taxonomites | [ visual ] [ locked from the doctor, the master, angelus, and balthazar ] my heart's the lighter

It's hard to tell if Bruce looks tired or if he's just suddenly gone stoic - outside his brief call to action during the bomb threat, the majority of his interaction over the tablet has been half-in-half-out of his fractured playboy persona, which he's cast aside completely by now. Either way, he's been quiet since then, and he's sitting with his back against something wooden and ornate; maybe a headboard, maybe a screen, and wearing a black t-shirt.

“This probably should have been spoken about sooner, but things have been overwhelming for most people here in the aftermath of the bomb threat.” Though he's clear and direct, there's a reserved quality to his voice that says he isn't used to giving speeches – and while that isn't necessarily true, it's always Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy! rambling on at length about girls or booze or ill-fated political endorsements. This is different, and so, much more deadpan.

“A large number of bombs were planted throughout the city, and sentinel robots armed with rubber bullets and tranquilizer darts were sent to guard them. An initial blast was detonated during which, to my knowledge, most of the injuries occurred. Several people were injured in the process of assisting victims of the first blast and thus combating the sentinels or now-damaged remaining bombs. A second and final blast was detonated during which more people, mainly people who were trying to reach a safe area or the Brucolac's ship as far as I'm aware, were injured. Several people were gravely injured, a few only pulled through with emergency medical care, and while there were no fatalities amongst our number, several Extras were killed. The man who has claimed responsibility for this, known as the Doctor, was taken into temporary custody to keep him from accessing or detonating any other explosives he might have in the city. At the time it appears that there is no more nuclear or radioactive material in the city and that we are in no immediate danger of being blown to hell by one of our fellow abductees.”

He pauses and glances to one side at something not visible in the tablet's view, taking a moment. “Belatedly – this is an issue I'd meant to address personally before the bombing – there was a man here who was going by the name of Doctor Jonathan Crane. I'm under the impression that he was treating people here as a psychiatrist. If he gave you any advice or put you on any medication, I advise you to be re-evaluated by one of the medical doctors here immediately. He is a psychopath from my world who specializes in drugging and then using fear to torture people to death, and got pretty far on a plot for genocide.”

… Well that's blunt. It was something that Bruce was going to contact people individually about, but after the past week and all the invasions of privacy he's had to go through personally, he just doesn't have the stomach for it anymore. He's incinerating the remainder of his records and locking down the chemicals and that's just that.

“I understand that the situation with the individual known as Angelus is a sensitive one, as this is someone who is a colleague of several people here who's going through something unfortunate, but some of the things being broadcast lately are alarming. If there's any progress on this, or if further warnings to the population need to be issued, I'd appreciate an update.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He also threatened to kill Judith, unprovoked.

I'm honestly not sure why you'd be inclined to help him.

Oh, I see.

I don't know what else to do with him, honestly- the way he's going, he's going to end up in that cell forever, and it's not practical. But I didn't know he was going around threatening people; that makes me want to take the tablet away, frankly, since he was under the mistaken impression he has a right to communication.

Jack's handling him well, at least, he's quite professional.

The level of his hostility and aggression in the exchange - I have a transcript - is alarming. His relationship with the other alien is certainly something complicated.

Mm.

Oh, is that what triggered it? May I ask for the transcript? He told me some things about himself while he was in my apartment that I think account for some of the desperation you noticed.

[fwd: attachment; it's just what was recorded from the tap, with some shorthand notes from Bruce about tone.]

Oh?

This is just between us for now--...and Sol, but he is aggressively apathetic regarding the Doctor, or else I think the Doctor would be in pieces--but he's dying, he says. He has some kind of symbiotic link with a being outside of Taxon, and without it, he'll die.

I would ordinarily be more skeptical, but he lost the ego when he told me about it. He's terrified, and fear's a great motivator to do stupid things.

[a brief, humorless laugh.]

So he's desperate to get home because he thinks he's going to die here, so he sets up a plan that will kill everyone to ensure that he live, but when caught, he explains that the only person in his plan - fueled by the intense fear of dying - who was intended to be in any mortal peril was him.

That's just... great.

He apparently really thought his plan would work perfectly. He finds the city peculiar in its residents' unwillingness to go along with what they're told; he says in other places, say, New York 1963, only one or two individuals would have objected and tried to stop him.

...I'm a little aggravated with this, I'm sorry for going on. I'm reading these transcripts now.

Well, New York in that age, if somebody stood up and said something like this, they'd get laughed off the stage. We're in a snow globe, and he deliberately publicized his insane actions.

Don't apologize. Let me know what you think. [and he's gonna go through some other stuff while she does that.]

You know, the way he behaves with me is completely different; playful, almost. Obviously I'm generally an ostensibly softer touch than Judith, but I wasn't any nicer when I first found him in my apartment, so I really think this is all about the Master. I don't know what their history is, but they seem to be the same- species, which makes me wonder if the Master has a similar symbiotic bond out there.

He seems to take that affect with a lot of people. I think it's a defense mechanism. His rage strikes me as much more real.

I don't know if I necessarily believe him about a symbiotic bond.

Yes, he plays into people's tempers. I do the same thing, actually, so I can recognize it pretty easily.

I'm inclined to, but I'm certainly not about to write it in stone. All we have is his word, and as noted, his word is not much. The thing he says he's bonded to- the TARDIS- is what he swore on when he made a promise not to try any more escape attempts.

Maybe he has that, maybe he doesn't. But think about it: we're in this contained world, and everything to survive and survive perfectly and sedately is provided to us by apparently psychic captors. Does cutting a being away from that which gives it life and condemning him to a slow death make sense to you, in this context? Is he dying, or is he just panicking because he's trapped?

From someone whose entire history with the people here is lies and terrorism and threats of violence, the reasonable doubt is too overwhelming for me to have any sympathy.

If you're right, he might not even realize he's not actually going to die. He did say it's like losing a sense- like being blinded, so I imagine the frustration of that compounds his preexisting tendencies toward causing chaos.

Does 'Gallifrey' mean anything to you?

And instead of spending his time figuring out what's going on with him, he uses it to concoct a plot to kill everyone. [flat. sadly, Bruce holds a grudge like other people breathe air.]

No.

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