Deniable Asset #4
09 Sep 2020Servatrix
>$ ls -a OCSN-Servatrix/Records
...
>$ ls -a 3264/Records
...
>$ xdg-open Incident1-HospitalFootage2
Playback Begins:
[Camera starts overlooking an observation room, on the monitors surrounding the main window where a full robotic surgery suite is in use the vitals for the man undergoing surgery are displayed.]
"I don't think this type of surgery has been done on anyone to date. Nor on someone so young," a man wearing a doctor's coat says as he observes and monitors the in-progress surgery. "I can't say for certain if this will be successful," he taps a few buttons on a datapad as the vitals started to spike, they slowly returned to normal.
A second man, barely seen below the camera answers, "Nor will this succeed. There will be no record of this surgery in any system. If you are found to be recording this for any reason, we'll find out."
The doctor looks back and nods. Facing the main window again he speaks, "The number of modifications that need to be done on the fly, the extensive use in progenitor cell application, not to mention the genetic adjustments simply to repair the damage already sustained, to say nothing of the damage that is ongoing, I wouldn't want a record of this. This may be too much, even for us."
The second man approached the observation window and stared silently onto the subject below. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. This subject survived despite being subjected to vacuum within a Wolf-Rayet class star gravitational pull, to say nothing of the rapid decompression of the ship he was on, and one can't forget the fragmentation of the hull either. Our group needs survivors, out of all the recruits we've found, yes he requires the most upkeep and repairs, but he's a survivor. Moreso than any of the others."
Down in the surgery suite, the double doors opened allowing entry for a mechanized dolly supporting a large cloth-covered table. Once inside assistants uncovered the table revealing several cases, and two clear containers. One container contained a set of cybernetic lungs, the other a cybernetic heart. The assistants wheeled the table over to an area and waited for the robotic surgeon to finish prepping the subject.
Both men in the observation room watched silently as the operation progress, no additional conversations were documented during this time. As the playback counter reaches 50+ hours, the second man spoke up again. "The subject did have one request to be aware of before you begin testing the systems for functionality and program implementation. I would advise you to follow through with the request." The doctor paused as he was looking over stats on his pad and waited for the request, "He didn't want to have the memory purge. He wants to remember everything."
The doctor gaped for a moment, "I would strongly advise against that. With the number of changes to his body it would be almost unheard of for-"
The second man interrupted, "Did I say request? I'm making that an order. No selective wiping."
The doctor stared at the other man silently, contempt flashing across his features before turning to face the subject of the surgery. "Very well, we'll do our best to make sure everything remains intact."
The other man nodded and walked out of the room with a passing comment, "Contact me when he's recovered."
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Servatrix adjusted his approach angle towards the planet, idly wondering why he was contacted to meet someone here. Gabjaujis 2 was an interesting choice for a meeting. Currently, under terraforming, progress has been slow since the start due to its extreme heat more than the makeup of the atmosphere, which last records show was still primarily CO2 at an average temperature of 567K. As such, very few people were allowed an approach to the planet, it was such a massive investment to fully terraform a planet that even under the best of circumstances lots of things could go wrong if the wrong microorganisms entered the system. Still, the data package he received before this meeting had all the necessary clearance codes and allowed his entry to land.
The crosswinds buffeted his ship, a smaller DBX by the name of C.S.V. Beta as he approached the long/lat coordinates, slowly over the haze he could make out a structure, one of the on-planet terraformers working on reprocessing the atmosphere to be more suited for carbon-based life. He could already see a small shuttle parked near the entrance to the terraformer and slowly eased his craft down next to it. After landing he made sure to encrypt his controls and then shut down his engines. Standing up he donned his helmet, grabbed a bag, and exited the ship, slowly making his approach to the entrance.
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The waves always sounded best with his eyes closed. For a moment, it crowded out his heavy thoughts, as the rushing water seemed to wash over his memories. Faces flickered on the backs of his eyes, a movie reel in the darkness.
