Heroes are chosen by the media.

Kunsel SOLDIER 2nd Class. Crisis Core/ FFVII: Remake/ FFVI: Rebirth Est. 2021.

[kunselxsoldier]

... again; for science.

[arrepentirse]

Luis watched the fight of the SOLDIER in front of him. It was futile, for both of them. Because this might be their only way out. ShinRa would not leave them another choice – none that was better than this.

“I will.”, Luis replied, with a hollow tone and brief nod.

To which exactly that agreement was, was left open. Luis held onto Kunsel’s neck and the first syringe was piercing his soft skin, entering flesh and then the vein. The gg twitched within its vial once more, then it vanished through the needle and into the man’s system.

Luis breathed out.

His fingers sought the pulse on Kunsel’s neck and he counted. Counted again. It was a drawn out action. But he knew he had to. If he administered the suppressant too soon, the parasite would die right away.

So Luis counted.

It was almost painful. Almost as if he wouldn’t do it.

But finally that second needle sunk into Kunsel.

[kunselxsoldier]

Hands balling into fists, Kunsel nodded again and turned his head away from Luis to stare at the opposite wall. To screw his eyes shut and not see the syringe draw closer. He felt like the kid he'd been when Hojo put that tatoo on his arm; trying to look at anything else except the nameless contents of the syringes.

And maybe teenage-him had been better off not knowing what the scientists were pumpin into his body. Because as the metal pushed through his skin and he winced, he would have given anything not to know about the organism wriggling around inside the soultion.

He readied for some horrendous burning sensation working through his veins that never came; just the sensation of something being injected. Nothing to foretell of the parasite. Plucking up the courage to look back to Luis, Kunsel didn't know what the next part was; how was he supposed to feel? When would the thing take over? Would he fall aslee and just never wake up? He took a breath to ask, but let it out again; a wave of pain rippling from his waist and up his body; his legs didn't hurt though - still in numb protest to everything. The secon injuection barely registerd as he tensed up and felt panic in his gut. Was this just adrenaline fading and the reality of his injuries ... or the other thing?

"Wh- what should I be feeling?" What was right and wrong here? His pulse thumped in his ears and he found it difficult to blink away double-vision.

[leonkennedy9642]

@kunselxsoldier | X

Leon should be used to the hospitality by now. He only ever woke in the most questionable room of the building, minus his recent luxury jacket. Oh, what the fuck? The hairs of his arms raise with a slight chill. They're always taking his fucking jacket.

Admittedly, this part is new. Ish. He wakes with an unfamiliar person across the way. They're bound on opposite walls.

The other man asks a question that draws a small squint. He isn't even confident if it's night or day and he's being asked about their location. There's a small part of him that almost shoots back this isn't Cluedo, instead he moves with intention, testing at his own restraints.

"Right..." Leon replies like he's trailing off into a thought. "Does your company dunk all of its security in something radioactive, or did you draw the short straw?" The glow of his eyes in the dim of the room was uncanny.

[kunselxsoldier]

It was some kind of undergound room. Well that was a generous way of naming it; looked like a hushed away cell for fuck knew what. Dank and damp and rotten. Glancing down at his wrists, Kunsel tested the strength of the restraints and strained against them until they began to give way. Guess whoever put them here hadn't done their full research. Not into him at least.

"Both actually, what about yours? They just like knocking you out and dropping you into a mystery?"

Standing up, Kunsel looked around for any hint of what they were supposed to do here. This wasn't part of the mission brief; tail Kennedy and keep eyes on him. Umbrella's higher-ups wanted tabs on the infamous agent.

"You need a hand with the shackles?"

[meangreenspaceman]

man I sure love that character I wish the writers did too

[kunselxsoldier]

[echo3one]

  ALEX KELLER + THOSE HANDS .

CHAD MICHAEL COLLINS IN SNIPER : ULTIMATE KILL .

[arrepentirse]

Luis was quiet again. He let Kunsel talk. He didn’t even look at his face, just at his legs, that laid there so still and lifeless. Exactly what he wanted to heal. What this whole project was for, wasn’t it? But it wasn’t ready yet. Not like this. The Plagas was not changed enough to be transferred to a human without dangerous sideeffects.

