the company man

Group Affiliated/Indie Friendly Rhys [Tales from the Borderlands]

[imfinnaescape-blog]

Considering he’d only ever seen a few worlds in his time off Starkiller Base, it was great for Finn to be in Hive City. It was something new and exciting, even if he was slightly terrified that he’d never be able to get out of this place. 

Luckily for Rhys, the only people Finn had ever stabbed in the back were the First Order, so he had nothing to fear. At the moment, Finn was just happy to have found a friendly face that was willing to show him around, maybe make a friend. That was always exciting.

“I honestly don’t know…like I said, I haven’t been here that long, but I do hear there’s good food places everywhere, and I don’t know about you but–”

“The food I’m used to is awful.”

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

Okay, now they were talking, he could do this small talk and get a place to eat. A good way to start a relationship with someone new in a completely new place, and something told him that Finn would be more inclined to understand where he was coming from.

“The food I’m used to isn’t that bad, but I spent a good time on a planet with really..sad food, so.. This place should have something better to offer, right?”

“Where are you from then?”, he asked, getting the hang of this conversation as he gestured for Finn to follow him; his ECHO eye was functional, but with no access to the ECHO net, it was practically useless. Looks like he had to actually find and follow signs. Ugh, primitive.

[handsomx]

              Two sirens – that narrowed it down DRAMATICALLY. He could feel his face STINGING after what Lilith had done to him, duel coloured eyes NARROWING to the memory of it alone — the BURN searing through him - at that point he could see EVERYTHING; he saw the WORLD, his ENTIRE LIFE, everything he could ask for before she RUINED IT.

              She. Ruined. EVERYTHING. 

              He paused, momentarily. God he hated them, he hated ALL of them. Why did they have to ruin it? He could have had EVERYTHING, he could have made Pandora a PARADISE.He was supposed to be the HERO. 

              Well, if you can’t do it there – then do it HERE, amiright?

              He didn’t BOTHER waiting for HIS new lackey to pull out what was in his pocket (personal space? Pfffft.), instead he reached in there himself and pulled out – a gumball, some lint and – JACKPOT, there it was, a small implant that had been by the looks of it, torn out. 

              ❝ This… This is GOOD. You done good…. What was your name again cupcake? I couldn’t hear on account of me CHOKING you. See, there’s a difference between strangling and choking– I’ll tell you in a sec.❞

              He opened the box of hardware, that was SO out-dated but a company like this – the one he worked in currently – had limited resources he needed to upgrade. But quickly he dug through the basic wires and began fixing the severed ends. 

              ❝ How the hell did this get so damaged?! ❞

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

He was going to admit it, this was pretty friggin weird. Okay, he met AI Jack, but this was different, he was there in flesh and well, unaware of what happened, how Rhys practically denied him a chance to “live” again through him. Which was fair enough, no matter how much he used to admire Handsome Jack, he wasn’t up for becoming his meat puppet. The whole thing sounded gross too. Extremely gross.

He closed his eyes straight away when he got closer, but he didn’t reach for his neck this time around, simply his pocket. There it was, in all his glory, his own eye that stored everything that Jack wished to know. That.. wasn’t good. It could either lead to praise or potential punishment for what he did to him, but hey, this Jack wasn't dead, and he could see that Rhys pretty much sided with him and listened to him during their entire time together, that was a good proof of his loyalty, right?

Loyalty, yeah right.. It was all for his own personal gain, but Jack didn’t need to know that. Phew, good thing that he was out of his head.

“Uh, Rhys. My name is Rhys”, he said quickly, watching Jack getting to work straight away, himself left to rub his neck in silence.Okay, the praise did feel really good, he could get used to that. No, focus Rhys, that wasn’t the point.

“I ripped it out of me?”, he simply replied. “You will find out, I guess, but it was uh, necessary. This AI version of you, well, he was going to cut me open, so...”, he trailed off. “It doesn’t matter now, you’re here alive so you don’t have to do that, and the data from it are salvaged”, he added, hoping to distract him from the fact that he was the reason for the current state of the implant.  

