Welcome to Gaia! ::

Candace remained silent, though she watched the others attentively. This was something Aria had said she may have to do one day, though for less noble reasons than this. Punishment, not selfless sacrifice. Perhaps it was a good lesson for her to be witnessing this...to see if she could handle it.

So far it was painful. It hurt like a knife in her chest. Candace didn't know these people, she had no ties with them, she didn't exactly care about them, but what they were doing was just so sad to watch. They clearly didn't want to die.

Personally she would be okay taking out Samantha herself. G? Not so much. "You're doing an amazing job, G. More than anyone could ever ask." She nodded to Sammy. "And you as well, we cannot thank you enough." She couldn't watch, but she had to. She needed to.

"We love you, G. Samantha." A happy lie to send them off. Give them something pleasant send-off to remember in their final moments. Something to cling to.

Rep took up position in the room, it felt good to be here for this. He needed to toughen himself up to be able to do what he'd ultimately have to do.


All it took was a look from Harrison to shatter his resolve. That look, subtle nuanced apology. The idea that the man would be upset that he couldn't be there to fight alongside him hurt more than he could process. The other him had promised to help him defend his kingdom their kingdom and he'd come into this world, artificial as it may be, and had replaced his other half. He thought he knew who he was. He was Rep the hunter but he was also the guy who'd sat vigil over a hospital bed for so long he was starting to wonder if he'd gone mad, if this place was as much his own creation as anyone's. Maybe he'd done this to himself. He could remember two lifetimes, two conflicting threads of reality. He knew the one that was real in the same way you knew a dream from waking, but it didn't erase that doubt. It didn't change the way his heart leapt in his chest at even a glance from the blonde man, the way he wanted to take up arms alongside him. He smiled on instinct, reassuring him before he could stop himself.

He was starting to doubt his ability to do this.

He tried to focus on the job at hand.

Sammy and G he was able to control his feelings about. Business was business. Sometimes people needed to die, the self assurance that they weren't real made it more palatable.

"Later guys." he said, as if flippantly saying goodbye to a friend leaving to head home. "Maybe in another life."

Somehow he doubted Rep had any interest in showing him the roof. That was something romantic, something beautiful... his relationship with Rep was crude and obscene. A greasy smear on the lovely silk fabric of the Watch. So instead he merely forced himself to give Melvin a little smile. The longer the chemist talked, the more genuine, and perhaps a little wistful, the shape-shifter;s smile became, Melvin's endearing qualities shining through the awkwardness and through Nuk's own 'tough' exterior. It was sweet, hearing what was comforting to him. Towards the very end, he couldn't keep up with the intelligent jargon, his eyebrows furrowing a bit in bewilderment at the 'mental capacities of a multi-celled life-form' part, but it was the sentiment that counted.

And then it was back to his sister, and Nuk forced his expression to even out, for Melvin's sake.

"No."

It was a one word answer he was sure would spark more questions, so instead the drug dealer followed it with a question of his own.

"Why do you keep... mice?"

Gargantuan gave Candace a strange look, as though uncertain if she meant it or was just trying to reassure him. He couldn't bring himself to answer though--he was afraid he'd choke up again, and he wanted to go with some sort of dignity.

For Rep, he unconsciously lifted his hand as though to doff the hat that no longer rested there, fumbling for a moment before he lowered the shaking limb.

"Long live the King,' He muttered in turn, lifting his glass as though in a toast to them all before he downed it as well. The tremors took him then, but he stared straight at Harrison, refusing to flinch away in the face of death even if his body wanted nothing more than to betray him.

While Nuk was shooting down some of his question, Melvin only continued. It was better than being quiet and thinking Saliva might be getting hurt.

"Well, I considered fish, but they forget and don't retain memory well. Can't feel very important to something if they can't remember you at all. I thought about a dog, but they are messy, and they get depressed when cooped up all day. They're social creatures, and they need to be let outside once in a while. Then I thought about a cat, but cats tend to get into things, and sometimes they find ways out of the lab. The lab doors open and close a lot during shipments, and a cat could get out. I've also relocated several times due to my location being found out. It would be mean to have a cat return and find everything gone. It would be like I didn't care, betrayed them, and they'd be left not knowing why. Cats are very smart. I had one growing up."

He then continued. "Mice can be kept in a cage, can be moved, yet retain memory. They can be trained, held, and you can see them grow intellectually. They don't mind being in my lab or mind me." He patted his hands on his knees. "I like my mice. They keep me company."

He looked up at Nuk. "You were a tiger before. Do you talk to your pets or other animals when you're lonely?"

Rep must feel it too, Harrison thought, dismally.

He wanted to tell him not to worry. He'd told the rest of the Crew that. But, Rep and Jordan were his Officers, his closest. He needed them to have the facts, to look at the situation plainly, and then to act.

He needed to hear from Jordan. He needed-

He wanted time. They didn't have it. He was tired.

He nodded anyway, letting Rep take care of whatever business he had.

Melvin watched as Rep returned, waiting to see why they were picked to stay back, but then Rep assured him he didn't have to fight. "But...Saliva." He frowned, but Saliva was strong and he was sure she wouldn't be in harm's way. The fact Rep allowed him not to fight came off as a huge relief, and he breathed deep before smiling. "Thank you." While he felt bad people were dying for all of them, that didn't mean he wanted to rush out there.

With Nuk leaving, Melvin's one talking companion, the chemist went to go pet Mass on the couch.

Melvin smiled, feeling light and bubbly due to his own get out of free card, but trying not to get worried about the others. He held the paw that batted at him, before letting go by the sheer weight of it. Moving over, he started to scratch the cat's back, smiling. "You're warmer and bigger than mice." He said, and continued to scratch the cat, all the while fighting the thoughts of those fighting that nagged at the back of his mind.

It would be okay. They'd make it. Saliva would come back, and Rep was already here. He hoped that one girl that Jerry liked died.