luministi | ❧ Devil's Advocate

[Elsewhere--always elsewhere--Filippo Resarci waits anxiously. Anxiety isn't a feeling he enjoys, but for two weeks now, he's been on the run from Nathan. It isn't the first time he's been in such a position; before, he had Ferran's protection, and now he has none for reasons he knew about before he issued his offer. If he had his way, he'd put some of those otherworlders as cannon fodder and keep them in between him and that damn cop. It's not like they can't come back!

But no. Ferran has forbidden it. Anything done to physically hurt those people, he must be a witness to. That has always been the agreement.

It made sense at the time, and yet...

Filippo tenses, his hand gripping his gun. A very, very small part of him is regretting shooting that cop. That man wasn't nearly as tenacious in his efforts as he was before. If Ferran hadn't given Filippo that device to replace the special CAT he had, he never would have gotten out of there in the first place. There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't wish he had magical universe-crossing powers like they did. Filippo would have jumped to another one a year ago and stayed gone. And hopefully, that universe would have had a tropical pleasure planet that catered to all tastes and wouldn't mind taking money that was definitely not from around there.

All of a sudden, his reverie is shattered when he hears a noise begin to blare. Frantically, he looks around, having never heard that sound before--and then he sees why that alarm has gone off. It was from one of the many monitors in the room.

And again, another noise startles him, this time from behind. He whirls around with a short, panicked cry--and sees Ferran. He lets out a relieved sigh, lowering his gun.]

Oh, thank god it's you! I thought that bastard cop had--

[The man in black tuts loudly, walking past Filippo to have a look at the disruptive monitor.] Manners, Filippo, manners. Thorn in our side though he may be, he is still a respectable Marshal who has failed at his job for many years now. You need not fear him finding you now that I've returned.

Then that means...? [Filippo edges closer to Ferran, trying to read the man's expression.]

The preparations are nearly complete. [A smile crosses the man in black's face.] It is much easier to relocate than it is to start from the ground up, as I told you previously. [He straightens, amused by what he's seen, and puts a hand on Filippo's arm.] Your distraction has worked even better than I could have hoped for. [Ferran's eyes close as he takes a breath, that hand tightening its grip.] Yes... It is very good.

[Filippo winces, but knows better than to attempt to move.] I-I'm glad you do. It was your plan, after all.

[Ferran finally releases his hold on Filippo's arm.] Ahhh, but without you and the ire they possess for you, none of it would have been nearly as successful. Speaking of, I do believe it is time for you to see how many of them have sided with you. I know I am curious to see how well you were able to sow the seeds of dissension amongst them.

Right... [Reluctantly, he pulls his CAT out, but he hesitates before using it. He knows going out into the open again only leaves him exposed for Nathan to do whatever he's going to do. But if there is one lesson of his father's that he's always taken to heart, it is this: one must lie in the bed one makes. So after a moment, he finally types in a message that he sends off to all of the otherworlders' CATs that reads:]

It's time, Otherworlders! If you have made your decision to leave this place behind, then meet me in one hour outside Lab #4 and then you'll see this place no more. Remember what I said about bringing everything with you. See you soon.

And sent. [He slides his CAT carefully back into his jacket pocket, then turns to Ferran.] You're sure about bringing them there?

Two of their number has already visited there, as you saw. [He motions to the monitor.] And had you not removed the blueprints of the lab from the computer systems, they may have found it sooner. So in a way...we are giving them exactly what they want anyway.

[Filippo shrugs indifferently to hide the shred of uncertainty still hanging out in the back of his mind.] If you say so. We'll see what they think soon enough. [He removes the special yellow device from his pocket, using it to teleport out of the room.]

So we shall.

Plot Details: Devil's Advocate

voted in the important poll

are Terezi and Hawk

Talking to him and going down to Lab #4 doesn't mean you invalidate the way you voted in the poll.

