fingeronthebutton | Duplicity IC Inbox

[Elias is busy doing some paperwork. Before Jon opens the door, he calls out to him.]

Come in, Jon.

[Without looking up, he continues to add his signature to things before setting them into neat little piles. From the looks of it, he's managing the finances currently. Making sure everything is in order and legal. He only pauses when Jon speaks, smiling with some amusement as he sets his pen down to look up at him.

Jon might be standing but it very much looks like he doesn't have power here.]

Do we now. Well, what do you want to talk about?

[That knowing grin makes something in Jon twist. He almost wants to just walk right back out because there is no possible way this conversation is going to end in what he wants. But he has to try. He has to try.

Jon holds his head high, shoulders stiff, and marches up to the desk.]

I'm afraid it's- this isn't going to work for me. I appreciate the offer you made and... this. [A vague gesture toward the paperwork.] But I-I believe I need to find someone else.

Oh? Well, I'm afraid I'll be remaining here according to the terms of my contract.

[Sitting back in his chair, he rests his hands in his lap, waiting with a smile for Jon's reaction.]

[Don't panic. Don't start panicking.]

I'd like to see your contract. I am allowed to fire you. I own this building.

[He... really hopes he's allowed to fire Elias.]

[Reaching into his desk, he produces a copy of his employment contract. Even at a glance it's pretty to see that it's a legal document. Notarized and everything. He slides it across the desk then leans forward to rest his chin on his laced fingers.]

According to this, I can only have my contract terminated by my own wishes or if I violate the terms of our agreement as listed here. You will see that all of our conditions are listed in detail to have it clear what these terms are and what they are defined as. I should also note that it states very clearly that you must prove I have violated these terms as well.

[He laughs softly.]

It was very kind of you to allow me to write up my own documents. I was more than willing to let you write them up so you could have a way to terminate my employment too.

[Jon grabs up the documents and begins scanning them. Half of it is legalese that goes somewhat over his head, but Elias outlines the salient points and the Archivist sinks slowly into the chair across from him. This can't be happening. This is a nightmare. An actual nightmare. Somehow. His own. It's- One mistake. This can't have happened because of one stupid decision he'd made.

Except, that's how you start an apocalypse.

Jon's hands are shaking slightly as he sets the contract back down. He could destroy it. He could destroy this document and then there would only be the digital copy. That could be hacked. He could get Tim to wipe it out. But... it was digital. If the only copy of it was digital, Elias could alter it at-will.

It's getting hard to breathe. The room feels oppressively small, like the walls are pressing in.]

I- That's not... [Fair. This isn't fair. He looks up at Elias.] Why? Why do you even want this?

The archives were originally mine, Jon. Is it so wrong to want to make sure they are run properly?

[Rising to his feet, he goes over to the window. Opening it up, he takes a deep breath of air then lets out a sigh.]

You did well to keep me from them this long. But I always get what belongs to me in the end.

[The Archives. Jon's eyes widen slightly.]

I'll move them. I can move them from this building. Move the-the Institute branch. I could have a different building, away from you.

[Even as he says it, there's a sense of wrongness that strikes him. He doesn't want to move his Archives. It feels right here. Like it belongs. Jon is aware enough to recognize the Eye prodding at his hind-brain, kicking up his instinct to hold to this place that has, for better or worse, become something like its temple in Duplicity.]

Why would you? This place is suitable and I would still be attached to the Institute. I work here and where you go I go.

[Elias looks back to him, slowly walking towards him as he does.]

You could say that you have bound us together. Or rather, I have bound us together. All in a neat and tidy legal document you approved of.

[What can he do? What the hell can he do? Jon's eyes drop to the contract, then flit over Elias' desk. There's a letter opener, and for one wild moment, he thinks to take a leaf out of Melanie's book and try to just stab the problem. It's a wild fantasy because Ginger's face flashed up a moment later. Agnes might be all right. She had the Desolation to protect her. But Elias has bound himself to an innocent woman here. Is her death worth it? The potential deaths of every Institute employee a world away?

But they're practically already dead, aren't they? The sky is filled with eyes and he has known their terror and agony and the ecstasy of that terrible knowledge. Too much for one body, one Archive.]

If I'd known what was in it, I wouldn't have agreed.

[Jon's chest rises and falls rapidly. What should he do? This is exactly the sort of scenario he's been trying to avoid since this bastard appeared in Duplicity.]

I-I can still- I could break the contract anyway. I could break it and you'd have to sue me.

[Court cases are supposed to take ages, aren't they?]

Do you really want me getting the courts involved in this? With what I know about the various lawyers and judges? Do you want to take away from their focus on what your dear friend Rafa is trying to get done?

[He shakes his head then walks closer to him still, standing over him. Towering over him.]

Something you even provided a statement for. Do you want to damage his efforts by making yourself look poorly for firing someone illegally? I know what is in the works, Jon. I know you don't want to ruin things for them with your need to remove yourself from my presence. To remove me from this building.

I- I don't...

[Jon shrinks back into his chair. He wants to lash out. To do something. Anything. But with the elder avatar looming over him, he just feels small and incredibly foolish, his mistakes laid bare across the desk. Elias had given him the opportunity to avoid this. He'd given Jon the choice to draw up the document himself, and Jon had just pushed it away and told the other man to deal with it.

This isn't a fight he can win on his own. Not unless he's willing to sacrifice something: Ginger's life or Rafa's case and the suffering of everyone in the LIEs program. He thinks about destroying the archive entirely, burning this place and the Institute here to the ground, but what would that accomplish? The Archivist is a creature of the Eye. It's archive. Intentionally or not, he would rebuild. And he'd start archiving. Because the alternative would be taking verbal Statements, becoming a monster lurking in the shadows, ready to torment anyone with an interesting story who crossed his path.

He hangs his head, staring down at his hands in his lap.]

May I... leave?

[Whatever confidence he'd walked through that door with is in pieces on the ground.]

You may.

[He picks up his coffee and pauses there. Then he smiles again as he looks over at Jon.]

Oh and Jon? That document is but a copy. I have the official record of it on file. Hard copy and digital. It will do you little good to try and do something later.

[Elias takes a sip of his coffee.]

I wish your friend luck with his court case.

[It's a relief when Elias steps away, but even still, his presence in this room, in this place looms large. Jon stands up, hating the pervading sense of helplessness sloshing around like ice water in his stomach. He feels sick with it. With himself for just letting it happen.]

You're very thorough.

[It's his only comment before he's out the door and slinking down the corridor like a kicked tomcat. He'll just... record something. Nothing like a feast of unsalted crackers to wash down the humiliation.]

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