(no subject)

Who: Everyone
When: July 1 and onward. See this post for info.
Where: Kauto + Chioni + Ingress Complex
Warnings: Potential violence. Please label warn-worthy content in your subject headers.

There's a burst of light in the sky when the Ingress breaks, a final flare followed by a shuddering that only those in the facility can feel. A flurry of panicked activity in the complex follows, ushering new arrivals to where they need to go in a hurry, with little time to give them the needed information, much less answer questions. The lights remain on, but dimmer now, life functions still operating but little else. On Kauto and Chioni below, the sky fades into an early twilight, followed by night, and day does not come again.

nerds save the world

Before the end of the day, all TABs receive an emergency broadcast notification outlining the situation. The speaker, a lead Savriite Ingress technician, does not invite panic but nor does he mince words. The Ingress is broken; their best efforts have failed to restore it. The time has come to turn to anyone who can help: scientists, engineers, those who have worked with advanced technology on any world. Formal qualifications don't matter when it could be the end of everything.

"Help us. Before it is too late."

Those who come will have the run of the complex and full access to the Ingress, as well as whatever tools are available and as much coffee as they can drink. People are encouraged to work in groups and share ideas, and a small number of young and nervous technical assistants will be on hand.

the land below

As Thisavrou is denied light and warmth, the weather becomes brisk and descends into bitter cold. Chioni is evacuated due to the effects on the already-harsh weather cycles there, although a skeleton crew of scientists remain behind. On Kauto, the arboreal Region Three and pastoral Region Two suffer the most from the temperatures and the snow that eventually begins to fall. Many crops are frozen over, and refugee citizens are driven from their homes to the Regions One and Five, where stored energy will keep dwellings warm. Save for those who choose to leave the underwater facilities, Region Four remains largely unchanged, but there are unverified accounts of strange aquatic animal behavior near the surface.

Overcrowding, limited supplies and a pervasive fear presents the opportunity for both heroism and foul deeds. Many come together to share resources, supplies and fellowship in what could be the end of worlds, while others take what they can from the unwilling or exploit the desperate. Sentient evacuees are followed by fauna from Region Three and unsettled lands beyond, in search of warmth or food or merely confused by the change in habitat. Some are unthreatening herbivores, while tanglesnakes and clownbees are more troublesome. Others are poisonous hunters, while still others are small, but dangerous when faced as a pack.

Just when all seems lost, light returns to the sky. The Ingress begins to function once more.

the coming days

As the temperatures rise, many demand answers, but most turn to the rebuilding of their lives first. Damage has been done that isn't so easily fixed, and even in the least-affected areas, remnants of the crisis show in the lack of fresh food, in the increased signs of criminal activity. Those who can help others through their own efforts of by organizing assistance are needed, but those with impure intentions are more likely to go unnoticed.

Eavesdropping on the streets may reveal a desire for vengeance. "Those intruders from last week. They're responsible for this, aren't they? What's being done?" But don't listen too closely, or a suspicious eye may be turned on you. "Aren't you one of the refugees from the Midway Hub? You should return to where you came from! All the trouble began when your people showed up!"

Life goes on. But life does not go on unchanged.

[quick ooc note: the Region 4 search & retrieval mission/RNG fight will be posted in a separate log.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The only change is that Kaz's hair has gotten a little longer. Long enough that he can hold it back into a short ponytail. He'd not gotten it trimmed before leaving the ship and didn't much feel the need to do it after. Otherwise, that reprehensible ability to barely age still stands. It's as though no time has passed concerning his looks.]

You died! [He sounds accusing right there. As if the bastard was responsible for dying. (Kaz knows that even though he warned him his vitals were off, they probably wouldn't have made it in time).] I tried to save you! Do you have any idea how long I tried to resuscitate you?

[And the men ridiculing him are thoroughly forgotten as Kaz finds someone else more worthy of being yelled at. And he descends on his position quickly, warning with the same hiss of anger-]

I'm going to hug you.

