Memory Cave

[voidtreckermods]

After the passengers see a glimpse of a life that is not their own they appear in a cave. It is light, a strange moss glowing on the walls and ceiling illuminates the cave nicely and it is large enough for them to pace around in without trouble.

They are not alone. In the cave with them is another voidtrecker. Maybe someone they know well, maybe someone they have only seen in the aisles of the train. But they are together in this cave together.

The cave has no exit, at least not yet. They know that it will, eventually. When the time is right.

But for that time to come, they first must talk...

(OOC: For reference: memories!)

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[theturksway]

Reno stopped short as he heard her say those familiar words, eyes narrowing gravely at her. He had only made it about half way towards her but now he didn't seem so intent on getting closer after all. The baton she had seen in his memories had slipped out of somewhere among his person at some point and he stood silently in the middle of the cave and tapped it on his shoulder.

It might have looked intimidating from an outside perspective but it was actually more thoughtful at the moment than it seemed. Reno didn't care what it looked like--always loved using it for intimidation tactics anyway, whether real or perceived for effect--but really he just used the familiar action to steady himself.

"Where'd you hear those words?" he asked as if he didn't already know the answer. Suspected he already knew the answer.

Other than him there was only one other person on board the train that knew all those words together. He didn't know if Elena had told anybody else about their world that he didn't know about but it was a possibility. Elena never could keep her mouth shut.

But he suspected that wasn't the case here. It made more sense for it to be the thing he dreaded; for her to have seen his own memories in return for hers. A Turk's worst nightmare: a leakage of information. The worst part was that he didn't really know exactly all that she had learned from him. This was bullshit.

Worst. Vacation. Ever.

[stubbornhope]

Satou kept her eyes focused on him, even as he slipped the baton out of hiding. Until the last moment, she planned to hide her own weapon. There was no need to show it right now and suggest that she might use force against him. For all she knew, he only had the baton out as part of some nervous tic.

"I think that you know the answer to that." She replied calmly. He didn't seem stupid. But, just to be sure they were on the same page, she spelled it out to him. "I saw your memories. I know that you've killed and I know you enjoyed doing it."

It was difficult, but not impossible to withhold judgment from her voice. Genessia had taught her to expect every person to have different morals. That didn't mean any one side was necessarily wrong; Just that they might be in conflict. Like right now, when her moral compass conflicted with what she knew about his.

"I'm Satou Kuroneko. What memorie of mine did you see?"

[theturksway]

Reno flashed a shark-like grin at the end of Satou's words. 'I know that you've killed and I know you enjoyed doing it', she said. She didn't know the half of it. Why dissuade such an image. It fit his nasty reputation that he loved to project. It was what he was. A thrill seeker. A killer. A Turk.

No remorse. No regret. Why grow a conscience so late in his life. It would only hold him back. Couldn't have that. He was a Turk. Got the job done every time. Didn't matter what it was.

"Now why should I tell you that~?" he practically purred at her. His voice had hit a lower tone, dark and dangerous. A menacing smile played on his lips as he stared at her with a sharp glint in his eye. He looked playful--but in the same way a feline did when stalking its prey.

[stubbornhope]

She held her ground. No weapons, she reminded herself. No tension in her posture, no anger in her expression. She would remain calm and composed and continue needling him for information. But the last thing that she needed was to be trapped in a weird cave with an enemy.

"Because we are stuck in a cave right now and I think that we'd both like to get out, now wouldn't we?" Satou asked as calmly as she could. Rather rudely, she pointed a thumb over her shoulder to the cave walls. "Something is at play here. We need to learn its rules if we're going to break them."

Then again, she'd barely revealed what she had seen. Hoping it might make him more eager to talk, Satou decided to be the first to open up, "You were talking about helping people... And then I remember you murdering people. Which is it? Or is it both?"

[theturksway]

Reno might have been impressed if he wasn't too busy being an asshole. He should have been assessing the situation more, trying to think of how to get out of here, or at least wondering if her attempt to parse things out was part of the plan here. It was clear he didn't want it to be though from the scowl he wore above the too-friendly smile gracing his lips.

"Whatever the job calls for, sweetheart." He tapped his shoulder once hard and a sharp crackle of blue electricity surrounded his baton. "You plan on playing 20 questions the entire time we're stuck here?"

