ECHO DIARY ENTRY #4: TEN WEEKS AFTER THE FALL OF HELIOS
[ this time, rhys isn't in a bedroom. he's in a brand new location, an apartment. it's pretty minimalist, fancy, kinda upscale. rhys is sitting at a desk, in front of a computer that's recording him and behind him is a view of his living room (leather sofa, glass coffee table) and kitchenette (metal stools, chrome everything). past that is a view of a pretty nice looking city, showing that he's pretty high up off the ground.
rhys is dressed in a white dress shirt, black vest and black slacks. the sleeves of his shirt are folded up to his elbows and for the first time since he started this video log, his hair is slicked back -- a few loose bangs falling over his face. he's leaning forward in his seat, hands pressed together against his mouth as he thinks. eyes flicking up to the video, he sighs before folding his hands and resting his chin on his knuckles. ]
I miss... I miss talking to someone, which is probably why I started this stupid diary. I can't see like, a shrink or anything -- not for something like this. I have no idea if Fiona or Sasha are still alive and if they are -- they definitely don't want to talk to me. They ditched me on Helios for crying out loud, those fucking assholes. Like hell would I talk to them anyway? [ he looks angry for a moment before he relaxes, the grief lingering on him since the first video returning. ] As for Vaughn... I left Vaughn with Vallory and last I heard, her and all her men were dead. There's no way he survived that.
[ he leans back in his chair, arms crossing over his chest as he sways back and forth and continues to look lost in thought. ]
I don't... really have any friends. Vaughn is -- was my best friend. Yvette, well, you know how that turned out. I thought Fiona was something but... nevermind what I thought about Fiona, it was obviously wrong.
[ a shake of his head and his head falls back against his chair. he talks up to the ceiling now. ]
Jack felt like a friend. He really did, you know? I know it was stupid of me, the guy spent most of his time calling me an idiot but damn, everything felt so right with him anyway. I know he was just an AI, someone's own made up idea of him -- maybe even the original Jack's idea -- but he was still so much fun. I really thought I was an exception -- that he liked me, that he wanted to keep me around. Guess that wasn't ever really the plan, in the end.
[ a few moments of silence again and then he sits back up, looking at the camera. ]
I have an appointment tomorrow to see what's left under Atlas's name and claim it. Properties, both intellectual and physical. Products. Employees -- though that one's probably ehhhhhh, considering Athena. Anything that could possibly be owned by Atlas, it's mine to take so, uh, I will. I'll take it because --
[ rhys pauses and he looks unsure for a moment, like he's not ready to voice this just yet. he steels himself though, chokes it out. ]
I have to rebuild. I have to right the wrongs that Jack has done. Hyperion is over, everyone died along with the company. If I can do something good with this, fix some of the bad I've done, maybe I won't be the worst person in the universe anymore. Maybe.
[ then, he bites his bottom lip before reaching forward and ending the video. ]
[ Jack settles in for the third video and takes a long drink while he does so. Even if it's just his own paranoia and distrust that brought up the idea in the first place, the idea that keeping the eye was intentional was a sobering one, and he'd rather not be sober with that idea in his head. He pours another drink as he listens and takes in the new look that he'd grown more used to here on this ship. He talks about his friends and their betrayals and deaths, and Jack sighs. Rhys's newfound confidence clicks together all at once when Jack listens. ]
Yeah... You-- Guess you finally got it.
[ It's a sad realization, though not for Rhys so much as for Jack. His empathy is limited, so the only way he can truly relate is through himself, but there's a sting in the pain and hurt that's familiar. Getting older, at least when you worked for Hyperion? That meant realizing that no one had your back. Everyone was out for themselves, and if they weren't? They wouldn't last long. It'd taken Jack a long time to realize that. Actually-- He probably was around the same age as Rhys, he figures, but it wasn't something so distinct as he could point to an age. But it clicks because he gets it. The confidence comes from that realization, because when you just accept that truth about other people, then you know you can only rely on yourself and your own ability.
Of course, Jack listens more when the topic shifts to him, because he's ever the narcissit, but ironically, he's looking for answers here too. It's surely not what Rhys would have ever anticipated when he made these logs, but it's a perfect, cruel circle. Rhys had made these to try and pull out answers from what had happened, and now Handsome Jack was watching them to do the same. Jack listens, but he ends up scoffing tiredly. ]
No idea what my plan even was, babe.
[ Jack murmurs that into his glass quietly as he takes another drink, and he's surprised that this time, the idea of Rhys taking Atlas doesn't burn so hot in his chest. Like, it definitely still pisses him off, and he'd absolutely wrap his hands around Rhys's skinny neck for daring to steal from him, but it's starting to come together. It wasn't Rhys's plan to take Atlas. Jack believes that, and that surprises him. He can tell that taking Atlas wasn't ambition. It wasn't Rhys's ploy to get close to Jack just to greedily snatch the leftovers of Jack's success.
So when Rhys says that he has to write Jack's wrongs, Jack sets down his glass. It's gently this time instead of thrown against the wall, because Jack ends up running a hand through his hair as he leans forward to rest his elbows on the desk. It hurts again, but in a different way to hear it from Rhys that Hyperion is over. He feels nothing over the people that died, because that was always the risk they took in Hyperion, so far as he was concerned. But Hyperion had been the majority of his life. Had it not amounted to anything? All of his struggling to just do something right, to be a hero—
That did make it wrongs, didn't it? The ends would always justify the means. But if Hyperion was gone, then that dream would never come. No one would ever be able to see Jack's vision made reality, because he always knew as soon as Pandora was wiped clean, everyone would understand why he did the things he did. He was going to build paradise, and that simply couldn't be done without sacrifice. But with that path closed, there's a moment, no matter how small, where Jack feels the smallest shred of doubt.
