Post by Lex on Sept 4, 2007 23:09:55 GMT -5
Hopefully this clears a little bit of the mystery surrounding Reese, and also fills a currently GAPING plot hole. ^^; Sorry it took me as long as it did. I'm still not totally satisfied with it, but I just don't have the time to nit-pick right now.
Note: I feel that while this is only me writing, it is more of a "misc. session" than a "fanfic." So that's why it's here. I might be moving a few threads from the fanfic section into this area, for that same reason.
Dincht dropped a paper-clipped stack of papers down onto the surface of the table. He pulled out a chair and seated himself.
Reese’s gaze traveled from Dincht to the stack, and he leaned forward a bit to get a better look. His picture was printed in the top left hand corner of the first sheet. He recognized the format of the page immediately--it was his DotNA profile. Caught off guard, he looked back up at Dincht, and then to Leonhart, who sat at the far end of the conference table, mute and staring.
“It was on a disk we found in your pocket.” Dincht stated tonelessly, not missing Reese’s expression.
“I will cooperate.” Reese asserted firmly. “I‘ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Good.” Dincht nodded, his face impassive. “You can start by telling us what your real name is.”
Reese cleared his throat. “My birth name is Reese Lark.”
“Then what about this?” Dincht pointed at the first sheet on the stack. ‘R. Vornecai’ appeared printed clearly, just to the right of the photo.
“Your name changes when you join DotNA.” Reese replied. “They don’t want you to have a traceable past. It’s also a way of insuring loyalty. If you’re willing to give up the life you had, they know you‘re committed.”
“So you became Vornecai when you joined DotNA?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to Lark?”
Reese shrugged. “He died.”
“And where does Amaerick come into play?”
“Amaerick is the name used on all my Trabia Garden documentation.”
Dincht cleared his throat. “So let me get this straight. ‘Vornecai’ is your DotNA persona. ‘Amaerick’ is your SeeD persona. And ‘Lark,’ that one’s actually your real name.”
Reese nodded.
“But Lark is legally dead.”
Reese nodded again.
Dincht let out a sardonic laugh. “It would sure be a bitch to track down all the paperwork you’ve been on.”
“Tell us about your assignment.” Leonhart cut in, his voice calm and even. Reese looked at him from across the table, finding his stare cold and impenetrable. It was intimidating.
He looked away. “I had a lot of purposes, but I guess I was essentially a messenger.” He cleared his throat softly. He could feel Leonhart’s eyes boring into him and knew he probably looked like a coward, just staring at the table. But he couldn’t lift his gaze--his nerves wouldn’t let him. “My assignment was to remain with the Trinity team until they passed through Fisherman’s Horizon for the Shumi scroll--until they attempted the Ruby.”
“DotNA knew of the Shumi Scroll?” Dincht asked.
“All along. They left it there as bait.”
“Why would DotNA want the Trinity team to pass through Fisherman’s Horizon?”
“Over the course of Adel’s rule in Esthar, Fisherman’s Horizon became a kind of refugee camp. It’s the closest city outside Esthar’s gate. For the people in Esthar who actually don’t like Adel, it’s escape.”
“So they wanted to get rid of FH to keep people from fleeing Esthar?”
Reese paused. “Well, given that it poses no military threat and has no regional advantages, Adel herself felt that bothering with FH was not a top priority.” He smirked sardonically. “But half of the people involved in DotNA are clinically insane. It bothered the hell out of them that this place was serving as a haven for ‘traitors,’ and the Sorceress was just letting it happen. So, yeah, they wanted to destroy the city.”
“And how do the Trinity SeeDs factor into this?” Dincht asked.
“Stopping the Trinity mission was another thing on the DotNA to-do list. They hadn’t managed to pull it off yet. A face-to-face confrontation with the SeeDs seemed inefficient when compared with simply blowing them into the ocean along with FH. So that‘s what they planned to do.”
“Two birds with one stone.” Dincht commented.
Reese nodded.
