008 ↔ video & text; mutiny day 2, 1545hrs

[5055034455]

[Saul would've come to the network sooner, but his earpiece picked something up not long after the network came back online.

So, he waited.

And waited.

And now, he thinks, is as good a time as any for this broadcast.

He's seated in DITR's office; the interior looks much the same as any other bedroom on the base, but in lieu of the beds, there's a medium-sized desk. This is where he's perched in his usual pose with elbows on his knees, hands folded, leaning forward just slightly and addressing the camera — which someone else is holding — with an expression so grim it somehow almost seems amused.]

This is not how you get what you want.

[A pause. He appears thoughtful for a moment, then waves a dismissive hand at nothing and smooths down his tie.]

I mean, sure, it must've sounded great in theory. And I'd bet any amount of money that you all thought you had your bases nice and covered, buuut —

[Tch.]

Looks like maybe not, if the network being back online is any indication. Hi, by the way. Are you having fun yet? Because that whole lack of gravity thing — man, that was a blast. I'm just wondering, you know, if this is gonna work in your favor the way you'd all hoped. Messing with the systems is all well and good and yeah, okay, we get your point: you're mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore. Fine.

But I think — and this is just my lawyerly opinion — you're gonna have a hell of a time dealing with the fallout from this. And I promise you, Charlie, there will be fallout. Civilized fallout, of course, assuming no one gets hurt. I'll keep my promise if you keep yours.

[He grins, then winks.]

Anyway, I dunno about everyone else, but I'm waiting with bated breath for your next move. And if you need anything from us —

[A quick sweep of his arm to indicate the entirety of the room and, with it, the entirety of DITR's staff. Whatever anger he's been keeping at bay finally seeps through, Saul's eyes narrowing for the split second it takes him to say:]

Good fucking luck.

[And off goes the video feed.]

*

[PRIVATE to all members of the Department EXCEPT Jesse, Mike, and Stephanie:]

If you haven't come to the office in room 206 yet, please report to Roslyn Small or another member of the police force for further instructions. They're set up in the cafeteria.

Comments

[5055034455]

Possible, but not likely. I don't think they'll be messing with the gravity controls again.

[Saul pushes a hand through his hair and leans back.]

Don't worry, Kanaya.

[speakveryclearly]

It's just disheartening to see them spit in the face of everything we've ever worked for! You, as the director of the department, have done so much for us...

Do they really think the Initiative refuses our offers of help anymore? I've been on four missions in the past two weeks alone - all successful! We're making real progress in undermining the advancement of chemical weaponry!

They don't even have a plan for when they've assumed control... all they want is "equality" but that's just a word, a stupid and meaningless Earth human word.

[5055034455]

Hey.

[He leans forward again, reaching over toward where Kanaya's seated with a "calm down" gesture.]

This is what happens when there are failures to communicate.

[speakveryclearly]

[She tugs at her own face - partly to keep herself from being consoled by an adult, a concept from which she recoils, but she seems to at least be trying to "calm down". Her next words are at least less enraged than sad.]

I guess... I never have understood how two human beings communicate with one another. Pacification and mediation are both words your language lacks...

[Keep in mind this fact about English on Earth was related to her by a high school delinquent.]

[5055034455]

"Mediation" is one of the top words in my vocabulary. What do you think I do, back home? Being a lawyer is the same as being a mediator.

[speakveryclearly]

Seriously?

[She looks up at him and her eyes have this filmy quality.]

That - is something I really needed to hear.

[5055034455]

Well, good.

[Hey, at least he said something right...!]

[speakveryclearly]

[She just. Holds her face like this for a little while.]

What are we going to do after this? We can't just make the transports at large get their collective act together if "equality" and "freedom" are the name of the game... We still don't know how we're going to make our way back.

[5055034455]

I have no idea. I don't know how this is gonna play out, so I can't —

[Now it's his turn to hold his head, but it only lasts a moment.]

I dunno.

[speakveryclearly]

They have a point, about the town meeting, even if they're reacting to that result in the wrong way. There was no individual transport... who thought they had a solution.

[5055034455]

And there won't be. Not now, not ever. You might think you have one, I might think I have one, they might think they have one — but there's always gonna be someone who disagrees. I guarantee that.

