2022-04-24: The Old Man From The Sea

Cutscene: The Old Man From The Sea

Cast: Andrey Sergeivich Kalinin, "Seina"

Where: A cell in the A21 base.

Date: 2022-04-24

Summary: Seina returns from retrieving her brother from the Shuffle Alliance, to discuss the situation with her captive. And have a few last thorns jabbed in her side.

--

He's already awake when Seina shuts the door behind her.

The captive is an older man, but he has lost not one mote of strength. Tall, muscular, gray hair kept in a neatly trimmed beard around his mouth and swept back on his head. The very image of a man of authority. Is that all it takes to draw her eye? Some of the men seem to think so.

But, there's more to it than that, Seina thinks, as she grabs a chair, sweeps it around so she can sit down with the back towards him. The bandages on his belly and arm have been replaced. She wonders who thought to do that. His foot is handcuffed to the bed's frame; in his condition, even someone of his obvious strength will be quite incapable of bending to even attempt to pick it. Barely alive...barely even with the strength to talk.

"We found your girl," Seina says, idly, as he stares silently at the ceiling. "Bit of a tumble, but I assume she'll be fine."

"...then you've found him," the old man, Kalinin, says.

"Oh, yes," Seina says. Her face barely moves; a permanent mask of near-smugness that never budges. A facade. Her mentor taught her that. "And soon enough..."

"You'll do your mentor proud?" he asks. Despite herself, she finds herself flinching. "Blood of the Samurai, was it?"

She should retreat, but she finds herself riled. "That's right. That witch trampled us. Rooted us out like pests! All we wanted was to learn how to live!"

He looks at her - his head barely moving, but it feels like he's run her through with his gaze. "So this is your revenge?"

She chuckles, and stands. "That's right," she says, and that confident smile comes across her face. "We will paint this town in our crimson. Destroy it completely and leave it in the same horrible flames they left ours in."

He looks at her. She's not even facing him and she can feel his eyes. "Is that the memory you build for him?"

Her teeth grind, involuntarily. "What do you mean?"

"Seiji Takechi is gone. All that's left is the actions you perform in his name."

Seina glares at the wall for several seconds, before walking back out the door.