Chapter 025: Judgment

The Alliance for the Preservation of Democracy is a major right-wing faction composed of surviving democracies. Its members are typically socially conservative (but not reactionary) and economically liberal (but not progressive). The more socialist or progressive democracies typically prefered joining the Equality Front, while the more conservative joined the Res Publica Christiana or the Conservative Bloc.

The APD sees itself as a proud successor of its identically named ancestor. The first APD was established by the Homeworld democracies (which survived the Days of Fire) in the late 21st Century. It’s also rather common for the modern APD to look even further in search of its roots, including pre-Days of Fire NATO, WW2’s Allies and even WW1’s Entente in its list of spiritual ancestors.

The APD sees itself as a paragon of freedom, and the last defender of the truest form of democracy and the fullest form of human rights. It has some reasons for that belief - it is one of the three factions that consider a complete ban on all forms of slavery a prerequisite to join them, and not only refuse to cooperate in any way with factions such as the Pact of Steel and the Forever War, but are also in a permanent state of war with them.

Encyclopedia Galactica

Book 2, Page 34.

***

EGS Echo, Crew Deck

16:11 10.07.2610 STT

Cadet Christopher Hall

The first person that he needed to have a talk with and somehow managed to meet in private was Tiriel. She returned to quarters soon after the end of her shift, while Kivanna and Nekia were no longer around.

He only greeted her when she entered the quarters. He let her change into her dress before starting the talk. When she left the changing room (looking beautiful as always) he opened his mouth to speak with her.

“Stop.” She raised her hand, interrupting him.. “I can read from your face that this is a serious talk. Let me make some tea and bring a cookie or two, alright?”

He wasn’t going to say no to that. So a while later they sat around the table in the living room, with the tea (delicious smell) and a small pile of cookies (delicious taste) between them.

“So, what is it about?” She started the talk.

“Nekia.” He replied. “I know that this might sound a bit strange, and I might be wrong.” He added defensively. “But I think she has a crush on me.” Now that he thought about it, he had no idea why he came to believe that asking Tiriel about it was a good idea.

She finished chewing on the cookie before looking up and meeting his gaze.

“And?” She said. He stared at her for a second. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking about the whole affair.

“Err… Nekia.” Christopher replied. “Seems to be in love with me. And I sort of don’t know what to do with that.”

“Well, I am certainly aware that she has a crush on you.” Tiriel said. “If anything, it is a rather massive and obvious thing. In fact, it is a notable surprise that it took you so long to notice. What I am not sure is why exactly we are having this talk.”

“Wait, you knew?” He didn’t expect that.

“The three of us, Nekia, Kivanna and me, have very few secrets from one another.” She informed him. “I was not going to tell you about that, obviously. At least not until she would decide to confess. Though since you did notice it, I decided that I can as well confirm your suspicions.” She shrugged. “So, once again. Why are we having this talk?”

It seemed that the Recovery Team Eight girls were much better organized than the boys. Christopher decided to ignore it. For now.

“Because, I seriously don’t know what to do right now.” He said. “And I think that you know her a lot. How serious is she?” He decided to ask about it right from the bat. Since he already felt like he ruined his popular image (and was super embarrassed) he could as well get through it as fast as he could.

“Good question.” She ate another cookie. She wasn’t in a hurry. He spent the whole time watching her chew it, impatiently waiting for the answer. “I think you have become her first love. The one that we, hopeless romantics, tend to idolize for most of our life.” That’s not what he wanted to hear.

“Wonderful.” She seemed startled by how bitter his tone was. “Any idea how I can untangle this without hurting her?”

“You are not planning to respond positively to her confession?” She asked him, obviously surprised. “If she ever musters the courage to do it, that is?”

“Tiriel, uhm…” He said, carefully assembling his words. “I like her. She is cheerful, positive, and slightly… overenthusiastic. But I don’t like her that way. She’s a bit too childish. So younger sister material more than girlfriend material. I know that she might change as time passes, none of us will stay the same if we keep fighting people, but it’s still a bit...” She raised her hand.

“I see.” She said in the resulting silence. “So you come to ask me, because you are trying to end that, but do not want to do that in a way that would hurt her. Am I correct?” He nodded. “I see. That is… strangely thoughtful. I thought you, men, were all sex-obsessed maniacs who did not care of how many broken hearts they would leave in their wake.” She finished while smiling wryly.

“That’s what we are until adulthood, ma'am.” He winked at her. “Of course, sometimes we die of old age before getting there.” This made her laugh.

