The Die is Cast

Everything was already in motion.

The detectives have arrived in the town, the man has already made his moves on one of those feds, the plan is already in motion, and everything else just needs that one push of a finger for the entire town to be thrown in cinder. Metaphorically speaking, of course, though some of us were speculating as to how literal that metaphor might turn out to be.

Which brings us to the enigma of this tale so far.

As the man thinks of ways he would handle the situation at hand, one person stood beside him, hiding beneath his shadow like a silent apparition that would obey all the commands that the man would ever spout. Looking at the screen in front of you, we can see a photo showing that Subject 1 is formulating many ways in which he could tackle his offense against the two federal agents that are trying to get him out of his little metallic cave.

On the corner of the photo is a slender, pale, and short man, silently preparing Subject 1's dinner. He never speaks unless the man tells him to do so, and he only does what the man asks him to do; he is the perfect definition of a machine with a flesh. He has what Subject 1 wants the most, and he also has all that Subject 1 needs. In fact, he also has the body that Subject 1 seeks whenever he hunts for a partner. One might even think that he's Subject 1's manufactured toy according to his preferences: pale skin, thin body, black hair, remains silent, obeys orders, knows how to do household chores impeccably, and more than anything, he is capable of thinking like a highly educated person because he is! Though he doesn't realize it, he is far more intelligent than he gives himself credit for. In fact, this entire plan that Subject 1 is trying to perfect came from him. Subject 1 is very much aware that the competence of his new plaything doesn't end on its ability to rock a man in the bedroom.

He's the perfect 1930's woman but without a breast and with a built-in dick.

Yes, that's the enigma.

 We've seen many victims so far. That man you see who is standing in the corner of the photo is one of many such victims, and most of the notable names that the man has scratched off from the face of the earth share the same quality that he has.

Mary is a sex expert. Laura is a subservient and submissive lady. Carol is an intelligent lady, but not smart enough to move independently. There's also Chris, who unintentionally unraveled the man's obsession with necks, but Subject 1 never really involved himself sexually with the rest of Chris' body. Jean might be an irrelevant topic from start to finish, but Subject 1's idea of her in his drunken state is that of a petite, white woman who is way shorter than him, and those qualities are always relevant when we talk about Subject 1. Patricia is also worth our time, for it shows us exactly what type of person does Subject 1 avoid as a partner.

If we make a checklist, we can see that Subject 1 has a somewhat predictable pattern when it comes to the people he wants to fuck.

Having a dick is not on the list.

Being a man is not on the list.

Yes, Chris is a boy, but as we've discussed earlier, Subject 1 did not have sex with Chris; the only thing of interest when we talk about Chris is his neck--that's it!

However, with all that being said, Subject 1 still engaged with a man sexually, Subject 1 still treated a man the same way he would treat his female victims, and Subject 1 still kept a man around.

Subject 1 spared Justin's life.

And this is not just an enigma in the case of Subject 1! Note that Justin has all the opportunities to escape the man's clutches. He could literally save a lot more time for the entirety of the police department if he just said the right words. In fact, he's the first person that ever had the chance of telling the police everything that Subject 1 had done. More than anyone in this world, he was the only one given the opportunity to end Subject 1's murder spree once and for all.

It is a popular topic among my team that leaving Justin alive in that storage room was... well, a mistake! A decision derived from a stupid thought of trusting a stranger. If I were given the chance to handle the storage room crisis at that time, I would choose to kill Justin at that moment; no questions asked! However, clearly, we are the ones mistaken here. Justin didn't snitch and went to Subject 1 to aide him in many ways other than sex.

Their odd connection doesn't end with just them merely not wanting to kill each other. Looking at the next slides, we can see more photos of them during their most mundane moments doing something well, unremarkable, but not in the context of Subject 1.

See, this photo shows Justin hugging Subject 1 from behind while he was working.

This photo shows Justin sitting on Subject 1's lap while the man was conversing with a client online.

Oh, this one photo is my favorite. It shows the two of them sleeping on the same bed together. Notice the outlines of their bodies behind the blanket. We can clearly see that Subject 1 is embracing Justin as they sleep.

