> Animus: Assemble

[caliginous]

Characters: Members of Group A and YOU
Setting: Fourth Floor -- the white lounge.
Format: WHO EVEN KNOWS
Summary: Karkat attempts to pull everyone into one place for counter-resistance.
Warnings: MALFUNCTION MAY OCCUR, that means depending on who you tag and who tags in, your character may end up injured. Please check individual sub-threads for malfunction warnings! There's also obvious body horror warnings here due to modifications from the event.

[In a room full of white, its not hard to spot the various victims of Jason's latest experiments. Each sits or stands in their own corner on or off furniture talking amongst one another or simply staring at the door waiting for someone to approach them.

Some of them don't look all that approachable, even if it appears that they are completely sane at first glance. Some of them might even look like they don't want to be there.

You won't really know until you approach them.]

Comments

ARCHER

[swordedpast]

[ The figure in tarnished knightly armor hunkered against the glass wall might not be familiar to anyone until they get close. But the helm on his head is cracked and almost outright shattered around the left eye. For those who know him, that may well be enough, especially since what little expression can be seen is familiarly harsh and intense.

Of course, that's no guarantee that he's himself... ]

[OOC] Archer will attack anyone displaying particularly idealistic heroism when he malfunctions, so keep that in mind.

Rei will probably trigger him pretty quickly, jsyk

[terreifying]

[Rei cocks her head curiously as she sees the strange knight.]

Hey, Mister. You're here for the fight against the administrators thing too, right? Do you usually look like that or is it all modification?

[swordedpast]

[There's a small noise of frustration from somewhere beneath the helm.]

For now, I am--

And it's all modification.

[terreifying]

Aw. The armor would've been cool. You could've run around and fought monsters! Just like in a video game!

[swordedpast]

[Click. That's the sound of him gritting his teeth.]

Are you truly that much of an idiot?

[terreifying]

I'm not an idiot. Just an optimist.

[swordedpast]

The proof is that you don't know those are the same thing.

using this for serious!Rei icons!

[nottheonly]

They're not.

[The smile melts off of Rei's face.]

Being stupid is not wanting to know what the problems are or wanting to make them better. Or it's purposely hurting yourself by being sad or angry all the time. Being optimistic is knowing that there's problems and still trying to solve them, and still having the courage to smile and enjoy yourself each day.

[In other words, Archer is the stupid one. Take that!]

[swordedpast]

There's nothing to be optimistic about. In this world or any other.

[ The words tear free of him, and then he stumbles forward, lurching away from the wall. ]

You should know that...and you should run.

[ Gleaming swords appear in his hands. ]

You have permission for whatever might come from this. The things he does for Rin...

[oathshackledbird]

She's worried about you.

[It's more Diarmuid's instincts than his eyes that lead him to Archer in the room. When he stops walking to stand in front of the other servant, he crosses his arms over his chest, tense, but attempting not to look so. He doesn't know how Archer is going to react since they aren't on the best of terms usually, and Diarmuid doesn't want to come off as threatening and perhaps provoke an attack. He's here because it seemed like a good way to look for those who are missing.

He's talking to Archer because of Rin.]

She's showing it in her typical way, of course. She believes you've abandoned her. Is there something you would like me to tell her to ease that worry?

[swordedpast]

[Archer's expression as he stares at Diarmuid is unreadable--not that that's surprising since only his eye is visible. When he speaks, his voice is dull and flat with bitterness.]

I'd say tell her I'm dead, but that won't work. The connection is still there.

Tell her I'm not fit to serve her while I'm like this.

[oathshackledbird]

I would not lie to her anyway. She deserves better than that.

[Diarmuid's eyes narrow slightly. While the red knight might look completely different, some things apparently never change. Archer has only said a few words and already Diarmuid wants to punch him.]

Perhaps you cannot tell, but your connection seems to be affected by all the changes. She told me she cannot feel you. Considering your condition, it is probably for the best.

[Diarmuid's expression seems to soften for a moment.]

I'm glad you are smart enough to realize you are in not shape to be around her right now. I would have to kill you if you were foolish enough to risk her safety by coming to her like this.

[So maybe 'soften' isn't quite the right term...]

[swordedpast]

[From the way his eye shifts within the helm, it's not a bad guess that Archer's sneering beneath it.]

You won't lie to her. You'd kill me if I endangered her. How honorable of you.

[The way he says it, it sounds like a curse.]

Don't you think you're making a few assumptions there?

That you could kill me.

[oathshackledbird]

[He might not be able to see the sneer, but he can definitely hear it in Archer's voice. It's good that Diarmuid has so much practice controlling his own urges because that urge to punch Archer is going stronger with every word the man speaks.]

