“I would like to start further back than the day the conflict happened. It was nearly a week ago that we noticed something was not right. Vezaias had only been awake for two days. In those two days there seemed to be a transition. Remington began to behave much differently. He became withdrawn and quieter, especially while Vezaias was around. What complicated things was Vezaias seemed to develop a new talent to cloak himself as well as Remington from our talents, first noticeably Skyler's talent to read their past as well as Sigil's insight. There were several times we noticed things that were red flags. I noticed while treating Remington for injuries, that he was covered in bruises and bite marks. Skyler noticed that Remington wasn't as social anymore. He would actively avoid eye contact and interactions with him. We tried several times to communicate, and get some sort of indication from Remington that he needed our help, but we were always met with denial or refusal. We have since discovered that Vezaias was in fact trapping people as he saw fit, as well as plotting things that we have yet to understand. Remington was working along side him however claims to have been controlled in some way while being abused by Vezaias behind closed doors, perhaps to help force his cooperation. Now I think maybe we should hear Remington's side of the story. Remington, would you please tell us what actually happened. How exactly did he manipulate you and abuse you?” Remington was quiet for a minute and stared at the floor trying to think of what to say.

  “Why does it even matter?” Remington said solemnly.

  “It matters a great deal. If you want us to kill you as you have said, you need only convince us by telling us all the things you did to willingly help Vezaias, if that is the case. If you want to save your life and seek redemption, you must tell us how exactly you were abused and controlled into assisting Vezaias, either way it is necessary for us to know the truth and why we should choose to vote either way. So please enlighten us.” Remington was fidgety now. He did not want to talk about what Vezaias had done to him, but there was no other way. Of course he had said he just wanted them to kill him. It would be easy to just tell everyone he did everything because he wanted to help Vezaias, then they could all kill him for it, but now that he had made some sort of contact with Vezaias, he couldn't let them vote for his death.

  “It started because while Vezaias was dead the first time……I spent a lot of time with Ava…..” Ava looked up quickly at the highlight. “We ended up doing some very intimate things. At first it was so I could patch the hole in my heart that was from Vezaias dying, Ava filled that void for me. The closer it got to Vezaias's activation the more I realized…..” Remington paused. This would be a strategic admission. “…….that I was in love with Ava.” Ava looked struck. “Of course when Vezaias returned I had to choose between them, and I chose Vezaias. Now that I look back I think I probably chose wrong. Ava wouldn't have done all of the horrible things to me that Vezaias did, but I didn't know that until now.” Remington said unhappily. Ava looked emotional and stuck staring at Remington. Remington purposely avoided looking at him.

  “Vezaias found out what we did, and he made me feel shitty for it, guilted me into begging for his forgiveness, that's when I told him I would be loyal to him, to prove to him I wouldn't hurt him like that anymore. Then I told him I trusted him and from that moment on he took control of me.” Remington said.

  “What sort of control did he have?” Zexich asked mildly.

  “He could stop me from talking, he could track my location, he could tell me what to say, he could talk to me internally…..but he didn't control me constantly. He let me do what I wanted most of the time, but if I said or did anything he didn't like he would hurt me. So I was always afraid to talk to anyone, especially Skyler, because Vezaias seemed to act most manipulative and aggressive towards Skyler. He stopped me from saying a lot of things or interacting with Skyler every time he was near me.” Skyler looked very serious now.

  “Did anyone actually witness this abuse, maybe he is just lying.” Ziona spoke up. Remington cringed.

  “He is not lying, but if you need your own personal confirmation perhaps Skyler can show us.” Sigil said.

  “I can. Rem is that alright?” Remington only shrugged. “Think of a memory…. Something that will show us how he hurt you.” Remington was nearly in full panic attack now but suppressed it painfully as he thought of one memory in particular.

  “It was one week ago. Vezaias and I were in the void. I wanted to use my telescope talent to see where it would take me since before it would take me to see Vezaias while he was dead. Vezaias didn't want me to do that. He got angry.” Remington said. Skyler put his hand on Remington's shoulder and began to project the memory.

  “Well I was going to check out my telescope and see if…..” Remington began reaching for the button again. Vezaias grabbed his hand, startling him.

  “Wait! You told me you used this telescope to find me in the Dreamscape right? Well I'm right here, so I don't know why you need to use this thing anymore.” Vezaias said, cutting him off.

