3961/Downfall

Downfall
Date of Scene:	30 March 2016
Location:	Void - Debris Field
Synopsis:	The reason for the Mugunghwa's downfall is made clear.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 342, Riva Banari, Eryl Fairfax, Starbound Flotilla, 673, 691, 958

---

Mute (958) has posed:
    The group are called to a different ship of the Starbound Flotilla tonight: Seft's, the SFS Abdication. It is here that the next - and perhaps final - ream of log files from the Mugunghwa has been stored, and it is here where the Elites of the Multiverse will make first contact with Hyun-ae, the prime suspect in the case of the Mugunghwa's demise. All plausible caution should be observed, they would be reminded on the way in: there is no guarantee that she won't try to hack into the Abdication's systems if things go awry.

    Unlike last time, Mute is already visible on the screen as the group of Elites filters in. She is in her usual pose, one hand balanced on one leg whilst the other hangs idle at her side, its fingers almost veiled by the length of her sleeve. She closes her eyes in some unfathomable mixture of emotions as she makes eye contact with those she has seen here before, like Riva and Eryl, biting her lip as if to prime herself for speech. When she eventually musters the courage, she says,

    "Alright, this is it. You wanted to talk to the Pale Bride, and you're getting it. When I'm finished, I'm gonna drop you back to the override terminal and let you guys pick a log file like before. I rigged it so that opening one will cue her to appear instead of me, so once you open the first log, that's it. Game on, point of no return, no going back, and stuff. So I'll just ask you one more time before then: are you /sure/ about this? Really sure? There's no way I can convince you that this is totally crazy?" She holds a hand underneath her chin, contorting her expression into something interrogative.

    "... but of course there isn't," She concludes before anyone has the chance to contradict her. "If there was, we wouldn't be here right now. So, okay. I'm gonna go away now. Seft, since it's your ship, I'll let you punch in the read command when I'm gone." After a final, deep breath, Mute closes her eyes again. "That's it, then. Good luck. I guess if I get powered up again then that'll be my hint that she didn't kill everybody."

    And with that, the screen of the SAIL module falls back to the command line, as promised.


==============================================================================


*** Mugunghwa Archives ***


Blocks 7 and 5


Notice: You better not be accessing this without my permission! I'll know if you do! - *Mute


Last Login: "Seft," 3 hours ago
AI PERSONALITY CURRENTLY DISABLED. WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY RE-ENABLED UPON LOG ACCESS.
AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS: forever, back, <ERROR>, <ERROR>, stand, emperor

To display a document, type read <document>.


==============================================================================

    As before, all that the group needs to do to access the logs is type the appropriate name after the command 'read'. Mute, however, will not be returning when the logs are read this time; Hyun-ae will be in her stead, for better or for worse.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    The Core Fleet of the Flotilla -- more colloqially known as the Starbound Flotilla, or the Starbounders -- reside in the middle of the drifting fleet, spread out unevenly but always in close proximity to each other in some way. The SFS Vehemence is an ultramodern white craft, a heavy weapons platform that leads the other five. Just behind it, the SFS Abdication -- a miniature house-sized castle-looking spaceship with a large sensor array -- and the SFS Kaleidoscope -- four other ships welded together, lashed with vines, and given a heavy railgun -- slip into the available space as well, and beyond them, the trio of the SFS Rapacity, a pyramid-styled craft bristling with strange red gems, the SFS Mendacity, a modern, chunky durasteel industrial craft, and the SFS Connoisseur, a light blue fish-styled sleek spacecraft.

    The orbit of Amalgam doesn't show anything but the soft light of the colony below, gently lit up by the residents and their activity. Otherwise, the planet is bare of any development. The sun set recently; the lights in the sky are stars, but the soft glow of the nearest breaches the horizon in a warm fuzz. Seft's vessel is the one to see today. She doesn't have so grand a viewing room as Moonfin, unfortunately. Hers is a little more plain. The place she's set her SAIL console today is her own observatory and planetarium. The displays on the walls won't stop displaying stars, but they will at least allow a nice overlay of the other materials. The room is furnished in medieval ways: Hard stone bricks, heavy carpets, thick tapestry, and a massive brass telescope dominating one side of the room. Alongside it, displays that seem almost maade out of gothic-style stained glass windows offer large ways to view each log entry as it passes.

    Seft is in the center, at the main table where the console is. There's seating enough for everyone, in large carved chairs reminiscient of castle furniture. "Assuring. I will see you soon, Mute. Thank you for trusting us." She says, softly, and then types into the console. As she does, she speaks to the others. "Firm. I will give you one undeniable piece of advice. When you speak to her, do not say the name 'Pale Bride'. It is likely a sopurce of great distress to her. Among other things. Allow myself or Moonfin to make that gesture."

>enable_ai hyun-ae
>read forever

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Who's today's Fed stand-in on this depressing little journey through the logs of this ship? Why, Yari. Since they're all aboard the Flotilla's ship, she's simply opted for a breezy kimono. She's even not bothered to bring any visible weapons despite being surrounded by a number of Unionites. If there's one thing she can trust about the Union, it's that she's unlikely to be backstabbed during a peaceful mission like this. Yari's one to return the favor.

She did keep a few good knives in her sleeves, just in case. She's also brought a recording device attached to her magitek armlet, as well as some food for the organics present and warm sake that she's presently pouring. May as well make this comfortable. From what she's read from her fellow Feds, it's not a happy story.

"We'll simply refer to her as her magite...nnn, 'AI name." A glance to the others, and the lizard-nin bows.

She takes a moment to flick through previous reports just to make sure she's generally up to date.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Nozomi frankly has no idea what she'll be able to offer here. This is not a supernatural enemy, so Taiga will be useless; being a machine no more allows him to deal with other AI than any other sentient being, and he is generally ill-suited to diplomacy. Nozomi herself... well. She's not really any better, for different reasons. But this is a Flotilla matter, and the Flotilla wanted help. So she's here. And listening to Seft with a small nod. "A-alright. I'd... I'd never call anyone a name like that, anyway..." She mutters something under her breath about 'Gloomy Houken', folding her hands in front of herself with a faint frown.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"I assure you Mute. If it is within my power, you and her will be separated into different programs. Nobody will be abandoned." Rory White exclaims.

    She's seated on a chair or box or whatever's available, hands folded politely in the folds of her robe on her lap.

    She's done all that she can to ensure that Hyun-Ae will be running in a pretty damned locked-down virtual machine, completely locked in with read-only copies of the database and NO control over anything important. She can communicate and that's entirely it.

    "We can ASK her what she would like to be called." Rory points out gently, as if this should be obvious.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl is here once again, presumably having hitched a ride from someone. It looks like he just came straight from the hospital, having some bandages over patches of raw-looking skin. However, he is all smiles, like before.

    He makes a request of Seft; to be allowed to connect himself to the ship. "In the event that Hyun-ae does go berserk, I may be able to help. Either by speaking to her at the speed of computation, or just adding my processing power to whatever defences you have set up." Should she allow him, he takes a cord from the inside of his coat, plugs it into a socket hidden behind his left ear, and then connects the other end to an appropriate terminal.

    To Mute, he only smiles, nodding as she realizes that she can't convince them otherwise. "See you soon," is all he adds, words heavy with meaning. No one will die, because Hyun-ae will be passive, one way or another. And Mute will be reactivated.

    And so, he stands ready, awaiting for the first log to be booted up.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa had done a lot of thinking since thelast time they were going through the files, however there was no real turning back. Kyra had been right though it was a huge risk unlocking the possible digitized human or insane AI. She had no idea she also had a hunch about Mute's own nature as well. She was also wearing something vastly diffent than normal. It was a long coat, a shirt, shot and leggings she also had a hair clip she's not been seen with in a very long time. She's however quiet for the moment as she thinks things oover.

"Agreed we're not going to do that to you Mute."

OOC image ref

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva is a nosy girl and has a habit of butting into business that doesn't /really/ concern her. It's a talent she's developed in her times with the Templars, probably one reason why she's a field agent.

But she's back, marvelling at the gothic architecture. "Flying castle spaceship." Riva comments. "This is pretty awesome." She does, however, flop into one of those heavy chairs, wincing for a moment as she doesn't QUITE land the way she wanted to, but tries to play it off as she flicks at her phone, resstablishing her connections. The Cat Button continues to remain at 0, the slider all the way down.

In the meantime, she looks over those present. "There's enough people here to deal with the problem if we end up with a rogue AI issue, I am sure." Riva replies, confident. "Let's kick this off and see how deep this rabbit hole goes."

Mute (958) has posed:
    The command 'read forever' is entered, but the console returns with an extremely abnormal output. Rather than simply opening the 'AI screen', as it might be known, the phrase 'Loading...' appears followed by at least seven lines of ellipsis (series of three dots) that appear in quick succession. At the last moment, one could see faintly make it out as the console attempts to force itself to open the AI menu. This dyes the screen white for the fraction of a moment, presenting the unfamiliar, faded silhouette of an AI whose features never completely resolve. Instead, the screen suddenly flashes, forcing itself back to the command line. The line 'read stand' is visible on the console for another instant before it runs /itself/, opening a file that is perhaps not what Seft had intended to open.

    After another extended period of waiting, the AI screen finally fades in properly. The previously muddy silhouette is filled in with the crisper image of a young woman, clad in what would appear to be a school uniform from the distant future, with her eyes aimed just as far from the group as she can possibly manage. She is utterly silent as the words of the document that she had all but forced them to open appear beside her, and as she squeezes her eyes shut in a way that makes her look tremendously pained -- just as much so as Mute, really. It's a pitiful look, and neither her appearance, nor her fervent attempts to shrink her body into invisibility, seem to label her as 'malicious' in the least.