Perhaps I couldn't, but if you put her in danger I would give everything to protect her including my life. I made a promise to her after all. If you have forgotten, I believe you also made a similar promise to her when you became her servant.

[So much for not antagonizing him...]

[swordedpast]

[His visible eye narrows.]

But you aren't her Servant. So why do you need to protect her, Lancer?

If you're only doing it to follow some noble ideal of knighthood, it's meaningless. It's not for her. I should strike you down right where you are.

[oathshackledbird]

I am a knight no longer, Archer, and even if I was, I wouldn't be doing it for just some ideal. I would be doing it because I care about her. She is a good person who has been hurt more than anyone should be hurt. She hates herself when she should not. What is wrong with me simply wanting to see her happy?

[Diarmuid sighs and runs his hand through his hair.]

Look, I didn't come here to start a fight with you. I came here to help her. Let me do that. Be honest with me for once. Is there anything I can do to help you? Anything at all?

And think before you answer. Think not just for yourself, but for her. We really should be partners in helping her, not be at each other's throats like this!

[swordedpast]

[For a long moment, his visible eye remains narrowed, the bitterness blazing within it. Archer says nothing; a struggle goes on within him.]

What can you do to protect her from this, Lancer? Not just from those of us already taken and changed, but the administrators, the ones who've done it. What can you do against them?

[Within their gauntlets, his hands are clenched.]

aachaa->reen->sheeroh?

[angramaintsu]

Hey Archer!

[ It's typical of Rin Tohsaka to drag along Shirou Emiya, so it's no surprise that Rin Matou is dragging around "Shirou Emiya" herself. The look on her face is a mixture of relief and anger, how she can feel both a complex question that not even the smartest beings of combined universes can answer. Poor guy probably hasn't had his hand touched in a while, but Rin's holding it firmly in her own. When she felt the connection with Archer return, that her Servant was back from wherever he was, she had to seek him out.

Unfortunately, she's brought herself into the midst of danger. A room full of people who could malfunction at any given time, it wasn't as though she knew this. No, she ought to have figured it out when everyone looked strangely.

But when she looks in the mirror to see the oddities in her own appearances, she cares little for the changes that others go through. ]

About time you showed back up, Emiya-kun and I were worried about you! [ Pausing, she looks back at Shirou. ] Right? We were worried about him.

done!

[heroicprinciple]

[ It was indeed a matter of course for Rin, be she of the Tohsaka family or the Matou family, to drag around Shirou Emiya on the, so of course the teenager is now hurling toward the man in tarnished, knightly armor, surrounded by faces that were recognizable in the same deranged manner a badly Photoshopped portrait was recognizable, all twisted and exaggerated to some degree, his hand gripped tightly by Rin's hand like her fingers were a vice. It wasn't comforting like Saber's hand on his shoulder had been, but he didn't mention it.

When she had suddenly jumped up, grabbed hold of his hand and started running while muttering something about Archer, he'd been too taken aback by shock to resist.

It was weird for him to be the self-conscious one of the two of them.

But his unconscious sense of danger was going haywire and began hitting critical zones as she dragged them into a room stuffed with pink-colored drones and made an instant beeline for the only drone that concerned her. When Rin looks back at him expectantly, he nods quickly. ]

She was more worried than I was, but yeah, we were both worried. [ In his case, worried mostly because the Servant had vanished at the same time as Saber, and if he actually died, Rin would be devastated. Hazel eyes look at Archer, wary but not on guard since Rin was there as well. ] Is your brain still working?

[swordedpast]

[ Archer stiffens as the two approach him, both Shirou and Rin. It shouldn't be easy to tell, given the amount of armor welded so hideously to him, but somehow it is. His whole mangled body twitches.

But he's silent, bitterly silent, until Shirou finally asks him a direct question. ]

Hah, it's not as if you know anything about what it's like when a brain is working.

[ In other words, yes. ]

Rin, it's absurd for you to be here. Get to safety. You've been here long enough--you must have some plan for outfoxing Jason's madness at times like these. Go, put it into play.

[angramaintsu]

[ Fortunately for Shirou, she lets go just to cross her arms over her chest. A default stance she often took when it came to screaming at people. Funny how so much of her is the same even though her life was drastically different. ]

Of course I have a plan. [ Right now, she's kind of winging it. ] Having you sit here with a bunch of others isn't right. If someone comes up here to slaughter you all, are you just going to stand by and let them?

I got the stupid letter. [ She adds. ] So come on, let's get out of here before someone does something stupid. I can't defend you against an entire army on my own.

