EliteCommander

The Cradle

This time, there was actually a rather substantial delay in Roth’Orsa’s reply. She was almost unnaturally still while consumed in her thoughts, before continuing just as if nothing was amiss. “We believe it is important to understand the origins of this Institute and its members. Stories may simply be…stories, but their actions are too strange for us to ignore. The capabilities of the Cradle are an unknown. It may be able to rewrite minds, it may not. It could have established agents in the physical world through simple, mundane persuasion. Or, it could have done none of these things, and all could be as it seems. It has been long since the Rahn’Saki have been forced to act through such uncertainty.”

Roth’Orsa brought up a holographic representation of the device under Rothia between them. “With the information currently available, we now calculate that studying the device ourselves in greater detail, as you suggested, l is the most likely path to a positive outcome, by a margin of 2.86%. However, by the time we made that determination, it was too late to change our recommendations without arousing suspicion. Given what you know about the Cradle, and what you know you do not know, do you believe it is possible that any or all members of the Cradle Institute could be acting in the interests of another entity aside from Outremer’s government? Are there any who can account for its members’ history or backgrounds? Indeed, we do not have a complete picture of how the Cradle Institute came to be a part of Outremer’s leadership. If you do not know the answers to these questions, then who in your government might, in your opinion?”

The Cradle

“We did not say they are being actively controlled.” Roth’Orsa clarified. “Depending upon the Cradle’s methods, it would not strictly be necessary. As we mentioned, you have known that the Cradle can influence your artificial intelligence. However, it has been an assumption that the Cradle cannot influence an organic mind. There are no laws of physics that prevent an organic brain from being rewritten against its own will.”

Again, there was just a brief delay before Roth’Orsa continued. Her expressions and tone were essentially unreadable, but considering the fact that she generally seemed to be exceptionally prepared for any topic, any delay seemed to imply that she was considering some part of the issue heavily. “The knowledge of the Rahn’Saki on the interaction between organic and artificial neural networks is greater than you may assume. “It is true that an organic consciousness can not simply be drastically rewritten, then returned to the body in a different state. The brain would reject such obvious differences. Even if the brain could be made to adapt, the process would be obvious to any observers. However, smaller, iterative changes over a longer period of time could certainly be both effective and subtle. The brain will adapt to small changes in a neural pattern, so targeted changes over time could rewrite an organic consciousness to accept the Cradle’s goals as their own. Given enough time, an organic consciousness could even be replaced entirely.”

Roth’Orsa lifted up one hand and gestured towards the table. With a simple thought, she brought forth holographic copies of her own people’s files on the Director-General and Agent 595. At least what was being shown came from intelligence gathered in recent months, by whatever means they had available. “Vreta’Sori considers you someone to trust. He believes the motivations you express outwardly are your genuine motivations. As well, you are young, with less time for potential influence to your mind. We know disappointingly little about the respective backgrounds of Director-General Smith and Agent 595. The scenarios we are expressing to you now we believed to be less-likely than the alternatives before, but data gathered during the meeting has given us cause to re-evaluate. We believe that the Cradle Institute seems too willing to re-unite the device on Rothia with the Cradle, in the context of our observations on Human psychology through the centuries. It is not common behavior to willingly give up one’s influence unless there exists no other reasonable choice. The options you suggested during the meeting were what we expected from the majority of Human leaders with influence over the Cradle. Your people did question the fact that the being within the object did not provide evidence of its claims regarding the Hegemon, but we noticed that Agent 595 was quick to speak up in its defense, and to make excuses for it. We are now considering a possible future in which we are being deceived, there are no Hegemon, and the motivations of these Cradle beings is unknown.”

The Speaker quickly returned her stare to Freyr’s eyes. “You spoke of rumors of an organization potentially controlling aspects of your society from beyond the Border. Could you tell more of these rumors?”