[He just says this to the man so he won't be CQCed into the ground for the emotional outburst. He grabs a fistful of fatigues and yanks him forward to put an arm around his shoulders in the clumsiest attempt at an angry hug imaginable.]

[he doesn't apologize because, yes, he realizes how utterly ridiculous it is to be blamed for your own death. instead, he's a still as stone and quiet as death when kaz wraps an arm around him. sure, the blond had taken the courtesy to warn him (even if john was fully expecting another black eye), but john could probably count on one hand how many times he had been hugged in his life.

despite being in unfamiliar territory, the old merc eventually softens up a bit. even pats his broad hand on kaz's back. no one would ever get him to say this, not under threat of death, but the last four years had been lonely. he had been spoiled by adam and kaz's presence on the moira after years of not seeing either. going back to his unit, even with frank there, it had still felt like he was missing something every day he woke up.]

I know. I remember. [there's silence for a long moment and then john chuckles. just a little.] I thought you'd be glad to be rid of me.

I was never glad to be rid of you, Snake, that was always the point. [After all, the initial anger had been that he thought that Snake had purposefully pushed him aside, out of his plans. He had thought his input no longer counted.]

[Kaz pulls back enough to take his face in his hands. Finally really looking at it to get past those initial shockwaves of 'alive' and 'back', moving on to 'older'. He has gotten older, hasn't he? More gray hair. Still the same bristly beard.]

Your hair is shorter. [He says it with that scrutinizing look behind his glasses. Kaz's eyes always have had sort of a sad look to them, it's just how they're made. But they seem to be genuinely sad in that moment. Just because it seems so much more apparent that he's moved from being the Snake he knew into the Big Boss he wanted to be. What an idiot he was for facilitating that, huh?]

[And then he just sort of laughs in his face. Too much emotion at once right there. One after another.] How will anyone think you're a wild jungle man anymore?

Edited 2017-07-05 06:11 (UTC)

[whatever rebuttal he wants to say that dies in his throat. he's grown more conflicted about if what kaz told him on the moira was true as the years have drug on. especially when he had tried to extend an olive branch only to have it thrown in his face. sometimes john feels as if the people who are closest to him just placate him with words he wants to hear, like a dog capable of violence if not calmed.

he doesn't flinch when kaz examines his face. personal space has never been an issue for him, even less at that point consider the two of them had seen each other naked. in more ways than one. he takes the chance to study the blond, too. his longer hair and the barely there lines that are starting to carve themselves in his face. miller is man that'll look 30 until he's 50 and john's almost a little jealous.

when kaz barks a laugh, john startles in the slightest, brow signaling he hadn't expected the outburst of noise.]

I had to cut it. I looked too much like Ahab. [there was only supposed to be one big boss, after all. with venom taking outer heaven over after its completion, he had to separate himself.]

And... I'm planning on going back to FOXHOUND. Have to look the part of a Commander.

[It is true, though more likely that by the time he does find Kaz again, the bitterness at being left behind had turned him off to ever hearing that he wasn't. He'd never been glad to be rid of Snake, but he was furious he had no choice in the matter.]

[Kaz shut himself away even in the years up to building up the Diamond Dogs. The constant reminders that everything was his fault. The idea settling in that he should carry the pain of his comrades. And then a rumor, one rumor, that made all the difference. Mosquito had told him that Big Boss had sold them out to hide from the world. It had been a rumor at the time.]

[After Ocelot's words? It felt true. And in the time after... well, David left it out that Kaz's attempts to reopen his life in that time ended in divorce and a lost family. He lost everything anyway, most likely because of his own personality.]

[Here Kaz isn't so isolated. He's let people talk to him. He's worked with them as colleagues. He plays guitar and he talks about history and he restrains his temper because he learned it scares his dog.]

[But his heart hurts two ways there. One. The idea that he's trying for a reason to not look like Ahab now. And for another? That he's going back to FOXHOUND and he knows exactly why. Now David's going to have to live through that.]

Yeah.

