[muse shuffle] April - Disc 1.05 - "The only way"
But they'll still look in your eyes // To find the human inside // You know there's always something in there to see // [‘There’s Always Someone Cool Than You’ - Ben Folds]
Gabriel groaned softly, rolling from his side and onto his back as he tried to drag himself out of drowsiness. Every muscle in his body ached, and he wished that all of it had just been a dream. Or a nightmare, rather, but he knew that wasn’t the case, unfortunately for him. He reached up to rub his eyes, pushing his glasses up before doing so, but quickly stopped because well, he was wearing his glasses! Last time he had woken up they had been off his face, and he abruptly sat up, his eyes flying open.
It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the light, and just to be able to see again, but slowly everything came into focus, and he realised that he was in a room. The room reminded him of the bomb shelter that was under the school he had attended. Cold and grey, a box of concrete with bad lighting above. He wondered briefly why he had been put in a room rather than, well, he didn’t know where they had been keeping him before, but rather than there. His questions were soon answered when he heard the whimpering of a woman, and looked over to see that the female figure was shaking like a leaf as she was chained to the floor.
Before he could ask her anything though, there was the sound of that laugh, that horrible, mocking laugh, and he looked around wildly for the man, however, all he found was the blinking red light of a camera, and a speaker.
“Well well well, it’s good to finally see you awake, Mr.Gray. We were just about to come poke you with a stick to see if you’d maybe accidentally died on us, or something of the sort,” he said, and Gabriel glowered up at the camera, because now he knew he was being watched.
“I’d like you to meet Monica Dawson. She’s…well, a freak, just like you. But what do you call it? Oh right. Special.” There was another cackle of laughter, but Gabriel tried to ignore it, not letting it get to him as he adverted his gaze away from the red light, instead staring at the floor.
Of course he knew she was special. The moment that his mind had been cleared from the drug induced fog he had started to hear her ticking. He wanted to know what she could do, of course, he craved it. But he was trying to concentrate on other things. Wondering if he could use his telekinesis to unlock the door that was behind him, though he didn’t think they were stupid enough to let him escape so easily. That was, unless the whole plan was for him to get out so they could track him, but if that was the case, he wasn’t going to let them win.
“She has…” there was a pause as he heard the rustling of papers, “adoptive muscle memory. And from what we have in her file, it means that she can see something, and, be able to do it. Sort of like your ability, though, of course, no where near the range that you have. She can’t look inside someone’s mind and be able to do things like you can. The way that you can, altering your mind or whatever the hell it is you do. But still, she can, as an example, watch someone play the piano, and she to will be able to do just that. Or learn kung fu just by watching. Anything physical it seems… Wouldn’t that be handy, Mr.Gray?”
Of course it would be handy. That was a stupid question, and he was sure the guy knew just how stupid it was. As the desire to have the ability grew, so did the ticking sound in his head. The same sound that had driven him to kill Brain Davis, but he tried to suppress the urge, even if it would slowly drive him insane.
“Think of this as the, hmm, well, the Thunderdome, Mr.Gray. You’ve seen that movie, haven’t you? And, assuming that you have, I’m sure you remember what was repeatedly uttered throughout it. Two enter, Mr.Gray, but only one can leave. And well, as you can see, there is perhaps an unfair disposition, but…life is unfair.”
Gabriel looked over at the woman again, she was still shaking, obviously with fear, and tears streamed down her face, accompanied by the occasional whimper. He was meant to kill her, though why he didn’t understand. Was it because they wanted to see how much it would take to make him snap? Or was it that they wanted to get rid of this woman because of her abilities, and they just didn’t want to have the guilt on their own shoulders? Perhaps it was a mix of both, but that didn’t make it any easier for him to understand. He didn’t’ want to hurt people. If he had wanted to do that, he could have killed Peter the moment he had gained his trust. But he didn’t want to. He had seen what the future held for him if he did. He would be a villain, and that wasn’t what he wanted, ever.
“So Mr.Gray, the choice is yours when you want to be let out of the room. Either you…dispose of her, or your resilience will just lead to the disposal of the both of you. It’s up to you which you find to be worst, of course. If you don’t care, well, then you might as well just kill her, after all, it’s just gain for you, isn’t it? I look forward to see what choice you make, and remember, we’re always watching.”
With that the line went dead, and Gabriel just looked up and stared at the little camera and speaker for a good ten minutes, waiting and hoping for something, or anything really. Some sort of indication that he wouldn’t really have to do what he had just been told, but none came.
He finally gave up and let his gaze fall onto the woman again, studying her as much as he could from where he was. She looked young, hardly 20, and it pained him to think that he would be robbing her of so much if he hurt her. She had her whole life in front of her, and who was he to take that life away from her? But with what had been said, it seemed that he wouldn’t have an option. From the vibe he got, it was either her, or the both of them.
