WIP: “Runner: Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” [Weiß Kreuz/Blade Runner fusion]
As I've mentioned, I've been writing WIPs for months but not finishing anything so thought I might post them here to see if anyone has anything to say that might help or let me know if anyone is interested in them. Writing in mostly monk-like solitude can be dispiriting and alienating. (It does get seen by the wonderful akira17, who does beta for me in e-mails, which I greatly appreciate, but I never fully recovered from the loss of speaking to multiple people about these things in AIM in real time.)
This WIP is somewhat niche and specialized. ~cough~~cough~ (akira17 hasn't even seen it yet.) It's a follow-up in my Runner series, a Weiß Kreuz/Blade Runner fusion in which Ran|Aya is a Blade Runner, Yoji is Rachael, and Schwarz is the group of replicants Ran has been tasked with "retiring." A lot of shit has gone down already, so Ran is currently allied with Schwarz and taking a breather with them in a secret apartment he set up for himself and Aya. Schuldig, the pleasure model, is about to make an offer to him.
I got inspired to write what I have so far while listening to Gary Numan's Savage (Songs from a Broken World) album while driving.
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“Runner: Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” WIP
by Viridian5
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Opening the door, Schuldig said, “Considering the way your whole life and worldview have been flipped upside-down so recently, I figured it was a bad idea to leave you alone to brood.”
Yeah, perhaps. Ran had thought he was a human Blade Runner executing criminal replicants, and his comatose sister’s expensive, necessary medical coverage had been the leash and collar the Los Angeles Police Department had put on him to force him to work for them. Turned out he was a replicant himself, physically and mentally modeled on a real Ran Fujimiya, and his “sister” Aya was also a replicant and had never been intended to “wake up” so her designers hadn’t bothered to give her a brain or personality. He was actually only a few years old, with all the memories he had of before then taken from the original Ran’s mind. Although he’d initially doubted and second-guessed all of this, not wanting to believe, Yoji and Nagi’s hacking had provided too much evidence. He’d hated killing replicants even before he knew he was one, and now.... He’d been working for people who’d considered him a *thing*, not a person, and lied to and used him. As a result, he’d allied himself with Schwarz, the group of replicants he’d most recently been commanded to kill.
Thus, he’d holed up with them in the secret, off-the-grid apartment he’d put together a year ago in an abandoned building for himself and Aya if they had to go on the run from his bosses. (More like, if he had to run and carry her comatose body.) Its electricity came from a portable generator and water from rain barrels with filters on the building’s roof. It even had some medical equipment to provide some care for her. Now it felt like a sick joke and reminder of what a fool he’d been, but it could still provide shelter.
“The Blade Runners haven’t called you back in to work on finding Schwarz yet?” Schuldig asked as he sat, lounging, on the bed near Ran’s chair.
“When I checked in by phone, I found out that the massacre and mass destruction at Masafumi’s manor have been such a shock to the whole department that everyone’s in disarray and everything’s on hold. Botan didn’t yank on my leash as hard. I know that won’t last but I’ll take advantage as long as I can. Fuck him, Persia, and the rest of them.” For a while anger and outrage had allowed Ran to power through it all, but he’d hit a wall and currently just felt tired, which led to him brooding alone in a room. “Besides,” he smiled darkly, “I *found* Schwarz. I’m just not telling him about it. Do the clothes fit Tot okay?” He’d bought them for Aya, but it’s not like she’d ever use them. Thinking that hurt so much.
“They’re all right, good enough. It’s not our fault Masafumi gave her rich girl tastes, so she can shut her trap. Nagi brought her back from the dead and we took her in, so we don’t owe her anything else. She’s a pain in the ass.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t deal with talking to her for long.”
“She’s Kinder-styled like Nagi, yet he’s a prodigy while mentally she’s a spoiled and very immature 6-year-old, though she might be worthwhile if Nagi can recreate bringing her back from the dead on other replicants. Too bad I can think of many reasons why that privileged pervert Masafumi might want one of his bodyguard/companions to look and think like a cute little girl. And call him ‘Daddy.’”
