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8. Wildcat (public video)
[About an hour and a half after the conclusion of this thread, the Emperor's communicator turns on. In the stark light and deep shadows of the floodlights in the engine room, he sits surrounded by parts and tools. He's drenched in blood, and his clothes are rent in a few places, although there are no visible wounds. He is utterly, preternaturally still, not as though he is controlling himself, but simply as though there is nothing in him with intent to move. His eyes are not quite vacant, but very, very distant. After a long pause, he takes a breath - his first, so far in the message - and uses it to speak, in a soft impassive tone.]
Victor Creed came here some time ago. He killed Barbara Gordon and ourself.
[He seems to go very far away again. Then, without bothering to turn the communicator off, he returns to his work.]
Victor Creed came here some time ago. He killed Barbara Gordon and ourself.
[He seems to go very far away again. Then, without bothering to turn the communicator off, he returns to his work.]
[Private]
[It's harder to judge time, like this. Why should he? He is eternal.]
[Private]
[Private]
[He's not sure what the purpose of that observation was. The ship still needs to be fixed.]
[Private]
And you don't think you'd still be in danger?
[Private]
[Private]
[Private]
[It sounds vast, somehow, like a philosophical axiom rather than a subjective medical detail, like catechism, like testament. In Death there is no desire, nor fear, nor pain.]
[Private]
All right.
[Private]
Please take care.
[Each word is precise, as though he had to choose it deliberately, and set it in sequence.]
[Private]
I will. Be safe.
[Private]
[This is, admittedly, not the same thing. But it is true. If he were in his own mind, he would wonder when he last felt that someone deserved the truth from him, even if it were unpleasant. But under the circumstances, he doesn't.]