voidtreckerexpress | All Jacked Up [Closed]

Entry tags:

All Jacked Up [Closed]

Who: Handsome Jack, Rich, Tannis, Devero, Entrapta, Murderbot.
Where: Spa car, though it may move if Jack makes a break for it.
When: Kazoo, Back-dated to after the ball but before the recent platform.
What: The body snatching party is coming to an end.
Warnings: Existential crisis, body-hijacking, forced removal, Jack being Jack.

If people noticed that Rich's behavior was strange during the mission, it appears to get significantly weirder over the next day or two afterwards. While everyone has been recovering, Rich has been running around having the time of his little life. Or rather...his body has.

At his controls is Handsome Jack, thanks to a little quantum computer integrated into Rich's brain - formally known as the SQUIP. She's tucked away safely now somewhere as a data packet for Jack to play with later and therefore he's got the run of the house. Or the body. Whatever.

And having a body again? Incredible. He'd spent the first few hours just touching things and experiencing temperature changes. When that finally got old, he'd set out to do the good shit. Eating food? Definitely better with non-synthetic taste buds. Getting drunk? Euphoric and dizzy and absolutely good for forgetting ones self is made up of 0's and 1's. Throwing up? ...Okay, that still sucked.

He's currently trying out swimming and holy shit, the feeling of being weightless and carried by the water (that he can properly feel the temperature of!) is stupidly enjoyable. It shouldn't be, but it is. And in the back of his head, he knows that this is his first time. He has memories of doing all these things, of course - but that's all they are. These are real experiences. Nice ones.

Everything he'd been through as a passenger in Rhys's head had been awful. Stuck on Pandora, trudging through deserts, being shot at and punched, being filled with panic and grief and terror. He'd spent as much of that as he could being either off-line or not in touch with the body.

This was paradise comparatively.

"Oh god, I don't even remember what being this young felt like," he murmurs, floating on his back in the pool.

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Something's different. Rich can't quite make out everything that's being said, his consciousness waning as he struggles to stay aware, but he knows he's insulted Devero and this other girl. That normally would be enough to get him to sink back in shame, but then...

But then Devero speaks up. He asks a question. Does he maybe realize that something is off? There's no way, but Rich is hopeful enough to try to make a push for control.

One of his eyes twitches. His mouth tries to form words. At least just one to let Devero know... where the real him is.

"Dad...?" Not quite what he meant, but maybe it's something. He tries to follow up with a plea for help, but he can feel his air flow being cut off again.

Oh, hell Jack thinks, because he's let his mouth run again and it looks like unfortunately Dev's smart enough to pick up on it. He's preoccupied with trying to figure out how to spin it, when control is ever so slightly wrested from him and the next word out of his mouth is not at all something he meant to say.

Jack yanks the vocal cords back into his court, sending Rich a dirty thought for screwing him over like this. This might call for some more extreme measures, depending on what Dev and Entrapta do next. He sends a ping to his back-up just in case, considering the length of the damn train and how long it might take for it to arrive.

His eyes flick to the exit, before starting to subtly drift in that direction. "I'm fine except apparently for some repressed Daddy issues. Seriously, leave me alone right now or I'm gonna do something you won't like."

Edited 2021-04-11 20:54 (UTC)

Did-- did he just say--? That single strained word sounds completely different from the derisive voice that had just called him Muscles, and Devero's expression sets.

"No, he's not," Devero says to Entrapta, direct refutation of Rich's own fresh set of snotty assertions. "Something's wrong."

He stalks to the edge of the pool and crouches, his lips curling with disgust that he doesn't bother to hide. "Like what?" he says in brazen challenge.

Okay, she doesn't know this person, but she thinks it's more than a little weird that they're threatening people for saying 'hello'.

Entrapta's getting a little worried.

She actually gets into the water, then, both because Devero looks like he's about to get really angry and because this person is being so aggressive, and edges her way closer. "Hey, Devero was really worried about you, okay? Maybe we should check with the medical car to see if they have something that might help you feel better."

There's something oddly Hordak-y in the way Rich is acting, she notes. Which is. Strange.

There's a lot of noise on the train. Far more than Murderbot is used to- but occasionally, it catches something semi-coherent.

