Stone Men In Water Street

[Bjorn]

"It's a little upsetting to go from being guided by the Oracle, to having to guide the Oracle?" Bjorn guesses, dryly.  "I can understand that.

"Or does it have more to do with the fact that she's not Ayame?  As in," Bjorn gropes for a delicate way to put it, and then gives up, "Ayame's dead, and you feel like it's your fault? Sorry for the bluntness."

[Rezantis]

"It's not so much that - she is the guide, and all, and I'm not really guiding her any . . . it's just such a shift in perspective."  A shrug.  "I'm not offended, blunt is preferable.  Yeah, I do feel like it was my fault some - if we'd gotten to Manos faster, that sort of thing.  On the other hand I blame her, for bloody well vanishing and hardly giving us a why . . . if she'd just asked for help we might have been able to do something - what the hell did she think this thing is for?"

Rez gestures with his right hand.

"But on the other hand, when it came down to it, she could have asked for help off the guy who killed Rasputin before he could finish her . . . and she didn't.  Relm didn't know why . . . but she guessed that Ayame did it because Relm has less, well, restrictions on her than Ayame did . . . gah!  I don't understand, and I hate being useless like that!"

[Bjorn]

"Well," Bjorn says, thoughtfully, "you have to think that Ayame had a different sort of perspective on things.  I mean, she wasn't Ayame  -- she was the Oracle of Delphi, first and foremost, and then Ayame after that.  As long as she could make sure Relm was safe -- and she did that, with the stuff she did, which includes you -- she didn't die, in what I hafta think is the only way that really mattered to her.

"And then... Look.  She'd been a prisoner for how many years?  You don't... get over that, not easily.  It kinda messed me up, I think, and hell, that was only three days.  Being reborn, especially the way the Oracle manages it, is maybe the best healing she could have gotten."

[Rezantis]

"I understand why it made perfect strategic sense for her to die.  That doesn't mean I'm going to like it . . . and I don't consider it healing, I consider it dead."

Rez sighs.

"No, I'm not dealing with it that well.  Hell, I blame Shade, did I mention that?  If he hadn't gotten himself captured - no idea how that happened - they wouldn't have known she existed until too late."

[Bjorn]

"I dunno about the Shade bit.  Have to take your judgement on that.  Except, all I can say is -- based on what I saw, blaming him for bein' an idiot seems perfectly reasonable to me.

"As for the other..." Bjorn shrugs.  "What can I say?  On some level, I agree with you.  But that's because I'm human -- I think, anyways -- and I don't think the Oracle, either Ayame or Relm, is.  Different perspectives.

"Anyways.  What you gotta remember is you're the Guardian of the Oracle -- not Ayame's Guardian.  Get hung up on Ayame-the-person too much, you won't be able to do your job, and I'm betting that's the last thing she woulda wanted."

[Rezantis]

"They're human enough," Rez sighs, "Maybe I should talk to Relm about this sometime.  Anyway . . . you're wrong, really.  I'm Relm's guardian now, and I was Ayame's before.  If Relm could stop being the Oracle . . . I wouldn't overly care about the position.  The main thing was, Ayame was a friend . . . so, yeah . . . I'm going to be cut up about friends dying.  It's not something I see often, and it's not something I react that well to when I do."

Rez sighs.

"Not to mention certain stupid oracles who hand me a gauntlet then treat me like I'm made of glass."

[Bjorn]

"Talking to Relm is best," Bjorn agrees.  "I'm just bullshitting here.  God knows if I'm right at all about all this crap.

"As for treating you as if you're made of glass... shit, man, don't joke yourself.  We are.  Maybe if we had a couple years to train, get used to this whole metahuman, magic, whatever business, really learn about the Contest... maybe then we'd be real players.  Maybe that's what the Oracle intended for you."

Bjorn half-smiles, his lip curling enough to give me an almost wolfish air.  "But it didn't work out that way, did it?"

[Rezantis]

"No.  And I realize, yeah,  I'm fairly easily killed.  But so is everyone else, and I think we've already demonstrated that even AIs are not immune."

"It just pisses me off, losing friends.  I tried, I really did, but it wasn't good enough.  And that shits me.  Anyway . . . I should get some sleep, I'm pretty tired.  Wake me up when you need me to take over," Rez stops, "Oh!  If you have anyone, like family or friends, you want to send an email to before we vanish for god knows how long in Gibraltar, tell me and you can write it in Austin.  Relm can send it untraceably, so hey."

Rez lies back and tries to doze.

[Bjorn]

At Rez' last words, Bjorn winces, and drives on in a cold, grim silence.

[Brian]

The road rolls by underneath you in silence, until you reach Los Angeles, at about midnight.  It's now early morning on January 21st.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn breaks the long silence.  "Alright.  Time to make up our minds.  Do you want to fly from here to Austin, or do we get ourselves on the Ten and start trucking?"

[Rezantis]

"Mm, I'm easy, really.  Flying shouldn't be that expensive, but alternately driving saves us money and . . . well, you already bought the snack food."

[Bjorn]

"Then driving it shall be.  We'll tank up here, and then head out.  Do you want to take over now, or wait until we hit Nevada?"

[Rezantis]

"I'll wait until we hit Nevada, if that's alright.  Wake me when you get there, or you're tired and need me to take over?"

Rez, realizing it is cold, wraps himself up in his polar bear fur and tries to get comfortable on the seat again.  Sleep is gooooodddd . . .

[Bjorn]

Bjorn tanks up the van (pilfering cash from Rez' wallet to do so), cracks open a Mountain Dew, and heads for the I-10 East.