Goonhub
10-18-2022, 01:50 PM
it was 0000 when she arrived.
Shift had been 17 days this one. a long one. She was exhausted. hours and hours and hours as her had worn and worn and worn away at her sense of non personhood.
People seeing her and validating her, even without meaning to, again and again. Repetition to many breeds familiarity, and familiarity breed's disinterest. She turned to stare at the chess board by their bed. The only thing on the bedstand other then a charger for their devices and a case for their glasses. It was the first way she ever interacted with Piffany. A chess game played one or two moves a month. it'd been going for years, the two of them making tiny parries and thrusts. She went to move a piece and paused.
The girl had left her a checkmate. Not even a check...she had..moved herself into check..
Gladius stared in the bedside mirror a long time. It was for helper of course. She then slowly turned to the wall. There was her sword. And her belt. she lifted the blade up to swap it to the reverse again, the blue side. She removed her black glove and drug one claw down it to another hatch. Another line on the blade recurve. 15 to 26....
"..not good enough."
and then her eyes came to rest on 'her' slice of the world. A tiny little shelf on the bedroom shelves. Neither of the two where one much for owning anything. Technically most things in the apartment came from their partner. it had the faded wanted poster. a picture of her grandfather. a small pile of now rock hard peanutbutter chocolates she could never eat. a paper hat given to her by Bobot for her 'birthday'...
and she picked it up and looked at it. the blood red transponder she used for contacting her long time employers. and long time masters. She flipped a claw over the switch, saw the messages scrolling past...all ones for her specifically. She hadn't had time to look at them. She didn't care to.
"You're a fantastic officer...when you're you. Not Gladius."
Not Gladius.
.....she rejected all of the proposals. then her metal claws squeezed and dropped the shattered bits of plastic and wire and boards. to the ground, kicking the pieces under a carpet. She slipped her badge out from under her vest, and tossed it in its place. It was just a worthless piece of immitation brass foil over a thin bit of cheap steel.
A stupid symbol.
She desperately treasured it. She sat down on the wooden flat that was her bed. And looked at the chess board. She picked up her red knight and moved it over the king. then laid it on its side...Moving back to flick the red king on its side and laid back, folding her metal hands behind her head and stared at the slow moving fan on the ceiling.
"Knight yields to king. Check mate."
"You win."
And the paladin went to sleep to allow her other face her time. A sword is a thing for using not showing, showing a blade shows a lack of confidence. Showing a shield shows pride.
I knight is made to move unpredictably, to strike deeply into the battlefield.
A knight can never be more than a knight. It cannot be promoted.
...she smiled. Just faintly. A show without passion is nothing at all...and an Acrtress without versatility is no actress. A game without rules is not a game.
And she could not have it both ways.
Paladin made her choice. And for the first time in her life, was content.
Shift had been 17 days this one. a long one. She was exhausted. hours and hours and hours as her had worn and worn and worn away at her sense of non personhood.
People seeing her and validating her, even without meaning to, again and again. Repetition to many breeds familiarity, and familiarity breed's disinterest. She turned to stare at the chess board by their bed. The only thing on the bedstand other then a charger for their devices and a case for their glasses. It was the first way she ever interacted with Piffany. A chess game played one or two moves a month. it'd been going for years, the two of them making tiny parries and thrusts. She went to move a piece and paused.
The girl had left her a checkmate. Not even a check...she had..moved herself into check..
Gladius stared in the bedside mirror a long time. It was for helper of course. She then slowly turned to the wall. There was her sword. And her belt. she lifted the blade up to swap it to the reverse again, the blue side. She removed her black glove and drug one claw down it to another hatch. Another line on the blade recurve. 15 to 26....
"..not good enough."
and then her eyes came to rest on 'her' slice of the world. A tiny little shelf on the bedroom shelves. Neither of the two where one much for owning anything. Technically most things in the apartment came from their partner. it had the faded wanted poster. a picture of her grandfather. a small pile of now rock hard peanutbutter chocolates she could never eat. a paper hat given to her by Bobot for her 'birthday'...
and she picked it up and looked at it. the blood red transponder she used for contacting her long time employers. and long time masters. She flipped a claw over the switch, saw the messages scrolling past...all ones for her specifically. She hadn't had time to look at them. She didn't care to.
"You're a fantastic officer...when you're you. Not Gladius."
Not Gladius.
.....she rejected all of the proposals. then her metal claws squeezed and dropped the shattered bits of plastic and wire and boards. to the ground, kicking the pieces under a carpet. She slipped her badge out from under her vest, and tossed it in its place. It was just a worthless piece of immitation brass foil over a thin bit of cheap steel.
A stupid symbol.
She desperately treasured it. She sat down on the wooden flat that was her bed. And looked at the chess board. She picked up her red knight and moved it over the king. then laid it on its side...Moving back to flick the red king on its side and laid back, folding her metal hands behind her head and stared at the slow moving fan on the ceiling.
"Knight yields to king. Check mate."
"You win."
And the paladin went to sleep to allow her other face her time. A sword is a thing for using not showing, showing a blade shows a lack of confidence. Showing a shield shows pride.
I knight is made to move unpredictably, to strike deeply into the battlefield.
A knight can never be more than a knight. It cannot be promoted.
...she smiled. Just faintly. A show without passion is nothing at all...and an Acrtress without versatility is no actress. A game without rules is not a game.
And she could not have it both ways.
Paladin made her choice. And for the first time in her life, was content.