[excdus]

at least life wants to fuck me

[pastismyown]

@scratchyourownnuts 

The only thing going through Natasha’s mind was a long stream of swears. The mission was suppose to be a joke, but something told her one of her underlings had been fed bad intel. Or gave bad intel. Either way, someone’s head was getting yanked off as soon as her boots hit Pandora. If she got back. Dodging around Helios, looking like the typical piece of Pandorian trash the people of Hyperion hated, she was starting to think getting back was a god damn pipe dream.

Her luck had a habit of running out rather quickly, and as she turned a corner, Natasha slammed full on into… someone, she didn’t care who, because she heard footsteps headed in their direction. A hand slammed around the strangers mouth and she drug him into the nearest door, slamming it behind them. The poor soul she’d grabbed didn’t look like he could hold his own against a pack of kittens, but she still pulled her revolver out and pointed it at his face. “Scream for help and I’ll see exactly what’s in that pretty head of your’s, alright?”

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

That was a good day, well, it started good, he got free breakfast, his superior that tried to screw him over and give him more work on a Friday was dealt with, and he was already walking back to his desk, humming to himself. Oh, the weekend would be good, that promotion was looking more and more likely every passing day, he could practically taste the sweet taste of - oh no, that wasn’t his promotion or a relaxing weekend, that was a freaking gun, aimed right between his eyes - oh God.

“Don’t shoot!”. Yeah, Rhys, like that alone was a decent excuse for her not to shoot him. Okay, time to analyse the situation, he took him into the closet for a reason, and she wanted something out of him, anything. He couldn’t tell why someone would send an assassin after him, he kinda felt important that anyone would get into so much trouble, just for him - he was missing the point now. “I won’t call for help, I swear! Take that off my face and I’ll feel more comfortable..”

[rpmemesyo]

Anonymously or not, tell me who you ship my muse with.

[theinqusition]

“The devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for”

[cfhyperion-archived-blog]

@scratchyourownnuts

      “Kitten, if you don’t stop pacing around the room        like a Skag bit your arse, I’m going to put a round        through your head. We clear?”

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

“Right. Yeah. So, about that. Okay, I’m sitting down for the next bit of the conversation because you really wanna be seated when I get you my  report, right?”

[misskadamifyourenasty-a]

          There was the tiniest smirk as she watched him. He was definitely thinking about what she’d done to Jack. She also might be using her echo eye to see where he who he was and what job he had. “He’s off in a meeting. Which means that you might just want to deal with me until he gets back.” She replied, leaning against his desk as she crossed her arms. “So, what do you need, Rhys?”

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

How did she know his name? He didn’t remember telling her in the short time that they have met - oh. Of course she was enchanced, she was apparently dating Jack, he really did wonder if that was sort of an anniversary present by him or whatever. His own echo eye glowed, scanning her. “I can wait for him, Ms Kadam. It’s nothing too urgent”, he said casually, giving her the most confident smirk that he could master, sitting on one of the large sofas, arms behind his head.

[elemaiden]

【機】 — “Are they really that rare? I’ve seen plenty more swordsmen than marksmen in this city, and that’s discounting the ones I knew at home.” Shulk shrugged, quite surprised by the result. “I suppose it’s just up to fighting preference, isn’t it? … And, yes, it is rather heavy. Honestly, I’m surprised I can even carry it, never mind fight with it!”

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

“In this city? Probably not, but where I come from, I’ve met a really, really cool, assassin guy with a huge katana.. Did I mention how cool he was? Oh wow, really? Do you have that, um, I don’t know, super strength thing? Superheroes tend to be a thing lately..” He might be slightly jealous and wishing he was as cool. But screw it, he’s pretty cool, right? The cybernetics would without a doubt get their well deserved attention. Thanks, Hyperion.

[warmcnger-deactivated20160530]

That question was unforeseen. It had been too invasive for anyone else but this man to ask. It rather irked Kaz to think the man had special rights to ask such a query. He tenses up, jaw clenching as he lowers his head to look at the loose sleeve that gently sways in the wind.

“You’re not required to know.”

