"So you shot Dauntless…"
"Yes."
"After he was arguing with Emotionless."
"Yes."
"And the gun you used was a lamb doll before."
"Yes." Aiden answers with finality, shaking his head, "That's what happened."
Kia leans back in her chair, her eyes wide and somehow tired as she ponders what Aiden has told her, "You are certainly a strange beast, Fox."
"Well, that has been established pretty well."
"I have no advice but to see what comes next. The good news, from what I gather, is that you only have one more clone left to face. That of Defenseless."
The hacker thinks about the name in general. It is a drastically different meaning than that of Emotionless or Dauntless. It implies weakness, at least in his standards.
"Have you ever felt defenseless, Fox?" Kia questions with a tilt of the head.
Aiden looks ahead, pulling at his memory. Everyone feels defenseless at some point in their life, especially in childhood, but Aiden couldn't fish out one true memory. He's always been a fighter. Always his father's son. He says quietly, "I can't say I have."
Kia watches him, nodding, "I see…then you must face this illusion. Now."
"Now?" Aiden sighs, "I can barely sleep when I'm tired."
"I will help," Kia stands, "You must break this burden that you carry." She disappears out of the room, leaving Aiden to watch the walls and listening to the jingling of charms. His paranoia spikes as he questions how the woman could get him to sleep. He felt like those strangers that actually pay attention to the people offering digital trips. He has been that unlucky stranger, waking up in a fountain hours later.
Now, however, he feels an odd trust in the clairvoyant. She has understood his circumstance so far, and understanding that is far more than he deserves.
When Kia comes back she is holding a steaming, wood cup in her hands. She looks at him, "I need to channel your aura while you sleep…"
"Right. My aura…" Aiden mumbles, looking at the cup, "What is that?"
"A tea. I'll sooth your mind, make you sleep," She holds out the cup, Aiden taking it slowly. The liquid smells like something of lilac.
"Where was this most of my life?"
Kia smiles a little, "Well, it shouldn't be consumed all the time. Natural sleep is a good thing too."
"Not in my experience. If you haven't guessed," Aiden puts the cup to his lips, the taste distinctly sweet, soothing hot down his throat. He sets it down, leaning back, "If I wake up in some warehouse in Russia I will not be happy." He says dryly.
The fortune teller chuckles, "Well I should be hoping you don't attract any of your enemies to my house, Fox. Lie down. Rest."
Aiden lies down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. After a few moment he hears Kia step out of the room, humming gently. His eye lids grow heavier, the rhythm of Kia's voice supporting the strange drink. He closes his eyes, taking a long, prepared breath.
{Dream}_%3797*54_Location: Autumn_{Defenseless}_He-Who-Influences-None
Aiden knew he was dreaming again as soon as his eyes snapped open.
Above him was a spread out tree line of flaming, autumn leaves. Upon sitting up, he notices it's exceptionally foggy. Despite this, it's clear he's in the middle of the road in Parker Square.
He stands, walking down the sidewalk, his feet crunching on the fallen leaves. A cool, fall wind passes by, blowing up the tails of his trench coat. Each sensation felt real, as if they actual existed.
He glances above him just to be sure. The sky is a strange, galactic motley of colors and stars and clouds, "Yeah...definitely dreaming again..." he mutters to himself, continuing down the path, "I'm getting tired of this shit..."
It becomes increasingly hard to navigate as he moves down the street, the fog seeming to thicken on his approach. He holds his hand out as he walks, his palm meeting the bars of a wrought-iron fence. A chain was wrapped around it to prevent it from opening.
"Can't go through here..." the hacker mumbles rather needlessly, turning back, but is quickly met with a wall-like barrier, "Well okay then."
He turns back to the fence, climbing it with relative ease. In the back of his mind he wondered if could control the dream. He's aware that he's dreaming, but he can't control anything. The thought of it frustrates him to no end, even if it didn't matter. Though it certainly did help when Dauntless was involved.
As soon as his feet touch the ground, the fog consumes everything. The hacker squints ahead, but can't even see a foot in front of him. The only constant is the flaming leaves that occasionally pass his vision.
There's another breeze that passes, but this one is different. It's biting, chilled like winter. The hairs on the back of his neck rise, a multitude of whispers humming seemingly right next to his ear. Sudden, overwhelming nervousness bombards him, urging him to move forward. The voices grow louder, more vicious, hissing their words. The wind becomes gripping, like it attempted to slow his pace. Aiden tries to ignore it, but every step brought on a new, more clawing wave of anxiety. It's a feeling that is so entirely unknown to him that he can't immediately place it until it suddenly presents itself.