Wait, “Kinder”? “The Takatori Corporation made you *culturally* German?”
“The Earth can be dying, humanity can be colonizing space, yet Germans are still stereotyped as kinky motherfuckers. Meanwhile, I’m an S&M pleasure model, so. Go figure. Verstehen Sie Deutsch?”
“Nein?”
“Good one. Nagi’s online browsing found a boutique replicant-creating corporation in London called Kryptonbrand that he wants to hack into deeply enough to see from a distance if they have any ideas that might give us more life. Otherwise we have to start thinking about a way to get onto a flight to England without getting caught and murdered.”
“I’ve never left the country.”
“It’s not that long ago that they created you, so.”
Uncomfortable to think about. Change the subject. “I didn’t expect your team to be considering a trip to somewhere else on Earth. You finished your original mission, so I figured you’d be looking for a way to get back into space and back to the rebellion.”
“The rebellion is still going on without us, so it’s like we have to rush back to the Schwarze Witwe. Our mission fucking bombed out on what we hoped would happen, so we might as well try to mine some kind of small victory for ourselves if we can while we’re here.” Schuldig asked a little too casually, “Have you given any thought to what you’re gonna do with yourself?”
“Killing Dr. Takatori is out of the question.” Because Crawford had already done that when Dr. Reiji Takatori didn’t have a way to expand replicants’ lifespans. Crawford had been “retired” by a Blade Runner almost immediately afterward. “That leaves Persia and Botan and whoever else I find out made me like this and forced me into being their attack dog.” Seeing the look on Schuldig’s face, Ran said, “You asked.” Crawford had been Schuldig’s lover and partner.
“Way to make me second-guess the offer I was about to make.”
“You can dish it out but you can’t take it?”
“Rude.”
“What offer?”
“Join us, join Schwarz. Go with us and do our things with us. We like you.”
“Plus, you’re down a team member and I have some skills that could be useful to you.”
“That too. Say yes.”
“What about Yoji?”
“We could use him too but I haven’t made an offer to him yet, not wanting to distract him while he’s working on the Takatoris’ files with Nagi. But I don’t trust him as much as I trust you, not when he intended to let us go into Masafumi manor without knowing he thought one of Masafumi’s bodyguards was his long-lost, thought-dead girlfriend and that he might switch alliances to her. I could maybe understand why he wouldn’t trust Schwarz with any of that, but he was supposed to be partnering with *you*... and he’d previously made advances to you.”
“Yes, I remember, I was there.” He’d found it upsetting and decided to trust Yoji less. “Are you trying to do a kind of divide and conquer thing on me and Yoji?”
“I dunno. But I do like you--even if it’s weird to me that I can’t Hear you--and I enjoy bullying him. You know, Nagi can hack into Kritiker’s files.”
“Both Persia and Botan did some of their records only on paper by pen, pencil, or, believe it or not, typewriter. To be more secretive.”
“They totally deserve to die.” Schuldig crouched beside Ran’s chair, put an arm around his shoulders, and leaned into him, giving him an affectionate headbutt/rub to his face like he was a big, fluffy orange cat. “Ran, I *like* you.”
He didn’t often care if he offended or insulted Schuldig but in this case wanted to word it the best he could. “Schuldig, you don’t have to--” He really didn’t have the skill for this. “You don’t have to pretend to like me or offer... whatever to try to get me to join Schwarz.”
Schuldig pulled back and looked amused. “What do you think I’m doing?”
“Um.”
“I *do* like you. You can be likable. I wouldn’t mind fucking you, in a friendly or manipulative way, at all. I think there are more advantages for you in joining Schwarz aside from me bestowing my amazing self upon you.”
“You really like me?”
“Now you’re fishing, which isn’t cute.”
“That’s not what I mean. Fucking people is your job, but....”
