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Event - Dogged

Dogged

The message goes out to everyone on ADI's network. It seems to be something captured live. It's Pam Ruan, head of HR who holds a prosthetic finger up to her lips before whispering, "Everyone's pushing for transparency right now, right? Figuring out where threats are coming from and sharing. I think that should come at all levels. Let's see what Nia's talking about with Mr. Zyrian Steel, hmm?"

The camera flips around as Pam clearly creeps closer to an office door. There are muffled voices, and Pam sets the phone face up before using one hand to shove the thing under the door. The video shows a sliding picture of the office's bland ceiling for a moment before coming to a stop. The voices become much clearer.

"-down in Wolf Trap," a masculine voice is saying. Presumably, Zyrian Steel. "There's just no need for that."

"Zyrian, this ain't a negotiation." Nia Lehrer's voice is familiar to most people working at ADI at this point. They've likely heard her speak in some pre-recorded training videos at the bare minimum. Nia's tone is no nonsense and clearly on the edge of snapping in frustration. "You're not hiring us. I'm sending my people down to Wolf Trap next month. We've got evidence of those signalhead things being on the march, one down that way, your kick off for New Horizons in the park, and evidence out of there about the Lullaby Girl from some of my people."

There is silence.

"You remember her? Ava? Or Amber, it seems like. She's the one you gave us those Lucidio masks to help train our people against. Frankly, I'd be surprised if you don't remember her, Mr. S." Another drawn out pause. "You ain't been straight with me for a long time. You ain't been straight with ADI since Tawnya was Warden. You tell me you need us in Buffalo, payback for helping in Wolf Pen and Cortana and the mobile med units, and not only do half the staff come back with crab claws and whiskers, but I find out you're using us for business politics." There's venom in her tone. "Or were you just going to stay quiet about Etcher's enterprises competing with your own software companies? ADI is not your personal attack dog. You are our client. And I thought my friend. But I'm about 30 seconds away from firing you from both."

Further silence, then a heavy sigh. "And I was going to offer to send you and your staff on such a nice retreat." There's the sound of a chair being pushed back. "Warden, I think you misunderstand the nature of our relationship. You are the dogs. I am the master. I hold your leash. Or have you forgotten just how much technology I've donated to ADI over the years, how many of your systems run on things I built? We've had a mutually beneficial relationship up until now- Well… you and I have. Tawnya got to be a problem before the end, too. But I made sure that was taken care of."

"You self-aggrandizing son of a-"

"You're a much more practical woman than she ever was, even with those shiny ideals you hold so dear. You'll compromise for the greater good, to protect what's yours. Such a good Warden, looking out for her charges."

"What are you talking about? And get your hands the hell off my desk."

"Haven't you ever wondered about the title? Warden. Odd name for a leader of any organization, even one like yours. But maybe not so odd when you consider your more eldritch masters." A scoff. "The Hunt always does pick out the most oblivious avatars, doesn't it? What does a Warden do?" A beat. "She controls the monsters, Nia. Sniffs them out and contains them. And she goes after the poachers coming after her prey. Tell me, have you ever noticed how you're always picking up on threats far afield with uncanny precision. It's been getting stronger, hasn't it? Tawnya was the same way. As was her predecessor, I imagine."

"That's not- I wouldn't ever…"

"Wouldn't you, though? Every time you sent your own dogs after a threat, reveled in it, you were being such a good Warden, instilling terror in the hearts of your enemies, ADI's enemies. So many cults know who and what you are and they fear it. Fear the Warden of ADI, famed avatar of the Hunt. Even now, I know you've compromised yourself. Have you considered what that's done to you? You let that Visionary kid stay alive. I rather think that might have been the start of your slide, hmm? Making exceptions, just this once.

"Now," he continues, voice growing louder and footsteps starting toward the phone, "I realize this is a lot to take in, to think about. Why don't you do that self-reflection while I attend to other matters? You are doing good work, puppy. I need a dependable pet to take care of all those nasty pests who keep trying rituals. But no need to worry about the New Horizons launch, really. I'll just-" Zyrian pauses and everyone will have a view of a middle-aged caucasian man with dark, slightly graying hair and a beard. He's wearing khakis and a Hawaiian shirt, and he's looking down at Pam's phone.

"Well… fuck." He stomps a heeled shoe on it and the transmission ends abruptly.

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Nia gives the crab arm a grimace, but shakes her head. "Not sure of the specifics, just know it's around the corner. Think it's... something about seeing you. Probably best you stay back... remind me of your name?"

"That's...probably not good." But also probably not violent, so he relaxes, just a little.

"John Sheppard."

He pauses, doing his best to be diplomatic about it.

"I saw the video, by the way. I mean, at this point, who didn't, but..."

Nia pauses, takes a deep breath, and turns her attention away from the corridor to John. "But...? You got something you wanna say, you might as well say it, John. Everyone's busy just now."

