EliteCommander

The Cradle

Vreta chuckled slightly, crossing his arms as he paced back and forth near the balcony’s railing. “You say that, but you haven’t seen what a Rothian does when one of our children is threatened. It’s less that our parents are attached to us, and more that we are attached to all of our children.”

Eventually, Vreta took a moment to call for a shuttle to bring him home. He would be heading home regardless of how 595 answered him, so there was no point in delaying. “Personally, I feel fine, though I don’t think there can be anything ‘ordinary’ about having someone else’s memories in your head. I remember being you. Your thoughts, emotions, sensations. I didn’t notice it as much at the time, but now that I’m thinking back on it, there’s all these little details that just stand out to me. The way my, or…your hair feels, your clothes brushing up against your skin, or that feeling of sweat on your brow. I always thought there would be some sort of sensation accompanying your pores secreting water, but it was just…there all of the sudden. Of course, your memories are a curiosity to me, but the important ones right now are the ones we were shown of the cephalopods. I remember being the senator, the one who made the decision to evacuate their world. Do you think you would be willing to come down here to talk? After what happened with that signal scanning us, I’d rather talk in person. Freyr will be perfectly safe up on the Barb, and I would like to figure out if there is something in our memories that will help us locate those cephalopods’ world. If we could actually find their world, that would go a long way towards proving this story about the Hegemon.”

The Cradle

“True, maybe it isn’t your decision, but you still have choices, Agent.” Vreta replied. “Do you truly have no influence? Is this “will of the Cradle” concept floating around in my memory a literal one? By that, it would sound like there is something intelligent within the Cradle that you follow. Perhaps you do, perhaps you don’t, but either way, would it surprise you to learn that it would not be a ‘deal-breaker’ for my people? We just want to know who we are dealing with, to understand. This has become about more than just Humans or Rothians. You heard what that entity said firsthand. If it was telling the truth, then it created my people. And we are willing to help it reunite with the Cradle. When it does join with the Cradle, do you think it will still want to push us away, as your people have? Or will it want to continue working with us?”

Vreta could not help but to be frustrated by the uncertainty of it all. The memory of 595’s he now had did strongly suggest there was more to the Institute than they let on, but it was still only a slice of the truth. He was not lying about the fact that they would still be willing to work with them, but that did rely on the Institute not having too objectionable of goals. If they were working for the betterment of Humanity, that would at least be something the Rothians could work with.

The Cradle

Vreta had gone out onto a balcony looking out over the city of Threria. All of its millions of inhabitants still went about their business oblivious to the historic events transpiring under their noses. He almost envied them…especially when part of his job was trying to find a way to get through Agent 595’s thick skull. “I know very well what you are, Agent. I may not be familiar with the ethos of your organization, but I have to assume you bear loyalty to your people, at least. Your planet. Is it much of a risk for me to say that you want what you believe is best for the people of your planet?”

Leaning forward onto the railing in front of him, Vreta carefully weighed his words in his ming before continuing. “Is it so hard to believe that I want the same for your people? That we want the same? I’m not going to claim that we are just charitable saints looking to be heroes to all the other species, but believe it or not, life is actually something we cherish. Even ignoring everything about the Hegemon, Outremer is facing what you would call a…humanitarian crisis. Your central organizing infrastructure is collapsing, which by itself could create refugees numbering in the billions. That kind of suffering, that loss of life, that’s just not something we can ignore. You’ve felt my mind, my memories, you know I’m telling the truth. Add the possibility of the Hegemon on top of that, and I think it’s undeniable that we stand a better chance working together. You have your secrets, and I respect that, but I saw your memory too. I know there is more about your organization than meets the eye. Would we not stand a better chance if we can cooperate without the lies? Would we not get more done if we weren’t constantly second-guessing one another? You might find us more agreeable than you’re expecting.”

The Cradle

The results of the meeting were at least acceptable from the perspective of the Rothians. For now, they were not opposed to continuing with the plan, which was ultimately the decision they had made. However, the lack of unified direction among many of the involved leaders was a concern. This investigation would be returning to Outremer soon, and though they had negotiated full cooperation between the two species, they could expect more obstacles in the weeks to come.

In the meantime, though, it was still possible for the Rothians’ opinions to change, especially based on the outcome of the conversation Vreta had in mind with Agent 595. The memories he had seen had provided evidence, and it was now time for him to confront her with it. Vreta waited a few minutes after the meeting’s end to let 595 take her leave of the conference room. Granted, he was on Rothia, while 595 was up on the Barbarossa, so he just had to guess roughly how long it would take for her to be on her own again before making his call.

