re_alignment | [Video]

So it seems that things are returning to what . . . reportedly . . . passes for normal in this place. If anyone has grievances concerning events that happened since that storm that we had, I hope that you'll be willing to come forward. At the same time, however, I do have to encourage anyone who might have a complaint against another to consider if that person was themselves at the time and therefore if they could be held accountable for their actions. Any reports will be investigated, either way.

Prowl, if you see this, please check in. Either with me or with McCrane. Until one of us hears from you, I will continue to act in the role I took on during the period people were affected.

At present, I will be away from the police headquarters for a time, working on a missing persons case. I will still be reachable by comm, so if anyone has need of me, please don't hesitate to call.

Thank you.

[LOCKED to McCrane, Power Joe, and Kagerou]

Guys, check in please. I know things have been crazy lately, and I just want to make sure everyone's okay.

Also . . . you've told me that Drill Boy is around too, but he's been MIA for as long as I've been here. I intend to go look for him. I'll leave in about an hour if any of you want to come with me.

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[Power Joe enters the room, looking up and around it before continuing. He'd never been in here, per say. He hadn't even been in his own office, preferring to stay out of the stuffy building all together.]

Deckard.

[It's all he can reply with at first. This whole week had left him relatively quiet all together.]

I haven't seen him since he got out of the med bay. Who knows what that idiot's up to...

[His arms fold, looking away. He may not outwardly show it, but he was fond of that little nuisance.]

[Deckard’s far from fooled. The words worry him, though.]

Med bay? Why was he in the med bay?

...

He got killed, Deckard.

[His head hangs low, unable to meet his gaze.]

H-he...?

[The words freeze the Brave leader, and it takes him a moment to work past a few of the thoughts that race through him at that. If Drill Boy had been killed, but was in a med-bay, and has since turned up missing and no one thought much of it...it must be because he'd been sufficiently repaired? He himself had been killed once, and while not an easy path by any means, he /had/ been recovered, in both body and mind. And of course, there were others who'd returned from death - Ravage and Knock Out, especially, that he knows of.]

[Deckard puts a hand on his teammate's shoulder, ducking to try to catch his eyes. His tone is urgent, naturally, with worry, but there's no anger or blame.]

Power Joe . . . what happened?

Deckard, you might wanna sit down.

See...

[Where does he even start?]

Has anyone told you about Tarn?

[Maybe that was a good place to start. Because...it's only a deep sink hole of pain for some of them.]

. . .

[Dammit, just how bad IS all of this?]

[He'll catch Power Joe's shoulder and gently but firmly press him to sit in one of the chairs in front of Blurr's desk while he takes the other one.]

Bulkhead told me a little. He said Tarn tortured and killed two people, displaying them on the network, and that there was a huge takedown battle that went down against him and a cohort. I know he's been arrested and being held in the jail.

[He nods in the direction of the holding cells, then looks Power Joe square in the eye, adding softly.]

I know that's not the whole story by far...

[Those eyes close a moment. It'd been awhile since it happened, but it still sunk into PJ's proverbial heart like a knife. Just seeing Drill Boy's body in the state that it was...it was awful. No one should have been put through that. It was bad enough when it happened to another A.I. back home (Lua...) but when it was a member of his own family...]

Drill Boy was killed in that battle, Deckard. One of the DJD got him.

We had to watch him die.

[They were short, sweet and to the point. He didn't want to drag out that memory any longer than he had to.]

[Deckard bows his head. He can't begin to imagine how hard that must have been. He was there for Lua's death, and though it hurt to see her fall, it'd not had nearly the impact on him as it'd had on Power Joe. There'd been another, earlier death, too. Deckard had been present for that one as well, though his experience of it had been far different from anyone else's . . . since it had been his own. That's the one that comes to mind for him, knowing that not only Yuuta but his entire team had been forced to witness that, aggrieved for their sakes that it had happened. And for Power Joe (and, he'd have to guess, McCrane) that it had happened again.]

[Not sure what else to do, he reaches out a hand to grip his team-brother's shoulder.]

I'm sorry. As trite as that is to say.

But . . . he was recovered and repaired, right? And his heart was intact?

[That was one of the Brave Police's biggest advantages – their bodies could be repaired or even replaced, and so long as their Super AIs and their memory units were intact (and, possibly, even if they weren't, as he himself had already proven), they could always been revived from even the most catastrophic of injuries.]

[Not that any of that made losing someone any less difficult. There'd always been the chance that there was enough damage that their heart /was/ lost and they weren't recoverable, like he'd almost been. His Super AI sparks painfully at the thought of losing any of his teammates, and his grip tightens in response.]

Power Joe . . . Drill Boy's out there somewhere. For some reason, he hasn't checked back in for too long. But we'll find him, and we'll bring him back.

[Apologies, especially from someone of a similar world, were never trite. Especially not from Deckard. He slumps into that hand, or at least at it's touch, trying to hide his clearly hurt expression from him.

Dammit...he was better at controlling his emotions than this. The weight of this world finally starts to sink in. Past all the facade of trying to be playful. Of dates and drives and skipping work.

No...no.

Losing someone, no matter how trivial, was never easy. Because you know that one day, they won't come back. You never admit it, and it never happens, but you know. Nothing lasts forever.]

We better.

[Deckard studies him a long moment, wishing there were some way he could shield his teammate, his brother, from the hurt. He'd give just about anything for that ability. He leans in for a moment, shifting his arm to wrap around Power Joe's shoulders as he rests his head against Power Joe's, giving what strength and support he can. Then he tightened his hug for an instant before shifting back.]

Come on, PJ. Let's go find out little brother.

[He leans back, slightly at the touch.

He needed this. He just needed to tell someone who'd understand. And McCrane had way too much on his mind lately. It was stressful for everyone.]

Yeah.

[His head snaps up.]

I'm right behind you.

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