09-23-2019, 07:28 PM
The Cauhloc
(written by Xiomera with input from Lauchenoiria)
The two "subjects" the Kerlian contractors had to work on would present different challenges, and thus require different approaches. But in the end, the results would be the same.
Adelina would find Cētlalhui to be a mild, and relatively brief, challenge. The former Justice Secretary turned criminal was already feeling a mix of disgust with himself for becoming a criminal, and self-righteous justification for shooting the Emperor. This combination gave him a powerful need to explain what he did, rather than hide it. Combined with a few simple techniques using the knowledge in the extensive dossier the Xiomerans had provided her, Adelina made quick work of Cētlalhui. Alternating between triumphant moments and others where he was left sobbing with his head buried in his arms, Cētlalhui ended up telling Adelina far more than she even wanted - or needed - to know.
The Xiomerans had also wanted Cētlalhui's ex-wife, Palma, questioned as well, to make sure she hadn't been an accomplice in the assassination attempt on the Emperor. Adelina had accompanied the Xiomeran Imperial Police as they went to arrest her, to gain insight on how the Xiomerans handled internal dissent and policing. The arrest took place at the home of Quitei, a prominent Xiomeran general who Palma had begun dating after she divorced the disgraced Cētlalhui. Palma had cried out to the general to save her, but faced with trying to save her and losing his own position, Quitei had washed his hands of the matter and did nothing as the Imperial Police dragged Palma out of his house.
The interrogation of Palma proved to be no more challenging than that of Cētlalhui. Palma was a trophy spouse in every definition of the term, and had no involvement in Cētlalhui's plan. Palma had no involvement in anything other than spending the money of her spouses, as far as Adelina could tell. The Kerlian found that aspect of her quite disgusting, to be so reliant on men to take care of her. The interrogator found Palma to be otherwise quite useless, as she could convey no useful information and spent most of the time during their sessions crying and asking to be released.
Palma also asked about her son, Natēhetli, frequently. Thankfully, the boy had not been part of Adelina's tasks - the Xiomerans had sent Natēhetli to a government-run school to make sure he was "raised properly". Making Palma think that something might happen to her son had proven useful, however - except for the fact that Palma had absolutely no useful information to convey.
A few days and nights sitting in a freezing-cold cell, eating the worst and cheapest food possible, sleeping on a cot with a thin and cheap blanket, and some questioning that was mild by Kerlian standards was all it took. Adelina was left distinctly unimpressed. If these are typical examples, perhaps the Xiomerans are not as strong as we believed, Adelina thought dispassionately as she concluded her report. Cētlalhui had committed the assassination attempt all on his own - there was no grand plot to assassinate the Emperor. It was the work of one lone, disgruntled man.
Adelina had discovered one useful fact, however, that she kept out of her report. Tepilcayotl, the Security Secretary, had known that Cētlalhui had a gun. He had even let Cētlalhui keep the gun, expecting the man to commit suicide. Instead, Cētlalhui had decided to shoot an Emperor. Tepilcayotl had been honoring a Xiomeran tradition to commit ritual suicide upon failure - he may have even thought he was doing Cētlalhui a favor. But he had committed a significant breach of Xiomeran law in doing so - guns were supposed to be confiscated from terminated officials. And that breach had led, unintentionally, to the Emperor being in a hospital bed on the verge of death.
Assuming it was unintentional....Tepilcayotl could well have known that Cētlalhui was unstable and prone to such an act, Adelina thought. In any event, this fact could prove useful to keep aside, should Tepilcayotl ever need to be encouraged to be cooperative.
In the other interrogation room, Mariya found Xohezi to be a much more entertaining challenge. The arrogant male had the typical hallmark of his breed - an inflated sense of his own strength. Mariya had quite enjoyed revealing to Xohezi just how limited that strength had really been.
To his credit, Xohezi put up much more of a fight than either Cētlalhui or Palma had. It took several days, and a combination of techniques, to finally break him. Pharmacological, physical, emotional, mental....Mariya was able to thoroughly utilize her extensive bag of tricks.
And soon enough, as always happened, the snide insults and stubborn refusal to comply that Xohezi had put up as his defense began to waver, then crumble, then collapsed completely into barely-coherent begging for it to all stop. It took a few days of Mariya's best work, but the proud Xiomeran rebel was eventually reduced to a human-shaped jelly, revealing to Mariya - and the Xiomerans - everything he knew.
The most valuable information Xohezi provided was the names. As the leader of One Huenya, Xohezi knew who the most important leaders and activists were within the movement. Mariya couldn't help but smirk as Xohezi, who had so snarkily read off to her the names of children's show characters on their first day together, now rambled off the real names in a shambling monotone. With the information she wanted in hand, Mariya delivered a few more love taps to Xohezi before leaving to compile her report.
Upon receiving the reports, two Xiomerans in particular were especially pleased. Tepilcayotl and Cuicanan needed names, to plan a crackdown and to justify one as well. Xohezi's information would prove most valuable for their planning. The revelation that Cētlalhui had acted alone was actually a bit disheartening, until Cuicanan pointed out that no one outside the security apparatus needed to know that. Linking Cētlalhui to One Huenya and the other rabblerousers causing problems in Xiomera would just be a simple matter of repeating the lie often enough until it became the truth.
Tepilcayotl, in particular, was quite pleased; his decision to invest in some outside help was already paying dividends. He ordered the ASI payroll division to issue both Adelina and Mariya a hefty bonus in appreciation for their good work.
