[He's never told anyone this story. No one. He's amazed he even still remembers it, but the one thing the Eye couldn't take from him were his memories. At least, not with Wolfwood. Livio seemed to have been a different story. A more "perfect" specimen produces by the doctor's twisted experiments.
Wolfwood sighs deeply, his head dropping back with an audible thunk against the wall.]
I lived at that orphanage. Hopeland. And, one day...a shrimpy kid scared of his own shadow was brought in. Kept me awake at night, crying for his parents. I figured he'd get over it eventually like the rest of us, but he just kept moping around. So...I figured I'd see what his deal was.
[He pauses, the sound of people talking distantly still humming through the floorboards.]
We became friends pretty fast after that. We were kids, so. [He closes his eyes.] He was always following me around. Always trying to keep up.
But then. Wasn't long after that when they showed up. They'd said I'd been "selected". That I was special. I didn't understand what it meant, but everyone seemed so...happy for me. They waved me off like I was getting adopted or something.
[...]
Rollo. I don't need to tell you what happened to me next. Or why I'm...like this.
They did to Livio what they did to me. They made me believe that if I kept jumping when they said how high, he and the other kids would be safe. All a fucking lie.
cw: implied child experimentation/abuse
Wolfwood sighs deeply, his head dropping back with an audible thunk against the wall.]
I lived at that orphanage. Hopeland. And, one day...a shrimpy kid scared of his own shadow was brought in. Kept me awake at night, crying for his parents. I figured he'd get over it eventually like the rest of us, but he just kept moping around. So...I figured I'd see what his deal was.
[He pauses, the sound of people talking distantly still humming through the floorboards.]
We became friends pretty fast after that. We were kids, so. [He closes his eyes.] He was always following me around. Always trying to keep up.
But then. Wasn't long after that when they showed up. They'd said I'd been "selected". That I was special. I didn't understand what it meant, but everyone seemed so...happy for me. They waved me off like I was getting adopted or something.
[...]
Rollo. I don't need to tell you what happened to me next. Or why I'm...like this.
They did to Livio what they did to me. They made me believe that if I kept jumping when they said how high, he and the other kids would be safe. All a fucking lie.