“Well, I think we can both agree that was…not entirely ideal.” Vreta remarked after 595 answered his call. “There are a lot of moving parts surrounding this project, and it’s starting to seem a bit rudderless. I’m not sure they know what to make of those memories we saw. I know I sprang some of this on you rather suddenly last night, but now that you’ve had some time to think, do you want to try to figure this out? We could sit down, get some lunch, and just talk it out.” He suggested.

The Cradle

For the Rothians, there was nothing more pressing to discuss than the foreign scanning attempt that had transpired near the end of the mission. They were still early in their investigation, but from what they could tell, the signal was carried along an FTL medium and had performed a scan of the planet, in addition to the hack on the networks connected to the Object. For the answers they had figured out so far, they still had many more questions. They had a probable source, but that source would need to be considerably advanced to be able to act at such a distance. Director Valic’Ans was serving as the leading representative for Rothian interests, and he had no objections to a join venture to investigate this signal. In fact, he was the first to suggest it. He suggested that they send a small team aboard a Rothian stealth ship to scout the system and find any trace they could of the signal source.

For now, the Rothians were intent on still following the plan. The Object appeared to be safely in its orbit of the void star, so it would not experience near as much time as the rest of them would in waiting for their gateway to arrive at Outremer. Although, they still did certainly want to discuss the matter of the memories that the team experienced at the ruined temple. Rareth and Valic had been able to view a recording of the event copied from Rhia’s memory. During this “vision”, she had not been able to record her senses in the usual way, but as an artificial being, her memories themselves could still be extracted and converted into a viewable format. Though, for the purposes of their meeting with the Humans, they did act as if they were working off of the reports of Vreta and Eti’s team.

The memory itself seemed to portray a cephalopod-like species being invaded by the Hegemon. Ultimately, its veracity could not be completely verified, but the Rothians were willing to consider it as a potential source of intelligence. Unfortunately, it was difficult to establish the strength of the Hegemon forces purely from what they had seen. The cephalopods seemed to have been a primitive species in comparison to the Rothians, or even Humans. As such, they had much less ability to fight back effectively. However, the memory did seem to at least establish the Hegemon as aggressive beings who expected submission, even quasi-religious devotion. If this ended up being true, it would seem to preclude any hope of finding a peaceful solution.

The Cradle

Vreta gave another look towards the suit. There was more he wished to say, but he was not going to be too insistent just yet. He could guess that the ideas he wanted to present were in her head; that seed just needed to grow. “Very well. If you insist, I will take my leave. We will need to discuss some of this later, though. The memory with the cephalopods especially. Rareth has already scheduled a meeting to address that topic. Being that we experienced this together, I was merely hoping we might come to a better understanding if we discussed it together.”

As requested, Vreta started to take his leave. He walked past the suit and to the door, though before opening it, he glanced back. “Just think about it. I wouldn’t expect this to be something you can just process all at once. If you want to talk, you know how to contact me.”

The Cradle

Briefly, Vreta gave a curious look towards the suit of armor, not necessarily because of the armor itself as much as the mere fact that she had it with her. From his stay on the Barbarossa, he had been under the impression that military arms and equipment would need to be checked into the armory when not in use. The fact that it was not implied that it was not military property. In any case, he did not spare more than a passing thought towards it before returning his attention to the conversation at hand. He did not care much for what 595 was doing, just that he keep her willing to talk.

“Not at all. I would be the first to admit that my people, as a whole, are not operating purely out of charity. We do have our own reasons, our own goals, but that does not mean the charity isn’t genuine. The universe is quite literally infinite, with more resources than all of us together could ever hope to exploit, even moving into Eternity. We have no reason to make enemies.” Vreta explained, though there was some slight delay from him as he thought back into his own memories. One he now shared with the Agent. It was an emotionally charged event for him, one that could bring him a smile or tears depending on his mood. It had not seemed like it at the time, but a few words he spoke there had altered the course of his life, and Karaz’s. “That day that you saw. That you experienced, really; it was an important one for me. You remember Karaz, yes? How couldn’t you? I know I can’t forget him. You seem to think that the way we treat other species is just a political game to gain favor, but Karaz believed in everything he was doing, fully and genuinely. You know it’s true, because I knew it was true. He was willing to give up everything to do what he thought was right. He was willing to give up his safety on Rothian worlds, friends, his marriage, all because he knew he could help people who needed it. And you know how I felt about it? Well, I don’t think I actually have to tell you.”

In this case, Agent 595 would indeed know the answer to Vreta’s question. He had felt proud of Karaz. Vreta had always felt that Karaz was perhaps too idealistic and did not consider practical concerns as much as he should, but Vreta still admired his ideals. He even felt some guilt about the fact that he had not been willing to take the step to join Karaz fully. It had been an option for him, but his own pragmatic concerns had prevented him from committing to it. He had not been willing to put as much trust in other species as Karaz had. Vreta was not completely selfless, and certainly not completely trusting, but those memories did show that Vreta did not lie about wanting to help other species, in addition to his own.

