A/N Okay, sorry about the shitty beginning, but isn't that always the way? the beginning always sucks ass and then the writing gets somewhat better as the story progresses? Yeah. Also what is pacing and why am I shit at it? I mean dude I'm skipping all over the place with the timeline. I might start just putting dates all over the place because this shit is like... all over the place. Anywho, enjoy another chapter. I don't own Homestuck.
The Mutineer stood in line at the Cull Center's employment desk. He had to get in through employment or he'd be stuck there for god knows how long. As he reached the front desk the receptionist glanced up at him before clicking through files on the husktop. The Mutineer pushed his paperwork towards her and she glanced back up at him and then back down at the husktop before standing up, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to follow me."
The Mutineer nodded. This tended to be standard procedure. Background checks the works. He followed the receptionist off into a separate block.
She gestured for him to sit in a chair on one side of a desk as she sat on the other, her hands in her lap, "Now we're just going to do some background and health checks."
He nodded, "I'm fairly well acquainted with the procedures."
She pulled out a file, "Name?"
"Tavros Nitram."
She furrowed her eyebrows and scratched her ear.
"Title?"
"The Follower."
She glanced at him and then stood up, "If you'll excuse me a moment, I left a form on my desk. Terribly sorry, sir."
She left the room and The Mutineer shifted uncomfortably in his seat. After a moment of sitting in silence a large burly blueblood walked in the door and grabbed around The Mutineer's arms.
"Hey! Hey let me go!"
The Mutineer struggled against his grip as he was dragged out of the room kicking at the troll with a firm hold on him. A hand fell over his mouth and nose and he began to panic pulling at the arms holding him as the world started to go blurry and dark. His limbs fell limp as the darkness encompassed his vision and he fell into unconsciousness.
Halfsoul paced up and down his block in frustration, eyebrows furrowed. Why didn't The Merciful get it? The breakouts were happening for a reason. The system wasn't working. Though his frustration was more for the fact that the Cull system took away so many resources that could be used for other things. Why should they have to care for the weaklings? If they were unable to take care of themselves they shouldn't survive in the first place. He stared out the window at the passersby. He scowled and pulled his drapes shut before sitting down at his desk.
The outbreaks were only going to get worse. He didn't know what The Merciful was playing at or why she seemed convinced that the system was going to work. The only real option was to either just kill every one of the culled or set them free, either way the survivors would be the ones that deserved to live in the first place. He sighed and stood up. It was almost midnight and he still had a shift to cover.
Halfsoul picked up his rifle and stalked out the door. He had far too many stops tonight and he was not in the mood for all of the sobbing wrigglers and half-grown trolls. He walked out to his livingblock to find his lusus sitting where he always did, "Seahorsedad, we've got to get goin', so get your lazy ass up."
He took ahold of his reins and as soon as he'd exited his hive, mounted up and took off to head towards the landdwellings. Hopefully most of the culled would have been out of their hives and off to the cull center by now. He landed at his first stop and watched as a little shitblood was dragged from his hive. He scoffed at the insults and pleas flying everywhere as he stepped into the doorway. He let the door close behind him and a tiny flash of white flew by, goddamnit. The tiny lusii were always a hassle.
He groaned and opened fire, a beam of light flying from the end of his rifle and putting huge scars along the walls as he aimed for the tiny little fucker. After about ten minutes of a cat and mouse game the little white blur of wings fell to the ground and he picked up the lusus's dead body before returning to his own.
"I hate this job."
The Mutineer sat in a white sterile block with his head in his hands. He tried to feel for the presence of the animals he knew so well. There had to be some outside the Cull Center. He felt around desperately. Trying to find any animal, any hop-beast, meow-beast, the smallest or the largest, anything. He needed to get a message to The Director, and fast. He sighed in exasperation. He needed to tell her that the authorities had figured them out, to tell her not to come looking for him, to tell her to get away as fast as she could. He groaned and stood up from the chair pacing around the block before shouting and kicking the wall.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
He collapsed in the corner, pulling his head to rest on his knees, "Don't come looking for me. Please, don't come looking for-"
And explosion sounded down the hall and he ran to the door banging on it, "What's going on out there!?"
An alarm began screeching and numerous footsteps could be heard in the outside corridor. An announcement echoed through that wing of the cull center, "Evacuate the B-wing, all personnel are to escort the residents of the B-wing to the recreation center."
The door opened and one of the many escorts stood outside The Mutineer's block, "Come with me, sir."
As the escort showed him out of the B-wing The Mutineer cast a glance over his shoulder. One of the walls had been blown out and crushed a girl it looked like, though he couldn't see very well. For a moment he thought he saw red and blue flashes as a yellowblood was dragged down the other direction of the hallway, his head hung. The Mutineer frowned as he left the sterile white hall for the sterile white stairs. What on Alternia had happened?
The Signless opened the door for The Countess with a scowl, "Good night, Countess."
"Good night, K- Signless, have you filled out that paperwork I told you about?"
"No. I don't want to apply for the Cull System."
"Karkat, I know you don't, but it's law for all lowbloods to be examined. You have to apply, especially with your condition."
"The fact that my blood doesn't exist doesn't mean that I'm weak!"
"I know that, darling. I know, but you're just going to have to go along with it. Who knows, they might see you as non-eligible if it makes you feel any better."
The Signless closed the door behind The Countess as she walked in, "Yeah like that's going to happen. They take any opportunity to put any random kid in the system. I'd have to be able to fight off a giant meow-beast while blindfolded and performing a tap-dance number for them to see me as non-eligible."
"Karka-"
"Title, Kanaya."
"You are getting more indignant with every night I see you."