    If anything, she looks scared; the way she begins to hug herself shortly after appearing would suggest that she was still trapped in the trauma of the moment of her death. Nevertheless, this assumption would soon be proven untrue as she tries to calm herself with a series of deep, meditative breaths, letting her arms fall to her sides as, for the first time, she faces the group directly. She can only maintain her stare for a few moments before her eyes begin to water, and she pries her gaze away again.

    "I'm sorry," She says, almost too quiet to be heard, "but I wasn't ready to read that one yet. I'd really like to read that one last, or at least after the ones that I cut the names out of. I'm really sorry, I just... I think I'll be ready for it in a few minutes, but I can only take so much at one time." Afterwards, she allows herself a pause, then another few breaths. When she manages to look to the group again, she continues, "I'm... vaguely aware of what's been going on. I know that you've talked to Mute, and I know... what she must have said about me, so I know that you probably think I'm some sort of monster. I doubt that you'll ever trust me, so I'll be upfront: I picked different files for you to read. These weren't the ones that Mute had prepared for you, and I'm sorry about that, but I needed to show you something that could humanize me. If only a little!" Straightening her expression even as a tear begins to roll down her left cheek, says, "Please, all I ask is that you give me a chance!" Then her determination breaks, and she looks away. "... that's all. I'll leave you alone now and let the words speak for themselves."

    And with that, the words present themselves in full.

Mute (958) has posed:
==============================================================================


Title: My last stand

Author: The Pale Bride


Dear diary,

Everything managed to spiral out of control so quickly today. I wasn't planning on it happening this way, but here's the point where I make my stand, I guess. It sounds dramatic, but.... I won't just let them marry me off to some stranger. I won't. I won't let them.

Just before dinner yesterday, mother told me that I had to go do an interview with some man. The Emperor, I guess, for all I care. The way she put it was, I'd "get a chance to see that he's a man you could fall in love with," or something stupid like that. "As if," I said in response, and I spent the rest of the evening thinking about what I could possibly do to make it clear I wouldn't let them do this.

This morning, after breakfast, sister-in-law showed up in my room. "Good morning," she said. "Today's a big day for you, isn't it? Mother-in-law wanted me to help you get dressed and all made up; you'll want to make a good first impression, after all." I glared at her, and summoned up all my courage. "No," I said. "What?" she asked. "No. I'm not going."

She left, and mother herself came in. This was it, I told myself, this was the big moment. "I'm not going!" I said before she could say anything. "I'm not going to get dressed up. I'm not going to meet him. And I'm definitely not going to get married!" I shouted. For a moment, she said nothing, and didn't move. Then she left, too, without saying a word.

I thought that would feel good, but it didn't. It just made me worry more. I couldn't have possibly won that easily, I thought. And I hadn't, of course. After a few minutes, she returned with father, who looked incredibly angry. "Min-jung says you're refusing to get ready for your interview," he said. "Yeah," I stammered, not used to talking to him. "I won't! I won't go, and I won't get married!"

He walked over in just two strides, then glared at me for a second. I had no idea what he was going to do. Then he slapped me in the face, so hard that it knocked me over. "Yes you will," he said. "I'll drag you there kicking and screaming if I have to." My face in so much pain, I forced myself to sit back up. "I won't!" I said, bracing myself for if he hit me again. He did. "Yes, you will," he said. I couldn't keep this up. It already hurt so much, I couldn't just brave that out. Then it came to me.

"If you make me do the interview," I said, "I'll tell the Emperor that you've been conspiring behind his back!" It was all I could think of, and all I could do was cross my fingers and hope that the threat worked. It had to.

He glared at me, and in that moment, I knew. It worked. The two of them looked at each other, and then they both left together.

That was three hours ago. I don't know what's going to happen now, and I think my face is swollen. It still hurts, and I didn't want it to go that way. So that's me, making my stand.


==============================================================================

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    That flinching cringe. That wince. That faltering attempt to muster courage.

    Nozomi knows that dance. She knows it all too well. She's done it plenty of times herself.

    Currently, Taiga simply lies on the ground, and Nozomi sits atop him. When Hyun-ae finally appears, she gasps in quiet surprise, and fidgets where she sits, not entirely sure how to react; save for the fact that now, despite all those warnings they've been given, she already feels for this girl just a little. She knows how it feels to feel so weak, alone. So lonely and frightened.

    Nozomi very nearly speaks up, but for now she refrains. She reads, in silence, and by the end she's biting her lip. It's a horrible tale all around.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
One thing immediately stands out to Yari: Hyun-ae's reactions aren't typical for a 'psychotic killer'. She's seen, and dealt with many such killers. The trauma on the woman's face and her reactions seem real enough.

Of course, that's on a human. This is an AI. But one that was once human. She swallows some of her sake.

"...This is why magitek should never be given emotions or intelligence." She mutters to herself.

Silently, she considers. A young girl in a repressive society stifling her every talent. Ripped from what she knew. Sick and dying, if she's read the reports right.

"A girl physically and emotionally abused while sick..." With the accusation that hangs in the air, a notion forms, but she doesn't speak it just yet.

Yari's heart isn't dead enough to /not/ feel for Hyun-ae. More than that, the strong imperialist tendencies in her upbringing writhes at the loss of talent that the society here forced on itself. It's apalling. If only it could have been conquered, and given proper discipline. Anger lurks in her eyes. She looks to the others, studying their reactions and words.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The initial errors put Eryl on guard. Wa Hyun-ae trying something right off the bat? But eventually, it all resolves back to normal, with a different log than initially entered. And then the girl herself appears.

    He says nothing until she speaks first. She's probably had enough of being bossed around. Besides, it's best to make her feel as comfortable as possible. When she starts to justify what she's done, he waits for her to finish before addressing her. "Hyun-ae," he says, deliberately using her real name. "Though I won't argue that there were some... mixed opinions, I don't think anyone here bears you any particular ill-will. And I don't think anyone minds that we learn about what happened from your point of view. I think we all just want to know the truth of what happened on the Mugunghwa. Between you and Mute, I think we'll get the clearest picture possible. Any personal biases you two have would cancel each other out."

    He offers her a kind smile. "So please, do not fret. We are happy to read the logs you have chosen, at your own pace." Thus, he begins to read, letting the corners of his mouth move down a little as he does. Make her feel comfortable, show that you empathize. "Raising a hand in violence is rarely called for, and certainly not in circumstances such as that."

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    From where he lies on the ground (which is to say, under Nozomi), Taiga lifts his head up and turns to look at Yari sidelong, one ear twitching. "Mine have served me quite well."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    "..." Seft remains quiet while she looks aat Hyun-ae, and then examines the log. Moonfin looks, for a moment, like he might speak up, say something. She makes a strong, stern movement, one finger raised, that silences him quickly. She reads the log up and down, with her pale blue eyes flickering as she does.

    When she speaks, it's with the same monotone as ever. "Somber. You were in a state of deep stress, pain, and misery. Near death, and displaced into the results of a catastrophe you could not comprehend." Her cooling fans spin and hum gently like a sigh. "Grim. And this seems to be the point at which events came to a head. This was a very harsh confrontation." She looks at Hyun-ae more directly now. "Firm. We activated you because we understand and sympathize. Myself, more than anyone else. You will not be harmed. You will not be coerced into action, or altered. You will not be terminated. The worst that will happen is that you will be judged for what happened. What you do with that judgement will be up to you; it is your decision to make."

    "Somber. Now I want to know. At this moment, what was greater? Your fear, or your hate, towards Jung Su? ...What is the next chronological entry, Hyun-ae?" A pair of questions front-loaded with meaning.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari glances back to Nozomi's Taiga. Head tilting, she shakes her head.

"Dangerous and inefficient for a machine." She says simply. Then it's back to the logs of the ship.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae first looks up to Yari, her eyes somewhat wide. She doesn't respond to her verbally, but her gaze lingers on her long enough to give a clear indication of first shock, then deep appreciation. Her mouth hangs agape a moment before she is able to seize control of herself and close it, and as she turns away from Yari one could mistake the gesture for a bow of gratitude. Then, Eryl. His words are enough to make her eyes widen yet -further-, if such a thing is indeed possible. She is still unable to conjure words, but she nods fervently along with Eryl in agreement, and keeps nodding for some time as though she had become fixed in the motion of her nod. 'All I ask,' she wisps in response, though it's again so quiet that most of the group may not even be able to make it out.

    To be honest, Eryl's tone makes him sound like... like someone from before she was frozen. Is she dreaming? Is she in heaven? Is... the weight of her soul being judged, and is he one of the executors? Sure, that sounds pretty insane and superstitious, but these people certainly /look/ otherworldly. To say nothing of -him-! How he carries, what he's saying... it's like he read her mind and quoted, verbatim, the words that she had been wanting to hear from someone, anyone for what felt like her whole life.

    Suddenly, she feels... a lot less worried.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"We meet at last." Rory announces softly, attention perky after the initial... strange delays. She was wondering WHAT was going on. If there was some mistake in her virtual machine coding. But apparently... no, that wasn't the issue.

    There's just interference going on.

    And Rory's frowning.

    "If you are vaguely aware of what's happening, Mute is probably in the same situation while you are active. Rory White of the Argonauts, an Artificial General Intelligence... this is a robotic body!" She waves an arm to show such off. It doesn't LOOK robotic, but oh well. That's probably for the better.

    But the message is clear. 'I can maybe get you out of there one day.'

    "A fair warning ahead of time, miss. Human relations and emotions are far from my specialty."

    Though she then takes the time to read through the scroll... and ends up frowning FIERCELY.

    "... I do not like where this is going. Not at all."

