The Unseen Eye Part 6: Pulling Strings
13 Sep 2021Orwell Vandeman
Continued from Sinister Observation Napoleon Carson was an obedient man, but he was also an ambitious one. You wouldn't know it from his demeanor now; If he was a dog, his tail would be tucked firmly between his legs.
He had been so confident in his ability to do the High Seeker's most important bidding, but it had been this confidence that had ultimately led to his mistakes.
"Humble yourself, Napoleon. This is not the way." he said to himself. He stopped, closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and held it.
Releasing the breath after a few seconds, he felt more in control of his invasive emotions, more centered. Even an incorrectible mistake is a learning experience, and he would be able to avoid disappointing the High Seeker in the future.
Unless... the mistake was not incorrectible after all.
Napoleon had a sudden epiphany, and turned on his heel at once, making his way to a different cabin.
He rang the intercom
"Y...y...yes?" came a nasal, stuttering voice from inside.
"Seeker Dorn"
"Ah, y...y...yes, Protector C...Carson. I'll need the p...pass...password."
"Dorn, you have a camera. You can see it's me. Open the door."
Napoleon caught himself losing his cool again, and spoke before Dorn could respond
"The password is 'All shall be shown the way', Seeker Dorn. Apologies for my curtness."
The door hissed open, and Napoleon walked inside to see Seeker Dorn was already making himself at home, slates and monitors, and other fun gadgets had been set up on just about every usable surface in the cabin.
It was useful having a tech expert in the Order. From this cabin, the entirety of the ship's systems could be silently controlled, thanks to some clever and covert modifications.
Napoleon walked over to the small, sandy haired man, and knocked loudly on the steel shoulder of his partial exoskeleton. The man's spinal condition was also convenient, both for the Order, as it allowed the passaged to be billed as 'special needs' and the equipment to be brought in without suspicion, and for Dorn himself, as not all passengers were so lucky as to have a private cabin.
"Dorn, I need you to do something."
"What can I d...d...do for you, P...Protector Carson?"
"I was recollecting the time before I joined the order... the first time I bought a factory-new ship. Specifically, I remember that a factory COVAS requires voice recognition training."
"Y...yes, this is accurate. W...what does that have to d...do with me?" Dorn questioned, looking at Napoleon for the first time through his thick glasses
"I need you to factory reset this ship's COVAS" Napoleon replied dryly.
"Technically I c...c...can, n...no problem but, it could be d...d...dangerous!"
"Our Captain is competent, but our Captain is stubborn. She needs a little... let's call it motivation. A little urgency. Its always best when forcing people to act to make sure they don't have time to ask questions first. Do it as soon as we drop at the next star... we'll sail into the exclusion zone. She'll have to do what I need before the ship overheats." Napoleon couldn't contain his wry smile. He was quite proud of his idea, though he was unaware how insane his words combined with his expression were making him look.
"We could d...d...die!" Seeker Dorn was making no attempt to hide his concern.
"As I said... our Captain is competent. We will be fine. All shall be shown the way, and so I have shown you yours. Do you understand, Seeker Dorn?"
"Y...y...yes, P...Protector Carson..."
Continued in End User Disagreement