And occasionally, that catches its full attention.

When it picks up a transmission for backup - in so many words, with so many specifics - it's immediately on alert. And no, it's not its place to be security on here, but- this is different. This is something all organic parts of it are bristling at, and as for the synthetic? Well...

Suffice it to say it's making its way towards the source, ending up in the doorframe of the gym car and assessing the situation in a moment before sending a message to Devero's implant-

Incoming hostile. There's a nanosecond of pause, then- The signal came from Rich's computer.

Belatedly, it wonders if Devero knew about Rich having one in his head.

Rich's brows draw down as he looks up at Dev, his mouth twisted up in an ugly snarl. "Like bashing this kid's head on the concrete here - or maybe I'll just breathe in a whole bunch of water? Bite my tongue? I'll do it. Back up, or it's happening," he threatens, very aware that someone Dev's size and bulk could easily overpower this body.

Drifting backwards just a bit, he bumps into something that startles him into nearly carrying out one of those threats in a panic -- until he realizes it's Entrapta. What the hell was she doing in the water?

"What? No- I'm not going anywhere-" He shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose, still keeping an eye on Dev. "It's me, okay? Jack. Tell Muscles to back off- I'm just having some fun. This is gonna go south real fast if you don't-"

He's interrupted again by the arrival of yet another person in the spa car. Could this get any worse? It's some guy he doesn't recognize, looking weirdly hurried for someone who just burst into the room and said absolutely nothing.

Rin's message pops up in Devero's vision, his eyes flicking to the text for a bare instant before fixing back on Rich.

On Jack. Oh, that makes a lot of hot, angry feelings swirl up in him at the same time, enough that he almost lunges straight into the pool to grab him. Only Jack's threats to harm Rich and the fact that Entrapta's already in there stop him. But that moment of hesitation is enough for the first tide of fury to wash up and away, leaving his training in its wake. De-escalate.

"Jack, there's no need to do anything hasty," he says, shooting to his feet and backing off several steps. "Entrapta, will you please stop him if he tries to hurt Rich? At least until we all talk about this?"

He follows Jack's glance to the doorway and is very, very relieved to see Rin there. He's seen Rin in action, and its presence gives him enough confidence to back away further.

He looks back at Jack, not wanting to take his eyes on him/Rich for a moment. Dropping his hands down low, he flashes them through a series of quick, abbreviated gestures, a kind of sign-language shorthand. It came from Handsome Jack. He's in there, probably IN Rich's computer.

"Jack?"

She's saying it even as Devero's talking, her expression trying to work out how this is possible. A chip? Or- or something?

Suddenly there are many concerns. This boy is Devero's friend. Someone that practically sees him as a father! And the man doing this is deeply flawed, and it's a terrible choice, but she understands why he's making it. So she does the unthinkable because she has to.

She takes her bare hands and grips Rich's fingers, pulls his hands to hold them balled up right against her orange polo shirt, right against her breastbone, so Jack doesn't hurt either of them. "Jack! What are you doing?" Her voice squeaks a little, her brows creasing up with worry for everything going on. "This is because you wanted to feel again, isn't it?"

'Rin' meets Rich's eyes with an inscrutable expression before looking back at Devero. There's no change in its face as it takes that in, processor racing to understand just what's happened-

-it's only vaguely familiar with Jack, but it does know that he's another powerful 'bot of some sort. Program. AI. Whatever. The point is, if he's hacked a computer that's literally within the human's brain- Murderbot has no idea what that computer is capable of, but it was hellishly complex, even for it, when it reached out on the platform. In short? Nothing good.

"Hold him."

And with that- it reaches out, taking a step forwards, and then another. As it slowly advances with its physical form, it's all but throwing itself against what code is there, a veritable javelin to pierce through firewalls and enter the system.

"Time to go." Its presence says 'aloud' as it looks around to see what's going on in here, uncertain of what it'll find - especially given this place - but ready to defend a human who's apparently been hacked.

Edited 2021-04-12 03:31 (UTC)

There's too much going on for Rich to keep track of in this state. He can tell Devero is there, and he's angry, but he can't find the strength to reassure him about this. That girl from before is grabbing his hands, and he can tell she knows Jack, but he can't squeeze her hands back. Everything is a blur the more he tries to focus on it.