[All he says. Letting his hands drop and tucking them into his pockets. His gaze turns down, to John's chest.]

Why aren't you wearing a coat? You need a coat. Don't say you don't. [He argues before John can argue.]

Edited 2017-07-05 07:18 (UTC)

[as if john can't feel exactly what he's wearing, he looks down and places a hand on his blouse. yep, his fatigues are still that patented army green and yes, they are still fatigues fit for the warmer climates of africa. his only saving grace from the cold was the ever-present, skin-tight thermal shirt underneath.

not that it was extremely cold. not yet. sure, his arms felt a little chilly, but otherwise, he was probably doing better than most in this weather.]

I'm fine. [he argues, even if kaz had tried to cut him off at the pass. there's no way you're getting john to concede immediately to anything, miller.] I'll build a fire if it gets any colder. [just like that. literally anywhere.]

You can't just go into a city and start burning trash like a hobo. [It better be trash and not anything valuable.] I have money, I can buy you a jacket. There are some places still open.

[It might not be pretty but functional is all that's ever been necessary, anyway. Snake might only argue with traffic-cone orange because he would be conspicuous, Kaz would expect.]

Come on. Let's do this first.

[Before they talk about anything else because Kaz doesn't want to talk about losing so much all over again. It's an old wound he doesn't want to reopen after having encountered his own more real wounds lately.]

I wasn't going to burn trash in the streets. Give me some credit. [look, he knows he hasn't been among civilized people for over two decades, but he's not a complete caveman. there's this thing called paper or even wood. you burn it in a controlled fire pit. it wouldn't be the first time he's built a fire in an urban area.

still, though, it's obvious kaz isn't going to budge on this. so, the legendary mercenary sighs and proverbially bends his knee. his waves a hand through the air as if to say 'lead on'.]

Were you planning on doing something second?

[contrary to popular belief, john actually DOESN'T want to rip open any sore spots in any of their histories. he'd rather suffer in silence, like he's been doing for almost the last 30 years. unfortunately, with ocelot cornering him on dying in the future and kaz recalling his dying in the past, he's forced to Talk About It.]

I don't know. I guess I'll show you Joy again. She grew up.

[He leads him toward where he knows there are some shops, and being the frugal spender that he is they're cheap places. It means a little bit of door watching to see what's open.]

[He already knows everything. David told him. John told him before. Eli told him. He knows enough, enough that the idea behind a very simple explanation hurt. So what is he going to say to that? Especially now, after he and Venom Snake, Ahab, have been through what they've been through together? The idea that is what he's going to end up as-]

[Okay you know what? Coats. Coats are what are going to happen.]

[Kaz has always hidden from his feelings in a heaping stack of duties and errands and paperwork. He walks into an open store that doesn't have a sign banning people from the Ingress (a few did) and nods to the shop keeper before looking around.] Most of the clothes here vary in style so we can find you something that's not too retro space age. [Judgey sounding as he quickly thumbs through a rack.]

[hearing that joy was still around bought him genuine comfort. if there was anything from his last stay that had given him regret, it was the fact that he had never properly been able to take care of her. in his little time knowing them, john had kind of grown attached to that family of huskies. amazing how easy it was for him to have real ties with animals instead of the people that surrounded him.

though with that comfort, there is a little remorse. if joy is grown up, there'll be no way she'll remember him. a chance at being some kind of semblance of normal, with a pet dog, lost.]

Good. I'm guessing the whole family is doing fine, then?

[honestly, john's mind isn't on coats. still, though, he goes through the motion of looking at them and will pick up the first utilitarian, dark-colored one he can find.]

Not sure what happened to Fury. When the ship went down... there was a fight that lasted a few days. Maybe two weeks, even. Time was an issue, to say the least. [And he plucks out a coat, some dark brown thing with a posh faux fur lining on the inside he knows Snake won't care about, but on the exterior it's waterproof and simple and drab enough he could even sneak in. There's a hood, too, to keep his head dry should precipitation start.]

