06-04-2020, 08:15 AM
(Joint post with [nation]Lauchenoiria[/nation])
June 4th
ASI Detention Facility Alpha-73B
Calhualyana watched as the ten Kerlians were led into the briefing room. She masterfully hid her disdain for the foreigners behind a mask of jovial professionalism. Being so highly trained had its perks.
The ten Kerlians sat down. Most of them were silent, although one or two of them chattered amongst themselves. Mariya seemed to be the most excited of the group as she chatted with another Kerlian. Having the new Security Secretary come all the way from Tlālacuetztla promised a new and exciting project for them.
After a moment, the director of the ASI site, Ohmix, waved everyone to silence. Calhualyana walked to the lectern. “Good morning,” she said. “You have all been doing great work for the Empire since the transition to a new Emperor.” The word coup was very deliberately avoided by officials with the new government. “We are highly appreciative of your skills, and we have a very special project for you. We have a high-profile official from the former corrupt regime who we need to convince to confess their prior crimes in detail. They have been resistant to this for some time. Your goal will be to convince them to confess,” Calhualyana said as a prisoner dossier was handed out to the Kerlians. Unusually, this was on paper, rather than on the usual tablet.
As the Kerlians opened the folders, a picture stared out at them. Yauhmi, the former Empress of Xiomera, clad in a prisoner’s uniform and looking rather haggard.
“Do any of you have questions or require guidance?” Calhualyana asked.
The facial expressions of the Kerlian torturers varied greatly. Some kept their characteristic emotionless face, like their leader Adelina Sasaki, while others like Mariya Adema looked disturbingly gleeful. The most common expression, however, was one of shock. It was Adelina who first opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by Mariya, who clearly couldn't hold in her thoughts.
"Under what parameters have we to work? Restrictions, requirements? What resources in terms of tools or other items that can aid in our work will be available to us?"
Calhualyana smiled at Mariya’s questions. She admired someone who enjoyed her work.
“There are no restrictions. Whatever resources or tools you may need for this task will be provided for you. The only goal is simple: to get the subject to admit to her crimes on video. We require her to make a statement to that effect. And then, in Xiomeran tradition, she is to commit suicide. Assisted, if need be, but you get the idea. Are there any other questions?”
Mariya immediately took out a notepad and started scribbling down some ideas, even beginning to draw a diagram. Adelina, normally perfectly composed and emotionless, cleared her throat and hesitated, uncertain, before proceeding.
"I cannot participate in this 'project'."
The room fell silent. Even Calhualyana was surprised. She knew that most Kerlians had an unhealthy attachment to Yauhmi, but this group was supposed to be a tougher breed than the average Kerlian. Finally, she looked squarely at Adelina. “Explain,” she said in a tone that was not inviting.
"We were sent here by Councillor Greenwood as a gift to the Xiomeran people in exchange for their assistance after Emperor Topilpopoca's assassination. Our orders from the Matriarchy conflict with your order, and as a Kerlian citizen I must choose Kerlile," Adelina said, mostly calmly but with a hint of fear.
Calhualyana’s expression darkened. “You are an employee of the Xiomeran Secretariat of Security and the Agency for Security and Intelligence. Gift or not,” the Secretary rasped, “you work for us now, are being given an order by your superiors and are expected to obey. I assume you were briefed when you were hired about what the penalties for insubordination are in Xiomera, and the penalties for disloyalty.”
An expression of fear flickered across Adelina's face and she paused, shocked. It had been a long time since she had bothered to feel an emotion and this fear was new to her. But her emotions were still there, even if she didn't acknowledge them, and her old fear of disappointing Kerlile outweighed her fear of what horrible fate awaited her if she continued on this course of action.
"I... I am aware," she said, her voice shaking slightly. She hated this show of weakness but she couldn't help herself. "I do not take this course of action lightly, but I cannot follow that order, and I accept the consequences of that."
”So be it,” Calhualyana said coldly. “Is there anyone else here who objects to this assignment?”
Of the remnants, two looked distinctly uncomfortable, but neither spoke. Adelina herself looked down and closed her eyes, her heart racing. She wondered what would happen to her, just how awful it would be.