And now there's another person... that man he met briefly on the platform, but Rich can't recall his name. He struggles to focus, only for the situation to get even stranger, as Rich feels another presence inside him, not yet elbowing out Jack, but certainly trying to push past the barriers that have locked Rich out of control for so long. It brings a flash of clarity to him, and 'Rin' may feel someone else push against the code from the other side, as if slamming fists against glass.

"Let me out! Please! I need help! I can't-" He can't do this alone, but if someone can help wrestle control away from Jack, he might actually be able to feel his own body again.

Jack grins as Dev backs away, having known the big softie wouldn't risk injury to the kid. He would have found the hand motions suspicious if Entrapta hadn't just grabbed both of his hands like a lunatic and held them hostage against her chest.

"I just told you- I'm having a little fun and I'm not done yet, so if you'd freakin' let go-" He struggles a little in her grasp, testing out the kid's muscles. He stops for a second when she hits the metaphorical nail on the head as to his motivations. "Well, yeah... If you understand, then let me go," he says, looking her in the eyes with a frustrated expression. It changes abruptly when an alert goes off, informing him of Murderbot's attempt to get through his fire walls. "Son of a..."

Attention turning inward, Jack is profoundly irritated to find the other program already in the system. "Okay, that's annoying. Look, you're lucky I didn't bother upgrading this thing's security," he growls, his voice echoing from all around.

"And you- your mouth has gotten us into enough trouble today." A glass room made of code generates in the digital plane, containing the mind of one Rich Goranski, represented as a little figure stuck inside. There's a huge sign on the front that says, "Jack's Daycare" and a smaller one below it that says "Do not open."

Jack himself finally appears as well, his hologram projecting itself as gigantic, towering far above Murderbot. One huge sneaker lifts to try and stomp the intruder flat. "Time to debug this place!"

Meanwhile, outside in the real world, Jack's robotic body has finally made it to the spa car. It enters the door behind Devero, holding a gun in one hand. The very same Entrapta had helped him build. It's still projecting Jack's hologram over it's frame, but its expression is utterly blank.

"Freakin' finally," Jack in Rich's body says aloud. "Better get outta here, Muscles and take your sneaky friend with you! I ain't above shootin' either of you."

Well, isn't this one of the more fucked up things that Murderbot has seen in a while. It's seen programs locked- really, the governor module (which this system shares some unpleasant similarities with) does that on its own- but a human itself? It's as if they've been pushed back...

A sour emotion broils within Murderbot, but it doesn't have time for that. Instead-

It looks around as Jack's voice seems to surround it, the sheer presence nearly overwhelming. The sheer power of this processor, alone, is formidable- but this wouldn't be the first time it's hurtled itself beyond its design specs.

(It would, however, like to avoid another system crash.)

"Rich!" Murderbot reaches in to its archive of 'how to people', specifically 'reference material, aka feed shows', more specifically 'how the heroes do it when they rescue people'. First off; reassure. "I'm here to help you, but I need you to stay calm and h-"

Aw, fuck.

Murderbot immediately launches itself to the side, rolling- while its physical body does nothing but turn around, and immediately move to step in front of Devero. "Get to cover!" it barks out, though it seems just slightly distracted. A fight on two fronts is not what it hoped for, today, as its virtual body quickly jumps to its feet, and then on to that sneaker, aiming to try and ascend.

"Hey! No talking to the kid - I'm in charge here!" the giant Jack growls, shaking his foot to try and dislodge the quickly ascending nuisance. He sounds mostly annoyed, despite the fact he's having to split his attention three ways. The SQUIP has some fantastic processing power for him to use - its no space station, but for such a tiny thing, its a powerhouse.

He's just about to try and grab Murderbot when a screen pops up near his head and he groans, watching Tannis enter the spa car. "Oh my god, are you kidding me? What the hell is she doing here?"

He snaps his fingers and another screen pops up next to it, showing the view from the Jackbot's eyes. It's not a pretty sight with Entrapta's back deliberately turned to it. The emotional impact of both that and her words are enough to have the giant Jack hesitating while the part running Rich's body is busy processing that metaphorical gut punch.