The Cradle

“We will not demand any secrets from you. It shall be your decision what you choose to share. It will be your people who are most impacted by what we discuss here.” Roth’Orsa replied to Freyr, though she remained perfectly quiet while Freyr was giving her answer, to the point that it was as if she was not so much as breathing.

Roth’Orsa gave a rare pause as her stare somehow seemed to go even deeper into Freyr’s eyes. “Your facial features are consistent with an expression of…fear, sadness. We are aware that your motivation to preserve the lives of your family drive you. We do not consider this a weakness, but it can make you…predictable. It is possible that certain elements within your society might use that predictability against you. We would recommend trying to pay close attention to how others are treating you. Even the small things, details in how they speak to you, can provide clues to their intentions. The events of that meeting have given us reason to question the identity and motivation of the Cradle Institute, or at least of its members that have been presented to us.”

The Speaker’s words were as blunt as they had been back during the meeting, and her tone remained calm and unchanged. “It is known to us that Humanity has had a presence in the Cradle for centuries. It has been known to you that the Cradle can influence the minds of artificial beings, but only recently has it been revealed that it can most likely claim the minds of Organics, as evidenced by your encounter with the creature that bore your husband’s face. The capabilities of intelligences within the Cradle is an unknown variable, in truth, but recent evidence has placed them as being far more competent than previously assumed. The behavior and judgements of both the Director-General and Agent 595 during the meeting were opposed to the most likely predictions given by our calculations. From our limited data, our impression of the Cradle Institute is that they are an organization with considerable power and control over the Cradle. And the Cradle, of course, is the greatest asset of your people. This plan, which the Director-General agreed to enthusiastically, will inevitably relinquish control of the Cradle to an alien entity. We had expected them to behave in their own self-interest to attempt to maintain control over the Cradle, and that they would require that all other reasonable options be exhausted before they would agree to our plan.”

The Cradle

Roth’Orsa did not so much as make eye contact with Agent 595 when she replied. “We would speak to Dr. Lang in private.” She repeated, with little offer of debate. She was not aggressive, nor emotional in any other way, though her bodyguards certainly showed more outward disdain towards the Agent the moment she even seemed like she was questioning the Rahn’Saki.

Vreta could not help but to feel a mix of confusion and jealousy. A private audience with the Rahn’Saki was perhaps the greatest honor one could receive. He wished he could join Freyr as well, likely for very different reasons than 595, but unlike her, he knew well not to try and question the will of the Rahn’Saki.

Roth’Orsa did not take Freyr far from the conference hall. There was another, smaller meeting room just down the hall. Her bodyguards did join her at first, though she left even them outside to guard the door when they went inside. She did not object to Freyr taking a seat, if she chose to, but Roth’Orsa herself remained standing, strangely still, and with Freyr now being the subject of her eerie stare. “You are the chosen expert on the Cradle among your people, yes? Yet, we have observed there are others with greater authority on the Cradle. They are…intrinsically linked to it, yet obscure their connection to it. The Agent who identifies only her number, the Director-General, those of their organization, what do you know of them?”

The Cradle

“A gateway can link to any other gateway of the same class. It should be no trouble to send the science team through just ahead of the object.” Roth’Orsa answered Freyr without actually looking at her.

With their agreement having been essentially reached, there was nothing else earthshattering to discuss for the remainder of the meeting. There were a few matters that they discussed, mostly involving setting up a tentative schedule for meetings between certain important individuals to iron out the more minute details of their cooperation. For that, Roth’Orsa finally started to allow the other Rothian leaders to speak for themselves.

When the last of the screens finally went dark and the Rothian representatives started to take their leave, Vreta finally felt he could breathe a sigh of relief. All-in-all, everything went mostly as well as he could have hoped. They finally had official terms for full cooperation on this project, and not a moment too soon, in his mind. With everything they had learned about these objects and potential threats ahead, they could not afford to be tearing each other apart.

