A terrible thought has moved into my mind--

[sageprincess]

Characters: One brainwashed Princess of Hyrule and you!
Setting: Pick your poison
Format: Starting in prose since she... can't really talk, but I'll match you
Summary: Zelda's been turned into an advanced worker unit with a penchant for "mercy kills" when malfunctioning. This is certain to go over well with everyone involved.
Warnings: Character injury and death is very likely when she malfunctions! Please tell me what kind of damage you're okay with! Also minor mentions of blood and gore.


Functioning

On the surface, Zelda seems to have gotten off easy. Her tiara has been grafted to her forehead, and a bloody triangle constantly seeps through her clothes on her back, but neither appear to cause her much pain. She works dutifully - changing sheets or reorganizing books or administering the most basic of first aid in the infirmary, and on occasion disappearing into the administrator levels to process bodies and souls through that giant machine - and she does it all literally without complaint.

But still waters run deep, as they say.

Under the obedient, expressionless surface, a fierce battle wages in her mind. The fires of her pride and determination strike desperately against the cool, sedating voices that tell her everything is fine. In the background of the fight, visions of the bloody, gruesome deaths of those around her plague her mind, her powers of precognition warped into something Wisdom never intended. She screams against the voices, the visions, demanding them to stop, to let her go, but, of course, they are unrelenting. The struggle for even a few short moments of clarity is exhausting, and she was already so tired before all this...

Sometimes she loses the battle, and retreats back into the deepest recesses of her mind where a heavenly voice sings a sweet lullaby to her, assuring her everything is fine.

Malfunctioning; initially non-violent

It's terribly difficult to keep track of things when one is constantly fighting for awareness of one's own actions. Even more so when there are long stretches of time when things simply... go dark. If you're fortunate to encounter the body of the Princess while her mind is well and truly gone, she might be simply staring at a wall, or at you while you sleep. Perhaps you find her after she has finished her work down in processing, and is covered in blood and entrails after tearing apart a body or two and keeping their hearts.

Malfunctioning; violent

If you're particularly unlucky, however, you might find her when she's found some twisted form of reason in the darkness. The macabre future keeps presenting itself to her - all death and blood and screams - and what has she done if not fight to prevent such things from happening? Yes, she can stop it... she will spare those around her from their horrid destinies...

Whether they want her to or not.

Comments

functioning; I think you know more than me Link won't go down if attacked but you have permission

[ocariness]

Link stops cold in her tracks when she comes across Zelda like this. No, no no no no... no. She thought they'd be okay. She thought somehow they'd get better and be fine together and she only just got back and now Jason is already torturing her dearest loved one and it's all she can do to keep from breaking down entirely just seeing her 'improvements'. There is a silent sort of crying out, maybe a small squeak, but nothing else from her throat.

She is horrified. She is hurt. How... how could anyone DO this to another human being?! But she tries--she will honestly try to get Zelda's attention... please, be sane. Stop what you're doing. Link attempts a small tug on her friend to try and get her to stop whatever she's working on and talk to her.

can't kill waifu orz

[sageprincess]

She can't see Link; her body won't allow her eyes to deviate enough from her task to look at her. But whether it's through the gentle warmth of Wisdom and Courage resonating, or simple intuition, the Zelda buried underneath brainwashing and obedience knows she's there, and it makes her wish she could cry.

Link-- Link, I'm sorry - please, please, help me...!

However, on the outside, there is no reaction to Link's presence beyond a half-hearted tug back on her arm so she might continue her work.

well that is good

[ocariness]

... It hurts. It hurts so much to see someone she loves so very dearly like this. Link lets go eventually but she does, however, follow Zelda, concern on her face. She's bleeding and hurt and that tiara, Goddesses, why...

She hates to think of this but if Zelda goes after someone while she's following her, maybe she can stop her somehow. Maybe it's a naive hope. But she thinks it might work.

[sageprincess]

For whatever it might be worth (not much), the bleeding and alterations don't seem to hinder her at all, as she continues her work diligently and dutifully, never stopping for rest. It's funny in way, that the one who has worked so hard to gather a cohesive resistance is now doing the same for the other side, and utterly obediently, but she doesn't have it in her to laugh.

Following Zelda around is likely a fairly boring affair, as most of her tasks are things the normal worker units do and are often overlooked. Sorting through books, serving up nutrition bars, giving only the most basic of first aid in the infirmary... She doesn't show many signs of attacking anyone.

Yet, anyway.

[ocariness]

It honestly wasn't worth very much. Link was concerned, she just wanted her friend back to normal. More than that, seeing Zelda like this, as some sort of ironic twisted parody of all she was and stood for made her physically ill. But there was also a chance someone might try to hurt her has her follow the other girl anyway, even though she's not entirely sure what she's expecting. (The idea of Zelda trying to hurt someone else never even crosses her mind; it's Zelda, and to her that's that)

It's boring stuff. Stuff the worker units normally did. Is this... why Jason changed people? Did he not have enough? Link lingers but doesn't stop her, though she does try repeatedly every once in awhile to get a response or some attention, but it doesn't quite work. She's... sad. But she doesn't want to just leave. Zelda might still be in there. She might want company.

[sageprincess]

She does. Oh, she so desperately does want someone to reach out, to talk to her and not this body she has no control over. Anything to get her reprieve from the exhausting struggle for consciousness and the visions of death she cannot stop seeing in her mind's eye. But alas, it is so very dark, and so very lonely - not even seven years of hiding was as bad as an hour of this.

However, somewhere along the line, whether she was in the middle of a task or simply walking from one place to another, Zelda will stop suddenly and stare straight ahead, expression unnaturally hollow and neutral.

Something is wrong.

[ocariness]

Link is quiet for a moment after this happens; she is sure she ought to be doing something. This is concerning, and though she hates the idea, she begins to wonder if following Zelda might have been a really bad idea. Would she attack her? Had the admins made her want to hurt her friends? Why was she acting so strange? This was Jason's doing. She would get her revenge on this man if it killed her. But for now Link simply... blinks a few times.

What... what is wrong? Link moves over in front of her in an attempt to try and get a conversation again. Talk to her, Zelda. Please. She knows you're still in there...!