12-01-2019, 03:00 AM
The Cauhloc
(Joint post with [nation]Lauchenoiria[/nation])
Omapācatl was lying down on her bed in her cell, thinking. She had been doing a lot of that since her capture - after all, there was little else to do. It was quite unlike what she had been trained to expect upon discovery, and she was incredibly relieved that Xiomera and Kerlile now seemed to be allies. She was quite certain it had saved her. Which brought her to a conundrum.
Her mission was to influence the politics of Xiomera in favour of Kerlile. She had not even carried it out, and yet it seemed to have succeeded by virtue of other events happening at the same time. If that was the case, and the two countries were now allies, then was her mission not over? In fact, she really should have contacted her superiors when the alliance started to see if her orders had changed.
So why hadn't she? She had a very strong suspicion. She had been worried that if she had contacted Kerlile, they would have ordered her home since her mission was over. And she did not want to go home. She had the misfortune, as Auroras tended to view it, of enjoying her time on her assignment. And of falling in love, and starting a family who she cared for.
She sighed, eventually. She had memorised every word that Zalpalatli had told her yesterday. She hoped that they had been truthful in full. She was uncertain, and what she was about to do was incredibly risky. Yet, if there was a chance, if there was a hope she could go back to the life she had come to enjoy... she had to take it. She sat up.
"Excuse me? I would like to talk," she called aloud.
The ASI agent who had been guarding the door nodded. "Wait for a moment, please," he said politely, although in truth Omapācatl really had no other option. The agent spoke into his headset in Huenyan.
In a few minutes, a knock sounded at the door. Zalpalatli entered, with the same two Shorn Ones who had accompanied him earlier. "Hello, Omapācatl. I understand you wished to speak with us?" the Secretary asked in a friendly tone.
"I do," she nodded. "I have thought over what you said, and despite my reservations, I have decided to trust you. You must understand, what I am doing this second is highly abnormal, and has the potential to lead to hugely negative repercussions for me in the future. Nevertheless, I wish to confess. I am an agent of the Matriarchy of Kerlile, sent here as part of the Aurora Programme."
Zalpalatli's smile grew wider. Not with the triumph or predatory nature one would have expected from a security type, but with relief. "I thank you for your honesty, Omapācatl. This will make things much easier. Since you have been honest, we will fulfill our promise. You may return to Kerlile if you wish, or remain here and truly begin living your life as a Xiomeran. The choice is now yours to make."
"I do not want to go back to Kerlile," she said, surprised at how easily she'd said it and how truthful the words felt on her mouth. She cringed. "Sorry, I feel rather terrible about that. It feels like a betrayal, but it isn't necessarily. I like living in Xiomera, and we are not enemies. I have a family here, a life. I never had a family in Kerlile, nor much of a childhood. Yet, I have some concerns about this course of action."
"As do we, of course." Zalpalatli sat down at the small table in the tiny "dining room" space of the hotel room-like cell. "But you go first. What concerns do you have?"
"Well, first of all, I fear Kerlian assassins. If I am seen to have betrayed the Matriarchy, they may send another agent after me from the Programme. I know the capabilities of my kind, and I rather fear that I would lose in a one-on-one match with another. I do not know the identities or the number of other agents in this country, so really it could be any woman."
She sighed and looked down at her hands, still sitting on the bed, shifting her position slightly.
"The other thing is... look, I don't want to commit treason if there is any other alternative. Is there any way, any at all that I can, well," she blushed a little, "this sounds stupid but... get in contact with the Matriarchy and inform them of my decision? Try to, well, resign. This was, after all, a job. Perhaps they would allow it."
Zalpalatli's face stiffened slightly at the mention of assassins; after what happened to Topilpopoca, that word always made Security Secretariat personnel cringe. His expression soon assumed a bemused look, however.
"We would have no problem with you reaching out to your contacts in Kerlile to inform them of your decision. You need not worry about anyone trying to harm you, however. Once you decide to remain here, you fall under the protection of the Empress and the Xiomeran Empire. We will be quite....cross if someone decides to try to harm a person that falls under our protection," he said. "I trust that the Matriarchy will understand Xiomera's position on this matter."
Omapācatl sighed in relief. She was very pleased to hear that, and she thought that if she informed them of her decision rather than just vanished, they would be much less likely to send assassins.
"Thank you," she smiled in spite of the situation. "That makes me feel a lot better. Is there anything else you will require of me, should I accept the offer to remain in Xiomera?"