Vreta expected Roth’Orsa to take her leave quickly, but instead of heading back through the doors, she and her guards instead got up and started moving across the room…straight in his direction. At first, he wondered if there was something the Rahn’Saki wanted of him, but it only took a few moments for him to realize that it was not he who she had her eyes on. He was sitting next to Freyr, and it was she who Roth’Orsa was approaching. “Dr. Freyr Lang. We would speak to you. In private.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Despite everything that had happened to her, and everything she had managed to do to Sabine past the point of her own doom, Arinette still tried with her last breath to form another spell through the crystal. However, Sabine’s spellfire tore apart the last shred of whatever was keeping her together. The backlash of power through the crystal turned her arm to ash, and left the rest of her body mangled and burned. The dim aura that marked the Breton as a spirit finally faded, leaving behind nothing but a body that was hardly even recognizable.

For a brief moment, Sabine just had the pain that Arinette had managed to inflict upon her. The thorns that had managed to find their way to her flesh had done what damage they could. However, that ended shortly after a large hand came to rest on her shoulder. It was the oversized paw of a werewolf, plated in dragonbone, and through it came a surge of healing magic to rid of anything that remained of Arinette’s last attack against her. “It’s alright. You won. She’s gone.” Meesei said softly.

Ahnasha hoped her pack would forgive her the fact that she did not immediately rejoin the fray. As soon as her spell was cast, she fell to her hands and knees in the center of their formation, gasping for breath. Her hands shakily went to her satchel for her supply of potions. First it was the titan, and now this mass reanimation spell. This battle was continually pushing her to her limits, then beyond them. However, with the undead now bolstering the pack’s numbers, the Daedra could no longer surround them so easily. On every flank, her friends were not only holding their own, but starting to push back.

Unfortunately, the outlook for the battle as a whole still was not fantastic. Their allies, both lycan and Dominion soldier alike, had fought exceptionally well. Far better than anyone could have reasonably expected of them. But, they were still reaching their limits. The wave of Daedric reinforcements from the main battlefield down in the valley had finally stopped, but those that were here now still significantly outnumbered the pack’s allies. The wall of Daedra between the Champion’s pack and the rest of their allies had only grown larger as they had been pushed back. Their lines were still holding, but they had taken losses, and it looked like the Daedra might overrun them entirely soon enough.

With Ahnasha’s undead to help occupy the enemy for a time, it was possible that Meesei’s pack could make a run for the tower. Although, if their allies did not hold out for long enough, the horde of Daedra could end up giving chase quickly enough to overwhelm them. If they stayed, there was still the possibility, even if it was unlikely, that they could do enough damage for their allies to win this fight, and hopefully have enough of their numbers left over to effectively watch their back.

The choice did seem to be a difficult one to make, if it was forced upon the pack. However, there was something else in the distance. It might have been difficult to notice at first, but the sounds of hoof beats echoing between the mountains only grew louder as time passed. In the distance, behind the Daedra, and behind even their own allies, the pack might have been able to make out figures cresting the hill from the pass. Dominion cavalry, riding in on a mix of physical and ethereal mounts. Running alongside them was an entire company’s worth of transformed lycanthropes. Werewolves, werelions, wereboars, and even werevultures above. And at the very front of the formation, riding upon a horse adorned in fine Elven armor, was a familiar Cathay Khajiit in ebony armor, pointing forward an Akaviri katana.

The Cradle

“Our recommendation is to evacuate. Decisions regarding your people are certainly yours; we can only give our suggestions. Just know that, should you decide to evacuate, you will have our full support and assistance in that task.” Roth’Orsa commented before, as requested, moving on to her next point without delay. “The Rahn’Saki have only one other point to address. The terms of our deal stipulate that we do not demand your secrets regarding the Cradle. We do honor our agreement, but we do still ask for any data you might share. Any information you are willing to give may improve our response, and may save Human lives. We recommend that you take the time to discuss among yourselves what you are willing to share before the device arrives at Outremer.”