“Did you help plan this?” he asked.
“No.” Reese looked at him. “I was Rank Four; trained to take orders and not ask questions. So that’s what I did.”
“Explain this ranking system for me.”
Reese sighed quietly. “There are five ranks,” he started. “The Fives are the highest on the totem pole. There are only a handful of them, and I can identify every one for you.” He glanced at Leonhart. “They run the organization, so they’ve got their hands in every part of it--the lab, the terrorist units… they issue the orders. You’ve got three of them locked up right now.”
“Fours--” he cleared his throat. “There are more of those, but not much more. If you’re a Four, you’re trusted among the Fives to get shit done and get it done right. Fours aren’t given too much information, but they are given the more critical assignments. Fours are people who can be trusted with touchy work. Assassinations. Kidnappings. Infiltration. I was a Four… but I guess you already know that.
“Threes are in a class all their own. Usually, a Three would be someone who has a lot of knowledge in one specific area. A lot of people in the labs were Threes--the scientists who developed the drugs, the researchers investigating the Pandora… These people are largely kept in the dark and paid well for their work.”
He sighed. “The Twos and Ones are mostly battle fodder. The kind of people who are only moderately capable, the ones that get stuck with the dirty work.”
A few uncomfortable moments of silence passed. Reese glanced at Leonhart again, who sat silent and rigid in his chair, his arms crossed. He simply watched, his eyes unyielding. Dincht finally spoke again,
“So, your assignment… ” Dincht lifted the stack of papers and pulled off the paperclip. He moved the first sheet aside looked down at second. “Operation Theseus. You were to make a phone call and alert DotNA when their window of opportunity was open?” He looked at Reese.
Reese looked back. “Yeah.”
“And what about the Shumi scroll?”
“I was to retrieve it.”
“I see. But if the Trinity mission was stopped, why would it matter to DotNA what happens to the scroll? Why pursue the Ruby, if not to keep if from us?”
Reese shook his head slightly. “DotNA wasn’t after the gems only in effort to keep them out of SeeD hands. They have their own agenda when it comes to the Trinity sword.”
Dincht set down the papers. “Now’s the time to tell us more about that agenda.” he stated bluntly.
Reese averted his gaze. “There’s not a whole lot I have to tell you. It was Rank Five information.”
“Bull.”
Reese looked at Dincht. “I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know.”
“You know more than what you’ve said.”
“The only reason I even know what I do is because of my relationship with Waverly Jong.” Reese said. “If not for that, I wouldn’t even know there was a hidden reason for pursuing the gems. I already agreed to cooperate here; I’m telling you everything I know.”
“Alright, whatever. So you were supposed to get the Shumi scroll, make a phone call, and get out of there.”
“They were going to send a chopper in for me. But yes.”
“And you chose to simply leave the city?”
Reese nodded.
“Did you return to DotNA?”
“They tracked me.”
“So you were on the run?”
“I was merely leaving the city and disregarding my assignment. I was putting some distance between the SeeDs and myself, and that‘s it. I wasn‘t running.”
Dincht smirked. “You weren‘t running? We found you in pretty bad shape. You can’t convince me you willingly walked into that.”
Reese’s gaze lifted to lock with his. “I willingly boarded the chopper they sent out to pick me up.”
An awkward silence ensued.
“I want to know more about the drug.” Leonhart spoke again. Both of them looked at him. “Kadowaki reported the drug found in your system as similar to what they used on Laice. Explain.”
“They are similar in how they are made, but the formula is different.” Reese answered. “What they used on me is called MOD-Dispain. Laice got MOD-Dismentia.”
“What does MOD stand for?” Dincht interrupted.
“Maternal Organic Dysmorphia. They take a basic spell, like--well, in my case--Pain. And that’s the ‘mother’ spell. They chemically combine that with Dispel. And I know they mess with it in other ways to make it more potent, but I’m not sure about the intricacies of the process because I never had anything to do with the laboratorial side of things.”