Zalpalatli nodded. "To be honest, we were hoping that you could provide us information that would help us locate any other Auroras that may be in Xiomera, so we can extend the offer to them that you received. With rumors spreading, we are concerned that any Auroras who feel they are in danger may react unexpectedly. That could have dire consequences for everyone. We simply do not know enough about the Aurora program to know where to begin, though. Any information you feel comfortable in providing us would be helpful. That is not a condition of our offer, however."
"I must say, you are showing me more courtesy than I have any right to," she said, slightly taken aback by how well she was being treated. "I do not know the identity of the other Auroras in Xiomera. They make sure of that, for security reasons. They will be very well trained, of course. I don't know the number of them either, though I think I was the second sent here. I cannot be absolutely certain of that. We arrive as teenagers, usually when we are 14."
"That at least gives us a base to work from," Zalpalatli replied. "Are there any aspects of the Aurora program, or how Auroras are trained, that might allow us to identify them? Or anything special or unique about the kinds of missions Auroras are given? We know the goal is usually to achieve significant positions within a society, but that is a very broad area to search."
She hesitated. Despite her feelings on the subject, and her desire to remain in Xiomera, talking openly on this subject still frightened her immensely. She didn't like it. Yet... she decided to help. She had been treated well, if the others would be too, it would benefit them.
"It genuinely varies. Some of us will be ordered to get into positions where we have political influence - those were my orders. Others will be gathering information, infiltrating the military, even businesses in some countries. They could be anywhere. The advice I can give you is that on our documents, our 'parents' would have died by the time we were 16. That should narrow it down. And we would have no other family, except by marriage. Only children orphaned in their teens with no aunts or uncles."
"That will genuinely help us a lot. We thank you for this information. We may have further questions if there is any other help we should need. Also, as you may expect, you may be under surveillance from time to time once you leave here - but this is Xiomera, after all. Everyone is under surveillance here," Zalpalatli said with a chuckle. "You will, at least, not be under any more scrutiny than any other citizen. There is but one more formality."
The Secretary gestured one of the Shorn Ones forward. Expressionlessly, the Shorn One handed Omapācatl a golden talisman with the Xiomeran seal on it.
"As you are, in effect, becoming a true Xiomeran citizen here and now, you must swear your loyalty to the Empress and to the Empire," Zalpalatli said. The loyalty oath was normally required of Xiomeran citizens when they turned 17, in ceremonies performed at the telpochcalli. This was, however, a special circumstance.
"Repeat after me: I, Omapācatl, pledge my loyalty to the Xiomeran Empire, to Empress Yauhmi, and to the Obsidian Throne. I shall serve the Empire and its people, truly and faithfully, for all my days. The price of betraying this pledge shall be my life. I swear this as a child of Huītzilōpōchtli," the Secretary intoned solemnly.
She took a deep breath. There would be no going back from this route. If she proceeded, she would no longer be able to hold any loyalty to Kerlile. She would be switching allegiances, fully and completely. It should have been harder than she found it.
"I, Omapācatl, pledge my loyalty to the Xiomeran Empire, to Empress Yauhmi, and to the Obsidian Throne. I shall serve the Empire and its people, truly and faithfully, for all my days. The price of betraying this pledge shall be my life. I swear this as a child of Huītzilōpōchtli."
Zalpalatli grinned, gesturing to Omapācatl to keep the talisman. "You may have performed a similar ceremony as a child, but now, it has meaning. For both yourself, and for us. Your loyalty and service will be rewarded by the Empire keeping its promises to you, and protecting you as it does all its citizens. You're truly a Xiomeran now, not just acting as one."
The Secretary gestured to the Shorn Ones, who opened the door and stood ready to escort Omapācatl out. "Unless you have any further questions for me....you are free to go. Welcome home."
"I... thank you," she said, oddly touched. The entire situation seemed slightly surreal to her. "Would you like me to report to someone the response I get when I contact Kerlile?" she asked.
"You may report their response to my office. You will be provided a contact method to do so once we finish processing your release here," Zalpalatli said. "Also, if you receive any unusual messages or requests from the Matriarchy once you've reported your decision to them, I do ask that you inform my office immediately. And if you feel you are in any danger, report that to us as well."
"I will do so," she nodded. "Thank you for... thank you for giving me the opportunity to make a real life here."
"You're welcome," Zalpalatli replied. "Just be sure to make the most of the opportunity. Not everyone gets a second chance."
"I understand. And I will, I promise. I will serve Xiomera now, not Kerlile," she said. The words sounded strange in her mouth, not because she was saying them, but because she meant them honestly.
