#zoraxis messing around

[apollo-fizz]

@hapyvika @mariiiibug

zoraxis x grammarly collab.

[agent-calivide]

It is Bitching About Things That Do Not Matter O'Clock, but like. I know poking fun at John Juniper is a delight. I love calling him a bitch and insulting his acting and stealing his masks, but- he's not- he's not completely incompetent, y'all know that, right?

Firstly, Zor would never hire someone they didn't think could do the job, but also a lot of Juniper's fuck-up's are directly tied to either the EOD getting lucky or Zor literally setting him up for failure.

Like, we know he's good at keeping a mask on even in a moment of panic, when the Masque of Red Death blew up the first thing the did was shout "This is not part of the show, everybody run!" to evacuate the theater, something to convince the public he was a Good Man and kept suspicions around him low.

On Jet Set, the only reason Phoenix doesn't die is the EOD getting lucky and happening to have the autonomous jet's instruction manual in their records. Like, he had signal jammers, he left on the DNA Identification security system, and he sabotaged the missile defense system just in case they had to turn to plan B. These are not things left on a jet made as a custom trap for Phoenix, the pieces to save themselves wouldn't be there if it was. This is a normal jet that Juniper uses that he ensured got sabotaged so the Phoenix would be a sitting duck. Even if he didn't personally put out orders to have the jet get sabotaged, he did have the foresight to put a few boons on the jet that could kill Phoenix. Explosive cigars, poisoned food things like that. "Please, enjoy! I picked up a box of those just for you!" So he knows what to supply the agent with to try and cut this little problem short, and even if those don't work there's still the missile and the Zoraxis base they were headed to anyways. Phoenix getting out of that mess was combination of nosiness and pure dumb luck on the EOD's part.

We don't see much of him in Eaves Drop, but we do see that Zor and Fabricator are already planning on disposing of him by using the Mimic Mask and that he is generally doing a damn good job at tricking the heads of state into various traps for the most part, we just saw it with the Prime Minister in Stage Fright and we're going to see it in Party Crashers with the Primere later.

Party Crashers is where I think most of this "Oh, he's just a whiny baby" comes from, and it absolutely is John at his worst, but it get treated like his baseline??? Like, he loses his cool, he screams, he panics, he absolutely freaks out, but he also is throwing a party to kidnap the last head of state, is being chastised by the Fabricator, his friend of multiple decades is backstabbing him actively (as Gibbs should, but it's just another stressor for Juniper), several bombs have dropped or his party got a smoke grenade thrown in it, alarms and sprinklers have both gone off, and nOW SOMEONE'S TOUCHING MY FUCKING COLLECTOR'S ITEMS?! I too would be losing my shit. Add in he is seeming surrounded by people being incompetent (throwing grenades without closing hatches, missing their shots, some reason the tank of lethal gas is empty, the woman who was supposed to be helping is just laughing at you and your entire team of security is dead save for a small handful and it's all because of ONE person???) and I can't blame him for not being chill, suave, or particularly clever in that moment. And to be frank, I think every IEYTD "Final Boss" has a moment of foolishness. Solaris throws you radiation boxes that you use to take down the Death Engine and literally says "Calculating force... aaand CATCH!" and I could make a whole other post on Prism's speech on the mountain side but they're not defined by those "worst" moments. Mostly because they don't last nearly as long as Juniper's, but that doesn't mean it should be his defining moment either.

Then, in Safe and Sound, not only does he successfully trick the agent into thinking he's the Handler in the first place, but he has them drugged, kidnaps them, and then admits that if he had it this way he would have just shot the agent. No fanfare, no crazy traps, if John coulda, he would have shot the agent in the head while they were unconscious and called it a day. But Zor is the one who wants the trap, the footage, the fanfare. Juniper is pissed that the jet didn't work as is, and now he can't even just take care of the agent the easy way and ensure that they're out of the way. He says he expects the agent to find a way out, he know what they're capable of, and he's sure they're gonna find a way out because he's the one that's been dealing with them for the last week! Zor is the one who thinks this trap is gonna work and demanded Juniper put Phoenix in it. Yeah he gives a theatrical monologue, but if he had say in the matter he wouldn't get the chance to in the first place!