(written by Xiomera with input from Lauchenoiria)
The two "subjects" the Kerlian contractors had to work on would present different challenges, and thus require different approaches. But in the end, the results would be the same.
Adelina would find Cētlalhui to be a mild, and relatively brief, challenge. The former Justice Secretary turned criminal was already feeling a mix of disgust with himself for becoming a criminal, and self-righteous justification for shooting the Emperor. This combination gave him a powerful need to explain what he did, rather than hide it. Combined with a few simple techniques using the knowledge in the extensive dossier the Xiomerans had provided her, Adelina made quick work of Cētlalhui. Alternating between triumphant moments and others where he was left sobbing with his head buried in his arms, Cētlalhui ended up telling Adelina far more than she even wanted - or needed - to know.
The Xiomerans had also wanted Cētlalhui's ex-wife, Palma, questioned as well, to make sure she hadn't been an accomplice in the assassination attempt on the Emperor. Adelina had accompanied the Xiomeran Imperial Police as they went to arrest her, to gain insight on how the Xiomerans handled internal dissent and policing. The arrest took place at the home of Quitei, a prominent Xiomeran general who Palma had begun dating after she divorced the disgraced Cētlalhui. Palma had cried out to the general to save her, but faced with trying to save her and losing his own position, Quitei had washed his hands of the matter and did nothing as the Imperial Police dragged Palma out of his house.
The interrogation of Palma proved to be no more challenging than that of Cētlalhui. Palma was a trophy spouse in every definition of the term, and had no involvement in Cētlalhui's plan. Palma had no involvement in anything other than spending the money of her spouses, as far as Adelina could tell. The Kerlian found that aspect of her quite disgusting, to be so reliant on men to take care of her. The interrogator found Palma to be otherwise quite useless, as she could convey no useful information and spent most of the time during their sessions crying and asking to be released.
Palma also asked about her son, Natēhetli, frequently. Thankfully, the boy had not been part of Adelina's tasks - the Xiomerans had sent Natēhetli to a government-run school to make sure he was "raised properly". Making Palma think that something might happen to her son had proven useful, however - except for the fact that Palma had absolutely no useful information to convey.
A few days and nights sitting in a freezing-cold cell, eating the worst and cheapest food possible, sleeping on a cot with a thin and cheap blanket, and some questioning that was mild by Kerlian standards was all it took. Adelina was left distinctly unimpressed. If these are typical examples, perhaps the Xiomerans are not as strong as we believed, Adelina thought dispassionately as she concluded her report. Cētlalhui had committed the assassination attempt all on his own - there was no grand plot to assassinate the Emperor. It was the work of one lone, disgruntled man.
Adelina had discovered one useful fact, however, that she kept out of her report. Tepilcayotl, the Security Secretary, had known that Cētlalhui had a gun. He had even let Cētlalhui keep the gun, expecting the man to commit suicide. Instead, Cētlalhui had decided to shoot an Emperor. Tepilcayotl had been honoring a Xiomeran tradition to commit ritual suicide upon failure - he may have even thought he was doing Cētlalhui a favor. But he had committed a significant breach of Xiomeran law in doing so - guns were supposed to be confiscated from terminated officials. And that breach had led, unintentionally, to the Emperor being in a hospital bed on the verge of death.
Assuming it was unintentional....Tepilcayotl could well have known that Cētlalhui was unstable and prone to such an act, Adelina thought. In any event, this fact could prove useful to keep aside, should Tepilcayotl ever need to be encouraged to be cooperative.
In the other interrogation room, Mariya found Xohezi to be a much more entertaining challenge. The arrogant male had the typical hallmark of his breed - an inflated sense of his own strength. Mariya had quite enjoyed revealing to Xohezi just how limited that strength had really been.
To his credit, Xohezi put up much more of a fight than either Cētlalhui or Palma had. It took several days, and a combination of techniques, to finally break him. Pharmacological, physical, emotional, mental....Mariya was able to thoroughly utilize her extensive bag of tricks.
And soon enough, as always happened, the snide insults and stubborn refusal to comply that Xohezi had put up as his defense began to waver, then crumble, then collapsed completely into barely-coherent begging for it to all stop. It took a few days of Mariya's best work, but the proud Xiomeran rebel was eventually reduced to a human-shaped jelly, revealing to Mariya - and the Xiomerans - everything he knew.
The most valuable information Xohezi provided was the names. As the leader of One Huenya, Xohezi knew who the most important leaders and activists were within the movement. Mariya couldn't help but smirk as Xohezi, who had so snarkily read off to her the names of children's show characters on their first day together, now rambled off the real names in a shambling monotone. With the information she wanted in hand, Mariya delivered a few more love taps to Xohezi before leaving to compile her report.
Upon receiving the reports, two Xiomerans in particular were especially pleased. Tepilcayotl and Cuicanan needed names, to plan a crackdown and to justify one as well. Xohezi's information would prove most valuable for their planning. The revelation that Cētlalhui had acted alone was actually a bit disheartening, until Cuicanan pointed out that no one outside the security apparatus needed to know that. Linking Cētlalhui to One Huenya and the other rabblerousers causing problems in Xiomera would just be a simple matter of repeating the lie often enough until it became the truth.
Tepilcayotl, in particular, was quite pleased; his decision to invest in some outside help was already paying dividends. He ordered the ASI payroll division to issue both Adelina and Mariya a hefty bonus in appreciation for their good work.
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