The feeling is fear. He is horribly, unmistakably afraid.
He's running, trying to escape it. Shadows chased him and voices growled. With a quick jump over a parked car, he ducks into a house, slamming the door behind him.
The hacker didn't realize how intense the feeling was until it began to wane, his breath escaping him in short bursts, then slow, calculated releases. He closes his eyes, sitting on the floor. It doesn't take him long for his usual calm to return, but he couldn't shake what had happened.
"What...the fuck..." he breathes, opening his eyes and standing.
The house looks as though it was abandoned long ago. Furniture is covered, dust laying on every surface. He steps farther inside, realizing its Nicky's old home. He pushes away the tightness in his chest, the floorboards creaking beneath his feet as he walks.
"W-who's there?!" a voice stammers the question loudly from the other room. Aiden could barely recognize the voice it's so weak, but he knew full well who he'd find.
He slowly makes his way into the kitchen. The darkness sits heavily in the place, an eerie sense of emptiness dominating. The shine of the metal in the corner of his eye makes him turn, just managing to catch the wrist of knife-wielding figure. He instinctively twist's the attacker's wrist, disarming him and throwing him on the kitchen floor. He steps toward him, but the figure raises his hands.
"Stop! Stop I'm sorry!" he speaks quickly, a blue hood covering his face, "I-I thought you were someone else..."
Aiden watches as the man flips his hood down, revealing an identical, though heavily scarred face. His twin pushes himself into the corner, dressed entirely in blue hues, ripped and torn in several places. Bandages are wrapped haphazardly around his overall injured body. His eyes soften in a curious way, lowering his hands.
"Wow...I haven't seen you in...Well, in a long while." he watches him for a second, "How did you get here? How? Did you meet the others? Are you-"
"Hold on, why are you asking me?" Aiden silences his twin, "I've been trying to figure this shit out since the first dream!"
His twin is quick to back down, stammering, "I-I'm sorry! I-I was just really curious, see, because I've never seen you before."
"But you've seen Dauntless and Emotionless, right?" Aiden is surprised by the man's complete and utter cowardice, "Why did you attack me anyway?"
"No one comes in here except me," he stands, even his stance appearing frail, "I thought you were some sort of mental intruder." He moves past Aiden, hurrying out into the hall. The hacker follows with a raised eyebrow, noticing a word on the back of his twin's blue coat.
"Defenseless." Aiden says aloud.
"Yeah?" Defenseless turns to him, "That's my name. At least that's what Dauntless and Emotionless call me. It's...fitting..." He trails off, frowning and looking out the window.
"I've met them. They're assholes." Aiden speaks as if they're separate people, despite knowing full well that they were parts of himself. Emotionless barely acknowledged him and Dauntless tried to break him in half. The fact that they were both parts of him never gets less disturbing. While in that line of thinking, he looks at the man before him. Defenseless is part of him. Part of him very, very deep inside.
"Well that's a rude thing to say..." his twin turns to him, eyes incredibly soft, "They aren't...that bad. I mean, they keep me in here to make sure I don't distract you. It's worked so far-"
"Wait...they keep you here? What are you talking about?" Aiden asks, wondering what the hell is wrong with him if parts of his brain are bullying other parts.
"It's really not that big of a deal! I mean, they have me stay here so…you know...when you get stressed out or something, I don't hold you back. I'm just a weakness...right?" He looks at Aiden, "Right?"
The hacker watches him for a long pause, not really knowing how to answer the question. This was the half that Emotionless spoke of. The part of him that clung to what he felt rather then what he thought. He watches him, his hands shaking and eyes darting, as if expecting a monster to crawl out from under the floorboards at any moment.
"Why don't you tell me?" Aiden asks, causing his twin to look at him, "Do you think you're a weakness?"
Defenseless looks completely taken off guard, taking a step back, "Um...you're asking me?"
"Is there anyone else I could have asked?" Aiden replies with another question.
"It's just...weird for someone to notice I have an opinion on anything. The last time that happened was...um..." He seems to strain his memory, "The last time I left this house."
