04-26-2023, 11:46 PM
Xomaxtli Hill estate
Yauhmi was, in her current role, known as the nantzintli of Huenya. In a strict translation of Huenyan, the phrase meant "honored mother". She was about to have to engage those motherly tendencies in a big way.
"Bring them in," she told her guards. They opened the double doors, gesturing to the two women in the hallway to enter. The two of them stopped in front of Yauhmi, looking indeed a bit like children about to receive a lecture.
"So, I hear there have been some late night discussions taking place between you both. Along with the entire third shift of a police station." Yauhmi looked expectantly at Nelichē, then at Riley.
The two Auroras were standing as far apart from each other as they possibly could while being shown in. Before the guards had opened the doors, they had been staring daggers at each other. If looks could kill, it would have been a duel to the death. Now, they both looked at the floor.
"I didn't mean to hurt that police officer," Nelichē said eventually. "He just... interrupted me."
"Interrupted you trying to kill me, you mean?" Riley snapped, but quietly.
Yauhmi sighed. "Nelichē, while not as serious as in Kerlile or Xiomera, assaulting a police officer is still a serious offense here in Huenya. I had to pull significant strings to keep you out of jail. I need to know what the real issue is between you two and figure out a way to resolve it without bloodshed or more injured cops, please."
"It's simple," Nelichē said before Riley could speak. "Riley Nelson, also known as the Aurora Rita, is guilty of treason. And treason should be punished by death."
Riley looked at the floor again. She could not, after all, deny that she had indeed committed treason from a Kerlian perspective.
"We don't execute people for treason in Huenya. We're trying to be better than the Empire." Or Kerlile, Yauhmi wanted to say but wisely didn't. "Surely there must be some other way to appease your anger towards Riley."
"This is not about anger, this is about justice," argued Nelichē. "Might I remind you that her actions jeopardised you as well as Kerlile. It is not right that she and the others escape punishment for their actions."
"Obviously, I cannot speak for Kerlile," Yauhmi said after a moment. "But I can say that I have forgiven Riley and that, from the Huenyan perspective, she has no sins to repent for, so to speak. So the question remains: do you choose to continue to pursue vengeance against her for the sake of the concept of justice? I have seen what that kind of obsession can do to people. I saw it during the war. It's not pretty, what it does to the seeker of 'justice' any more than it is for the target of their quest."
"Kerlile still seeks her extradition, and that of the others. Their fellow traitors are already being punished in the Matriarchy," Nelichē said. "It is only delaying the inevitable to avoid consequences; once a traitor, always a traitor."
"Please, Nelichē," Riley piped up, finally. "I didn't mean to hurt you! And please don't send me back to Kerlile, they have the others in the Restricted Region from what I've heard. It's been almost two years. They'll barely be human by now!" She felt the panic rise in her voice and tried to calm it, but to no avail.
"Riley, no one is sending you anywhere to be tortured," Yauhmi said firmly. A ghost of fear, memory in her bones of her own torture, gripped Yauhmi briefly; she shook it off. "Nelichē, I cannot in good conscience let someone else go through the pain I went through. Nor can we punish someone here for 'crimes' committed somewhere else. And we cannot have further violence. Can you understand the position I am in?"
"I didn't want you to send her to be tortured, I was going to just shoot her in the head. She used to be my best friend. I wanted to be merciful," Nelichē replied. And, in her own mind, that was merciful. "Not that she deserves it. Two of them! My two closest friends; her and Renee - Veronica Penners, her other name - were both double agents the whole time I knew them as kids! Do you know when they got recruited by the Robinson traitors? When we were six. Six! She has been lying to me since then."
"Do you think I chose to?" Riley said. "Do you think any of us had a choice? Yes, we were six. What six-year-old would refuse? They'd have killed me there and then, child or not!"
"And that would have been the right thing to do for the Matriarchy!" Nelichē hissed. "Sometimes we must sacrifice our lives!"
