watch the dog chase its tail

[puppy_lancer]

Characters: [AU3] Lancer, [OU] Zero Lancer, and you!
Setting: all over the Tower, throughout the event
Format: anything goes
Summary: Lancer acts as a group C worker. See here for details.
Warnings: Blood, gore, death, and euthanasia so far. If you tag him after the 15th, there's a chance he'll attack and try to maul you.

1. Dormitories (limited to the 15th)

[Lancer had thought that the modifications would stop at compelling him to work with maintaining the Tower or tearing apart the corpses of the fallen even with his twisted limbs. He hadn't expected blackouts. Nor had he expected waking up to realize he has been staring at someone in their sleep. When the person sleeping seems to stir, he scoots backward into a corner, trying to hide himself the best he can. He hates the idea of being seen in this shameful state. Hopefully, he would be called to his next task before anyone sees him.]

2. Aquarium

[By now, Lancer has become accustomed to the blackouts. It seems he does nothing but stare at people when his mind is taken from him. It's a relief. He knew what he could be capable of when he loses his rational thinking.]

[Currently, he's trying to scoop out the fish with his hands. Constantly fighting against his urges exhaust him. In addition, he's been taking extra precautions to try to avoid the people he knows when he doesn't have his shifts.]

[Perhaps if he ate something, he could regain some energy. However, the modification done to his limbs to make them dog-like makes his movements awkward. Pretty soon, he's abandoned using his hands and is just thrusting his face in the water. For the time being, he forgets to even watch out to see if anyone is approaching him.]

3. Dormitories (with Diarmuid/oathshackledbird)

[The sleep paralysis lasted for an hour after his revival. The first thing he notices is that he is still in his modified state. If he had his voice, he would laugh. Not even death can free him from this state.]

[He's about to jump from the bed and go to some task, any task, but he notices something.]

[His brother is lying next to him, perfectly still.]

[He wants to scream, or even gasp, but again, he can only silently stare.]

Why? Why is he here? Didn't Lancelot save him?

[He inches closer to Diarmuid, and then places his head on Diarmuid's chest so he can listen to the other Lancer's heartbeat. He silently sighs in relief as he hears that sure sign that his brother is alive right now, no matter what might have happened yesterday.]

[He lifts his head...and then nudges Diarmuid's face with his muzzle. As he is, he can't call out to Diarmuid, or shake him or kiss him or hug him. All he can do is nuzzle up to Diarmuid in the hope that he can offer his brother some comfort. Or at least show that Cu Chulainn was no longer a threat.]

[After a while, he stops pushing at Diarmuid and leans over Diarmuid's face, watching his brother just lie there either sleeping or paralyzed. A couple tears slide off his face and onto Diarmuid's cheeks. He hates this body that can do nothing else.]

4. Floor 38

[Lancer is a good little drone. He wipes the floors and the glass walls. For once, he doesn't seem to have any sign of malfunction.]

[Even though the task is banal and it sucks to have just about no control over his body, it's still better than malfunctioning, or spending every waking hour exhausted because he's fighting his urges.]

5. Lower Levels

[Lancer wants to scream. This is by far his most gruesome task, taking apart the bodies for soul extraction. He's seen more of Jason's techniques in these few days than he could care to see for his entire life.]

[Of course, he just has to malfunction down here too. Pretty soon, he's dragging organs out with him, holding the gruesome souvenirs in both his hands and his mouth.]

6. Meadow

[Even drones should be allowed to enjoy themselves. This might come to mind as the residents come upon a particular dog-like unit rolling around, apparently having fun. That is, if it wasn't rolling around in a pile of intestines and eyeballs.]

Comments

1 because I'm awful

[awaken]

[When consciousness comes to Makoto, she's suddenly aware of three things:

One, that she's no longer on the roof of Gekkoukan High, instead lying on some bed of sorts;

Two, that she can't move, and her eyes aren't blinking;

And three, that there's a misshapen figure hovering just in the periphery of her vision.

By the time the thirty seconds have passed and she's no longer frozen, she's managed to get over the initial urge to scream. Instead she remains as still as possible, hoping that whatever...it is, it won't notice her. Though now that she's got more control over her breathing (and blinking), it should be pretty obvious that she's awake.]

Re: 1 because I'm awful

[puppy_lancer]

[As the girl opens her eyes, Lancer retreats into what he thinks is the darkest corner of the room. He presses himself to the wall, hoping she won't come over.]

[awaken]

[After a few moments, she slowly sits up and keeps her eyes tracked on him. She's vaguely aware that she's not in her normal clothes and that there's something wrapped around her neck, but she has more pressing concerns at the moment -- searching through her mind, she finds that her Personas are still with her and grasps hold of Siegfried, bringing him to the forefront.]

...

[Something doesn't seem right. He seems more like he's...cowering? Makoto draws her legs closer to her body and watches him, unsure of what to do.]

