Work Text:
[CLICK]
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
Statement of-
[A KNOCK CAN BE HEARD AT THE DOOR]
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
Pyro, I thought I told you not to come by when I'm-
GOLDSMITH
(in a sing-song voice) Oh archivist! I'm here for an appointment.
[THE TELL-TALE CLICK OF A RIFLE CAN BE HEARD]
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
I told you what would happen if you came back here.
GOLDSMITH
Relax. I'm not here to lead your employees astray or whatever it is that you think I do. I'm just here for a statement.
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
You're never just here for a statement.
GOLDSMITH
So paranoid. Goodness, this is literally your job. Lighten up a little.
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
(sighing) Come in.
[THE DOOR CREAKS OPEN]
GOLDSMITH
Love what you've done with the place.
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
(deadpan) Thank you.
GOLDSMITH
Though the rifle is new.
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
Think of it as a natural precaution.
GOLDSMITH
(teasingly) Did the big, bad, Owen come by?
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
No.
GOLDSMITH
Whatever you say. Should I say the thing?
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
Sure.
GOLDSMITH
Okay. Statement of Scott Goldsmith on. Well. I didn't really have a topic in mind, but I can make it up as I go.
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
I swear-
GOLDSMITH
Okay, fine. Statement of Scott Goldsmith on his tragic backstory. March 7th, 2016.
GOLDSMITH (STATEMENT)
My memories have gotten fuzzy. I only remember what I need to, and when you've lived for centuries, that sort of means there are decade long gaps in your mind.
But I remember being a distinctly loved child. Well, loved isn't really the right word for it. I got my good night kisses from Mum and my proud of you's from Dad, when they were around. Dad had a fief to run and my Mum had more kids to be making. But I was loved. Given everything I wanted, and that's love enough for me.
Many of my peers developed strange interests, as one does when you have nothing else to do but sit waiting to inherit an ever growing pile of money. Some liked hunting exotic animals, or bull-fighting, or collecting curios from around the world. But my interest was less tangible. I was interested in the psyche.
I actually grew up a twin. His n- huh. I can't remember his name anymore. Either way, he was my first subject. Everyone was interested in violence back then, but my twin even more so. He liked it when they strung up the bodies after executions. I always found it irritating. Not only did it stink up the whole place, but it inspired rebellion as much as it bred fear.
So I found ways to… funnel this addiction. I was in charge of hiring the staff, so I gave him new recruits, people who would find ways to be subject to his wrath. I watched the glimmer in his eyes die a little each time. It was never enough for him. And then one day, someone got the better of him. I respected it, honestly. But that was still my brother. So I executed the servant too.
I never saw the need to study. Intuitively, I already knew how to make people tick. I loved how it felt when I broke a person, but I did not hunger after it. I refused to fall into vices.
I don't know when I began to lean into the fearsome. The inhuman. But I had never really considered myself human anyway. What was humanity but a death sentence, a curse to live out a short, dirty, miserable life? No, I wanted more than that. But at some point, It found me.
To be honest, I wonder if I could have courted a different fear. If things had gone differently, would I be bothering myself with what does, does not, and what has never existed? Or perhaps the crudeness of the Flesh or the irresistible decay of the Corruption? But in the end, I simple became the web that stretches above them all.
(pause)
Archivist, do you know what the fun of this all is? I made all this up. Maybe I never had a brother or a mum or a dad. Maybe I was never born at all, and was simply spun by the Mother of Puppets. Maybe I'm just wasting your time. Or making you paranoid for the sheer fun of it.
Because you know what's fun about the web? It doesn't matter if you can see what it does. You will never understand.
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
Goldsmith.
GOLDSMITH
Archivist.
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
You should leave.
GOLDSMITH
I thought you would appreciate the value in every little scrap of information. But oh well. I know where I am not wanted. And where I am. Tell me, where is your little scholar again?
[A SHOT IS HEARD, AND SOMETHING- PROBABLY GLASS- EXPLODES]
Okay, okay! Wow. Someone needs a spa day. Maybe a mani-pedi. I know a really good place right by-
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
Leave or this next one is going through your head.
GOLDSMITH
So unoriginal. I expected better. Anyway. I'm sure I'll be seeing you. Or perhaps I won't. Who knows?
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
(very forcefully) Leave!
[THE DOOR CLOSES WITH A CLICK]
And stay gone. Statement ends. Recording ends.
[THE TAPE RECORDER IS CLICKED. THE SOUND OF SHUFFLING PAPERS AND HEAVY BREATHING CAN BE HEARD. THEN THE SOUND OF A PHONE DIALING]
PYRO (RECORDING)
Hey, you have reached Jack Von Pyroscythe. I'm probably busy right now, so please leave a message after the beep.
ARCHIVIST LEGUNDO
Pyro, you need to come back here. Right now. Please. I can't-
[THERE IS ANOTHER SHUFFLING NOISE]
There's ano- how is there another tape recorder? How did I not see it? Recording ends.
[CLICK]