"I WAS LITERALLY SIX!" Riley shouted now. "And so was Renee! And now she has spent two whole years being constantly tortured for it and you want me to join her? You're cruel, I'm surprised you're here and you haven't defected to Xiomera of your own free will!"
"That is more than enough." Yauhmi stood slowly from her chair, as her guards looked on in alarm. "The past is the past. Nelichē, if you insist on holding Riley responsible for her past actions, you will take a path that will only bring you misery. Will killing someone who was once your friend, as punishment for an ancient crime, really matter at all in the present day? Will it bring you any kind of happiness or salvation? Will it even help Kerlile now that the plot is exposed?"
"That depends on what she's planning. What if she's still recruiting all those nine-fingered DKS fugitives to start another war in Kerlile?" Nelichē asked.
"I'm not!" Riley said. "I just want to live my life, can't we just let this be over?"
Yauhmi thought for a moment. "We can engage FIS surveillance on Riley to make sure that is not happening, if that will satisfy you. Of course, we would have to watch you also. To make sure there are no more late night unexpected visits." Yauhmi allowed a small bit of tartness to enter her voice at the end of that last sentence.
"You're going to do that anyway," Nelichē replied. "I know how these things work. I suppose you want me to apologise to her too?"
"A simple I promise not to try to kill you anymore would suffice," Yauhmi replied in a deadpan tone. "It would be the best thing for everyone."
"And if I don't are you going to throw me in prison?" Nelichē asked.
"No. Again, this is not the Empire. We don't just throw people into prison on a whim. But if cops keep getting injured, and dozens of people continue to complain about late night disturbances, it does become much harder for me to keep you out of jail," Yauhmi mused.
"Do you know what they tell us at the Aurora Centre when we're eleven, right when we start torture resistance training?" Nelichē asked rhetorically. "That we're probably going to end up dying in prison somewhere. I am prepared for such an eventuality. But if you must know, I don't particularly want to kill Riley."
"I see," Yauhmi said. "What is it you do want? What would ultimately satisfy you, short of murder?"
"I don't know!" Nelichē shouted. "Do you understand how confusing this is for me? Kerlile wants me to kill her," she pointed at Riley, "and come back home, and I don't know what they'll do to me if I do! But what exactly am I to do if I betray Kerlile? How exactly am I meant to choose between the two?"
"What you should do is live your life. Not for what Kerlile wants, or what Huenya wants, or what I want. The whole point of me offering Auroras sanctuary was to free them from what others want them to do, and let them be free to decide for themselves. I would argue that instead of choosing between two choices imposed on you, you can choose for yourself."
"I respect you," Nelichē said, "so I will stop trying to kill Riley. But with all due respect, you're not the one making me choose. The Council is."
"I appreciate your restraint. And you do have a valid point about who is compelling your choices right now. But they can only do that if you let them." Yauhmi sat back down slowly. "Now that murder is off the table, who wants tea?"
To their credit, or perhaps the credit of the designers of Aurora training, neither Aurora reacted with visible shock to the sudden change. Riley had relaxed after Nelichē admitted she didn't want to kill her. Nelichē just wanted the world to stop for a moment. Sadly, she had one last thing before it could.
"I would love some tea," Nelichē said. "First, though, I ought to warn you that the Council of Kerlile actively instructed me to kill Riley. And it is likely there are others going after the other Robinson Auroras. Should I disobey them, it is likely they will either rescind my Kerlian citizenship or ban me from the Matriarchy. But that's my choice to wrestle with."
Yauhmi sighed slightly. "And if there are indeed others, that will be my situation to wrestle with. As for your choice, I hope it brings you peace." She paused for a moment as a servant entered with the aforementioned tea, thanking them before proceeding to pour her visitors a cup.
Nelichē said no more of the matter as she sipped her tea. She'd already decided to disobey the Council; she just hadn't realised it. After all, she'd hardly tried very hard to do anything to Riley.
Riley could sense the decision in Nelichē. They'd known each other since they were three. And, while she was greatly disturbed about the thought of further assassins from Kerlile, she was much more relieved that maybe she could be friends with Nelichē again.