Then in Rising Phoenix, HE MAKES GOOD ON THAT THREAT. Try to pick up anything that you dropped on the ground outside of the elevator, tell me how that goes for you. He's got scary good aim, he sees the Phoenix and immediately goes "well, shit, one sec folks, I gotta kill this agent" and then just pulls a gun and starts firing. And rather than focusing on the agent, he does have the foresight to shoot a MOVING, FLOATING TARGET so you can't do anything to him! He is very capable with a gun and likely the only reason Phoenix survives Party Crashers is Juniper doesn't have a firearm. And then, in a moment of panic as he hangs from a catwalk (that absolutely should not have had its powerbox so obviously out in the open if Zor wasn't planning on the agent either killing him or putting him in a position for Zor to pull the trigger) he tries to plead with the agent. He doesn't know the mask is a death trap at this point, and the only choice he has is to hope the person in the room with him can help pull him back up from the pit. He puffs up his chest, acts like he has all of the cards, but that's because that's the only chance he's got of making it out of this thing alive. He doesn't know the mask is what's gonna kill him in the end, he just knows that the Fabricator, the crazy lady who makes death traps for fun, has something in the room with him and that Zor intends on using it to finish John off.

And once John's toast literally Zor just shakes their head and mockingly calls him a disappointment before turning to Phoenix and saying it's in their hands now. But the entire time that Phoenix is working on this briefcase, Zor is teasing them, toying with them, and is audibly disappointed if you fail to disarm the briefcase in time. Phoenix was supposed to get the briefcase, John was supposed to die, and he really was implied to be doomed from the very beginning.

He's not a whining, screaming, incompetent bumbling idiot. He is very capable, he is literally just set up to fail so Zor can see Phoenix perform.

Edit: just for clarification, I do think he’s rather petulant, bitchy, he can be whiny, he’s an absolute douche, and what he did in that cellar is nothing short of a tantrum, my point is just that he isn’t a completely incompetent man baby. He knows what he’s doing and in at least one situation had more sense than Zor (Safe and Sound).

[enhanced-operatives-division]

Junicrane/Starstruck Ramble

I will not be brief, all under the cut

To clear some things right off the bat:

No corpse, no proof with Juniper. Obligatory this is set in a canon where he's alive and adjacent to the agency in some way.

Reggie & Juniper are just gay to me, but I don't mind any interpretation of their sexuality

The games are set in 1967/68 to me (based on a couple bits in game) which is before it was legal to be gay in America at least (1971), which is relevant to how I interpret canon as being somewhat grounded in reality, despite unrealistic elements.

This is just an insane amount of headcanons/elements of and AU all culminated into one post. I will talk about some headcanons like they're just facts because they are established in my head, and it saves me over explaining literally everything, however I will explain some parts a little bit for clarity.

Alright. Actual beginning of the ramble:

Juniper is a character to me who had gotten so lost in his job as an actor and a social presence that in the end his whole life revolved around that 'role'. Because of this, by the time he's put into the situation where he's around the Agency, he basically knows nothing about himself, though he doesn't realise at first. Furthermore, what little identity he had has changed in so many ways. He's no longer a beloved famous actor in the prominence of public light, he's legally dead and he tarnished his career just before he was supposed to die, with the bonus of that making him lose the majority of his estate. From that, he also has horrific facial scarring from the electrical burns from literally having his face fried. I believe a friend of mine made a post about this a while ago (I also think they were the first to think it up also), but, to me, Juniper has a permanent trimmer in his right arm (aka his dominant hand) from the electrical current and it is messing with his nervous system.

All in all, he's not doing great, but he's too proud to admit that he's not doing great, because if anything, what's left of his ego is all he has as a defense since he's deep in unfamiliar water.

Before ending up around the agency (I have multiple interpretations of this, so I'm just going to bring it up generally), he'd never actually seen Reggie, and his only impression of him is a single voicemail, which was his only reference he had to later impersonate him. Juniper probably has very little feelings other than the ones he projects onto him because of Phoenix and that, at the very least, he's physically attracted to Reggie to some degree (that's like the beginning of how everything else would tumble into place in this sort of interpretation at least).

And on Crane's side? His feelings towards Juniper are probably very intense and muddled. On the one hand, he adores musical theatre, and that's his now ex-favourite actor. The thought of just casually being around him blows the bit of fanboy in him away at first because THAT'S the GUY, plus the inklings of a celebrity crush which still poke at him. And then there's the rational side of him, which knows Juniper has committed absolute atrocities on the side of Zoraxis, and hates him for that. Then there's how much Juniper comes off as an asshole at first because he refuses to cooperate with anything the Agency tried to put in place. He finds Juniper endlessly frustrating, and yet he's stuck working with him since, afterall, he's the one who knows the Agency's history with Juniper the best. I imagine him acting a lot like how he does IEYTD 1 around Juniper.

At this point, I'm just describing the pitch for a romcom.

