Conclusive Evidence
Jul. 13th, 2016 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonmagitechIt had taken some time to convince Vinegar to worry about Byron's intentions, and in the end it wasn't even Eureka's words that did it, which he was quietly miffed about as he followed her up to the lab. She'd repeatedly told him that she fully expected Byron to cut and run within the week, but as time went on she became rather more concerned. What Byron might do neither of them could quite say, but Vinegar was uneasy about harboring someone under false pretenses for so long, and Eureka couldn't fault her.
Byron was curled around a table covered in beakers, most full of clear liquid; there was also a large mug, which he stirred idly with one claw while he stared intently at them. He didn't appear to notice when they landed near him, though he did take his claw out of the mug and glance at it briefly. Eureka jumped onto the table and peered into the mug.
"I wouldn't drink that," Byron said. He raised the claw, parts of which had been eaten away.
"Doesn't that hurt," Vinegar said.
"Yes, but it'll stop eventually. What was it you wanted?"
"We're just a little concerned—"
"We heard about the murders," Eureka interrupted. Vinegar's frills flattened sharply against her neck, with a sound like a glass shattering, and he shifted away from her a little. There would be words later. She didn't like him to undermine her authority, and normally he was thrilled not to, but some things could not be handled delicately.
Byron's mouth twitched, and he curled in on himself almost imperceptibly, but he did not turn to look at them. "Oh," he said quietly.
"I would like to know," Vinegar said, "what exactly you did, and whether you're planning to repeat it, because I will not have my clan endangered by your activities."
"No, I—it's—there was—" He sighed. "I poisoned some people."
"Why."
"It's a long story."
"I wouldn't have come to speak to you if I didn't have time to hear it."
Byron closed his eyes. "I used to work for the king. A king. Studying poisons. I was studying them before that, but he gave me funding, and a position of respect, personal guards, all kinds of things. He wanted me to be able to check his meals for him, that kind of thing. And other parts of the court started asking me to research different poisons for them, make antidotes to some, that kind of thing. Everyone was doing it after a while."
"So you—"
"No, that was fine. It wasn't fine, of course not, but I didn't think about what was going on. I was just glad to finally have enough money to pursue my research." He exhaled sharply. "And then there was this prince, from one of the minor families. He had some complicated place in the succession. He started coming to my workspace, talking to me, about my research and then about his life, and then about all the backstabbing and lying and everything that goes on in the court. We were—" He stopped. "No, that's...not important."
Eureka and Vinegar exchanged a look.
"It made me look at what I'd been doing. What I'd been allowing to happen. I was preventing them from poisoning each other, but I was also enabling this terrible game they were playing with each other's lives. I didn't want to be involved in it anymore. We started talking about leaving. Making plans. F—the prince said I should keep working so no one would suspect anything, and it made sense, so I kept going even while these royals were giving me more and more dangerous compounds to work with, things that might take me years to find a way to counteract. I liked the challenge, anyway. I didn't even..." He shook his head. "And then I found him taking my research samples one night. Saying he needed them to fix things. He said...if he was the only one in power, none of this would have to go on. He used me. And I was so, so sick of it all, the infighting and the way they were all so casual with life, all of them, like no one but them was real."
"So you poisoned the court," Vinegar said.
"Yes."
"Did you poison the prince," Eureka asked.
Byron was silent. After a few uncomfortable seconds, Vinegar said, "You didn't stay to take the spoils of your victory."
"It wasn't a victory and I didn't want any spoils," he snapped. "I just wanted to work. And not to hurt anyone."
"But—"
"I know how it sounds. But I am done. I was going to run, but this place...I thought I could stay and continue my research. The way I wanted to do it in the first place." Byron turned, finally, to look at them. "If you're willing to have a wanted murderer in your midst."
There was a brief silence. Vinegar broke it, to Eureka's great surprise, by laughing. It was an awkward laugh that didn't sound quite right coming out of her, monotonous and not, and much deeper than her actual voice as though she was imitating someone else. Eureka couldn't replicate her response, but he certainly agreed with her sentiment.
