@DONQUIXOT3, video

[icanfixer]

[ yes it has been some days. yes this is not the first time she's spoken to the network at large. this time, however, she is showing her face and standing quite proudly this morning in front of a parking lot. cars, empty of gas but otherwise whole, scatter the background. ]

Good morn, dear fellows! I have come to thee today to ask a favor, to grant thee an honor, and help this young knight with a missive most important to all!

[ a beat. she swings into frame an umbrella, popping open the apple printed "lance" with a laugh before closing it as she continues, easy-going like she isn't going to be talking about what she is.

unbeknownst to most, don quixote needs this. ]

Thou may have seen some days ago an anonymous message regarding murder. Well! I am here now, asking thee to assist me with something like it -- nay, the exact same! I would like to see for myself, and as proof of the effects for others, what happens when one dies.

I shall not fight thee, unless thou shall wish for it for I am most happy to oblige, and I shall take only one volunteer. Whomever has the daring, the will, and the capacity to kill, I ask that thee throw thy hand up and seek to claim my life! My dear friends need not apply, for I shall reject thee post-haste!

[ she is NOT letting a fellow sinner do it. not her coworkers. she's been fussed at and she's going to be fussed at again. she might let one of the other city-dwellers do it, given they're both fixers (or formerly) but not her coworkers, war vet be damned.

gregor couldn't do it the other time, after all. ]

However, allow me to lay bare the possibilities of what may happen to thee should thou take it upon thyself to do so.

There is a chance thou may forget that which is most precious to thee, that thou will forget the moment of my death itself, and face... certain difficulties in speaking about it. [ she doesn't know if kromer mentioned that, but it's something regardless. ] I may suffer the same. The goal of this is to learn if it is the victim who forgets, if it is the murderer who doth, or if both have it struck from their mind; the secondary goal, a more personal one, is to learn if both may suffer from the others I have mentioned.

... I understand it is difficult to think of killing another, but I can assure thee, such a thing comes up frequently in my work. We are ever prepared to do so, and to die just as well!

[ helps they don't stay dead but she's not. gonna. say that. it might be odd to wonder what effects who in this case, but. well. a lady keeps her secrets. ]

Any who wish to act as witness may attend as well, for we will have need of thee. I thank thee heartily for thy time and thy consideration on the matter.

[ a small bow, hand to her chest and umbrella tucked behind her, and that's that. ]

Comments

[kampfgeist]

nah im good

why do u want to test it anyway?

[icanfixer]

Personal reasons!

[ that's all she'll say ]

I am sorry I cannot say more than that, but that is ultimately what it is.

[kampfgeist]

ok

well hope u don't regret it

sounds like theres a cost

[icanfixer]

A hefty one! But we shall see who bears the worst of it: myself, or my foe.

[ it'll be fine. fun. sucks for everyone else. ]

As for regrets -- I do not regret that which I do, or have done, but that which I did not. In other words, I shall only regret being unable to avoid the distress of my peers!

[ of which there will be plenty! unfortunately to stop that from happening she'd have to back down from this, and that is just too bad. ]

[kampfgeist]

[ that resonates, oddly. heine can respect a life lived without regret, even if he doesn't understand it. ]

once you come back
assuming you do come back
let me know what being dead is like?

[icanfixer]

Oh, most certainly! It would be a delight to inform all who would like to know, for I shan't spare a detail!

[ gonna be disappointed that death's boring though, she could honestly answer him right now but her boss is around and she can't be spilling company secrets anymore. ]

1/2

[kampfgeist]

[ even boring is sort of fascinating to a dude who's incapable of it himself! ]

are you gonna post a review or should i wait for you to message me

2/2

[kampfgeist]

[ oops ]

i'm heine
should have led with that probably

[icanfixer]

[ pfft ]

I shall message thee, Heine, for it may be a dialogue not faint for heart -- I have done enough alarming the public with my manner today, and a hero of justice seeks to keep the peace rather than distrupt it if there is no reason to. It was merely convenience that drew me to make it such a public matter.

Secondly, I am called Don Quixote! It is a pleasure!

[kampfgeist]

[ ah. suddenly clarity re: a question shinjiro asked him a couple days prior... ]

don quixote huh
do people ever just call you "don"

[icanfixer]

Oh, certainly! They also call me Donqui, Don Quixote, Miss Don Quixote, so on and so forth -- I do not mind any such variations.

[ she doesn't give em but she doesn't mind getting them ]

— private

[kampfgeist]

[ that is, insofar as heine knows how to make things private, which is honestly not very well... listen he's a flip phone user okay ]

are you the one what's his name was talking about when he said
» "don't stay dead like don"?

omg

[icanfixer]

[ ... she had told like

one person lately something like that, and at least heine has the decency to private it as much as he can, but. whoops. ]

Yes, that would be I. Have thee questions on it as well?

sorry don!!!

[kampfgeist]

no questions
just

[ typing bubble for several long seconds......... ]

assuming the name einstürzen doesn't ring a bell
its my first time meeting someone else in the same boat.


my condolences and/or congrats depending on how you feel about it

this is fine she spills her own secrets this is new to her

[icanfixer]

[ the surprise shows on her face, head tilting slightly at the name before she shakes it. ]

Nay, I've never heard such a name before -- how strange it is to meet another like myself for the second time, though about something far different.