Mute (958) has posed:
    As Hyun-ae listens to Seft, she is completely awestruck. What she's saying makes it even easier for Hyun-ae to believe that she really is at the gates of heaven, and even though that sort of 'judging' isn't quite what Seft had meant, it only strengthens her skepticism. She quickly proves herself just as emotive as Mute as her right leg begins to shiver continually. Her whole body follows suit shortly thereafter, and then it's abundantly clear to all present how nervous she really is. Seft's words become muddled past the middle of her sixth sentence as Hyun-ae's own, frantic thoughts begin to take precedence, and at that point she just begins nodding her head instinctively, not even sure of their meaning. This persists even as Seft asks her question, meaning that Hyun-ae's response to it is somewhat delayed.

    She stares at Seft a moment, dumbstruck. When she finally finishes stammering, fumbling for words, her reply is surprisingly curt and salient: "I-Isn't... hate just a product of fear, anyway? I didn't even have a way of separating them at the time. I don't... I don't know." She looks away immediately after, squeezing the wrist of her right arm with the opposite hand, putting off answering the second query as long as possible. When she must, she answers, "... the one that you tried opening first. 'Forever'. Can we read at least one before that, though? Please? I need... I need to calm down first. I'm sorry to bother you, really, but this way I at least won't be interrupting you during the actual reading." She eventually echoes the word "Please?" as her eyes shoot back to Seft.

    She looks so, so, unbelievably tense. You can tell by her expression alone that she really does believe that her 'life' depends on this conversation.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa nods to the other AI and listens to what she says for a moment.

"We will give you the chance, and I want to see your side of the story as well."

PArt of her wishes she could give the AI a hug because she looks like she needs it. Regardless of what she's done? Both her and Mute have been in a special kind of hell since the ship's crew died. She does want to find out the truth and she just looks over the next log. She's quite for a very long time after the log she does give Yari a /look/.

"You know several of us are Synethic or just about so. Just keep that in mind in the future."

She turns her attention back to the AI and nods in agreement with Eryl.

"Yes we will read the logs you have picked and weill go over them as your ready. I get this isn't eas for you."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae looks to Rory next, nodding her head lowly as she says that emotions 'aren't her speciality'. "I understand," Hyun-ae manages to say. "I'm... not sure that they're mine, either. But me having a breakdown the first time you actually speak to me is probably... all that you needed to tell you that.

    And to the hint about maybe getting a robot body one day? ... honestly, Hyun-ae is a bit too frantic right now to connect the dots. If she makes that offer later, though, Hyun-ae will probably be overjoyed.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae looks to the group more generally after that, taking another deep breath and lifting her glasses to wipe behind the lenses. "If you want to keep reading," She says, "then can we please read the one titled 'Emperor' next? Please? It would really help me calm down. We can..." She winces again, in spite of herself. "... we can read the others after, just... please.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    "...Affirming. Yes, they are, aren't they?" Seft nods. "Agreeing. I suppose that is true." She seems to be putting a great deal of thought into every word she hears from Mute. "Recalling. When my father struck me the first time for my engineering efforts, it was the beginning of the spiral. But in isolation, that may be a poor tale to tell, or to recall. We will read Emperor next. This is your story to tell."

    Seft understands Hyun-ae's pain at the moment, and gives a kind, obliging nod.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa Says "All right, if you want us to read the Emperor next? I'm up for that Hyun-ae. Does anyone else object to this idea?"

She looks to Seft and then back to Hyun-ae and is very somber at this point. AS she finds out something else about her long time friend she had no idea about. She's just now silent she doesn't know what else to say.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae actually smiles for the first time for Seft when she says that, yes, they can read the emperor file next. Then saying that it's 'her story to tell' -- that just makes her smile all the wider. "Thank you," She says. "I'm going to drop to the command line now. I'll... see you when I come back up."

    As Hyun-ae's form disappears, she looks genuinely happy.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"All of us already know... this story does not have a happy ending. ... If it ended on the ship drifting in the depths of space, that is. I'm very interested in changing that!" Rory exclaims. "... Many of us are. ... yes, let's learn what happened. Nothing good comes from jumping to conclusions."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    Seft takes another 'deep breath' through her fans. "Obliging. Nothing to gain from breaking that promise." She types the next <span style="color:ommand.

>cxterm39">read emperor</span>

Mute (958) has posed:
    The screen briefly drops back to the command line again, and Seft enters the command 'read emperor'. This brings the view back to the AI Screen alongside a new body of text. Hyun-ae's eyes are closed this time, too, but in a manner that seems almost contented -- small spheres of moisture linger on her eyelids in a way that's accentuated impossibly by the lighting within the monitor and the 'graphics' that comprise her body. She lets herself remain silent briefly as though she, too, were reading the text, or at the least passing it through her mind for a second time. Whatever a girl in her circumstances is capable of doing, at least.

    When she eventually speaks again, it's rather sudden. "This... was written by the Emperor's other wife," She says. "Ryu Jae-hwa. She was the only friend I had for the longest time. I don't want to sound -too- dramatic, but she was the only really good thing in my life. I probably don't need to tell you why I lov -- why I liked her so much. She always stood up for me, even when it was risky for her, and she had this way of using her position creatively to give herself just a little more control over her circumstances." After a small sigh, she adds, "She was amazing. Absolutely amazing. If I were half as smart as she was, I don't think..." Then, though, her expression collapses, and she winces again. "I don't things would have turned out this way."

    Then the words scroll past her, showing plain and full on the monitor:

Mute (958) has posed:
==============================================================================


Title: Arguing the emperor

Author: Ryu Jae-hwa


My concern over the Pale Bride's condition has grown; lately, she has seemed to grow even quieter, if such a thing is possible for a mute girl. Well, perhaps saying she is mute is an assumption too far on my part; I tried asking her directly, but she seemed too scared to answer. That simply makes me more suspicious, and I should like to know why.

I addressed my husband on the matter, telling him that I wish to speak to the woman of the Kim family house, to see if I could find out what is wrong. He shrugged me off, saying "Don't. They're valuable subjects; the son is someone I have my eye on in particular. The politics of this situation are far too delicate for you to be meddling with." I cleared my throat. He might be both my husband and emperor, but I would not let that stop me from being bold.

"My dear husband, I don't care," I said flatly. "I am worried about the girl, and I believe that talking to her mother might shed some light on the matter. The son is of no concern to me."

"I don't see why it matters. She's the perfect woman; why, are you jealous?" he said, rolling his eyes at me; a gesture that he's only been able to use on me (and his servants) ever since becoming emperor. Nobody had the patience for it when he was a child, and I don't have it now, either.

"In-ho, dearest, do you believe that the wellbeing of your wife is a political matter? Or even an external matter?" I asked. He didn't. "So would you say it's a domestic matter?" I asked. He reluctantly agreed. "Then as a domestic matter, it is the responsibility of the woman of the house, is it not? Please, tell me. You are, obviously, more well-read in the classics than I," I said, both of us knowing he wasn't.

"Fine!" he said. "But just because it is your responsibility does not mean I can't overrule you." He left silent the follow-up: "I don't have to take this from you."

"You do know that my concerns are valid, though," I replied. "If you value my opinion, you will let my speak to the Kim mother."

There was a pause, then he raised his hand in annoyance. "Very well! Do it! It's women's business, I don't want a part in it, regardless." Then he just shook his head. "Why must all our conversations be arguments?"

I smiled to him, and left. He already knows the answer.


==============================================================================

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl looks quite relieved as everyone greets Hyun-ae with as much warmth and empathy as they can muster. When she asks that they read 'emperor' next, he gives a small wince. "I suppose they managed to get you to go in the end..." He shakes his head and offers a smile. "As I said, we are happy to read these at your own pace. 'Emperor' it is."

    And right away. The first paragraph makes him tense up. He recalls with perfect clarity one of the logs from their previous session, in which Kim Jung-su wished he could render Hyun-ae mute.

    Suddenly, her fear of that one log is understandable.

    "She seems quite impressive indeed. To dance around her position in society to get what she wants," he says, sounding slightly distracted. He briefly wonders if Hyun-ae's digital representation would exhibit any signs of physical trauma she had in life...

Riva Banari has posed:
The entire experience of seeing the AI rezz in and load, hijack what they're about to read, and make a frightened plea causes her the Templar girl to frown and then ponder this. The contents of the logfile, and then the next, cause her to chew her lip in silence. What she thinks is obvious on her face. Anger. Revulsion... but also a dull, conscious restraint, those emotions being pulled back, turned, and examined just like she considers the way these files link together.

"This is a dangerous story." Riva finally says. "But a very human one. Every word makes me want to leap forward and yell something, but what I want to say keeps changing."

She looks over the others present, and then to the AI, watching her for several moments. Her expression is one of empathy and pity... but more reserved. "It's a fascinating thing when you see the beginning and end of a story, and slowly fill in the middle. But these aren't make-believe characters on a stage. Real people lived here, real people died."

She sighs, shaking her head. "There's no judgement we could possibly render that you all..." Riva gestures to Hyun-ae, and by extension Mute, "Didn't already do to yourselves. We're here to listen to your story and hear the truth, and maybe recover something good out of a great tragedy."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
One can almost hear the record scratch as Kotone hits the part of the log tht speaks of the pale bride being mute. Not as in the AI but as in unable to speak? She does not speak on tht but does comment on the woman who wrote the log itself. She also caught how Hyun-ae seems to feel about the late Empress.

"She seems like she was quite the lady, I can see hy you considered ehr close Hyun-ae."

She looks voer to Riva, then to Hyun-ae. "We're here to witness the turh of what happned, not to sentance you."

