Rich paused again as he thought about that, and then a visible shudder ran through his body and he briefly closed his eyes.
"We're good then," he finally said, turning to look at him. Then he quickly looked away, his jaw setting. It felt wrong to leave Hal hanging like that, though. Here he'd gone and talked about something that intense, put it all out there, with Rich's threats hanging over his head.
"For me it was the Phalanx," he offered. A peace offering, really. He shrugged one shoulder haplessly. "The Corps was already gone then so I didn't terrorize them. I just terrorized everyone else. Think, uh --"
He tapped his temple.
"Like Star Trek, you know? 'Resistance is futile.' Except they let their 'Select' still keep some personality. You weren't a drone, you were all Locutus-ed. You thought you were yourself. You were yourself. Sort of. At least the 'yourself' that would slave away to work for them, to infect more people, to --"
To kill.
The rebels. The resistance. The civilians herded into chambers where they were torn apart on a molecular level for energy to power the Phalanx spires.
"Lost my first new Nova that way. I thank God every day that I at least wasn't the one that dealt the final blow; I just helped. That was Gamora -- she got taken, too. She was the one that infected me." He rested his hands on the railing. Didn't clench them, didn't show any sign of tension by clenching it or anything, but it took will to do that. "She was good people. Ko-rel. She had a kid."
He finally looked back at Hal again.
"We're good," he repeated. "It happens. In our line of work. And then you claw your way out and get to breathe again."
no subject
"We're good then," he finally said, turning to look at him. Then he quickly looked away, his jaw setting. It felt wrong to leave Hal hanging like that, though. Here he'd gone and talked about something that intense, put it all out there, with Rich's threats hanging over his head.
"For me it was the Phalanx," he offered. A peace offering, really. He shrugged one shoulder haplessly. "The Corps was already gone then so I didn't terrorize them. I just terrorized everyone else. Think, uh --"
He tapped his temple.
"Like Star Trek, you know? 'Resistance is futile.' Except they let their 'Select' still keep some personality. You weren't a drone, you were all Locutus-ed. You thought you were yourself. You were yourself. Sort of. At least the 'yourself' that would slave away to work for them, to infect more people, to --"
To kill.
The rebels. The resistance. The civilians herded into chambers where they were torn apart on a molecular level for energy to power the Phalanx spires.
"Lost my first new Nova that way. I thank God every day that I at least wasn't the one that dealt the final blow; I just helped. That was Gamora -- she got taken, too. She was the one that infected me." He rested his hands on the railing. Didn't clench them, didn't show any sign of tension by clenching it or anything, but it took will to do that. "She was good people. Ko-rel. She had a kid."
He finally looked back at Hal again.
"We're good," he repeated. "It happens. In our line of work. And then you claw your way out and get to breathe again."