[speakveryclearly]

It wasn't so bad before when the Initiative could impose missions upon us - at least all four hundred of us were acting in concert and could definitely affect some change, even if it needed to be reinforced retroactively. Now enough disagreement and nothing is guaranteed to happen.

[5055034455]

...you've been here a long time, right?

[speakveryclearly]

Yeah. Yeah, over a year.

How is that most relevant in this context? Do you want a list of times that the Initiative did something right?

[5055034455]

Just — tell me about your experiences. What do you remember from those first few months?

[speakveryclearly]

The first few months? What's the first thing that happened... Well, the first thing that happened was the bombing, right while I was arriving. In October. We did have to hide in catacombs - it was like in May, I'm sure you were here in May, a little milder than that, no chemical element let alone nuclear. Entirely conventional explosives.

Then we went back in time to a battle in Russia. When we came back, though, something had been left behind, and the United Earth decided to punish us for having been there by infesting the island with monsters, which disabled the transporter. After a few days we fixed everything and the mission's true result emerged: sabotage of the United Earth's soporific supply, I mean sedative supply. That earned us an influx of technically skilled refugees.

Then... actually last November we had a number of attempted rebellions but none of them ever got past the recruitment stage, thank god. And in December we had zombies, but the contamination was actually traced to a Transport. January was extremely productive with both the mission that earned us the base. The United Earth punished us for that, too, but we fixed it by the time we went on the mission that earned us the AI. [No matter how hard she tries, Kanaya cannot keep from smiling to herself when she recalls this, for some reason - not even the successful missions but the punishment specifically is a source of surprisingly warm memories for her.]

So from my perspective... It was always, always a cat and mouse game of staying just one step ahead. Never a "mouse throws itself into river so its drowned body will wash up on the shores of the beach where the cat maintains its beautiful villa" game, and not a "mouse grinds its stolen cheese into mush just because it can" game either. There are some censored records of very early abuse on the Initiative's part but that was one hundred percent before my time. The mouse steals cheese so as not to starve. The problem has always been that the cat wants to eat the mouse. There isn't a single bitemark on the mouse that doesn't come from the cat's teeth.

Well. Not until now, anyway.

[5055034455]

[Saul watches Kanaya as she speaks, expression thoughtful.

When she's done, his expression is... something else.

A little impressed, maybe.]

So. As far as our next step is concerned — what do you think?

[speakveryclearly]

In terms of this rebellion? We stand our ground just like we did against the other monsters, I hope, though with the Aristeas system not functioning I imagine the combatants will be pretending that the "dignity of human life" is more than four words strung together in a manner I haven't deciphered to this day.

In terms of our entire situation? ...I keep waiting for the Initiative to just send all four hundred of us on another mandatory mission that solves all our problems. Like it did for the monster infestation and the AI retrieval. However, it's become tragically apparent that's not going to happen, because all of the Initiative's tacticians are dead. So we have to... determine what will solve our problems, as impossible as that sounds, and then implement that solution with only the small bands of cooperative transports we can aggregate.

[5055034455]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for the former. As for the latter... yeah, I don't know what to tell you. I wish I did. I could bullshit my way through it, but I'm not a tactician.

[Not even close.

Such a surprise, right?]

[speakveryclearly]

There's only so much responsibility we can reasonably impose upon Caesar Silverberg. Do you know any others?

[5055034455]

Off the top of my head? No. And Caesar's — really?

[Please excuse his surprise.]

[speakveryclearly]

I have no idea how old he is but there is plenty of space for your skepticism in the closet. He's been heavily involved in orchestrating one of the only missions that has actively improved the base.

[5055034455]

Okay, okay. Easy on the sass, pretty please.

[speakveryclearly]

[Her cheek puffs out, :T, and then back in, with the twitch only possible for someone trying to determine if she's been insulted or scolded, and deciding not to care.]

I really don't know of many others... I'm not sure what that Summers man considers himself, the old one who makes regular audio posts about the meaning of war.

[5055034455]

[Saul looks uncertain. He knows Nate, sort of. He also knows Steph has ties with the guy, but beyond that...]

Sonya and I conducted a survey a while back. Not many of those who responded are still around, but more than a few of 'em had military experience. I could take a look at those again and see who said what.