...H-Hello?

Aquarium

[lightofhumanity]

[While the beach floor was nice, sometimes, chaos just felt like popping into the aquarium to take a look at the fish. However, he stopped when he saw Lancer's mutilated body and how he was trying to catch fish. While this wasn't as bad as Kain's disfigurement, it was still a slap in the face to Lancer's free will, his ability to choose. Without a smile, chaos spoke to the person.]

Do you need help getting fish? If you cannot speak, then just think your answer.

Re: Aquarium

[puppy_lancer]

No thanks. I can get it well enough.

[It's something to distract him from the urge to work, at least.]

Aquarium

[lightofhumanity]

[At that, chaos nodded. If Lancer didn't want any help, he wasn't going to force the person to take it..but he had to at least show his condolences. This was..a mockery of what Lancer had been in life.]

Alright then..but I am sorry that they have done this to you. It is horrible when choice is removed from people and when they are distorted like this.

2. Aquarium

[oathshackledbird]

[It's his third patrol of the tower and Diarmuid is getting tired, but he isn't going to give up looking for his brother. Especially not after getting that note from him. Something is very wrong and he's not going to just sit back and do nothing, even with his brother's warnings.

He pauses in the aquarium, eyes closed. The sound of the water is rhythmic and soothing.

And then there is splashing. Someone is playing in the water.

Diarmuid's eyes open and he more thoroughly scans the area, his breath catching in his throat when he finds the source of the sound.

No, not playing in the water. Trying to fish.

A choked sound escapes Diarmuid's throat and tears wet his eyes.]

B-brother...

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer freezes as he hears Diarmuid's voice. He had asked his brother not to search for him. Even asked others to look out for Diarmuid so he will not come to search for Cu Chulainn. But he had underestimated his brother's stubbornness.]

[If he could, he would call out to Diarmuid. Tell him to go back to their room. But he can't talk. He can't even run off to some place else, since he had splashed water on the floor in his attempt to fish. His drone urges told him to clean it.]

[So he quickly grabs the cleaning supplies he had left to the side and begins to scrub at the floor, seemingly ignoring Diarmuid's presence.]

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid is confused by his brother's actions. Has he not heard him? Granted, the word had been soft, but Diarmuid is sure that it had been loud enough for the other servant to hear.

Instead of wasting more time on words, Diarmuid crosses the room and gently puts his hands over his brother's trying to force him to stop his task. It is bad enough that they have changed him in this horrid way. What right to they have to make him work as a slave on top of that?]

Stop, brother look at me. I know you didn't want me to come and find you, but I couldn't leave you to suffer alone. I am not sure how, but let me help you. Please...

[oathshackledbird]

[It's 30 minutes this time. Thirty minutes during which all he can do is lay there and do nothing but regret and wish. Diarmuid wants to run and find his master. He wants to find his brother...

There is water dripping on him. Something nearby is pressing against him, gently. Almost tenderly. But for the moment, he can't do anything but lay there wishing the person would speak so he can figure out who it is.

However, the person doesn't. They just keep repeating their actions. Mindlessly almost...almost like a child or a pet would.

...like a pet would.

As soon as he can move, Diarmuid's hand shakily raises, blindly reaching for the person beside of him and threading itself into his messy hair. Diarmuid doesn't need to open his eyes and he's not afraid, even if he probably should be after what had happened when they last met--after how his brother had malfunctioned and ripped the bones out of his arms.]

Brother, don't cry. It...wasn't your fault...

[puppy_lancer]

[If anything, his brother's forgiveness only makes Lancer cry harder. He would rather Diarmuid hit him. Or curse him again. After all, with what's he's done, he doesn't deserve forgiveness.]

[Without his voice, he can't even apologize. Or to insist that it is his fault for stupidly volunteering. Even worse, there seems to be a part of his mind that doesn't want to apologize either.]

[He gave up too much for Diarmuid's sake and got curses in return so why shouldn't he exact that pound of flesh]

[oathshackledbird]

Shhh.....you don't need to cry. Please, don't cry.

[He tries to pull his brother's head down to rest on his shoulder like he has so many times before. It probably seems like a suicidal action--bringing the man who had ripped the bones out of his arms earlier so close to his neck--but Diarmuid doesn't care. All he wants is for his brother to stop hurting.]

It's my fault. I'm sorry. For everything. I-I don't remember what happened after I saw my master's body. I just snapped...and did something. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, I don't care what you feel like you have to do to make things right, but do it. I just want you back.

[Diarmuid's voice starts shaking and tears slide out of his still closed eyes.]

I c-can't lose you. I need you too much...

1

[vermicompost]

[Kariya sleeps a lot due to fatigue, but he's a light sleeper. It's hard to get into a deep sleep when you're being eaten from within. It's not so unusual for him to start awake, because of pain or a nightmare, but this time, when he does, he has the feeling someone's watching him. He's aware of movement, a presence. There's someone--something--there. He turns his head so his good eye can see in the dark, his blind eye glowing faintly.]