And yet. There never would be time for Kunsel to wait for that development. Not anymore.

But maybe the suppressant could be a work-around. Maybe… maybe…

Luis pressed his lips to a thin line and then suddenly he leapt from his chair. Back turned to Kunsel, he started to work. He took the syringe, he took other vials. He took some of the medications, he mixed different substitutes, Materia, he drained fluid from glass containers. A small personal notebook that contained only his own theories. Sunken into his thoughts and partly prayers.

He was fast. He had to be fast. He knew that they were on a time limit. Sooner or later, someone would come to check up on them.

Finally, he turned around to Kunsel, though. A feverish look in his grey eyes, as he held up the syringe now. It still contained the Plaga egg. Tiny, writhing in its capsule. But in his other hand, Luis held a second syringe, filled with a liquid that glowed in a faint violet.

He stepped to the SOLDIER’s side and the Plaga-containing syringe hovered close to Kunsel’s neck. The violet one beneath.

“It’s the only solution I can think of to save you. Trust me?”

[kunselxsoldier]

"I ..." The words were stuck in his throat and Kunsel shook his head as much as he could, but without any real protest. Trust was something he invested in a tiny handful of people and none of them were here right now. "I stopped trusting people a long time ago, doc."

His hands balled into fists; the extent of his capabilities to express fear. Or anxiety, or both. Eyes following the syringes as they bobbed in the air on the very edge of his limited vision, he looked to Luis and offered an attempt at a shrug. "But I trust you have some kind of consience."

That word was far and few between in Shinra.

" ... but if it doesn't work, don't let me become one of their mindless puppets." The please was unspoken, but landed heavily in the silence between them as he locked eyes with the wild grey ones of Luis. Mako hid a lot; in the scientist's natural-coloured eyes, he could easily pick out different emotions rising and falling and slowly nodded at the syinges. "If this doesn't work, then you need to take your research and hide it away from Umbrella and Shinra."

[kunselxsoldier]

@arrepentirse

[rpstartersinc]

* 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒  𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄.

feel free to change pronouns / wording!

“ we gotta get to the roof. ”  

“ if we don’t get her to a hospital, she’s going to die. ”  

“ i’m not even supposed to be out here. ”  

“ tracks are fresh. ”  

“ just a graze. ”  

“ he’s losin’ a lot of blood  -  he’s not gettin’ far. ”  

“ bleedin’ out. that’s a helluva way to go. ”  

“ what d’ you suppose that feels like, huh ? torn apart. eaten alive. ”  

“ don’t leave me out here. ”  

“ something’s blocking the road. ”  

“ loan me your shotgun. i’ll walk point. ”  

“ i think it’s dead. ”  

“ i’m gonna kill them all, every fuckin’ one of ‘em. ”  

“ why don’t you wait out here ? let me make sure it’s all clear. ”  

“ i’m not gonna kill ya  -  stop runnin’ ! ”  

“ don’t you ever touch me. ”  

“ just get the fuck outta my way. ”  

“ i could’a blown your goddamn head off ! ”  

“ if you had bullets, i wouldn’t be breathin’ now, would i ? ”  

“ you don’t sound like  -  like yourself. ”  

“ there’s no such thing as a starving patriot. ”  

“ i heard gunshots. ”  

“ you’re gonna get yourself killed. ”  

“ don’t do anything stupid. ”  

“ anyone touches this bike, or anything on it  -  i break your fingers.. ”  

“ it’s not his job t’ know it’s your goddamn job t’ know. ”  

“ well aren’t you the optimist. ”  

“ trouble in paradise ? ”  

“ you got a price on your head. ”  

“ wonder what happened here. ”  

“ i don’t know what i would do if i lost you. ”  

“ you get his attention, i’m gonna try to sneak around behind him. ”  

“ could you use a ride ? ”  

“ so what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this ? ”  

“ my ex would say i’ve been lost for years. ”  

“ oh my god i could’ve killed somebody. ”  

“ did you kill them ? ”  

“ don’t get soft on me. ”  

“ how are you alive ? ”  