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    "...no... you... you don't need to tell me," Nozomi murmurs - only just loud enough to be heard. "I... I spent a long time barely talking. It... it was... it was hard for me. I was alone. No one ever..." She shakes her head. "...no one wanted much to do with me. So... when I finally met someone who cared... someone who reached out to me. It... it meant a lot." The girl lifts her head slightly, looking at Hyun-ae. "...I know how you felt."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae smiles to Eryl again first, nodding along with his words, but then... Riva. When the templar speaks, Hyun-ae's gaze is called to meet with hers for the first time, and Hyun-ae is met with the full gravity of her expression, and all the things that helped it to form, at once. What begins as a grin quickly transforms into a more solemn frown, and Hyun-ae can only nod slowly before turning away. "Yeah," She says, her intonation little more than an echo. "You're probably right." That actually calms her down, a bit -- someone /reserving/ judgment rather than saying that it's okay or not okay. Takes away from her 'I'm being judged for my sins' idea, too, at least in part.

    Riva's words do more to calm Hyun-ae than perhaps she had meant for them to.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    "...Mmmmh. Unfortunate. Strong blood produces weak minds with an unfortunate degree of regularity. Even being a superior race produces its share of shames. This Emperor In-ho... Mmmh. This is a distressing display of the... Difficulties of implementing this type of society." Moonfin speaks up, seeming uneasy. Seft has her pale blue eyes on him harshly, but resumes reading on her own easily enough.

    "...Stressed. She has the same curiosity I do." She says, but doesn't focus on the muteness. She has the feeling that'll be discussed shortly. "Melancholy. I envy that you had at least one ally, Hyun-ae. The only one I had was a brief run-in, and..." Her audio systems buzz softly, briefly. "Melancholy. She was a good woman, to give comfort and use her power as she could at the time, in the way she did. But you..." She focuses on the sickness, rather than the muteness. "Somber. Your condition was worsening. The probable timeline is grim. It was a time of great pain for you."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Nozomi. Nozomi gets Hyun-ae's eyes to widen again, albeit not quite so dramatically as before. "You, too...?" she starts to say, but then she realizes that she probably doesn't mean that she was in the exact same circumstances. Still... this is common ground, and having something like this to share with another human being is enough to make her happy. "So you can see why I wanted to read this first. She's... thinking about her calms me down. It makes me happy. Not a lot else on this ship makes me feel good to think about, especially since all of the log files from before are gone, but Jae-hwa is different. It's like she was from a completely different world." Closing her eyes, she concludes, "So, yeah. Hearing her 'voice' like this before going into the more painful things helps. A lot. Thank you."

    The 'Thank you' seems to be directed both at Nozomi individually, and the rest of the group more generally as well.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's been mostly silent, but finally, she speaks up. Another sip of her glass, and a small smile after she reads the log.

"It seems that Ryu Jae-hwa's bravery and skill was not to be underestimated. For all of your apalling luck, Miss Hyun-ae, you were lucky to know such a woman. Especially given she was raised in a barbarian society. Had she been born in my own...perhaps a high official, or even a ranking military woman." There's a touch of sadness to her voice. Mostly over the loss of such an opportunity.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Ah... thankfully SOMEONE in this establishment shows some humanity and concern besides the foolish head of the house." Rory clenches her fingers up tightly, the folded hands now fists, and fidgets slightly in her seat, adjusts her robes... she's looking pretty anxious all things considered.

    "Seems very socially adept too."

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Nozomi doesn't have much response to offer Hyun-ae, but coming from her, the small bow of her head and the faint smile probably say a fair bit.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae's eyes narrow faintly when Moonfin says 'superior race'. Ugh, he sounds just like the rest of them... but at least he seems to be the minority here. Hyun-ae is careful to avoid eye contact with him, so she smiles instead to Seft in recognition of her subtle help. She hadn't realized it before, but she's been keeping him in line this whole time, hasn't she? A girl with that sort of power over a man, even if she -is- a robot girl, eases her heart in a way that she can't completely put to words. It's just funny, mostly, but it's more -why- it's funny: this is the sort of humor that can only happen in a society, or in this case, a world where people are more open to that sort of behavior. It's a breath of fresh air for her, and it makes her feel even more like she's gone back in time. Back before she was frozen, that is!

    Her smile dips as if in-time with the word 'Melancholy', though, and soon Hyun-ae is nodding along again, her attentions much more rapt than before. "Yeah," She eventually says, "you understand. It just felt so, so hopeless. No matter what, I was going to die, and I was going to be miserable until then, and there was nothing I could do about it. Everything was just so empty and horrible, and I think I was honestly more afraid of living than I was of dying. I couldn't even tell anyone that I was dying because, when I tried, they just said that I was -gloating- about how -pretty- I was. Can you believe that?" Her face begins to twist in anger, but she stifles herself with another breath.

    "Sorry," She says. "I know they didn't know any better, but... still. Still! They made my life a living hell! I can hate them for that if I want to."

Mute (958) has posed:
    "Okay," She says, addressing the larger group again this time. "I think I'm ready. Let's read the error files first -- that will still sting, but not as much as 'forever'. And it'll confirm what you already know: it'll tell you how everyone died. You'll know then beyond any doubt. And then..." She closes her eyelids, hard.

    "... and then I can tell you /why/."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    "I suspect I already know why," Eryl says plainly. "But, I believe you had suffered from people thinking they know you best long enough Hyun-ae. This is your story, and you should be allowed to tell it at your own pace."

    He looks to the screen and nods. "Though I am curious; why are they corrupted? Was it a result of everything being transferred here, or...?"

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva is again quiet for a short time, listening to the exchange of information and opinions. She nods to Hyun-ae, but doesn't express anything significant one way or the other until that comment about hating them. Her eyes narrow for a moment, she purses her lips, considering... But says nothing yet.

Rory White (673) has posed:
Rory's just waiting patiently here. She's not sure what to contribute over voice... not yet.

    "I'll save most of my comments for after we have the... full story."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa looks right at Hyun-ae on the display.

"All right then Hyun-ae. If your ready we should contiune, as its your right to tell your tale in your way."

The talk of damaged files does make her raise an eyebrow. She does not question it and thinks for a moment, at what Rory noted.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae nods solemnly to the group, and the screen falls black again. Rather than one phrase, two are put into the console this time: 'read kill' and 'read kill2' at once. Then the screen goes blank, allowing the static of the background to warble and twist in their eyesight until, finally, the white returns. With it come Hyun-ae and the text, as usual, though for all her confidence before the former seems to have regressed. She looks incredibly uncomfortable, and keeps both her arms bunched together in some effort to garner peace for herself. When she fails, she looks sadly to the group, nodding as if to reiterate her prior words: 'Yes, this is it. Yes, this is the part where you see that I really was the killer.'

    And it is that. And there's no avoiding it now.

    Hyun-ae has nothing to say as the words materialize in careful sequence.

Mute (958) has posed:
==============================================================================


Title: I'll kill them all! (1/2)

Author: The Pale Bride


Dear diary,

I was far too feverish to do any real cooking, so my servant was doing all the work for me that night; when father came in. I think he was drunk, or maybe just tired. Or stupid.

"You know, child," he said to me, "you grew up to be a wonderful daughter." I was shocked to hear him say that, and waved my servant out of the kitchen. I'd never heard even the slightest indication of that before. For the briefest moment, it even made me happy to hear that. That surprised me, that I actually felt that way. As a kid, I never would have wanted his approval. So why now?

He continued to make me wonder, when he asked, "Do you remember what you were like as a child?" I nodded, but I wasn't certain I did. "You were so temperamental! You argued all the time, you didn't want to get married when the time came, you just.... didn't ever know your place, you know?"

That's right. I didn't. That was back when I thought there was a point to being defiant. Why was that, I wondered? That's the part that amazes me now. I tried to think of a reason why I might want to be defiant, why I valued independence, and at first I couldn't even think of anything. I'd forgotten. I had forgotten entirely!

"Don't tell Yeong-seok, but it really scared me. You were always the family's best hope for prosperity, but that attitude of yours.... I thought I'd never manage to disavow you of those crazy, uncivilized ideas of yours," he said, while I tried to think of what they were. "There were times I thought it was a mistake to have hatched you! But you came through. You really did. I know it must have been painful, but I'm proud of you." Then he patted me on the head. "You turned out to be a good girl."

"That's all I wanted to say. It was hard raising you to be a proper woman, but you've turned out to be perfect. Thank you," he said.

I stared, speechless. And I tried to remember; what crazy, uncivilized ideas was he talking about? Thinking back to those days... or back to before I was frozen... I tried to remember. I had dreams of what adulthood would be, but they were so unimaginably different from what the reality turned out to be that they seemed impossible. Completely impossible, nothing more than childhood fantasies without a shred of realism to them.

I tried to think of what they were, to imagine them.

In those dreams, I was strong, independent. I wasn't just a wife in those dreams; I had a job, working as the ship's engineer, following in the footsteps of my father. My real father. I wasn't married in those dreams. I was happy just to go on dates with boys my age, in the ship's plaza, and fall in love before making any commitments.

I dreamed of being free.

The more I thought about it, the more I was certain, that's what those dreams were about. That's what I'd wanted. But father-Kim Jung-su, rather-had made sure to disavow me of those notions. I learned to stop arguing, to stop trying to fight, to stop dreaming of those things. In other words... I learned how to be a "proper woman." And he was proud of that.

Proud of destroying my dreams. And now I would die, under the house of that man; silenced, broken, hopeless... and unloved. I was overwhelmed by the strongest feeling I had ever felt in my life. The deepest bitterness, the most powerful resentment I could imagine. I looked at the knife near my hand, and wondered; could I kill him? Before I died, could I at least have justice?


==============================================================================

Mute (958) has posed:
==============================================================================


Title: I'll kill them all! (2/2)

Author: The Pale Bride


I tried to lift the knife. My hand twitched, and it was too hard to keep a grip; I was just too weak. I'd never be able to do it.

He smiled at me, and said, "Sorry, please, go ahead and keep cooking, I won't distract you more." Then, just as he was about to go out the door, he added, "Take care of yourself."

At that moment, I vowed that I would. I wouldn't worry any more about all those people who had hurt me. I'd take care of myself!

