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au_bingo...
Title: All the Sinners Saints
Fandom: Wild Wild West (tv show)
Prompt: Future: Dystopia
Words: 1600
Warnings: None
Summary: In which a routine mission goes all to pieces...
For a moment, when he was first aware of anything outside the silence and darkness in his own head, West wondered if he had woken at all. The silence was deafening, no familiar low-level hum of information through his cerebral cortex, no data scrolling across the lower part of his vision from the self-monitoring procedures his implant ran as a matter of course; nothing existed except himself, no connection to the rest of the universe at all.
Even when he opened his eyes nothing changed. Wherever he was, all West could tell was that it was dark, damp-smelling, and the ambient temperature was sufficiently warm that he wasn't shivering despite the fact he was bare from the waist up. He was restrained, but that was to be expected, particularly if he'd malfunctioned in some way.
"How're you feeling?" The words came from the darkness, unexpected; West expected an increase in his visual acuity to accompany the adrenaline spike that he'd certainly experienced at that moment, but there was no change. "That was quite a fall you took."
"Where am I?" Even as West spoke the words, memory came back with a rush; not a malfunction then, though his head ached the same way he'd felt once before when an upgrade had gone wrong. "Scratch that," he continued, flexing his legs slightly to see if they were restrained as well - they were - before he turned his head in search of the source of the previous question. "Dr Gordon, I presume?"
There was a rattling sound nearby, then sunlight flooded the room as a metal shutter receded.
"Guilty as charged," the voice said. West looked down, towards his feet, where Gordon was standing, still a shadow as West's eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of light. "Not that I've had a trial, of course."
He came a little closer, one hand resting in a proprietary fashion on West's calf as he spoke, the unexpected contact more reassuring than it ought to be, except that it proved West was still all in one piece, despite Gordon's fearsome reputation.
"You were tried in absentia, Dr Gordon," West said, focussing on the other man's face. "Tried and sentenced."
It was Gordon, that much was clear from the few surveillance photographs West had been able to uncover, those that Gordon hadn't been able to destroy before he'd left Inscape for good. The only difference was that there was some animation about the man whose face West was examining, a sense of life that had been lost from the images he remembered perfectly. He'd had an eidetic memory even before Inscape, now enhanced by the links it provided to the rest of the system; when the connection was there, of course, which it wasn't right now.
Gordon laughed, then shoved his hands in the pockets of the scruffy jacket he wore; for a moment, West wondered why the removal of that warm pressure on his calf should matter, then put it down to the strangeness he was experiencing from the lack of data from elsewhere, filing it away as an anomaly. He didn't look dangerous, this Dr Gordon, but if Inscape said he was a threat to a well-ordered society then it was West's job to carry out the sentence that had been pronounced against him, regardless of any technical difficulties he might encounter.
"Anyway," Gordon continued, leaning over West now but still apparently as wary of him as of a cornered animal, an attitude that showed a level of intelligence on Gordon's part, "you never answered my original question. How are you feeling?"
Gordon's eyes were dark and intelligent, scrutinising West so intently that he felt like the proverbial bug under the microscope. The worst of it was that for once he had no idea of what was going on around him, as he floated adrift in a dataless sea; his implant usually registered other people's heartrates, respiration, giving him a clue as to their emotional state. West had long ago learned to rely on the input he received over his own understanding of others and now he was left stranded by the lack of it, unable to interpret the motivations driving the man who stood beside his bed.
"Quiet, isn't it?" Gordon's tone was low, making West turn his head reluctantly to catch his words. "Had you forgotten what it was like? How long has it been since you were tuned in all the time?"
Had he been right all along? Gordon had said something about a fall; had West malfunctioned because of an accident, cut loose from Inscape because of some relay collapsing in his brain? Even now he could be dying, for all he knew, endless data loops triggering a massive aneurism to protect the valuable information he held from interrogation. West closed his eyes, listened to his breathing in the silence of the room and waited for his system to grind to a halt, for his heart to stop beating, for everything to just... stop.
"The fail safe sub-routine isn't activated." There was another scraping sound, this time the harshness of metal on concrete, then Gordon's voice came from the level of West's ear. "If that's what you're thinking. Not that I was planning on interrogating you anyway." Gordon laughed, a low chuckle that made the hairs on the back of West's neck stand on end, despite himself. "I probably know more than you do about what's going on at Inscape, not to mention the workings of that piece of junk inside your head."
Despite his better judgement, West turned his head, finding their eyes were now on a level as Gordon sat beside him.
"If you're not planning an interrogation, then why the restraints?" It was a stupid question, of course; West had come here with a particular mission on his mind, one that involved carrying out Inscape's death sentence on a fugitive, the man currently sitting next to his bed. "Or do you just like having people at your mercy?"
It was a shot in the dark, of course; he'd been told very little about his target, which wasn't uncommon for this kind of mission. West knew what he needed to, about Gordon's multiple crimes against Inscape, that he was a menace to everything their leader had worked so hard and tirelessly to promote. That was enough, wasn't it? No need for details when the other man's guilt was so clear.
