Nekoholic

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

"Probably not the wisest course of action," Leith muttered. He sighed, rubbing the back of his head before he shrugged. "Let's just...keep our distance. Just in case they start to see red and mistaken us for their enemy."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Leith looked between them, then said, "No, you can't just aim a gun at your best friend and then tell us that 'everything's fine.' None of us are falling for that. Sure, it may not be any of my business, but I'm not going any further until I know that I can trust all of us to not suddenly start shooting each other." He gestured over at the raider. "Because at the moment, I trust him more than either of you and I still don't even know his name."
"Everything's fine, just like he said, Leith," Basil snapped, walking by him.
Grabbing him by the shoulder, Leith stopped him. "No, it's clearly not."
"Well, then you're right. It's not any of your business, especially considering that we've barely known either of you for two days. And if we do start shooting, then it'll be at each other, not you or Kaye or...whoever that boy is. Is that satisfactory?" Basil responded.
Leith narrowed his eyes, but finally said, removing his hand, "Fine. Then let's be on our merry way. Because we're the merriest bunch in the entire fucking wastes."
"We sure are," Basil sarcastically agreed under his breath.

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

The last thing that Leith had expected to see was Jace, of all people, aiming a gun at Basil. Rushing forward without hesitation, he latched onto Jace's wrist, and asked with his voice raised, "What the hell do you thinking you're doing, Jace? I know that you two are going through a rough patch and all, but this is just stupid!" He then grabbed the gun with his other hand, wrenching it from Jace's grip. Stepping back, he looked between the two, shaking his head in confusion and exasperation. "So...anyone care to explain what's going on? Or is this a normal occurrence between the two of you?"

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

"He would never think that way," Basil argued, shaking his head, "And I didn't do any of this intentionally. For nearly six years, I've thought that I am Basil, so I lived on in his place without consciously knowing that it was just my...programming. He wanted to work on water purification, so I continued that research--for him. He cared about his dad, so I worked hard to support him when his health began to decline--for him. And he cherished you as his closest friend, so I tried to make you happy--for him. And even after I discovered all of this, the truth of my identity and origins, none of that has changed. I still want all of the same things as him. I may not be the Basil that you grew up with, but...aren't I just a continuation of him? What's so different from us, really? Can you say that Basil wouldn't have become someone much like me, if not identical, when we had the same memories and personality to begin with?"

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Basil stepped back instinctively when Jace aimed his gun at him, raising his hands defensively in spite of knowing that none of those actions would deflect a bullet. He then said, "I-I don't know! Maybe there isn't even a genuine reason for any of this--it could just be for someone's sick sense of curiosity or amusement! It wasn't as if I had someone mysterious stranger come to me and tell me all of this, then announce what my true purpose of existing is!" He took another step back. "Look, there's...there's no reason to kill me. I know that it's a lot to take in, but I told you so that you could know, not so that you could have the opportunity for...this."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Basil clenched his fists, and said, "The last thing that I want to do is push you away, Jace! But I'm not lying to you, either. I'm not such a coward that I'd make this sort of thing up just to get out of something difficult."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Basil shook his head as he said, "Jace, someone can't just come back from the brink of death like I did. We were all more than willing to accept it at the time, considering that we'd all been so scared. But...miracles like that just don't exist out here, not without someone else deliberately making them happen--and bringing someone practically back to life? That's not possible." He paused, but then continued, "I'm a synth, Jace. A few months ago, only a couple of weeks after we started this whole journey of ours, I found some notes in one of the vaults that we were excavating. They weren't from the vault, but they were once someone's old research. It sounded like a pet project of theirs. Anyhow, I read through them, and...I couldn't get it out of my head, so I looked into it even more. And then it just, I don't know, fell together. I must be a synth. And that's when everything started coming back to me. It was as if I'd broken some sort of failsafe or something, even when that's another thing that should be impossible."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Basil flinched when Jace grabbed him, but forced himself to calm down before he said, "Basil...Basil died, Jace. I am him, but I'm...not him, at the same time." He averted his gaze, wrenching himself out of his grasp before he said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lie to you, I...I swear, but I only just put everything together a few months ago myself and I just didn't know how to tell you, much less my dad. Or...his dad? I don't know."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

"You're a good person, though. I'm sure that you'll find other people will care about you just as much as I do, if not more," Basil said. He placed his other hand around Jace's. "And you have my dad. He practically views you as another son at this point, you know. He's not going to just kick you to the curb because he lost me." He sighed softly. "Look, I'm not saying that you have to be okay with me...passing away. I'm not okay with it, either, of course. Do you think that I like that all of this has happened? No, of course I don't. It sucks. It really does. But...there's nothing that any of us can do about it, either. It happened, and now there are the consequences of what happened, and we just have to deal with that. But it was my mistake in the first place. I wasn't paying attention. I messed up. I'm mostly grateful that others didn't get hurt, too."
Silence lapsed between the two of them, before he finally said, "I just need to know that, eventually, you'll be okay again. That you'll move on. I mean...keep me around in your head somewhere, of course. Like, I'm just that disembodied voice that bounces around the back of your skull and reminds you to, like...I don't know, brush your teeth and change your underwear and to not eat the yellow snow, no matter how curious you are about what pre-war ice cream might have tasted like. You know, that sort of disembodied voice that often makes you contemplate your sanity."

Atomic Rain (Fallout)

Basil was quiet for a long moment, but then gently took Jace by the hand. Briefly, he hesitated, but then said, "I know that you don't really believe me, Jace, but it'll be okay. I promise. Everything happens for a reason, remember? We just don't know why this happened yet, but someday, the realization will just dawn on you and you'll think, 'Basil would...he would have been really happy to see things turned out this way.' I'm certain of it." He stared at the ground, lips pursed. But then he said, "Even if you don't really believe that, say that you do. That you will. Because you said that I have every right to ask for whatever I want, and that's what I'm asking for more than anything else. I need to know that you will be okay after I'm gone."