The White House grounds were no longer in their short cut and trimmed perfection. They had been reduced to muddy trenches and bunkers speckled with tents and other similar posts. Anti-aircraft cannons and mortars were set up strategically throughout and heavy machine gun nests lined the perimeter along with large amounts of razor wire. The only remaining piece of the old grounds is the black fence that runs around the whole thing, with only a large whole missing for vehicles to pass through.
"<What truth about me?>"
Rocco said, shaking his head and trying not to roll his eyes "<There's hardly anything to tell now is there?>" He looked around, there was a door outside closeby. He moved through the door quickly, stepping out into the fresh air and taking a deep breath. Hardly fresh actually. He looked around, the blank mask staring at Sigu "<Go on then. Astound me.>"
Following him outside,
Sigu paused as she looked at the grounds. It had been so attractive when they had arrived. Now it was more like her home. Kind of comforting, but not at all anything that a normal person would want to live in. "<He told me that a soldier he was sending overseas had a very black secret.> Ve all have zem." Sigu looked down at the dirt, making a face at the well packed ground. "<I am the perfect assassin because I feel no pity for my target. I cannot feel anything for them. I cannot feel anything for anyone.>" She hardly seemed upset by that revelation. But then, she wouldn't really be upset anyway. She looked up at Rocco. "Vhat is your dark secret?"
"<And why should I tell you?>"
Rocco asked "<It's already been said that the nether got me. Isn't that all you need to know?>" He tapped his mask quickly, rubber on metal making a dull thud noise "<I wear this for a reason ok? And that reason is because I don't want people to learn my terrible terrible secrets.>"
"<Because I am the only one who, even under torture, will not share it with anyone else,>"
Sigu explained. "<And that will not be for your benefit that I will not share it. It is mostly for my own.>" Her tone dropped to a whisper and she took a step closer to Rocco. "<I have my own plans for how this little coup will end, and it may not fully be in certain higher ups favor.>"
"<Oh really? And why are you telling me?>"
Rocco asked simply, though he was interested. If they could somehow just.. get a way to get out of this, without hurting anywhere else. "<What is making you want to look under my mask? What is making you tell me about your own little... plans?>"
"<Because I need help,>"
Sigu said, looking away from Rocco. "<No matter my plan, I cannot do it alone, as much as I would like.>" She glanced back at the man, a twinkle in her eye. "<And as long as I have a partner, I will not be tempted to kill him. I would also protect him the best I could. Your reaction to the interrogation room told me that you might be the man I need.>"
"<And why should I trust that you are actually planning something? And that you aren't simply seeing if I would betray my country?>"
Rocco pointed out, glaring down at Sigu through the greek mask "<Lets get this straight. I love my country. I am happy I come from the father land. But what is happening now... this is not what the Nazi party promised. We were meant to make Germany strong again.>"
"<I am not betraying my country by doing what is in the better interest,>"
Sigu said with a frown at Rocco. "<This is not in the better interest of anyone from the father land. You can see that, can you not?>"
"<I have seen many strong countries reduced beneath this damned Nazi party. We do not serve the people, we bleed them dry. To bring demonic forces into this world... there is nothing good about that.>"
Rocco stroked his chin, the voice in his head was disagreeing with him; it like this world, so much suffering to the innocents. "<Fine. You have my interest. At the very least, if this is deceit, I will have died for my own reasons, not when this damn party destroys all.>"
"<He will run out of enemies, and people like us are at the top of the list to be cut down when that happens,>"
Sigu stated. "<I for one want to build a stronger Germany. But this is the wrong way to do it. My name is Sigu, by the way.>"
"
Rocco" he said, sticking his hand out to her, the rubber gloves making it safe to shake "<I was angry at the US before... now I just want every country to go back to where it started and get itself sorted out. Germany is in ruins, and every other country we have marched through is destroyed.>" He sighed, then looked around at Sigu "<I will help you. If that is what you want.>" He didn't mention looking at his face, he still liked to avoid that subject.