Yeah, this next photo is Subject 1 and Justin bathing together in the river. What makes this moment a point of interest is the fact that Subject 1 is the one washing Justin's hair.

Lastly, this one photo is them eating together, and we can clearly see that Subject 1 is wiping some kind of grease on Justin's cheek.

I know what you're thinking, why am I showing such mundane gay shit? Alright, hear me out, ladies and gentlemen. I had monitored Subject 1's life before he even started his murder career. These mundane and sweet-looking moments are weird precisely because Subject 1 never engages in this sort of thing. The man never wants people to bother him while he's working, the man never wants to wash someone else's hair because he thinks it's dirty, and the man hates touching people, let alone have someone else embrace him. And you remember that photo where he's wiping grease on Justin's cheek? He's not wearing his usual gloves at that time. These are all anomalies that we cannot explain in simpler terms, especially when we know what sort of person Subject 1 is.

I just...

I think that, uh, you know, these are all specific characteristics that Subject 1 definitely doesn't have. In my limited knowledge, we can clearly speculate that Subject 1 is doing romantic activities with Justin, which is, again, something that Subject 1 never does! The closest he had ever done that we can even remotely call "romantic" was when he invited Laura to go to a picnic with him, and when he invited Carol for a glass of coffee. However, knowing the outcome of those events, we are all made aware that they are not activities done with romance in mind. They are all manipulative sentiments that served as a cherry on top of a bloodied cake. Never did Subject 1 perform something we could otherwise call "romantic" without reason.

Subject 1, however, still does all of those subtle romantic quips with Justin without a murderous grand narrative in mind. He just wants to do it, and he wants to do it with him.

Which brings us to the fact that our project, though breathtakingly impressive in a technical sense, is still very much imperfect. All of us can clearly observe our limitations based on the Justin data alone!

We simply do not know what's going on inside their heads.

We have all the technology in our hands; we have all the products and inventions here with us, but none of it manages to aid us in knowing what goes around these two people's heads during those times that they were together. The only thing we can do is to speculate and wait for what they would do next before we could come up with a reasonable conclusion. And we did. We've waited, and we've speculated but to no avail. Nothing exciting ever came out of their romantic moments. Subject 1's relationship with Justin simply has no reasonable conclusion...

Other than the fact that it's just the actions of two quiet people in love.

And I mean, ugh... I dislike that conclusion, but the "love" hypothesis is like Rome in this case, all roads lead to it.

No other data backs that hypothesis up other than the information we had gathered the night before Subject 1 talked to detective William Barnes in the bar of Justin's friend.

The scene was perfectly laid up for the perfect murder in Subject 1's career.

Full moon.

Windless night.

The night is young.

The birds are nowhere to be found.

Subject 1 is carrying a knife in his hand, a knife that Justin himself has perfectly sharpened for an entire week, not knowing that it would be used for this very purpose.

Outside of the van.

Beneath the cloudless sky.

While Justin is kneeling on the ground.

Subject 1 is carrying a knife in his hand, a knife that Justin himself has perfectly sharpened for an entire week, now knowing that it would be used for his murder.

Justin stayed on the ground, kneeling.

He doesn't want to die; nobody really wants to.

But he still had a warm smile on his face as he held the man's bare hands.

Subject 1 is carrying a knife in his hand, a knife that he would use to murder Justin because the man can only accommodate 1 pet in his life. That's always the way he does things in his life, one step at a time, one person per bed, one body per blanket. This is just how he does things. If he already sets his eye on a new target, then he would simply kill his present plaything and get on with it. Justin is no exception. That's just the way it is. We already accepted that as a team, we are already starting to scrap the "love" hypothesis away. This is the end for another victim, though this one had more involvement with Subject 1, he's still a victim regardless.

"Do it, sir. We planned this to happen, and the plan never included me. I understand. You need to be alone on this one, right? I understand. Dying for you is..." Justin gasped as he felt his owner's hands gently caressing his cheek. "... dying for you is necessary. I understand, and I accept your decision. It's the right decision."

