UOW Deathsport rd 2 RP: Kronin
Kronin, for his part, sat in the new cell and watched as Valora was taken to meet with whoever planned to speak with her now. He couldn’t fault her logic.. She was a known mercenary and they faced an enemy that needed people to represent them. However, there was another option. The other option was that the North Koreans would turn the dial up to 11.. Make each round deadlier, and attempt to entertain the crowd by letting them watch westerners battle each other to the death. Kronin was sure that the latter option had occured to Valora as well.. Just as he was sure she had neglected to mention it because she did not want to add stress to her young protege. Glancing over at Abbigail, Kronin could guess what was going through her mind. Kronin was in the middle of evaluating her and determining the best approach to take when she glanced over at him and sighed. “Well since Valora doesn’t seem to want to help, how do you deal with it?” She then sighed and closed her eyes. “I mean… it sounds like from what Valora said that your match last show wasn’t the first time you’ve killed someone…”
Kronin smirked a bit and nodded his head. “No, it wasn’t. First time I killed someone… I.. wasn’t even 20 years old.. My twin sister and I were born in East Germany… Being puppets for the Soviet Union, the government followed a lot of the policies of the Soviet Union.. My sister and I were identified as having ‘athletic potential’ So.. we were separated from our family. Raised in dorms that were not much different from military barracks. Every day, or 10-12 hrs, we trained in the sports were picked for. In my case, football, or soccer as Americans call it. It’s why I’m likely one of the few people here who feels at least a little bit of pity for the North Korean girl that Huckleberry beat to death.” Abbigail’s jaw dropped in shock. “How the hell could you feel sorry for her?!”
Kronin shurgged slightly and smiled. “Because she never in her entire life made a decision for herself. She was likely taken from her family as a baby, raised in the military.. Thoroughly brainwashed.. I would bet money if you took her uniform away from her.. Her military life away from her.. She’d have no way to describe to you who she is. Her entire life was planned out for her. Someone telling her what to do, what to wear. How to think. How to dress. I guess you could make the argument that, she’s finally free now, but the tragedy is she probably never even realized she was a prisoner too. Her bars were different.. But they were still there.” After he finished talking, he leaned back a bit against the wall of the cell and regarded Abbigail. She seemed to be considering his words, which was good. Abbigail looked at him. “Valora mentioned you were born in East Germany. I don’t recall East Germany fighting anyone.” Kronin smirked. “No, we didn’t go to war.. The first time I took a life was… well I was defending another from a Russian soldier.. Luckily for me, the corrupt government on that issue was fairly just. My punishment was I had my rations halved for 8 months. For 2 years, if I was allowed out of my barracks, it was with armed guards.. Also for 3 years, part of my salary was docked to pay for compensation to the man’s family.”
Abbigail turned to face Kronin, interested in his tale. “Can you go into more detail?” Kronin sighed. “My twin sister, Kara… she had been granted leave a few days earlier than me. When I arrived, I found her lying on the snow and ice covered street, naked and bleeding. I still remember the contrast… the crimson blood stains in the white snow. The shocked looks of my neighbors.. The anger hidden under fear. But the fear being strong enough to stop them from doing anything.. One of the Russian soldier’s grabbed my sister by the hair and told her, in exceptionally poorly spoken German, and in graphic detail, what he intended to do her. I stepped forward, punched him. Grabbed his rifle and beat him to death with it.. My neighbors grabbed me and pulled me back before I could kill the second soldier.. That soldier was ready to shoot me until my normal babysitters showed up and ordered the soldier to stand down. I picked Kara up and carried her into the house.” Kronin paused for a moment and nodded. “The truth is.. You’re never going to forget this. You have a choice. I can help you deal with it in, what I believe, is a healthy manner. Or you can choose to deal with it the way Valora has.”
Abbigail turned to the door and stared at it for a long moment before looking back at Kronin. “What do you mean?” Kronin smiled. “I don’t know the full story… Valora has gone to superhuman lengths to make sure her past is well and truly buried. It’s clear to me that she lost someone.. Someone who mattered a great deal to her.. It’s also clear to me that the way she chose to deal with the lives she’s taken is… well, to become a sociopath. Try to cut herself off from human emotion, human feelings. She dehumanized herself until she could kill someone and feel nothing about it.”
Abbigail thought about this and glanced at Kronin again. “So how do you plan to prepare for your fight?” That was a good question. Kronin looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. “To be honest.. It would be helpful if I knew what type of poison they planned to give Huckleberry and I. I could draw on my knowledge and I’m sure Valora would be able to help with more information as well, that would give me a sense not only of how much time I had to get the antidote but also give me an idea of the effects of the poison. Right now, my only comfort is that Huckleberry is going in as blind as I am.. As for how I plan to handle it? I don’t have a choice. Either I kill him quickly, to put an end to his suffering, I take the antidote, and let him die of the poison, or I let him kill me. I don’t relish it. I don’t like it.. But at the moment, Huckelberry is between me and escape. Between me and getting back to the people that I care about and love. I will do what I have to.. If a way to spare him crops up, I will do so. I am, however, preparing for the likely outcome that one of us will not leave that ring alive.”
Just then the door opened, and Valora came back into the cell and turned and kicked the door close, smirking at the grunt of pain from the guard who now found himself with a broken nose. Kronin raised an eyebrow. Valora rolled her eyes. “Well.. I got a job offer.. From Warhammer. Anderson.” Kronin narrowed his eyes and Valora nodded. “I don’t have a choice, Kronin.. I want to get the three of us, and as many other people of UOW out of this shithole. Right now, Warhammer is the best ticket to do that. Allan Anderson is the devil I know.. And because I let him have his win today doesn’t mean I won’t kill him tomorrow.” Kronin nodded. “Unless he messes with your head again.” Valora sighed. “That’s why I said yes.. He claims he can reactivate that programming again.. And given what he threatened to make me do, I don’t want to risk finding out if he’s telling the truth.”
(To Be Continued)