2018-09-09: Guilty By Association
- Cutscene: Guilty By Association
- Cast: Elvis.
- Where: A Veruni Control Zone
- Date: September 9th, 2018.
- Summary: Having finally set foot in safe territory, Elvis reflects on acquired knowledge, and what it may mean for his people. It was time to hold a meeting.
MWK-VR, 30769-A... query incompatible.
MWK-VR, 30769-B... query incompatible.
MWK-VR, 30769-C... query incompatible.
...
A monitor flickering on a desk casts a soothing blue hue in a darkened room, flickering and dancing on the walls and equipment. Piles of paperwork are haphazardly stacked in two piles, one much larger than the other. Most of which state 'INCONCLUSIVE' in yellow, or 'FAILURE' in red. A gentle whirring of cooling fans and clicking of processors make the only noise in the room. Among the papers are a few cups of drink, some tipped over and dripping out. A hunched shape heaves up and down at a slow rate.
The door opens. A slender woman dressed white and lavender robes opens the door. A hooded cowl hides most of her features. She holds a tray with another cup of liquid. As she steps in the lights turn on. In a soft voice, she speaks. "Sentinel, I--"
"AHHHH!" the shape jumps up and screams. A table flies across the room and crashes in to the door, denting it and preventing it from operating. The woman barely navigates to avoid being hit, and has to scramble to catch that drink. She lets out a screech in turn.
The man was Sentinel Elvis. He breathes heavy for a moment, seemingly at the ready for combat. A few moments pass before he realizes what is going on.
The man looks disheveled, wounded and tired. He has since gotten a new outfit and cleaned himself since the battle of Adlehyde, but still doesn't look to well. He has since returning to a Control Zone had his research transferred and continued, regardless of his well being. He slumps back in to his seat with a thud, his arms going limp. "...Don't scare me like that! I--"
The man holds his brow and sighs. "Sorry. Thank you," he says, accepting the shaken, not stirred drink. Two more Veruni, this time males, have since shown up to look at the door, wearing similar garb, and cowled faces. They enter the room, to see what the commotion was about. "Everything is fine, I just..." he looks to his assistants. "It is fine. Just a lot on the mind." One of the males speaks up. "Be well, Sentinel." They salute, and begin to leave.
"Wait."
The group turns back around from heading to their posts. "I have a hypothetical for you lot."
The each look to each other from under their shading, and step back inside. "Of course," the female states, though still sounding a touch jarred from the earlier encounter.
"What if..." Elvis begins, pacing around, using two massive fingers to rub the forming pits under his eyes. "...What if you received data from questionable sources, but you receive such a unanimous entry from each source that it was hard to deny their answer. Is the decision to accept it flawed? Or is the question posed to the problem sources the issue?"
"Uh..." one male goes. Another has an answer immediately. "My humble opinion, Sentinel, is that the question should be used with reliable sources, of course! Nothing less than an answer that cannot be questioned to close the book on the case."
The second male speaks now. The female researcher remains quiet, deep in thought. "A unanimous answer is difficult to ignore, despite the source. Especially if the correlation between each answer is easily authenticated."
"And you?" Elvis asks, looming over the last research assistant.
"I..." She begins. "...If the answer is unanimous to your question without error... is the source actually questionable?"
"Hm!" the Sentinel replies to the female Veruni assistant. "This is my dilemma. I am beginning to wonder if they actually are questionable. Thank you all. That will be all."
The assistants salute their Sentinel, and proceed to leave the room. The door of course doesn't close. It tires to, and makes an annoying racket. Repeatedly. A massive fist plants in to the door to rectify the dent somewhat, and the door shuts properly. At least this time, that will definitely need maintenance.
A return to the monitor.
MWK-VR, 30769-AR... query incompatible.
MWK-VR, 30769-AS... query incompatible.
MWK-VR, 30769-AT... query incompatible.
...
He could not share just what it was about. Not to a typical assistant. Not yet. Consorting with Humans on this degree would certainly be a possible punishable offense by Volsung. Yet the evidence must be presented.
The Metal Demon's Mother was released. Humans were terrified of what will come. And while the Veruni have an alliance with them, a series of comments seem to resound in his head, made by various Humans in various moments as of recent. On battlefields. In person. They gnaw in the back of his mind like some sort of horrific parasite.
'...You can't break that Statue, it'll cause a lot of problems!...'
'...The company you keep does not speak well of you...'
'...I can understand that, but...if Mother is free, there won't be anything left...'
'... But you threaten humanity...'
What was the true definition of humanity? Was it truly just Humans? Or was it anything like them and how they live? The word has been slung around during fights over statues so much that the Sentinel begins to wonder just what they mean. And if it is the latter, Veruni fall more in line with Humans more than the Metal Demons. And whilst allies now when their supreme leader is fully borne against this world, would the alliance remain intact, when they could just as easily be brushed under a rug, if what the Humans have been saying are with any credit.
A possibility Elvis does not wish to calculate the odds of.
"I need to talk to the Sentinels and Volsung," Elvis says to himself aloud. Reasoning could prevail. To take a closer look at this option of an alliance. Elvis' prime goal is the survival the people he represents. A people already in suffering. Either the Metal Demons need to be looked in to much more closely, or some kind of assurance needs to be put in place.
...Or go with plan B.
MWK-VR, 30769-ACS... query match!
...
The screen blips with a positive result. Near the screen is a dark cover book, penned with care by a promising research duo. Behind the monitor were multiple tubes with plant samples mixing at various infusion levels with Veruni DNA.
A possible supplement result.
"...And Volsung will be pleased to hear about the breakthroughs on Lunar..."