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

“Yeah, of course not. You know, I figured out it would be a great conversation starter, you know, to break the ice and all. Guess I took you for the talkative type, the glasses must have done it for me”. Okay, he was blabbering. Maybe a lot. Maybe he wanted to confuse the other and distract him from the apparent invasive question that he had just asked. Maybe he would go for a day without getting punched.

[inaaaactive]

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

Sorry I’ve been quiet, making this cosplay is going to slowly kill me and I haven’t even started on his arm yet

[handsomx]

              And here he thought this new city would be a new START for him, but someone knowing who he was– now he wasn’t going to say he was WRONG but he wasn’t right about things which of course, did NOT make him wrong it made him right but not… Yeah you get the point. 

              Whatever– What was he saying? Something about buddies? 

              ❝ The last BUDDIES I had tried to KILL me so yeah, excuse me for wanting to break your fuckingSKULL. You know what? I’m not even SORRY.  ❞

              But the way he carried on about his loyalty to Hyperion and babbling like a small kid as Jack’s hand pressed HARDER into him, lowering his head to peer at him through the top of his eyes (A+ menacing stare) – it made him think. If Jack was in this kids head - did he allow him control? Or did he just sort through the data to use what he wanted; all of the information about the Vault, everything that the artefact had given him. 

              Before he could fully CHOKE him, he let him go, eyes sharply focused on him. 

              ❝ What do you know? Give me NAMES of who killed me and I’ll reward you. How’s that sound huh? You could work with ME if you tell me. Come on, who wouldn’t want to work with me? I’m INCREDIBLE. I could give you everything in exchange for a couple of names….  ❞  So he could RIP their spines out and watch them DIE. God he’d watch them squirm like insects. 

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

Right, he could do that, this was fine, absolutely fine, he surely didn’t anticipate being choked by an idol of him that he finally got the chance the meet while he was still alive.. But he could get out of his mostly unharmed, he just had to give Jack what he wanted, he did that so much during his career, telling people what they wanted to hear.

“I know you aren’t sorry, I’m not a bandit or a vault haunter, I’m the opposite of that!”

Well, to be honest, he was hunting down a Vault, probably in the most unorthodox way, so in definition, he could be called a Vault Hunter. If Jack was alive and didn’t know him, it meant that in his head, he was still looking for the Vault that lead to his downfall, so... yeah, staying quiet about the Vault of the Traveler was the wisest choice he had made since he appeared in that city.

“I..I don’t know their names”, he admitted. “It was a team of four, typical Vault Hunters pack.. There was a Siren with them, I know that for sure.. No, two of them..” It was harder to speak when Jack was squeezing his neck, blocking the air of coming in and out comfortably. “If I can...access the ECHOnet here.. We can look it up more..!”

Did Jack say that they would work together and that he could give him everything? He learnt not to believe the other man when he made promises, but the cybernetic eye he kept in his pocket, with his AI stored inside said otherwise - that was it!

“In my pocket! I have my previous cybernetics, your AI is imprisoned in there, see for yourself!”

[handsomx]

              There was always speculation that the artefact had given him more knowledge than he had ever wished for, that as it all poured into his brain he had not only seen the Warrior, but the way he was to DIE. Perhaps he DID have vague visions of it, that his death would be at the hands of those who called themselves heroes when they were WRONG - he was the hero, he was MEANT to restore Pandora and make it the place of his dreams, he was meant to rule and care for the city rather than to allow warring factions to take charge. 

              Paranoia forced him to roll his jaw until it clicked, raising his hand quickly and shoving the young Hyperion worker bee against the wall by the throat, thumb pressing into it. 

              Fuck the rules about being KIND to your fellow workers - no, this one was under HIS control. Going on about how he was supposed to be dead, how he was an AI - no one knew about that, no one was supposed to know anyway. Other wise they would be after it, and download his secrets, download everything he had worked YEARS to hide. 