“Dispel… is that why curative magic becomes ineffective?”
Reese nodded. “I’m sure that has a lot to do with it, yeah.”
“So MOD-Dispain is intended for killing?”
“Yes. It pulverizes your internal organs and muscle tissue the way a standard Pain spell affects your nervous system. What doesn’t turn into blood becomes pulp and rots away inside of you. It’s very slow, and very painful.”
“And what about MOD-Dismentia?”
“Dismentia has no physical effects. It’s all mental--it basically drives you insane. I know it causes hallucinations and flashbacks, which has a directly adverse effect on your ability to discern reality from fantasy.”
“Is there any cure for these drugs?”
“Nothing I am aware of.” he shook his head.
“Alright.” Dincht said. “Back to your assignment. You abandoned it. Why?”
Reese was silent for a few moments. He didn’t know how to answer the question. It was personal, why should they care? He looked at Dincht. “I abandoned it. Isn’t that what matters? Why do you care to know my reason?”
“Why are you withholding it?” Dincht countered.
Reese conceded. “I changed my mind about it. That’s it. I didn’t want to do it anymore.”
“But you were passionate enough about DotNA to give up your past… ”
“Lark was a name I didn’t care about discarding. The fact that I gave it up for DotNA means next to nothing, so don’t let that influence any assumptions. I was not passionate about DotNA.”
“Why did you choose to join, then? If not to support Adel?”
“I did it to support Waverly Jong.” Reese grimaced at his own words.
A very low ‘hmph’ escaped Leonhart’s throat.
“So you chose to dedicate your entire being to this cause, though you had no strong feelings for it.”
Reese nodded.
Another round of silence fell.
“Very well.” Dincht said. “Squall?”
"This is enough, for now," Leonhart stood. “We are going to interview the SeeDs you worked with. After taking into account what they say, we will decide what exactly we will be charging you with, and also what to do with you until your trial date. Until then you will have to be detained. I‘m sure you understand.”
Reese nodded. “I do.”
Dincht stood. “Go ahead and step out. My guys will take you to your cell.”
Reese stood. “I won’t be shar--”
“No, you won’t be sharing a cell with the others.”
Note: I feel that while this is only me writing, it is more of a "misc. session" than a "fanfic." So that's why it's here. I might be moving a few threads from the fanfic section into this area, for that same reason.
Dincht dropped a paper-clipped stack of papers down onto the surface of the table. He pulled out a chair and seated himself.
Reese’s gaze traveled from Dincht to the stack, and he leaned forward a bit to get a better look. His picture was printed in the top left hand corner of the first sheet. He recognized the format of the page immediately--it was his DotNA profile. Caught off guard, he looked back up at Dincht, and then to Leonhart, who sat at the far end of the conference table, mute and staring.
“It was on a disk we found in your pocket.” Dincht stated tonelessly, not missing Reese’s expression.
“I will cooperate.” Reese asserted firmly. “I‘ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Good.” Dincht nodded, his face impassive. “You can start by telling us what your real name is.”
Reese cleared his throat. “My birth name is Reese Lark.”
“Then what about this?” Dincht pointed at the first sheet on the stack. ‘R. Vornecai’ appeared printed clearly, just to the right of the photo.
“Your name changes when you join DotNA.” Reese replied. “They don’t want you to have a traceable past. It’s also a way of insuring loyalty. If you’re willing to give up the life you had, they know you‘re committed.”
“So you became Vornecai when you joined DotNA?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to Lark?”
Reese shrugged. “He died.”
“And where does Amaerick come into play?”
“Amaerick is the name used on all my Trabia Garden documentation.”
Dincht cleared his throat. “So let me get this straight. ‘Vornecai’ is your DotNA persona. ‘Amaerick’ is your SeeD persona. And ‘Lark,’ that one’s actually your real name.”
Reese nodded.
“But Lark is legally dead.”
Reese nodded again.
Dincht let out a sardonic laugh. “It would sure be a bitch to track down all the paperwork you’ve been on.”