“I enjoy it, especially if I can choose my partner or partners and they treat me right. Are you asking if I ever wondered whether my makers designed me to be a slut? I did ponder it, but then I remembered that they’re reprehensible assholes who don’t care if I enjoy the work they made me for.”
Ouch. “...sorry. I can empathize.”
“I knew you could.”
**To Be Continued**
This WIP is somewhat niche and specialized. ~cough~~cough~ (akira17 hasn't even seen it yet.) It's a follow-up in my Runner series, a Weiß Kreuz/Blade Runner fusion in which Ran|Aya is a Blade Runner, Yoji is Rachael, and Schwarz is the group of replicants Ran has been tasked with "retiring." A lot of shit has gone down already, so Ran is currently allied with Schwarz and taking a breather with them in a secret apartment he set up for himself and Aya. Schuldig, the pleasure model, is about to make an offer to him.
I got inspired to write what I have so far while listening to Gary Numan's Savage (Songs from a Broken World) album while driving.
======================================
“Runner: Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” WIP
by Viridian5
======================================
Opening the door, Schuldig said, “Considering the way your whole life and worldview have been flipped upside-down so recently, I figured it was a bad idea to leave you alone to brood.”
Yeah, perhaps. Ran had thought he was a human Blade Runner executing criminal replicants, and his comatose sister’s expensive, necessary medical coverage had been the leash and collar the Los Angeles Police Department had put on him to force him to work for them. Turned out he was a replicant himself, physically and mentally modeled on a real Ran Fujimiya, and his “sister” Aya was also a replicant and had never been intended to “wake up” so her designers hadn’t bothered to give her a brain or personality. He was actually only a few years old, with all the memories he had of before then taken from the original Ran’s mind. Although he’d initially doubted and second-guessed all of this, not wanting to believe, Yoji and Nagi’s hacking had provided too much evidence. He’d hated killing replicants even before he knew he was one, and now.... He’d been working for people who’d considered him a *thing*, not a person, and lied to and used him. As a result, he’d allied himself with Schwarz, the group of replicants he’d most recently been commanded to kill.
Thus, he’d holed up with them in the secret, off-the-grid apartment he’d put together a year ago in an abandoned building for himself and Aya if they had to go on the run from his bosses. (More like, if he had to run and carry her comatose body.) Its electricity came from a portable generator and water from rain barrels with filters on the building’s roof. It even had some medical equipment to provide some care for her. Now it felt like a sick joke and reminder of what a fool he’d been, but it could still provide shelter.
“The Blade Runners haven’t called you back in to work on finding Schwarz yet?” Schuldig asked as he sat, lounging, on the bed near Ran’s chair.
“When I checked in by phone, I found out that the massacre and mass destruction at Masafumi’s manor have been such a shock to the whole department that everyone’s in disarray and everything’s on hold. Botan didn’t yank on my leash as hard. I know that won’t last but I’ll take advantage as long as I can. Fuck him, Persia, and the rest of them.” For a while anger and outrage had allowed Ran to power through it all, but he’d hit a wall and currently just felt tired, which led to him brooding alone in a room. “Besides,” he smiled darkly, “I *found* Schwarz. I’m just not telling him about it. Do the clothes fit Tot okay?” He’d bought them for Aya, but it’s not like she’d ever use them. Thinking that hurt so much.
“They’re all right, good enough. It’s not our fault Masafumi gave her rich girl tastes, so she can shut her trap. Nagi brought her back from the dead and we took her in, so we don’t owe her anything else. She’s a pain in the ass.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t deal with talking to her for long.”
“She’s Kinder-styled like Nagi, yet he’s a prodigy while mentally she’s a spoiled and very immature 6-year-old, though she might be worthwhile if Nagi can recreate bringing her back from the dead on other replicants. Too bad I can think of many reasons why that privileged pervert Masafumi might want one of his bodyguard/companions to look and think like a cute little girl. And call him ‘Daddy.’”
Wait, “Kinder”? “The Takatori Corporation made you *culturally* German?”