              Was this guy a hunter in disguise? Tracking him down all the way here… 

              ❝ WHO sent you? What do you MEAN I’mnot alive? Huh? You feel me now cupcake? I’m ALIVE and who THE HELL says I’m dead? I’m HANDSOME JACK, I’ll NEVER die.  ❞

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

Damn, he wasn’t kidding, this Jack was as real as he could get, as real as your former boss and idol stopping you from breathing, in a context that wasn’t fun at all, oh no. If Jack was in a better mood, this could have easily played out as one of his favourite fantasies, but he was furious, in rightful denial and completely pissed off. He was squeezing too hard and Rhys gasped for air, cybernetic arm reaching for Jack’s own hand and squeezing it further in a poor attempt to free himself. If his friends saw him, they would without a doubt not be surprised to see him ending up in such a situation.

“Nobody sent me! You did, some Vault- some bandits killed you! But you’re alive here, I don’t get it -”, he coughed. There was no point to try and explain this, it was way too familiar, and this time around, Jack’s hand wasn’t just going through his body, this was for real, real.

“I found, Nakayama’s ID Drive down on Pandora, you got into my head for a while, you’re not there now, I swear! I work for Hyperion, see? I swear!”

He wasn’t going to beg, oh no, it would totally make him seem so uncool in front of his entirely psychotic idol - wait, if he was meeting a version or clone or whatever version of Jack that didn’t know him.. Maybe he could make it work better this time around.

“You and I are buddies, please, believe me!”

[marshallmigraine]

OK so here’s my first attempt to do some tftbl fanart. Let’s pretend I did not fail it.Yup, making metal bend for the sake of dynamics.

ps. when Rhys’s tie flys out of his pants you know that shit got real

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

“Do people still use swords? I mean, I’ve seen some pretty sweet katanas, but I thought that this was a thing that people stopped using.. with guns and everything, pointy stuff are just not as good. That looks heavy, is it that heavy?”

[handsomx]

              The clatter of the mug slipping and the sudden call from a young voice behind him was enough to RIP him from his thoughts. God damn, he was trying to WORK you stupid little RUNT. How was he supposed to take over the company if he couldn’t hack it’s security systems?

              With a prolonged  ❝ UUUUGHHHHHhhhhh…  ❞ he pulled his hands away from the keyboard and turned to face the frankly, terrible coffee monkey. Though something in particular caught his attention – cybernetics. Yes, this was a tech company but those looked beyond what this tiny little company could produce – actually come to think of it, those terrible ‘catch a ride’ shacks could have produced better but that was besides the point. 

              ❝ Idiot. I am NOT cleaning that up, you HOPE that I don’t get you fired. You–  ❞  He stood up and walked closer to  the boy, trying to get a closer glimpse of what he thought was a name-badge, only to see—

              Way to turn that FROWN upside down. His eyes lit up and he grinned, oh this was going to be good. 

              ❝ Ah, you’re MY idiot. Good. Now clean this up or I’ll fire you myself, and since you work for ME back home, and I’m here now, I’m still your boss. That’s how it’s going to work, kitten. I knew I recognised those cybernetics… I designed them, with Nakiwhatevers’s help of COURSE.  I knew working here was a good idea, I’m a god damn genius.  ❞

[scratchyourownnuts-blog]

Oh no, he was incredibly real, no doubt about that. He as real as he could get, but Rhys wasn’t going to be stupid enough to try and touch him. How did he even have a body in the first place, he was meant to be dead, gone, remembered and all that crap, not sitting in front of him annoyed that he spilled some coffee. Oh boy.

What was more alarming, however, was the fact that he didn’t seem to remember him. In fact, his words sounded too familiar, it reminded him of the conversation he had with the AI Jack not too long ago now. God, it seemed like years. He was staring at his cybernetics, and Rhys could feel his piercing gaze, making him more uncomfortable as ever, shifting in his spot, still in a state of shock.

“How are you doing this?”

His voice came out a bit more high pitched and upset sounding that he intended for it to do so. Cool moves Rhys, cool moves as always. Not.

“Wait, wait, pause, pause. You’re alive? I don’t get it, you’re not meant to be alive, and you don’t know me? Rhys, remember?”, he mumbled, shaking his head. “We uh, we met before, or rather, an AI version of you was stuck in my head.” And tried to murder me. Duh.