Video (intended to be Voice)
[The video screen flickers on, focusing on white bandages before tilting. It shows the sky, trees, then finally the NV drops to the ground. Liquid apparently doesn't even realise it's on video. Otherwise he wouldn't be sitting in the position he's in; bandaged arms wrapped loosely around his knees and head tilted carelessly downward. He looks
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[But that's as far as he'll go sounding angry as well- the rest is a forced calm of detachment...because he's upset about Kazuhiko too, but Shinji did an unspeakable thing to his beloved Re-l. And so his remorse is a little double-sided by grim satisfaction. That man can't hurt her, or anyone else, anymore.]
No one here has anything to do directly with what appears to be repossession- and possibly termination, because I don't suspect they have the patience to rehabilitate, this time. Has he ever shown you the terms of SERO's contract? Why he was permitted to walk the streets free after murdering officers and civilians, not one hour here in the city?
It would appear that they have not cured him of that which makes him a danger to society. And it would appear that they have no long-term tolerance for corporate liabilities. Especially those that tangle with police, holding officers of the law hostage. Torturing them.
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I can hope, therefore, that this is the end of Kazuhiko's suffering.
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There is that. But it is still a tragedy. Kazuhiko Amamiya was a good man.
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I refuse to believe that. Neither of them had to die.
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I didn't know the terms of his contract. I didn't know what they were going to do to him.
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[That's the only response for a long while as he thinks it over.]
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...it was your right to kill him. Just as it would have been your right and yours alone to try to kill me. No one has the right to claim revenge for anyone else.
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[God, that hurts. Her voice cracks.]
I didn't kill him! I didn't know what they were going to do. I thought they were going to put him back on medication and help him... I never wanted him to die!
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[He pauses. She's reacting like a civilian. It's familiar, somehow. When he speaks, his voice is softer. It's almost reminiscent. A memory of blood and tears.]
Listen. I understand that you didn't mean to do it. Unfortunately, the end result is the same. But it will get easier. It always does. The first time you see or cause death, whether with your hands or others, is always the worst. But it gets better. It gets easier.
Preserving life is a noble goal, but sometimes early death cannot be avoided. I know I would choose death over imprisonment. Perhaps it was better for him.
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I just didn't want it to end that way. I made sure that anyone looking for any of you would just take you into prison. I didn't want anyone to die because of me.
I'm sorry.
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[Liquid's voice was expressionless.]
I brought Shinji in to compensate for my own dislike of torture. I got him involved.
There's no other way it could have ended. Anyone coming after us should be prepared to fight until the end.
Tell him to his face, if he ever returns.
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[There's bite to her voice but the way she chokes it out only leaves the idea that she's actually closer to grief than rage.]
I'm not reminding him of what's happened if he comes back. I suppose it's then in his right to come after me.
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If he does, that's his decision.
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I guess we'll just see what happens.
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[Just like Ocelot didn't.]
I'm sure of it.
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