I think the start of their relationship with one another largely started with Juniper trying to wind Crane up. It was a way of getting his attention, and I don't think Juniper knows why he's so dead set on that at first, because I don't think he realises he has a crush on 'this grump' at first. (I think that's actually the fun part about these two, because it's almost like a role reversal of the celebrity crush dynamic. This ex-big name actor has a TERRIBLE crush on an average joe and it is KILLING HIM.) But of course the Agency keeps them together because Juniper is at least conversing with Crane, so it's a start.

Through one way or another, they actually get talking casually, at least mildly at first. It takes Juniper a long time to fully deconstruct the wall he's built, and the thing is, Crane isn't the one trying to deconstruct it, at least at first, because yeah, Juniper realises if he wants Reggie to actually like him in any way, he can't keep winding him up. So they talk. Small talk at first, something rhythmic and almost easy to keep to a script. And over time that turns into actual conversations. Genuine ones in which Reggie rips out the occasional one of his jokes which Juniper is endlessly endeared about. The way he smiles just before he makes them, like he wants to chuckle at what he's about to say before he says it. That's probably when Juniper realised that he does have some vague crush on him, and that it wasn't going away.

This is what kickstarts John I can't-buy-you-things-to-impress-you-so-acts-of-service-it-is Juniper to do little things for him. It mostly starts off as him trying to make Reggie his tea how he likes it. However, the nerve damage in his arm makes that hard, as the weight of the kettle and trying to pour is hard all of a sudden. And he refuses to accept that, so he tries for a very long while. Long enough that Crane would go to investigate what was going on. And when he does see Juniper leaning over a cup with the kettle as he uneasily tries to pour it, and when Crane asks Juniper responds so matter-of-fact that his intention is nothing but genuine. And it catches Reggie off guard because Juniper hadn't done anything like that up to that point, and his very apparent vulnerability is so clearly on show.

It shifts something between them.

From that point on, conversations are longer, more familiar. Both of their attitudes soften, and Reggie makes more jokes. Juniper learns how to better use his left hand while strengthening his right back to a point where it could be used again. Slowly, they're both spending time with one another not because they have to, but just because they can. Little bits at first, not too far outside what they already were doing, but those little bits turned into long bits to a point where the other person's company was genuinely desirable.

As time passes, Juniper probably realises that he doesn't genuinely know much about himself or what hobbies he's into, because he never really had the time when he got big, and his home life in his youth wasn't bad, but it wasn't picturesque. I think Reggie would pick up on it, and absolutely try to introduce him to some things he's into. Some things stick, other things don't (corn husking very much stays Reggie's passion, and John will go with him sometimes because it's him, but it's not something he strongly cares for). Crane introduces him to a lot of music, and it's something that becomes a staple between them, with tracks they listen to more than others (tragically, I know relatively little about 60s music so I couldn't really say what). Occasionally they dance, never anything intense, think slow dancing, but the closeness is nice.

Through all of it, Juniper is battling the worst crush of his life, and he can't stand it, because I think he struggles to read people since he doesn't have anything like a script or a director to refer back to, so he has no idea if Reggie likes him back or if he's just desperate for that to be true. I think because of that any sort of confession between them would be incredibly raw, not only because of the time they live in making it hard for them to be truthful about how they love, but because it's a complete show of Juniper who's worked to be this better person. I don't exactly know how that would go, mainly because I don't have one set version of their dynamic, this post is just a generalisation of main consistent points.

Reggie does like him back, because he's gotten used to Juniper being just this guy, not a figure in the public eye, not a Zoraxis lackey, and not any sort of Agency operative (despite being under their care to some degree). He's someone he genuinely cares for, because they've given one another the time of day to learn one another, and I think because Reggie was a field agent, he was a lot better at reading Juniper than Juniper was at reading him. Eventually Juniper's company becomes something he could see around him for the rest of his life, and I think he accepts that he likes Juniper a lot more gracefully.

I think any affection directed at Juniper would at first be met with him feeling a little muddled. Reggie was a very physically affectionate person when he could be, and sure the initial flirting with one another came with the occasional little touches, but everything now was so deeply intentional. I also don't think Juniper would almost ever get over the novelty of being able to kiss him, or many other gestures, because it made the fact that they were together so very real, and it was great. I do think it comes easier to Reggie, and it's a big way of showing how much he cares, so it's important for Juniper to try and show it back because he knows how much it means to the other.

I like the idea of them eventually living with one another, too. I think Juniper would have always had a quiet little daydream of sorts where he does just live a domestic quiet life, and he can with Reggie (well, as close as they can get between the Agency and Zoraxis always being at odds), and he loves that, and he loves him, and it's immense.