Yauhmi was, in her current role, known as the nantzintli of Huenya. In a strict translation of Huenyan, the phrase meant "honored mother". She was about to have to engage those motherly tendencies in a big way.
"Bring them in," she told her guards. They opened the double doors, gesturing to the two women in the hallway to enter. The two of them stopped in front of Yauhmi, looking indeed a bit like children about to receive a lecture.
"So, I hear there have been some late night discussions taking place between you both. Along with the entire third shift of a police station." Yauhmi looked expectantly at Nelichē, then at Riley.
The two Auroras were standing as far apart from each other as they possibly could while being shown in. Before the guards had opened the doors, they had been staring daggers at each other. If looks could kill, it would have been a duel to the death. Now, they both looked at the floor.
"I didn't mean to hurt that police officer," Nelichē said eventually. "He just... interrupted me."
"Interrupted you trying to kill me, you mean?" Riley snapped, but quietly.
Yauhmi sighed. "Nelichē, while not as serious as in Kerlile or Xiomera, assaulting a police officer is still a serious offense here in Huenya. I had to pull significant strings to keep you out of jail. I need to know what the real issue is between you two and figure out a way to resolve it without bloodshed or more injured cops, please."
"It's simple," Nelichē said before Riley could speak. "Riley Nelson, also known as the Aurora Rita, is guilty of treason. And treason should be punished by death."
Riley looked at the floor again. She could not, after all, deny that she had indeed committed treason from a Kerlian perspective.
"We don't execute people for treason in Huenya. We're trying to be better than the Empire." Or Kerlile, Yauhmi wanted to say but wisely didn't. "Surely there must be some other way to appease your anger towards Riley."
"This is not about anger, this is about justice," argued Nelichē. "Might I remind you that her actions jeopardised you as well as Kerlile. It is not right that she and the others escape punishment for their actions."
"Obviously, I cannot speak for Kerlile," Yauhmi said after a moment. "But I can say that I have forgiven Riley and that, from the Huenyan perspective, she has no sins to repent for, so to speak. So the question remains: do you choose to continue to pursue vengeance against her for the sake of the concept of justice? I have seen what that kind of obsession can do to people. I saw it during the war. It's not pretty, what it does to the seeker of 'justice' any more than it is for the target of their quest."
"Kerlile still seeks her extradition, and that of the others. Their fellow traitors are already being punished in the Matriarchy," Nelichē said. "It is only delaying the inevitable to avoid consequences; once a traitor, always a traitor."
"Please, Nelichē," Riley piped up, finally. "I didn't mean to hurt you! And please don't send me back to Kerlile, they have the others in the Restricted Region from what I've heard. It's been almost two years. They'll barely be human by now!" She felt the panic rise in her voice and tried to calm it, but to no avail.
"Riley, no one is sending you anywhere to be tortured," Yauhmi said firmly. A ghost of fear, memory in her bones of her own torture, gripped Yauhmi briefly; she shook it off. "Nelichē, I cannot in good conscience let someone else go through the pain I went through. Nor can we punish someone here for 'crimes' committed somewhere else. And we cannot have further violence. Can you understand the position I am in?"
"I didn't want you to send her to be tortured, I was going to just shoot her in the head. She used to be my best friend. I wanted to be merciful," Nelichē replied. And, in her own mind, that was merciful. "Not that she deserves it. Two of them! My two closest friends; her and Renee - Veronica Penners, her other name - were both double agents the whole time I knew them as kids! Do you know when they got recruited by the Robinson traitors? When we were six. Six! She has been lying to me since then."
"Do you think I chose to?" Riley said. "Do you think any of us had a choice? Yes, we were six. What six-year-old would refuse? They'd have killed me there and then, child or not!"
"And that would have been the right thing to do for the Matriarchy!" Nelichē hissed. "Sometimes we must sacrifice our lives!"