It seems to snap out of it when the screen shows Dev drawing a pair of something from their holsters. "For the love of- Why can't you idiots just back off?" he hisses in frustration.

Rich yelps as the digital plane seems to shake the moment Jack's foot hits the ground, cowering slightly in his glass prison. He looks up hurriedly, but it looks like 'Rin' thought a lot faster than Rich could have, already trying to clamber up the giant Jack's leg.

"Be careful!" He desperately tries to rack his brain for any advice he can offer. "I think he must have a key or something!" This is just a representation of Jack's control over Rich, but surely there's a metaphorical key to lessening his power.

With the view from both its own eyes and Jack's, at Devero refusing to back down, and another stepping in- the physical form of Murderbot shoots the human next to it a final glare with eyes that seem abnormally bright blue. Its processor is heating up, trying to keep up with what it's working with here, and it's too much-

"You better know what you're doing," it hisses at him, before refocusing its full attention on the hack. Getting its digital presence smashed by Jack's is certainly not on its to-do list today, and it scans through the code as it goes back to ascending- ending up on his back like a jumping flea. And it's there that it notices something glowing bright, right along the spine.

Well. That looks important- maybe not a key like Rich mentioned, but certainly something. It flexes an arm, a panel sliding back on the forearm to reveal one of its arm weapons. Really, a weaponized bit of code, meant solely to damage and delete- and it's promptly being aimed, and then shot right at what it perceives to be a weak point. Seems fair that a core coding structure would be similar to a human's spinal cord, no?

"Oh, you ASSHOLE! That really hurt!"

The gigantic Jack visibly stumbles at the solid hit to a weak spot in his code, as do both of his bodies on the outside. Part of the structure of the huge projection pixelates away, leaving a bare looking grid underneath in a circle around the affected area on his back. It's already begun to regenerate, albeit slowly, as Jack swats angrily over his shoulder in an attempt to knock Murderbot off.

"Don't help him," Jack sneers at Rich, snapping his fingers and summoning a bunch of Hyperion-style turrets that track Murderbot and start firing. He fires a few little rockets of his own off with a finger-gun motion, complete with 'pew pew' noise.

"There is no key, pal. It's your own willpower that's letting me keep a hold of the reigns. Or lack there of, I should say. You really do want someone else in control deep down, don't you?"

Speaking of being in control, the projection freezes again, a clear sign that something on the outside is going on that Jack is having trouble processing. It's just a hug, but the body he and Rich are in is eagerly returning it and when the hell was the last time anyone hugged Jack for real....?

....Maybe he's missing that memory too...

"Jack, no!" Rich screams out as he sees the dangers increase for Rin already tenfold. Of course this would happen, but the fact that Rin barely made a move to get this level of retaliation is disheartening. There's no way someone can make it out of this alive... not unless they leave Rich behind.

There's a part of Rich that's already predisposed to pleading, but the minute Jack turns to him and calls out what Rich was already bargaining to do... He was going to hand over control again, the minute things were going wrong. It makes his stomach twist in knots. He gasps for air, coming to his knees in the prison he's been trapped in.

...But he looks up, eyes suddenly brighter than ever.

"I'd rather die than have be a prisoner forever. You can't fucking manipulate me into accepting this!" He grits his teeth, slamming on the glass walls with clenched fists. "No matter what you say, I'm going to fight! It's all I'm fucking good for!"

He screams and rages, and in the back of his mind, he hopes all of this is enough to distract Jack from dealing with Rin. And if not, he might still have a bit of energy left over...

Oh, motherfucker.

Murderbot immediately goes on the defensive-dodging, moving with inhuman speed along and about Jack's form- only to lose its grip as a rocket hits it square in the back. It starts to fall, only to get blasted by another- and it doesn't even emit a cry as it lands, bounces once, and then, visibly pained, gets back to its feet.

Possibly the funnest part?...while that is certainly flesh that is scorched and burned, underneath?

Is metal.

"Damn it," it grinds out, briefly tempted to just retreat - this isn't one of its humans, but...damn it, he still needs help. Fucking helpless piece of hacked flesh, and fuck it for being unable to leave one behind. Because there it goes dodging the next set of turret shots, running straight...