After a moment of waiting for anyone else to speak, Calhualyana nodded to Ohmix. “Please escort Ms. Sasaki to your office, Director. I believe we will need to have a further discussion about this.” Calhualyana’s immediate instinct was to cut the troublesome person out of the herd to make sure her weakness did not spread to the rest of the team. “As for the rest of you, return to your quarters for now....except for you, Ms. Adema. Walk with me, please,” the Security Secretary said as she walked to the door.
Mariya eagerly jumped up to follow the order, smirking slightly at Adelina, who had turned pale and was shaking slightly.
Calhualyana led Mariya to a private office. “You seem more eager to perform this task for us than some of the others. May I ask why?” she asked once the two of them were alone.
"I enjoy practicing my art," Mariya began, "and equally, it was the so-called 'reformists' in Kerlile who stole my promising career there, and will undoubtedly destroy my country. I dislike people who think they can upend a system that has worked perfectly well for a long time."
"I quite agree with you, on both counts. I am glad we are of like mind. You see, I need someone on the inside of this project. Someone who is loyal to me, to this agency, and to the work. Someone who will monitor the team and report to me if anyone doesn’t share that loyalty or devotion to the work. If you can be my eyes and ears, the future will be very bright for you. Are you up to the task?” Calhualyana asked.
"I am," Mariya replied eagerly, a scary glint in her eye.
"Excellent. Then you will start now. Return to your quarters and act as normal, but observe your teammates. At the slightest sign of deviation, contact Director Ohmix and he will inform me personally. If you do well, you may end up being a site director yourself someday. Or maybe, even more. I am of the personal belief that ASI has gotten soft. Strong leadership that understands the fact that to keep a country clean, you need people who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty - that is what ASI and the Security Secretariat need now. I am, if I do say so myself, one of those people. I suspect that you are as well,” Calhualyana said appraisingly. “Keep me regularly up to date through Director Ohmix.”
"Thank you, Secretary," Mariya nodded. "I will make sure that if any of them behave in a manner that makes me doubt their loyalty that I will respond swiftly."
Calhualyana nodded in response, a smile on her face. “I have no doubt you will,” she said. As Mariya left, the Security Secretary couldn’t help but admire her eagerness. It reminded Calhualyana of her own early days in ASI.
Meanwhile, Ohmix led Adelina to his own office. Two other agents fell in behind them. The two agents stood guard outside the office as Ohmix led Adelina inside. “We now have a problem,” he said without preamble or offering her a seat.
Adelina, shaking, was caught up in her own thoughts. She felt pangs of fear that she hadn't felt since childhood. Was this what her torture subjects felt? It was as bad as this? The thought worried her - just what kind of person had she been? "Yes, I suppose we do," she said, not looking at him.
Ohmix crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. “We can offer you one last chance to change your mind and comply with this assignment. I would strongly urge you to do so. The punishment for not doing so....this is ASI. And this is Xiomera. We don’t just place a bad note in your employee file or give you a written warning if you fail.”
In that moment, Adelina regretted her life choices. What had she been thinking? Coming to Xiomera, even her initial job back before reform in Kerlile. She was terrified and yet... she knew she deserved this. She glanced around frantically looking for an escape route even though she knew she would find none. "Have you been in touch with Councillor Greenwood?" she asked, seeking anything that would delay her fate.
“Councillor Greenwood is no longer relevant. She may have sent you here, but the Council has since engaged in unfriendly acts towards the Xiomeran Empire. As such, we are no longer inclined to ask any Councillor or any other Kerlian anything.” Ohmix’s tone cooled noticeably as he spoke. “Unless the Kerlian in question acts in a more appropriate manner towards us.”
"I chose my line of work because I had a talent and wished to serve the Matriarchy," Adelina replied softly, after taking a deep breath. "I believed what I was doing was necessary for women's liberation, and upon being sent here I believed helping an ally of Kerlile was part of that same cause. You, though, are no ally of Kerlile. And I will not do as you ask. Your country is involved in a civil war whether you call it that or not, and I won't work against my own nation. You can kill me, or torture me - Goddess knows I deserve it for all I've done, I've made some terrible mistakes - but you cannot turn me."
