Disclaimer: All Trigun things belong to Mr. Nightow and the other miscellaneous companies
Chapter Six: Contemplation and Conclusions
Knives couldn't believe what he had just heard. He had superior hearing, so the idea that he had misheard her was out of the question. But could it be true? Had he misheard? Certainly not. She had showed all signs of being a superior being. How could he not have realized it? She had obviously known all along what he was, but why hadn't she told him? He could have avoided much unnecessary questions and wouldn't have wasted his precious time contemplating things that now didn't need contemplating if she had simply been straightforward with him.
"Liar." he accused. No point in beating around the bush, she had to be lying, it only made sense. He and Vash were the only human-lie plants in existence, so it couldn't be.
"Why would I lie?" the girl asked innocently. Her wide aqua eyes showed no traces of untruth, but Knives wasn't going to be deceived by a silly pair of eyes. she would have to prove it to him. So he told her to do just that.
"Prove it, vermin." he spat, his tone like ice. Rhianne shrugged.
*Fine then, I will. Geez Knives, why are you so goddamn suspicious? Well, now you
have no reason to doubt me, happy now?*
Her voice rung clearly in his head. Reality was like crystal. She was like him. Shit, Knives thought angrily. He shouldn't have made her prove it. Then at least that way he could have toyed with the notion that she was lying. Damn.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he asked warily, looking at her intently. She laughed, and now it was no longer as annoying, because now it came from a being like himself.
"That's simple Knives. You see, I wanted to know how you felt towards the Human race, and felt that I should shield my powers from you for a while until the time was right. And now was certainly the right time to do so." Knives raised his eyebrows at her
"Why was now such a good time to tell me?" he asked, unable to hide the evident curiosity in his voice. Rhianne moved her legs and sat cross-legged for a moment.
"Because if I hadn't you would have killed me. Power of suggestion can only do so much, you know." She smiled "I know that you were angry at yourself for not killing me on sight, then again for not letting me simply drop on the floor, and for a bunch of other things that I'm just too lazy to mention. You did all of those things because I told you to."
Knives eyed her warily, anger flashing in his eyes for the first time since her revealing her secret to him. "You entered my mind?" he asked, his voice deep and bordering on demanding. Rhianne shook her head, and a few strands of hair fell from the ponytail she hadn't bothered to undo the night before.
"No Knives. I would never do that. It's something that I try to avoid at all costs. Telepathic Suggestion is simply sending extremely weak mental messages to the person of your choice. There messages sink into their brain, causing them the impulse to do what you're asking. For example, have you ever had someone ask you something, and suddenly you felt the urge to do it?" At Knives headshake, Rhianne continued "Okay then, let me give you a better example. If I was to say to you, 'Gee Knives, let's go out and slaughter some Humans today', you would most likely feel compelled to do it, wouldn't you?" Knives snorted.
"You don't have to suggest killing vermin to make it sound appealing to me." he said, and Rhianne thought for a moment that she caught the traces of a smile on his lips. The thought that Knives could show any emotion other than rage, frustration, and other unhappy feelings made her smile as she continued.
"Okay then, wrong example. But you seem to be getting the general idea. See, all my brain did was send out telepathic thoughts that made you feel compelled to do whatever I asked you to do. It can even be done when someone is unconscious, because our minds take in what's around us, even though we aren't aware of it, and naturally sends mental messages out. A good example of this is when I was cold, I brought myself up into a fetal position, didn't I?" Knives raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, but how did you-" Rhianne cut him off "I knew because it's a natural reaction. You would do the same if you were in the same situation. Any living thing knows instinctively that the smaller it becomes, the less cold it will be. It was like when you brought me into this room; my body could sense what you were going to do because of your arm muscles tightening, and instinctively sent out a message that it didn't want to be dropped. That, Knives, is why you've been acting all weird lately."
A light bulb seemed to go on in Knives' head.
"So I was under your influence?" he asked warily. Rhianne nodded "don't take it personally Knives, I didn't mean to. " she said quickly to soothe the dark and ominous look that crossed Knives' face "I was only doing what came naturally, and I'm pretty sure you'd do the same thing given the right circumstances. If you don't like that idea, then I'll try not to, but I can't make any promises."
Knives nodded. For some reason he couldn't comprehend, he suddenly felt a little more comfortable around her. It was as if she had created a bridge across the ravine he had originally thought separated them by simply opening herself to him. He found himself smiling, in spite of himself. Rhianne's stomach grumbled, and he raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Hungry, are we?" he asked, his tone hinting towards menace. Rhianne's eyes drooped and she looked disdainfully at her stomach. Sticking out her tongue a little, she reminded Knives of a small child. Then she looked up and cocked her head to the side, closing her eyes and smiling.
"Sorry about that." she grinned "sometimes I can't control myself. Seriously though, do you think that since I told you what you wanted to know, can I have something to eat?"
"No." Knives' answer was simple and blunt, and took Rhianne completely by surprise.
"But why?" she asked, trying her best not to send any suggestions his way. Knives stared at her coldly for a moment, and Rhianne knew immediately that the nearly friendly and bordering-on-happy Knives that had been sitting in front of her was now replaced by the Knives she had come to know; the Don't-Ask-Me-Anything-Because-I'm-Better-Than-You bastard that had been her captor the night before was back, no doubt about it.
"Because I'm not hungry, and my needs come before yours." he stated. His response was, again, blunt and to-the-point, and this time superiority clung to each word. Superiority he never had and certainly didn't have now, Rhianne snorted to herself.
"Since when?" she demanded, obviously annoyed. Knives blinked for a moment.
