Whispers of Andre and Ridley

[Hap]

The whispering voice remained silent for the moment.

The metal glint was revealed as an old-fashioned compass. If Andre chose to pick it up, he'd see the needle spin wildly for a few seconds before it finally settled on a direction.

 

[canisaries]

Andre picked up the compass. That was neat. Was it pointing north? Or to his next destination?

Only one way to find out. Andre headed towards the direction the compass showed.

 

[Hap]

Following the compass led Andre to a river. On the opposite bank Andre could make out another door with accompanying signpost, half-hidden amongst the trees.

A fallen tree trunk, half-rotten and overgrown with moss, lay across the river as a makeshift bridge.

In the near-darkness it was impossible to tell how deep the river was, but it was wide and it ran fast. Wading likely wasn't an option, and trying to jump across would be risky at best, but the tree-trunk bridge hardly looked safe either.

...nothing ... say for yourself?​

The compass returned to spinning aimlessly. Having delivered Andre to this spot, it was apparently content to let him make his own decisions.

 

[canisaries]

It looked like using the tree trunk as a bridge was the way. Andre wanted to make sure it would hold, though. He walked up to it and --

...nothing ... say for yourself?

Andre stopped. Shit. That whole problem hadn't gone away, even if he'd been hoping it would have.

He took a deep breath and let it out. How could he make them understand?

"My targets... deserved to know pain and fear." Andre still tried to word himself so that he wouldn't incriminate himself to possible bystanders - irreversibly, anyway. And he couldn't deny that he was more comfortable not admitting these things out loud. "So I made them experience it. That's what it was all for. I didn't..."

Lying, huh. He simply wanted to lie.

"I didn't do it for pleasure."

He raised his foot and kicked at the tree trunk, seeing if it would crumble.

 

[Hap]

...told you this bef- ... nobody deserves... -osn't make anything bet- ...just makes you... ​

The tree trunk seemed sturdy enough. Andre's footing might not be perfectly secure, but at least the trunk itself wouldn't break halfway across and drop him in the river.

... own enjoyment. don't ... -tend it's justified​

 

[canisaries]

'Told you this before?'

"Wait, what do you mean you told me before?" Andre said. "I haven't talked to anyone on Forlas about this."

Well... there was Articuno, but that was hardly a talk, and Andre didn't want to let it slip that Articuno knew about him... if keeping that secret did anyone any favors.

"And what makes you so sure that it's for my own enjoyment?"

Andre figured the tree trunk was sturdy enough and slowly began to make his way across, listening carefully for any crackling.

 

[Hap]

... -aying you didn't enjoy it? ... - st torturing a man to ... goodness of your heart?​

The tree trunk was slippery underfoot. Even going slowly, Andre almost fell several times, as he trod on areas of moss or places where the rotted bark fell away from the tree under the pressure of his feet. Near the end he slipped badly, fortunately catching himself on his hands and knees before he could fall into the water.

In retrospect, perhaps crawling the whole way on his hands and knees - or even going barefoot instead of trusting to his shoes - might have offered more stability. Still, Andre made it over to the other side safely. His knees and palms stung slightly from hitting the trunk, but if there'd been any real injury done it was only to his dignity.

The door looked much like the other one had, free-standing and apparently connected to nothing. The sign beside it read:

TRAINER TIP! Use HEADBUTT on trees to shake wild POKEMON out!

 

[canisaries]

Andre waited until he was on the other side to answer, as trying not to slip took all of his attention. And even with that, he'd slipped. And realized that he should have spread his weight by crawling on his hands and knees. He felt like he may have had that thought somewhere in his subconscious, but the thought that he shouldn't get his clothes dirty blocked it. Gods. Such a spoiled brat.

He sighed, swiping off the muck, and then stood up straight. Okay. Time to face the voice again.

"Yes," he lied. He knew how ridiculous it sounded, but that was the story he needed to stick to. "Yes. It is what needs to be done. It is the justice that the uncaring universe would not otherwise serve." God, I'm so pretentious.

Okay. Now what did that sign say?

TRAINER TIP! Use HEADBUTT on trees to shake wild POKEMON out!

"I'm not fucking doing that," Andre muttered.

Either way, he tried to open the door.

 

[Hap]

The door opened onto a laboratory, crammed full of computing equipment and more esoteric machinery. It was a small room, made claustrophobically cramped by the amount of equipment in it; almost every flat surface was utilised to its fullest, piled high with books and files and various gadgets.

Two figures stood in the middle of the room. For the barest of moments Andre might have mistaken them for humans, but the illusion wouldn't last beyond that first glimpse: they were wooden mannequins, like an oversized artist's manikin.

...if you just ... -lled them i might ...​

...but what part of ... -turing people to dea- ... -sn't sound evil to you?​

The mannequins gestured to each other, speaking in the same distorted almost-Galarish Andre had heard inside the first door. The larger mannequin, the one wearing a labcoat, tapped on a whiteboard covered in illegible scrawls and symbols. Was that the written equivalent of the garbled speech, or did Andre just not have the scientific or mathematical background to understand it?