Couldn't find him or Bucky in the crash afterward. [He suspected the worst. That's the way his life went. But he'd hoped for the best. It's still hard to think about. He and Dave had searched and searched. But the journey afterward was rough enough that he couldn't let it press to the front of his mind. No vengeance could drive him. There had been no reason for it. Nothing but survival.]

Ocelot trained Joy in your name. So if you'd still like to take her, she's every bit as good as DD. Hardy, too. Her and Mama have handled some pretty sharp temperatures around here.

Try this on.

[He hands it to him, pretty sure that it's big enough.]

[when kaz tells him about the ship and how bucky had gone down with it, he could feel something heavy settle in his chest. the old soldier showed no outward signs that the news affected him, but he knew it would hit him harder when he was alone. bucky had been a kid, but a good kid all the same. it had been like living with a chico who had been allowed to grow up a little. even with all the trouble bucky had caused, john had always looked at him as something like a protege.]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised Ocelot took the chance to do it again. [he says dryly, referring to the gunslinger training another war dog. it didn't matter in the end who had taken her in after john's untimely departure. what mattered was that she was taken care of. of course, he should've guessed that adam would be the first one to hold onto whatever was left of big boss. at the very least, john had no doubt that joy was properly trained and obedient.

still, though, it would almost feel wrong to take the dog when she had been living with someone who cared about her. john was probably the last person to have any say about splitting up families, but he still hesitated in answering.

he tries the coat on, giving little thought to the fur inside of it. it fits just fine, even taking into account how it's slightly tight around his shoulders and biceps. there's not a jacket in the universe that would properly fit his upper-half, anyway. the major point is that it's made for someone who's meant to be moving and it's warm. good enough.]

Won't she get confused behind handed on to someone she doesn't know? Never mind her trainer isn't the same guy.

Are you planning to never talk to me again? [He says, making sure the thing gets fastened up straight and not off kilter. Not that Snake can't dress his own damn self but it's more aesthetic fussing than anything.] She'd still see us enough that it wouldn't be strange.

[And then like his own brand of heathen, Kaz rips off the tag to go pay for it so John won't have to take it off again and it's easier that way. It's after that's done that he heads back over to him. Might as well let Big Boss do the leading now.]

I had a picture of you guys for a while, but I got robbed a few weeks ago. [He just sort of, gestures in resignation. Yes, he got robbed. Yes, it was embarrassing. Yes, he's still pissed about it but knew he couldn't kill the guys.] They grabbed everything in one of my pockets, including my wallet. Pretty sure they were going for my TAB.

No money, no nothing in there. I just lost some pictures.

[Somehow getting robbed and them getting nothing out of it makes it almost worse. And it had been wounding, the loss of those few brief months he got to pretend that he had a family. They were nice months, though. Not bad at all.]

Solid and Liquid Snake both still have their dogs too. Prissy left with her owner.

[john takes kaz's fussing in stride, like he always has. it's basically kaz's version of fidgeting and who's big boss to not let the man have a tick? he can barely keep himself from rolling his eye when the blond insinuates that john had plans to never talk to him. alright, so he's not going to lie to himself and think that'll he'll be in contact all the time. with every year, john is more and more used to being alone and he has no doubt that'll he inevitably fall back into old routines here.

the thought that he can visit kaz is enough to make him want to try, though.

with a muttered thanks after miller buys the coat, he leads them outside into the quickly chilling air. hearing that kaz was mugged is almost too hard to believe. the man had been trained by big boss, for god's sake.]

How did that happen? Why didn't you fight back?

[because, while john feels a little sympathetic that miller lost his pictures, he's more enraged that someone got the best of his former second like that.]

I did... I tried to chase them down and they led me to some of their friends. But one thing happened after another and- I can't kill anyone here. Can't even hurt them. They claim they don't have a 'punishment' system but a 'mediation' one, which I take to mean that they'll apply a little re-education of some sort.

Not sure about how it works exactly yet. They present it as a generalized response to whatever crime occurs. There's no law enforcement that I've seen, either.

