So yeah, I was thinking about this idea for a while. Since I decided that Aiden is fucking insane, I imagined his brain being the equivalent of a disgruntled office building. With this in mind, I've also decided to continue this story to explore the other parts of his mind. I can totally do it to, because Aiden doesn't have a personality in the game.
So here's the first of four new chapters to establish what I believe makes our favorite hacker function, enjoy…
Aiden is cradling his arm when he exits the apartments' back door. The entire experience was business as usual until one of the men he was sure was dead catapulted at him with a shard of glass. Luckily, he had already taken down the leader, but the attack left a noticeable gash on his arm. It is safe to admit that Aiden was not pleased with that particular man.
He takes several intensive minutes try to care for the wound in the alley. He had found no first aid kit in the hideout but that didn't stop him. The hacker flinches at the sight of it when he finally reveals it from the layers of clothing.
"Fuck…" He curses, realizing the wound's severity. He knew for a fact T-bone was not the best doctor in the world, and hospitals were never a happy place for Aiden. He leans back, the stinging pain of the arm beginning to rise.
"Sir?"
Aiden moves his head to the side, seeing a woman standing over him. She is a slender, willowy build, her skin looking of Indian heritage. She looks at him with dark, but concerned eyes.
Before Aiden can tell her to leave she crouches next to him, forcing his hand away from his arm gently. She gasps at the gash, "This is horrible. I will help you."
"No…no it's alright—"
Aiden stops as the woman turns his arm. He assumes she was just inspecting it, but her fingers poke around the palm of his hand. She looks up, reaching out and touching his cheek and forehead before speaking quietly, "Oh dear…your aura…it isn't right either."
The hacker knocks her hand away, pulling himself up. She stands with him as he speaks, "Ah, listen, I don't know what you mean but—"
"I will help you. I will not ignore this! You are in deep need of a reading!" She grabs a fist full of his jacket, pulling him with surprising strength out of the alley.
"Look, I just need a first aid kit not a…" He trails off, suddenly recognizing the woman. She is a fortune teller, he always sees her sitting in parks or street corners offering her skills to random civilians. Aiden always assumed her to be crazy, assuming she never charged for the supposed readings and that she never seemed to do anything else. Then again, he has seen people leave like they had just seen ghosts.
This is beginning to concern him.
Nonetheless, he needs to fix the wound and the woman has already dragged him into another set of apartments a block down.
"Come…in here," She says, opening one of the doors. A wave of herbal scents wafts into the hallway, making Aiden question what the hell he's getting himself into. Yet, he follows the woman into the small home. It is oddly normal, considering the organic smell. Aiden sees a small incense burner near the door, other than that, the rooms were simply furnished, save a couple dream catchers and some other charms hanging from the walls.
"My name is Kia, Fox," The woman suddenly says, dropping her bags on the floor.
"Fox…" Aiden repeats, it is a common nickname for him to be called when he walked down the street.
She looks at him, "Do you prefer Vigilante? I honor your anonymity, and will not ask your name."
Aiden stares, readjusting the grip on his wound, twitching slightly at the spike of pain, "Whatever. I just need something for my arm."
"Yes. Your cut…I will help you, I only require your time, Fox," She says carefully, as if warding off an angry dog, "Please, sit." She gestures to the kitchen table. Aiden watches her, slowly taking a seat at the table. He awkwardly reaches in his pocket with his less bloody hand, pulling out his phone. He profiles Kia as she shuffles about.
Kia Bends; Age: 35; Occupation: Fortune Teller, Clairvoyant, and Psychic.
Aiden lets out a slow, irritated breath. He's seen types like her on television, he doesn't believe it for one millisecond. There is no way to "sense" the dead. It is completely illogical and the media is ridiculous to try and get anyone to believe that sort of shit. Then again, many people did believe in spectral reading, he supposes he shouldn't judge, but he still finds it nonsense.
"There are many spirits that burden your soul, Fox," She says cryptically as she enters the kitchen with medical supplies. She tends to his cut with little hesitation, "You have suffered painful losses."
Anyone could guess that. It isn't exactly a mystery that he lost someone, most just know very little. As they should. Regardless, he decides to play along, lest he sit here for ages.
"I have," He agrees, watching her carefully as she mends the cut. He reacts little to the sting of the chemicals she sprays to prevent infection, pain means little to him now, he finds himself feeling it less and less.
