[ORP] The Village Proper

[Labmouse 5ive]

"I don't believe that," he replied stubbornly, frowning. "You had a knife that you carried around an' used. Not that it would matter, I doubt I could get a knife sharp enough to actually do the job. We'd probably have to use somethin' else."  

[Emelyn]

She frowned, caught in a piece of logic that she hated- but logic was something inscrutable, and she didn't like to act against it.

"I... it was sort of necessary. I didn't want to get hurt again. But besides- we shouldn't even be talking about it. I've heard that taking out your chip can really hurt you- even kill you. Why would you be willing to risk it?"  

[Labmouse 5ive]

"Yes," he replied shortly. Sighing, Thom let his arms fall back to his sides. "I've thought about it, trust me, both sides of the argument. We've 'eard that removin' the chip can damage whoever it was in, but we 'aven't actually seen that.. Nothin' lastin', at any rate. Jamal's runnin' about just fine, as far as I've 'eard, an' th' wolf survived as well. This is necessary," he insisted. "Th' rewards outweigh th' risks."  

[Emelyn]

"I'm sure the lab would catch you. They have cameras everywhere."  

[Labmouse 5ive]

"They 'aven't caught Jamal yet, an' he's been free for months. I'm not a ravin' bright white tiger man. I can stay hidden fairly easily in th' jungle."  

[Emelyn]

"Yeah, if you're not dead," she said, emphasizing the word louder than she'd intended. It wasn't until then that she realized she'd completely lapsed out of the whisper. The woods around them were dark and deep, but something close to instinct- or maybe just experience- caused her eyes to dart to the treetops, wondering if even now they were being watched.  

[Labmouse 5ive]

The sudden increase in volume startled Thom as well, and he momentarily froze in place, eyes wandering the branches of the surrounding trees. The word 'dead' in itself was really nothing incriminating, but the paranoia had built with the conversation. There could be guards waiting behind every leaf to drag them off to the labs. Or worse, back to the grave.

Pulling his eyes back to Emelyn, Thom risked speech once more, though it was quieter even than before. "Emelyn, I'm not goin' to drop this attempt. I'm already on th' lab's bad side after th' laptop theft. I've injured a couple of the loyalists, I've--I was punished before for somethin' much more trivial than all I've done lately, an' it took months for me to recover from that. I'm not seein' things anymore, I'm not runnin' from th' dark and th' rain. I'm not scared anymore. I 'ave my mind back, Emelyn, an' I want to keep it, whatever th' cost."  

[Emelyn]

She brushed her hand up past her forehead, pushing those unwelcome spines out of her line of vision. It was an old gesture- one she'd not taken to for a long while, but her mind wasn't in the right place to notice the anachronism. So many things he'd said jumped out at her, but she didn't know if she wanted to know- losing his mind? Being punished? She swallowed, and what she said avoided them both.

"Loyalists? You make it sound like it's a war."  

[Labmouse 5ive]

"It is a war." There was absolutely no doubt in his tone. His nodded sternly, but his shoulders sunk. "But it's only just beginnin'. I doubt there's much 'ope of us goin' 'ome, but th' labs are still drawin' people to this damned island. If we can do somethin' to keep them from sufferin' the same fate, then we should. It's better than sittin' on our arses an' sockin' up th' sun while th' labs ruin more peoples' lives."  

[Emelyn]

It was a war. The words echoed, and gained more truth with every spiral pass they made through her doubts and denials. Once she had tried the route of passive resistance- a self-hermitage on a mountain away from Moreau's hypocrisy. She had not been free of his tyranny, but at least away from the mockery of it all- and though it had done her some good, in the end she'd washed back to the joke of civilization- the paint of decency that Moreau had whitewashed on them all. She'd come no closer to escape, only to a realization of herself. But what good had that done anyone else? She didn't want to hurt Thom, and she didn't want to see him turn himself into a martyr for the cause, but in the end, all martyrs must be self-chosen.

"Say something that will convince me." She said softly. She didn't want to help. But she would.  

[Labmouse 5ive]

For a long moment he was silent, pouring over a hundred possible ways he might convince her to help him. It was difficult, more difficult by the second. He picked through the sentances, but all the while, running over them again and again were the things he had already told her. He had already told her. What was he supposed to say? The chip had to be removed, he was going to get caught if it wasn't. He wasn't going back to the grave. Finally, however, he simply sighed, spreading his arms slightly in a gesture of helplessness. "I don't 'ave anyone else to ask."  

[Emelyn]

"Ohhh," she breathed, letting out a torturous pent up store of emotions. It was a long, grueling pause in which she planned on telling him no. She wouldn't do it. There was no way she'd willfully cut into the back of someone else's neck to do damage that very well might kill him. But what she said was very different.

"Where? And when? And how could you possibly get the supplies?"  

[Labmouse 5ive]

Her reply took him as much by surprise as it here, and immediately he straightened up, grin returning. "Soon, within the next day or two, if I can manage it. I'll find somethin' to use. Newt's probably got somethin' sharp enough. Where... As far from th' labs as we can get, though I'd rather if it were somewhere in th' jungle. Easier to slip away... Thank you, Emelyn," he added, expression softening as much as the snake-like features allowed.  

[Emelyn]

"I didn't say I'd do it." But the look of worry and regret in her eyes made it obvious that she most certainly had. It was further cemented when she added, "You'd better find something numbing. ...Someone... couldn't do it- probably wouldn't, without something to take the pain off."  

[Labmouse 5ive]

"I'll try an' find somethin'," he assured her, nodding slightly. "But I make no promises. I can't ask th' labs for anythin', so I'm limited to whatever I can find around th' village. If we're lucky, Newt'll have somethin'."