“Okay, fine. I’ve been digging up some information, trying to see if there was anything to the increased activity in Dogtown. You know, with all the crap that’s been happening. Turns out that these waves, I guess, seem to come around the time that the ADI Wardens have died.”

He lets that linger for a moment, in all its implications.

“Assuming that all said ADI Wardens are Avatars, there’s probably something to that. What, exactly, I don’t know. Could be an Avatar thing, could be an ADI Warden thing.”

There's a moment of silence as Nia's brows shoot up in confusion and surprise. "What?" It's clearly news to her. "That's... well, shit. Makes sense. You told anyone else about this? Neil or Rae?"

“Yeah. No, you’re actually the first person I’ve told.”

His thoughts turn to Hickey, who must still be out there in Dogtown. What would happen if he got killed? Would the place just erupt with supernatural everything like the ending of Ghostbusters? He really doesn’t wanna meet a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

“So don’t get killed because we have enough to deal with on our hands.” A glance at his other arm. “Or, y’know. Claws.”

Nia frowns at him. "If people decide I need to die after finding out what they have... I won't blame them. I'd rather not until we finish dealing with Zyrian and at least stop whatever's bringing you here. But I wouldn't think they're being unfair."

“Okay, for one thing, if you die, we get to deal with more Dogtown stuff and it would suck real bad if it happened right now.”

He grimaces. “And two, you’re using your abilities for good right now and you haven’t turned into a giant creepy bear-beast and run off into the woods, so I’d say you’re doing pretty well, all things considered? You don’t need to die.”

A beat.

“I thought it was hard to kill Avatars, anyway.”

"Did Dogtown get weirder because the Warden died, or did the Warden die because Dogtown picked up its activity?" Nia shakes her head slightly. "Not sure we can parse that out with the data you got. "I'm trying to use what I can do for good. Didn't even know I was using-" She cuts herself off, lips pursing. "No. That's not true. I knew I was... I knew my gut was getting good. Real good, real fast. Didn't want to think it was because of them, though.

"I don't want to die right now, but I am the thing this organization was founded to fight against. And we kill avatars all the time. Some are harder than others, but no one's immortal here."

“True,” he says thoughtfully. “But I get it. Sometimes things sound too good to be true.”

The guilt twists in his gut.

Anyway.

“I’m just saying, not all Avatars are malevolent and you’re—we’re all going after the right people. Maybe that’s the only way to beat these things. Use their own powers against them. We’ll keep you in check, let you know if and when you get off the good and narrow. And then we can decide. I’ll do it myself if you ask me to.”

There’s a pause.

“Have you ever, ever heard of any of the Entities being defeated? Cause this is an unending battle. There’s always gonna be a new apocalypse, a new avatar, some other crap that comes up. I mean, some stupid part of me does kinda hope there’s something out there that can fix everything. But until we find that, conventional means isn’t gonna do squat. I can’t shoot the stars when they start coming down and yelling at me. Technology is only taking us so far. The most efficient way to protect innocent people is to fight fire with fire.”

"All avatars are malevolent. The fact I'm turning it against people and things that are just as bad or worse doesn't mean that's not malevolent. I'm just focusing where I wanna focus. The minute those targets are gone? That's when things like me turn." A pause. "Things like us. There's no winning in the end." She shakes her head.

"How do you defeat a concept, John? They are fear. Unless you wipe out... everything that can be afraid, they'll always be here. We can fight and defeat avatars, avert apocalypse attempts, but ADI's been here for over 200 years. There's no 'win condition.' There's just holding things at bay for as long as we can."

Dammit, Nia, he’s got a very carefully constructed scaffolding of cognitive dissonance here and this isn’t helping.

All avatars are malevolent she says and that feeling in his gut twists further.

“Then we find new targets. These things, these concepts, this fear? Okay, it’s not going away. That sucks, but okay. You just point the weapons at the new target before they can hurt anyone else. I feel like you won’t have to wait long until there is one. And until then? You lock the weapon up so it can’t hurt anyone.”

A rather long beat.

“Things like us?”

"I can smell it on you," she says simply. "Now that I'm... paying attention to the things I can actually do." Her hand comes up to rub at her brow briefly. "Already using these things like they're an old habit. Fuck.

"I'm willing to be a targeted weapon, but that doesn't make me good or... fit to still be leading this operation. I want to, mind. I care about everyone here, my people. I want to lead the charge down to Wolf Trap and rip Zyrian and his ritual apart. But I don't know that people still trust me to be able to do that. I'm compromised with what I am. I'm... willing to compromise on what I let other people do and use until we can finish this, too. And then I'm putting myself down so I can't do worse.

Crap. There’s a flare of fear there, of being discovered. Well, it wasn’t like he wasn’t being entirely obvious with his reasoning and questions, but still. He’s not sure if she’s just picking up on his alignment or on his, well, Avatarness. He’s a little wary, but he doesn’t show it.

“Seriously? What’s it smell like? I hope it’s not BO.”

