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@DONQUIXOT3, video

[ 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. ]

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[ 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"?

[ ... 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?

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

[ 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... ]

[ 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?

[ 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!

[ "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. ]

[ 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... ]

[ 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.

[ 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.

[ 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.

[ 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!

[ 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.

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.

[ this is... somehow so far from what heine was expecting to hear that he can't do anything other than hear her out. being from vague future dystopia europe he does have a concept of knights and squires, although as far as he knows this might be the first time in history anyone has been offered a squire position because they have a fucked up sense of justice.

he realizes his jaw has dropped slightly and closes his mouth, then blinks, his eyebrows lifting even further. ]

Your... squire. [ this is on its face an absurd proposition, because heine? a squire? ] I guess that makes you a knight?

[ he has many questions. that is the first one. the second one is: ] What does a squire do, actually?

[ it is one hundred percent a bad idea for don quixote to make this offer without knowing all the facts re: heine's upbringing and the blood on his hands, but it's weirdly touching that she does, anyway. ]

Forsooth! Though my job title is Fixer, we are valiant knights who heroically dash evil off the face of the City!

[ it's fine. everyone has blood on their hands. her roommate drew a cultish crowd his to hometown by accident and now lives with keen survivor's guilt as the only person in his family to be let off the hook because of a woman's obsession with tormenting him to become what she wanted him to become (it did not work out). her bus is full of darkened histories. ]

A squire merely need follow their knight's requests, should it not dis-align with their own values, and to take time in their company! However, I do not see it as the sort of relationship in which I am deserving nor expectant of thy compliance, for we are much the same... The other who has become my squire, for it is quite loose in how many one can have, is moreso under my protection should it come to a fight.

[ sort of a background support. ]

And thee shall have a place where thou needn't hold thy tongue nor rattle thy mind for a correct answer, for I shall endeavor to show thee examples of the justice that comes from a world that seems to have rotted so -- for there is still a seed of hope, of light, within the center of that fruit, waiting to be planted by patient hands and protected all the same. We will see what thy tasks should entail in time, though they shall not be unreasonable in the least.

... Besides, [ she follows up after a moment, wry and a little playful, ] have thee anything to lose?

[ oh, they're good guys good guys. it grates against the edges of what heine believes about himself to even consider the idea the he, too, could be an agent of justice—at best, he could be a scourge, maybe. a wild creature who leaves a trail of bloodshed behind him.

but then again, the orphans. then again, nill rescued from the mobs—granny liza and her family of rejects—the kidnapped children enslaved into the service of einstürzen's fucked up army of dogs. don't they deserve justice? how long has heine spent drowning in his own agony to the exclusion of everyone else? and the people who have known him for who he is and been kind to him, regardless—doesn't he owe it to them?

all of this, assuming he'll ever return home. assuming that when he returns, he'll remember what happens here. she's right: he doesn't really have anything to lose. ]

Let me... think about it. [ there's still something silly about being called a squire, if he's honest. but the idea... the idea itself isn't bad. ]

Although— [ sighs. ] I'd have to be a squire at a distance. I have a... thing about getting close to women. Physically.

[ THANKS, MOM. ]

[ no... no they're not... if heine ever talks to roland or gebura, he'll find they're far more realistic about their jobs... it's just her... ]

Oho, that is perfectly well! I shall be indisposed the rest of the day 'til morrow's light anyway, should I lose the duel I have thrown the gauntlet for, and thee need only seek me out once thou've made up thy mind.

[ she's interested, of course, about the "thing", but it's also none of her business! she will not pry. simply accept. ]

Whether thee accept the position or not, consider me ever an ally -- it is rare to meet one who is the same as us, after all. [ ... ] My coworkers are the same, being under the same employment, but I would not approach them with it as a greeting.

[ though having like, a functional immortality club would be pretty fun. ]

[ good guy donqui... tbd guys roland and gebura... perhaps one day he will learn the Truth but for now he can just believe they're all agents of good

the reminder that this conversation sprang from a post where don quixote was literally planning her own death does make heine's nose wrinkle. maybe because he never had a choice about his own functional immortality, but "i'm gonna kill myself just to prove i can't die" vibes weirdly.

but as yet another member of the "do not pry, simply accept" state of mind, heine doesn't comment further—she doesn't strike him as someone who's going to back down from something she's determined to do. ]

Yeah, you too. [ heine might not be able to stand too close to her, but having people to fight alongside if it comes to that isn't a bad thing. ] I don't think I know any of your coworkers, but I won't bring it up.

[ sensitive topic, he gets it. functional immortality therapy group. ]

I shall introduce thee one day, should the future allow it! Both... of whom it affects, in any case, have scolded me quite well this fine day -- Young Sinclair there, and Ser Gregor. They are good men, I assure thee, though they are not Fixers as I am.

[ so he'll at least know them by name, if nothing else. though. they both have traits that make them quite standoutish, from gregor's more obvious cockroach arm to the sometimes "murderous gaze" that sinclair doesn't seem to realize he has himself. ]

Thou shall have no trouble getting along with them, since thee have none with myself.

[ guessing that the scolding didn't have much of a deterrent effect, but it does raise heine's opinion of sinclair and gregor! he commits those names to memory and also makes a note to ask about the different job titles at this company, like, what are they if not fixers? ]

I'll look forward to that. [ there's not a lot of inflection in heine's voice generally, but he's not being sarcastic. ] Let me know how the death experiment goes.

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@DONQUIXOT3, video

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omg

sorry don!!!

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

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

excited for them

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