Kia does not look up at him, but speaks casually, "I can feel the presence of a young spirit."
Aiden frowns, but says nothing.
"She is asking what happened, she is concerned." The woman's brow furrows before speaking again, "She is saying 'uncle' many times—"
"Any more spirits you'd like to focus on?" Aiden interrupts without regret. He can feel a coiled anger at the woman for mentioning something so similar to Lena. It is ridiculous.
"Yes. There is a male voice." She says, seeming to take note of Aiden's rudeness and speaks with iron, "He is laughing."
Damien.
No. No that isn't Damien. Damien is dead, gone forever. Aiden couldn't believe he even thought of there being a ghost for even a minute, "That's not very nice," He mutters.
When Kia finishes the bandages Aiden is on his feet. She is quick to catch his sleeve, "Please, Fox, I beg you to listen."
"I don't need any voodoo bullshit. Thank you for helping me, really, but I'd rather leave," He tugs her grip away, heading to the door.
"Very well. Tell me, Fox, have you had any problems with nightmares?"
Aiden stops, his hand on the knob of the door. His fingers slipping off it, silent.
"I'll take that as a yes. I told you. The soul speaks the most in dreams. I suppose it involved seeing yourself."
"How did you—"
"Please, Fox, take a seat."
Aiden stares at the door, memories of the past night's dream flashing in his mind. He steps back, muttering, "I can't believe I'm doing this." He returns to the chair.
Kia is pleased, smiling pleasantly at the hacker, "Thank you."
"Just tell me what the fuck is wrong with me."
The fortune teller raises a critical eye at Aiden, "There is nothing wrong with you, Fox. Have you done a great deal of soul searching recently?"
If taking great pains to eradicate all that caused his nieces death; including but not limited to the disposal of random crimes, escaping police and killing countless numbers of viceroy along with an old man and his long-known mentor lingered under the category of "soul searching" Aiden wouldn't hesitate to say yes. Then again, he did think a lot after the fact, and still did.
"I suppose so," Aiden answers neutrally, "I have."
Kia smiles again, "Tell me about your past dream."
The hacker takes a moment to look over at the door before beginning his explanation. The more he delves into the nightmare, the more he feels like he's really going crazy. However, the woman before him only nods, stopping him now and again to ask simple questions: What his twin was wearing, what his tone of voice was, etc.
"He shot me in the head at the end," Aiden finishes, "I woke up after that."
After a pause Kia whispers, "I see…this is intriguing. Give me your hand."
Aiden is through with questioning it. He holds it out to which Kia promptly takes it, closing her eyes. She takes relaxed breaths, gasping suddenly and letting go.
"What? What is it?" Aiden demands, genuinely startled.
Kia looks at him with a serious gaze, her dark eyes intense, "I suspect a series of messages will appear in the coming nights, in your dreams. You'll be visited by four spirits—"
Aiden scoffs, leaning back, "Are they going to tell me the true meaning of Christmas?"
This does not stop the fortune teller, "Four more spirits of yourself. I cannot say the meaning of this, or why, but it will happen. Four nights. Four spirits."
"I think I've had enough of this…" Aiden stands, "Thank you, again, for healing my arm." He steps away, walking out into the hall before she can speak again.
The hacker walks down the street, wondering for a couple quiet minutes if he was too bitter toward the woman. She was trying to help, even if it was in an obnoxious fashion. Despite this, he couldn't help but wonder about what she had said. Four spirits or himself. It is eerie enough, it also sounded completely inane.
He curses, hating the sudden conflict he had. There is no possible way this could mean anything.
With closure in his thoughts, he continues ahead only to stop, looking behind him. He swears he heard a quiet chuckling, someone amused by his struggle.
"I need a fucking nap." Aiden huffs out, walking again into the dying light.
{Dream}_%78$$#9 6_Location: Winter_{Emotionless}_Fragility-of-Feeling
Aiden wakes to startling cold. He had gone to sleep late in the night, now waking in the same boxcar hideout. However, the usual coolness of the container had turned to an uncomfortable chill.
With questions in his mind he rolls upward, realizing quickly that the cold was more than just a feeling. Frost curled on the walls and electronics, dimming the lights.
"How…?" the hacker couldn't finish his own question. He snatches up his phone, opening the boxcar's door.
Beyond he's greeted with a massive expanse of snow and ice.
He steps out, his boots crunching the powder beneath him. The chill in the air is near Antarctic, but he could barely process anything. Only that it was autumn when he went to sleep.