...for...

...Jack.

Code-presence damaged or not, it appears to be trying to turn Jack's own weaponry against it- running straight for another glowing part of his body, to lure the turrets in to doing the work for it.

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Entrapta doesn't look all that scared when Jack comes in. Just sad. She uses one pigtail to keep them near the edge, afloat no matter what their bodies do, brows creased up over her magenta eyes.

She moves so her back is to the gun and Rich is in front of her.

"I know, Jack. And I know we can come back. It won't be nice, but we can. I don't want any of us to feel that."

She treads water as she brings up the other pigtail to the side. "I'm not here because they told me. I'm a Princess. I don't do as I'm told. Not for Devero, not for you, not for the train. I do what I want." People assume she's milder than she is because of her agreeability, but there's some force in her voice there. "But I do what I want for people I care about. You know what people did when you'd just played annoying music, so I know you must have been desperate to decide this was worth it, but I wish you'd asked me for help so I could help make your body better, not- not done this! You didn't need something temporary, you needed something that would last."

How did he even do this!? That's not right to ask right now, but she's really very confused by that. Later.

She takes one of Rich's hands and presses the knuckles against her warm cheek, her magenta eyes genuinely pleading. "I know being in a body that didn't feel right must be miserable, but this one isn't empty. It's occupied by someone who's loved, and I bet he's scared, and there are going to be a lot of people who are upset."

And if nothing else, from this position, she knows that the Jack in Rich can probably see what he looks like holding a gun on her.

All she wants is to get away from people, is that really so much to ask? Why is there always such a big group of them literally everywhere? Granted, she's doing better with them in general since Roland brought her to Sanctuary, but still, this is far too close with nowhere to escape, no door she can lock that completely keeps anyone out when she just needs a minute to breathe...

And of course there's some kind of hubbub going on in here when she walks in. Nowhere really is safe from the scourge of humanity. She almost turns around and leaves without a word, too, except there's the damn blue hologram that passes for Handsome Jack and everyone looks rather...bothered about something.

Oh perhaps it's the gun he's holding. How it has taken this long for people to notice the kind of person he is is a mystery to her, but he's always been rather... charismatic, as much as she hates to admit it. But still, the atmosphere is the enough that even she notices and she freezes instead of marching right through the crowd to the next car.

"What is going on in here?"

Not her best work.

"What is wrong with you?!" Devero bursts out on the tail of Entrapta's moving, heartfelt words. His eyes are riveted over Rin's shoulder on the Jack-body and the gun it holds, currently aimed at Entrapta's back, but his words are for the AI itself. "You really want to escalate this right now? This isn't some-- obnoxious trick you're pulling for attention, you jackass, this is a violation. How long did you reasonably think you could even get away with this?"

Rin's told him to get to cover, but he's not a 'get to cover' kind of guy, especially not with a gun in play and a non-combatant-- make that two non-combatants on the field. He twists, assessing the position of the new player entering at the far end of the carriage. "Miks, I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the carriage!" he says, barking at the newcomer just as much as Rin had at him a moment ago.

He turns back to the Jack-bot, taking a step back and to the side, exposing himself to the gun but covering said newcomer while she decides what to do. He drops his hands to the holster belt around his waist; he's suddenly very grateful that he'd been horribly negligent in returning his tac batons to the armory after a maintenance session earlier today. He draws the paired batons out of their holsters, but in the interests of continuing to try to de-escalate, he does not extend them or turn them on.

He's not sure what he'd expected Entrapta to do, but it certainly wasn't this. Yes, they'd had some deeper conversations than he usually could be coaxed into with others and yes, she'd demonstrated, to his surprise, several times that she understood him better than a lot of other people ever could...

...and yeah, maybe they were...friends. Probably? But...

When the gun came into the equation, she should have been running for the hills. Not this. Not turning her back on it. She had no reason at all to trust him. No reason. Caring about someone and trusting them were two different things.

