[video/action]

[charming_jerk]

[Looks like you're back to having young Mr. D'Amico back amongst your ranks. Aren't you glad? he looks very distraught, and it's clear when he's talking that he's having trouble forming his thoughts.]

What the fuck even happened? I-- How was it that I was here from the future but... I remember it! I fucking remember everything, I remember the things I said! How does that even work? How is that possible? I-- [He quickly rubs face with a hand, trying to regain composure.] I didn't wanna know how fucked I was gonna be ahead of time. Goddamn you Initiative fuckheads.

[The video snaps off quickly after this. Housemates will find him storming out of the house quickly. Guess where he's heading! Yep, to a bar. But he won't be having a good time or stirring up trouble like usual. He'll be sitting alone on a stool, several empty glasses on the bar in front of him, looking unusually gloomy. Care to approach?]

Comments

[robomurphy]

[That makes Murphy laugh.]

Because they have a helluva lot of say in what we do here considerin' the shit they drop us in.

[The tender returns with Murphy's fresh drink.]

I saw what happens AFTER. I don't get to die like any normal person would.

[He knocks back the drink without much thought. Why had they picked him? Why did he have to die and come back as that thing?

No. That is selfish. He wouldn't wish his fate on anyone. It is all wrong no matter how a person looks at it. Still, if OCP and Bob Morton had wanted a super-soldier so badly why hadn't one of them stepped up? Oh, right - he had already answered that question.

NO ONE WANTED THAT KIND OF FATE.]

You seem fine to me. Can't see why they wouldn't want to turn a buck.

[charming_jerk]

Shit. Least I didn't see that far ahead. Glad I didn't. The rest was depressin' enough. Homeless and hunted to be killed for... [it takes him a moment to do the mental math] thirteen years.

Fine. I'll make 'em give it to me. Hey bartender. [Johnny flags him over, and he approaches looking not pleased. But Johnny looks him right in the eye and says he wants a refill. The bartender blinks for a moment, the smiles almost bashfully before he hurries to do so.]

There.

[robomurphy]

Sounds pleasant.

[All the deadpan ever. He knows a little something about being hunted down. He can still hear the gunfire that was rained down upon him by his fellow officers - of Clearance Boddicker and his gang tracking him down.]

Make him - ?

[He watches as the scene plays out and then raises an eyebrow.]

I'd ask how you did that but I'm not sure I wanna know.

[charming_jerk]

Ya don't. [Johnny takes his beer from the bartender when he returns, and waves him off.] That's all. Beat it. [And the bartender does, but not without looking ever so slightly pouty.]

Yeah. Real pleasant. Ya know, I-- [He cuts himself off, not wanting to get into it with a stranger in a bar. But it's almost like he can't help it. He knew his future wasn't bright, but learning about it has put him in more despair than he thought.] I think part of me was hopin' for one goddamn second that maybe, maybe I could catch a fuckin' break somewhere along the line. But I don't. I won't. It's shit from beginning to end. [With a pain expression, he decided to choke all this back but knocking about half his glass down at once.]

[robomurphy]

[Murphy shrugs and goes back to his own drink. He isn't one for pushing a point or pushing people.]

We got something in common, then. I was hoping I wouldn't be dead. That I had somehow managed to survive. I didn't. [a long pause] Well, at least not in a way I wanted to.

[The cop glances down at his hand - flesh and blood and bone. He flexes his fingers, remembering how it felt to not feel - when everything was metal and cables and wires.]

Even if I go back, I'm dead. It doesn't matter.

[charming_jerk]

I don't wanna go back. Those assholes better not send me back. Goddamn, I guess they do, from the things they said. I hope the Initiative chokes. This place is shit, but I'm good as dead there!

[He slams his glass down, and his face contorts in grief, eyes squeezed closes and sharp teeth bared. He quickly covers his face with his hands and take a quick deep breath. He's not even sure what's coming over him. Was the reality of this really too much for him?]

[robomurphy]

[Murphy says nothing but reaches over and places a hand on the younger man's shoulder. Maybe he didn't know anything about this guy but the pain he felt was something Murphy could understand. The cop doesn't flinch at Johnny's odd appearance even now. How could he? He knew what an abomination he would come to look like so he isn't in any position to judge or question another's appearance. It doesn't hurt, though, that he's not really looking at Johnny - he is staring into his glass.]

[charming_jerk]

[Johnny folds his arms again and hides his face on them, upset and embarrassed about his emotional outburst on top of everything else. He's quiet for a few moments before he speaks up again, face still down, voice muffled.]

What the fuck do they expect out of us now.

[robomurphy]

[Murphy gives a shrug as he takes back his hand.]

I've been wondering the same thing. Sad conclusion I've come to is that we probably won't know until they decide to tell us.

Name's Murphy, by the way.

[charming_jerk]

[He peeks one of those large, pupil-less eyes up at him from under his arms.]

Johnny. 'N I'm really fucking drunk.

[robomurphy]

Nice to meet ya, Johnny, and, yeah, I noticed that.

[Murphy raises an eyebrow at Johnny's eye.]

I'm gonna go with you not being entirely human.

[Considering what he has seen and done both in his world and in this one, the observation shouldn't come as a surprise. Also, he a little drunk himself and more prone to saying whatever he thinks.]

[charming_jerk]

What was your first clue. [He props his elbow on the bar now, resting his head in his hand, still looking morose.] I'm half-demon. Incubus. 'N cuz 'a that, I've taken a lifetime of shit from everyone and everything.

[robomurphy]

'Incubus'?

[It takes a moment for Murphy to realize what that means and when he does the thing with bartender suddenly makes sense.]

And, suddenly, Catholic schooling comes in handy. [beat] Don't try to sleep with me and we'll be good.

[Dry sense of humor, Johnny. Don't get too annoyed.]

If it makes you feel any better, I end up being slaughtered by a gang only to resurrected as a machine with parts of a human brain. Part machine - part human - and sold as a product.

[charming_jerk]

You're safe, I only use my weird voodoo shit to get free drinks. [Seems like he can pull a joke out too, despite his mood.]

Christ. What kinda shitty place are you from?

[robomurphy]

Detroit, Michigan - as run by a corporation called Omni Consumer Products. I got to be a lab rat.

[He takes a moment to scowl into his glass before continuing.]

Lucky me. I get to be immortal.

[charming_jerk]

So both our choices are get screwed over by the Initiative while here, or screwed over by life back home.

... At least here, no one's actively tryin' to kill me.