The hacker leaves the alley he resides in, stepping onto the sidewalk. No cars were on the road save a couple which traveled through the snowy paths at pitiful speed. Some civilians walked about but they all shivered and swiveled, as if every shadow scared them to the core.
"This is a dream…" Aiden speaks to himself, moving down the sidewalk, "I'm fucking dreaming again…it has to be…"
Curious, he jogs up to a nearby pedestrian. She walks quickly, glancing behind her, meeting his gaze with gripping fright.
"Oh God, don't hurt me! I didn't do anything, I promise!" She pleads, backing away from him but not full on running.
"What are you talking about? I'm not going to hurt you." Aiden says bluntly, his usual tone hiding his confusion.
The woman takes an extra second to look him over. The fear is clear in her face, but her voice becomes slightly curious, "Y-you look different…"
"Different?" Aiden's eyes narrow, "Different how?"
She is stricken with fear once again, "I didn't mean to say that! Don't…don't come any closer!"
She bolts down the street. Aiden watches her with increasing disdain. Something about the way she looked at him made his stomach turn. She looked at him as if he were the Devil himself.
A cold wind strikes him from behind, easily chilling him to the bone. He turns, suddenly meeting his reflection.
The situation is similar to that of his previous dream. However, this second Aiden boasted a much less furious appearance. He stands casually, cloaked in white, looking at him with an unreadable gaze. The dreaming hacker glances at his twin's sleeve, a single word scrawled up the side of it: Emotionless.
"You're in my way."
Aiden snaps back to reality; what is left of it anyway. His twin watches him steadily, waiting for an answer.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Aiden asks, although fairly certain that the twin in front of him would not answer it the way he wanted him to.
His twin looks at him, bearing nothing but the same cold stare, "I'm you."
Aiden huffs, rolling his eyes, "No shit. I mean what."
"That's not what you asked." His twin mutters, "You are still in my way."
He side-steps the hacker, heading down the sidewalk. Distantly, Aiden's anger flared at his twin's immediate dismissal. However, he couldn't give in to this, it is a dream and nothing else. Last time he woke after speaking to the twin and somewhat conquering him. Maybe that's what he has to do here. He will play along, anything to get him out of this faster.
"Hey!" Aiden calls, meeting back with the white-clad reflection.
His twin shows no annoyance, or anything at all really. He addresses him with the same stare again, "And here you are, in my way again."
"I've seen this before," Aiden says, "What? Are you supposed to be "my emotionless half"?"
The twin does not change his expression but turns his attention to his sleeve, then back at Aiden, "Ah. I see what this is. You are the culmination then. Honestly, I'm not impressed in the slightest."
The hacker raises an eyebrow, "What?"
"You've met Restless."
"Restless-?"
"He tried to kill you. A fragile thing, that one, so…sensitive." He speaks the word as if it is a plague on existence. His eyes are cold but calculating as he looks back at Aiden, "I can assure you that I won't attempt something so foolish. I'm sure this meeting is part of some metal psychosis brought upon by lesser figments of your being—ahem—your emotions, I apologize."
The hacker stares, completely baffled. The twin spoke in a way devoid of any feeling. He could guess that enough by the name on his sleeve, but he is also cold and intelligent. However, the twin knew about the events of his last dream, how was that even possible? This had to be a reoccurring dream, a strange, strange reoccurring dream. He remembers suddenly what the fortune teller had told him, she knew this would happen.
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Aiden asks, forcing most of his realistic questions back down his throat.
"I don't know and I don't care," His twin moves past him again, "Some say that repetitive dreams tell of future events." He stops, pivoting toward him, "But that is a ridiculous notion."
"I can think of several things that are more ridiculous than that right now…" Aiden mutters, following after the twin as another chill wind hisses by, "You called that other me fragile."
"That's because he is. They all are. Restless, Dauntless…" He huffs in blunt bitterness, "Defenseless. They are all weaker beings. Emotions, feelings, they only drag you down, cloud your better judgment. Logic cannot fight such the chaotic, powerful force of the human heart."
It is odd how profound the twin speaks. Then again, this is supposed to be emotionlessness in its purest form. Aiden can only fathom that the being is his isolated, calculating side, free from emotion. It is a part of him he feels he sees a lot. He then remembers that this twin named several…people. His other emotions? This is beginning to hurt his head.