“We were allies of Kerlile. Your own Council chose to break those ties,” Ohmix thundered, standing up. “I don’t need to turn you, I have nine more like you. I was offering you a chance to save yourself. I see now it is a waste of time.”
Ohmix pressed a button hidden under his desktop. The two agents that had accompanied them to his office came in, followed by two guards. “Take this one to the detention cells.”
The two guards grabbed each of Adelina’s arms and pulled her up from the chair. As the two agents followed, they dragged her from the Director’s office and to an elevator. It was a short ride to the detention level, and soon after that, Adelina found herself in the same kind of cell her subjects had been kept in.
Adelina was reminded of what new Restricted Region staff were taught about their prisoners: "they're already as good as dead, some of them just don't know it yet". She knew it. She would die here, locked in a cell, probably in pain. Some of her subjects had wept upon arrival, others had tried to remain defiant. Her job had been to stamp out any residual hope they had.
Knowing what was likely in store for her, however, Adelina hadn't any hope to begin with. She slumped in the corner, staring blankly at the wall, awaiting the death that she knew now she certainly deserved.
The Atenayum - Xiomeran Military Intelligence HQ, Tlālacuetztla
General Yāotlah'lotl walked quickly into her office, flashing a look to Quintu, her assistant. "I am not to be disturbed until further notice. No calls, no visitors - not even you are to come in until summoned," she ordered. Quintu nodded and acknowledged her command as she closed the door.
Once inside her office, Yāotlah'lotl took the flash drive she had been given out of her pocket. It had been delivered to her by a contact she had within ASI. Xiomeran Military Intelligence, or XMI, was the counterpart to ASI for the armed forces - meant to ensure loyalty and obedience. Its political officers were sprinkled throughout the armed forces, ensuring that no soldier deviated from their orders. XMI was as feared in the military as ASI was outside of it. Yāotlah'lotl had been loyal to Xiomera throughout her forty-year military career. The attacks on the Palace of Flowers and the Telopec Palace, the use of the military to round up and intern people, and the brutal suppression taking place in the other tribal domains - Yāotlah'lotl was finding her loyalty tested as never before.
And the contents of this flash drive would not help, she was certain. I can destroy this drive, forget I ever received it - I can just ignore whatever bad deeds the evidence on here shows, and continue to obey my orders. That would be easy and safe.
The flash drive creaked slightly as she gripped it in her fingers, squeezing it hard.
Yāotlah'lotl slapped the drive down on her desk, issuing a particularly vile curse in Huenyan, before reaching into her bag and retrieving her personal laptop. Her personal computer had the virtue of being isolated from the Imperial computer network, and the internet as well, unless she connected it to a special secure VPN. She slammed the drive into the laptop's USB port with a grimace of frustration.
As she opened the files on the drive, her jaw dropped. It showed that Yauhmi, the deposed Empress, was still alive. It also showed, in graphic detail, how she was being tortured.
And, in the last file, a location.
Yāotlah'lotl closed the files as quickly as she could and took the flash drive out of her computer before putting the laptop away. She slid the flash drive back into her pocket. And sighed.
I didn't like Yauhmi. Or her reforms. But along with everything we're being ordered to do, to treat an Empress in this fashion.....this is not right.
After a moment, Yāotlah'lotl accessed the Xiomeran armed forces personnel database on her desk computer. She couldn't access this on her laptop, but she had sufficient clearance and official reason to review any soldier's personnel file....hopefully this would be sufficient cover for what she was about to do. If it wasn't.....she would be labeled a traitor.
She could live with that. Labels and reality rarely matched, especially in her world.
When she found the information she needed, she walked out of her office. "I am traveling to Ixtenco for an urgent mission. Do not tell anyone I have left, or where I have gone. If anyone asks, you are to tell them that I am investigating a possible breach of security and cannot be disturbed," she ordered Quintu. He nodded again, saluting, as she left.
Yāotlah'lotl walked briskly to the heliport of the Atenayum, where her personal transport was kept. The X-1V Tlanautla, a twin-engined tiltrotor VTOL aircraft, was commonly used to transport officials (and executives, for the non-military version). Her X-1V was specially equipped to be comfortable, as well as faster and more secure, than typical versions. She handed her personal pilot the coordinates for her destination - the 21st Battalion HQ at Camp Maluco in Ixtenco.