Just how was he going to be remembered without that glory of his dream made reality? Was it going to be like how Rhys is recalling him here?
It's an uncomfortable, sickening thought. It's enough for Jack to decide he's done for the day. ]
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momijizukamori
> vid_004
Date: 2016-08-09 03:32 am (UTC)[ this time, rhys isn't in a bedroom. he's in a brand new location, an apartment. it's pretty minimalist, fancy, kinda upscale. rhys is sitting at a desk, in front of a computer that's recording him and behind him is a view of his living room (leather sofa, glass coffee table) and kitchenette (metal stools, chrome everything). past that is a view of a pretty nice looking city, showing that he's pretty high up off the ground.
rhys is dressed in a white dress shirt, black vest and black slacks. the sleeves of his shirt are folded up to his elbows and for the first time since he started this video log, his hair is slicked back -- a few loose bangs falling over his face. he's leaning forward in his seat, hands pressed together against his mouth as he thinks. eyes flicking up to the video, he sighs before folding his hands and resting his chin on his knuckles. ]
I miss... I miss talking to someone, which is probably why I started this stupid diary. I can't see like, a shrink or anything -- not for something like this. I have no idea if Fiona or Sasha are still alive and if they are -- they definitely don't want to talk to me. They ditched me on Helios for crying out loud, those fucking assholes. Like hell would I talk to them anyway? [ he looks angry for a moment before he relaxes, the grief lingering on him since the first video returning. ] As for Vaughn... I left Vaughn with Vallory and last I heard, her and all her men were dead. There's no way he survived that.
[ he leans back in his chair, arms crossing over his chest as he sways back and forth and continues to look lost in thought. ]
I don't... really have any friends. Vaughn is -- was my best friend. Yvette, well, you know how that turned out. I thought Fiona was something but... nevermind what I thought about Fiona, it was obviously wrong.
[ a shake of his head and his head falls back against his chair. he talks up to the ceiling now. ]
Jack felt like a friend. He really did, you know? I know it was stupid of me, the guy spent most of his time calling me an idiot but damn, everything felt so right with him anyway. I know he was just an AI, someone's own made up idea of him -- maybe even the original Jack's idea -- but he was still so much fun. I really thought I was an exception -- that he liked me, that he wanted to keep me around. Guess that wasn't ever really the plan, in the end.
[ a few moments of silence again and then he sits back up, looking at the camera. ]
I have an appointment tomorrow to see what's left under Atlas's name and claim it. Properties, both intellectual and physical. Products. Employees -- though that one's probably ehhhhhh, considering Athena. Anything that could possibly be owned by Atlas, it's mine to take so, uh, I will. I'll take it because --
[ rhys pauses and he looks unsure for a moment, like he's not ready to voice this just yet. he steels himself though, chokes it out. ]
I have to rebuild. I have to right the wrongs that Jack has done. Hyperion is over, everyone died along with the company. If I can do something good with this, fix some of the bad I've done, maybe I won't be the worst person in the universe anymore. Maybe.
[ then, he bites his bottom lip before reaching forward and ending the video. ]
no subject
Date: 2016-08-12 05:27 pm (UTC)Yeah... You-- Guess you finally got it.
[ It's a sad realization, though not for Rhys so much as for Jack. His empathy is limited, so the only way he can truly relate is through himself, but there's a sting in the pain and hurt that's familiar. Getting older, at least when you worked for Hyperion? That meant realizing that no one had your back. Everyone was out for themselves, and if they weren't? They wouldn't last long. It'd taken Jack a long time to realize that. Actually-- He probably was around the same age as Rhys, he figures, but it wasn't something so distinct as he could point to an age. But it clicks because he gets it. The confidence comes from that realization, because when you just accept that truth about other people, then you know you can only rely on yourself and your own ability.
Of course, Jack listens more when the topic shifts to him, because he's ever the narcissit, but ironically, he's looking for answers here too. It's surely not what Rhys would have ever anticipated when he made these logs, but it's a perfect, cruel circle. Rhys had made these to try and pull out answers from what had happened, and now Handsome Jack was watching them to do the same. Jack listens, but he ends up scoffing tiredly. ]
No idea what my plan even was, babe.
[ Jack murmurs that into his glass quietly as he takes another drink, and he's surprised that this time, the idea of Rhys taking Atlas doesn't burn so hot in his chest. Like, it definitely still pisses him off, and he'd absolutely wrap his hands around Rhys's skinny neck for daring to steal from him, but it's starting to come together. It wasn't Rhys's plan to take Atlas. Jack believes that, and that surprises him. He can tell that taking Atlas wasn't ambition. It wasn't Rhys's ploy to get close to Jack just to greedily snatch the leftovers of Jack's success.
So when Rhys says that he has to write Jack's wrongs, Jack sets down his glass. It's gently this time instead of thrown against the wall, because Jack ends up running a hand through his hair as he leans forward to rest his elbows on the desk. It hurts again, but in a different way to hear it from Rhys that Hyperion is over. He feels nothing over the people that died, because that was always the risk they took in Hyperion, so far as he was concerned. But Hyperion had been the majority of his life. Had it not amounted to anything? All of his struggling to just do something right, to be a hero—
That did make it wrongs, didn't it? The ends would always justify the means. But if Hyperion was gone, then that dream would never come. No one would ever be able to see Jack's vision made reality, because he always knew as soon as Pandora was wiped clean, everyone would understand why he did the things he did. He was going to build paradise, and that simply couldn't be done without sacrifice. But with that path closed, there's a moment, no matter how small, where Jack feels the smallest shred of doubt.
Just how was he going to be remembered without that glory of his dream made reality? Was it going to be like how Rhys is recalling him here?
It's an uncomfortable, sickening thought. It's enough for Jack to decide he's done for the day. ]