~~Saturday night of next week (aka, October 13th.)~~

start early

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He doesn't remove his hand] That doesn't mean everyone is a problem. You never were, my friend. Besides, "problem" here isn't entirely negative when it comes to the others. It's just when the audiences realize who you really all are, they might not be entirely happy with us for what we've done to you all.

[He finds this answer acceptable!]

I understand! Nathan had mentioned something about "otherworlder rights organizations" and various applicable laws. Even though I find this Ferran individual utterly distasteful, I'm more than happy to keep my mouth shut, outright lie, or simply put a positive spin on things. Especially since I know that you don't exactly have him on a leash.

I'd be a bratty ingrate if I went about snitching on you, considering your illegal activity made my life much, much better.

[... Resarci sure is lingering on touching him for a while. Ichijou isn't doing anything about that though, at least not consciously. The blush of his cheeks is going from pink to more of a rose color. Is it warm in here? He's sure it's getting warm in here.]

[He smiles, patting Ichijou on the shoulder a couple times before removing his hand.] I'm glad you understand.

[Oh, Ichijou, if you only knew your leash metaphor ought to be the other way around...]

Someone has to, right?

If everyone else goes back where they came from, I imagine Calign and the others want to be done with this as much as anyone else, I'd be willing to cover for you...

So that just leaves Nathan.

[His expression changes when Nathan is mentioned, flitting between anger and downright fear] What about him? He hasn't showed himself yet. Maybe Ferran caught him again and is entertaining him as we speak.

I suppose that's possible. He hasn't answered my call asking him to explain himself, and being detained by Ferran was the reason he wouldn't answer any of my calls last time.

But what I meant was that if the rest of us move on with our lives, I have the impression that he'd want at the very least do something to fulfill his weird multidimensional-whatever police role, which could drag things out even more.

It's problematic. If he and Ferran don't make some kind of compromise or partake in some sort of bribery or just take each other out, this whole thing likely can't reach the kind of peaceful conclusion I'm sure we'd all like it to.

[He doesn't see either man making a compromise at all.] What kind of peaceful end would you like to see?

[He starts to draw lines and circles in the air as if diagramming what he's saying.]

It's simple! Everyone who wants to go back to where they came from goes back to where they came from. Then, Nathan and Ferran go back to their universe and see a marriage counselor to sort their issues out far, far away from any of us.

I stay here and turn this place into a nice vacation spot since it's already famous, and I make obscene amounts of money and bask in my celebrity status.

And you and Audrey and Calign and anyone else do whatever the hell you want.

[He claps his hands just once!]

Happy end!

[For a moment, Filippo's expression relaxes] You came up with that rather quick. You must have been thinking about this for some time.

I believe that it's nice to have goals.

It also seems like the most logical solution, as far as things ending well goes.

Nathan and Ferran's little conflict is at the center of all of this, isn't it? I had thought that Calign's experiments were the core of it for some time, but from my current understanding Ferran was the one who facilitated all that happened back then, getting Calign and your father involved, then you, obviously.

And our current dilemma is essentially a matter of us getting caught in their crossfire, right?

So if they're both out of the picture, we don't have a problem anymore. Am I correct?

[He nods.] Exactly. If it weren't for them in the first place, none of this would have even happened.

All we would have to do is figure out a way to shoo them off. I heard a few conversations about something called an "anchor" which lets them stay in this universe relatively easily, so threatening those would probably be an effective- possibly the only effective measure, since we've clearly seen that shooting them in the face doesn't do much of anything.

Unfortunately I have no idea what either of these "anchors" are or where to find them, so that idea is essentially useless unless you happen to know of them.

Well, it's obvious, isn't it? I mean, I don't know for sure, but I've always suspected Nathan's anchor was that woman he worked with. The traitorous bitch. [Yeah, he's actually a bit bitter about that.] As for Ferran's, I don't know. I don't know if there's any kind of initiation or what it involves. I just know it isn't me.

[Now...if he's lying or if he simply doesn't know, it's difficult to tell. Filippo has always had a wonderful poker face.]

[And not too long after his reply, a chiming can be heard...]

❧ Devil's Advocate

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