June 4th
ASI Detention Facility Alpha-73B
Calhualyana watched as the ten Kerlians were led into the briefing room. She masterfully hid her disdain for the foreigners behind a mask of jovial professionalism. Being so highly trained had its perks.
The ten Kerlians sat down. Most of them were silent, although one or two of them chattered amongst themselves. Mariya seemed to be the most excited of the group as she chatted with another Kerlian. Having the new Security Secretary come all the way from Tlālacuetztla promised a new and exciting project for them.
After a moment, the director of the ASI site, Ohmix, waved everyone to silence. Calhualyana walked to the lectern. “Good morning,” she said. “You have all been doing great work for the Empire since the transition to a new Emperor.” The word coup was very deliberately avoided by officials with the new government. “We are highly appreciative of your skills, and we have a very special project for you. We have a high-profile official from the former corrupt regime who we need to convince to confess their prior crimes in detail. They have been resistant to this for some time. Your goal will be to convince them to confess,” Calhualyana said as a prisoner dossier was handed out to the Kerlians. Unusually, this was on paper, rather than on the usual tablet.
As the Kerlians opened the folders, a picture stared out at them. Yauhmi, the former Empress of Xiomera, clad in a prisoner’s uniform and looking rather haggard.
“Do any of you have questions or require guidance?” Calhualyana asked.
The facial expressions of the Kerlian torturers varied greatly. Some kept their characteristic emotionless face, like their leader Adelina Sasaki, while others like Mariya Adema looked disturbingly gleeful. The most common expression, however, was one of shock. It was Adelina who first opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by Mariya, who clearly couldn't hold in her thoughts.
"Under what parameters have we to work? Restrictions, requirements? What resources in terms of tools or other items that can aid in our work will be available to us?"
Calhualyana smiled at Mariya’s questions. She admired someone who enjoyed her work.
“There are no restrictions. Whatever resources or tools you may need for this task will be provided for you. The only goal is simple: to get the subject to admit to her crimes on video. We require her to make a statement to that effect. And then, in Xiomeran tradition, she is to commit suicide. Assisted, if need be, but you get the idea. Are there any other questions?”
Mariya immediately took out a notepad and started scribbling down some ideas, even beginning to draw a diagram. Adelina, normally perfectly composed and emotionless, cleared her throat and hesitated, uncertain, before proceeding.
"I cannot participate in this 'project'."
The room fell silent. Even Calhualyana was surprised. She knew that most Kerlians had an unhealthy attachment to Yauhmi, but this group was supposed to be a tougher breed than the average Kerlian. Finally, she looked squarely at Adelina. “Explain,” she said in a tone that was not inviting.
"We were sent here by Councillor Greenwood as a gift to the Xiomeran people in exchange for their assistance after Emperor Topilpopoca's assassination. Our orders from the Matriarchy conflict with your order, and as a Kerlian citizen I must choose Kerlile," Adelina said, mostly calmly but with a hint of fear.
Calhualyana’s expression darkened. “You are an employee of the Xiomeran Secretariat of Security and the Agency for Security and Intelligence. Gift or not,” the Secretary rasped, “you work for us now, are being given an order by your superiors and are expected to obey. I assume you were briefed when you were hired about what the penalties for insubordination are in Xiomera, and the penalties for disloyalty.”
An expression of fear flickered across Adelina's face and she paused, shocked. It had been a long time since she had bothered to feel an emotion and this fear was new to her. But her emotions were still there, even if she didn't acknowledge them, and her old fear of disappointing Kerlile outweighed her fear of what horrible fate awaited her if she continued on this course of action.
"I... I am aware," she said, her voice shaking slightly. She hated this show of weakness but she couldn't help herself. "I do not take this course of action lightly, but I cannot follow that order, and I accept the consequences of that."
”So be it,” Calhualyana said coldly. “Is there anyone else here who objects to this assignment?”
Of the remnants, two looked distinctly uncomfortable, but neither spoke. Adelina herself looked down and closed her eyes, her heart racing. She wondered what would happen to her, just how awful it would be.
