[ 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
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. ]