I think they cook for one another a lot, it helps Juniper work on his dexterity in a controlled environment, which means a lot because it's a huge point of insecurity (that and his scars). He does improve, and Crane is proud of that and shows it and it's great. I also think they'd probably cook together too, because they can deal with being in the kitchen together and they work well with one another. It's probably a good way for them to unwind because over time they can do it in relative silence.

As I said before, I also think music is a staple in their household, and that Reggie listens to things on vinyl almost all of the time because he likes the background noise. Sometimes Juniper will catch him chuntering along to the music which he finds endlessly endearing. I wouldn't put it past his dramatic ass to also join in to fluster Reggie, but I also don't think Reggie would mind that terribly because Juniper has listened to the music enough to know the lyrics, and that's huge to him.

I don't think they are without rough patches, no relationship is, but I think the good part about them is that they're willing to talk about it (... eventually). They're used to long conversations, and while they're often less fun conversations, they're needed and they know that, and it works out.

Alright. I think I'm done for now. I haven't mentioned everything, but this definitely got the worst of it out of my system. If you ever want to hear any specific thoughts my ask box is open but other than that, behold my general dynamic for these two which has been festering in my head for years. I think they're great

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

[ieytd3 spoilers watch out woaaaah woooaaahh]

i think the thought of.... phoenix's telekinesis getting stronger post 3 is really really fun to mess around with. like. i'm sure that absolutely fucked them up, but like. the thought of instead of them having weaker abilities ever since, the thought of them getting stronger like a flexed muscle?? um. googoo gaga??

not that it's like. incredibly powerful all the time but like. phoenix is already canonically pretty strong (if the wheel in blind spot isn't tight enough evidence (which considering that bit was played for humor it probably isn't, honestly), then the fact that they pried open the door in hot water certainly is). i think about it in the same way that like. you can't be strong with your physical muscles all the time, but every now and again you can do some crazy strong thing. in moderation.

i think it would be really fun to see phoenix do crazy strong telekinetic stunts in moderation. nothing as unhinged as the KBOOM incident but like. they can rip a shelf off the wall every now and again or something. they can tug on a chandelier and send glass-shard-hail down on partygoers in the middle of a zoraxis gala. i think they should be allowed.

[wyvchard]

What Someone Thinks is Best

Idea from this prompt

Agent Phoenix comes back a week after destroying a mind control machine, only to be more emotional than usual.

Content Warnings: Self-depreciation, Phoenix just getting the short end of the stick and enduring it, hospitals, failed mind control, verbal attacks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Phoenix, are you alright?" Reginald came to them in medbay as he sat beside them as they laid on the bed. "That week was awful. Well, not quite like the Juniper incident but... it was still quite harrowing."

They nodded, crumpling the bedsheet on top of them. "... I'm fine. There aren't any injuries. Why am I here?"

"Dr. de Lara found some concerning things. We're making sure you're in the clear. We're worried that the mind control machine messed with your implants." He looked at their paled form, noting the lack of things floating around via TK. "You know, for safety."

They nodded. "I was told that it will hurt and wow." A resigned chuckle escaped from their lips as they stared at the ceiling. "Not a lie." A wry smile laced their face as they reached their hand out for something.

Reginald handed them another pillow to scream into. His face is fixed with concern. "Agent, I'm worried about you."

Phoenix didn't dare look at him. "... I don't want anyone to worry."

"... What happened? When you were gone for a week, your earpiece and microphone were turned off, not to mention the tracker. Wherever it is you were staying clearly knows how to use a signal jammer."

They paused, eyes slowly growing with guilt. "I didn't mean to worry you, Reggie. Really. I was safe all week."

He sighed, choosing to focus on paperwork for now to get his mind off things. "I'll... believe that for now, Agent."

"See you." They waved him off, taking a few breaths before acknowledging the man who replaced their handler. "Dr. Marcel."

"Phoenix." He merely looked at them with a resigned sigh. "Let's get this over with."

"I don't want to worry anyone. I'm fine. It's just a headache. Another agent might need your attention more. You should-"

"You don't have to worry about the other agents. You're the last on my list for today. Now. Describe your headache before I imply that whatever you went through overloaded your implant and extending your leave."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey. Are you awake?" The gentle voice eased their discomfort as they leaned onto the source of warmth. "It must be pretty bad if they got you stuck on the strong stuff."

They mumbled incoherently, choosing to lean on the voice's source. "Not now." They started picking at the tie the other person was wearing, feeling the soft fabric slide between their fingers.

"... What did that Zoraxis operative say to you when I was at work?" Mr. Ambrose's expression was severe as he held Phoenix in his arms, feeling their steady breaths on his chest.

"He usually says high praises about you. But all I see is someone who never meets expectations."