(Joint post with [nation]Lauchenoiria[/nation])
Omapācatl was lying down on her bed in her cell, thinking. She had been doing a lot of that since her capture - after all, there was little else to do. It was quite unlike what she had been trained to expect upon discovery, and she was incredibly relieved that Xiomera and Kerlile now seemed to be allies. She was quite certain it had saved her. Which brought her to a conundrum.
Her mission was to influence the politics of Xiomera in favour of Kerlile. She had not even carried it out, and yet it seemed to have succeeded by virtue of other events happening at the same time. If that was the case, and the two countries were now allies, then was her mission not over? In fact, she really should have contacted her superiors when the alliance started to see if her orders had changed.
So why hadn't she? She had a very strong suspicion. She had been worried that if she had contacted Kerlile, they would have ordered her home since her mission was over. And she did not want to go home. She had the misfortune, as Auroras tended to view it, of enjoying her time on her assignment. And of falling in love, and starting a family who she cared for.
She sighed, eventually. She had memorised every word that Zalpalatli had told her yesterday. She hoped that they had been truthful in full. She was uncertain, and what she was about to do was incredibly risky. Yet, if there was a chance, if there was a hope she could go back to the life she had come to enjoy... she had to take it. She sat up.
"Excuse me? I would like to talk," she called aloud.
The ASI agent who had been guarding the door nodded. "Wait for a moment, please," he said politely, although in truth Omapācatl really had no other option. The agent spoke into his headset in Huenyan.
In a few minutes, a knock sounded at the door. Zalpalatli entered, with the same two Shorn Ones who had accompanied him earlier. "Hello, Omapācatl. I understand you wished to speak with us?" the Secretary asked in a friendly tone.
"I do," she nodded. "I have thought over what you said, and despite my reservations, I have decided to trust you. You must understand, what I am doing this second is highly abnormal, and has the potential to lead to hugely negative repercussions for me in the future. Nevertheless, I wish to confess. I am an agent of the Matriarchy of Kerlile, sent here as part of the Aurora Programme."
Zalpalatli's smile grew wider. Not with the triumph or predatory nature one would have expected from a security type, but with relief. "I thank you for your honesty, Omapācatl. This will make things much easier. Since you have been honest, we will fulfill our promise. You may return to Kerlile if you wish, or remain here and truly begin living your life as a Xiomeran. The choice is now yours to make."
"I do not want to go back to Kerlile," she said, surprised at how easily she'd said it and how truthful the words felt on her mouth. She cringed. "Sorry, I feel rather terrible about that. It feels like a betrayal, but it isn't necessarily. I like living in Xiomera, and we are not enemies. I have a family here, a life. I never had a family in Kerlile, nor much of a childhood. Yet, I have some concerns about this course of action."
"As do we, of course." Zalpalatli sat down at the small table in the tiny "dining room" space of the hotel room-like cell. "But you go first. What concerns do you have?"
"Well, first of all, I fear Kerlian assassins. If I am seen to have betrayed the Matriarchy, they may send another agent after me from the Programme. I know the capabilities of my kind, and I rather fear that I would lose in a one-on-one match with another. I do not know the identities or the number of other agents in this country, so really it could be any woman."
She sighed and looked down at her hands, still sitting on the bed, shifting her position slightly.
"The other thing is... look, I don't want to commit treason if there is any other alternative. Is there any way, any at all that I can, well," she blushed a little, "this sounds stupid but... get in contact with the Matriarchy and inform them of my decision? Try to, well, resign. This was, after all, a job. Perhaps they would allow it."
Zalpalatli's face stiffened slightly at the mention of assassins; after what happened to Topilpopoca, that word always made Security Secretariat personnel cringe. His expression soon assumed a bemused look, however.
"We would have no problem with you reaching out to your contacts in Kerlile to inform them of your decision. You need not worry about anyone trying to harm you, however. Once you decide to remain here, you fall under the protection of the Empress and the Xiomeran Empire. We will be quite....cross if someone decides to try to harm a person that falls under our protection," he said. "I trust that the Matriarchy will understand Xiomera's position on this matter."
Omapācatl sighed in relief. She was very pleased to hear that, and she thought that if she informed them of her decision rather than just vanished, they would be much less likely to send assassins.
"Thank you," she smiled in spite of the situation. "That makes me feel a lot better. Is there anything else you will require of me, should I accept the offer to remain in Xiomera?"