After a moment of waiting for anyone else to speak, Calhualyana nodded to Ohmix. “Please escort Ms. Sasaki to your office, Director. I believe we will need to have a further discussion about this.” Calhualyana’s immediate instinct was to cut the troublesome person out of the herd to make sure her weakness did not spread to the rest of the team. “As for the rest of you, return to your quarters for now....except for you, Ms. Adema. Walk with me, please,” the Security Secretary said as she walked to the door.
Mariya eagerly jumped up to follow the order, smirking slightly at Adelina, who had turned pale and was shaking slightly.
Calhualyana led Mariya to a private office. “You seem more eager to perform this task for us than some of the others. May I ask why?” she asked once the two of them were alone.
"I enjoy practicing my art," Mariya began, "and equally, it was the so-called 'reformists' in Kerlile who stole my promising career there, and will undoubtedly destroy my country. I dislike people who think they can upend a system that has worked perfectly well for a long time."
"I quite agree with you, on both counts. I am glad we are of like mind. You see, I need someone on the inside of this project. Someone who is loyal to me, to this agency, and to the work. Someone who will monitor the team and report to me if anyone doesn’t share that loyalty or devotion to the work. If you can be my eyes and ears, the future will be very bright for you. Are you up to the task?” Calhualyana asked.
"I am," Mariya replied eagerly, a scary glint in her eye.
"Excellent. Then you will start now. Return to your quarters and act as normal, but observe your teammates. At the slightest sign of deviation, contact Director Ohmix and he will inform me personally. If you do well, you may end up being a site director yourself someday. Or maybe, even more. I am of the personal belief that ASI has gotten soft. Strong leadership that understands the fact that to keep a country clean, you need people who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty - that is what ASI and the Security Secretariat need now. I am, if I do say so myself, one of those people. I suspect that you are as well,” Calhualyana said appraisingly. “Keep me regularly up to date through Director Ohmix.”
"Thank you, Secretary," Mariya nodded. "I will make sure that if any of them behave in a manner that makes me doubt their loyalty that I will respond swiftly."
Calhualyana nodded in response, a smile on her face. “I have no doubt you will,” she said. As Mariya left, the Security Secretary couldn’t help but admire her eagerness. It reminded Calhualyana of her own early days in ASI.
Meanwhile, Ohmix led Adelina to his own office. Two other agents fell in behind them. The two agents stood guard outside the office as Ohmix led Adelina inside. “We now have a problem,” he said without preamble or offering her a seat.
Adelina, shaking, was caught up in her own thoughts. She felt pangs of fear that she hadn't felt since childhood. Was this what her torture subjects felt? It was as bad as this? The thought worried her - just what kind of person had she been? "Yes, I suppose we do," she said, not looking at him.
Ohmix crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. “We can offer you one last chance to change your mind and comply with this assignment. I would strongly urge you to do so. The punishment for not doing so....this is ASI. And this is Xiomera. We don’t just place a bad note in your employee file or give you a written warning if you fail.”
In that moment, Adelina regretted her life choices. What had she been thinking? Coming to Xiomera, even her initial job back before reform in Kerlile. She was terrified and yet... she knew she deserved this. She glanced around frantically looking for an escape route even though she knew she would find none. "Have you been in touch with Councillor Greenwood?" she asked, seeking anything that would delay her fate.
“Councillor Greenwood is no longer relevant. She may have sent you here, but the Council has since engaged in unfriendly acts towards the Xiomeran Empire. As such, we are no longer inclined to ask any Councillor or any other Kerlian anything.” Ohmix’s tone cooled noticeably as he spoke. “Unless the Kerlian in question acts in a more appropriate manner towards us.”
"I chose my line of work because I had a talent and wished to serve the Matriarchy," Adelina replied softly, after taking a deep breath. "I believed what I was doing was necessary for women's liberation, and upon being sent here I believed helping an ally of Kerlile was part of that same cause. You, though, are no ally of Kerlile. And I will not do as you ask. Your country is involved in a civil war whether you call it that or not, and I won't work against my own nation. You can kill me, or torture me - Goddess knows I deserve it for all I've done, I've made some terrible mistakes - but you cannot turn me."
“We were allies of Kerlile. Your own Council chose to break those ties,” Ohmix thundered, standing up. “I don’t need to turn you, I have nine more like you. I was offering you a chance to save yourself. I see now it is a waste of time.”
