[So the story so far is that Character 1 has been transported into, more or less, a book ze read/movie ze saw/thingy ze thingyed. When ze got ze lost hir memory as is traditional in starting characters with mysterious origins. The result being that ze had no foreknowledge of events, just an increasingly strong sense of déjà vu. Ze has joined up with the heroes but has yet to make any difference in the story, and this is what happens when ze does remember and decides to follow the long held, justifiably criticized, trope of meeting with the traitor while completely defenseless.]
Character 1: “I've finally
remembered. I remember who I am, I remember where I from, I know why
I feel like I've been through all of this before. Where I come from
I read all of this in a book, I didn't know it was real, I had no
idea you were real people or that this was really happening
somewhere. I thought your lives were fiction.”
Character 2 starts to leave, “That's
nice, I have to-”
Character 1: “Please, just listen a
little while longer, this is important. Please.” Character two
stays, but is clearly annoyed. Character 1 continues, “The reason that I've had a
constant sense of Deja vu is because I've read all of this, which
means that nothing I have done has made a difference. Everything
would have been exactly the same if I weren't here. I haven't
changed anything. I don't matter.
“That changes now. Right here, right
now I'm going to matter.”
Character 2: “This is all really
nice, but I think your head injury is-”
Character 1: “I know you're planning
to betray us.” *Pause* “I'm not going to let that happen.”
Character 2: “Ok, first, you're
delusional. Second, if that were true how would you stop me?”
Character 1: “It's very simple,
either you can decide not to betray us right now, or you can kill me
right now. But you're going to have to pick one or the other.
“I know that you're not a bad person,
I know that given time to think about you'd realize that it's not
something that you want or need to do. I also know that if I do
nothing you won't get that time. It'll be over in a moment with no
going back. I'm changing that.
“Now it's not just one act, but two.
To betray us you'll have to kill me now, live with that for a while,
and then still to choose to do it then. You'll have ample time for
reflection. That's my gift to you. The reality of the situation in
a way that's immediate and undeniable, and time to think over that
reality before you do something at effects so much more than a single
life.
“I'm unarmed. I haven't told anyone
else, but if you don't decide to come clean and join our side for
real I will. And I'll leave out the part about reading it in a book
so that they'll take it seriously. It doesn't matter whether or not
they believe me, the suspicion will be enough to ruin your plans. So
if you want to go through with those plans, you're going to have to
kill me.
“I know you well enough to know that
that's something you can't push from your mind. You might be able to
put off really thinking about betrayal until it's already been done,
you might be able to treat it as some abstraction disconnected from
the reality of the people in front of you, but you can't do the same
with my dead body. You'll be able to get away with it, I'm sure, but
you won't be able to dismiss it the way you've dismissed thoughts of
what betrayal will mean to the others.
“I ... didn't think I'd have a chance
to say this much. You've been quiet for a long time.”
Character 2: “I'm thinking.”
-
[Original Work Index]
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