[ Jack has to give the kid credit. He's not bad with security stuff at all. Now, granted, not as good as him, but, hey, it actually took him some time to crack the encryption on the drive. Jack is actually feeling pretty pleased with himself, all things considered, because for having the shittiest fucking tech he's had to deal with since he was-- Well, since he was a kid, honestly, he's done pretty goddamn well. He's spent the time looking through some of the files, since he's the kind of person that's going to look for nice, factual information over "garbage emo shit," as he'd noted the folder's name. So, in that, Jack learns two important things.
One, Helios was no more.
Even before Jack gets to those videos, he's able to figure that much out. At first, he denies it as he reads, because it sounds ridiculous. Impossible. Helios was more than even Jack, because he had watched it be built. Hell, he had helped build it. Helios was where he worked, but it was also the closest thing he had to home. His lifeblood was in that stupid space station, and to know it's just gone is like hearing that someone he cared about had died. He feels grief over that, even though he knows it's stupid, but it's not just that loss. It was also his chance, he thought. He wanted Rhys to go to Helios so badly because he knew there was something there. He couldn't remember what, and that was still true, but he knew there was some way to escape what he had become here. So, whatever he was now, that was what he would be. That's one revelation that sinks in heavily.
And, two, much more upsettingly, which he finds frustrating-- The extent of Rhys's lie.
Helios and Hyperion were a part of it, of course. He can't help but feel angry over that lie, because of anyone, someone that worked for him should know that Hyperion was his life. He still wasn't sure if that was something he necessarily enjoyed, but it was what it was. It was a means to make his dream reality, and as such, there's a sting in Rhys not relaying that information. However, it's inconsequential in the face of the rest. He doesn't even get the full extent just looking at the colder, less emotional files, but as soon as he starts to stumble across everything about Atlas, he understands. Or at least, he feels he does. His expression grows more grave as he reads about all of Atlas's files, the prototypes, the business, everything he can take away from what he sees before him. But finally, it's stumbling across paperwork confirming what Jack is reading in between the lines here that gets him to snap.
It's his deed. It's not that Rhys had managed to find success on his own, to take a dead company and reshape it in his image, which is something Jack would admire. He's a thief. He had stolen that deed from him, and anger and hurt burn hot enough in Jack's chest that the glass of booze that he'd settled down with while he read gets thrown at the wall with enough force to truly destroy it. Jack stands from his desk to stalk around his room instead, since there's too much of that dangerous anger for him to do anything else. ]
Fucking piece of shit—
[ He's angry at Rhys, but he's angrier at himself. He knew. He knew, because when has it ever been any goddamn different? He wonders what it is about him that makes people want to betray him, because every single time he decides to trust someone just a little bit? It gets tossed back in his face. ]
Every goddamn time!
[ The vicious anger that comes every time with betrayal means that he can't continue this now. He makes shouts out a sound of frustration, but after that, he leaves his room, since he decides he can't stay here. He's not sure what he'll do, but he just has to do something else. Looking in the face of someone else in his life screwing him over isn't something he can continue with right now.
As always, Jack is too blind here to look at himself as the common factor. ]
part 1
One, Helios was no more.
Even before Jack gets to those videos, he's able to figure that much out. At first, he denies it as he reads, because it sounds ridiculous. Impossible. Helios was more than even Jack, because he had watched it be built. Hell, he had helped build it. Helios was where he worked, but it was also the closest thing he had to home. His lifeblood was in that stupid space station, and to know it's just gone is like hearing that someone he cared about had died. He feels grief over that, even though he knows it's stupid, but it's not just that loss. It was also his chance, he thought. He wanted Rhys to go to Helios so badly because he knew there was something there. He couldn't remember what, and that was still true, but he knew there was some way to escape what he had become here. So, whatever he was now, that was what he would be. That's one revelation that sinks in heavily.
And, two, much more upsettingly, which he finds frustrating-- The extent of Rhys's lie.
Helios and Hyperion were a part of it, of course. He can't help but feel angry over that lie, because of anyone, someone that worked for him should know that Hyperion was his life. He still wasn't sure if that was something he necessarily enjoyed, but it was what it was. It was a means to make his dream reality, and as such, there's a sting in Rhys not relaying that information. However, it's inconsequential in the face of the rest. He doesn't even get the full extent just looking at the colder, less emotional files, but as soon as he starts to stumble across everything about Atlas, he understands. Or at least, he feels he does. His expression grows more grave as he reads about all of Atlas's files, the prototypes, the business, everything he can take away from what he sees before him. But finally, it's stumbling across paperwork confirming what Jack is reading in between the lines here that gets him to snap.
It's his deed. It's not that Rhys had managed to find success on his own, to take a dead company and reshape it in his image, which is something Jack would admire. He's a thief. He had stolen that deed from him, and anger and hurt burn hot enough in Jack's chest that the glass of booze that he'd settled down with while he read gets thrown at the wall with enough force to truly destroy it. Jack stands from his desk to stalk around his room instead, since there's too much of that dangerous anger for him to do anything else. ]
Fucking piece of shit—
[ He's angry at Rhys, but he's angrier at himself. He knew. He knew, because when has it ever been any goddamn different? He wonders what it is about him that makes people want to betray him, because every single time he decides to trust someone just a little bit? It gets tossed back in his face. ]
Every goddamn time!
[ The vicious anger that comes every time with betrayal means that he can't continue this now. He makes shouts out a sound of frustration, but after that, he leaves his room, since he decides he can't stay here. He's not sure what he'll do, but he just has to do something else. Looking in the face of someone else in his life screwing him over isn't something he can continue with right now.
As always, Jack is too blind here to look at himself as the common factor. ]