"Nothing I hadn't heard before." They muttered, feeling more muddled as the medicine is slowly taking effect. "It's fine. Don't worry too much, alright? I'll be fine."

He merely looked at them with worry as he pulled the hug tighter. "Whatever that old crone said to you is not true, okay? I'll be back tomorrow night when you're alone. Please, even if you don't tell me, tell someone else you trust, okay?"

"M'kay." They yawned, sleep slowly taking hold of them.

He tucked them in the bed and walked across the room, eyes lingered at their sleeping form, before leaving with worries on his mind.

But that would pale in comparison with his responsibilities. If he wants to help them, he should start cleaning up the evidence of any agency involvement in that neighborhood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reginald walked into the sight of his agent hugging a pillow he knows wasn't there before, a contrasting blue compared to the typical white provided by the agency.

"Agent, where did you get that pillow?"

"Hotdog." They murmured, hugging the long pillow tightly as if letting go would cause a disaster. "It's called a hotdog pillow."

He sighed, knowing that whoever visited clearly had their best in mind. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible. It feels like everything is underwater or somethin." They turned to the side, their eyes more dulled than usual. "I can't get her words out of my head."

"Her? What did she say?"

"The Zoraxis operative there knows how to poke at your sore spots. She says I'm a disappointment or something."

"Oh, Agent, that's not true at all. You're the pride of the agency."

"Then, why did you leave me alone in the volcano? At that beach?" They laughed with tears running down their face. "You did say convention wasn't my strong suit. You probably didn't want to deal with the paperwork I leave behind."

"Phoenix, that's not true. I said it before and I'll say it again. If you're here, I'm here."

"... R&D must have gotten so disappointed when I decided to become a field agent. I mean, why would I use my brain where I could get killed anytime instead of staying back and be useful? See? Wow, maybe I wasn't meant to be here."

The beeps of the medical equipment filled the air as Phoenix drew in a sharp breath. "... Sorry. I didn't-"

"Agent..." Reginald's mind raced as he started wiping his agent's tears. His hands were more gentle than normal.

"... Among us, we almost always believe that I was the favorite. I mean, almost every time I ask pa for something, he hears me out."

Phoenix rarely talks about their family in this light and it gave Reginald a twinge of sorrow. This wasn't like them.

"I don't... I always feel like I have to make up for it. I have to justify it to them why..." They take a shaky breath. "They keep telling me they don't hate me... But I don't even know if it's a lie. If it wasn't, I don't know where it came from."

"He clearly chose you. I don't see why he would. You're clearly someone I personally wouldn't choose. Maybe it's the novelty, don't you think? The brashness of youth?"

"Ma'am, please don't think of him that way. He's made his choice."

"And I'm saying it was a stupid one."

"...Why am I your third favorite field operative? Do you think I rightfully earned to be that right?"

Reginald couldn't find the words to answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mr. Crane." Dr. Marcel greeted the handler with mere words, choosing to remain fixated on the screen. "Phoenix will be fine. Although it would be rough for a few hours."

"That's good news, at least."

"That's not what I'm worried about. I saw this in my mailbox." Dr. Marcel waved an enveloped note. "I don't think it's your agent who sent this."

He took the note and checked for any traps, only to find none. Yet, dread only filled him when he realized that it was the same paper his agent uses.

Zoraxis makes sure that those breaking out of mind control spills secrets in case subjecting them to mind control again wouldn't be viable immediately. It keeps them silent. It should clear out in a day or so, enough time for the mind control to fully break. They have been exposed to the beginning stages but they were taken out before it can take a hold. I don't know what that old crone said during that week but I will find out.

"... That's not threatening at all." Dr. Marcel sighed as he turns to Reginald. "Do you think we can trust this?"

"It's likely. Whoever they are, they know about the inner workings of that neighborhood."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He usually says high praises about you. But all I see is someone who never meets expectations."

Is this why he said sorry?

"Why would anyone commit their life to you? The place is a mess, cluttered. You don't need this many magnets on the fridge. And you're the reason he's rarely home. Someone with a flourishing career in business shouldn't be tied down by someone like you."

I don't like her. I don't like her. I don't like her.

"Florian, why would you quit your job? You could work for Zoraxis, one of the best companies out there. And what? You threw that away because you can't deal with a strict manager?" Grey eyes from years ago look at me with intensity as she's clearly worried for me. "Look. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it but do you have a plan if you do decide to quit? Your future could be set. Zoraxis could acquire that company because your recent projects are promising. What will you do if you regret quitting a year or two from now? I just need you to consider that."

But the woman whose eyes I was looking at right now wasn't grey but dark brown.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why are you wearing grey contacts? Not saying it doesn't look good on you but it's clear you're not really too happy about it." He frowned as he stared at them with intensity.