[stubbornhope]

That was a neutral answer. A safe one. Satou rolled her eyes, hands settling on her hips. She wasn't sure if he was purposefully making this difficult or simply couldn't see the bigger picture. Whatever the case, there was no point in wasting her energy with her sugary sweet persona right now.

"Whatever the job calls for, sweetheart." She parroted back at him, "Like I said: We seem to be stuck here and I doubt it's an accident. I saw into your head, didn't I? Tell me what you saw, so we can confirm if you saw my memories too."

Her arms raised again, gesturing around them, "Because I doubt we're getting out of cave prison for good behavior. Something abnormal is happening and the sooner I pinpoint what the hell it is, the sooner I can get out of this damned cave."

[theturksway]

"Awww, that's cute. She thinks she can take charge," Reno sneered at her. "You really want to conform to this things whims? I don't like to play by other people's rules."

His arm swung down from his shoulder and straightened out next to his body. He was moving idly, keeping in motion. Despite his carefree attitude and lazy posture, he had a contradictory amount of energy pent up inside. He twirled his rod in a slow circle with movement from his wrist. Definitely a habitual gesture.

"I saw a crybaby. That sound about right? Let's face it, we already solved that part of the equation."

[stubbornhope]

Well, he probably wasn't wrong. Satou sighed to cool her rising temper. Try as she might, this guy was getting on her nerves. Definitely not the type of person that she enjoyed being stuck in a cave with.

"Coulda said it sooner." She shook her head, puzzling with their situation. Ignoring his comments about conforming. There was a difference between conforming and being intelligent, she wanted to say, but now wasn't the time for starting a fight. And hoh boy, did her inner demons ever want to start a fight right now.

"So we both exchanged memories. Why would we be put in a cave after the second one and not the first?" Satou began pacing herself, trying to keep his weapon in her line of sight as she did, "Do you kill a lot of people 'for work?' Or was the memory I got of a specific time?"

[theturksway]

Reno eyed her as well though he made a show of turning away from her slightly as if the sight of her pacing was pissing him off--it kind of was though to be honest. But he could still see her out of the corner of his eye and keep her position in mind.

He ignored her last few questions and started with the first, throwing out a few possibilities. "Proximity. We could have been too far away when we first arrived on the train. Or timing. Whatever this is might need more time to establish a stronger connection and exert its power. Or..."

He trailed off, glancing discreetly at her for a second before looking away again, not wanting to admit that she could be onto something. But really what else was there for them to explore in this damn cave? The unwanted sharing session was basically it. There was nowhere to go. At least not yet.

"...or the type of memory. Who fucking knows. Who cares! This is stupid!"

[stubbornhope]

Satou stopped, a finger resting thoughtfully on her cheek. The type of memory seems like the closet answer. Proximity won't get them out and they can't do anything about timing. It must have to do with the memories. That's the only thing they actually have between them.

"Our memories must be a clue." Turning, she tries to chase his gaze with her own. Eye contact will be important to intimidate connect with him. He wouldn't talk on his own, would he? So she'd have to force it out of him. If her memory was of her crying, then maybe his hit emotionally too? Maybe she could provoke him into answering her questions with an outburst.

So, without missing a beat, gaze still hunting his, "You were standing in a dark room, surrounded by bodies. They'd been caught off guard, huh? One of the people tried to flee, but you had cut him down too. And you were excited about it. Someone told your boss that you won a fight. You decided to talk to someone who you seemed close to."

[theturksway]

Reno stopped fidgeting as he listened to her tell her story. Well, his story. He could recall a hunt or two that ended in bloody glory like that. Hell, that was just the job as far as working as a Turk went.

"That could be any number of jobs," he told her with a flippant tone.

It was true enough. He and Rude took out a number of traitors, would-be thieves, and other enemies of Shinra Company plenty of times over the years. The only thing he could have told her for certain was that it wasn't anything from the recent past. It was probably from before Meteorfall but if she didn't see that then she didn't really need the details on it for no reason. It was complicated.

As for provoking him, he kept his cool. Back home people knew who the Turks were even if their operations were mostly under the books. Rumors had a way of circulating. The details were kept under lock and key but the reputation didn't exactly hurt them in some regards so they let most of them be.

The biggest difference now was that it wasn't entirely common knowledge on the train. Then again, he wasn't exactly a saint here either. Maybe it wouldn't matter. Maybe he didn't care. That was an easy demeanor to keep up--just don't care about anyone else but himself.