“Tell us about your assignment.” Leonhart cut in, his voice calm and even. Reese looked at him from across the table, finding his stare cold and impenetrable. It was intimidating.
He looked away. “I had a lot of purposes, but I guess I was essentially a messenger.” He cleared his throat softly. He could feel Leonhart’s eyes boring into him and knew he probably looked like a coward, just staring at the table. But he couldn’t lift his gaze--his nerves wouldn’t let him. “My assignment was to remain with the Trinity team until they passed through Fisherman’s Horizon for the Shumi scroll--until they attempted the Ruby.”
“DotNA knew of the Shumi Scroll?” Dincht asked.
“All along. They left it there as bait.”
“Why would DotNA want the Trinity team to pass through Fisherman’s Horizon?”
“Over the course of Adel’s rule in Esthar, Fisherman’s Horizon became a kind of refugee camp. It’s the closest city outside Esthar’s gate. For the people in Esthar who actually don’t like Adel, it’s escape.”
“So they wanted to get rid of FH to keep people from fleeing Esthar?”
Reese paused. “Well, given that it poses no military threat and has no regional advantages, Adel herself felt that bothering with FH was not a top priority.” He smirked sardonically. “But half of the people involved in DotNA are clinically insane. It bothered the hell out of them that this place was serving as a haven for ‘traitors,’ and the Sorceress was just letting it happen. So, yeah, they wanted to destroy the city.”
“And how do the Trinity SeeDs factor into this?” Dincht asked.
“Stopping the Trinity mission was another thing on the DotNA to-do list. They hadn’t managed to pull it off yet. A face-to-face confrontation with the SeeDs seemed inefficient when compared with simply blowing them into the ocean along with FH. So that‘s what they planned to do.”
“Two birds with one stone.” Dincht commented.
Reese nodded.
“Did you help plan this?” he asked.
“No.” Reese looked at him. “I was Rank Four; trained to take orders and not ask questions. So that’s what I did.”
“Explain this ranking system for me.”
Reese sighed quietly. “There are five ranks,” he started. “The Fives are the highest on the totem pole. There are only a handful of them, and I can identify every one for you.” He glanced at Leonhart. “They run the organization, so they’ve got their hands in every part of it--the lab, the terrorist units… they issue the orders. You’ve got three of them locked up right now.”
“Fours--” he cleared his throat. “There are more of those, but not much more. If you’re a Four, you’re trusted among the Fives to get shit done and get it done right. Fours aren’t given too much information, but they are given the more critical assignments. Fours are people who can be trusted with touchy work. Assassinations. Kidnappings. Infiltration. I was a Four… but I guess you already know that.
“Threes are in a class all their own. Usually, a Three would be someone who has a lot of knowledge in one specific area. A lot of people in the labs were Threes--the scientists who developed the drugs, the researchers investigating the Pandora… These people are largely kept in the dark and paid well for their work.”
He sighed. “The Twos and Ones are mostly battle fodder. The kind of people who are only moderately capable, the ones that get stuck with the dirty work.”
A few uncomfortable moments of silence passed. Reese glanced at Leonhart again, who sat silent and rigid in his chair, his arms crossed. He simply watched, his eyes unyielding. Dincht finally spoke again,
“So, your assignment… ” Dincht lifted the stack of papers and pulled off the paperclip. He moved the first sheet aside looked down at second. “Operation Theseus. You were to make a phone call and alert DotNA when their window of opportunity was open?” He looked at Reese.
Reese looked back. “Yeah.”
“And what about the Shumi scroll?”
“I was to retrieve it.”
“I see. But if the Trinity mission was stopped, why would it matter to DotNA what happens to the scroll? Why pursue the Ruby, if not to keep if from us?”
Reese shook his head slightly. “DotNA wasn’t after the gems only in effort to keep them out of SeeD hands. They have their own agenda when it comes to the Trinity sword.”
Dincht set down the papers. “Now’s the time to tell us more about that agenda.” he stated bluntly.