Ohmix pressed a button hidden under his desktop. The two agents that had accompanied them to his office came in, followed by two guards. “Take this one to the detention cells.”
The two guards grabbed each of Adelina’s arms and pulled her up from the chair. As the two agents followed, they dragged her from the Director’s office and to an elevator. It was a short ride to the detention level, and soon after that, Adelina found herself in the same kind of cell her subjects had been kept in.
Adelina was reminded of what new Restricted Region staff were taught about their prisoners: "they're already as good as dead, some of them just don't know it yet". She knew it. She would die here, locked in a cell, probably in pain. Some of her subjects had wept upon arrival, others had tried to remain defiant. Her job had been to stamp out any residual hope they had.
Knowing what was likely in store for her, however, Adelina hadn't any hope to begin with. She slumped in the corner, staring blankly at the wall, awaiting the death that she knew now she certainly deserved.
The Atenayum - Xiomeran Military Intelligence HQ, Tlālacuetztla
General Yāotlah'lotl walked quickly into her office, flashing a look to Quintu, her assistant. "I am not to be disturbed until further notice. No calls, no visitors - not even you are to come in until summoned," she ordered. Quintu nodded and acknowledged her command as she closed the door.
Once inside her office, Yāotlah'lotl took the flash drive she had been given out of her pocket. It had been delivered to her by a contact she had within ASI. Xiomeran Military Intelligence, or XMI, was the counterpart to ASI for the armed forces - meant to ensure loyalty and obedience. Its political officers were sprinkled throughout the armed forces, ensuring that no soldier deviated from their orders. XMI was as feared in the military as ASI was outside of it. Yāotlah'lotl had been loyal to Xiomera throughout her forty-year military career. The attacks on the Palace of Flowers and the Telopec Palace, the use of the military to round up and intern people, and the brutal suppression taking place in the other tribal domains - Yāotlah'lotl was finding her loyalty tested as never before.
And the contents of this flash drive would not help, she was certain. I can destroy this drive, forget I ever received it - I can just ignore whatever bad deeds the evidence on here shows, and continue to obey my orders. That would be easy and safe.
The flash drive creaked slightly as she gripped it in her fingers, squeezing it hard.
Yāotlah'lotl slapped the drive down on her desk, issuing a particularly vile curse in Huenyan, before reaching into her bag and retrieving her personal laptop. Her personal computer had the virtue of being isolated from the Imperial computer network, and the internet as well, unless she connected it to a special secure VPN. She slammed the drive into the laptop's USB port with a grimace of frustration.
As she opened the files on the drive, her jaw dropped. It showed that Yauhmi, the deposed Empress, was still alive. It also showed, in graphic detail, how she was being tortured.
And, in the last file, a location.
Yāotlah'lotl closed the files as quickly as she could and took the flash drive out of her computer before putting the laptop away. She slid the flash drive back into her pocket. And sighed.
I didn't like Yauhmi. Or her reforms. But along with everything we're being ordered to do, to treat an Empress in this fashion.....this is not right.
After a moment, Yāotlah'lotl accessed the Xiomeran armed forces personnel database on her desk computer. She couldn't access this on her laptop, but she had sufficient clearance and official reason to review any soldier's personnel file....hopefully this would be sufficient cover for what she was about to do. If it wasn't.....she would be labeled a traitor.
She could live with that. Labels and reality rarely matched, especially in her world.
When she found the information she needed, she walked out of her office. "I am traveling to Ixtenco for an urgent mission. Do not tell anyone I have left, or where I have gone. If anyone asks, you are to tell them that I am investigating a possible breach of security and cannot be disturbed," she ordered Quintu. He nodded again, saluting, as she left.
Yāotlah'lotl walked briskly to the heliport of the Atenayum, where her personal transport was kept. The X-1V Tlanautla, a twin-engined tiltrotor VTOL aircraft, was commonly used to transport officials (and executives, for the non-military version). Her X-1V was specially equipped to be comfortable, as well as faster and more secure, than typical versions. She handed her personal pilot the coordinates for her destination - the 21st Battalion HQ at Camp Maluco in Ixtenco.
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