"Augh..." Nira blinked against the light as his eyes adjusted to being open again. Blue below, blue above. The terraforming had yet to reclaim any land here where the floating facility platform was. Why is the right path not always clear when you want it to be - why am I plagued by this hindsight.... His shoulders heaved with a sigh as he let his feet hang over the edge of the landing pad, a mere three feet above the highest waves. The salt of the sea spray stung. The memories stung.
The roar in the distance announced that Serv was arriving. That eased some of the tension from Nira's shoulders. Good company always has a way of crowding out the bad. And if anyone could understand these wounds from the inside out, it would be Serv. Ordo Corona Stellarum was meant to be a place to work these wounds out - to show the galaxy something different. If only the path forward was more clear...
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Servatrix exited the airlock and made his way to the observation platform where his contact was meeting him. He smirked behind his helmet as he noticed it was Nirakoji, none other than the leader of the OCSN. He hooked a thumb over his shoulder to tell Nira to come back inside and patted a bag over his shoulder. As he made sure the atmosphere inside the terraformer was breathable he pulled out the contents of the bag: two crystalline glasses and a bottle of clear liquid.
As the exterior airlock cycled he popped the lid on the bottle and poured a few fingers into each glass. "Anyone ever tell you," he stated amused, "You've got a funny way of making contact with your people?"
Nirakoji chuckled heartily as he leaned forward to pull his glass closer to himself. With a casual gesture, he kept the drink sloshing in gentle waves. "Leadership is an odd thing - I'm human, but I'm also a presence. Not in a mystical way, I imagine, but in a way that has a real impact." He smirked, as he took a sip, swirled it around, and let it wash over his throat. "Heck, that burns. A bit of a departure from my usual coffee and tea, eh? But yeah, I've got my reasons for why I do what I do. Try to keep you both sharp and loose enough to not snap, over the long shot." Holding his glass up, he thoughtfully examined how the light refracted through it. "I guess this is your way of doing the same for me - well heck, at least keeping me loose enough to not snap over the long run. War..." A shadow passed over Nirakoji's face and it drew long and gaunt as he slipped into his thoughts again.
Servatrix nodded and took a measured drink of his glass before refilling it. "We need a public presence. Someone for the rest of us to gather behind. If you think you can do everything on your own, alone," he smirked and glanced out of the window to the waves bashing against the structure. "I imagine you'd drown sooner than you should." He sat silently for a moment before downing his drink again and refilling it. "Is this what you've been struggling with? The wars?"
Nirakoji’s eyes lit up briefly as he laughed, and then his face got grim again. “There are many ways to fight a war, and many wars to fight. And lately, yeah, they’re leaking into each other; layering like a holograph. I... I feel utterly human, and at the same time, more and more inhuman...” He brought his hand to his neck briefly, almost unthinkingly, and exposed the subtle glow and shine of cybernetics. He shook his head as if to clear it, eyes focusing again on Servatrix. “That’s general. Specifically, this war has me weary. I’ve made choices that have taken me places that looked ugly - you know?” He took another drink and set his empty glass down. Servatrix offered more, but Nirakoji held his hand out refusing more. “Enough for the edge is good; too much, and I lose the humanity I’m trying to reclaim. Thank you, friend - I needed this. Mind if I turn the question your way - how are you holding up? There are few that I can count on, and you’re one of them.”
Servatrix didn't react to the cybernetic viewing. He knew more than most how necessary they could be. "You need to stop being on the front lines Nira. You've got people for that. People like Blitz, Yehuda, the others. You've got me for other reasons that you don't want the others to deal with too. Quit hounding yourself about it, you're too young to die on us ya know, " Servatrix took out a cigarette and lit it, promptly ignoring the computer warning of airborne contaminates, "Everything can turn ugly. You need to focus on what happens afterward. I won't say the ends justify the means, you know me too well for that," he took a long drag and stared at Nira directly, his cybernetic eyes clicking and whirring as they adjusted to the shifting external light from the clouds. "The question you should be asking is, what are we doing this for?"
He leaned back and idly smoked the carcinogen for a moment, the faint whir of additional cybernetics could be heard as he played with the exhaled smoke for a moment. "I've been doing this a long time, as you know. Hell, you practically demanded to view the unredacted files on me. Not many can keep going on as I have. Even rarer are those who can wade through the muck and mire of what I've been through and come out unscathed, let along willingly walk back into it repeatedly."