It is needless for me to say that the man is desperate. The world has its eyes on him; the town folks are looking at each other with doubts hanging around their heads. If he needs to leave an ember every step he takes to erase all the traces of his sins, then he would gladly do it. Set the world aflame for all he cares, but he knows that he will be the one to ascend from the torrent of flames. Thus, looking at this clip of the two of them together, it is clear to see that killing Justin seems to be the right idea. After all, Justin has no place in Subject 1's life anymore once the man captured the federal agents.

Which is why what happens next is something I always find interesting.

"Why?" Subject 1 silently mumbled as he gripped the knife tightly.

Let's pause that clip for a bit. Now that part is what I find interesting the most. He asked a question. Don't you think it's weird? A murderer who never regarded the people he killed as humans has started asking his newest victim a question that begs a human answer.

Oddly enough, a man like Subject 1, who had nothing and knew no one, thinks that he has a lot to lose. More than anyone living and breathing in Salem, he is probably the person who had the least reason to survive, for, contrary to his belief, he actually has nothing to lose, yet he's the most desperate among all of them--craves it more than anything!

Killing Justin as swiftly as he could, with no further dialogues and no further questions, is the best thing that Subject 1 should do, given the fact that he really wanted to live. Ending this fickle relationship he has with Justin is the best course of action, for it removes a pest in his plan, further improving his chances.

Now, we can go in-depth about why Justin is a bad investment for Subject 1, but we can already infer this fact through the many times we've seen Justin, from the very beginning until the very end. He's simply an unpredictable factor that only causes my team unnecessary stress! It seems that the only one who's not worried about the many detriments that Justin can cause is Subject 1!

Justin paused after hearing Subject 1's question; perhaps, he, too, was surprised that he was still not dead. His smile slowly broadened as Subject 1's gentle hands moved to his chin. He then opened his eyes, reflecting the light of the moon on his big eyes.

"I never knew life before I met you. All my friends are better than me. My family doesn't really like me. Everyone else just doesn't know I exist before you came. You gave me a purpose, sir, you gave me a life." The man then started to stroke Justin's chapped lips, feeling the roughness of his eyes, which oddly brings both of them a sort of joy that only the two of them could understand. "And I am more than happy to know that you are also the one who will take the life away from me. I am so happy!"

And he wasn't lying. His eyes are filled with the glisten of a euphoric gem, his broad smile shows the shine of a priceless pearl. The man sees this magnificent sight, and the only thing he could see there is nothing but a work of art.

The man then knelt.

He embraced Justin while still gripping the knife in his hands.

A murder with a final hug, something he never did before, but as a team, we are already pretty much accustomed to see him do things to Justin that he had never done to his former victims. Seeing more out of character moments for the last time is not such a bad thing.

And as he tightly felt Justin's serene body in his arms, he swung the knife.

And stab! Disturbing the silence all around with the sound of his knife, hitting something hard yet soft at the same time.

All of my members weren't looking at the scene, perhaps because they had already felt close to this Justin figure already, for, after all, he is Subject 1's longest partner so far.

But I didn't. My eyes are open wide. I saw it all.

His knife hit the soil, as he pushed Justin onto the ground, kissing him as tenderly as he could with all the loving feeling that directly came from the heavens itself, defeating the love of all the gods and the angels. And though the world is wrapped currently around a state of weightlessness, their bodies exude a blinding flash that puts the stars to shame.

"Stay with me, Justin, and I promise that you will never be bored." Subject 1

Tears then swiftly burst out of Justin's shaking eyes, showing the anxiety he has been keeping to himself since the sun had fallen. "Are you really fine with me?" Justin asked, still willing to die with his arms opening the Reaper before him. "It's just me. I'm just me. I have nothing else. Are you... are you really okay with me?"

"Yeah. You'll do just fine. We'll do this together."

Together he said, and together they did. Hours after meeting William Barnes, Subject 1 and Justin were already carrying the detective's unconscious body towards their van--their metallic sanctuary.

And after wrapping the federal agent with chains, Subject 1 fucked the ever-living shit out of Justin for the very first time.

"I love you, Master."

"Yeah."

The detectives have arrived in the town, the man has already made his moves on one of those feds, the plan is already in motion, and everything else just needs that one push of a finger for the entire town to be thrown in cinder. And this time, maybe it's not so metaphorical after all.

 Everything has already set in motion.