There might be. But they're good at flying under the radar and the Savrii are good at not mentioning them. That would mean outside of higher officials that dispense punishments that the Savrii are self-policing. Recently groups have started to form protection gangs because they're suspicious of us. I actually suspect that's why I was a target. Easy pickings when not as many people are looking out for you.

[So he couldn't stab, not like they could. He punched and he hit and he did what he did with the resources available.]

I had a baton and their weapons were a little more dangerous than mine. And I might have gotten knocked over a high railing. It doesn't matter I'm fixed now and mostly irritated that it even happened.

Come on. Have you eaten? I've got a restaurant. [He knows he can basically give Snake five bland burgers and he won't complain but he actually wants to put something in him that'll warm him up a little more.] That's where I left the dogs when I was out.

[goon squads, huh? while john was all about freedom for the individual, there was still something to be said about retaining a little good-will and order. with the refugees clearly outnumbered by a large margin, the worst thing that could happen was the savrii taking it upon themselves to become judge, jury, and executioner. irrational fear of outsiders in the minds of locals would inevitably lead from protection gangs growing into groups policing the refugees' ways of life.

kaz brushing off his harrowing encounter is true to form, but john still feels a gnawing of anger wash over him. not at the blond, of course; he had done everything in his power to fend them off. despite just telling kaz to control his temper and let the savrii say what they wanted, he knew he wouldn't let anymore attacks like that happen if he was capable of doing something about it.

if they were all truly in this together until they could go home, he would defend any refugee that was just trying to get by, like he would one of his own soldiers.]

If you keep fussing over people, Kaz, you're going to go grey in no time. [he knows miller mother-henning people is just his own way of coping with things out of his control. it's the reason why he tries to keep a light attitude instead of brushing off help like he wants to do.

plus, you know, john has never turned down free food in his life.] I should probably be surprised someone like you is running a food joint, but I'm not.

[a businessman through and through.]

It was something I could do while I waited. And something that I'm good at. [Not that John probably had the palate to differentiate. He's been very much a constrictor in that he could swallow his food whole. And possibly uncooked.]

[He leads him towards what looks like a streetcar style diner. In fact, that's exactly what it is. Here on this strange alien world. And Kaz gets out the keys to let him in, much to the scrabbling of dogs inside.] I don't think I'd look that bad if I went gray. I'm not that worried about it. [He's still at least confident that he'd still look fine and respectable. He moves the door open with his hip, leaning back to keep it propped.]

I'm planning on commissioning some non-lethal weaponry. I have a pistol but it's run low on ammunition and the stun feature on my baton doesn't work as well as I'd like. Figure that'll help more than any open attacks and give me a better defense if officials want to question me.

[As he's talking, Mama comes forward first. She remembers Big Boss better, having been old enough and spent enough time with him that she can recall. She runs up to him, sniffs, whines in confusion that it's not the person that she expected, and warbles a noise in that special husky way as she leans into his leg.]

[Joy follows her, but doesn't get in her mom's way. She's still a pretty silver and with bright blue eyes. And she's very much attempting to unscrew here head with the way she's tilting it one way and then the other at John.]

They don't sell ammunition here? [because with how long kaz has been and the fact the owns and runs a restaurant, there's no way the man doesn't have money to buy ammo. the logical conclusion is that the savrii either have incompatible ammo or none at all. considering what kaz told him about what goes for 'law enforcement' on this planet, john wouldn't be surprised if the savrii did have lethal weapons and made sure never to sell to refugees.

no matter what, if they didn't have regular .9mm rounds or sold other lethal guns, john was going to have conserve every bit of his own pistol. thankfully, he at least had plenty of tranq darts and his knife.]

Do they even sell guns?