"You work for Inscape and you talk about mercy?" Gordon laughed again, then did the unexpected - he leant forward and began to unbuckle the nearest restraint, deft fingers pulling at the leather and metal even as West struggled to process that his ploy had worked. "You're not my prisoner." Gordon paused, hands stilling on the buckle. "Hell, I don't even know your name. Care to tell me?"
"West."
Gordon nodded once, brief acknowledgement of the response, then West's right hand was free, the restraint dropping away with a clatter. Rather than walk round the head of the bed, Gordon stood, leaning over to work on the other restraint. Making it too easy for West to reach up and wrap his fingers round Gordon's throat, his grip just so in order to crush the other man's larynx without a second thought or the chance of a struggle.
West didn't move, even as the other restraint opened and Gordon sat back down, his expression unreadable.
"What happened to me?" West asked. His wrists weren't chafed, as far as he could see - he'd either had no opportunity to struggle prior to the restraints being put on, or no reason to do so, either way he couldn't remember much of the past few hours. "You said I fell?"
"An unexpected side effect of my current jamming system," Gordon replied, his expression now a wry smile. "Your brain is so used to Inscape input that, deprived of it, you simply shut down. First I knew of your presence was when you dropped like a stone in front of my door."
"Jamming system?" West was certain he sounded like an idiot and wondered if the events Gordon was describing had caused any permanent damage to his neural network. "Why wouldn't you want to be connected? Unless you have something to hide?"
As he spoke, West sat up carefully, letting his body become accustomed to being upright once more without continual feedback. It was odd, the sensation of being separate from everything, not being able to use Inscape to judge distances or angles, reliant only on his senses for the first time in longer than West could remember. Gordon didn't move, just sat back in the chair and watched him as he struggled with the restraints on his ankles; he was usually more deft than this, more coordinated in every way.
"Spoken like a true Inscape operative." Gordon's tone was so derisory, West could almost hear the sneer. "My corporation, right or wrong."
West swung his feet round, sitting on the edge of the bed. Could he trust his body not to betray him once more? If he tried to stand, would his feet bear his weight or would he collapse in an ungainly heap, embarrassing himself in front of this man who should rightfully fear him and everything he stood for? Hadn't he come to execute Gordon, after all, on the orders of his superiors?
"Go ahead, Mr. West." Gordon's tone had cooled now, seemingly taking the temperature in the room down by a dozen degrees. "Isn't it time you did what you came for?"
au_bingo...Title: All the Sinners Saints
Fandom: Wild Wild West (tv show)
Prompt: Future: Dystopia
Words: 1600
Warnings: None
Summary: In which a routine mission goes all to pieces...
For a moment, when he was first aware of anything outside the silence and darkness in his own head, West wondered if he had woken at all. The silence was deafening, no familiar low-level hum of information through his cerebral cortex, no data scrolling across the lower part of his vision from the self-monitoring procedures his implant ran as a matter of course; nothing existed except himself, no connection to the rest of the universe at all.
Even when he opened his eyes nothing changed. Wherever he was, all West could tell was that it was dark, damp-smelling, and the ambient temperature was sufficiently warm that he wasn't shivering despite the fact he was bare from the waist up. He was restrained, but that was to be expected, particularly if he'd malfunctioned in some way.
"How're you feeling?" The words came from the darkness, unexpected; West expected an increase in his visual acuity to accompany the adrenaline spike that he'd certainly experienced at that moment, but there was no change. "That was quite a fall you took."
"Where am I?" Even as West spoke the words, memory came back with a rush; not a malfunction then, though his head ached the same way he'd felt once before when an upgrade had gone wrong. "Scratch that," he continued, flexing his legs slightly to see if they were restrained as well - they were - before he turned his head in search of the source of the previous question. "Dr Gordon, I presume?"
There was a rattling sound nearby, then sunlight flooded the room as a metal shutter receded.
"Guilty as charged," the voice said. West looked down, towards his feet, where Gordon was standing, still a shadow as West's eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of light. "Not that I've had a trial, of course."
He came a little closer, one hand resting in a proprietary fashion on West's calf as he spoke, the unexpected contact more reassuring than it ought to be, except that it proved West was still all in one piece, despite Gordon's fearsome reputation.
"You were tried in absentia, Dr Gordon," West said, focussing on the other man's face. "Tried and sentenced."
It was Gordon, that much was clear from the few surveillance photographs West had been able to uncover, those that Gordon hadn't been able to destroy before he'd left Inscape for good. The only difference was that there was some animation about the man whose face West was examining, a sense of life that had been lost from the images he remembered perfectly. He'd had an eidetic memory even before Inscape, now enhanced by the links it provided to the rest of the system; when the connection was there, of course, which it wasn't right now.