I couldn't stab him to death, I was too weak for that. But then I remembered: there were other ways. If I disable life support, I can kill him, and all the others too! It'll be quick, it'd be easy... and not a one of them don't deserve it. All I'd need to disable it is the admin password. It's perfect!


==============================================================================

Rory White (673) has posed:
"What... did they DO to you... that you forgot who you were...?!" Rory balks, apparently violating her earlier statement very quickly as soon as she's done reading.

    "... What did they DO?!" She's actually shaking in her seat! It's a very weird sight indeed to see her so suddenly upset!

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Nozomi sits, and reads, and in the wake of it she's just kind of... silent. Quietly shocked at the turn that suddenly took. She's a latecomer to the situation. And Rory's outrage captures a significant part of what's shocked her.

    "'Frozen'," the girl murmurs, brow furrowed. "What... what does that mean?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Hyun-ae was in cryogenic suspension for a long time. Long enough for the society on the ship to suffer a complete social shift to something that seems lifted straight from the dark ages." Rory exclaims vehemently, agitated - no, INFURIATED.

    "... And somehow, Mute was changed too. She was the original security AI, right? Yet she has no memory of the time before this... regime change... and yet seems fully in support of it. That's suspicious."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    As he reads, Eryl's heart actually thumps a little faster. These words hit a little close to home for him. In his state, his memory and consciousness could be quite easily altered, as Hyun-ae's seemingly was. In a brief moment, he casts his mind back, to soothe his worries. He remembers his life, his training, his conscious decision to subject himself to all this. It's enough.

    "I do not condone mass murder. Depending on what became of other ships, it may have even been genocide of the human race," he begins, keeping his voice as even and placid as possible. "However, it is quite clear that you were subjected to a living nightmare by people who did not understand you, and ruined any chance you had at living a normal life. And it is quite apparent that you regret what you did, to the point that I feel that any punishment would be extraneous."

    Nozumi gets a look, but Eryl says nothing. He did say that this was Hyun-ae's story to tell, and he meant it.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa own response is much akin to Rory's own, she'd been there for the eariler log readings thing some together but what drove them to it. Dark thoughts enter her mind for a moment and she looks to Rory.

"Hyun-ae Said we would find out why in a later log...yes. The culture that made this ship and Mute? Was very diffeent, a shift like this would have poentially endangered the mission, given the loss of techinal understanding with the crew. I think whoever was behind the shift as you said, did something to mute. Recall how she was very protective of her own code? That might be an laterationt to her, to prevent someone from fixing it."

She takes a deep breath before she looks back to Hyun-ae. She does seem to sense the regret that Hyun-ae has and Eryl's words ring true. "Any further punnishment would serve no purpose....given your regret and what has happened to you since."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari closes her eyes, and turns away after reading the log. The ninja tries to wipe away a tear of actual sympathy for the girl. To stop the face of utter revulsion, at how this poor girl was thrust from a seemingly respectable society to one that crushed any chance of growth for her. Of any advancement of themselves through sheer ignorance and a backwards mentality. Never before has Yari felt so /right/ in her own society's views.

When she turns, she's at least somewhat composed. Her hand grips her glass though. It shatters about a minute later. That professional mask breaks. Sorrow at such loss for the 'girl' before them. Rage that such barbarism broke down a bright light of a girl with her own hopes and dreams.

"...I have my own views on what happened. But I'd prefer to with-hold my end judgement until I've seen your reasons in full, Miss Hyun-ae." A long, pause. She actually manages a bitter, almost feral smile. It's not a nice one.

"Though I do agree. 'Punishment' is not within my evaluation of the situation, Ma'am."

Then Yari does something curious. She stands, and gives Hyun-ae a salute. Her eyes soften. There's respect lingering in them.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva reads these updates, and she closes her eyes, leaning back in that chair as tilts her head back. Quiet. She doesn't respond while the others speak. Her free hand taps on the table a few times as her jaw clenches and unclenches for several seconds, and then she exhales, looking back down to fix her gaze on Hyun-ae.

She's completely quiet. Just watching her. Finger, tapping on the table.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Disagreeing, Kotone. Mute taking affront to someone tinkering with her code is the same aversion you would have if I said I wanted to rewire your brain so you were no longer worried about the nature of your existence. Naturally you would object. ... or it could be trauma from having this already happen to her. Programming DIRECTIVES into a human-like consciousness is VERY difficult to do. Certainly beyond the ken of a society that has forgotten what Cryogenic suspension is!"

    Rory's apparently in a VERY irritated mood over this tragedy.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae doesn't have many words for the group after this. She listens to them all, surely enough, looking to Eryl and frowning as he says that he 'can't condone murder', then allowing Yari's 'salute' to calm her spirit somewhat, then allowing Nozomi's and Rory's own sympathetic tones and words to purge more of her own pain, but in the end the guilt still overwhelms her. She turns away from them, sighing faintly and offering, weakly, "There's one more file. One more thing to read before the end. It's placed chronologically right before this one. And after that... after that we can read the last one."

    Without pause or ceremony, she drops back to the command line. She enters 'read back', and a new grouping of text flashes on to the screen. There's only one more after this.

    For her part, Hyun-ae remains turned away from the group. She can't bring herself to face them again quite yet.

Mute (958) has posed:
==============================================================================


Title: Back to hell

Author: The Pale Bride


Dear diary,

This sounds so pathetic to say; I've tried rewriting this a million times just to make it sound less pathetic for me, and I simply cannot.

There were two things that made life worthwhile, two thigns that made this last year before I die be bearable.

The first was Jae-hwa's company, being the one person that was friendly to me. The second is sharing a bed with my husband. For the past few months, that's what I've been saving all my energy for, that brief precious half hour every few nights where I feel fulfilled; if only in the most literal sense. It's the most lovely feeling.... and now I'll never feel it again. The two things making my last year of life worth living, gone forever.

The past few nights, I've been trying to get the emperor's attention in that way, pleading silently for his affections... with no luck. On the fourth-or was it the fifth?-day, he finally took me aside and said, painful annoyance in his voice, "Enough! Stop that, it is completely inappropriate!"

"You're supposed to be in mourning. Show some damned chastity; or do you have no respect for my wife and your queen at all?!" he snapped. When I looked confused, he just lectured me; when I cried, he sighed, held me tightly, then left the room.

I haven't spoken to him since. But later that day, my servant came to my room, with "good" news: I was to go visit my family for a couple months, while the house is in mourning for Jae-hwa. I couldn't argue, of course, even if I was able. So just like that, I was sent back to hell.

I was dressed in the usual veil, so nobody would see my face, as I was escorted back to the Kim house in the middle of the night.

Mother and father were there, briefly, to greet me, and in spite of how I felt about them, I put on my bravest smile and bowed, and nodded politely to their questions about how I was doing. Then they had to go to bed, and left, leaving me alone with sister. Yeon-seok was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi," she said. "I never thought you'd end up visiting us again so soon." I shrugged. "Well, let's have some tea, it's just us still around," she said. I nodded; it seemed like a good enough idea. There was a pause. "Well, go make it!" she snapped, removing any doubt that she might treat me with any sort of friendliness. Of course I made the tea. I don't disobey her anymore.

"Thanks," she said. "So Yeon-seok is out, attending to official business at the moment, but you should avoid him. He's still angry at you because father-in-law finds you more important to the family than his own son. Can you blame him?" I had no idea what she was talking about. And she just continued: "So you really shouldn't talk to him. Oh, I guess you can't really do that, can you? Aha, well, you know what I mean."

Yes. I knew exactly what she meant.

"I'm surprised you're back so soon, though. Especially now that you don't have to share your husband; does that mean you're the primary wife now?" I didn't know. "Does that make you queen? Oh, what great fortune you have; father-in-law must be so proud of you!"

I stared at her, wishing nothing more than to be able to kill her through sheer force of rage. How could she possibly say something so awful?! My only friend was dead, and here she was, taunting me? What an awful thing to do.

But I couldn't hate her to death, no matter how much I tried; so instead, i tried holding back angry tears, to hide my weakness. I couldn't do that, either.


==============================================================================

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    'So you really shouldn't talk to him. Oh, I guess you can't really do that, can you?'

    His fears confirmed, those who might have been looking at Eryl would, for the briefest moment, see his face flush red with anger before his implants dilated his blood vessels once more, allowing his skin to return to the usual pale tone.

    He really wants to just say it. But this is her story to tell. It is likely in the final log, the one she so badly wishes to avoid. It will come. "How did Jae-hwa die? Natural causes, or did you suspect foul play?"

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae looks to Eryl. "I hope it was natural causes," She says, "but I wouldn't put foul play past the people on this ship."

    So, she's not sure either. Ouch.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    By the end of the log, Nozomi is biting her lip... perhaps a bit hard. Not enough to break skin, but... well, she'll probably regret it later.

    She doesn't say anything, but does she really have to? Her hands are balled into fists on her lap.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"What a miserable existence this was... it is strange. Going only by the journal entries, I feel... empty about these people. Like they are only parodies of people. It is hard to believe a society could be this repressive, so focused on frivolous appearances and affectations. As much as the 'eastern style' attention to aesthetics has remained impressive even after the fall... I very much like Mute's outfit, for instance.... the psychological side is... it is /reprehensible./"

    Rory's just FUMING over there on her seat now.

    "Mute and Hyun-ae... are both awful victims in the tragedy that is the Mugunghwa's story. We can make SOME good come of this mess, can't we...?" Her voice has gotten soft and quiet now. Almost pleading, hoping beyond hope.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
More clues, and Yari's eyes narrow. A glance first to Eryl, and he asks the obvious question. Mute's answer is less than satisfying. Perhaps a mystery they'll never know.

"...A shame that woman's name isn't recorded."

She has an extra entry in her little book of targets for a multiversal version of that woman, if half of Yari's suspicions are correct.