  “Well to see what would happen if I used it now that you are alive.” Remington said, looking apprehensive.

  “No Rem, no more telescope. Just stop!” Vezaias pressed.

  “Why can't I check?? I'm just going to see where it will take me!” Remington said looking frustrated.

  “Because it's not safe!” Vezaias snapped.

  “I will be careful! I have my crystal blade and I am much stronger than I used to be! I will be alright!” Remington turned to press the button but Vezaias snatched him up from the terminal and dragged him away.

  “No Rem! You are going to listen to me! I said not to mess with that shit so fucking leave it alone!!!” Vezaias shouted, slamming him to the ground.

  “You didn't listen to me when I told you to stay away from my brother and now you won't listen to me when I tell you not to use that telescope! If you don't fucking start trusting me THEN I WANT NOTHING MORE TO DO WITH YOU!” Vezaias screamed at him. Remington slammed into the ground painfully with a cringe holding his head and now cowering in fear half expecting Vezaias to attack him again, but instead he only turned away from Remington.

  “Please Zay, I won't! Don't leave me!” Remington begged as he cringed on the ground.

  “Do what I fucking say then. You stay the fuck away from that telescope. Or I will be done with you.” Vezaias said firmly.

  “I just don't understand why!” Remington sobbed.

  “YOU DON'T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHY!! YOU JUST HAVE TO DO WHAT I SAY!!!” Vezaias turned around and in the blink of an eye Vezaias shot forward and slammed into Remington. He strategically bashed Remington below the shoulders so as not to make any visible marks on him Remington yelped in pain as Vezaias continued to beat him.

  “I'm sorry!” Remington cried. Vezaias smashed him again then pressed forward sinking his teeth into Remington collar. “AHHHHH!!!” Remington sobbed and struggled.

  “ARE YOU GONNA FUCKING LISTEN TO ME?!” With another smash Remington collapsed into Vezaias's arms in tremendous pain.

  “Yes! I will do what you say! Ugphh! Please stop it!! Ugphh PLEASE!!” Vezaias dropped Remington to the ground. He landed with a thud and cringing in pain holding his sore shoulder and chest.

  “I only hurt you as much as I know you can handle. It makes you stronger, and I need you to be stronger. So I will hurt you as much as you can take. Understand?” Vezaias said seriously, looking down at him menacingly.

  “No….ughh…….I don't…” Remington huffed in pain.

  “You will eventually.” Vezaias said smoothly. Remington was now crying. “It's time to wake up Rem.”

  Vezaias shot forward and clutched Remington by the neck and began to choke him. Remington struggled and gagged as Vezaias clamped down on his neck, cutting off his oxygen. He clawed at Vezaias's wrist frantically while thrashing and kicking. He began to panic as Vezaias angry face towered over him. He began to lose consciousness and painfully choked for one last breath of air just before everything faded to black.

  Remington was blank for a long moment as the memory played. He could almost feel Vezaias's teeth sink into his skin. Everyone was horrified by the violence that Remington suffered from Vezaias’s attack. Skyler moved towards Remington looking very destroyed.

  “Rem…” Skyler began. He looked heartbroken for Remington.

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  “Why didn't you stop him? You are stronger than him!” Ziona demanded to know.

  “I didn't want to hurt him.” Remington said softly.

  “You didn't have to hurt him, you just had to stop him!” Ziona huffed in frustration.

  “I couldn't just stop him….he was trying to help me.” Remington said seriously.

  “He was abusing you Remington.” Zexich said firmly.

  “He was trying to make me stronger.” Remington pressed.

  “He wasn't making you stronger. He told you that to manipulate you into compliance. If you thought he was making you stronger you would be more likely to let him abuse you.” Zexich said seriously. Remington cringed. Maybe Vezaias really was hurting him on purpose. Remington broke down into tears now. Skyler quickly took him into his arms and hugged him. He was shaking and sobbing into Skyler's chest now. It was a long while before he could collect himself enough to continue. Skyler stepped back and let him speak.