Gordon laughed, then shoved his hands in the pockets of the scruffy jacket he wore; for a moment, West wondered why the removal of that warm pressure on his calf should matter, then put it down to the strangeness he was experiencing from the lack of data from elsewhere, filing it away as an anomaly. He didn't look dangerous, this Dr Gordon, but if Inscape said he was a threat to a well-ordered society then it was West's job to carry out the sentence that had been pronounced against him, regardless of any technical difficulties he might encounter.
"Anyway," Gordon continued, leaning over West now but still apparently as wary of him as of a cornered animal, an attitude that showed a level of intelligence on Gordon's part, "you never answered my original question. How are you feeling?"
Gordon's eyes were dark and intelligent, scrutinising West so intently that he felt like the proverbial bug under the microscope. The worst of it was that for once he had no idea of what was going on around him, as he floated adrift in a dataless sea; his implant usually registered other people's heartrates, respiration, giving him a clue as to their emotional state. West had long ago learned to rely on the input he received over his own understanding of others and now he was left stranded by the lack of it, unable to interpret the motivations driving the man who stood beside his bed.
"Quiet, isn't it?" Gordon's tone was low, making West turn his head reluctantly to catch his words. "Had you forgotten what it was like? How long has it been since you were tuned in all the time?"
Had he been right all along? Gordon had said something about a fall; had West malfunctioned because of an accident, cut loose from Inscape because of some relay collapsing in his brain? Even now he could be dying, for all he knew, endless data loops triggering a massive aneurism to protect the valuable information he held from interrogation. West closed his eyes, listened to his breathing in the silence of the room and waited for his system to grind to a halt, for his heart to stop beating, for everything to just... stop.
"The fail safe sub-routine isn't activated." There was another scraping sound, this time the harshness of metal on concrete, then Gordon's voice came from the level of West's ear. "If that's what you're thinking. Not that I was planning on interrogating you anyway." Gordon laughed, a low chuckle that made the hairs on the back of West's neck stand on end, despite himself. "I probably know more than you do about what's going on at Inscape, not to mention the workings of that piece of junk inside your head."
Despite his better judgement, West turned his head, finding their eyes were now on a level as Gordon sat beside him.
"If you're not planning an interrogation, then why the restraints?" It was a stupid question, of course; West had come here with a particular mission on his mind, one that involved carrying out Inscape's death sentence on a fugitive, the man currently sitting next to his bed. "Or do you just like having people at your mercy?"
It was a shot in the dark, of course; he'd been told very little about his target, which wasn't uncommon for this kind of mission. West knew what he needed to, about Gordon's multiple crimes against Inscape, that he was a menace to everything their leader had worked so hard and tirelessly to promote. That was enough, wasn't it? No need for details when the other man's guilt was so clear.
"You work for Inscape and you talk about mercy?" Gordon laughed again, then did the unexpected - he leant forward and began to unbuckle the nearest restraint, deft fingers pulling at the leather and metal even as West struggled to process that his ploy had worked. "You're not my prisoner." Gordon paused, hands stilling on the buckle. "Hell, I don't even know your name. Care to tell me?"
"West."
Gordon nodded once, brief acknowledgement of the response, then West's right hand was free, the restraint dropping away with a clatter. Rather than walk round the head of the bed, Gordon stood, leaning over to work on the other restraint. Making it too easy for West to reach up and wrap his fingers round Gordon's throat, his grip just so in order to crush the other man's larynx without a second thought or the chance of a struggle.
West didn't move, even as the other restraint opened and Gordon sat back down, his expression unreadable.
"What happened to me?" West asked. His wrists weren't chafed, as far as he could see - he'd either had no opportunity to struggle prior to the restraints being put on, or no reason to do so, either way he couldn't remember much of the past few hours. "You said I fell?"
"An unexpected side effect of my current jamming system," Gordon replied, his expression now a wry smile. "Your brain is so used to Inscape input that, deprived of it, you simply shut down. First I knew of your presence was when you dropped like a stone in front of my door."
"Jamming system?" West was certain he sounded like an idiot and wondered if the events Gordon was describing had caused any permanent damage to his neural network. "Why wouldn't you want to be connected? Unless you have something to hide?"
As he spoke, West sat up carefully, letting his body become accustomed to being upright once more without continual feedback. It was odd, the sensation of being separate from everything, not being able to use Inscape to judge distances or angles, reliant only on his senses for the first time in longer than West could remember. Gordon didn't move, just sat back in the chair and watched him as he struggled with the restraints on his ankles; he was usually more deft than this, more coordinated in every way.
"Spoken like a true Inscape operative." Gordon's tone was so derisory, West could almost hear the sneer. "My corporation, right or wrong."
West swung his feet round, sitting on the edge of the bed. Could he trust his body not to betray him once more? If he tried to stand, would his feet bear his weight or would he collapse in an ungainly heap, embarrassing himself in front of this man who should rightfully fear him and everything he stood for? Hadn't he come to execute Gordon, after all, on the orders of his superiors?
"Go ahead, Mr. West." Gordon's tone had cooled now, seemingly taking the temperature in the room down by a dozen degrees. "Isn't it time you did what you came for?"