Sigu gave Rocco a small smile. "<That is what I want as well. I was never angry, I barely cared one way or the other as long as I still had my home. When that was taken from me, I decided to make my own home.>" She shook her head and looked once more at Rocco with seriousness. "<If you do not want to share with me, that is fine. But I will find out eventually.>"
"<I want to know why you want to know first>"
Rocco said firmly as he gazed down at Sigu "<I can be your partner without you seeing what I look like under the mask. Why is it so important that you see my new face?>" She'd smiled... strange, he hadn't been expecting that.
"<I do not want to see your face, I want to know why you do not show it,>"
Sigu said, as if it made all the sense in the world. She gave Rocco another smile, actually making her face a little more...human. "<I never said I wanted to see your face. Why do you hide it so much?>" She lifted her own tinted glasses, revealing the blue, glowing eyes that she had. They could be unnerving, but maybe he would trust her enough to tell her. It was another seduction technique. But Rocco need not know that.
"<Because my body has been taken over, and my face was the first thing to change>"
Rocco said simply, staring into those eyes that sparkled "<I hide my face because if people just saw how it was now then they would be scared. I frighten people enough how I am, I don't need another reason for people to be scared of me.>"
"Zere is very little zat scares me,"
Sigu said in English, trying to get her point across. "<But if you would rather not share, that is your own business. I scare people, too.>" Her grin was a bit self satisfied. "<They like to turn and walk in the other direction when I enter a hall or room.>"
"<I would rather keep to myself. If you do not mind not seeing my face then I do not need to show my face.>"
Rocco nodded to Sigu, changing his language to English as well "Unlike you, I do not enjoy scaring people. It just... happens with me."
"I vas raised to scare people. It is not a conscious zing."
Sigu looked out towards the the grounds, seeing some of the large monuments in the distance. "My fazer raised me to be a killer, to wizstand ze tortures, and zen he volunteered me for zose experiments." She looked at Rocco, completely serious. "I vould not have gone zrough viz it if I had a choice."
Rocco nodded to Sigu slowly, crossing his arms and gazing at the girl. Sad life... people deserved better than that. "And what if you had a choice? What if whatever we're thinking about works and you can suddenly look after yourself. What will you do then?" He wasn't ready, not yet, to show his face... He needed to learn about this girl.
"I vould learn to care about ozers,"
Sigu responded quietly. "I cannot now. I cannot find a vay to care. Not unless it benefits my own goals to keep zem alive." She looked at Rocco. "Honestly, people should not trust me. I vould not trust me. I am a center of selfishness." She knew that she was speaking the truth. And she also knew that she didn't care one way or the other if Rocco understood what she was saying. But if he trusted her to tell the truth, then he would be more likely not to want to attack her.
"I trust you to want me around"
Rocco said simply "So for now I trust you. You approached me for this." He tapped his face shield, the metal mask staring down at her "How do you think you're going to start caring for others? Do you think it will just... happen?"
"No."
Sigu had to stop and think about it for a moment. "But I zink I can learn to not vant to kill everyone. If zese people vould just leave me on my own, zere is no doubt zat I vill eventually learn somezing different zan vhat I vas taught."
"I think maybe being around people and knowing you will never be asked to kill them might help"
Rocco shook his head at Sigu "Maybe I'll show you my face, when you're more of a person. Talking to me just might help... I have a feeling you don't talk to a lot of people."
"Up until now, ze only people I spoke to vere zose zat vere giving me assignments and zose I vas about to kill,"
Sigu said quite honestly. "It might surprise, but I am not vell liked among ze Fuhrer's men."
"It's not a surprise"
Rocco admitted "You weren't exactly the friendliest." He shrugged and moved off, heading to try and get to a nice private place.... maybe she could go along, it was nice to talk, but he liked sitting in cool and dark places.
Sigu followed slowly, thinking on what he had said. "How does one act friendly?" she asked. It would be a good piece of information to have. She knew how to seduce, but not befriend.
