Jiggity-Jig (part 19)
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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9th February
12:43 GMT
My physical surroundings fade into meaninglessness as I extend my awareness into the Honden. While I don't precisely need to come here in order to view an individual's desires in detail, I hope… I twist myself and the representation of the place, and… I can view groups of people in terms of their interlocking collective desires. Or -more accurately- reach a place from which every other part of them is absent.
Not 'what does the Empress want'. What does the Court want? What does the Crown Imperium want?
Are their desires currently irreconcilable with my own?
Ah, I see that Crown Imperium propaganda has made Amalak and Jarko the faces of the region's piracy. A little awkward for those in charge. It would require a degree of about-facing for them to openly treat with either of them, and… The more idealistic Imperials would resist because it would mean that vile people were 'getting away with it' and the expansion-minded Imperials wouldn't like it because it would mean accepting a definite border in that direction. I'm.. not seeing a total opposition to an unoccupied border region, but-.
"Oh, are-? You busy?"
And back in the room. For a moment my body looks like a wire frame construct, only… The rest is there, but… Pushed.. back? Faded into the background, perhaps. Then the orange fades and I'm left with my material body and the baggy trousers and dashiki I was wearing. The sleep did me the world of good, but now I'm reduced to hanging around the palace. Yes, I can keep an eye on Vega from here if I have to but I was sort of assuming that the Empress and Co. would be deliberating and coming to a conclusion relatively quickly.
The man watching me curiously from the edge of my circle is… He looks like a human superhero. He's wearing a blue skin tight costume with a yellow star insignia, though the shepherd's crook he's carrying is a discordant element. His costume is further accessorised by yellow bracers and swimming goggles, though those are currently pushed up to rest on his forehead.
"Oh, not especially."
Prince Gavyn. The Empress's brother and heir apparent. Narrowly avoided summary execution after his father's death, something Crown Imperium tradition apparently mandates when a new monarch ascends to the throne. Did some superheroing in a place which doesn't really have a tradition of that sort of thing, becoming a scourge of pirates and corrupt courtiers alike.
A decent bloke, as far as I know. Not entirely sure why they've stopped trying to execute him. Maybe they had an attack of good sense?
"What can I help you with?"
He looks out of the window of the quarters the Empress was kind enough to provide for me, taking in the early morning light. "If you're not occupied, I thought that I might show you the capital? Do you ride, or do you prefer to fly?"
"I usually teleport." I stand, switching to light armour. "I have been meaning to go back to flying more, but I'm afraid that I don't want to leave the palace in case her Imperial Majesty wishes to speak to me."
"Oh yes? Something about Vega, isn't it?"
"I'm trying to persuade her to radically change her foreign policy regarding the region between the Crown Imperium's border and the Vega Trench."
He nods, smiling. "Because Amalak's not half as bad as we've been telling everyone he is, and Jarko has so much popular support that the only way we'll ever get Asryx back is to make him governor."
"Among other things."
"So what's your interest?"
"Civilised behaviour is in everyone's interest. And… I'm a little concerned that I'm becoming too accustomed to killing."
"Killing in general, or killings you perform yourself?"
"Both. After I destroyed the Citadel, there were a handful I had as thralls. I… Put them in front of some automated guns and then removed my control. Most of them charged me and died when they remembered that I used my control to have them aid me in destroying Citadel Complex. I could have left them under my control. I could have marooned them. I… Didn't."
He shakes his head. "I'm… Sorry, but I'm not sure why it bothers you. If you were unaccustomed to killing, I'd.. offer some reassurance about the.. necessity of it. But it's clearly not that."
"It's more the fact that it doesn't bother me. Killing a person is a big deal. So while I can see the utility of being able to kill people without feeling bad about it, I don't want to become too used to it."
"I don't think I've killed enough people to have become that accustomed to it. Then again, I grew up knowing that fighting and enforcing justice with lethal force would be one of my roles in Imperial society. Whereas you've been a Lantern for..? Two years, your book said?"
"I'm sorry if this is a sore point, but didn't you know that you were going to be killed-?"
"It's…" He shakes his head. "My father was in good health. Past his prime, yes, but fit and well. I expected to have decades more. Time enough to make my mark. Perhaps even die nobly without forcing an executioner to dirty their blade. And Clryssa could have been killed, leaving me as the heir."
"Why do your people do that?"