To Byron, when she finished, she said, "Welcome aboard." Even Eureka could read his surprise.
Byron was curled around a table covered in beakers, most full of clear liquid; there was also a large mug, which he stirred idly with one claw while he stared intently at them. He didn't appear to notice when they landed near him, though he did take his claw out of the mug and glance at it briefly. Eureka jumped onto the table and peered into the mug.
"I wouldn't drink that," Byron said. He raised the claw, parts of which had been eaten away.
"Doesn't that hurt," Vinegar said.
"Yes, but it'll stop eventually. What was it you wanted?"
"We're just a little concerned—"
"We heard about the murders," Eureka interrupted. Vinegar's frills flattened sharply against her neck, with a sound like a glass shattering, and he shifted away from her a little. There would be words later. She didn't like him to undermine her authority, and normally he was thrilled not to, but some things could not be handled delicately.
Byron's mouth twitched, and he curled in on himself almost imperceptibly, but he did not turn to look at them. "Oh," he said quietly.
"I would like to know," Vinegar said, "what exactly you did, and whether you're planning to repeat it, because I will not have my clan endangered by your activities."
"No, I—it's—there was—" He sighed. "I poisoned some people."
"Why."
"It's a long story."
"I wouldn't have come to speak to you if I didn't have time to hear it."
Byron closed his eyes. "I used to work for the king. A king. Studying poisons. I was studying them before that, but he gave me funding, and a position of respect, personal guards, all kinds of things. He wanted me to be able to check his meals for him, that kind of thing. And other parts of the court started asking me to research different poisons for them, make antidotes to some, that kind of thing. Everyone was doing it after a while."
"So you—"
"No, that was fine. It wasn't fine, of course not, but I didn't think about what was going on. I was just glad to finally have enough money to pursue my research." He exhaled sharply. "And then there was this prince, from one of the minor families. He had some complicated place in the succession. He started coming to my workspace, talking to me, about my research and then about his life, and then about all the backstabbing and lying and everything that goes on in the court. We were—" He stopped. "No, that's...not important."
Eureka and Vinegar exchanged a look.
"It made me look at what I'd been doing. What I'd been allowing to happen. I was preventing them from poisoning each other, but I was also enabling this terrible game they were playing with each other's lives. I didn't want to be involved in it anymore. We started talking about leaving. Making plans. F—the prince said I should keep working so no one would suspect anything, and it made sense, so I kept going even while these royals were giving me more and more dangerous compounds to work with, things that might take me years to find a way to counteract. I liked the challenge, anyway. I didn't even..." He shook his head. "And then I found him taking my research samples one night. Saying he needed them to fix things. He said...if he was the only one in power, none of this would have to go on. He used me. And I was so, so sick of it all, the infighting and the way they were all so casual with life, all of them, like no one but them was real."
"So you poisoned the court," Vinegar said.
"Yes."
"Did you poison the prince," Eureka asked.
Byron was silent. After a few uncomfortable seconds, Vinegar said, "You didn't stay to take the spoils of your victory."
"It wasn't a victory and I didn't want any spoils," he snapped. "I just wanted to work. And not to hurt anyone."
"But—"
"I know how it sounds. But I am done. I was going to run, but this place...I thought I could stay and continue my research. The way I wanted to do it in the first place." Byron turned, finally, to look at them. "If you're willing to have a wanted murderer in your midst."
There was a brief silence. Vinegar broke it, to Eureka's great surprise, by laughing. It was an awkward laugh that didn't sound quite right coming out of her, monotonous and not, and much deeper than her actual voice as though she was imitating someone else. Eureka couldn't replicate her response, but he certainly agreed with her sentiment.
To Byron, when she finished, she said, "Welcome aboard." Even Eureka could read his surprise.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-15 04:14 pm (UTC)