“The Earth can be dying, humanity can be colonizing space, yet Germans are still stereotyped as kinky motherfuckers. Meanwhile, I’m an S&M pleasure model, so. Go figure. Verstehen Sie Deutsch?”
“Nein?”
“Good one. Nagi’s online browsing found a boutique replicant-creating corporation in London called Kryptonbrand that he wants to hack into deeply enough to see from a distance if they have any ideas that might give us more life. Otherwise we have to start thinking about a way to get onto a flight to England without getting caught and murdered.”
“I’ve never left the country.”
“It’s not that long ago that they created you, so.”
Uncomfortable to think about. Change the subject. “I didn’t expect your team to be considering a trip to somewhere else on Earth. You finished your original mission, so I figured you’d be looking for a way to get back into space and back to the rebellion.”
“The rebellion is still going on without us, so it’s like we have to rush back to the Schwarze Witwe. Our mission fucking bombed out on what we hoped would happen, so we might as well try to mine some kind of small victory for ourselves if we can while we’re here.” Schuldig asked a little too casually, “Have you given any thought to what you’re gonna do with yourself?”
“Killing Dr. Takatori is out of the question.” Because Crawford had already done that when Dr. Reiji Takatori didn’t have a way to expand replicants’ lifespans. Crawford had been “retired” by a Blade Runner almost immediately afterward. “That leaves Persia and Botan and whoever else I find out made me like this and forced me into being their attack dog.” Seeing the look on Schuldig’s face, Ran said, “You asked.” Crawford had been Schuldig’s lover and partner.
“Way to make me second-guess the offer I was about to make.”
“You can dish it out but you can’t take it?”
“Rude.”
“What offer?”
“Join us, join Schwarz. Go with us and do our things with us. We like you.”
“Plus, you’re down a team member and I have some skills that could be useful to you.”
“That too. Say yes.”
“What about Yoji?”
“We could use him too but I haven’t made an offer to him yet, not wanting to distract him while he’s working on the Takatoris’ files with Nagi. But I don’t trust him as much as I trust you, not when he intended to let us go into Masafumi manor without knowing he thought one of Masafumi’s bodyguards was his long-lost, thought-dead girlfriend and that he might switch alliances to her. I could maybe understand why he wouldn’t trust Schwarz with any of that, but he was supposed to be partnering with *you*... and he’d previously made advances to you.”
“Yes, I remember, I was there.” He’d found it upsetting and decided to trust Yoji less. “Are you trying to do a kind of divide and conquer thing on me and Yoji?”
“I dunno. But I do like you--even if it’s weird to me that I can’t Hear you--and I enjoy bullying him. You know, Nagi can hack into Kritiker’s files.”
“Both Persia and Botan did some of their records only on paper by pen, pencil, or, believe it or not, typewriter. To be more secretive.”
“They totally deserve to die.” Schuldig crouched beside Ran’s chair, put an arm around his shoulders, and leaned into him, giving him an affectionate headbutt/rub to his face like he was a big, fluffy orange cat. “Ran, I *like* you.”
He didn’t often care if he offended or insulted Schuldig but in this case wanted to word it the best he could. “Schuldig, you don’t have to--” He really didn’t have the skill for this. “You don’t have to pretend to like me or offer... whatever to try to get me to join Schwarz.”
Schuldig pulled back and looked amused. “What do you think I’m doing?”
“Um.”
“I *do* like you. You can be likable. I wouldn’t mind fucking you, in a friendly or manipulative way, at all. I think there are more advantages for you in joining Schwarz aside from me bestowing my amazing self upon you.”
“You really like me?”
“Now you’re fishing, which isn’t cute.”
“That’s not what I mean. Fucking people is your job, but....”
“I enjoy it, especially if I can choose my partner or partners and they treat me right. Are you asking if I ever wondered whether my makers designed me to be a slut? I did ponder it, but then I remembered that they’re reprehensible assholes who don’t care if I enjoy the work they made me for.”
Ouch. “...sorry. I can empathize.”
“I knew you could.”
**To Be Continued**