first puzzle | voice

[recinerate]

[beyond was dead, and now he's not.

it's a perplexing position for anyone to find themselves in, of course, but even more so when there's something fundamental about that person that's gone missing - something that should be there, but isn't. beyond has found he is missing such a thing, and has decided to take advantage of the technology of this new place in order to work out his thoughts regarding this dilemma.]

"In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity."

[his voice is quiet, raspy, almost unnaturally even in tone. he pauses, then picks up with one of many questions currently on his mind, addressing anyone within earshot.]

What shapes your sense of identity?

Comments

[recinerate]

Very well. Which of the following is worse: to fail at something, or to never attempt it in the first place?

[thelastbullet]

That depends on the stakes, don't you think?

[recinerate]

If a thing is worth doing, the stakes should be high enough to drive action. There will always be variables to consider, of course, but I'm speaking in a general sense.

[thelastbullet]

I'd say failing at something, then. [Because the things he has failed at, he wishes he'd never attempted them in the first place.]

Inmate or warden?

[recinerate]

I'm afraid I don't understand your question. Please elaborate.

[thelastbullet]

Did you come here on your own accord, or did you do something bad enough that you need redemption?

[recinerate]

I would say neither of those applies.

[he doesn't think what he did - killing three people and arranging them into gruesome puzzles in a plot to outwit L, bring the world's greatest detective to his knees - was wrong. the end justifies the means. this is what has been bonded to his core through years of rigorous training.

which is probably a good indication of under which category he falls.]

Are those the only two options?

[thelastbullet]

In this place? Yeah.

[recinerate]

In that case, I would have to place myself in the warden category.

[a complete lie, but it's the one he's gone with in speaking with tiffany, and a good liar strives for consistency. beyond is a very good liar.]

[thelastbullet]

[It's a non-answer, and he's not sure he believes it- because he'd asked Jimmy to elaborate, and wardens tend to not need that elaboration. He won't question it for now, though.]

You would, huh? Alright.

Your turn.

[recinerate]

Inmate or warden?

[thelastbullet]

Inmate. [He doesn't sound like he minds saying it, and it's not even a confession. He has not considered himself one of the good guys for a long time, and he doesn't see any reason to lie.]

[recinerate]

Have you been here long?

[thelastbullet]

Depends on what you mean by 'long'.

Late November.

What's your deal for?

[recinerate]

What month is it now? [it was january, for him - not that he was aware of it. days blur into each other behind the bars of a jail cell, and even more so under the influence of heavy painkillers.]

[thelastbullet]

My question first, Beyond.

[recinerate]

[ah, he noticed the evasion. beyond doesn't know what deal he's referencing, so he goes with a vague sort of truth.]

I haven't made any deals yet, Jimmy.

[thelastbullet]

[He doesn't smile, because this isn't a game to him-- but he's caught him out regardless. At least he has the satisfaction of knowing he was right.]

It's late June, I think.

[recinerate]

So you've been here about seven months. [the idea of being enclosed on this ship for that long makes beyond's skin crawl.] What was the last thing you remember before you found yourself here?

[thelastbullet]

[Jimmy's never minded the place- he spent a year in a trench, miserable and muddy. The Barge is an improvement.]

Getting shot.

[recinerate]

[... oh.] I'm terribly sorry to hear that. Were you badly injured?

[thelastbullet]

I died and ended up here, so I think that's probably a 'yes'.

How about you? What's the last thing you remember?

[recinerate]

I closed a case. [which is ... not a complete lie, by a very broad definition. the case did close, although not in his favor. and, of course, there was his incarceration, and death. he remembers the seizing pain in his chest.] I used to be a detective.

[thelastbullet]

And now you're not?

[recinerate]

I have no cases. A detective cannot really describe himself as such without work.

[there's more to it, though - beyond was trained as a detective, but only as an experiment, never expected to fulfill the actual function.

and he was lied to about it, for years and years, until he uncovered the truth. he wasn't a detective, not really - he never was.

and beyond is eternally resentful about it.]