"O-oh. Well, you know my sister. She thinks I shouldn't quit. But my manager keeps taking credit for my work and I'm sick of it. Maybe if I have the same eyes as her, I'd think more like her."

"You know it doesn't work that way."

"I know but just maybe... I can delude myself."

"Just be yourself. She does have a point but there are more paths than working for Zoraxis. It might not be the life she thinks is the best you could do, but it's something you chose."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... Is it okay to feel conflicted about someone who only wanted what they thought is best for you?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@phoenix-and-found-family, this contains foreshadowing on how 13-12 could have been Candlelight.

@the-one-and-only-043, more lore for you as well.

[pyritewitch]

I Expect You To Die (ieytd)

Headcannons for the 1st Game

I've been obsessed with this series for years and my obsession has finally boiled over! These are just my headcannons for the 1st game, at a later point I will probably make a separate post concerning the other 2 games. Here we go!

So lets start with the agent, as their personality sort of drives their relationships with others. This agent has a bit of a chip on their shoulders. Absolutely was a troubled teen and not much better as an adult. A bit of an alcoholic, smoker, and arsonist, they were really just 1 decision away from being a Zoraxis Agent, but the agency had better benefits, plus they wanted to prove something to themselves.

The agent, for me, is the one that chooses more of the meaner/ speedrunner options. For example, instead of pretending to wash the windows, as soon as they are alerted to the enemy agent, they fire on site.

The agent is a talented spy and combatant, but their lack of cooperation and destructive tendencies has had them bunt heads with their past handlers. As such, they have gone through many handlers. The agent was probably about to quit/ be fired if they hadn't met Reggie.

Seeing that Reginald has been with the agency for years and has some connections with the higher up, like the director, him becoming the agent's handler was probably more of a re-training exercise. Essentially more about teaching the agent about the importance of working with their handlers and blah blah.

The agent is simply content to ignore him at 1st, treat him as white noise. But unlike his last like 10 or so handlers, Reginald doesn't really try to command them like a video character. Sure, he comments on their destructive actions ("Your tendency to light things ablaze, agent, concerns me.") but doesn't demand they clean up their mess it or even tell them to stop. He also actually mentions stuff that the agent deems important, like enemy agents ("Enemy agent spotted 2 'o clock, Agent! I suggest you take immediate action before he closes in!") As smug as the handler can be sometimes, he's pretty easy-going as a supervisor.

As for Reginald's thoughts on the agent, well, he can kinda understand why they might b a bit difficult to work with. The agent does like to cause trouble and unneeded destruction, but it has never intervered with the mission (well, not like in any meaningful way). He also notices that the agent is the most adapt to using their telekinesis chip. So thw issue doesnt come from a lack of skill. After interviewing some of the agent's old handlers, Reggie brings it up to the director that they may need to actually retrain the handlers instead. Some of them seem to not understand their proper role. That it's to b an assistant, not a commander.

Reginald also starts looking into the cases the agent has been working on and sees that these missions shouldn't b done solo. The fact that the agent was able to complete them greatly impresses him. Feeling a sense of responsibility now, as the agent hadn't really been with a great handler and had been forced to take on missions they shouldnt have, he decides to become the agent's permanent handler for now.

The two soon find themselves getting along really well, especially when the agent learns that Reginald knows sign language (yes I go by the agent is mute theory) and start even joking around with each other. Reginald proves to be a good influence to them too as the agent gives up smoking (drinking and burning not so much, but in better moderation). Reginald does get asked every once in while when he will stop being the agent's handler (as like I said earlier he probably has a higher admin duty and is really only suppose to be a handler for agents every once in awhile and not that very long either) but never really confirms a date and no one else is really excited to take on the pyro, so it continues like this.

Until Operation: Death Engine happens. Reginald is honestly surprised and pissed that the agency is sending them on this mission with no backup and deep into enemy territory. The agent is honestly touched as no one had ever really gotten mad for their sake. (Not that they'd ever admit it) but promises that they'd make it back easily.

Reginald is devastated when he hears about the explosion and subsequent crash of the space station. While recon takes place, Reginald becomes withdrawn, talking little and putting off work. Blaming himself for not doing enough and even at times admonishing himself for caring too deeply; for forgetting the number 1 rule: "Don't get Attached"

When the agent does return, relatively unharmed, Reginald just sends a congratulatory email and puts in the paperwork to move the agent to a different handler. Reginald, for a time, refuses any handler work, instead burying himself in admin duties. Though a couple weeks later, he is brought into a meeting where the higher-ups beg him to talk to the agent. The agency wants to use them for a plan, but the agent, like always, is uncooperative.

