A Failure Played in Stereo

[delicateMachine]

((Anzu Sakamoto: Continued from It's Bad. We're Hit, Man, We Are Hit.))

"We're gonna make it, Caroline. We're gonna make it, alright?"

Anzu had not moved an inch since she had settled down after Sarah's departure. There would never be a need for her to move. Everything she had ever wanted was right there with her, wasn't it? Everything that ever mattered? Somehow, that didn't seem right, but Anzu avoided thinking about it. She avoided thinking about many things.

"I dunno where Sarah and Val went, but we'll find them. I promise."

Empty words to an empty room. Anzu repeated these phrases to herself over and over again, making sure they stuck. Making sure that she was convinced. Everything was going to be fine. Nothing bad had happened. Nothing bad ever would happen.

"...Hey. Why're you being so quiet?"

Anzu muttered, sighing and hugging her knees. Even now, there was discord. A sense of wrongness. No matter how desperately Anzu tried to drown herself in the depths, something always remained. She couldn't fully erase her knowledge of reality, couldn't complete her own self-deception. Anzu wasn't fully cognizant of why, but something inside of her was wounded.

"Sorry, sorry. I'll be quiet."

Anzu didn't have the strength to recover on her own. She had already turned her back on friendship. So she sat in stasis, staring and muttering.

[Polybius]

((Brendan O'Toole continued from O Death))

Brendan had walked into the beauty parlor only to find another goddamn corpse with someone next to it.

"Oh fuck."

The girl was another person Brendan hadn't seen before, another unknown. She wasn't holding a weapon, so unless she was hiding a gun somewhere she wasn't the killer. Brendan didn't have anything to worry about either way, though, since the girl was wearing the same orangish bandanna that he was. Brendan hadn't thought much about his teammates.

The teams weren't important for what Brendan had been planning, and besides, they were just another way to get people to kill each other. Still, if being on the same team as this girl meant she wouldn't have a reason to kill him then he wasn't complaining.

"You know what happened here?" he asked, gesturing at the body with the cattle gun.  

[delicateMachine]

An intruder walked the parlor. The intruder was carrying something that looked vaguely like a pistol, and was wearing an amber bandanna, but neither of these facts were of any interest to Anzu. She barely even glanced in his direction as he walked in. Anzu didn't know him, and she didn't care to know him. He didn't belong, and that was all that mattered.

"Nothing. Nothing happened." Anzu saying, staring at the wall past Brendan. "If you don't leave, I'll bash your head in with that fire extinguisher." Anzu gestured vaguely at it, but made no effort to brandish it threateningly or even pick it up. The intruder had nothing of worth to offer, and the sooner he left Anzu in peace, the better.

[Polybius]

What was this girl's problem? Even Asa was never this angry at him. What the fuck did he even do?

"Uh, if you didn't notice, we're on the same team," Brendan said, holding up his wrist. "So tryin' to kill me like a lunatic won't help you."

The girl's threats didn't mean shit, anyway. She wasn't actually gonna take a swing at a guy who was much bigger than her and armed. No fucking way.

"And excuse me for wonderin' what happened when I find some girl sittin' next to a fuckin' corpse! It's not like I fuckin' accused you of killin' her! I'm just askin', for Chrissakes."

[delicateMachine]

The intruder was not leaving. He was, in fact, being very loud and obnoxious in his refusal to leave. He had crossed the line from irrelevant to irritating. That just wouldn't do. Slowly, Anzu got to her feet, drawing herself to her full height and walking right up to Brendan. Regardless of the fact that he was both much taller and much more muscular than her, Anzu glared at him, a look of disgust on her face.

"I don't give a shit about teams. If I killed you, you wouldn't be bothering me or Caroline anymore, so yeah, I'd say it would help me." Anzu said, never breaking her gaze as she stared directly into Brendan's eyes. "You're disturbing her, so get the hell out of here before I have to make you."

[Latin For Dragula]

((Vahka Basayev Continued From Better To Be Alone Than With Bad Company))

"I'd listen to the lady, bud."

Vahka leaned against the doorway to the beauty parlor. Anzu's commotion was audible outside, and it seemed like a good idea to stop in and check on her. She was up there on his "hands-off" list, and if someone was after her, he was inclined to lend a hand. Least until he had a reason to start something with her.

The sorted rested comfortably against the floor, just outside of his cloak. He didn't have a clue what the pile of junk the kid was holding did, but it couldn't be more dangerous than any of the barrels he'd looked down already. Between the two of them, his ass was grass if things didn't calm down real quick.

[Polybius]

What the hell?

Was she serious? He was "bothering" the corpse? Brendan didn't know if she was crazy or just trying to freak him out, but he was beginning to doubt that she was bluffing. If that wasn't bad enough, some tough-looking guy showed up out of the blue and backed up the girl's threats.

"Fine," Brendan said "I'm not gonna push you anymore than this. I'm not that dumb."

Brendan spun around and went back out the way he came. That's what he got for trying to talk to someone he didn't know. He had to focus. His friends were important, teams weren't.

((Brendan O'Toole continued in But it Always Feels the Same))

[Latin For Dragula]

Random asshat was on his way out. Taking a quick glance around made Vahka think he might want to follow suit.

For some reason or another, Anzu had Caroline's corpse. Maybe she killed her. Maybe she watched her die. Either way, she looked like she was in a pretty bad state. The sound of her shouting before all but confirmed that. That made things a little unpredictable.

He found his fingers tightening around the grip of his sword as he sized up the room for a few, uncomfortable moments. Then he nodded.

"Stay safe."

Whichever way it fell, Anzu wasn't a threat to him. Not right now. He had no beef with her team, and she didn't look like she was packing the weapon or the will to put up a big fight. Walking away was real simple. He had no reason to kill her.

Yet.

((Vahka Basayev Continued in Memento Mori))

[delicateMachine]

Another intruder made themselves known. Anzu was about to turn towards him and demand that he immediately fuck off until she saw his face

Vahka was on the very short list of people she wouldn't mind being around, even now, and he appeared to be taking Anzu's side. She sure as hell didn't need his help, but she could still appreciate it. The original fuckwad apparently decided that enough was enough and bailed, much to Anzu's great relief.

The man apparently wasn't in the mood to stick around either, though. Fair enough. Anzu echoed his nod and his "stay safe" before returning to her vigil at Caroline's side.

Time passed.

-

Names. Meaningless, meaningless names. Anzu failed to show any reaction to the announcement until her collar beeped. Just once, but enough to shake her out of her stupor for a moment. "Aw, hell." She said, rising to her feet. "I'm- I'm going to after to leave you for a bit, Caroline. Don't worry. I'll be back."

Even Anzu's fiercest denial was not enough to fully quiet the discord caused by her inherently contradictory statement. She hurried out the door.

((Anzu Sakamoto: Continued in ...And in Her Self-Loathing and Despair, She Found Wrath))