  “From then on I was much more careful about doing what he wanted, even if I didn't want to do what he expected me to do. There were several times when he would hurt me like that, and no matter how bad I wanted to tell someone I just couldn't. The day of the confrontation, my only real objective was to protect him. Beyond that everything else I did was forced by his manipulation and control over me. I never wanted to hurt anyone. We had both hoped to leave the situation with Ava, without confrontation. Of course Vezaias told me to be prepared for a fight. It was like he knew it was going to happen. I was so brainwashed by then that I just did what he expected immediately. It wasn't until after it was over that I really felt the crushing reality of what I had done, and I regret all of it, all the way back to the very moment I chose Vezaias over Ava, but of course I cannot take it back now. All I can do is try and fix as much of the damage as I can, starting with trying to recover Maxwell.” Remington explained, still streaming with tears. “I won't give up until I have freed him, so I only ask that you keep me alive long enough to do that. Beyond that if you vote to kill me then I accept my fate.” Remington fell into silence now.

  “I do want to make it known that Remington has kept to his word and has since been very cooperative, despite the pain he is in from his injury, to help recover Maxwell, and has since located him and he has been diligently working towards figuring out how to free him from the delusion that Vezaias trapped him in.” Zexich explained. “Do you have any ideas yet on how to do this?” Zexich asked curiously.

  “I do, but I haven't had a chance to test it yet. I hope it will work, but even if it doesn't, I won't give up until I free him, like I said that I would.” Remington said softly. It was quiet for a moment.

  “Do we have enough context to proceed? Or is there anything else anyone would like to know before voting commences?” Sigil asked.

  “I have a question.” Demetri spoke up. Remington didn't bother to react. “Are you still loyal to Vezaias?” This was a horrible question to ask. Remington wouldn't be able to lie about it. He could only sugar coat the answer as much as possible and hope for the best.

  “That is a very intriguing question, Remington, do tell, are you still loyal to Vezaias?” Zexich mused. Remington paused for a long while considering what to say.

  “I am.” He said flatly. “If by some miracle you were to recreate him, and he would come back, I would fall right back into his control, willingly. I would not be able to resist. I would continue to do whatever he tells me to do no matter how much I do not want to do it. Maybe I am still brainwashed, but without him here to control me, and maybe I do have Stockholm Syndrome, either way……” Remington paused, looking destroyed. “……..I guess it's a good thing he is dead. It's hard to be loyal and take orders from a corpse.” Remington cringed. “I don't know if it will ever go away. If I will ever stop feeling like he is looking over my shoulder or inside my head, or ready to beat me for insubordination. That's one reason why I would accept my fate if you vote to kill me. So I can finally escape from him looming over me in death. So I can stop feeling drawn to him. So I can recover from the damage he did to me. I really don't feel like I can do that while I am alive.” Remington cringed and hid his face in his hand.

  “Remington I know it may not feel possible now, but I do believe that you can recover from this while you are alive.” Zexich said reassuringly. Remington was quiet.

  “We will vote now. First we must decide, should we punish Remington and protect our group by condemning him to death. With such a serious punishment I will require it to be unanimous.” Sigil said very seriously. Ziona raised her hand, so did Lucius. Nobody else voted. Remington looked around. It seemed he had convinced everyone to keep him alive.

  “He will live. Now we must decide further, should Remington remain part of our group? Anyone who believes he should be banished from our ranks forever please vote now. Majority is required.” Sigil continued. Ziona, Lucius and Khallie voted to expel him. Nobody else voted for this. Remington was amazed that they still wanted him as a part of the group. “Very well, Remington, you will not be kicked out. I do propose that he remain on a probational status temporarily until such time that Maxwell is recovered and we can rebuild the trust we have lost. This means Remington will not get his keycard back yet and he will be under tight surveillance from myself as well as Skyler. He will also be cooperative in an investigation if we feel there is any suspicious behavior. All those in favor of this consequence, vote now. Major is required.” This time everyone raised their hand. “It is settled. Remington you will remain as part of the group but on probation. You will receive some of your privileges back and the rest once Maxwell has been recovered. You may use our facility again, the gym, the kitchen and so on, only under heavy surveillance, you will regain access to your bedroom and join us in the briefings as well as vote in the next decision.” Sigil explained. Remington only nodded mildly.

  “Do you have any questions?” Sigil asked.

  “Am I allowed to leave the base?” Remington asked.

  “For what reason?” Sigil asked seriously.

  “I want to see Demetri in Reality.” He looked very unhappy.