Reginald relents but says he'll just meet with them once. It's awkward when they meet up again. The agent is clearly tense, but overall, they are obediently listening to Reginald. It's only when Reginald is about to leave that the agent demands to know what is his problem. Why did he pretty much abandon them? Was it something they did?

Seeing his child the agent so upset. They both end up hashing it out and making up for now. Though there are some unresolved issues that may or not get mentioned.

I spent way to much time with this and it's late. Hope u guys enjoyed it!

[agent-felix]

[ooc: Agent Felix LORE >:3]

Agent Felix joined Zoraxis's team when he was just a little kid, probably about third grade. If he went to school, lol, which he didn't.

He just wandered around a town all day, doing whatever he could to learn. Zor found him- Zor was about mid-thirties at the time- and just straight up adopted Felix. Zor gave Felix lessons on basic stuff like reading, math, etc., basically just all the elementary school stuff- except it only took 2 years. Zor, obviously, was surprised so he gave Felix some options and Felix chose technology.

Zor gave him everything he could to Felix on the subject, and by age 12, Felix had the technology expertise as a mad scientist. Felix started doodling after Zor adopted him, the doodles being very happy in general. Over time, they got.. concerning.. and Zor didn't know what to do about that.

Eventually, as more people joined Zoraxis, the more Felix was left alone with his little inventions. Occasionally, Zor, Hivemind and Charlie visited him (and were the only ones that celebrated his birthday), rarely Solaris for business. Felix loved Hivemind and Charlie like family.

The death engine was built when Felix was thirteen years old, him being oblivious to what he and Solaris were building. Agent Pheonix had seen him during Operation: Seat of Power, and recognized him as a kid.

When the death engine fired for the first time, Felix was devastated. Maybe a bit traumatized. He hated himself for being so oblivious to what he built. He didn't talk, eat or anything for days, even after he heard that Agent Pheonix had stopped the Death Engine. In fact, Felix felt worse becuase people had died.

Pheonix came back after a day or two of recovery and brought Felix to the agency. The agency convinced Felix to join (hesitantly) and almost gave up after ten minutes until Felix finally said one word: "okay". His mental recovery lasted 2 weeks, his fourteenth birthday two days after. His drawings started returning to a happier-looking state during the time. Felix waited a month and a half for agent training to begin, and when it did, it was too slow to match his learning pace. Regardless, he did what he was told without complaint. ...until they gave him a bomb to diffuse.

They knew perfectly well he couldn't diffuse bombs. They gave him one anyways. He had to run to other agents to find someone who could diffuse bombs. Felix was trying to figure out for days why they gave him a bomb. No clear answer was found.

Felix often has regrets leaving Zoraxis, since he misses everyone and he misses being useful. Usually he just looks at his shirt and he no longer has regrets, but recently it hasn't been working. He has a lot of conflicting emotions. He tries to stop the regrets by telling him stuff like "it feels great to be good" (as you know) and stuff like that. They've been working, but not much. The agency is constantly worried he'll switch sides again, but they don't know what to do about it since they don't want to get near him.

Felix doesn't know it, but Zor, Hivemind and Charlie miss him. Zor has had his eyes on Felix since he left and has been hoping he'd come back. The whole John Juniper thing was half-planned in hopes Felix would be sent on a mission. (I'm listening to This Is What Autumn Feels Like right now and it's throwing ideas like this at me ashgdhwhdhend)

Then Felix gets kidnapped, he runs away, you know the drill if you were reading/involved in it. He came back worse than before, almost back to his old state after the death engine. His memory was a little more messed up and he has major trust issues.

The end :]

[breadtoast-y]

do you have any Solaris head cannons?

I’ve got a few!

Her and Fabricator are girlfriends but they constantly bully each other and argue (in a cute way lmao) they also like to brainstorm evil ideas with each other. My little evil women in evil stem <3

She does not care what evil things zoraxis wants her to do, she just wants to mess around in space, make silly machines, and have fun. They also give her a lot more “creative freedom” then she would have with a normal job

She will make a joke at the worst times, wether she likes you or not she will make jokes whenever you’re in an awful situation

These are probably messy because I never write down my headcanons and there’s probably one or two I’m forgetting but whateverrr

[agency-unofficial]

Has Zor been doing anything since last time? Handler said they weren’t doing much last time. Has that changed?

“Not much from what i remember.”

“Except from one thing: gravity all around the world keeps on getting messed with. If I know a Zoraxis plan, then this has got to be one of them.”

[apollo-fizz]

Well. You guys asked for it. More zoraxis and the agency messing around!!

