Victim Series, silence the Idol version
Daniel is low energy.
His limbs feel heavy, his eyes tired.
It had been days since he'd seen Conan, since he was sent to the infirmary for injuries.
Daniel was getting worried. Had the injuries been that bad?
Or... was there something more sinister at work? Had they taken him?
He had to do something, though - to make sure he wasn't taken as well.
He and three others in the sleep room decided to head into Silence the Idol.
Staff keep a close eye on Daniel until he and the others are in the shuttle, then make their move.
***
The sprinklers are running on high, as they usually did.
Daniel shivers at the coolness of the droplets, and soon he's soaked to the bone.
His clothes stick uncomfortably to his skin as they proceed on to the coat room.
His eyes squeeze shut, and he trembles as he listens to the carnage of the twins, their victims' screams echoing in his ears.
Someone taps his shoulder, and they continue on to Studio One.
No enemies, an easy floor plan and simple codes make this a quick clear for the four of them.
Someone flips the switch to the studio light, which overheats and bursts as usual.
The glass shards embed themselves in their victim, who screams in pain. Blood seeps from his wounds, making his shirt sticky and red.
His hands clench uselessly, and he struggles against restraints that refuse to give way as he begs for mercy.
Daniel thinks the voice sounds familiar for a moment, as the others move the idol to the next studio.
However, it must just be anxiety nagging at him. There's no way...
They move onto Studio Two. Two of them work on the floor plan, while the other two find the codes and input them.
As soon as the mannequin is in place, someone flips the switch.
The victim struggles, as if he knows what's coming.
It makes Daniel have some doubts about whether he's doing the right thing, but he can't pity the victims.
He can't end up as one. He has to do this.
The mannequin chops the victim's hand off, which falls to the floor. Again, blood flows from the wound.
A blood trail is left behind as they move the victim again.
Something stops Daniel from continuing.
For some sick reason, he feels compelled to look at the severed hand.
He wants to say it's just morbid curiosity, but a thought keeps nagging at him.
He needs to find out if he's right or wrong - and checking that hand for a scar would do the trick.
Daniel cringes as he flips the hand over so the palm is visible.
He can't believe he just touched it...
As much as he wants to believe his eyes are mistaken, the scar he hoped would be absent was there, plain as day.
He wants to throw up, scream, cry - every negative reaction he could physically have was queued up.
Daniel manages to hold it together, and instead rushes into the back hallway.
The other three have gone upstairs to take care of the batteries, leaving the idol struggling in his bonds.
Daniel grabs the idol's face and looks into the mask.
He can't see anything, but he hopes the idol can.
"Conan!"
He's trembling in Daniel's hold.
"I... hoped it wasn't you... I'm so sorry..."
He's sorry?
"Conan-"
"Didn't want you to see me this way..."
Oh.
Daniel's hands fall to his sides, and he falls to his knees in front of Conan.
He breaks down, then, sobbing at the hopelessness of it all.
"There's... there's gotta be a way to-"
Conan sighs. It's heavy with despair.
"Face it... this is the end of the line..."
"It can't be!"
"Danny..."
Daniel's face is streaked with tears, and his eyes are red and puffy.
"But Conan-!"
"Just stop."
The absolute hopelessness in his voice makes Daniel pause.
"We both know what's going to happen, and there's nothing you can do to stop it."
Daniel feels empty for a brief moment. Hollow - a shell of himself.
How can Conan be so hopeless when he's always believed in fighting against the odds?
Daniel gets back to his feet as the others return.
He tries in vain to convince them to abandon the trial. No way - not when they'd put in this much work already.
They all think he's insane, thinking that this victim was someone he knew, someone he loved.
"He must be insane with grief."
"There's no way to prove it."
Daniel knew the truth, though, and he had to try to turn the tables.
He had to.
They move to Studio Three, where Daniel tries and fails to sabotage their efforts to harm Conan further.
Daniel attempts to break the black light in the studio, but fails.
Conan's right eye is drilled. Blood leaks from the mask, and he cries as he's wheeled to the last studio.
The four of them enter Studio Four, and they set about replacing the tapes.
Daniel, armed with bricks, follows two of them into the dark. He manages to take down one of his fellow reagents, knocking her unconscious.
The other catches him before he's able to strike, but in the process, drops the tapes on the ground.
Daniel is able to smash one with a stomp before being dragged back to the studio.
"Look who's trying to get rid of us."
"That so?"
Daniel struggles to break free, but fails.
"Hold him still!"
Daniel whimpers and cries as he's hit - kicked, punched, whatever will take away his bodily abilities.
They drop him once they deem the abuse sufficient, and leave him to lay on the floor.
Daniel hears a distant curse upon discovery of the broken tape, but pays it no mind.
He crawls to Conan, tears streaming down his face, and sits next to him.
"I... I tried..."
"Don't do this to yourself."
Daniel heaves a sigh. His ribs are aching, and he's getting tired.
Distantly, as he begins to pass out, he hears the tracks get switched. The sound of booing fills his ears.
He tries to stay awake. He really does.
The beating took a toll on him, though, and before the desk rises and the blades begin to spin, he passes out.
He's not out for long.
Someone smacks him awake, and he's back on his feet.
"Make sure he's watching. Don't let him go."
Daniel can barely muster the energy to scream as their leader pushes the blades forward.
The two reagents he'd fought hold him in place, so he can watch Conan die.
He sobs quietly, whimpering about how he failed Conan, how he failed the both of them.
They drop him as soon as the execution is over, and run out.
Daniel is left alone.
On wobbly legs, he makes his way over to the top half of Conan's corpse and works to get the mask off.
He does so after a bit of fiddling, and his fears are confirmed. It was Conan behind that mask.
He takes his alone time to grieve, and hopes that the electric shocks from his ESOP will kill him, too.
***
"What do you think?"
He's in isolation, drugged into compliance - not that he'd fight all that much anymore.
"I think you're wasting your time on a weakling like him."
"Ah, but you saw what he did after being given a bit of motivation. He can fight when the circumstances are right."
"Can you recreate them?"
"We can with a bit of drugging and a bit of therapy~"