[if they don't how dare they.

literally all his previous thoughts leave his head, though, as soon as the dogs come bounding up. there's only a few things in life that effectively distract a hardened man like big boss: boxes, food, and dogs. john doesn't hesitate to pet mama vigorously, actually genuinely smiling for the first time in four years. with joy, though, he is a little more cautious about overwhelming her. it's probably the most careful he's ever been in his life with another living thing, except for the first time he picked up joy as a puppy, as he firmly and slowly extends his hand forward for her to sniff.

it's obvious why she's so confused, if venom has been here as long as he says he has.]

Most of what I have in the way of firearms is lethal. [Which he does have plenty of. He actually has a space in the diner hidden behind a wall to store things away in. There's very little in it that won't do permanent damage, though.] No gas grenades or anything like that. They have some weapons restrictions about what can be carried on the assignment jobs they offer but sales aren't restricted. Using them here and on each other is frowned on for obvious reasons. Even the men that attacked me had knives.

But yes, they do sell guns. You don't have to worry about that.

You might want to get a variety just in case there is an ammo shortage and you need to switch out. Or make some of your own weapons. [Which he's done, too. Plenty of them.] I would prefer to go 'off grid' with it, if I were you. That's part of my dilemma.

[He's carrying on this explanation as he closes the door behind them, even if Mama is doing her damndest to get every inch of her petted by turning in a circle and rubbing against offered hands. Kaz still has left her a dog to be a dog. No need to make her more than that for him. She's something that makes him still his temper and will be the one thing that's always happy to see him and miss him when he's not around. That's Mama's job.]

[Joy, though, is good and patient outside of that moment where she was confused about the sudden Ahab that is Not Ahab. She sniffs that offered hand, nose tapping at his knuckles, before moving forward and doing the standard "now I must investigate every inch with my nose" and deems him okay to lick because her mother seems pretty enthusiastic. Kaz actually wonders how long it's been since John smiled. He seems pretty pleased to see them. He leans against the doorframe for a minute, watching the reunion, glad that Mama remembers even if Joy is unraveling this mystery man that looks like Venom Snake.]

[Then he just walks around the bar to the kitchens to heat up some ramen broth. He'll just throw some stuff in it with substance and Snake'll be fine with it, he's sure.]

[well, finally, some good news. now he's just got to find some place to store his future armory. john was usually content to have one or two weapons on him at most, but here? he knew getting a few more guns couldn't hurt his chances. never mind the fact that they were on an alien planet. what if he ran into something that required something a little bigger than a .9mm bullet?

as far as keeping them hush-hush, though, he'd have to plan a little more on that. for now, his two pistols and his knife would have to be enough to get him by.]

Good to know. If you figure out your problem, give me a heads up.

[and then he's right back to lavishing the dogs with some more attention. the difference in the dogs' temperaments was painfully obvious. mama was obviously the kind of dog would prefer to be in a lap, getting dotted on, while joy was cautious and reserved, waiting for that tale-tell sign of safety. john gives mama another good scratch to her head and joy a firm pet along the back of her neck before he finally leaves them be.

with kaz already preparing something in the kitchen, john takes his new coat off and throws it over the nearest flat surface before finding a place to sit. it's still a little crazy to think he's sitting in a restaurant owned by kazuhira miller.]

[It's pretty quaint, too. That sixties sort of style that you'd expect to see teenagers sharing milkshakes at. In reality, he picked something as close to the first place he visited with his father as he could. Always a little hung up on rebuilding the good things from his past. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.]

[He doesn't even mess with noodles. It's basically ramen broth and pork and eggs and seaweed and sprouts and for god knows why, despite knowing the whole thing is going to disappear without a thought, he garnishes it with chopped green onions.]

[So Snake has a huge bowl delivered to sit in front of him with a large spoon.] Don't eat it too fast. It's hot. It should keep you going, too. Lots of protein and iron. [And he goes over to a distant wall of his diner, crouches down under the booth there, plugs something in, and a door-sized panel opens up.] Give me another moment. [He disappears inside, comes back out with a gun that he places on the table in front of John and a couple of clips. And then a med kit from under his arm.]

Just try not to shoot any people. Not while you're in a Savrii run area, anyway.

