Relationship Building Exercise | Jack/R.N.A./Viper | The Furniture Car

Roadie 🪶Jack

Jack had perused the almighty instructions with little interest. He was a little weirded out by his own picture—or was it him? His nose looked all wrong. Maybe he had to chalk that up to artistic license, though, because the face scar and green hair were pretty telling. Or maybe it really wasn’t him…? Ugh. It was starting to make him feel funny, so he’d abandoned that train of debate.

Now, despite somehow being classifiable as part of the muscle of the group, he seemed to have no intention of making any of his supposed steps a reality. He hadn’t bothered to put much space between him and the Big Project before settling down on a sofa in some strange and unacceptable posture or other. His knife was out again, this time to idly whittle into what was probably intended to be a table leg.

Approach Edgelord?

R.N.A.

Roadie 🪶Jack Approach Edgelord?

Hello, Edgelord. Meet Scrutiny-Bot 3000.

After the shocking reveal on the bridge to this car, R.N.A. simply could not let such a claim go without any sort of pressure put on Jack. His words had clearly unsettled the humans on the train and R.N.A. was left to pick up the pieces once again.

Roadie 🪶Jack His knife was out again, this time to idly whittle into what was probably intended to be a table leg.

“Stop that… You are destroying the furniture.” R.N.A. knew by now that Jack was consistently difficult and contrarian, but they still had hope that one day, just one day, Jack might actually listen to the robot and stop doing something.

Viper “Watcha makin’?” Viper pops up almost from nowhere, she’s marginally more sneaky than last time, but… Jack probably still noticed her.

R.N.A. also noticed her. Somehow. But of course, they didn’t comment on it before she popped up. They knew that she was trying to be sneaky and they wouldn’t want to ruin that. But it seemed like once again, their paths had crossed…

Right. Focus. Focus on the topic at hand.

They turned to Jack. “Did you… really kill people? I… I cannot believe something like that without proof. You do not seem like a killer.” There was really no reason to assume Jack wouldn’t go around slashing people, especially considering his strange knife collection. But R.N.A. liked to see the best in people, even when they couldn’t see it themselves.

But even more suspicious than that…. “I also find it hard to believe your number… could have gotten so large by killing people. Especially when we know there are other ways-” A robotic glance was spared at Viper “-to raise your number without… bloodshed.”

“Why would you tell us that… anyway? You are just making yourself… more disliked, by spreading lies like that.” R.N.A. couldn’t understand it. Did Jack want people to hate him or something? That didn’t seem like a healthy mindset.

Viper

“Watcha makin’?” Viper pops up almost from nowhere, she’s marginally more sneaky than last time, but… Jack probably still noticed her. As Jack did. Leaning over his shoulder somewhat from behind the sofa, admiring Jack’s handiwork he was busy whittling away at. “I don’t think you’re meant to carve the furniture but hey, whatever, as long as that ain’t my table leg!”

If it was, Viper would have to give Jack some choice words. Maybe a little slap on the wrist, bad Jack, bad. Although she truthfully hadn’t even so much as glanced at her own instructions yet, Viper knew all too well how horrific furniture building instructions could be. But when she did glance at hers, she patted at her ponytail, as if she was shocked at how… weird she looked.

It was a little uncanny, if anything. But hey, she… appreciated the effort. Mostly.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Viper “Watcha makin’?” Viper pops up almost from nowhere, she’s marginally more sneaky than last time,

Jack did jolt a bit, but in the circumstances his freeze instinct won out—wouldn’t wanna go ruining his artwork, if that’s what you called this. He twisted enough to lift an eyebrow at her.

“A nice, pointy stick to bring about your horrific demise, of course.”

Upon closer look, he clearly wasn’t whittling this thing to a point, but most of his strokes had been concentrated towards one end, so who knew what he’d do with the other. Pretty hard to tell at this point what he was carving, but it was starting to tend towards… probably some kind of figure, of something.

Viper “I don’t think you’re meant to carve the furniture but hey, whatever, as long as that ain’t my table leg!”

R.N.A. “Stop that… You are destroying the furniture.”

He nodded sadly. “Ah, but one must destroy in order to create… or somethin’.” He snorted and gestured nonthreateningly with the knife. “There’s a billion legs in here, I’m sure you can make do with one of ’em if I somehow grabbed yours.”

R.N.A. “Did you… really kill people? I… I cannot believe something like that without proof. You do not seem like a killer.”

He chuckled, pretty low but for a decent span of time. Man. Man. “What would make me seem like a killer, then? Prison uniform? Shackles? Ditched those a while back. Pretty good at getting bloodstains out by now, too.”

R.N.A. “I also find it hard to believe your number… could have gotten so large by killing people. Especially when we know there are other ways-” A robotic glance was spared at Viper “-to raise your number without… bloodshed.”

He glanced between the two of them, trying to put together some pieces he’d either missed or forgotten.

“Really? You sure she didn’t just shank the little fire guy on our way out? Be pretty easy.”

R.N.A. “Why would you tell us that… anyway? You are just making yourself… more disliked, by spreading lies like that.”

“Ha!” He pointed the tip of the knife in Viper’s direction. “Don’t look at me—it was her idea in the first place, wasn’t it?”

He resumed whittling, his gaze flitting between the wood and the Passengers.

“What d’I care if anyone likes me? We’re all just gonna move on soon enough, anyways.”

Viper

Roadie 🪶Jack “A nice, pointy stick to bring about your horrific demise, of course.”

“Oh, epic!” Viper replies, much too cheerfully what Jack had actually said, but hey, he was totes joking, of course! What a silly little jape and jest the pair of them were having! “But, like, what if they do want us to use our own specific table legs, huh? That’d be so lame.” …Unlikely, so she’s willing to just let him continue whittling away.

R.N.A. But it seemed like once again, their paths had crossed…

Right. Focus. Focus on the topic at hand.

…There was something certainly strange about how RNA now looked at her. Viper had to wonder if she’d done something bad last time they spoke. Perhaps giving them back that camera had been the wrong thing to do… oh well, it was destroyed and trash by now… Hm. Well, RNA is talking to Jack, so they’re not looking at her with such an intensity that made her feel… weird.

R.N.A. “-to raise your number without… bloodshed.”

“I mean, kinda not true. My hands got a lotta blood on ’em. Dunno if it’s mine, but. Matsu was preeeeetty beaten up.” Yeah, maybe she’s gonna brag a little bit about beating up a defenseless shorter person.

Roadie 🪶Jack “Don’t look at me—it was her idea in the first place, wasn’t it?”

“Whoa! Don’t go pointin’ that knife at me!” Viper puts her hands up in front of her. “I mean, kinda made sense though, right? I mean, my number went up from fightin’ people soooooo… for yours to be that big, kinda makes sense!”