was a battle every day, but neither
would submit. But that was fine by Blues. It'd been so long to speak to someone
as sharp and clever as himself. Not meaning to be conceited, he reminded
himself, but it was hard level for anyone- born or built -to attain. In a way,
an odd, dark sort of way, he was glad to be copied. Well, maybe he didn't want
to be copied, but he was glad to have /someone/ of his same capacities.
Shadow, however, wanted answers. But he, like Blues, walked a fine line between
straightforward and manipulation. He didn't have to get anything from anyone by
being blunt and just asking, he could get more information by prodding the one
in question with roundabout comments. Blues, however, couldn't be tricked so
easily, nor could he just come out and ask what it was he wanted to know. First
off, it wasn't something that could simply be put into words. Second of all, by
being blunt, it would be submitting that Blues was his superior. And that, as
someone trying to pull away from the 'shadow' of his predecessor, was something
he would never acknowledge.
"Enjoying the music?" Blues asked conversationally. Shadow replied with a mere
shrug to which the other just smirked a bit. "Not your style?"
And he would never allow him a handhold to grab.
"Music is music."
"Is it? I recall you mentioning that you didn't like Flash's 'gangsta rap'."
Because any information, no matter how insignificant, would be used to edge
themselves if not the slightest bit above the other.
"Music is a series of differentiating sounds that has a pleasing psychological
impression. What Flash listens to is not music. It sounds vaguely like a cat
eating a frog in an active blender."
The statement made Blues pause in his mental tracks. For a moment, he wanted to
ask if the cat was eating the frog and both were in the blender while it was on,
or if the frog was in the blender and the cat was eating both the frog and
blender. But then he decided that it, either way, it wouldn't make a pleasant
sound.
The audience applauded louder this time, in the back, a small group stood as the
music troupe making their way off the stage. Blues clapped, not the least bit
annoyed at the fact that Shadow made no sign to do the same. The elder stood up,
a woman and a bassist coming on stage, and left a small- yet impressive,
considering those who frequented the bar -tip on the table.
"Jazz singer just aren't what they used to be." He turned to leave. At first
Shadow thought it was another game of 'hide and seek'. "Lack the same grace and
charisma and appeal the older singers had." But Blues kept talking to him,
leading him to follow. "Nowadays they sing just to sing. No soul, no emotional
sway. How dull."
"But, then many things /are/ better the older they are." Shadow said, the
comment catching Blues by surprise.
He turned to look at the other robot. "True, true."
"And yet," he continued, his face as stony as ever, "the useful things get
replaced by newer, better ones as they grow old."
Ah yes, the deflect-strike.
"And the new ones will still be replaced by those even newer."
Counter strike. Depending on how Shadow answered, Blues was prepared to give
himself a mental point.
"But they can't deny that they've been surpassed."
Falter attack... the argument seemed weak to Blues, but he turned it over in his
mind, examining its smallest parts before he saw the almost fatal blow it held.
"That depends on how comfortable and powerful that which the replacement is."
"Perhaps."
He grinned. "Perhaps indeed."
They backed away from each other slowly, weaknesses still laying undiscovered,
defenses still up and high. It was a battle of endurance, the first one to be
worn down would be the one that would lose. And both were determined that they
would come out on top.
The two walked out of the bar calmly, seeming like an ordinary pair to anyone
else. But they could feel each other probing, trying to find a chink in which to
drive their blades into. Crack the armor, determine the superior and end their
stalemate once and for all.
Who so won the battle would win the war.
They took the path that led behind the bar, off the street corner and into the
woods that gradually became denser the further from the city limits they went.
The road extended out, eventually connecting to a highway that led far, far
away. They were barely beyond eyesight of the bar's backdoor when Blues made a
sudden pivot on his left foot, charging 90 degrees into the bushes on his right.
Anyone else would have been startled and lost by such a sudden movement, but
Shadow had anticipated it. Already he had dashed into the thicket, calling his
armor around him as he ricocheted off the trees.