Once, They went on a spree of leaking random stuff like Phoenix’s messy, slightly singed desk, hivemind’s bee room, the view from the top of Zoraxis HQ etc. it was funny until someone accidentally leaked personal info and they got killed.

90% of the groupchat is memes of higher ups. They have an entire department in the group for templates, aka who can take the most secret photos of said higher ups. So far an anonymous agent has the record with several hundred of hivemind, the fabricator, charlie and one infamous photo of a blurry form suspected to be Zor.

The agency members bring the best food, especially once someone gets back from missions. Phoenix joins sometimes and they always bring the weirdest foods. Once, Phoenix left an ice pop in the air and it melted on a poor unsuspecting agent. the stick and wrapper is rumoured to still be in the air.

They frequently share dumb stories around a fire. Phoenix shared a story about a mission, mainly just about the stupid ways they nearly died. The zoraxis agents all had stupid stories about Hivemind and The Fabricator. Occasionally they record the stupid stories and post them to the youtube channel.

Solaris occasionally comes to the meetings, and juniper went to a few anonymously a few times. Everyone was in awe of his juniper “impression”.

All of their fans don’t actually believe they’re really zoraxis until one day an anonymous poster who didn’t have access to the account posts a video taken by someone in the vents. the video is peak comedy because it’s just raw footage of zoraxis employees messing around without knowing they’re being recorded.

The agency team likes to post tribute posts to the dead robots. Prism likes every single one. They’ve also posted tributes to Juniper. They also like to share the training videos from every department and it’s hilarious until someone gets injured trying to replicate one and they nearly get sued.

the accounts are only accessible to the group, no one knows who’s who until the next weekly meeting.

thank you for coming to my TED talk :]]

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

ok well as promised here they are. assorted solaris headcanons, none of them really relevant to the plot of the game but i stay silly

solaris lost her eye in the death engine incident, but didn't lose it to impalement or 'physical damage' in the conventional sense. the right side of her was tilted towards the shockwave at the time of the explosion, and the force of the ripple ruptured it. her left eye is in tact, thank god, but it sustained some minor damage too. her eyesight was never as good post the incident

speaking of the incident, it really messed up her hearing, too. if you start talking to her while she's turned away from you, she's probably going to need you to repeat what it is you said. so she can listen again while reading your lips this time around

as a result of these two injuries, she experiences both visual and audio hallucinations. really, the former sort of come with the territory of losing an eye- that happens to just about anyone, at least initially. the latter stem more from her zoraxis-induced paranoia than the injury itself though

the radiation from the explosion also cut down her life expectancy by a good margin but really when you're affiliated with zoraxis you're gonna die early anyways. so it's fine.

she didn't mind most of her coworkers, really. obviously she spent the most amount of time working with the fabricator, but what engagement she got from the others was never intolerable. usually.

anna was probably a second favorite of hers, though their niches never crossed particularly often. her defecting is what properly planted the first few seeds of abandoning zoraxis in her mind

… though, granted, solaris is still under the impression that anna didn't… survive her assassination. so. that really dialed her willingness to quit back by a little bit

she wasn't even on earth at the time. didn't even get a chance to say goodbye proper… she can't regret something that wasn't her fault, but…

despite her intimidating air (which she does on purpose, really), she's of the belief that she gels pretty well with the majority of her coworkers

not zor though. she knows full well zor really does not like her. the feeling is mutual.

solaris eats like a horse. especially when she's in the construction phase of any of her projects. she needs a lot of energy to sustain a body that large, you know how it is

she doesn't have enough of a grasp on the concept of labels to label herself (not to mention neither of these terms were coined within her lifetime), but she's a bicurious demiromantic. she would just be bisexual, but she hasn't actually dated a girl before, so at this point in her life she doesn't fully know that yet

…….. what. what are you looking at her like that for. she hasn't.

she got into a fair bit of fights as a kid, though not for any particular reason related to her popularity or lack thereof. she wasn't even really particularly aggressive, she just wasn't allowed to play sports and needed a way to burn off energy

she likes chocolate. milk chocolate especially

she's kind of a movie nut, though explicitly with horror films. while she finds most other genres a little too unengaging for her to enjoy all the way through, horror strings her along through the suspense- and, occasionally, the unintentional comedy- of it all

she's not great at singing (mainly due to her lack of vocal control), but she's a… deceptively good dancer. not great, mind you- not by a long shot- but it's evident she's been taught. you'd never know, though. because she'd never show you.

she's gotten a little bit obsessed with soaking in hot baths ever since she recovered from the death engine. back then, it soothed all the burn wounds. nowadays it just helps loosen up her muscles and such