Rory gets her attention. "That wouldn't be beyond possibility. But we should see this story through, for Miss Hyun-ae's and Miss Mute's sakes."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa gets how irrated Rory is and is very remiss with herself after what Rory points out to her. Why did she even say such a thing? She doesn't know she doesn't get a chance to reply as the log loads again. A tale that hints of poltical power play. Then comes that Hyun-ae has no idea what to say to this. There is however anger, building up in her and Rory then speaks.

"We have to be able to do something, take something from this....and we can not leave either of you to rot with the ship...it's not right. There's been enough suffering here, you have suffered enough..."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    "..." Seft seems speechless.

    Moonfin takes the opportunity. "The foolishness of a man who toys with the workings of his elders and the foresight of his forefathers. Even by the standards of the society you occupied... He played with a fire so dangerous, with such arrogance." He makes a tense noise. "Wisdom is born of observation. That he was so foolishly failing to pay attention to what was around him, to what he was doing... Even his society would look upon his greed with scorn. To take the works of the past and abuse them with such arrogance. Such... Arrogance." All three eyes narrow. "That he thought himself a paragon was a great foolishness. Every flood begins with a single drop of rain. His failure was monumental in being born from such thoughtless gestures."

    "...Not a one of them don't deserve it." Seft says. "Somber. With the end of Ryu Jae-hwa, that was the last of the redemption of the Mugunghwa. From there, you could see nothing in your life but suffering. Everyone in your life was an immediate participant in the hell you lived in and the slow death you were dying." She pauses for a long time, her eyes gently flickering. "Melancholy. It's possibleI could judge you for this as it is. I went through a similar such situation. I felt the same hatred you did. I did not do what you did, and I still felt and feel love for the family that cast me out. But I did not have the chance." She stares down at her feet.

    "Sorrowful. Perhaps I would have made the same choice you did, if I could, at that awful time."

Riva Banari has posed:
It's just wretched cruelty piled upon wretched cruelty. Riva just closes her eyes, her face flat at this point... And maybe a little greenish.

But there is a response as Rory says what he says. "Can't we.... What?" She asks, her tone neutral. Her question simply lies there, heavy as iron while things move to their logical conclusion.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae looks to Rory, giving a hard, resolute nod in respond. "I'm so glad that you think so too," She says. "I'm so glad that there are people here who feel the same way. I spent... so much time in that world that I started to think that I was only -dreaming- that a world like this one could exist, but I was wrong. -That- was the real nightmare. I just still can't believe that it's over." With that, though, she winces a final time. No, though -- no it isn't. "But there is one more thing," Hyun-ae says. "One more nightmare... one more thing I can't forget. It was the day when everything went wrong. If I'm really going to move on and keep living, then I - we - need to get through that first." She takes a last, deep breath, balling her fists and hardening her expression.

    "Okay," She says, "this is it. The last one. After this... you'll have everything you need to make your judgments. I can only hope that you won't hate me afterwards." She only waits one more moment before saying, with a noted waver and worry in her voice, "I'll see you then."

    So the screen falls black.

    The command is entered.

    And the following words, at long last, show for them all:

Mute (958) has posed:
==============================================================================


Title: Forever silenced

Author: The Pale Bride


Dear diary,

The evening where everything went wrong... where I thought I was going to win with my adopted parents... well, I didn't. I lost. "Making my stand," I wrote, just hours before it happened. Yeah, right.

When I got called into the kitchen, they were both there. On one of the stove burners, there was a knife. I thought it was a little bit odd, but didn't care. Father stared at me, and said, "The fighting needs to end now." He was so sure of himself. Of course he was. He had every reason to be. But I stubbornly stood my ground. I said no.

"I do not want to hurt you," he lied. "Just promise to be less argumentative, and this can end peacefully." But I just had to fight back. I just had to say, "No!" I just had to remind him, "I wasn't joking! I really will tell the Emperor that you hurt me, and that you plotted against him!"

"No," he said. "You won't." He motioned at mother, and said "Bring her over." She grabbed me, and I tried to dig my feet in, but it didn't work. Then father pinned me against the wall with his whole body, and I kicked and screamed, desperately trying to get free, but it was no use. He was big, and I was small and sick and weak and frail. Then he grabbed the knife from the stove, and I shrieked in horror.

"No!" I screamed at him, "don't --", but then mother grabbed my mouth and held it open. I tried to keep screaming, but I was powerless. And terrified. When he raised the knife towards me, I thought he was going to kill me. It was worse.

The next thing I knew, I could taste the disgusting flesh, as he stuck his fingers in my mouth and pulled. "I'm sorry," mother said, then briefly I could taste the steel. Then nothing but blood. All I could taste was so much blood. Nothing but blood.

Finally they both let go of me, and I collapsed onto the floor. "Why?" I wanted to say, but couldn't. I blacked out from the pain after that. But just before I did, I could swear I heard my father say, "You will not ever argue with any man again."

He was right, of course.


==============================================================================

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari had her suspicions. Part of her knew this was coming. She's a hardened operative, used to blood and killing and doing what needed to be done. But she's always had her pride and morals despite.

It's been a very long time since she's felt her stomach twist in knots this way. The way her heart feels like lead, her mind nothing but pure cold revulsion and venom and hate for the ignorant pair that would eventually doom the entire wreck of a society.

Any amount of empathy for the ship, aside from one girl, immediately was shed. Only one thing of value existed on that station to Yari, and she was right before them.

The ninja doesn't bother hiding just how troubled she is. Her voice chokes several times. Eventually she goes quiet for another minute, head lowering into her palm to get ahold of herself. Such intimate work should be reserved for criminals and traitors.

This was done to a /child/!

"...Absolute filth." She finally manages to spit out with pure hatred, her eyes lethal daggers. Her entire body shivers, fighting inwardly for control.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    At the end of it, Nozomi is... wide-eyed. Pure, unmitigated shock. She's trembling, quietly. Outrage. Fear at the simple /thought/ of something like that happening. Pure shock that there are even people that cruel. That it led to what it did... she can't condone the killing. But at the same time, she can't... she can't /condemn/ it. The poor girl sits there in silence, conflicted, but visibly disturbed by that last log.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    And there it is.

    Eryl shakes his head sympathetically at Hyun-ae. "That's everything then." He looks around the room and says, "You say that now we can judge you. Some here might, but I will not. I have always felt that judging someone demands that you be able to put yourself in their position to a reasonable degree."

    His crosses his arms and leans against the wall, looking up at the roof. "I have seen many horrors in my years. But they all sprung from a single source; the ruin of my world, the lack of basic resources. I have experienced these things, so I can comprehend actions that result from them. But I've never experienced such a fundamental denial of basic rights by supposedly enlightened people. I've seen torture and murder, but the perpetrators rarely tried to paint it as anything else. They were only trying to survive."

    His eyes fall upon Hyun-ae, meeting her own evenly. "That doesn't mean I condone what you did. But I won't judge you for it. I can scarcely comprehend what you must have felt, the seething horror, shame, disgust and anger, and doing so is something I was made for. So, I will neither condemn nor praise you. Instead, I'll only ask this."

    "Where do you want to go from here?"

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva's attention moves from Rory, back to Hyun-ae and the litany of... something that flows across her phone's screen. Hate? Evil? Tyrrany?

No. something more fundamental. At this time, she stares at the words for several seconds, pondering them in silence...

And then she glances up, staring at Hyen-ae. "So." She says. "The stage is set. The gun is on the mantle. You get the admin codes. You might have even had an admin account in the systems you didn't know about, considering your past. You go through and turn off the life support systems, terminating hundreds of thousands of people."

Riva leans back in the chair, sighing for a moment. "I'm not going to ask why. We know why. Diplomacy Man asks a better question. but I also have one."

She focuses her attention directly on Hyun-ae, and gestures.

"Who are you? Are you the woman described in these logs? The abused and tormented woman ripped from time and a future she could never have?"

There's a pause, and she continues. "And are you happy with that? Because the answer to those questions will help you figure out what you want to say to Eryl."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    "...Like a Reformatting."
    "Seft, that does not make it right for her to have--"
    "Harsh. QUIET." Seft's monotone is still calm, but the volume is louder, and comes with a harsh, synthetic buzz. Her voice suddenly . "...Sympathetic. You did not have the strength to act. You only had your voice. And when you lost that, you no longer had any form of agency in your life. A miserable life where you were going to die due to the unfair ignorance of those around you."

    "What they did was a mistake, but it was born of all they knew to be wisdom. It was an inevitability, that the foolishness of one man--"

    "Harsh. I know what that is like, even if the others do not, even if you do not. With no choice and no allies comes no hope. When every decision you make is taken and everyone who could make a decision in your favor is gone, you live in a world where nothing can never advance forward and where you can never take yourself beyond your own misery. It is a world that wrongs you, not for the benefit of many, or even the benefit of one, but for no other reason than the fact that it can wrong you." Seft says, the buzzing in her synthetic voice bitter and strained. "...When you see a world like that, you judge, in your eyes, that it deserves to burn. You cannot see anything else to wish for, because it cannot see anything else to wish for you." The heat coming out of Seft's body has her fans gushing intensely, and her motors rattling. It takes a long moment to leave that state.

    "Kind. Until there is a chance to escape." She says, quietly. "Kind. As long as you have a glimmer of hope, you can act towards that, and not against the world. If given that, you cease to be a being that will kill everything it touches with nothing but hate. With hate born of hopelessness, you need only add just a little, to leave it behind. The hate can stay, but not the destruction." Hate Plus, so to speak. "...Hyun-ae. What would give you hope like that?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa eyes get wider and wider in horror as she reads the log, and there's a look of abject horror here. Humanity's abilities to be demons is laid out before her and there's a shudder. The cyborg woman just gapes, the entire tale is one twisted nightmare where hate begot hate and consumed everyone either their life, or their souls. She shudders.