"Since when have emotions gotten in my way?" He asks the continually moving figure.
Emotionless stops again, "I thought you would understand—right. You are a culmination. Only part of you understands."
"Just answer the damn question!"
"Fine. I don't know why you keep so many people close to you. You…you are pulled down by those you love. Those people you want to protect. The only way to protect is to isolate, to keep them all away. If they don't care then you won't care. There is no stress then, nothing to stop you."
Aiden thinks about this, a wave of realization overthrowing him, "You're just like the other me. Listen. If I kept everything and everyone away…well that would just be a fucking sad life, wouldn't it?"
"It would be?"
"What?"
"How would that be…?" Emotionless trails off, one, single laugh escaping him, "Right. What am I saying? I keep forgetting that my logic is useless on you. I am powerless compared to the others that corrupt your heart. If I didn't know better…I would pity you."
"Pity that I care about the world?"
"No." Emotionless steps back, "I would pity your needless suffering."
Aiden shakes his head, "Yes. It's needless. But that's life."
"If you let me in, you wouldn't feel it. I don't feel anything. I control the words you speak. If it wasn't for me no one would fear you."
"That's a rather bold way of putting it," Aiden says, "I find that hard to believe."
"Do you really think that if any of those people you threatened saw sympathy in your eyes that they would back down so willingly?"
"That didn't help with Clara, did it?" Aiden felt sick talking about her, a deep pain stabbing through his thoughts, "She was never afraid of me."
There was no sight of reaction from Emotionless, "She doesn't matter. She's dead."
"And you're OK with that?"
"Why would I not be?"
"Because…" Aiden trails off, knowing the answer.
"You don't seem to grasp how little fucks I give," Emotionless spoke. The hacker didn't think anyone could swear with less interest than the man in front of him, "Besides, that girl betrayed you. You let her in, you trusted her. That's how it always is. Everyone disappoints you at the end."
Aiden couldn't stand this anymore, "Well that's a fucking depressing thing to say."
"Only to someone who feels depression."
"You're wasting my time."
"You're killing mine."
The two identical-looking men stare each other down. Neither hold back, but neither could break the other. Emotionless sighs, "I believe we are at an impasse, culmination."
"Yeah. We are." Aiden agrees, but doesn't take his eyes off the man, "But…just so we're clear. You could not break a man with emotions."
There is a slight, barely visible tinge in Emotionless, a spark of anger, "I cannot break you. I'm a part of you. And you're dreaming."
This statement is a reminder to Aiden, he is getting absorbed in an illusion. He nods slowly, a chill wind whipping through the two. While Emotionless stood like a statue, vanishing in a white fog, Aiden almost falls over from the force. Snow pelts him like tiny needles, tearing through his clothing.
He hears a scoff, a white-sleeved hand reaching out from the visionless storm and taking his arm, "You're waking up." The calm voice of himself says before yanking him forward into the storm.
{Hack}_8032_Cemetary_{Pearce}_Those-That-Feel
Within a couple seconds of waking, Aiden had felt the goose bumps that cover his skin. He had lifted his arm, the bloodstained bandage still secure around his cut. He was back to reality.
"This is really happening…" He had muttered, slowly sitting up. The boxcar was the same temperature it always was. Aiden didn't bother questioning it at this point. Instead, he felt a strange, overwhelming desire for something.
He had stood with the intention of doing it. In a couple minutes he was out the door, walking briskly into the Loop.
Now…now he stands at the foot of Lena's grave. He cannot count how many times he has stood in the exact spot, watching the grave, reading every carved word. Despite all he's done, everything he accomplished and failed at, he could never have her back. What happened cannot be reversed, ending a thousand lives could not resurrect one.
Aiden sets a small bunch of lavender on the grave. He remembers buying them, the clerk clearly recognizing him but saying nothing about it. He cannot help but think of what the illusion of himself said before.
Emotions are weakness, isolation is protection.
The hacker closes his eyes, a slow and deliberate breath escaping him. With little thought, he feels a couple tears escape. It is odd, letting himself be anything but angry. Then again, that's all he felt, just clouded but stubborn revenge.
He wipes away the tears, looking back at the grave, "I'm sorry, Lena." He says to the stone, as if it will answer back. If what the fortune teller said is true, about Lena's spirit watching him, he is truly sorry.
Aiden turns away, shoving his hands in his pockets and heading down the hill as a chill wind rushes by, rolling leaves across the pavement.