Hello? Who is it?

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer all but jumps when he hears Kariya and scurries to a corner. The only worse than being caught by a stranger is being caught by someone he knows. Thankfully, he had no voice, so he couldn't yelp.]

[vermicompost]

[Kariya rises, his body painfully stiff as usual after sleep. He isn't so easily put off. Curious, he follows the movement into the corner. It's dark, and he can't see very well, and there's something wrong about the shape in the shadows, so he doesn't recognize it right away.

He's already on guard after having seen the state of Shinji and Vergil. Something is very wrong in the Tower.]

You don't have to be afraid. It's all right. I'll help you, if I can.

[He speaks with sincerity, even though he doesn't know if there's anything he can do.]

6

[sicharia]

[Maybe this isn't wise. Claudia putting concern for other people before her own safety is far from strange, so she can't leave the sight of another person rolling around like that alone.]

...Hello?

[Too far away to make out Lancer's modifications clearly, she calls out ahead of herself, taking a tentative step forward.]

Re: 6

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer stops rolling around and turns toward the voice.]

[...Bones. He can smell big, juicy bones. He waits for the owner of the voice to come closer so he can see which bones on them are the most delicious.]

[sicharia]

[Now that he isn't rolling, it's easy to see what has been done to him. She gasps when he turns his face toward her, recoiling. This is perhaps even worse than Sephiroth—she clasps her hands over her mouth at the sight of his warped, distended face. The sight of it makes her feel a little sick.]

—Lancer...?

2. Permission to gnaw on/kill him off if it comes to that--

[canofworms]

[He's wary, of course, after everything else that's already happened. The Tower isn't safe for anyone at all right now, at any hour. Kariya doesn't actually remember how long it has been since he slept -- it's at least been longer since than the last time he ate -- but it's not as though he keeps particularly normal hours on a regular day.

This is nothing, compared to the War. He has so much more to lose, all of a sudden, but he can't say he regrets it.

He's considered the possibility that the Servants have succumbed to the experiment. Diarmuid had told him, and he had seen for himself, intimately, how they were no better placed than anyone else to withstand the administrators. And if this is no ordinary Tower, not a one of its residents seems entirely ordinary, either.

Still, a Lancer trying to climb into the aquarium doesn't put him any more on his guard right away. They've probably all done stranger things in the name of food, especially this month. He doesn't approach, but he just can't help wondering--]

Is catching fish with your face one of your skills? Seems like it would be easier just to make a harpoon out of that lance of yours.

mmkay. OUriya is already working on that

[puppy_lancer]

[If Lancer could yell at or glare at the other Kariya, he would. But his body won't let him. The only thing he does is to take his face out of the aquarium and try to clean the spilled water off the floor.]

[canofworms]

[There's... something off.

Even in the less-than-ideal lighting, there's something wrong with the Servant's silhouette that makes all the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something wrong with his movements. Something wrong in a hundred small ways, quite unlike the difference between this and the Lancer of his world.

Aside from the fact that by now he would've expected a reply -- and a fairly loud one, at that -- a Lancer crouching on the floor is a little less of a common sight than a Lancer with his face in the fish. And--]

Are you... What are you doing? What did the administrators do to you?

[He doesn't move forward, nor back. He does, however, keep a hand on the grip of his pistol, hidden.]

1. Dormitories

[proteusmoon]

[ Cecil has been sleeping fitfully as of late, for at least more than a month now, but since Kain's disappearance, in addition to Lancer's, she's even more prone to nightmares and waking suddenly only to toss and turn for long periods of time in the middle of the night. She doesn't know where her roommates are either and although she doesn't know them very well, it's been one more worry on her mind.

She's just stirring from another of her dark dreams when she hears movement in the room. Because she knows she should be alone tonight, the sound causes her to reach for her sword immediately. ]

Who's there? Show yourself and I will not harm you.

Re: 1. Dormitories

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer, without control of his own body, can only stand and stare down at her for a moment longer before scuttling away toward a dark corner of the room.]

4

[bowandblade]

[Gilgamesh only comes across the room because, with the power out, there is no quick way to the lower floors and whatever food may be accessible there. With Ayaka hiding and the mutilated people continuing to haunt the tower, he is at least being fairly careful himself as he travels heads down.

Not that he doesn't think he can execute any of the 'drones' that he comes across. But the time spent in battle would further delay his time away from Ayaka.

...It's the sight of the familiar blue ponytail that causes him to pause, and he frowns as he steps further onto the floor.]

Lancer. There you are.

Re: 4

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer doesn't look up from his work, even if he can hear Archer. He probably wouldn't want to look up either. He just hopes Archer can finish whatever task he has and goes back to protecting Ayaka.]