Zalpalatli nodded. "To be honest, we were hoping that you could provide us information that would help us locate any other Auroras that may be in Xiomera, so we can extend the offer to them that you received. With rumors spreading, we are concerned that any Auroras who feel they are in danger may react unexpectedly. That could have dire consequences for everyone. We simply do not know enough about the Aurora program to know where to begin, though. Any information you feel comfortable in providing us would be helpful. That is not a condition of our offer, however."
"I must say, you are showing me more courtesy than I have any right to," she said, slightly taken aback by how well she was being treated. "I do not know the identity of the other Auroras in Xiomera. They make sure of that, for security reasons. They will be very well trained, of course. I don't know the number of them either, though I think I was the second sent here. I cannot be absolutely certain of that. We arrive as teenagers, usually when we are 14."
"That at least gives us a base to work from," Zalpalatli replied. "Are there any aspects of the Aurora program, or how Auroras are trained, that might allow us to identify them? Or anything special or unique about the kinds of missions Auroras are given? We know the goal is usually to achieve significant positions within a society, but that is a very broad area to search."
She hesitated. Despite her feelings on the subject, and her desire to remain in Xiomera, talking openly on this subject still frightened her immensely. She didn't like it. Yet... she decided to help. She had been treated well, if the others would be too, it would benefit them.
"It genuinely varies. Some of us will be ordered to get into positions where we have political influence - those were my orders. Others will be gathering information, infiltrating the military, even businesses in some countries. They could be anywhere. The advice I can give you is that on our documents, our 'parents' would have died by the time we were 16. That should narrow it down. And we would have no other family, except by marriage. Only children orphaned in their teens with no aunts or uncles."
"That will genuinely help us a lot. We thank you for this information. We may have further questions if there is any other help we should need. Also, as you may expect, you may be under surveillance from time to time once you leave here - but this is Xiomera, after all. Everyone is under surveillance here," Zalpalatli said with a chuckle. "You will, at least, not be under any more scrutiny than any other citizen. There is but one more formality."
The Secretary gestured one of the Shorn Ones forward. Expressionlessly, the Shorn One handed Omapācatl a golden talisman with the Xiomeran seal on it.
"As you are, in effect, becoming a true Xiomeran citizen here and now, you must swear your loyalty to the Empress and to the Empire," Zalpalatli said. The loyalty oath was normally required of Xiomeran citizens when they turned 17, in ceremonies performed at the telpochcalli. This was, however, a special circumstance.
"Repeat after me: I, Omapācatl, pledge my loyalty to the Xiomeran Empire, to Empress Yauhmi, and to the Obsidian Throne. I shall serve the Empire and its people, truly and faithfully, for all my days. The price of betraying this pledge shall be my life. I swear this as a child of Huītzilōpōchtli," the Secretary intoned solemnly.
She took a deep breath. There would be no going back from this route. If she proceeded, she would no longer be able to hold any loyalty to Kerlile. She would be switching allegiances, fully and completely. It should have been harder than she found it.
"I, Omapācatl, pledge my loyalty to the Xiomeran Empire, to Empress Yauhmi, and to the Obsidian Throne. I shall serve the Empire and its people, truly and faithfully, for all my days. The price of betraying this pledge shall be my life. I swear this as a child of Huītzilōpōchtli."
Zalpalatli grinned, gesturing to Omapācatl to keep the talisman. "You may have performed a similar ceremony as a child, but now, it has meaning. For both yourself, and for us. Your loyalty and service will be rewarded by the Empire keeping its promises to you, and protecting you as it does all its citizens. You're truly a Xiomeran now, not just acting as one."
The Secretary gestured to the Shorn Ones, who opened the door and stood ready to escort Omapācatl out. "Unless you have any further questions for me....you are free to go. Welcome home."
"I... thank you," she said, oddly touched. The entire situation seemed slightly surreal to her. "Would you like me to report to someone the response I get when I contact Kerlile?" she asked.
"You may report their response to my office. You will be provided a contact method to do so once we finish processing your release here," Zalpalatli said. "Also, if you receive any unusual messages or requests from the Matriarchy once you've reported your decision to them, I do ask that you inform my office immediately. And if you feel you are in any danger, report that to us as well."
"I will do so," she nodded. "Thank you for... thank you for giving me the opportunity to make a real life here."
"You're welcome," Zalpalatli replied. "Just be sure to make the most of the opportunity. Not everyone gets a second chance."
"I understand. And I will, I promise. I will serve Xiomera now, not Kerlile," she said. The words sounded strange in her mouth, not because she was saying them, but because she meant them honestly.
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