It wasn’t fair, just like the man had said. Not to her, and not to him. He had been trying after all. So hard to control it. And he had been doing well, at least that’s what he thought. But this…he was starting to doubt himself. If he had let himself always give into the urge, would he have been in the situation that he was in now, or would he have managed to fight back, or at least get out of the situation once he was in it. Perhaps he had been a bit naïve, thinking that they wouldn’t come for him, but everyone was a bit naïve at some point in their lives, weren’t they?
“They said you’re a murderer,” came a voice that pulled him from his thoughts, and he looked over at the young woman again, and he looked at her, a look of horror spreading across his face.
“What?”
“They say you killed a man, just to gain his abilities, that…that that’s what you do, and that’s what you’re going to do to me…” she replied, and then gulped.
“No…no I’m not, it was a mistake. I didn’t mean to. I said I was sorry,” he said, a hand going up to run through his hair, lightly tugging at it in frustration.
She stayed quiet at that, and he slowly scooted back into a corner, closing his eyes tightly as he tried to will it all away. All he wanted was to be back in his watch shop. Normal again.
He sat there with his back against the wall for what seemed like hours, hoping, praying that the voice would come again over the intercom to tell him that he had passed the test that was set up for him. He had a hope that that was what it was. A test that would show that he could function in life without giving into the temptation to kill again. But it didn’t come. Nothing came, and he was left there, mouth dry and stomach growling, because he hadn’t had a bite to eat since he was captured.
Gabriel finally opened his eyes and looked at the woman again. His eyes were darker now, but he couldn’t help it. The carnal side of him that had come out when he had killed Brian Davis was slowly starting to take over his weaker, self doubting side as he looked at her, and slowly he crawled towards her.
“W-what are you doing?” she asked, her eyes widening with fear again as he moved closer to her. “No…no don’t do this, I just want to go home to my family. P-please!”
She was begging, tears streaming down her face again, and soon there was hardly a foot between them. No matter how dark his eyes were, there was still a shimmer of his true self. The simple watchmaker. The one that in a crowd, no one would ever pick out to be some sort of raving lunatic killer.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, reaching out to her and letting a single finger stroke her cheek. “But it’s the only way. I’m sorry,” he said again, taking a deep breath. “Forgive me…”
With that he lifted his hand and pointed it at her head, and then, focused everything into making an incision across her forehead. The last thing her heard was a blood curdling scream from her before a door was thrown open, and he felt two sharp stings to his back and a surge of electricity through him, and then everything was black again.
Gabriel groaned softly, rolling from his side and onto his back as he tried to drag himself out of drowsiness. Every muscle in his body ached, and he wished that all of it had just been a dream. Or a nightmare, rather, but he knew that wasn’t the case, unfortunately for him. He reached up to rub his eyes, pushing his glasses up before doing so, but quickly stopped because well, he was wearing his glasses! Last time he had woken up they had been off his face, and he abruptly sat up, his eyes flying open.
It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the light, and just to be able to see again, but slowly everything came into focus, and he realised that he was in a room. The room reminded him of the bomb shelter that was under the school he had attended. Cold and grey, a box of concrete with bad lighting above. He wondered briefly why he had been put in a room rather than, well, he didn’t know where they had been keeping him before, but rather than there. His questions were soon answered when he heard the whimpering of a woman, and looked over to see that the female figure was shaking like a leaf as she was chained to the floor.
Before he could ask her anything though, there was the sound of that laugh, that horrible, mocking laugh, and he looked around wildly for the man, however, all he found was the blinking red light of a camera, and a speaker.
“Well well well, it’s good to finally see you awake, Mr.Gray. We were just about to come poke you with a stick to see if you’d maybe accidentally died on us, or something of the sort,” he said, and Gabriel glowered up at the camera, because now he knew he was being watched.
“I’d like you to meet Monica Dawson. She’s…well, a freak, just like you. But what do you call it? Oh right. Special.” There was another cackle of laughter, but Gabriel tried to ignore it, not letting it get to him as he adverted his gaze away from the red light, instead staring at the floor.
Of course he knew she was special. The moment that his mind had been cleared from the drug induced fog he had started to hear her ticking. He wanted to know what she could do, of course, he craved it. But he was trying to concentrate on other things. Wondering if he could use his telekinesis to unlock the door that was behind him, though he didn’t think they were stupid enough to let him escape so easily. That was, unless the whole plan was for him to get out so they could track him, but if that was the case, he wasn’t going to let them win.
“She has…” there was a pause as he heard the rustling of papers, “adoptive muscle memory. And from what we have in her file, it means that she can see something, and, be able to do it. Sort of like your ability, though, of course, no where near the range that you have. She can’t look inside someone’s mind and be able to do things like you can. The way that you can, altering your mind or whatever the hell it is you do. But still, she can, as an example, watch someone play the piano, and she to will be able to do just that. Or learn kung fu just by watching. Anything physical it seems… Wouldn’t that be handy, Mr.Gray?”