The smaller mannequin, dressed in a pink jacket and purple backpack, nodded along in response to the larger's explanation. Neither of them seemed to take notice of Andre.

...there's no justifica- that ... not justice. it's just...​

 

[canisaries]

A lab. Two mannequins talking. Who were they supposed to be?

Okay, maybe Andre should think about this a bit. What was this dungeon trying to tell him? What had he seen? He'd seen the woods, possibly Glimwood Tangle, then a kid's room with their parents - presumably - arguing, then the woods again, and now a lab.

None of these things were personal to Andre. But they may have been personal to someone who spent a lot of time outdoors, had a troubled childhood, and was a researcher. And maybe came from Galar.

Ridley? Was Ridley a researcher? Gods, the conversation they'd had had been months ago. Andre just knew that Ridley liked cryptids and that pokémon weren't people in his world. And that he was reckless and possibly a bit stupid.

Well, he seemed like the best match so far, and the rumors around the dungeon did mention to go in pairs, so... yeah. This was about Ridley.

Wait. If Andre was seeing Ridley's past, then...

Oh Gods. It all made sense.

...if you just ... -lled them i might ......but what part of ... -turing people to dea- ... -sn't sound evil to you?​

...there's no justifica- that ... not justice. it's just...

Andre sighed, trembling. He didn't have any good retorts to what the voice had said, so he decided simply to ask the question.

"Ridley? Is that you?"

 

[Hap]

...yes?​

There was a pause.

...did you on- ... -ealise that? why did you ... -ungeon works in pairs. are ... -upid or something?​

The mannequins' conversation had apparently concluded. The smaller mannequin turned and ran out of the room, a bounce in its step, brushing past Andre as it did so.

 

[canisaries]

"Oh, well, forgive me for not blindly trusting rumors, Ridley," Andre snapped back. He didn't particularly care about the mannequins. "Just tell me one thing. Are you gonna tell the others about me?"

 

[Hap]

...not going to tell...​

 

[canisaries]

Relief. Oh Gods. His secret was safe.

But why wouldn't he tell them? Was he afraid of him? Did he want to extort him?

He sensed there was more to come...

 

[Hap]

...you're going ... tell them...​

...if you don't ... will. and i'll make sure...​

 

[canisaries]

Fucking hell. Of course.

"You'll make sure of what? I can only hear, like, eighty percent of your words."

Probably nothing good. But in any case, this changed things.

For one, Ridley was now his enemy.

 

[Hap]

...sure they know ... -verything...​

There was a pause.

...i don't ... all of it. i d- ... -very fucked-up little thing ... do when you ... -omeone bound and vul- ... your mercy. but i know enough. i ... hold the knife. i had ... him. i'll nev- ... -orgive you for that.​

 

[canisaries]

Huh? What was Ridley saying? Had he... no, yeah, he'd have to have seen what Andre did to his vic- targets firsthand. He had to be mad about that.

"Well, it's not my fucking fault what this wacko cave showed you!" Andre shouted. "And do you think I don't know what others would think if they found out? Do you think I don't question myself every day if I'm a monster for doing what I do? Do you think I don't choose to continue to do it every time out of the fact that it's my duty?"

Andre screwed his eyes shut. He was saying much, much more than he should be saying right now. Oh, and here was more.

"And, Ridley, know this. You're free to tell the others what you saw here today. But I'm gonna make sure that not a single one of them believes you."

 

[Hap]

...you must know you're ... something wrong, or else ... wouldn't need to hi- ... truth...​

It must have been happening for a while, but so slowly and gradually that Andre hadn't noticed until he shifted his weight and noticed a faint splish.

Water. Black water, the colour of shadows, slowly welling up out from the cracks in the lab's tiled floor. As though it had been waiting for Andre's attention, it started welling up faster, little waves and ripples forming on the surface.

At some point in the past several seconds the ground beneath Andre's feet had changed. He would find that he was no longer standing on solid tiled flooring, but rather on fine silvery sand, shifting underfoot.

A few stray droplets of black water splashed Andre's ankle. The feeling was not cold so much as it was something past cold, a hypothermic dread which bit through his skin and chilled down to the bone.

 

[canisaries]

...you must know you're ... something wrong, or else ... wouldn't need to hi- ... truth...

"You think I'd tell everyone if I was proud of it? You think I wanna get lynched?"

It must have been happening for a while, but so slowly and gradually that Andre hadn't noticed until he shifted his weight and noticed a faint splish.

Water. Black water, the colour of shadows, slowly welling up out from the cracks in the lab's tiled floor. As though it had been waiting for Andre's attention, it started welling up faster, little waves and ripples forming on the surface.

At some point in the past several seconds the ground beneath Andre's feet had changed. He would find that he was no longer standing on solid tiled flooring, but rather on fine silvery sand, shifting underfoot.

A few stray droplets of black water splashed Andre's ankle. The feeling was not cold so much as it was something past cold, a hypothermic dread which bit through his skin and chilled down to the bone.

Shit. Shit. Great, now Powehi's ocean was here. Cold and freezing. Could he get out? Would the door that led him here open to let him out, or would he have to know the pain of drowning before the cave was done with him?

He turned to the door and tried to open it.