Reese averted his gaze. “There’s not a whole lot I have to tell you. It was Rank Five information.”
“Bull.”
Reese looked at Dincht. “I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know.”
“You know more than what you’ve said.”
“The only reason I even know what I do is because of my relationship with Waverly Jong.” Reese said. “If not for that, I wouldn’t even know there was a hidden reason for pursuing the gems. I already agreed to cooperate here; I’m telling you everything I know.”
“Alright, whatever. So you were supposed to get the Shumi scroll, make a phone call, and get out of there.”
“They were going to send a chopper in for me. But yes.”
“And you chose to simply leave the city?”
Reese nodded.
“Did you return to DotNA?”
“They tracked me.”
“So you were on the run?”
“I was merely leaving the city and disregarding my assignment. I was putting some distance between the SeeDs and myself, and that‘s it. I wasn‘t running.”
Dincht smirked. “You weren‘t running? We found you in pretty bad shape. You can’t convince me you willingly walked into that.”
Reese’s gaze lifted to lock with his. “I willingly boarded the chopper they sent out to pick me up.”
An awkward silence ensued.
“I want to know more about the drug.” Leonhart spoke again. Both of them looked at him. “Kadowaki reported the drug found in your system as similar to what they used on Laice. Explain.”
“They are similar in how they are made, but the formula is different.” Reese answered. “What they used on me is called MOD-Dispain. Laice got MOD-Dismentia.”
“What does MOD stand for?” Dincht interrupted.
“Maternal Organic Dysmorphia. They take a basic spell, like--well, in my case--Pain. And that’s the ‘mother’ spell. They chemically combine that with Dispel. And I know they mess with it in other ways to make it more potent, but I’m not sure about the intricacies of the process because I never had anything to do with the laboratorial side of things.”
“Dispel… is that why curative magic becomes ineffective?”
Reese nodded. “I’m sure that has a lot to do with it, yeah.”
“So MOD-Dispain is intended for killing?”
“Yes. It pulverizes your internal organs and muscle tissue the way a standard Pain spell affects your nervous system. What doesn’t turn into blood becomes pulp and rots away inside of you. It’s very slow, and very painful.”
“And what about MOD-Dismentia?”
“Dismentia has no physical effects. It’s all mental--it basically drives you insane. I know it causes hallucinations and flashbacks, which has a directly adverse effect on your ability to discern reality from fantasy.”
“Is there any cure for these drugs?”
“Nothing I am aware of.” he shook his head.
“Alright.” Dincht said. “Back to your assignment. You abandoned it. Why?”
Reese was silent for a few moments. He didn’t know how to answer the question. It was personal, why should they care? He looked at Dincht. “I abandoned it. Isn’t that what matters? Why do you care to know my reason?”
“Why are you withholding it?” Dincht countered.
Reese conceded. “I changed my mind about it. That’s it. I didn’t want to do it anymore.”
“But you were passionate enough about DotNA to give up your past… ”
“Lark was a name I didn’t care about discarding. The fact that I gave it up for DotNA means next to nothing, so don’t let that influence any assumptions. I was not passionate about DotNA.”
“Why did you choose to join, then? If not to support Adel?”
“I did it to support Waverly Jong.” Reese grimaced at his own words.
A very low ‘hmph’ escaped Leonhart’s throat.
“So you chose to dedicate your entire being to this cause, though you had no strong feelings for it.”
Reese nodded.
Another round of silence fell.
“Very well.” Dincht said. “Squall?”
"This is enough, for now," Leonhart stood. “We are going to interview the SeeDs you worked with. After taking into account what they say, we will decide what exactly we will be charging you with, and also what to do with you until your trial date. Until then you will have to be detained. I‘m sure you understand.”
Reese nodded. “I do.”
Dincht stood. “Go ahead and step out. My guys will take you to your cell.”
Reese stood. “I won’t be shar--”
“No, you won’t be sharing a cell with the others.”