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[weaponwithoutpurpose]

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[weaponwithoutpurpose]

[Jacob is on deck and when Norton just appears, he jumps back with a startled cry, dropping his cigarette as he reaches for the gun on his belt.

When he realizes who it is, he stops. He know what this is.]

Jesus Christ, Norton.

[pharadyne]

[Norton smiles brightly at him.]

Hello, darling!

[His smile is maybe a little too bright and his voice a little too chipper. He is determined to not fly into hysteria. He is absolutely fine.]

Teeny question for you: Did you brainwash Dr. Hilbert, which resulted in him murdering Abel?

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

[He looks out, over the abyss.]

Yup.

[pharadyne]

[Norton takes a deep breath, still smiling.]

Have you brainwashed me? Or anyone else, I suppose. [He adds as an afterthought.]

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

No.

[He turns and looks to Norton, strangely wanting to reassure him.]

It takes me a week...ten days.

[pharadyne]

[Norton frowns. He only has Jacob's word and he's not sure yet if he trusts it.]

How did you do it to Hilbert?

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

[He shrugs.]

Same way I did it at home. [He takes his water bottle from the ground and drinks from it, though he still doesnt look at Norton.]

A cage, some deprivation, some conditioning, and time.

[pharadyne]

And no one noticed him gone? He really doesn't have any friends.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

[He almost says we.]

I made sure it was the right time. Everyone was at port. His inmate was down. Everyone assumed he was in a coma.

No one fucking checked.

[pharadyne]

Oh.

[If during a port, he was probably hung over or in a stranger's bed while Hilbert was getting brainwashed. Not good. But it does reassure him that he himself isn't brainwashed. He's loud enough and social enough that he's fairly sure people would ask him where he's been if he'd been caged for a week.

Unless it was during a port and people assumed he was just off getting himself hung over or finding strangers' beds.]

Why have him murder Abel? I know you don't like him, but it seems a lot of effort over a petty quarrel where you punched him.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

[He takes out another cigarette, wanting something to do with his hands.]

Wasn't his original purpose. Guess I just got sloppy.

[Said very flippantly.]

Told Cain I'd do to Abel anything he did to me. Promised him I'd kill him for stabbing me.

So I did.

[pharadyne]

I don't believe you got sloppy. Sloppy isn't you.

I do believe you felt once you made a promise you had to keep it. Why your promise to Cain meant more than your promise to me is a mystery, however. Since only one of the two of us is actually here to potentially appreciate your devotion to keeping your word.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

Ah, don't go making it personal, Norton. It didn't have anything to do with you.

[It was his own self destruction, a way to get out of the corner he found himself trapped in. He had no escape except the nuclear option. Abel is a convenient target.]

[pharadyne]

It is personal for me, whether you intended it to be or not! [His voice turns shrill, his control cracking a little before he tamps it all down again.]

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

Hm. Well, it's done.

[He shrugs, still staring out at the stars.]

Can't help how you fucking feel about it. I didn't want you involved.

[pharadyne]

How could I not be? We've been bound together.

[Norton steps up to the railing next to Jacob and rests his hands on the rail.]

Can the brainwashing be undone?

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

Yeah.

[He finally eyes him, wary of being 'bound' to anyone. He doesnt move.]

But I'm not telling you how.

[He wants this control still, as terrible as it is. Even if he won't use it.]

[pharadyne]

Arse.

[He shoots in retort, which is probably not the most convincing argument, but it feels good.]

Why not?

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

Because you got all the chips, warden. You're right. I ain't sloppy.

I want insurance.

[He knows what's coming next. Yelling, the whip, the abuse, the belt.]

[pharadyne]

[Norton's fingers tighten on the rail and his silent for an unusually long time for Norton.]

You want me scared? Fine, I'm scared. But that just means I have to make sure nothing like this happens again.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

Why the fuck are you scared, Warden? You got all the shit you want. Just ask the Admiral and he'll turn me into a fucking duck for you.

You got nothing to be afraid of from me.

[He leans on the railing.]

I did it for somebody else, and he shit all over it. Wasn't worth it to keep him, so I used him for Abel knowing I'd get caught.

[pharadyne]

You know as well as anyone official power isn't everything. I could take out my communicator to ask the Admiral to turn you into a duck and you could snatch the communicator out of my hand before I could make the request, knock me unconscious, and lock me in a cage and brainwash me.

[His knuckles are turning white as he clings to the rail.]

Who did you originally do it for?

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

[He thought he might like this - his warden afraid of him. Instead, it makes him feel - absolutely disgusting.]

Not today, Norton.

He's a piece of shit, not even worth getting in trouble.

[pharadyne]

What if I promise to keep it hush-hush, even to other wardens? And unlike you, keep my promise.

I want to understand why this all happened.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

[He considers it seriously, and maybe he would have kept it to himself, but Pyotr had been such a dick about it when Jacob had done all the work. Vincent had been right.]

That little shit commie, Pyotr. I was telling him how to actually control people, but he sucks at it. I told him to pick a target. He chose Hilbert.