“ you’re not the only one who lost someone that night. ”  

“ i know how to shoot a gun. ”  

“ i don’t need a goddamn babysitter, i’m fine. ”  

“ it’s a long story. ”  

“ i’ll have us back in your bed by ten. ”  

“ you don’t want to get infected. ”  

“ we’ve all done things we’re not proud of. ”  

“ don’t sneak up on me like that ! ”  

“ i want to forget. ”  

“ you’re just a regular stand-up guy. ”  

“ i guess i should’ve been a surgeon. ”  

“ you are writing checks with other mens’ blood. ”  

“ this is getting old fast. ”  

“ never much liked kids  -  they always tended to get on my nerves. ”  

“ do you have my back here ? ”  

“ i don’t like starting trouble but  -  i’ll finish it if i have to. ”  

“ caring’ll just get you killed. ”  

“ easy to kill a man, when he’s just some piece’a meat standing between you and what you need. ”  

“ so, you and _____. ”  

“ almost sounded like you volunteered for some shit. ”  

“ never piss off a woman who knows how to use a scalpel. ”  

“ i’m just fuckin’ with you. ”  

“ try not to get your ass shot off. ”  

“ look on the bright side, looks like you’re stuck with me. ”        

“ there’s a few lines i haven’t crossed. ”  

“ you gotta know when to cut a man loose. ”  

“ little late for a stroll. ”  

“ that’s what brothers do. ”  

“ this how we’re goin’ out ? ”  

“ only if you promise to ride me as much as your bike. ”  

“ you were always a fighter. ”  

“ take your shirt off, sit on the table. ”  

“ maybe one day, stop and light a candle. it can get pretty cold and dark out there. ”  

“ i never saw it  -  it was on me so fast. ”  

“ everything that makes you who you are, oh, it can be burned away. ”  

“ everyone i ever cared about is dead. ”  

“ you have to run because they will kill you. ”  

“ do you know how to use a gun ? ”  

“ you’re a godsend, i was praying so hard. ”  

“ i thought i lost you. ”  

“ are you sure this isn’t personal ? ”  

“ i’m not a church goin’ type. ”  

“ the world is what it is. ”  

“ we make the world what it is, by what we do. ”  

“ what are you, five ? ”  

“ survivin’ isn’t livin’. ”  

“ i think that you’re afraid to be here. ”  

“ we need you, and that scares the hell outta you. ”  

“ it’s not murder if they shoot at you first. ”  

“ what does it matter if everyone else is dead ? ”  

“ i’m giving you an order. ”  

“ i don’t need your goddamn help. ”  

“ y’ know, making me a co-conspirator ? not very chivalrous. ”  

“ you don’t take anything seriously. ”  

“ how many men have you killed ? ”  

“ you’re dead. you’re  -  you’re supposed to be dead ! ”  

“ yeah, i tried to hit that once. ”  

“ nice place, it’s got that woman’s touch. ”  

“ there was so many of them. ”  

“ you enjoyed that. ”  

“ are you tryin’ to convince me ? or you ? ”  

“ they’re infected. it’s what made them so hyper-aggressive. ”  

“ trust no one, expect the worst. ”  

“ they used me. ”  

“ i didn’t mean to kill him. ”  

“ so get up, dust yourself off, try again. ”  

“ most people out there ? they’re just trying to survive and here you are, trying to save the goddamn world. ”  

“ that shit is locked and loaded. ”  

“ i’m not gonna apologize for being lucky. ”  

“ i hope this was worth it. ”  

“ there’s a horde coming ! ”  

“ you’re one of the good ones, man ! ”  

“ hey, you watch your mouth. ”  

“ sometimes, in the search for truth, the blood of innocents is spilled. ”  

“ i didn’t say it was a good plan. ”  

“ i wasn’t gonna let ‘em kill ya. ”  

“ you did the world a solid. ”  

“ would you like some tea ? i’m sure you would. ”  

“ you destroyed everything we worked for. ”  

“ hope you saved some for me. ”  

“ what the hell does that even mean ? ”  

“ you don’t have to tell me this. you can stop. ”  

[kunselxsoldier]

In work today I managed to figure out how to get two people back their €3'000 from a fraud-type incident.