"I WAS LITERALLY SIX!" Riley shouted now. "And so was Renee! And now she has spent two whole years being constantly tortured for it and you want me to join her? You're cruel, I'm surprised you're here and you haven't defected to Xiomera of your own free will!"
"That is more than enough." Yauhmi stood slowly from her chair, as her guards looked on in alarm. "The past is the past. Nelichē, if you insist on holding Riley responsible for her past actions, you will take a path that will only bring you misery. Will killing someone who was once your friend, as punishment for an ancient crime, really matter at all in the present day? Will it bring you any kind of happiness or salvation? Will it even help Kerlile now that the plot is exposed?"
"That depends on what she's planning. What if she's still recruiting all those nine-fingered DKS fugitives to start another war in Kerlile?" Nelichē asked.
"I'm not!" Riley said. "I just want to live my life, can't we just let this be over?"
Yauhmi thought for a moment. "We can engage FIS surveillance on Riley to make sure that is not happening, if that will satisfy you. Of course, we would have to watch you also. To make sure there are no more late night unexpected visits." Yauhmi allowed a small bit of tartness to enter her voice at the end of that last sentence.
"You're going to do that anyway," Nelichē replied. "I know how these things work. I suppose you want me to apologise to her too?"
"A simple I promise not to try to kill you anymore would suffice," Yauhmi replied in a deadpan tone. "It would be the best thing for everyone."
"And if I don't are you going to throw me in prison?" Nelichē asked.
"No. Again, this is not the Empire. We don't just throw people into prison on a whim. But if cops keep getting injured, and dozens of people continue to complain about late night disturbances, it does become much harder for me to keep you out of jail," Yauhmi mused.
"Do you know what they tell us at the Aurora Centre when we're eleven, right when we start torture resistance training?" Nelichē asked rhetorically. "That we're probably going to end up dying in prison somewhere. I am prepared for such an eventuality. But if you must know, I don't particularly want to kill Riley."
"I see," Yauhmi said. "What is it you do want? What would ultimately satisfy you, short of murder?"
"I don't know!" Nelichē shouted. "Do you understand how confusing this is for me? Kerlile wants me to kill her," she pointed at Riley, "and come back home, and I don't know what they'll do to me if I do! But what exactly am I to do if I betray Kerlile? How exactly am I meant to choose between the two?"
"What you should do is live your life. Not for what Kerlile wants, or what Huenya wants, or what I want. The whole point of me offering Auroras sanctuary was to free them from what others want them to do, and let them be free to decide for themselves. I would argue that instead of choosing between two choices imposed on you, you can choose for yourself."
"I respect you," Nelichē said, "so I will stop trying to kill Riley. But with all due respect, you're not the one making me choose. The Council is."
"I appreciate your restraint. And you do have a valid point about who is compelling your choices right now. But they can only do that if you let them." Yauhmi sat back down slowly. "Now that murder is off the table, who wants tea?"
To their credit, or perhaps the credit of the designers of Aurora training, neither Aurora reacted with visible shock to the sudden change. Riley had relaxed after Nelichē admitted she didn't want to kill her. Nelichē just wanted the world to stop for a moment. Sadly, she had one last thing before it could.
"I would love some tea," Nelichē said. "First, though, I ought to warn you that the Council of Kerlile actively instructed me to kill Riley. And it is likely there are others going after the other Robinson Auroras. Should I disobey them, it is likely they will either rescind my Kerlian citizenship or ban me from the Matriarchy. But that's my choice to wrestle with."
Yauhmi sighed slightly. "And if there are indeed others, that will be my situation to wrestle with. As for your choice, I hope it brings you peace." She paused for a moment as a servant entered with the aforementioned tea, thanking them before proceeding to pour her visitors a cup.
Nelichē said no more of the matter as she sipped her tea. She'd already decided to disobey the Council; she just hadn't realised it. After all, she'd hardly tried very hard to do anything to Riley.
Riley could sense the decision in Nelichē. They'd known each other since they were three. And, while she was greatly disturbed about the thought of further assassins from Kerlile, she was much more relieved that maybe she could be friends with Nelichē again.
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