He leaned forward and stubbed out the cigarette into the empty glass infant of him. "I won't lie to you like the others, I'm tired. I've been tired, and odds are will still be tired. But you want to know why I keep going?" He asked his commander, "the answer to that is right there," he said pointing out the window. "What was this world before the terraforming started? Desolate water, no real landmass for the population. It's still too hot to walk around without an environmental suit and mask. Where we are currently, I view it as where this world is now. Turmoil. Turmoil as far as we can see, and farther than we can imagine. If you think you alone need to shoulder the responsibility of command, your right. But if you think you alone need to handle everything, your wrong."
Nirakoji raised an eyebrow and broke out a slow, lopsided grin. "Serv, you're not wrong." He looked out the window as the waves churned and the floating platform slowly bobbed on the surface. "You've been through more hell than I know - and, unless I miss my mark here, you're holding the same thing that's driving me: that out of chaos, order can come. Like the ancient stories of waters pulling back for land and creatures to come live on that land. A belief that, even in a small way, humanity can be reclaimed, fought for, struggled through, and--though I don't believe in progress in the classical sense--for a while at least, we can endeavor to make our corner of space a better place to be human, 'anthropo-forming,' if you will. A few less struggles, a few more moments of joy and peace and reflection... you and I, we're going through the same forming."
Nirakoji paused, fingers rolling rhythmically on the table between them as he was deep in thought. "You heard what Bader reported over the comms too. You've seen the intel as well. That war was drawn out by those who think very differently than us - it should have been resolved long ago... I'm on the front with you all because I need to know the reality of it if I ask any of you to step into that reality for me. You bear wounds; and I bear them with you too, so that I do not ask you for more wounds in vain. We seek life - but what kind of death does that life come through?"
Servatrix took the other glass and filled it before taking another slow drink mulling over his answer. "Close enough I suppose. I don't know if one can form order from chaos. Or even control the chaos. I've always viewed it as trying to change its direction, slowly, subtly. Shift it just enough to get a better outcome than what we can immediately see. it doesn't always work though, " he opened up the glove portion of his remlock suit exposing bare metal cybernetics and clicked his fingers against the glass. "I don't imagine I'll ever find the peace you might be looking for. Been doing this too long. Frankly, I'm beyond it. Been flying on the wrong side of the black for too long for that. People like you, however," he stated pointing a metal finger towards Nira, "have the drive to keep the rest of us moving forward towards that ideal. People like me are necessary to protect that ideal. The people that were working against us won't give up so easily. Not if they are as convinced as you are towards what they consider the ideal."
He gloved his hand and downed the rest of the drink. "For your protection, I would say either behind the front would be safest, however knowing you, you would prefer to fight alongside us. I know better than to stop you. Just leave the worst of the work to me, or others if you feel they are capable. I wouldn't want anyone to bear the wounds I've got. It does something to you, especially the longer you go. There's a reason why I don't encourage people to follow me: either they wouldn't last long, or it would bring out something in them best left alone."
Servatrix tapped his finger on the table, the metal clinking through his suit glove. "I've said before, I've been doing this a long time. I've done things I wish I didn't, prayed I wouldn't have to do again, but ended up having to. I haven't had a decent night's rest in almost half a century, if not longer. There's darkness in all of us, you, me, everyone. It's a fine line what we are doing. You're on the right side of it. Me? I've crossed that line too many times." He stood up and grabbed the bag, leaving the bottle and glasses on the table. "I'd recommend staying away from the dirtier fights, not just because of what goes on, but because of what it does to you."
He started towards the airlock for the landing pads before turning to add a final comment, "If one lives in the dark for too long, they rarely make it back to who they were before. I follow you, Commander, I wouldn't follow me. Hopefully, that tells you enough about what I think you should do. Just know, all of us you brought in have your back, some just operate differently." He donned his helmet and left, the howling winds could be heard until the exterior door closed again, leaving Nira in the room filled with bright light coming in from the window, the waves still softly rocking the structure.