"Yes, well it's not like being polite is going to get me anywhere. Do you want some water or something? Or are you just here for a check-in and leave?"
The Countess smiled, any amount of hospitality from The Signless was an accomplishment in her book, "That would be much appreciated, thank you."
The Signless sighed and headed into the nutritionblock, "So you're sticking around. When are you planning and going to check on your empire of other wrigglers? Don't they feel neglected what with all the time you spend bothering me?"
The Countess sat down at the counter of his nutritionblock as The Signless brought her a glass of water and leaned on the counter next to her. She chuckled as she sipped at her water, "Of course not. It seems that they don't really think any better of me than you do."
The Signless stared at the wall in thought, "Do you ever wonder why they keep the system in place if so many people don't want it?"
The countess furrowed her eyebrows, "It's simple really, it's so that people who can't care for themselves can be safe and happy."
"See you're just spewing propaganda now. Did The Ψiioniic seem like he couldn't take care of himself to you? His only problem was the fact that he got headaches, but he could take care of those so long as he could be left alone. The Cull Center will kill him if it hasn't already. It's been, what? Three sweeps now?"
"Karkat, I know that you miss him, but you are losing sight of the true purpose here. The Ψiioniic clearly needed to enter the Cull Center or else they wouldn't have taken him in."
"That's where you're wrong. He was fine before that, if a little hard to get along with sometimes. Face it, Kanaya, the Cull System is nothing but a prison to keep the lower classes under total control."
The Signless pulled up a chair and sat down next to the countess, "But whatever you say, County."
The countess rolled her eyes but smiled at the nickname, "Karkat, may I ask you something?"
"Sure, not like I can stop you."
The Countess frowned and turned to him, "Do you hate me?"
The Signless furrowed his brow, "I… I don't hate you. I hate what you stand for."
"Would you miss me if I died?"
"Wait- whoa are you dying?"
The Countess smiled and shook her head, "No, I am simply curious as to your opinion of me."
The Signless frowned at her, "I suppose I guess I don't mind you. I mean… You piss me off to no end, but I guess you're just kind of a constant."
The Countess's face seemed to fall and she nodded, "I see."
The Signless sighed and leaned back in his chair, "What were you expecting? Me to say that you're like a second custodian to me? That I love you and never want you to leave? You're the one making me apply for the fucking Cull System two sweeps early. You're the reason I can't fucking leave because I know you'd just try to hunt me down again before I could get five miles."
"Oh please, you wouldn't really try to run away."
The Signless stared at The Countess, "You underestimate what I'd be willing to do to get out of being culled. I don't think you understand what getting culled means to people like me. To you it's just putting people somewhere safe. To me, it's losing my rights and freedoms. It's me getting shut up somewhere I don't want to be for reasons out of my control. If I didn't know you'd send someone after me I'd have been long gone by now."
"You really hate the concept that much?"
"Not just the concept. Kanaya, I don't want to go."
"Would it be so bad?"
"Hell fucking yes. I don't want to go somewhere where I can't take care of my goddamn self. I don't want to go somewhere where I can't be free to do as I please and choose what I do with my time, or talk to who I want to talk to, or do something as simple as make my own fucking meals."
The countess frowned and stood up, "Would you prefer it if I left now?"
The Signless shrugged, "You're fine here I guess, I don't really care."
The countess leaned over and rested her chin on The Signless's head, "I guess I'll be going then."
She kissed the Signless's forehead and The Signless looked up at her, "Kanaya, why haven't I gotten word from Sollux? He said he'd write me. It's been three sweeps. Why hasn't he written me?"
The Countess bit her lip, "I don't know. Maybe he forgot. Or maybe his letter got lost."
The Signless rested his elbows on the counter, "Whatever, guess that's the one perk of my certain culling. Get to see him again."
The Countess sighed and kissed the top of his head again before sighing, "I suppose so. Karkat, I'm not budging on the culling early. I need you to fill out those forms. Can you please have those done by tomorrow?"
The Signless let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, "Fine. Just don't expect me to be happy about it. And don't expect us to be parting on the best terms. I'm still pissed at you about this whole thing."
The Countess frowned and nodded, "Karkat, I hope you know that I do care about you. I'm doing this for your own good."
"Is tomorrow going to be my last night here?"
The Countess nodded again, "Yes."
"Could you not stay around tomorrow?"
"Don't do anything reckless."
The Signless paused and nodded, "I won't. I… I just want to have some time to say goodbyes."
The Countess nodded and kissed The Signless's forehead again, "Alright, I'll come by tomorrow evening and then you won't see me again until the next night."
The Signless bobbed his head once, "Alright, then."
The Countess mussed with The Signless's hair before kissing his forehead one last time and walking out to the front door and leaving without a sound. The Signless rested his head on the table before walking up the stairs and into Crabdad's block, "Hey, they're gonna take me away in a few days."
He sat down next to Crabdad and stroked up and down his enormous head, "They're gonna kill you. I… I don't want you to die. I know you're already old and I know you're not going to have anything to do without me around, but I don't want you to die, dad."
He closed his eyes and leaned against the familiar exoskeleton of his custodian, "I wish you could get away. Do you think you could run away during the day tomorrow? We could do fun things tomorrow night and then you could try to get out before they come to get me the next night."
Crabdad clicked his claws a couple times before wrapping his front most arms around The Signless's shoulders.
"Please promise me you'll try?"
Crabdad gave a quick click and nuzzled The Signless's head.
"Didn't think so."
He turned and hugged around Crabdad's head, "I love you. I'm going to miss you. Please, please leave tomorrow day. I don't want you to die. I can't watch you die."