[As if he were some sort of weapons and ammo upgrade and health recharging station. In any case, after delivering his starting loadout he finally takes his seat as his strange little incomprehensible secret hatch closes.]

[would you also like to rub his shoulders while you're at it, kaz? there's about a whole five seconds between kaz putting down his lovingly crafted bowl of broth and john digging into it. despite not being in polite company for the last six years, john manages not to wolf the whole bowl down in one go.

he's actually too distracted by miller disappearing into some kind of... secret room in his restaurant? why the restaurant of all places to have your metaphorical panic room? unfortunately, the old soldier's not interested enough to ask and if he knows his former second, and he does, then he knows that kaz has a reason. something john might not pick up on immediately, but then, kaz has always been a little more convoluted than him.

~~of course when you're as think as an oak tree, that really doesn't mean anything~~

it comes as something of an unexpected surprise when the blonde brings back a weapon and a medkit. did kaz think john wouldn't always have weapons on him? although big boss hadn't been expecting to be spirited away, he barely ever slept without a gun in his hand.]

No promises. [remember that one time he tranq darted someone on his first day.] Gotta say, I'm a little confused why you're treating me so well.

[Kaz shrugs mouth tensing in a quick frown.]

You know... when you died here... I got mad for a bit. Not at the twins. They couldn't help what happened. I just had to sit there and be angry that it was no one's fault. Paz was here... I had to tell her- I had to tell her -that sometimes things just happened. [And he snorts at how inexplicable that sounds. He'd told her to calm her, to keep her from going after the twins and to keep Ocelot from exacting his own revenge.]

And then I actually cried. I had to tell her that. Broke down in front of her.

[And Paz had said for him not to, because there's only one person Snake would ever cry for and it wasn't Kaz.]

Actually really glad to see you're not dead, I guess. I'm giving you a kickstart on surviving this time.

[there was a lot going on with this conversation very suddenly. kaz crying over him, paz being around for his death, the twins apparently having some part in this? probably the logical topic to go after would be the apparent culprits, although he couldn't imagine how, of his death.

instead, there was a long minute or two where big boss was honestly baffled that anyone could ever cry over him. he wasn't so delusional that he believed himself just another foot soldier, but, at the same time, there was always an inevitability of him being killed at any moment. back home, the only one who would have truly mourned him would be ocelot. even he wasn't blind to that fact. when he had a heart attack on the moira, john thought they all would've moved on after the initial shock.

after all, death wasn't exactly permanent there. or so he had heard.

but he doesn't say any of that. he doesn't ask why. there's just the smallest ball of regret, coiling in his gut, that he had allowed any of them to get that close.]

Wait, Kaz, what do David and Eli have to do with that? I had a heart attack.

[so unless they somehow arranged for it to happen, he couldn't understand miller's logic.]

That's the thing. They didn't directly have a part in it. They were infected with a virus, I'm not clear on the details, meant to specifically attack their DNA. What no one realized in a stroke of genuine... [he makes a motion from his head outward, just staring off towards the middle distance] ...obliviousness, is that you had that same DNA. It was made after you were dead, after all. No one thought about it. Eli and David had been forced to live with the virus while on the ship. That's even how Eli died back home. A heart attack caused by the virus. That's what it does. And David had been working on borrowed time. A death sentence.

Apparently, you came in direct contact with one of them- [possibly when certain children were interrogated, though he does not know to point that out] -and so. Heart attack. Even though I saw your vitals going, there would have been nothing I could do.

They're cured now. It happened after you died. But it would be worth a trip to a doctor to make sure you're in the clear. Paz thought- well... she thought it was Cipher, doing what it does best. Maybe it was. I know FOXHOUND was involved somehow. [Kids that are around his age. But he remembers Eli being a punk all too well, even familiar with him as he is now.] They sure as hell didn't want to be affected by it.

It shouldn't be a problem again since they're cured but I want you to know it exists. You so much as get a cough, you find a doctor. There are better resources here than what was on the Moira.