With just a thought, Roth’Orsa pushed holographic copies of a surprisingly detailed estimated timeline of the excavation ahead of them to everyone in attendance. “You should expect our gateway to arrive at Outremer in just over a week. By the time our gateway reaches you, the gateway around the device should be assembled and ready. We will be able to transport the device as soon as you are ready, at that point.”

The Cradle

Vreta simply sighed and let out a huff through his nostrils. He had not been expecting her to be forthcoming. Though, he did pay attention to what she did not say. Not only did she not reveal what the being said, she also did not give her opinion on their present plan of action. She made no argument either against, or in agreement with what they were doing. It was little for him to go on, granted, but it did make him suspicious.

Regardless, the Human representatives returned suddenly to the meeting shortly afterwards. Most of those in attendance had to quickly get back to their seats, but of course, Roth’Orsa was still waiting exactly where she had been sitting in patient silence. When they revealed that they were essentially accepting the terms, she simply moved on to answering their question without skipping a beat. “Yes, while we should not delay in pushing forward with out plan, we should also establish contingencies. In the event that the being does not do as it claimed, for any reason, we should be ready to react. We should prepare observation equipment to monitor every step of the process, in and out of the simulation. We would also recommend moving civilians a safe distance away from the Cradle itself.”

The Cradle

Pretty much as expected, Vreta maintained his calm. He shrugged off the Agent’s irritation, and similarly shrugged off the answers she gave to Freyr’s questions. By Vreta’s reckoning, 595’s career was not likely to be too dissimilar to his own, so he knew well that no answer she gave about herself would be trustworthy. It whatever she said was not a fabrication outright, it was probably active disinformation. He felt he gained more insight in the recording of how she behaved in the simulation. Still, it could not hurt to see what answers she would give to certain questions, even if her honesty could not be trusted.

“I don’t think any part of me was expecting a straight answer to that one.” Vreta chuckled, looking down on the Agent. “Maybe there is something you can share, though? Despite my worries, I do actually think we will still be working together after this. It’s the only sensible choice for your people to make, so I would like to keep up that spirit of cooperation. That being in the simulation, what do you make of it? Freyr does have a point; we don’t really know if we can trust it. I saw on the recording that it leaned in close and spoke to you. What did it say? Do you think we’re doing the right thing here by bringing it to your world?”

The Cradle

Vreta crossed his arms and stared ahead blankly for a few moments in thought, before soon turning his head back to Freyr and nodding briefly. “I think you might be right. We really don’t have any guarantees. I’ve seen Rareth’s recording of what happened, most of it, from start to finish. I skipped a lot of the walking, but I’ve viewed the major events. In most circumstances, I would want to do a lot more investigating before committing to a decision.”

For a moment, Vreta looked back and observed Roth’Orsa. He still could not get over how…strange she was. Even now, while most of the others were stretching their legs and talking among themselves, Roth’Orsa was still just sitting in her seat, staring blankly ahead in waiting of the meeting to reconvene. Regardless, her eccentricity did nothing to lessen his opinion of her. “I don’t think we are the only ones who think this way, though. I’ve noticed how Roth’Orsa speaks about the being; always qualifying her statements. ‘If what is says is true. If it is being honest.’ I don’t think the Rahn’Saki just trust it outright. But, we’re not in a position to be waiting around. We may lose out on the option of its help if we delay too long. Choosing to trust it is probably just the most likely path towards the best outcome, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rahn’Saki do try to take some precautions, just in case. There will be some time before we can get the device to Outremer that they can spend preparing.”

Eventually, Vreta did turn his attention to Agent 595. He paced around briefly until he was behind her, then gave Freyr a look of concern. Granted, her behavior was consistent with the personality they had always seen from her, but after what he had seen in the recordings, he could not help but to think that it might be worse than she was letting on. Walking up alongside her, he placed his hand gently upon her shoulder. “I would not be so cavalier with your health, Agent. Anything could have happened to you when you disappeared. If you want, I could talk to some people and get you set up with a full brain scan on our best equipment. If something left behind any damage, we might be able to help you.”