@VOGEL

[insinning]

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[insinning]

That wasn't you. I know this.
Can we talk?

[gluttoning]

[A pause.]

You still want to?

[insinning]

yes.

we're still friends. even if I'm angry about what you did. you owe it to everyone to explain properly. no running away.

[gluttoning]

I don't have anything to explain.

I got angry, and the only thing I wanted to do was make you stop talking.

I didn't even think when Hani came in. I didn't care who was in front of me.



That's not a good enough explanation for anyone.

[insinning]

you're right.

it's a horrible one.

but you're not an angry person. even i can tell that.

[gluttoning]

Maybe I'm just turning into my dad. I don't know.

I didn't have a status effect, so it wasn't what happened before.

[insinning]

your dad?

and what happened before?

[gluttoning]

He was a bastard. Treated my brother and sister and I all horribly. Nothing would make him happy. He was angry all the time.

Maybe that's all I'll be, too.



There was an accident a couple weeks ago while testing new armor. I got a status effect I didn't recognize and couldn't control myself. All I felt was anger.

I almost killed Morgan.

[insinning]

[ 'Brother'. As in singular? What? It's a moment before Sinclair responds ]

Your father was a horrible person. But that has no bearing on you.

That wasn't you either. That was your armor. It's cursed, Barrett. We know this. I hear the whistles of my family's murderer when I used mine. And all it did was eat away at my sanity. I wont use it ever again. If yours drove you to hurt Morgan, then you shouldn't use it either.

[gluttoning]

No. I have to if I want to be strong enough to save anyone anymore.

If I let what it does overwhelm me, it means I'm not good enough yet. Not here, not in real life. But I'm going to be. It's a gift to make me better. So I'm not going to waste it.

[insinning]

that's a ridiculous thing to believe. you don't get stronger by constantly throwing yourself into something that's designed to hurt you over and over. i don't know how much you've been through but i can tell it's been a lot. you don't need to hurt yourself to prove your worth. that's not how we get stronger.

[gluttoning]

It won't hurt me anymore. I'm going to make it work.

[There is no problem. He doesn't have a problem. Like his exercise. Like his food consumption. He's under control. He can manage some level of pain, of misery, of self destruction. So long as he shoves a lid over the boiling pot before it explodes. He's under control, he can keep it under control.]

I just need to make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else. I won't let it.

[insinning]

We don't have a say in these things, you know. They're not designed to let us...you should look at your family and friends instead. We'll help any time. Swallow seemed really worried, you know.

...I hope you know what you're doing.

[They're a little alike, in how they bottle things up. But Sinclair's temper had always been near the surface, while Barrett didn't seem to have one at all.

Until now.

Sinclair had already broken three times now. Each time, he put himself back together a little stronger with bruised and bloody hands, voices of his loved ones whispering comfort in his ears. He hopes the last time will be the final time.

He hopes Barrett will listen to the voices that actually care about him, instead of...whatever this was]

1/2

[gluttoning]

My family isn't here.

Lily told me I'd

[A pause, the message sending too early.]

2/2

[gluttoning]

[After a few moments:]

Lily told me enough. He made it. He knows better than anyone else.

I believe him.

[insinning]

[...this is. Bad. He hopes Swallow can speak sense. She seems closer.]

One person shouldn't hold all your faith.

[gluttoning]

Maybe not.

But I'd rather be with the ones who have faith in me, too.

I don't need help. I need to do my job. And my job is getting all of you out of here to safety. I'm not going to be taken out just because I'm scared or because I messed up.

Lily believes I can. Even if the rest of you don't.

[insinning]

did it occur to you this isn't a job for one person? none of this was ever meant to be handled by just one. why wont you accept the help when people try to give it to you?

[gluttoning]

Because I should be able to do enough of it on my own! How many times do I need to say it?

If people want to step in, then fine. I won't stop them. It doesn't change anything. I'm not going to be left behind because I didn't try hard enough.

[insinning]

Who put that horrible responsibility on you?

we're all meant to be working together. but you wont tell anyone what's going on.

how many things are you still holding back?

[gluttoning]

No one put anything on me. I accepted it because I wanted to help people.

I told you exactly what I knew, Vogel, and no one believed me. Why should I tell anyone anything else?

[insinning]

You haven't told us everything.

There's one thing that's been bothering me: did you bring have Morgan and Lily meet?

[gluttoning]

No.

When I asked, Lily said no. If Morgan's talked to him, it was on his own.

[insinning]

how many of you have been talking to Lily? Can you at least tell me that?

[gluttoning]

Five.

There was a sixth but it went bad. He won't let anyone else in now.