Six

[justdumbluck]

[Action]

[Firo's leaving 1246 Williams Road late in the morning when he spots his regain. Outwardly, the car's nothing too remarkable. Except that the sides are badly scratched and the windshield is mostly broken. The thing's definitely been through the wringer.]

What the-? This thing..?

[It's not even his, unless... The sudden presence of the car has Firo a little unnerved. He knows he's seen this before, and he's pretty sure it's Szilard's. That brings up a question: why did he regain it?]

The hell is goin' on here..?

[He growls and marches to the vehicle. Though this is worrying him- he's been trying to just forget about Szilard- he's going to do his best not to show it.

After a few moments of slowly circling the car, he attempts to push it into the street. It stays stubbornly in place. Passers-by might see Firo glaring resentfully at the car before kicking it in the tire. He'll be alternating between attempting to move it and anxiously examining it.

He's not Szilard, Mayfield's must just be trying to mess with him.]

[Phone]

[A little later in the day, Firo picks up the phone. Trying to sound casual, he asks:]

Hey, have any of you ever gotten somethin' from Mayfield that's... not exactly yours?

Comments

[answerer_sword]

Then we have progressed no further with solving this riddle. Firo, can you tell me a summary of your history with this man so I can try to figure out how Mayfield decided the car was yours?

[justdumbluck]

Um, okay...

[Geez, he wasn't expecting this sort of Spanish Inquisition...]

Uh, well, he was after my friend, so he came to New York a little while before I got taken here. He barged into our speakeasy, my friend sent me to get help and I ran into his- the homunculus he created. And then... well, I took him down and that was that.

[He's afraid to get into the fact that he has Szilard's memories; he doesn't want Bazett to conclude that that's the reason why.]

[answerer_sword]

How did you take him down?

[Perhaps the car was sentient and had acknowledged Firo as its new owner?]

[justdumbluck]

[He hesitates before deciding he can explain it to her. She doesn't seem likely to spill it to anyone else.]

The only way you can kill an immortal: I ate him.

With my hand. It's kinda weird.

[answerer_sword]

[It takes her a while to process that.]

You ate him...with your hand...

[His hand had seemed perfectly normal when they last met.]

Did eating him incorporate his DNA into you or something? Perhaps his items recognized you as him based on that...?

[justdumbluck]

Yeah. He just sorta got sucked up into it. Nobody has any idea where the bodies go when that happens, but at least it makes clean up pretty easy.

What's DNA?

[answerer_sword]

This sucking in thing...Firo, can you do it to only other immortals, or can you do it to mortals as well?

[She has to think a bit before answering his question about DNA.]

I am not too clear on that either, but from what I have heard, it is the basic unit of inheritance. It is what allows children to look like their parents and causes people to reject transplanted organs.

[justdumbluck]

Only to other immortals.

[He only understood about half of that explanation, but he's pretty sure he wouldn't be able to answer the question either way.]

...I have no idea. I don't think so.

[answerer_sword]

This regain probably had something to do with how you absorbed that man...either you received his DNA or a part of his soul. I am not too sure about this, though.

[justdumbluck]

Don't know about DNA, but I'm pretty sure that jerk had no soul.

[answerer_sword]

Then this certainly is odd. Perhaps you should try talking to the friends from your world here.

[justdumbluck]

[He gives a weak chuckle.]

I'm not sure how helpful he'd be with that, but it's an idea. Thanks for tryin' to help.

[Nobody's really going to be able to help if Firo keeps trying to avoid mentioning the memory conundrum.]

[answerer_sword]

You're welcome. Good luck asking your friends.

[justdumbluck]

Thanks. You stay outta trouble, okay?

[She might find that suggestion of concern a little insulting, but Firo thinks it's necessary, considering the condition in which he last saw her.]

[answerer_sword]

I will do my best.

[She cannot really complain about the implications of his statement. After all, she did have a tendency to get caught up in strange situations.]

[justdumbluck]

'S all I can ask.