"Hahaha! I never thought I’d see the day you fail at something, and so abysmally at that," The sound of Brenden’s cackling and teasing echoed throughout the Command Center as I said their singlemindedly focusing on the multitude of camera displays.
"Hah, haha, haha, Geo-PENIS Hahahhaha!"
"WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" Snapping my head in his direction, I pulled out a wrench from my inventory and hurled it at his head, only for it to miss by a wide margin, thanks to him being on guard and dodging my sneak attack.
"NOT TODAY TAYLOR, NOT TODAY! Yee, who is so perfect in everything he does, FAILED MISERABLY!"
"It’s a fucking new skill and Talent; if it was you, who only knows how to make his muscles swell, I doubt you would have even gotten the dirt to move half an inch off the ground."
"Ppfft, yeah, whatever you say,"
The back-and-forth between my brother and me continued for about an hour until he finally got bored of my lackluster responses to his taunts and teasing, allowing me the quiet I required to gather my thoughts.
A lot had changed in a short timeframe, and adjustments were required when it came to my plans, especially the ones involving heading to Colorado.
The main reason is that Brenden got the Resonance Convergence Ticket. There were a lot of things I had accounted for when it came to how I saw the future, but never once had the thought that I could metaphorically bring my Father back to life come up.
Brenden, who was sitting beside me at the command console, saw the slight shift in my facial expressions and understood something was wrong.
"You’re worried about something…" He said with concern, lacing each word.
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"Yeah, Dad, if Arkadia plucks him from the time right after he died…then how do we explain everything to him."
"Ah, you being Xipher is going to be a hard sell…he will notice the clear difference between you of present and what he remembers you to be." All jokes about my brother being a meathead aside, he was a former police detective, so it wasn’t that he was stupid; it was more so the fact that he never felt the need to over-exert his brain in the way I do.
So, it wasn’t surprising that he was able to reach the same point of reference as I am.
"He won’t take you being a mass murderer or villain well,"
"No, that won’t be an issue. Dad knows I was always fundamentally different, but with medication, I could portray the part of a normal member of society. He knew something was up with me, and had even tried talking to me about it more than once, only I was too fucked up at the time to let him in." Taking a deep breath, I began verbalizing my thoughts, and to Brenden’s credit, he didn’t interrupt and only listened.
"Of all our siblings, I was the one who spent the most time with him, so I understand how he thinks and sees the world. Once he hears about the things I did to get revenge for him, there’s a 50/50 chance he flies off the handle or accepts it."
"The real question is whether or not he can accept my true self," Slowly looking away from the monitors, I met Brenden’s eyes, which were filled with concern.
"It took you years to come to terms with how I am, and even then, you used to fight me in the beginning; now look at you, more Anti-Hero than Hero, willing to do what needs to be done so that you can protect what you care about…to some extent we share that, only the lengths I will go to far exceed your own."
"At the end of the day, you, Dad, and Emilia have moral compasses that guide you to make the decisions you see fit, but me…I am more of an outlier; I have no moral compass; at best, it is more like a couple of loosely worded guidelines that I follow, and THAT is what separates us."
"Sure, our goals may align with each other from time to time, but I highly doubt you would even consider doing some of the things I have done,"
"Revenge, vengeance, both are words used as a justification of actions that may be deemed too harsh for normal people, yet even they don’t quantify the things I do."
"Sure, maybe in the beginning, I wanted revenge or vengeance for what happened to Dad, but after I had achieved that, what was left for me, I had walked down a path of darkness and depravity for so long that it probably changed the way I view the world."
"There was no longer good or evil, and the world was no longer rainbows and puppies; it was a dark, depraved place filled with greed and people who only care about themselves and their personal gain."
"To some extent, the invasions from off-world were a nice change of pace for me, well, until those assholes decided to attack my cabin in the woods, TSK" Clicking my tongue and smacking my lips, I continued speaking.
"When Arkadia gave us all the opportunity to return to the past, it was more than salvation; it was a new path for me; I could mold the world into what I wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I want to rule the planet or anything like that. I am far too lazy for such a job, but my goals are higher than that."
"Like what, take over the universe or something?" Brenden asked, noticing I had left a pause in my monologue for him to speak.
"Nah, that falls under the Too boring category. I am no ruler, but I suppose I could be called a puppet master of sorts; after all, with my talent, what are people but playthings to me that I can easily control? Heh," With a little chuckle, I glanced up at the cameras and saw my Father walking in the front door after a long day at work.
"I want knowledge, Brenden, I seek answers…"
"The answers to… what questions though..." Following my line of sight, Brenden smiled upon seeing our Father.
"Can’t say, but I’m sure I will know when they pop up; anyway, let’s go get our Dad back; we have a lot to talk with him about."