"Why, since the day I was born, of course. You see, because I'm a superior being, my needs naturally come before yours. So you will wait until I feel it is necessary to eat. I'm sure you can handle that, no?" His last statement made Rhianne's skin seethe with anger she fought to suppress. She wouldn't let Knives get to her like that.
"How do you figure you're a superior being? I'm a plant too, remember? So that puts us on the same plateau. Now, food please?" Knives shot her a look
"I don't care if you are a plant as well, I am still superior not only by intellect, but physically, and the answer is still no."
"Fine then, I don't care. I can go for days without eating anything." she stated boldly. Knives didn't look surprised, but a glint in his eyes told her that he meant to test that statement sometime. Shit, Rhianne scolded herself, why had she gone and opened her mouth like that? Sure, she could survive for up to three months without anything to eat, she'd had to do it before. But that didn't necessarily mean she liked to.
She sighed and let her head lean back lazily on the wall behind her.
"So then, whaddya wanna do now?" she asked. Knives looked up in a thoughtful manner, one which made him out to be quite cute.
"I want to know more about you." He stated. Rhianne laughed, a little sound that came out her nose and reminded Knives of a little girl.
"Like what? Come on plant boy, be specific." Knives paused.
"How did you know about my planet and by what means did you get here?" At this Rhianne's stomach growled loudly and she blushed again. Knives looked up at her from beneath his raised eyebrows. She at least had the decency to look embarrassed, he thought to himself. Rhianne sighed loudly and looked defiant.
"Food?" she asked again, ignoring his question with hope abundant in her voice. Knives sighed angrily, was she trying to annoy him? He certainly hoped not, after all, she was a being like himself, and could be quite useful in his genocide plans. But he would have to make sure she agreed with him before he brought her into his plans. She had already proven herself to be quite resourceful, and even though Knives didn't like the idea, she was a very strong plant. But if she agreed with him, ridding the planet of the vermin would be easier than he had originally planned. So, it was time to venture forth and secure the girl's position in his mind.
"Fine then, answer me this:" Knives started, discarding the fact that she had purposely avoided his questions "how do you feel towards the Humans?" Rhianne looked up and placed a finger on her chin thoughtfully, then a little smile dawned on her face and she looked at him.
"They're not too bad, why?" Knives felt all the hopes he had built up for her shatter. He had decided that now would be a good time to place her position in regards to his plans, and he now knew exactly what she was. Obstacle. Damn, and she could have proved vital to his plans too. That was, unless he could convince her to change her mind. It might take some doing, but Knives was confident in his ability to manipulate, and he had nothing but time on his hands lately anyway. And besides, if she didn't listen, he could always used the tried and true method of literally pounding his views into her. But that might not be the best way to go about it, he decided. Perhaps it would be a wise decision on his part to avoid an unnecessary scuffle that could prove dangerous or, he forced back a gulp, fatal. Even though he had his doubts about that last thought, he was positive a few petty mind tricks weren't the limit of her powers. She was like him, and therefore should have the same abilities. But that could be proven in time, and preferably not in battle between them. Knives finally came to the conclusion that, as he had originally planned, it might be wise to try and befriend her, even though the idea didn't appeal to him greatly. If he could make her comfortable around him he might gain a better perspective of her views and would then have a good tool to manipulate her with. That sounded like the wisest option, Knives decided. He couldn't help grinning at his ingenuity. He was truly brilliant, there was no doubt about it.
That was the end of Knives' train of thought, as his own stomach gurgled loudly. Rhianne laughed, and he looked down at his abdomen sourly. Argh. Traitor.
"Well, you're obviously hungry, so can we eat now?" he heard Rhianne ask. He looked up at her, his neck still bent so that he was looking up at her through the hair that fell slightly over his forehead. Knives noted silently that he needed a haircut, but only sighed angrily.
"Is all you do eat, sleep and laugh?" he asked, his tone betraying the annoyance he obviously felt. Rhianne paused thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded vigorously.
"Yep, that's about it." she laughed. Knives glared at her, but remembered his pledge to win her confidence and forced himself to smile. "So, can we eat now, please?" Rhianne repeated herself, and Knives stifled a sigh. She was quite demanding.
He rose from the bed and walked to the door. Within a moment, Rhianne was at his heels, obviously eager to be let out of the cramped room. But Knives wasn't going to let her think she had the upper hand.
"Listen to me" he started, turning to face her, a grave and ominous seriousness overtaking his features "I don't want you thinking that just because I've let you out of this room that you can do whatever you want. I've got a mental barrier surrounding my ship that I set up last night. Not only that, but I have cameras surveying every inch of the interior and exterior of my ship, so you'd better not do anything, or you will regret it." Knives let menace thicken his last words, and much to his satisfaction, Rhianne nodded her head gravely. Maybe she was beginning to understand his superiority. Knives scoffed in spite of himself. The thought of the woman submitting to him had about the same level of likeliness as the idea of Vash joining him. But, Knives reminded himself, he knew Vash better than he knew this woman. She was a totally different person, that was obvious. She seemed bright and bubbly on the outside, a trait which annoyed Knives to the extent of his patience; but he could tell she was merely covering. She wasn't as happy as she made herself out to be. Like Vash, he thought darkly as he looked at Rhianne as she answered him.
"Yes Knives, I understand. Nothing stupid. I'll ask you before doing anything, okay?" At Knives' serious nod, she clapped her hands and smiled "thank you Knives." she said, trying to envelop him in a hug. But he shoved her away and looked at her disgustedly. He sincerely hoped that she wasn't going to be like that all the time, or he might just get too annoyed with her one day and kill her before she could be put to good use. And he certainly didn't want that. The faster the vermin were gone, the happier he would be.
"All right then," he said, not bothering to change his voice from it's monotonous tone "let's go get something to eat."