"To prevent civil wars. There was a period in our history when… Different members of the dynasty routinely fought it out when their royal parent died. It used to be the rule that the rulers should only have one heir, then the royal family was assassinated, so… Now there's a spare."
"If you're trying to talk me into giving you a ring-."
"It would probably make the royal court more comfortable, but... Clryssa has to marry at some point, and it would probably make things easier if I wasn't around. Not that she doesn't love me, you understand, but-."
"There's a cultural expectation that you're a threat, even if you wouldn't ever do anything in that direction."
He nods. "I've tried to avoid being open about my views on… Anything, to try and avoid looking like I'm trying to undermine her in any way. Taking a commission in the navy or marines is out because that might make it look like I'm trying to gain support in the military." He taps his staff on the ground. "This was a lot easier when no one knew who Starman was."
"So you want a role? A job?"
"I'll take what I can get. And I'm sure that my wife would like me out of the house and back to doing something useful."
On a practical level, he's not a terrible choice. Him joining the Corps would allow me to set his terms of reference, but the Court would accept his reports from the regions he was monitoring. He grew up in a civilised region but is aware that it is far from perfect. But I can hear it in his tone, in the lack of an orange light resonance. He doesn't want this. Oh, he might have decided that it's for the best for all concerned, but-.
Huh. A curious thing to be on the surface.
My eyes narrow. "Prince Gavyn, what are you afraid of?"
"You did just say that you were afraid that you were finding killing too easy. Forgive me for being a little-."
"It's not that." I'm having trouble seeing details. It's all… Blurry. Something someone who knew certain advanced mental or spiritual techniques might pull off. The Crown Imperium doesn't have a native magical tradition, there were maybe a handful of Euphorian magicians off their planet when the shield went up… "What are you hiding?"
"I don't know-."
I reach out to Karna, but… No, no, everything's still there, the mass of conflicting desires for conflict and safety. Gordanians and karnans don't feel all that different, not when viewed with such imprecision. Alright, then what-?
And then I suddenly know how Obi-Wan felt when Alderaan was destroyed. Like a.. chunk of colour just vanished, a particular way of viewing the universe, or wanting. Where was it where was…
It.
"I see."
I'm too late, but I raise my right hand to my forehead anyway
step out
and then look down upon the now-molten surface of Wombworld.
12:43 GMT
My physical surroundings fade into meaninglessness as I extend my awareness into the Honden. While I don't precisely need to come here in order to view an individual's desires in detail, I hope… I twist myself and the representation of the place, and… I can view groups of people in terms of their interlocking collective desires. Or -more accurately- reach a place from which every other part of them is absent.
Not 'what does the Empress want'. What does the Court want? What does the Crown Imperium want?
Are their desires currently irreconcilable with my own?
Ah, I see that Crown Imperium propaganda has made Amalak and Jarko the faces of the region's piracy. A little awkward for those in charge. It would require a degree of about-facing for them to openly treat with either of them, and… The more idealistic Imperials would resist because it would mean that vile people were 'getting away with it' and the expansion-minded Imperials wouldn't like it because it would mean accepting a definite border in that direction. I'm.. not seeing a total opposition to an unoccupied border region, but-.
"Oh, are-? You busy?"
And back in the room. For a moment my body looks like a wire frame construct, only… The rest is there, but… Pushed.. back? Faded into the background, perhaps. Then the orange fades and I'm left with my material body and the baggy trousers and dashiki I was wearing. The sleep did me the world of good, but now I'm reduced to hanging around the palace. Yes, I can keep an eye on Vega from here if I have to but I was sort of assuming that the Empress and Co. would be deliberating and coming to a conclusion relatively quickly.
The man watching me curiously from the edge of my circle is… He looks like a human superhero. He's wearing a blue skin tight costume with a yellow star insignia, though the shepherd's crook he's carrying is a discordant element. His costume is further accessorised by yellow bracers and swimming goggles, though those are currently pushed up to rest on his forehead.
"Oh, not especially."
Prince Gavyn. The Empress's brother and heir apparent. Narrowly avoided summary execution after his father's death, something Crown Imperium tradition apparently mandates when a new monarch ascends to the throne. Did some superheroing in a place which doesn't really have a tradition of that sort of thing, becoming a scourge of pirates and corrupt courtiers alike.
A decent bloke, as far as I know. Not entirely sure why they've stopped trying to execute him. Maybe they had an attack of good sense?
"What can I help you with?"