“Maybe we’re not perfect. Karaz certainly didn’t think so. But we’re not that bad, Agent. Perhaps your people can handle this on their own, but they don’t have to. Karaz, he might have been naive in some ways, but he was willing to step up and do what was needed in ways that others wouldn’t. I was too worried, not just about taking risks with our technology, but my career, wealth, my next retirement. I could have helped him more, but I was too worried about keeping my company and maintaining business agreements. And none of it even mattered in the end; it wasn’t long after that when I retired anyway.” Vreta’s voice softened, and he let out a sigh as he once again glanced at the armor suit’s cold, expressionless faceplate. He was not exactly sure how this would go, but in any case, his words would not just be words this time. His words would conjure up emotions that he knew now existed in the Agent’s mind. “Now there are more people in danger. Your people. Now I’m in a position to step up and act, and this time, I’m not going to make excuses to avoid it. We can work together; we don’t have to be at each other’s throats.”

The Cradle

The Agent was deflecting the subject, which certainly meant that he was on the right track. He just had to keep pressing in the conversation, rather than let her try to derail it. “I really do think this is worth discussing. We shared several memories when we looked into that beam of light, including one of mine and yours. It might help us both to discuss it.”

Vreta crossed his arms, briefly staring off at nothing as his mind went back to the memories. “I always thought you hid your name, operating behind a moniker to better maintain your anonymity. Now I see, though, that you don’t have your old name anymore. Agent 595 is who you are. It’s a strange ritual you have, but…I think I understand it, in a way. You might be in a better position than you think to understand what it is to be Rothian. You know what it means to serve something much greater than yourself. And what we serve doesn’t necessarily have to be at odds. If you truly do serve the best interests of your people, then we can work together. My people don’t want to hurt yours, and I think you know that. Or you can know it, if you remember.”

The Cradle

Even Vreta had to admit that his facade had grown rather thin by this point. For someone who was meant to be a diplomat, he had done fairly well diving off of a cliff in pursuit of a falling vehicle, weaving between falling debris while outrunning a giant worm. At this point, his excuse of being a former soldier was mostly just for official records. The unspoken truth was likely known between them, though it would have to remain unspoken.

“I think our peoples have very…different responses to near-death experiences.” Vreta remarked as he stepped into the Agent’s room, ignoring the armor entirely as he approached her. “I know not everyone is satisfied with how the mission went, but for what it’s worth, I am glad we were able to get everyone out alive this time. And I feel we still learned a great deal. I’ve already given my people my best report of my experiences, but, and I’m not sure about you, there is still some of it that I am trying to make sense of. I was going to suggest that it might help to talk through some of it.”

Vreta crossed his arms, staring ahead at nothing in particular for a few moments. “I remember being in that darkened room. I was…excited. The most exciting day of my life, really. As much as I tried to avoid it, I couldn’t help but to be a bit anxious. I didn’t show it, though, except for maybe a bit of sweat on my brow. But I stopped thinking about all of that as soon as the Director-General started talking. It was my time, and I was ready.”

Vreta finally looked more directly towards 595. “I remember all of that as clearly as if it had actually happened to me.”

The Cradle

Rareth turned her head towards Andersen. “That would be for the best. I believe we…” Her voice trailed off for a moment as she performed a quick search of the Rothian gateway network. “Yes, we do have a gateway that can get us closer, though it is still quite a remote system. No official survey of the system has been performed; only remote observations.”

In mind frustration, Rareth growled softly under her breath. “I doubt we will make much progress with our guesses. We need actual analysis of hard data. These scans would need to come through an FTL medium in order to react to the object at such a distance, and if they are persistent scans, as you suggest, then they would be detectable in historical data. Perhaps now we will be able to look back and find it, now that we know what to look for.”

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In the evening after their excursion into the simulation, Vreta had personally debriefed with Rareth and Director Valic’Ans in Threria. Even without having yet completed their analysis of the data intercepted from 595, they had still learned enough to act. Rareth and Valic both had several ideas on how they might take advantage of the information, but Vreta first wanted to try a diplomatic approach. He was not sure how much success he was truly expecting, but it came with little risk to try. There was nothing he would be sharing that she did not already know.

It was during the next day that Vreta once again made his way into orbit as a guest of the Barbarossa. He was permitted in the crew quarters already, so he required no special permission to go seek out the agent. He wanted to speak to her privately. Although it was essentially guaranteed that nothing they spoke of would be secret, it was still prudent that they both be able to choose precisely who heard it. Regardless of what had happened to them the previous day, Vreta still doubted that 595 expected to see him when she answered her door. “Good day, Agent. There is a matter I would like to discuss with you. May I enter?”