"Well selfless acts are a big part of it... you might have a problem there"
Rocco pointed out "Generally taking an interest in people, their lives, why they are who they are." There was a nice bombed out hole, someone had stepped on a mine, made a crater, then that crater had been deepened. He sank down into the dark, damp hole, water resided in the very bottom as he settled there, dipping his feet in "Just... do whatever it is you have been told not to."
That last statement confused
Sigu, who slid into the hold, avoiding the water. "I do take an interest, just not in ze same vay as everyone else." Her eyebrows crinkled as she thought. "It is ze 'why' of it I do not seem to understand. Vy vould I care vy zey are ze vay zey are?"
"Because that is usually how people act. And if you want friends, if you want to be friendly, then you need to act like that. Also, some people find it necessary to act like this... just something about not being lonely"
Rocco sighed softly... when had he adopted this little psycho?
Dulhelm walked out of the door behind Rocco and Sigu. He walked right passed the two of them without a second glance, but he logged it in his mind along with a note to have the both of them watched for a bit. Nothing about what they were doing was suspicious, but he didnt see either of them as the social type.
Sigu heard and saw Dulhelm go by. Her hands itched to go to her weapons, but she refrained. The man was a menace, someone who needed to be watched. With a frown, she turned back to Rocco and realized what she had done. "Sorry. Zis vill be harder zen I zought."
"I thought it would be"
Rocco sighed as he heard the person go past... He looked over, the General, well he could just bite him. He wasn't planning on doing anything, not right now at least... He just wanted to sit in his hole and talk to this mad woman.
Kao walked briskly through the door after Dulhelm. He wasn't struggling to keep up, though the general had managed to get a bit of a lead on him. He smiled to Rocco and Sigu as he walked past them, they wouldn't recognize him, but he had just seen them not too long ago
Dulhelm came up to an casual looking limo, as the driver opened the door for him. Looking at the limo one would not realize how heavily armored this thing really was, nothing short of a direct hit from a Howitzer would cause this thing to stop. He stepped in and took a seat on the other side, allowing Kao to get in with no trouble.
"Well today was fucking weird"
Rocco muttered to himself, closing his eyes and relaxing back in the ditch he was sitting in. He wished he still smoked, but it didn't have the same affect on him as it had before. Now it was just a stick...
Sigu watched as Kao walked by. There was something that struck her as familiar with him. But she didn't recognize any of his features. Which was strange. "Do ve know him?" she asked, gesturing in the direction of Kao, who was walking quickly across the grounds.
Rocco looked over and frowned at the man, though the mask stayed a dead set look of tragedy "Don't think so... Must have met him though... I mean he smiled at us didn't he? Who smiles at us?" It was a mystery for the "I don't care" twins, and they were getting the job done quick "Look, have you got anything to actually DO?" Rocco asked Sigu.
"Pace, scare people, ze usual,"
Sigu commented, still looking in the direction of Kao. "I have nozing until I am given an assignment."
"They seem like a cheery couple."
Kao told the general as he climbed in, taking the seat that was offered to him.
"I believe that is what is most worrisome."
Dulhelm said as the driver shut the door and then entered the driver's seat. The car set off along with its escort of four Half-tracks for the
District of Columbia.
"<Free up for the day? You want to go drink or something?>"
Rocco mumbled, he didn't see much in his day after being taken away by a general. "Or we could pop down to that man in the dungeons and try to put his ears back on."
Sigu gave Rocco a strange look. "<I do not drink.>" When he mentioned trying to put the man's ears back on, she tilted her head slightly. "Put his ears back on? How vould ve do zat?"
"<Needles... thread... blow torch or summin>"
Rocco muttered, wondering this himself... Surely there must be a way, he left the ears down there after all. He just thought it would be a nice deed.
Looking at her hands,
Sigu frowned again. "<We could sew them back on? Would that work?>"
"<I saw a doctor do it before, way too many times. Sharp fingers>"
Rocco said with a shrug "<Maybe not with ears, but with other bits. It might work... or we might end up sewing bits of dead flesh to the sides of his head.>"
"<We would be better to not try. The general may find it insulting and then come after us.>"
Sigu's first rule of life was self preservation, and anything that might endanger that was a bad idea.