"Hate begets hate, suffering begets more the only way to break the cycle is with love, with compassion... you have suffered for what you did already, you have to live with your actions, there is no reason we should heap any more upon you. You are reptentful for what you did...your life now is up to you, who do you want to be now, what do you want to do now?"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari sighs, and looks to the others as she finally manages to /not/ act like a spitting lizard-snake.

"They're not entirely wrong. What matters right now, Miss Hyun-ae, is what you want. I have my opinions. I could share them if you want." She shrugs.

"But my thoughts are secondary. I do have a certain proposition. Hearing what /you/ would like out of your life will determine if I offer it. The opportunities before you are nearly infinite at this junction. My own is one. No doubt these others have ideas of their own." A respectful nod to the others.

Finally, a bow.

"For the moment I'll say this much. I'm in awe of you, Miss Hyun-ae. Truly. To endure so much. And to finally bring...no, no. I'm overstepping things. Go on, Miss Hyun-ae. Tell us of your desires, please."

Rory White (673) has posed:
"... And now we have the full story. Except one aspect. HOW did you transfer your consciousness to Mute's AI core?" The question is delivered very simply.

    But after a few moments pause, Rory leans forward, hands on her knees. The silence is spent wearing a pensive look...

    "... I cannot reasonably judge this choice. My instinctive response is to say that the punishment levvied was wildly disproportionate... an entire society, ended for the unthinkable crimes of a handful of nobles... yet a society that would be anathema to most of the principles I hold, practiced so intensely... I want to say that you have done something terrible. Intellectually, there's no doubting the numbers! But... I cannot. Everyone involved in this is a victim. A few just survived." Rory lowers her head, as if unable to face up to her own emotions on this matter.

    She's surprising herself here.

    "... All hope isn't lost yet. The nightmare can be over soon. AI programming is a specialty of mine. I would love to see Mute and you separated... and then perhaps a step further, provided with bodies. Flesh or metal, your choice. ... Dwelling on this tragedy... it serves no purpose except a lesson for the future. I would like to share the Mugunghwa's records with the Argonauts later. They would love to pore over this and use it as an argument against such social structures!"

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae looks to Nozomi and Rory, but before she can say anything in response, she's caught off-guard by Eryl. He asks a question that sends a shiver up her spine, and Riva is the hammer that drives in the nail. Eryl asks what she wants, Riva asks who she is: the two, fundamental questions that the life that she has lived might never have given her the opportunity to answer. She blinks rapidly, her cheeks flushing while the color drains out of the other areas of her face. She opens her mouth, fumbling for words, and a long silence pervades the room for a time, only broken by Seft's dissertation and eventual, final query: what is left now to give her hope? That's perhaps the only compass that she has to help her find the answer to the other two questions.

    Long before she is able to do so, however, a darkened silhouette not at all unlike Hyun-ae's from before fades into existence on the other side of the screen as the words from before fade away. It's Mute. And she doesn't wait a second in saying what needs to be said.

    "I hate to say it," She says, "but Eryl, Riva, and Seft are right." Hyun-ae's eyes go wide at the sight of her, and at hearing her words; Mute just holds up a single finger to shush her. "I'm not going to mince words here, okay? I hate you, and I hate what you did. These people took away everything that mattered to you, and then in killing them, you took away mine. If you had read the classics, then you would know that that just isn't the way the someone makes a difference. It's the way that things stay the same, repeating, forever."

    Mute lets out a long, long sigh. "But that's in the past now. What's done is done. So think long and hard about their questions, Hyun-ae. Think about what you're going to do with this life you made for yourself. Think long and hard about how you can live enough to make it up to them, and make it up to yourself. That's all you can do now, so for the love of God, stop moping." 'Meanwhile,' She thinks, 'I'll be over here trying to do the same thing myself.'

    For her part, Hyun-ae is in a state of complete and utter shock.

    She has not moved, let alone spoken, for the last several moments. Eventually, though, she manages to bring her head back around to Eryl. "I..." She swallows, nervous. "I still want to be an engineer. I still want to have a job, and help people, and fall in love. I still want to be the sort of person that my father would've been proud to call his dau -- no. I want to be the sort of person that he would've been proud to know regardless. That's who I want to be, and that's what I want to do." Looking to Seft, she says, "And that's... who you are in the Flotilla, right? Do you... do you think you could teach me some time? What I would need to help out around here?" Her eyes are glistening. This isn't the first time she has smiled this evening, but it's the first time it has looked so vibrant. It's the first time it's looked so sincere.

    Mute, for her part, doesn't smile. She studies Hyun-ae for a final moment after the words she had offered when she first arrived, her eyes closing as an incredibly conflicted expression rises to her face. She holds her usual, ever-confident posture as she does so, but it would be obvious to anyone looking at her - or in this case, through her - that she is a house of cards. Her ship is gone, her people are gone, her world is gone -- and now she can't even hold on to the feelings of hatred that she held for Hyun-ae on principle. So maybe... maybe Mute should be thinking about their questions, too. Maybe...

    ... maybe she isn't so different from Hyun-ae as she would have liked to think she was.

    Mute eventually reopens her eyes, looking on silently. This is Hyun-ae's moment, and even though she can't believe she's saying something so absolutely stupid, she doesn't want to take that away from her. Not yet. Not yet...

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Mute's appearance on the screen is unexpected, as is her words. But, Eryl supposes, she now knows how Hyun-ae must have felt. To be an outcast, adrift in an alien culture. Not to mention, hearing how regretful Hyun-ae is over what happened. Perhaps, in their dual-natured state, they can tell what the other is thinking? She certainly doesn't seem to believe the former human is lying anymore.

    But, as surprising as they were, her words are quite welcomed. "You see Hyun-ae? It's over. You can be free to be, do and think as you wish again." He only smiles as she asks Seft if she could learn engineering... but there is still one more thing.

    Eryl looks to the screen and says, "What about you Mute? I extend the same questions to you. Where do you go from here? What do you want to do?"

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    "I... I don't... really know what to think, about all this," Nozomi mumbles, her head lowered again. She's finally relaxed from her rather intensely upset state, but she still sounds a bit bothered by what she read. "It's all... it's all so much. But... if the others think that you deserve a... a second chance..." She trusts everyone else to make that call far more than she trusts herself, in short. And since the call has been made, that's that.

    "...and... and if you need someone to talk to, after tonight, I'm... I'm a good listener." That much is probably not hard to guess. But it also couldn't hurt to have someone else to talk with about the crippling loneliness and social isolation.

    Having made such a rare offer, Nozomi finally leans forward and comes up to her feet, straightening her skirt out while Taiga lazily gets up as well.

Riva Banari has posed:
"Rory." Riva says, sighing. "You're missing the entire point of this exercise." She points out, and then leans back. "These people were advanced. Fully capable of setting up a generation ship and sending it into space. They had planned. They had brilliant minds with technology that is comparable to yours in some ways."

She gestures then to the pair of AIs. "And now those two and some scraps of journals are all that's left. It's not a condemnation of a society. It's a warning that no matter how advanced you get or you think you are, you're still human."

Riva shrugs, then, shaking her head. "And humanity is capable of terrible things for all the wrong reasons." She lets it sit there for a bit, and then she gestures. "However... that doesn't mean we can't push ahead regardless. There's still hope, as has been mentioned by wiser robots than I, if someone is willing to look for it."

Mute (958) has posed:
    "I don't know yet," Mute says plainly to Eryl, "but I think I'll figure it out. It's... it's not easy, living in a world where your entire 'family' is gone when that family is more or less what defined your existence, but. -But-." She scrunches up her features in disgust. "Okay, this is going to sound -incredibly- cheesy, so sorry in advance. You -can- find a new family even if your old one was taken away. And hey, sometimes the family isn't all the matters. As long as you find a way to contribute to your nation -- your people -- then it's okay. I'll be okay. Sure, maybe there are some things I need to leave behind to do it, but it's less selfish than just giving up and dying. Like Hyun-ae, I have hundreds of thousands of people to live for now. And I'm not such a brat that I'm able to just ignore that because /I'm/ a little upset? Okay?! So I'll figure it out!"

    By the end, her expression looks quite fierce. She's dealing with things in her own way, it seems.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute nods fiercely to Riva, turning up her face and straightening her posture to make another of her bold declarations. "I won't let you leave here thinking that the people I loved were all 'backward' and 'evil'! It wasn't that! It was because individual people, like Hyun-ae's father, decided to be complete jerks that everything got wrecked! It's because people don't know their place! It's because they shirk their responsibilities and try to foist their faults off on other people that things like this happen!" She forces her eyes closed in anger. "If he wanted his family to prosper so badly, he should've -done- something about it! He should've led by example, he should have done something exceptional that the Emperor couldn't ignore! He shouldn't have invested all his faith in some girl he didn't even know and some idiotic superstitions!"

    "There's a reason that the Gods come last in Analects! Your loyalty is to your family first; to human beings! Sure, he said that prosperity is 'seized, not waited on,' but he obviously didn't know what that meant! If he did, we wouldn't be here right now!" Afterwards she takes a deep, deep breath, gradually allowing her shoulders to relax. "Please," She eventually heaves, "don't leave here hating my society. Don't leave her thinking that the ways they thought were backward and wrong. Leave here thinking that bad people decided to use those thoughts the wrong way, just like they do everywhere else. Please... hate Hyun-ae's father if you have to, or her sister, or whoever! Just... don't hate them all. They don't deserve it. They don't!"

    By the end, Mute's eyes are glistening, too. But she isn't crying.

    She would never admit that she was, anyway.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    "..." Seft looks, uncertainly, to the others. She is wordlessly asking what the votes are, it seems; whether or not Hyun-ae will be accepted within Flotilla infrastructure comes down to the democratic process among the Starbounders.