  “I will allow it only if supervised.” Sigil said. Remington nodded again.

  “Now we will move on to our next issue. We need to vote on what we should do about Lux. He is not exactly an official member of our group. We did recover him in enough time to secure a chance to recreate him. For those of you who do not know yet, Lux did in fact commit suicide. We do not believe anyone else was responsible for this happening.” Sigil explained.

  “How do you know this was self-inflicted?” Ziona asked. She seemed angry.

  “I made a medical assessment after securing his body. By the angle and degree of the wound placement I can be sure this was self-inflicted, also he was in a delusional world alone at the time. Skyler was there immediately when he was discovered to witness that with the amount of time it took his body to die, there wouldn't of been any way anyone else could have been there to do it, plus we have a suicide note that was left behind.” Zexich explained.

  “He was associated with Vezaias, and I don't think we need to feel responsible for him. If he wanted to die enough to kill himself, then maybe we should let him stay dead.” Ziona snapped angrily.

  “I think the fact that he was associated with Vezaias is fairly irrelevant. Vezaias did trap him into a delusional world. He could be considered a victim just as Maxwell is and just as anyone else is that he has trapped.” Zexich continued.

  “But doesn't he also have some sort of mental illness? I don't think it's safe to recreate someone like that!” Ziona snapped back.

  “I do want to reinforce the fact that people with mental health issues are not inherently dangerous. As Sigil, Skyler and I have all assessed, Lux did not seem dangerous at all beyond the fact that he was desperate to see Vezaias. He did have a weapon but purposely did not shoot anyone and only used it as a way to proceed to his destination.” Zexich explained.

  “Lux isn't dangerous. He just got stuck on an idea that he had to see Vezaias again. I have spent time with him; he was actually a very docile person.” Remington said solemnly.

  “Well I don't fucking trust anything that you say to defend him!” Ziona snapped again.

  “You don't even know him! He was a decent guy! He helped me find Maxwell!” Remington was now getting angry.

  “And I don't believe that you had absolutely nothing to do with this! People that hang around you are suddenly put in danger, killed, or locked away in some delusion!” Ziona retorted. Remington retracted now and looked away to the floor trying not to feel hurt over this.

  “Ziona, you are out of line. Your feelings for what Remington did to Rocks is compromising your ability to think rationally about the situation with Lux.” Sigil pressed.

  “Well someone has to be outraged over it! I don't see why we should trust someone new who was affiliated with Vezaias!” She yelled. “He should just stay dead! Just like how you should have let Remington die after the battle!” she continued.

  “Ziona, you need to leave this briefing immediately and go calm yourself down.” Sigil said with authority.

  “I refuse to leave until I have voted!” She retorted.

  “I will count your vote. You have made it very clear which option you would vote for. Now go.” Sigil said firmly. Ziona stood cupping her pregnant belly in her hand and leaving very angrily through a portal. After she left it was quiet for a moment.

  “We will put it to a vote then. All of those who believe Lux should be recreated please vote now. Majority is required to proceed.” Remington, Skyler, Zexich, Ava and Sigil all voted at first which wasn't enough to pass, then Demetri reluctantly raised his hand.

  “Only because he helped us find Maxwell.” He said seriously.

  “We will proceed with Lux's recreation as the majority has voted.” Sigil said. “This is all we had on our agenda for this briefing. You are all dismissed.” Sigil announced. Remington did not do anything immediately as he wasn't sure what he should do.

  “Remington, may I speak with you in the laboratory for a moment?” Zexich asked after approaching where he was sitting.

  “Sure.” Remington said unhappily. He got up to follow Zexich but was abruptly stopped by Ava.

  “Remi, I would also like to talk to you too….if that's alright?” Ava said very meekly.

  “Um….sure I guess.” Remington said. “I'll be there soon Zex.” He said towards Zexich.

  “At your earliest convenience Remington. I will see you soon.” Zexich said politely, then left through a portal. Remington returned his attention to Ava.

  “What is it Ava?” Remington asked. He still looked very unhappy. Ava couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

  “Can we go somewhere more private?” Ava asked.

  “I guess. I don't have a keycard so you will have to take me.” Remington said unhappily.

  “That's alright, come with me okay?” Ava said and he opened a portal for them to exit.