[ she is wracking up the people with oddly similar circumstances/abilities to her. first junpei and now heine. wow. ]

It would be congratulatory to me, for it is most helpful in the field! Death is as common as the flies among corpses where I am from. Was it such a blessing for thee?

[ or a curse... ]

heine 🤝 don finding it in them to discuss these things!

[kampfgeist]

[ well since we're here and spilling our secrets heine does, after a moment's pause, turn on his own video too. seems shitty to keep texting at her while they're discussing functional immortality somehow ]

Not so much. [ wry. there are probably those at home who would think it a blessing, that's for sure... ] But at least it's a useful curse. Makes it a lot easier to get jobs done.

[ he is not in the habit of, like, sharing facts about himeslf and/or caring enough to ask questions of others, and he wouldn't blame don quixote for not answering, but: ]

Have you always been this way?

excited for them

[icanfixer]

[ it really is like junpei all over again he did this too. she gets more comfortable, having moments to spare anyway. don grins a little, shaking her head again. ]

It is a recent development. I cannot say too much about it, but I shall tell thee as much as I did Young Aragaki -- it is because of mine employment I am able!

[ something like a contract, a deal with the devil, who can say if the sinners' souls are forfeit. not that they mean much in the city. ]

What is it that thee do? We are... ehm, hireable, thou could say!

[kampfgeist]

[ "young aragaki" is very funny, if only because aragaki looked like the older of the two... what does heine know! ]

I do... [ what does he do? ] whatever, I guess. Merc work. Odd jobs. Usually the ones nobody else wants to do.

[ often that involves busting some heads, which naturally also sometimes involves getting shot, so not being able to die is a perk in that sense.

even if heine mostly still hates it. ]

What kind of employment makes you need to not die... [ that's only halfway a question, because he can guess don is going to say it's a company secret. ]

[icanfixer]

[ uhhhhhhhhhhhhh how's she explain it, because she won't say it's a company secret since it isn't. ]

Something... similar to thee, I suppose. For the moment. There is a greater prize the company doth seek, but we do what we must and what we can to assist those who call upon us.

[ it's not always a golden bough. sometimes it's just a disturbance, a distortion in the area. those are nice breaks as it turns out. ]

Even if I were not employed, however, I would still do the same! It is my code to help those in need, to succor the downtrodden and seek to rid them of the powers above that chain them, that cause them to act as they may -- but I would be far more likely to die, in that case as well, so I am rather glad to be where I am.

[ also, because she's got some neat allies... ]

[kampfgeist]

[ well this is a fascinating turn of events. he'd thought "cannot say much" meant she wasn't at liberty, but here he is learning so much anyway. ]

Oh, you're a good guy. [ good guy (genderless). his mouth quirks a little wryly at the thought, because heine himself is anything but—doesn't feel that he's allowed to be, after everything. ] That's noble. So your company sends you to whoever needs you and you go save them, that's the gig? I can see why not being able to die would help.

[ complicated feelings.mp4 ]

Could use a few of you where I come from.

[icanfixer]

[ the terms of employment and how the mechanic works is not up for grabs but she can talk about this stuff!!!! shinjiro's at least kept quiet about that it seems. don grins widely, nodding. ]

That is how I like to think of it.

[ the others... well. everyone has their own views on it, their own reasons for joining. that said, a "good guy"... ]

Are thee not a believer of justice as well, Ser Heine? We work the same sort of job, yet thou hath made such a distinction between us.

[kampfgeist]

[ there's a long moment of quiet while heine considers his answer. ]

I haven't... always been. Maybe a little more, lately.

[ he pauses again, searching for a way to articulate it—he's not good at talking about this. never had to put it into words before. ]

Let's just say it's hard to believe in justice in a place like where I'm from, [ is what he eventually settles on. ] It's rotten to the core.

[ "and so am i" goes unsaid. ]

I think there are—people who try to make a small difference, sure. And I might try to be one of those people, but I don't think I have a right to talk about justice.

[icanfixer]

[ don quixote's quiet in return, looking over him with a soft, thoughtful hum, before she seems to decide something with a nod. ]

Verily well then! Ser Heine, I have a proposal for thee, if thou would be so good as to hear me out!

[kampfgeist]

[ an attempt at a regal-looking "please, continue" wave of his hand... but also a skeptical eyebrow lift. ]

I'll hear it, but no promises on the doing it.

[icanfixer]

I should never ask thee to promise me anything save the certain, my new friend.

[ anyway. she shifts to stand a little taller, shoulders straight and confident. ]

Ser Heine, the City from which I hail, [ particular emphasis on City, like it's a name, ] has many an injustice, and could be called-- nay, has been called just the same as thine: rotten to the core. There are many of those who are corrupt, who would see the weak weaker, the poor remaining right as they are, ripe for the picking...

... and those who would see them liberated from such circumstances, such as myself. If it is that thee feel that thou hath no right to speak of justice, then wouldst thee be open to becoming a squire of mine? I shall lend an ear, tear away thy doubts, and allow thee to explore the meaning of "justice" through observation, action, and reaction -- for I am quite the believer of it, and I should like to offer a lit path towards that which thee seem to wish to follow.

[ it's a lot of grand words, and she'll quickly follow it up-- ]

Of course, thou needn't answer right now, or even today! If thee doth feel inclined to do so, then I shall hear thee out, but should thee require time and thought, I do not mind the wait! I merely wish to assist one who is alike to myself.