... Well, I guess that's why Emiya-kun is here with me too. [ Just in case. ] Our odds of survival are raised just a fraction if we're together.

[heroicprinciple]

So you're not brainwashed. Great.

[ He flexes his hand subtly after Rin releases it, trying to work some blood back into his fingers. He recognizes that familiar posture the magus takes, stubborn and incensed, and figures Archer will give into what she wants sooner or later. ]

Well, you're sure one to talk. This entire situation is absurd.

[ If she's improvising a plan on the spot, Shirou is trying to not notice and pretend she just forgot to mention the plan to him on the way. She asks him if someone attempted to slaughter all the drones, would he just stand by and while she continues to talk about letters and stupidity, he remains silent and lets her say her piece. Rin is the one invested in her Servant, not him. ]

[ But he frowns. At the moment, Shirou doesn't believe keeping Archer close to them is the greatest of ideas, especially not so close to Rin. He can still hear the screaming of those drones who had malfunctioned and the murderous intentions of the worker units in regards to the residents.

But on the other hand, removing Archer from this room would do no harm... Hopefully. ]

If she wants her Servant by her side, it's best to comply, Archer. [ Her faith in him as a precaution is touching, really. ] A pigheaded person like her, used to getting her way... might actually consider taking on a small army to get what she wants.

Right. [ He adds to Rin. ] It's better than letting you come alone.

[swordedpast]

I won't argue with you on this, Rin.

[ Beneath the helm, his one visible eye is quite serious. ]

When the month is over and things have returned to normal, you can beat me all you'd like. I'll accept my punishment for disobedience. But I'm in no shape to be your Servant right now.

[ He makes a small noise of disgust. ]

I don't like leaving her to you, Shirou Emiya, but it seems I have no choice. Protect her until this is over. I won't hesitate to kill you if you fail.

[angramaintsu]

[ If anything, she can rely on Shirou Emiya to help further drill the points she makes into the head of her Servant. Not once does she consider how this may backfire on her (because really, she fails to understand why the two are incompatible as allies), no, all she cares for is dragging her stupid Servant out of this room.

The spiritual link between the two is dampened, severed in some fashion, but she'll worry about that when they're safely away. ]

I'd take on an even larger army if I had to. [ Boldly exclaiming that, her chest huffs up. ] We talked about this before, didn't we? We're going to watch and protect each other.

[ That was meant to be an afterthought, something she really shouldn't have responded to because now her Archer is going on with another threat to Shirou.

Funny how that gets under her skin.

It isn't as though she cares about Shirou Emiya. She's only grown to know him in the tower, but he's a classmate of her's, so therefore she's responsible for protecting him. Shouldn't she say something to shut him up? ]

You won't kill him ever. [ Another bold exclamation, but this time there's a fire in her eyes that she only shows when it comes to opposing Archer for the sake of Shirou Emiya. ] I won't allow you to do it, so you should stop saying stupid things. I stopped you before and I'll stop you again and again until you realize that it's a futile gesture.

So don't waste our time with pointless threats, alright?

[heroicprinciple]

[ Rin broke in, exclaiming her stance on the matter, bold and puffed up with fire. An army, large or small, was something she was willing to challenge and destroy, she uttered with total certainty. Ignoring the fact that they were currently in a room stuffed to the brim with people warped in monsters. It'll be bad if a fight breaks out while they're here. He watched as she reminded the Counter Guardian of some discussion he wasn't privy to but seemed to hold some weight.

When the bastard turns from refusing Rin's demands he leave with them to Shirou, addressing him with a clear note of disgust, he continues to look at the tarnished knight warily. The wariness almost morphs into annoyance. This guy got on his nerves. ]

—Hold on. I'll protect her, but it's not because you charged me with the task of doing so.

I'm going to do it because I don't want to see her or anybody else hurt. Besides, she has a high mastery of magecraft, doesn't she? She doesn't need my body as her shield or sword.

[That was this Servant's job, wasn't it? To stand by her side and act as an ally. But he does not deny the Servant's order since he doesn't think that Archer was fit to be her familiar until he returned to his normal self either. He could harm her unintentionally. He should be removed from this room, but not kept at RIn's side. Funny how their trains of thought run on such similar tracks towards different destinations.

The threat of killing is regarded as unimportant until the magus protests it. His head turns sharply. He stares at her, surprised. She had said in the cafeteria she would not allow Archer to kill him, but...

Her words are blunt. Bold as volcanos.

Rin is opposing her own Servant for him.

He doesn't know to say to that, especially since the strong words fired at Archer and not him.]