Of course it would be handy. That was a stupid question, and he was sure the guy knew just how stupid it was. As the desire to have the ability grew, so did the ticking sound in his head. The same sound that had driven him to kill Brain Davis, but he tried to suppress the urge, even if it would slowly drive him insane.
“Think of this as the, hmm, well, the Thunderdome, Mr.Gray. You’ve seen that movie, haven’t you? And, assuming that you have, I’m sure you remember what was repeatedly uttered throughout it. Two enter, Mr.Gray, but only one can leave. And well, as you can see, there is perhaps an unfair disposition, but…life is unfair.”
Gabriel looked over at the woman again, she was still shaking, obviously with fear, and tears streamed down her face, accompanied by the occasional whimper. He was meant to kill her, though why he didn’t understand. Was it because they wanted to see how much it would take to make him snap? Or was it that they wanted to get rid of this woman because of her abilities, and they just didn’t want to have the guilt on their own shoulders? Perhaps it was a mix of both, but that didn’t make it any easier for him to understand. He didn’t’ want to hurt people. If he had wanted to do that, he could have killed Peter the moment he had gained his trust. But he didn’t want to. He had seen what the future held for him if he did. He would be a villain, and that wasn’t what he wanted, ever.
“So Mr.Gray, the choice is yours when you want to be let out of the room. Either you…dispose of her, or your resilience will just lead to the disposal of the both of you. It’s up to you which you find to be worst, of course. If you don’t care, well, then you might as well just kill her, after all, it’s just gain for you, isn’t it? I look forward to see what choice you make, and remember, we’re always watching.”
With that the line went dead, and Gabriel just looked up and stared at the little camera and speaker for a good ten minutes, waiting and hoping for something, or anything really. Some sort of indication that he wouldn’t really have to do what he had just been told, but none came.
He finally gave up and let his gaze fall onto the woman again, studying her as much as he could from where he was. She looked young, hardly 20, and it pained him to think that he would be robbing her of so much if he hurt her. She had her whole life in front of her, and who was he to take that life away from her? But with what had been said, it seemed that he wouldn’t have an option. From the vibe he got, it was either her, or the both of them.
It wasn’t fair, just like the man had said. Not to her, and not to him. He had been trying after all. So hard to control it. And he had been doing well, at least that’s what he thought. But this…he was starting to doubt himself. If he had let himself always give into the urge, would he have been in the situation that he was in now, or would he have managed to fight back, or at least get out of the situation once he was in it. Perhaps he had been a bit naïve, thinking that they wouldn’t come for him, but everyone was a bit naïve at some point in their lives, weren’t they?
“They said you’re a murderer,” came a voice that pulled him from his thoughts, and he looked over at the young woman again, and he looked at her, a look of horror spreading across his face.
“What?”
“They say you killed a man, just to gain his abilities, that…that that’s what you do, and that’s what you’re going to do to me…” she replied, and then gulped.
“No…no I’m not, it was a mistake. I didn’t mean to. I said I was sorry,” he said, a hand going up to run through his hair, lightly tugging at it in frustration.
She stayed quiet at that, and he slowly scooted back into a corner, closing his eyes tightly as he tried to will it all away. All he wanted was to be back in his watch shop. Normal again.
He sat there with his back against the wall for what seemed like hours, hoping, praying that the voice would come again over the intercom to tell him that he had passed the test that was set up for him. He had a hope that that was what it was. A test that would show that he could function in life without giving into the temptation to kill again. But it didn’t come. Nothing came, and he was left there, mouth dry and stomach growling, because he hadn’t had a bite to eat since he was captured.
Gabriel finally opened his eyes and looked at the woman again. His eyes were darker now, but he couldn’t help it. The carnal side of him that had come out when he had killed Brian Davis was slowly starting to take over his weaker, self doubting side as he looked at her, and slowly he crawled towards her.
“W-what are you doing?” she asked, her eyes widening with fear again as he moved closer to her. “No…no don’t do this, I just want to go home to my family. P-please!”
She was begging, tears streaming down her face again, and soon there was hardly a foot between them. No matter how dark his eyes were, there was still a shimmer of his true self. The simple watchmaker. The one that in a crowd, no one would ever pick out to be some sort of raving lunatic killer.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, reaching out to her and letting a single finger stroke her cheek. “But it’s the only way. I’m sorry,” he said again, taking a deep breath. “Forgive me…”
With that he lifted his hand and pointed it at her head, and then, focused everything into making an incision across her forehead. The last thing her heard was a blood curdling scream from her before a door was thrown open, and he felt two sharp stings to his back and a surge of electricity through him, and then everything was black again.