Audio | Screened to Kid Q and Brainy

[unrecovered]

[His tone is terse and sharp. He's not angry, but there's an intensity to it that just might bely fear if you're listening hard enough.]

I need to talk to you. Now.

One of the newest arrivals - he's from my world. His name's Locus, and he's unstable and extremely dangerous. He-

[There's a beat of hesitation, but they need context. Well, time to dig up this little horror show and put it on display.]

He and his partner committed planetary genocide for a paycheck. The only reason they didn't finish the job is because my team and I showed up, figured it out, and stopped them. We're lucky we all survived, and there are a lot of people that didn't. He's a threat.

Comments

[googledox]

[Brainy has the poker face to end all poker faces, so he sits in his floaty chair and watches it all without comment or much change in expression. The way his eyes occasionally flash a little wider or narrow in thought, and the occasional tweak of an eyebrow, are the only things that register that he's just...processing it all.]

[And also calculating risk. Thinking about possible outcomes.]

This provides some context, but not enough to truly illuminate his motivations and whether or not he's dedicated to changing.

[He looks thoughtful.]

Short of trying to make presumptions based on micro-expressions, we only have his word and actions.

[Which isn't much, for someone like him.]

My assessment -- which certainly isn't the only one we'll take into account -- is that with therapeutic intervention, and careful guidance, we may be able to direct him in ways that are helpful to our cause.

[He leans his elbows on the arms of his chair and steeples his fingers.]

With the caveat that dangerous or hostile behavior would lead to dismissal from the team and possible legal consequence.

[A pause.]

Although I do have a question: due to your position in the military and his status as a criminal, do you have any sort of legal mandate in your universe that would typically require you take him into custody?

[unrecovered]

[There's further footage Wash could provide, but that conversation with Santa is still horribly personal. He doesn't like Locus, but that doesn't mean it's his story to tell.]

Not really. I'm a soldier, and that's more military police work. I won't get that assignment unless someone up top has it in for me.

[And they might! Wow, is that ever a shitty possibility to consider. Future hypothetical problems - they're not worth thinking about now.]

That said, if they do catch him, they will kill him. Humanity just survived an alien genocide; they're not going to have any pity for a human taking part in another one.

[He takes a moment, considers his words, and sighs. He's actually fairly calm while speaking - it's a far cry from his earlier intensity and anger. Amazing what a single conversation can change.] For what it's worth, Felix was the driving force in their partnership. He was the charisma, the liar, the one who really enjoyed killing people who trusted him. Like I said, without him around, Locus might actually be more stable.

[googledox]

It wouldn't be the first time that a Legionnaire was guilty of criminal behavior or certain activities that others might find barbaric, before joining the team. None of them were guilty of something that severe, but gang leaders are gang leaders and black ops work is black ops work.

[Invisible Kid hadn't exactly laid his soul bare, even after they'd started dating in secret, but over the years, Brainy had gleaned a bit about the nature of some of the work he'd done. He hadn't been an assassin but he also hadn't questioned who was inside a building or do while blowing them up on orders to cover his tracks.]

We're also wholly aware of how certain external forces can damage ones mental health and drive them towards such heinous actions. [His voice goes a little soft as he finally shows a bit of emotion.] We lost a Legionnaire that way.

An extraordinarily kind and gentle one, at that.

There are external forces that can drive even the kindest people to places you'd never expect, until they've completely lost whoever they were and whoever they might otherwise have become without those forces influencing them.

[He raises his eyebrows slightly.]

Whether someone can come back from that. Well. That is the question --

[A pause.]

And the hope.

[Which is what they're supposed to give people, and something they're supposed to hold onto.]

Your opinion has changed. Already. After talking to him. I can tell.

You believe it, don't you. That he hopes to change. Or you want to.

[unrecovered]

[There's a lot to unpack there, and even more that Wash needs to shake off. Coming back from being an insane, violent wreck- well, isn't that just his whole fucking life. He's pretty sure that's not what Brainy's talking about, but damned if it doesn't resonate anyway.]

[So he swallows past that particular lump in his throat and carries on.]

[He's not surprised Brainy figured out he talked with Locus - his including Locus' own helmetcam footage is a dead giveaway even if the change in his demeanor isn't, and it's an insult to everyone involved to even think that either of those would slip past Brainy.]

He took the oath. [It's simple, and a hell of a lot calmer than he was earlier.] I know that's not necessarily an indication of intent - I mean, we have Reaper, for God's sake - but the Locus I spent months fighting wouldn't have taken it at all without a reason.

[He takes a breath and thinks through his words. It's odd how much he's come to trust Brainy since he arrived - it's partially a willingness to trust the people in charge that Freelancer hadn't quite managed to kill and partially the knowledge that Brainy has seen his weaknesses and hasn't used them against him. (Yet, says his paranoia, present as ever but a little easier to ignore now.) He wouldn't say this to many other people, but, well. It's context, and it's trust.]

Look, a few years ago, I was close to where he is. Not genocidal, or anywhere near it, but still pretty fucked up. I got a second chance that I didn't deserve, and it's the only reason I'm still here. This might be his, and if he wants to take it - if he actually intends to change - then I don't think I can be the one to ruin it for him.

[He doesn't like talking about the parallels between Locus' history and his own, namely because Locus has spent a good amount of time trying to use them to justify genocide, but that doesn't mean that they're not there, or that he can continue to ignore them without consequence.]

I don't trust him - I don't think he can be trusted right now, and I think if the wrong people get their hands on him he'll be worse than ever - but that doesn't mean there's not a chance, and we need all the help we can get.

[googledox]

[Brainy nods.]

Kid Quantum ultimately has the final word, but my formal assessment will be that we should defer to your judgment in the matter. You actually have experience with him, enough to have some measure of his character. Legion World is at least well-equipped to provide mental health services to help him with his issues -- and we can make that a requirement of his Legion membership.

If you're wrong and he's being deceitful, or he does lapse in judgment, it's still better that someone like him is kept close. Then the Legion will be there if it happens.

[A pause.]

But I hope you're right about his sincerity. The team has historically provided a second chance for quite a few Legionnaires, and has been a source of direction for those of us that were aimless or completely lacking in anything resembling a moral compass.

[He breathes in and lets it out through his nose in a self-mocking snort.]

Myself included.

[It's only fair, after Wash has volunteered something and made himself a little vulnerable, that he offer something back, and meet him halfway.]

I believe a common human colloquialism for the state many of us were in before we joined the team is "hot mess."

[unrecovered]

Brainy, the last decade of my life has been a string of assholes I shouldn't have trusted but did. If I'm wrong, we can just throw it on the pile.

[Turns out Wash is really bitter about continually being betrayed by people who were supposed to help him. He's got good reason for being as paranoid as he is.]

[He snorts at Brainy's description - it's as close to a laugh as he gets nowadays. Now that's a phrase he never thought he'd hear Brainy say.]

I told you about my team back home, didn't I? If anything, they're proof that if you stick the right combination of hot messes together, you can get shit done.

[Legion of Hot Messes. They should really change the name.]