They came back into the station later to thank me with chocolates and a bouquet of flowers.

Cute.

[kunselxsoldier]

[arrepentirse]

“Well, what do you expect me to say? I could lie to you and say that of course all will be perfectly fine – but you are the first. You are the first.”, Luis snapped back a little more irritated. It was not like he had to convince Kunsel of the treatment, right?

If he followed the orders given, he simply would inject the SOLDIER. Not like he could defend himself against it much. He was strapped down and his spine was fucked beyond repair.

Problem was, this just didn’t feel right…

And at the moment, Kunsel was teasing him in other ways anyway.

“You are accessing info and data you shouldn’t… why don’t you tell me, whether the suppressant as a regulator could work then, hm?”, Luis bit back with a scoff.

He considered not giving the other an answer. He could. But part of Luis… felt a little lost at the options he had been given here, too. And well. If he was about to ruin this man’s life… maybe it was only fair he got the truth.

“… Luis.”

[kunselxsoldier]

"No, I'd prefer if you didn't lie." Truth be told he was grasping at any remaining deviance in this talk; a habit he had honed over years. The longer someone talked, the higher the odds he could learn some useful piece of information. But beyond that. If he was about to become some mindless excuse of a semi-human, then a last back-and-forth conversation was priceless.

Offering an apologetic smile, Kunsel wished he could shrug or walk a few circles around the scientist. Around Luis; he thought better when moving around.

"Thank you." For the name. It had been bothering him for weeks; he was good at pulling up information, dragging it from the bowels of files or data-mining into depths of intel he technically had no right to know. But this man and others under this new 'Umbrella' codename of Shinra's were ghosts in the machine for want of a better term. Nameless new researchers with pseudonyms.

"I've been accessing data I shouldn't for a long time. Hell, maybe that's why this happened." He craned his neck to look down his torso and down at his legs; some rebellious thought breaking through and he willed his legs to move again, as if the time that passed might have improved some irreperable damage. No such last-second miracle.

"- the research lab reports are locked away where even I can't hack into them or bribe for intelligence. None of my contacts have that access either." Sickened with the lack of mobility below his waist, Kunsel looked back to that syringe and let out a shaky breath. "If that thing doesn't work, they'll still use it ... you seem a good man, Luis. Just don't stick around too long. This company doesn't like loose ends."

[kunselxsoldier]

"It's not that bad, it's just a /little/ sprained..."

Aerith smiled and shooed away his concern; turning back to the patch of flowers growing in the old church.

But he saw the way she limped in her boots and frowned. Following to the edge of the flower-patch, he left his helmet on one of the cracked wooden pews.

She knew she wouldn't listen to him if he said to rest her injured ankle, and Kunsek knew she wouldn't tell him the truth of how she had managed to sprain it either way. But she would go topside and sell her flowers regardless.

"Will you let me fix the wheel on the flower-cart?" He couldn't offer much else; if he was seen with her in the upper city, it would raise questions with Shinra, whether he was carrying flowers or not. Eyes flitting from Aerith to the broken cart, Kunsel's shoulders sagged; someone else was supposed to come home and fix that cart.

"- please?"

[arrepentirse]

Luis’ eyes flicked briefly to the tattoo on the SOLDIER’s arm. It was cruel. They were marked, like cattle. It was the same line of thoughts that Luis didn’t allow himself. Why would ShinRa treat others like this? Why would they…?

“Theoretically… it could.”, Luis vaguely answered once more, biting his lower lip.

“See, hermano, that was just a little part of it all. My part. To find the weak spots. To create a suppressants. But much like the treatment itself, it wasn’t tested on humans yet. Just small rodents… they were fine… mostly.”

The last few words were added with a little left and right rocking of his head and a shrug of his shoulders. And Luis could have sunken into more of that fight with himself – if Kunsel hadn’t asked that last question.

Immediately his head snapped to the other.

“How… Hansel... that’s my real name…?”

How did he know?