He looks out of the window of the quarters the Empress was kind enough to provide for me, taking in the early morning light. "If you're not occupied, I thought that I might show you the capital? Do you ride, or do you prefer to fly?"
"I usually teleport." I stand, switching to light armour. "I have been meaning to go back to flying more, but I'm afraid that I don't want to leave the palace in case her Imperial Majesty wishes to speak to me."
"Oh yes? Something about Vega, isn't it?"
"I'm trying to persuade her to radically change her foreign policy regarding the region between the Crown Imperium's border and the Vega Trench."
He nods, smiling. "Because Amalak's not half as bad as we've been telling everyone he is, and Jarko has so much popular support that the only way we'll ever get Asryx back is to make him governor."
"Among other things."
"So what's your interest?"
"Civilised behaviour is in everyone's interest. And… I'm a little concerned that I'm becoming too accustomed to killing."
"Killing in general, or killings you perform yourself?"
"Both. After I destroyed the Citadel, there were a handful I had as thralls. I… Put them in front of some automated guns and then removed my control. Most of them charged me and died when they remembered that I used my control to have them aid me in destroying Citadel Complex. I could have left them under my control. I could have marooned them. I… Didn't."
He shakes his head. "I'm… Sorry, but I'm not sure why it bothers you. If you were unaccustomed to killing, I'd.. offer some reassurance about the.. necessity of it. But it's clearly not that."
"It's more the fact that it doesn't bother me. Killing a person is a big deal. So while I can see the utility of being able to kill people without feeling bad about it, I don't want to become too used to it."
"I don't think I've killed enough people to have become that accustomed to it. Then again, I grew up knowing that fighting and enforcing justice with lethal force would be one of my roles in Imperial society. Whereas you've been a Lantern for..? Two years, your book said?"
"I'm sorry if this is a sore point, but didn't you know that you were going to be killed-?"
"It's…" He shakes his head. "My father was in good health. Past his prime, yes, but fit and well. I expected to have decades more. Time enough to make my mark. Perhaps even die nobly without forcing an executioner to dirty their blade. And Clryssa could have been killed, leaving me as the heir."
"Why do your people do that?"
"To prevent civil wars. There was a period in our history when… Different members of the dynasty routinely fought it out when their royal parent died. It used to be the rule that the rulers should only have one heir, then the royal family was assassinated, so… Now there's a spare."
"If you're trying to talk me into giving you a ring-."
"It would probably make the royal court more comfortable, but... Clryssa has to marry at some point, and it would probably make things easier if I wasn't around. Not that she doesn't love me, you understand, but-."
"There's a cultural expectation that you're a threat, even if you wouldn't ever do anything in that direction."
He nods. "I've tried to avoid being open about my views on… Anything, to try and avoid looking like I'm trying to undermine her in any way. Taking a commission in the navy or marines is out because that might make it look like I'm trying to gain support in the military." He taps his staff on the ground. "This was a lot easier when no one knew who Starman was."
"So you want a role? A job?"
"I'll take what I can get. And I'm sure that my wife would like me out of the house and back to doing something useful."
On a practical level, he's not a terrible choice. Him joining the Corps would allow me to set his terms of reference, but the Court would accept his reports from the regions he was monitoring. He grew up in a civilised region but is aware that it is far from perfect. But I can hear it in his tone, in the lack of an orange light resonance. He doesn't want this. Oh, he might have decided that it's for the best for all concerned, but-.
Huh. A curious thing to be on the surface.
My eyes narrow. "Prince Gavyn, what are you afraid of?"
"You did just say that you were afraid that you were finding killing too easy. Forgive me for being a little-."
"It's not that." I'm having trouble seeing details. It's all… Blurry. Something someone who knew certain advanced mental or spiritual techniques might pull off. The Crown Imperium doesn't have a native magical tradition, there were maybe a handful of Euphorian magicians off their planet when the shield went up… "What are you hiding?"
"I don't know-."
I reach out to Karna, but… No, no, everything's still there, the mass of conflicting desires for conflict and safety. Gordanians and karnans don't feel all that different, not when viewed with such imprecision. Alright, then what-?
And then I suddenly know how Obi-Wan felt when Alderaan was destroyed. Like a.. chunk of colour just vanished, a particular way of viewing the universe, or wanting. Where was it where was…
It.
"I see."
I'm too late, but I raise my right hand to my forehead anyway
step out
and then look down upon the now-molten surface of Wombworld.
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