His senses were on high alert. In some odd way, it thrilled him. During his time
in the fortress, all the training and practice and missions that Wily had put on
him did nothing. But this... this was a challenge, this forced him to his peak
and demanded more than he might have originally been able to put out. But he
strove to become better, just so he wouldn't be left behind, and so his skills
became enhanced. And somewhere along the lines-
Wait a minute. He came to a sudden halt in the treetops, the branch arching
sluggishly under him as it struggled to hold his weight and momentum. Where did
he go? Perhaps because of how he was made, Shadow had the ability to sense and
instinctively know wherever Blues was. But now... he seemed to have lost it.
Like the elder had suddenly disappeared.
Looking around, he saw nothing but undisturbed wilderness. And then it struck
him and Shadow jumped back a branch, eyes sweeping up as he did.
At that moment, Blues swung down, grinning at Shadow for successfully avoiding-
however narrow -his 'attack'. The younger bioroid noticed his position with a
bit of wariness. Blues was hanging upside down from the branch above, knees
locked around the wood, face hanging about the same level as Shadow's when he
crouched slightly. His yellow scarf dangled teasingly and Shadow's inner urges
commanded him to take it and jerk Blues to the ground. But he quelled it,
sensing Blues about to draw him into another one of their 'talks'.
"Do you find this entertaining?" Ah yes. That talk again. However... Shadow
thought to himself, the undertones hinted towards something different.
His mind searched for a response. "Does it matter?"
"Doesn't it?"
"You'd continue this if it suited you. And I'd continue to follow because it
suits me."
"Does that mean that it can't be fun as well?"
"Do you want it to be?" He had a feeling he knew where this was going. He was
prepared for a serious gamble, but then... between them, any sort of gambling-
no matter how certain one was that they would win -was a desperate act, a stab
in the dark.
Blues shrugged, a rather odd effect when one is upside down. "It's worth more if
it's something more than just being done because it's to /be/-"
He put his hand on the table, face up.
"We're going no where with this."
Blues' mouth shut with a barely audible snap. Looks like the pot was Shadows,
this round.
Not only was he caught off guard by Shadow's bluntness- that in its own was
enough to make him stop in his tracks -but the fact that it was also what he was
beginning to steer their 'talk' towards... Shadow had to give himself props for
that.
He couldn't help but to prod it a bit. "Isn't that what you were trying to get
at?"
They stayed like that for a moment, and then the corner of Blues' lips twitched
and a chuckle escaped despite his half-hearted effort to stop it. "First blood,
congratulations."
Shadow's lips twitched itself, however his was turned more towards a frown, but
said nothing. So Blues continued: "New game?"
He nodded. "Ground rules?"
"You first."
"First off, all parties are no longer primarily competitors."
"Fair enough. Second, all parties are to stick together."
"Third, all verbal sparing are to probe yourself, not the other."
Blues raised a brow behind his visor. " 'Probe yourself'?"
"That's right. You're no longer allowed to engage in verbal combat in hopes to
strike at your opponent. Since this new game is to distinguish both parties from
each other, communication is to find differences between each other." He raised
a brow of his own. Surely Blues knew that?
Instead his grin widened. "Just making sure both parties understood what exactly
the rules stated. Fourth, once both parties accept all terms, they may not back
out of another's challenge. To do so is to state yourself the inferior. All
terms agreed?"
Shadow braced himself. He knew that Blues had had that particular rule in mind
when he had wanted to change the rules of the game. He didn't know what he had
planned, but he knew that he'd be used to Blues' own agenda. But that was fine
by him. He had his own plan to follow, and for that, he would use Blues just the
same.
He gauged the other hiddenly. Though they were no longer allowed to measure and
attack the other directly, by being able to separate themselves from each other,
the first to gain their own identity would be deemed superior. And by simply
being the copy, he wished that separation more than Blues ever would. Therefore,
he knew he would already be the winner.
Shadow allowed himself a small, grim smirk to Blues' masking grin.
"Agreed."