Aiden is about to comment that his other half didn't answer his question, but the twin continues before he can, "When you were trying to decide whether to kill Maurice or not, that's when. Dauntless and Emotionless...they wanted to kill him. They said he would suffer less that way." He pauses, biting his lip and looking outside, "I...I had to tell them what I thought so...I left. Even if they didn't want me to. I told them that killing Maurice wouldn't give him the chance he wanted; that he could...maybe...live for once."
Aiden listens to him, a question leaving his lips despite knowing its answer, "What did they say?"
"Emotionless wasn't happy that I left. I mean...he's never really any sort of happy or unhappy but...never mind," he says with a bit of grimace, "But Dauntless said I was right. And Emotionless came around after we ganged up on him."
The thought of his Emotionless half being forced to make a different decision amused him greatly. He chuckles a little to himself, then frowns, remembering his original question, "If you can do that, why do you think you're weak?"
"...Oh...because I am! Right? No...Not right..." he starts to pace, occasionally looking out the window, "I mean...I think I am. They told me I was. They both did. You...you did."
"I did? When did I-" Aiden stops himself, staring at Defenseless. If this part of him was who he thought he was...he has only pushed him back.
"You pushed me back, at least." Defenseless says quietly, sitting on the sheet-covered couch, "That's why I have never seen you. I've just been...hiding." he continues to glance out the window.
"Why do you keep looking out the window?" Aiden finally asks, not being able to see anything past the fog.
Defenseless bites his lip, looking back at Aiden with a concerned look, "Uh...I'm watching out for the others. They can get through the fog easily."
Aiden can see the fear in his twin's eyes, "You're afraid of them."
"No! ...I mean...yes. I Am." he seems ashamed, "I guess not actually...I'm more just...you just haven't needed me all that much lately. Or really ever wanted me."
He spoke as though he was an abandoned child or lost dog. His eyes train to the floor, falling into an uncomfortable silence. Aiden steps away, wondering if he really did push back every feeling that made him sympathize, made him hesitate in his decisions. He rarely ever questioned what he needed to do to find those responsible for Lena's death. After killing Lucky Quinn, he had thought over his actions, but only then, never before, never during. Defenseless represented every feeling that would have made him hesitate, but he had been forced to stay back. He had to move to make room for the overshadowing anger and sadness and guilt and grief.
"You're right." the hacker finally breaks the silence, "I haven't...ah...let you speak for me in a while."
Defenseless looks up, surprised, "You're actually acknowledging that?" he cuts himself off, "Oh, I mean, not like I'm insulting your intelligence-"
"You're not. Honestly, I wouldn't expect that much from myself." Aiden mutters, sitting beside his twin, "I wouldn't be afraid of the others. You don't have to listen to them."
"I do if it means keeping you alive."
"Sure, yeah, of course I'm not going to show emotion if someone's trying to shoot my fucking brains out. But any other time? I don't see why you can't put a word in."
Defenseless pauses, the smiles slightly. It wasn't a sad smile, nor a nervous one. It was an impressed one, like he was waiting for an answer like that, "I'm glad to see you're not a complete loss."
"What?" Aiden lifts an eyebrow as he asks.
His twin's smile remains until a sudden, whipping wind tears at the walls at the house. He jumps up, looking out the window, "Fuck...you need to wake up."
"It's just wind. Why are you freaking out-"Aiden doesn't finish his question, Defenseless grabbing his arm and pulling him deeper into the house.
"It's Restless. You have to wake up. Now." his twin's voice shook a little. He swallows, stopping in the kitchen, "I'll wake you up."
"And you?" Aiden found himself worrying about a stream of consciousness.
"Don't worry about me. I don't want you to go crazy. And I'm used to it, trust me." he retrieves the knife from the kitchen floor, looking at him, "Just...don't be mad."
The wind howled outside, autumn leaves swirling in tornados past the window. Aiden practically feels a coldness settle into the room. He looks at Defenseless, then glances at the knife, knowing what he was going to do, "Are you serious?"
"I guess you could stab me too, but it's the only way I know how to wake you up." he hesitates, "I don't exactly want to-"
"Defenseless, just wake me up." Aiden moves closer, "It's a dream, it won't hurt me."
His twin's expression looks pained, "It'll hurt me, though. I...can't just take a human life like you can."
I can't just take a human life like you can.
"I think I can forgive you." Aiden mumbles, his words not as strong as he wants them to be.
Defenseless nods quickly, jumping as the wood of the house seems to crack. He takes a step forward, stabbing Aiden through the heart. The hacker felt it, but it didn't hurt, even when he collapses like the blow had truly killed him.