"<I suppose. Shame about the guy though...>"
Rocco muttered, nudging the dirt with his foot "<Squashing the rebel movement? They really think that is going to happen?>"
"<We have too many. And they are fighting for a greater cause than ours.>"
Sigu sounded a bit bored. "<We will lose. The only question is how much will we lose?>"
"<A lot... a lot a lot>"
Rocco almost laughed, splashing his feet in a puddle "<Nothing I can do about it though...>" It was an open invitation... this girl had to have SOMETHING, she had approached him after all... She had to have some plan.
"<I already know what I have planned,>"
Sigu said. "<I was smart to pick you, though, because you speak their language fluently.>"
"Oh yey"
Rocco was showing off a bit right now, he did like that he could speak different languages, but honestly... "It's the demon inside. Understands all the languages, turns it around and then lets me speak it. Handy talent, wish it was from a better source."
"<So long as it is handy,>"
Sigu said. She didn't finish the sentence, leaving it hanging. The end would have been 'I can use it', but she figured he would be insulted by that.
"The accent does get tiring after a while..."
Rocco commented "I mean... it's just so much easier to speak it with the original accent, they get confused less." He sighed and closed his eyes tight for a moment, he was getting a demon headache... It was a bit like a regular headache, but the demon tended to get very angry while it was happening, probably his body ripping itself apart... What did he know? What did anyone know?
"<Are you okay?>"
Sigu asked, curiosity sparking her interest when she noticed Rocco's sigh and quietness.
"<Yeah... yeah, headache>"
Rocco grumbled softly "<I get them sometimes.>" He shook his head, he wished he could take the helmet off, release some steam "<Like having a hammer knocking the inside of my skull. A hammer that likes to scream.>"
"<Sounds painful. I would not like to have that.>"
Sigu stood and looked towards the White House again. "<I hope the general stays away for a long time today. Then I will not be bothered to follow him again today.>"
"<It is painful... usually... go in a bit though>"
Rocco groaned, trying not to be too rude to Sigu, even though he was sure the girl was used to it. He hated these headaches, a constant reminder of what was inside. "<So... what do you want to do now>?" he asked, wanting some kind of distraction.
"<We could go stand in the hall and stare people down,>"
Sigu suggested, half joking. She shrugged. "<I really have no other duties today.>"
"<aren't you just a bundle of fun>"
Rocco mumbled "<How about... we just go to a bar, get something to drink, or eat, something that isn't just sitting here...>"
"<That would work as well,>"
Sigu said on a nod. She wiped some of the mud from her pants and climbed from the hole.
Rocco actually liked his hole time, it let him relax and think about what was going on in his life in peace. The interuption was probably what gave him the headache in the first place... "<Alright. You know anywhere good?>" Rocco was rather new here, he didn't know everywhere.
"<We could break into the private stashes here in the kitchens,>"
Sigu suggested. The kitchens were usually pretty empty because of the large rooms that had been transformed into dining halls.
"<No... No I don't fancy being around here any longer. Should we go into town?>"
Rocco had no idea why he was still talking to this girl... perhaps because she seemed to be looking at him not as a terrifying monster of a man? That was a nice change after all.
"<I have not explored the town around here,>"
Sigu said. She nodded. "<That might be enjoyable.>"
"<Right... try not to scare too many people>"
Rocco said, knowing that he would probably scare people a lot more at first glance. Wiping his clothes down he started to move out of the front lawn of the white house. Now where should they go...?
Hiking across the grounds,
Sigu avoided the few guards that were posted. "<I will try not to scare too many of them,>" she replied to Rocco as she followed him.
"<This is going to be... interesting>"
Rocco mumbled as he headed out into the city. This is going to be... well, an experience. At the very least it'll make them some more enemies, or people not wanting to look at him in the street.
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