Dawn of the Fourth Day
[The voice that comes through is not Link's, despite the entry having his ID number attached to it. It's deep and a little gravelly, with a slight accent.]
Everyone, this is Link. Erol is in the infirmary. I'm going to be waiting there until he's recovered.
[His voice is a little strained, like his emotions are high as he's explaining this.]Don't ( Read more... )
Everyone, this is Link. Erol is in the infirmary. I'm going to be waiting there until he's recovered.
[His voice is a little strained, like his emotions are high as he's explaining this.]Don't ( Read more... )
... Rocks?
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But he JUST did that with Jak. He can resist, he's had his fun for a little while. For now he'll just... savor that tension, like the fumes from a wine glass, without actually partaking.
Damn if it isn't tempting, though.]
Mistake, was it?
How so.
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Plus, he can't just let Erol lead him around. To refuse to answer his question is like admitting he'd just succeeded at terrifying. His reaction had been bad enough already; Link's sure Erol'd reveled in it, the bastard.]
...the me that was here before, the adult me. You realize that was a long time ago for me, right? I guess you could say I was younger then.
[sigh, finally looks back to him.]
I'm not sure how much you learned about me then, but I had someone to get rid of at the time. Zelda sent me back to my childhood after we were done.
[He's not done, but it's a pause in his story. Link really does wonder how much of what happened was revealed to the people here, and how much they actually remembered.]
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The sedatives make him feel slow and stupid he hates that so much so he has to think this over to make certain he's got it right. The older Link... was younger? Actually, that makes a bit of sense; he always had seemed younger than he looked. It was part of what Erol found so appealing.
And now... he was an older mind in a younger body?
Well well WELL. Erol generally didn't take to them unless they'd actually passed puberty, but that WAS an interesting twist he found difficult to ignore.]
I can't say as you and I ever discussed it, no.
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When I got sent back, I realized that man was still alive. I'd only gone back in time, after all. I went to warn everyone about what he was going to do, to save everyone, but...
[[Frowns.]]
... well, they ended up executing him. [[Squints, thinking.]] For stuff he, uh, hadn't done yet. Or... did do, in some other alternate future...
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This ... presents a moral dilemma. I presume.
[Yeah Erol doesn't Get the entire ethics biz. The entire internal compass that tells you when something is Wrong? Missing. They forgot to install it when they made him.]
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Well, yeah. That isn't the sort of "saving everyone" I wanted.
[[Erol can't be serious. Can he? He sounds like he's being told something he doesn't understand at all. Link narrows his eyes and gives him a glance simmering with anger.]]
I guess it doesn't sound like a problem to you, does it. A "moral dilemma." I wonder what a person like YOU would have done. [[Goron grunt.]] Do you even feel anything at all over me saving you? I heard you stabbed me before.
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It depends entirely on what would have been in my best interests.
As for that, I merely don't understand why you did it.
[Whoa, that's a little too honest there. The last time he said things like this he wound up behind bars for a month. Must be the sedatives.
Ah, the stabbing. Now THAT he can talk about. His expression almost gentles a little - that really HAD been a nice little occasion. Link and Jak half-naked on the beach; fighting Jak's Light Eco form; Link's blood in the sand...]
Yes, well. You got in the way of a - private quarrel.
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[He clenches his teeth shut. Link doesn't want to explain it to Erol, anyway. Justifying his actions to others is different, but explaining his morals to Erol... somehow, it just feels like a bad idea. Maybe later, if Erol insisted, but hopefully he doesn't really care that much.
The stabbing, back to that. He should ask, he needs to know exactly what happened.]
... what quarrel?
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Why, between myself and the boy, of course. Jak. You got just a little too close...
Chances are, if I hadn't gotten you out of the way with a little stab wound, you might have ended up like me. He doesn't really know friend from foe when he's like that, after all.
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[Link can't trust any of that to be true, but as if he'd believe the fight and stabbing was anyone's fault but his either way.
Although there is one thing whose truth he can probably rely on. Jak was involved. Link tucks this information away in the back of his mind to be investigated later.]
So did he wipe the floor with you that time, too?
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*Do you see what he did there, Link? Not bad for someone addled by painkillers.*
And no, actually. I had the upper hand. Being able to lift a finger on your own behalf does wonders for that sort of thing.
I let him live.
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Don't give me that. The Baron told me that Jak's a monster, and from what I saw, it's true. I don't believe that you or I could really do much against him when he's like that, Erol.
[Rests his chin in one huge hand and watches him expectantly.]
Tell me what actually happened?
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Well I didn't say he was like that, now did I?
[Not that he didn't deliberately leave out the details that contradicted it. He is mildly annoyed that Link noticed; this one is definitely a sharper tack than the last one.
How tedious.]
As I said, you got in the way and wound up with my knife in your gut. Jak used a different form of Eco to heal you. Then he and I fought.
I scored a few hits, made my point, and left.
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What? Jak healed me? He can do that, too?
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Oh well, it wasn't as though he had any shot at wooing Link to his side anyway.]
Apparently.
Pity, you looked quite delicious sprawled on your back.
[This is called being creepy to draw attention and change the subject. Erol takes to it naturally.]
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