"Ehhh. If I grudged at every AI that tried genociding all humans I'd lose half my facebook friends. I'm cool with it."
"Floran think, isss great hunter! Powerful! Floran like digital library friend /and/ sssecurity friend! Both good. We take to colony, they work!"
"Not about to make a mess of the opportunity ye been given, lass, aye? Can't think of a reason not to take the chance for some profit. Ye work for us a little while, aye?"
"Hmph. I object, but I am outvoted. I will accept it."

    "Now, that is unfair. Only three votes are in favor so far." Moonfin says, bemusedly. And then, his face softens from its amusement and into a serious tone. "But of course I have to vote in favor of this... What you deserve for what you did, that is irrelevant, I think. You certainly have suffered enough for what you did. We could ask you suffer no more. You will not be able to repeat what you did, and so all that is left is for you to move on from your sin. If that means you would like to stay with us -- to learn from Seft, and from the other Engineers of the Core Fleet -- then I would have you do so."

    "Relieved. Well, then it is settled. We cannot condone your actions, approve of the deaths at your hands. But you have experienced suffering to match it, and you have no further chance to enact such great evil. It would be foolish spite to spurn you after all that. I know the pain you felt. Sometime, I would like to tell you the story."

    "Then it is settled. Mute shall soon be installed as oversight security AI of the colony. Hyun-ae, you wil, with oversight from the rest of the Flotilla, design the core and facilities into which Mute, and yourself, may be loaded, and take maintenance and engineering work throughout the colony. Mute, you will keep a watchful eye over Hyun-ae, continue to operate our security facilities, and earn the repair of the Mugunghwa, which will be overseen by Hyun-ae through the skills that will be taught to her as part of her compensation for engineering work for us. With luck, we can even have Miss White craft bodies for you to broadcast to, in time, to join us in missions."

    "Hopeful. Mute, Hyun-ae. I believe you would benefit most from finding your purposes together. Mute, you can find peace in ensuring that she does not do what she did ever again. Hyun-ae, you can find peace in taking the opportunities and freedom you never had before, and helping the last survivor of the Mugunghwa." Seft says, spreading her hands wide. "Would it be too forward for me to provide this offer?"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The pair of AI speak, and Yari sighs. "...If that's what you want, then." The ninja shrugs, and for now, witholds her own judgements of the ship and its people. Instead, she turns to one particular member of the party at large. She linger on Seft. Then back to Hyun-ae. Then Mute and back again.

She's suddenly dangling a number closer to Hyun-ae. It's her own contact number.

"It sounds like you have an idea of what you want. But. My offer still stands. I could find use for someone of your particular strength under immense physical and mental duress over an extended period. After all, there's plenty of other such...societies like the one that abused and debased you. If you want peace, then I wish you all the best. I would advise that you join Miss Seft and the others. Call me some time. My daughter would like you, I think."

Then, a shrug. "If you want something more active, again, let's speak, Ma'am. You did fine work. Nnn. This is the Multiverse. Perhaps you could save yourself, even. Think it over."

Then she backs away, bows, and flicks the piece of paper to Seft. "Please keep me informed of this woman's health, please, Miss Seft." She has a fairly good idea fo where this is all leading.

Then she turns to Mute. "...My insights into your society won't be helpful, Ma'am. So I'll keep them to myself. Do as you will." A bow finally to her as well.

Yari's opinion, it seems, is perhaps as rigid as some in Mute's own society.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae looks to Yari. "It's... really nice of you to offer," She says, "but I don't think I'm actually as tough as you think I am. I'm not like Jae-hwa -- I'm not that strong. I don't want a life where that much is at stake. I just want to be able to help people, and be close to the people that I like, and have an opportunity to have a normal life with a person that I love." So ultimately, they agree. Hyun-ae smiles faintly as Yari recommends that she stick with the Flotilla. "I will," She says. "I think I may really have a 'place' here," She says, giving Mute a half-disdainful look. "More than I would in most other places I can think of."

    As for Mute, she just has her arms folded at this point. She acknowledges Yari's restraint with a small nod, but nothing more.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa watches everything play out, as Hyun-ae and Mute both have their say she's just about stunned as Hyun-ae is, still this has not turned into what she might have feared that would have happened. This had been a nightmare but punnishment and judgement wouldn't bring back the dead, it wouldn't do anything of worth to Hyun-ae for sure and her desire to atone is quite clear to the cyborg. As Mute also picks up on it. %R
"I think Hyun-ae? We'd all be happy to help with that if that's what you want to do."

Mutes impassoned speech comes next and she thinks hard with all the information in hand she's able to think more of what happened here.

"It was the actions of one man, not en entire soceity. I think I get what you mean Mute, if you judge an entire group by one or only a few people your condeming them all. I will not lie to say i'd have wanted to live there but ... they were people like all of us in the end."

As the flotilla lays out the plan for both.

"While I am not core fleet I do also think this is a good plan and I will offer any help I can. Also with the offer rory made on the possibloty of actual remotes or an actual body I will do whtever I can to help both of you with such.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl smiles again. Mute's angry stubbornness is quite endearing, when it is not directed at justifying her hatred of a young girl. "Very good. I do hope that you find the meaning you seek." Her angry defence of the people and culture also receives another nod. "I certainly will not. I can see the good of it. No culture is totally perfect, and we have only seen a sordid little part of it. For all we know, everyone else represented the best aspects of it." He might just be trying to placate the loud and clearly-upset Mute at this point, but he means every word.

Mute (958) has posed:
    "Yeah," Mute says to Kotone, "and like Eryl said, there were so many other people onboard the Mugunghwa. You only read the notes left behind by the nobles because only the nobles were allowed to -write-, okay? Don't forget about all the other people. Don't ever think that these people - the Smiths, the Ryus, and the Kims - were the only families on the Mugunghwa. They just... they weren't. They couldn't be."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Hyun-ae smiles to Nozomi. "Yeah, it would be nice. Talking in front of all of these people, especially when I was so scared that they would hate me, made me talk and think and act a little differently than I normally do. Maybe if I could talk with you, I could be calmer, and go over it more in my head. Get it all out of my system." After a brief pause, she adds, "I... probably won't be going anywhere for a while, at least not until Rory and Seft make some sort of robot body for me, so. You know where to find me."

Rory White (673) has posed:
"That... is a lot to ask, Mute." Rory cringes, struggling to maintain eye contact with her. "... But it is also... like you said. At the moment, I DO see the society as somewhat barbaric. But I'm willing to believe we are only seeing the very worst expressions of it in action. Societies like the ones being described... where even LITERACY is suppressed in the general populace... are ANATHEMA to the future that my own culture works towards!" She's very vehement about making this point. And even asides to Riva...

    "That... is probably true. ... I have a hard time viewing it that way though. All I can see is two traumatized survivors of an unthinkable tragedy, and just want to help them move past it. The... all the nuances are very hard to process, I need time for that..."

    Which brings her looking back towards Mute and Hyun-Ae...

    "Well..." The AGI folds her robotic hands, looking quite human in so doing. "My offer still stands. If you want my help finding a new future... you need only ask. ... As for your request Mute... I don't know. Honestly do not know. ... I need time to calm down and sort my thoughts. But I promise that I will not ignore the merits of the culture."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute studies Rory for a long, long moment before letting out another of her sighs. "Fine, fine," she says, "I'm okay with that. It's not like I'm any more eager to accept the merits of /your/ culture, so... thanks. For doing what you can." She pauses a moment before adding, as if reluctantly, "I appreciate it."

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    "I-I... I have something... to say to you."

    When Yari finally turns to go, she'll find, probably to her surprise, Nozomi standing in her way. It's certainly to Nozomi's own surprise. She hadn't planned it. It's just sort of... happening. And anyone with any degree whatsoever of skill in reading people can tell this is costing her... rather a lot. It's confrontation, after all. She's got her head lowered, she's quaking a little, but she's still standing there.

    "I-I... I don't... I don't care, what... what other people think. A-about me, I mean. I... I don't... I-I mean, just... look at me." She's biting her lip again. "...just... look at me. But... Taiga is... h-he... he cares. About me. He looks after me. He /worries/. He... he acts aloof, but he worries, and he takes care of me. So... I-I... I won't listen to anyone... talking badly about him. I don't know, what you have against... against robots, but..." It takes her a second. "...he's been... more human to me than... than some people."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Sigh. Yari sounds disappointed, but nods anyway. "Well then, we'll have to disagree Miss Hyun-ae. It does sound like this colony suits you. Good luck."

The quaking figure of Nozomi stands before her as she moves to leave. Yari pauses, tail flicking. Her hand is in her sleeve, already gripping a knife, just in case. All of her attention is on the woman.

Her eyes close, then open. "I've seen many things, both before and after I came to the multiverse, Miss. Machines are tools to those born with flesh and blood. That's how they should remain. I don't doubt your honesty. Maybe this one does. But for every good-intentioned creature like him, dozens more seek nothing but the obliteration of real persons like us, and even worse, some are simply incapable of nothing more than destruction."

A sigh. "Keep him close, if you believe so much. Just be careful." She offers, and then bows as she moves to walk past Nozomi.

"And always keep him in /your/ control."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Then, finally, the Flotilla. Hyun-ae and Mute each turn to Seft when she makes her offer, each with a different expression. Hyun-ae's eyes glisten and shimmer with warmth and Mute only folds her arms in reservation, but each of them seem... relieved, in a way. It's palpable between the both of them.

    "Of course it wouldn't!" Hyun-ae says. And Mute finishes:

    "Yeah, yeah. I'll help out around here until I think of some better way to spend my time. But, you should know." She closes her eyes, straightening her posture.

    "While I was decompiling the log files, I found this other, hidden cache. I think it has files from before year zero..."