He stared wide-eyed at her, feeling like if he were a true program he would have just Blue Screen of Deathed. As it was, his projection on the inside of Rich stalls for a moment in its fight with Murderbot. The sight of his own body, totally expressionless, with a gun aimed at her back cracks something further in him. It's easy to justify one's actions when you can't see what you look like. And there's nothing about it that looks heroic right now - not even with the usual healthy dose of delusion.

"Help? Ask for help? Are you - you're joking, right? Weak people ask for help and you know what they get? Stepped on. Like this kid. Nobody's really gonna help him, Entrapta. He's just going to get taken advantage of over and over. Unless he learns to stop asking for help and start taking what he wants."

Oh hell, having tear-ducts again is a real pain in the ass when you don't want people to see how upset you are. Blame it on the kid - he never would have cried like this in his own body!

"Temporary is better than nothing. Temporary is how you keep going when you know you're not going to get what you need." He grimaces, feeling his hand pressed against the soft skin of her cheek - really feeling it this time, temperature, texture, everything. It cements in him the idea that this was worth it.

"I wasn't planning on staying in this body forever..." he offers as half an explanation and half an apology. "One or two more days tops."

He stiffens in her grasp as he registers the entrance of Tannis followed by Dev's outburst from various different eyes and ears.

"Of course people are going to be upset. Let them be upset! It's what I do - I make people fucking upset. My existence pisses people off. From the day I was fuckin' born," he growls.

The Jackbot body has already moved its gun to point at Tannis- now Dev, as the man puts himself between them.

"Couple days at most? I would have left peacefully too," it answers him, with a little shrug.

"Wouldn't have had to escalate either if you shit stains had just left like I asked. I gave you that chance and you decided not to take it. Consequences." Upon seeing those weapons come out, Jack doesn't wait to find out what they are. The Jackbot aims at Dev and nearly pulls the trigger --

-- before lurching forward and doubling over as if it's been kicked in the back. Rich's body does the same in Entrapta's grip, a gasp forced from the kid's lungs.

"Oh, you ASSHOLE! That really hurt!"

"He's not going to understand, Devero." Entrapta doesn't say it dismissively, or angrily. She says it matter-of-factly. "He's from a world where people hurt each other all the time. They accept it's going to happen to them, isn't that right?" Like the Fright Zone, but infinitely worse. "But Jack, this isn't home. You know I would help you live more comfortably! Helping makes both you and someone else stronger. It's the exact opposite of weakness! I'm not the only person who feels like that. And you're not doing him any favors. All Rich is going to remember about you is as a terrifying man who used his body for your own entertainment."

She hears scuffling behind her (though she can't see what's going on) and before she can continue pleading Rich's form is lurching. She would have wiped his tears but with his form struggling like this, affected by unseen impacts, she instead pulls 'Jack' closer to hold Rich steady so she doesn't lose her grip in the water. A tight hug, with her hand at the back of Rich's head to tuck his face against her shoulder.

"Please, Jack! Let him go. This fight is wrong. You're just hurting both of you, now!"

Edited 2021-04-14 20:22 (UTC)

Rich may be mostly focused on the battle raging on inside his own head, but even as distantly locked away as he is, he can see a bit of what's happening from Jack's own projections.

It's hard to get past the barriers. Near impossible, really, and the form representing his own mind certainly doesn't get out of the cube he's imprisoned in.

But as Devero is fighting so hard for him, and Entrapta is trying to comfort him - comfort this stupid kid she doesn't even know, who seems to be a victim of a good friend's actions - the head against her shoulder shivers slightly, and he forces his arms up so they can gently wrap back around her.

It's easier when it's something he knows Jack would have wanted to do as well. Even if he's afraid of looking weak... and god, doesn't that sound familiar.

How is it that she always manages to find herself in trouble? She just wants to get from one end of the train to other without being sucked into the lives of the people around her, but no, she never gets to have nice things anymore.

And seeing how no one is answering her question, apparently it's just up to her to figure out what's going on, and clearly it's not exactly what it looks like. Entrapta is calling the boy in front of her Jack and actual Jack is right over there (sort of) aiming a gun at her while about 500 other people block the rest of the car and yell.

So another Tuesday on Pandora, really. How accommodating of everyone!

"I seem to have stumbled into something rather personal, if I could just be allowed through the other door..."