[kunselxsoldier]

Theoretically ... theoretically, creating Sephiroth should have created a new Ancient. Theoretically, Genesis shouldn't have degraded. That word usually meant a hypothesis with no real proof. Wasn't that what science was for the most part; theories and ideas ... it took experimentation to get results.

And for that, they needed lab rats. And he had been tattoed as one a long time ago.

"Mostly-fine doesn't sound all that reassuring, doc." Kunsel sucked in a breath and winced, forcing a half-smirk that really didn't belong in this scenario. But he didn't know how to deal with the hopelessness without some attempt at wry humour.

Which was why he shook his head slightly and eyed the scientist from his prone position on the gurney. "No it's not,"

It had been a running joke with other troops how nosey he was and Kunsel had been ribbed in the past that he should have been a Turk, not a Soldier. Huh, maybe there was a poingnant truth in that right now; if he had been a spy, then maybe none of this would have happened. "- no record of that name in the employee database, and I've creeped around in those encrypted files long enough to know them inside-out."

[steeleidolon]

[ID: An image of Kunsel’s left hand in a glove/gauntlet referenced from Remake Cloud’s. In the palm are worn dog tags for Zack Fair, Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley. Unfocused text in the muted-light background reads, “I will find you. Bring you home.”]

Post-OG. Survivor’s guilt and the burden of history.

[kunselxsoldier]

don’t get yourself killed. (elmyra)

Making Demands:

Hovering in the shadows across from the Leaf House, Kunsel turned to walk away once he was sure Aerith was home safe and well. She would have scolded him into next week if she saw him watching her ... but he had promised Zack.

As if she needed him looking out for her; she was one of the toughest people he knew. And the kindest too.

Hands thrust deep into the pocket of his civilian jacket, he stopped short when he saw a lady standing by the end of the tunnel that bridged the gap into the next street in Sector 5. Elmyra Gainsborough wasn't a woman to mince her words. 'You're going on a mission?'

He nodded, unsurprised that Aerith had told her mother. He would be out of town for a couple of weeks; stationed across the Planet on the next continent. The details of the mission were need to know, and Aerith hadn't pushed it.

Emlyra looked him up and down, the defensive shine in her eyes dimming for just a moment. 'Don't get yourself killed.'

The words were softer than he had ever heard her voice. The lady usually kept him at an arm's length, even when he helped out weeding the flower beds, and he couldn't blame her; she would fight the world off to keep Aerith safe. But there was the unsaid too; Elmhyra had waited for her husband to come home and he never had. Aerith was still waiting for Zack.

"I ... I'll come back. I swear."

[arrepentirse]

Luis had anticipated such a question. And he knew the answer right away. Now hanging his head low, he only shook it, though.

“No… no, once it fused with it’s host, it can not be removed anymore. There is a certain maturing process it goes through, where it can be subdued, where it can be halted with certain… suppressants. But after it settled and started to latch onto the bones… it’s fused.”

Luis pressed his palms against his eyes. Thinking, contemplating, fighting with his own thoughts. He had orders, very clear ones. And he had research to achieve. But… he also had a conscience.

“… I don’t know what happens to the troops or the other SOLDIERs… we were all split up. Just like you. They all get treatment… and the SOLDIERs were said to get the Plaga injections.”

[kunselxsoldier]

"There's a number tattoo on my forearm," he nodded slightly to his right forearm, where the fatigues were folded up and the very bottom of the number could be seen. "- only the Soldiers with those tattoos have specialised cells."

Only those operatives had the tiniest chance of surviving. His odds were slim, but theirs were worse.

Turning his head slightly to look at the scientist, Kunsel nodded slowly to himself. He had always been an experiment to Shinra, and he knew that. Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he saw the syinge on the table beside the doctor. It couldn't be removed afterwards. "If ... If I live, can it be suppressed? The parasite?"

It was a fool's errand to cling onto that tiny piece of hope, but the other options were death or a mindless puppet. If he rolled the dice of fate, maybe that's what he would become anyways? He had seen it happen others with Jenova Cells. Was it just another means to an end.

"Doctor ..." Kunsel offered a half-smirk and eyed the other man, shifting a tiny bit to relieve the pain bleeding through his fading adrenaline. "- at least tell me your real name, huh?"