So much easier to deflect than to deal.

“I get it. You know, back home, I turned into a bug once. It was…a whole thing. Couldn’t lead, of course. But I still managed to pull off a mission even when I wasn’t in my right mind because I had the same goal as everyone else. Because of that, I do trust you to lead the charge. If you need someone backing you up, I will. If you need someone to make that call…”

A beat. “Probably shouldn’t be me, all things considered, but like I said—if you can do more good alive than dead simply because you have the same goals as ‘the good guys’? You need to stay alive. Because I get it. If I ever went off the rails—I want the same thing. I don’t want to hurt anyone.“

Edited 2023-05-28 04:50 (UTC)

Nia snorts at the first comment, and doesn't bother to actually address it. To the rest, she shakes her head slightly. "Who do you trust to make the call, then? Neil? Rae? Neither of them are gonna work with me again, and they're the ones I trust most. Austin, maybe? He's said he'll stick with me to take care of threats, but he's out there, not here.

"I don't know. I want to keep helping. Just seems like it'll be dangerous."

John goes quiet a moment as the implications of the future ring louder. He’s never been a fan of ADI, only what they’re fighting against, but now it’s fracturing and who knows what’s gonna happen next.

“I think some people are still gonna stick around, people who have the same goals and don’t have a problem working with an Avatar. Might not be the ADI you know and love, but even a small task force can get stuff done. And these people, whoever they are, can make the call if and when you turn.”

"I can't trust them if they're avatars or getting there, too." Another shake of her head. "I can work with a group like that to get the mission done, but as soon as it is done? As soon as we stop what's bringing you here or figure out a way to get you home, it ends. I end. That's the only way I can justify keeping going and... and letting people use these powers."

“I actually would really, really like to go home.”

There’s something tired in it, something weary. If he doesn’t get home he knows that he’s gonna end up like Hickey. And that would really suck for Rodney. Rodney’s pretty much the only thing keeping him focused. “But I get it. It just seems like a waste of a weapon if you still have control by then.”

But if they can’t get back, the next best thing is stopping it.

“If ADI has been run by Avatars this whole time, why hasn’t ADI started it’s own apocalypse?”

"Maybe that's why Dogtown goes weird around the same time Wardens die. It's putting the dog down before it goes feral. I don't... know. From the way Zyrian was talking, he murdered Tawnya somehow. She was the Warden before me. Never said anything about being an avatar, either. I don't know that she knew. If each of us gets killed suddenly, there'd be no one to tell the next one. Warn them about what was gonna happen once they did realize."

“Damn. Okay. So that’s…Zyrian is a problem, and maybe someone or something else knows that ADI Wardens turn into Avatars and takes care of things before they get bad?”

He shakes his head.

“Has there ever been any other oversight for ADI? Government involvement, rich patrons besides Zyrian…anything that you can think of that might be a pattern of involvement?”

"No government. We've had contracts very occasionally, but that relationship never lasts by our choice. Our founders were fighting against an oppressive system. Not interested in kowtowing to it in the modern era just cause they put some shine on it. A few richer clients, but Zyrian's always been the biggest with having us on retainer."

Then if there was anyone watching the watchers, it wasn't an outside group or involvement, John muses.

"My knowledge of apocalypses isn't all that up to snuff. Do you know of any Hunt-led almost-apocalypses or rituals in yours or Tawnya's time, or that's happened since ADI was founded?"

Edited 2023-05-31 03:25 (UTC)

Nia pauses to contemplate that. "There's Hunt rituals that turn up every few decades or so, but they-" She frowns. "They've never been a high priority for us. The Hunt's... stupid. To put bluntly. Or its avatars are." A minor wince. "The ones that want to run rituals, anyway. All of them end up being things that are chasing their own tails. They never get off the ground because that's the nature of the Hunt. It's the chase. That's where the most powerful manifestation of the fear is."

Wow, he resembles that remark. He makes a face but yeah, considering the last time he did anything magical and avatar-y he caused coffee makers and toasters to become evil, so that tracks.

"The never-ending chase. Sounds an awful lot like ADI. Between us and always trying to stop apocalypses, and then on the other side of the coin you got whoever we're going after knowing we're going after them and being scared of that? Hunt's got it made."

He's not sure if he should take comfort in that or be upset that it's been like this the whole time. Maybe both.

"I dunno. Maybe that's the key. As long as you've got the chase and it's a chase for good, you won't go off and start bothering innocent people."

"That's the problem, though, isn't it? You start out with the best intentions and civilians still get killed. That's just collateral damage. ADI derailed a train here in Gloucester to stop a ritual somewhere else. Destroyed homes, some lives. But it wa for the greater good. We've done a lot of good, but wherever the Entities are concerned, there's always innocent people you're stepping over. And some of them won't make it."

Event - Dogged

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cw: suicidal ideations

cw: suicidal ideations, body horror/transformation

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cw: suicidal ideation

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think we can ftb here!