“That explains everything.” She smiled at him. “My mom must have been talking about my father. I swear to Eru, he sometimes makes Lieutenant Commander Innocent appear adult and serious.” If the part about her father winning a Longest War tournament after defeating his own daughter in the finals was true, it certainly appeared so.

“Now, back to Nekia.” She returned to the subject once they stopped laughing. “Honestly, I think you should let her be as she is. Let her stay charmed by you. All people were lovestruck at some point of their teenage years, and we can all agree that it is typically not lethal. So unless you say that you love her, sleep with her and then leave her forever in the morning, you will not hurt her permanently.”

“Well, that’s certainly one thing that has never crossed my mind.” He replied. Trying to imagine what Tiaa would do to him if he acted like a jerk of this caliber to her daughter was too terrifying and mentally scarring. And that’s without mentioning the fact that he wouldn’t be able to look at his own reflection in the mirror after the fact.

“Great.” She commented. “This means you pass the basic human decency test. Now, if she ever gets to confess, answer her seriously and without giving her false hopes. I do not think that this is going to happen, but you never know. In the meantime, stay as you are and be happy that she is looking at you as a goal and has redoubled her efforts to get her limbs and her surroundings under control.”

“Wait so…” He didn’t expect that. “You mean that the effort she is putting in recently is all because of the fact that she’s in love with me and wants to look better in my eyes?”

“What can I say?” She shrugged. “Love does strange things to people. Just do not get any strange ideas about taking advantage of that as a motivation. Giving her false hopes is not good. Got that?” He nodded. He did feel a bit like a teenager occasionally, but he wasn’t stupid enough to try something like that.

“No false hopes, treat her normally and let her go through the necessary element of youth.” He summarized. “Also, don’t be a dick to her. Did I miss anything?” She shook her head.

He glanced at his cup. The tea was almost finished.

“You know, I’m actually having another important meeting in a while.” He told her. “So I’m guessing I’m going to have to go. Thank you so much for helping me sort this out.” He never had anyone fall in love with him like that. No wonder he had no idea what to do.

“No problem, Chris.” She smiled before swiping the last of the cookies, right before he got to it. “If you need my help in anything, all you need to do is ask me.” There was something faintly strange in her gaze, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Perhaps a praise for his approach to the issue?

He left the quarters quickly. He was almost late to the meeting.

***

EGS Echo, Cargo Deck

16:31 10.07.2610 STT

Cadet Christopher Hall

Innocent was waiting for him in their traditional training room. The priest stood there, motionless, probably doing something fairly important through the network. When Christopher approached him, Innocent woke up and turned his face towards the new arrival.

“Greetings: Greetings.” Innocent spoke. Christopher sighed internally. “I invited you to join me for two reasons. To have a talk about your recent telekinetic performance, namely the one during the battle. And because I believe you have questions for me.”

He was correct. The question - not the main one though - was how did he know about that. On the other hand, Innocent did seem to have a penchant for figuring out what others thought. It probably made him both a good priest and a good psychologist.

“Yeah, a few.” Christopher replied. “First, I think that during the Hastati boarding I accidentally read someone’s emotions. Like, with meta-empathy. Two, I need some help with Kivanna, and I want to know whom I should kick for having her join the Hastati battle. Three, are you actually having an argument with Captain Keller? You seemed to act a bit strangely reserved towards him, and I sort of got curious.” The priest stared at him for a few seconds, so Christopher quickly added. “Uhm, the last one is an optional one. Just me being curious.”

“Answer: I see.” Christopher seemed to be getting better and better in reading the priest, despite the absolute lack of facial expressions and almost no body language. However right now, the priest appeared to have mixed feelings about something. “We shall start from the review of your performance, and then I’ll answer your questions one by one. Unless you have different priorities.”

Christopher didn’t have different priorities. Of course, he suspected that the review wasn’t going to be favourable, but there was no way to avoid it for long. So he could as well just listen to it and be through it.

“So… how did I fare?” Time to face it.

“Devastating Answer:” Christopher prepared himself mentally for what was coming. “I was joking. You did well, though for the wrong reasons.” The ‘funny’ Innocent was, apparently, still in the game.

Which was both good and bad, depending on the present subject matter.

“Explanation: The most common mistake of inexperienced telekinesis users is to use their power to shield themselves from incoming fire.” Innocent said. “I believe you remember us having a talk about that. Telekinesis isn’t powerful enough. A Supreme-level telekinetic can create a psychic wall strong enough to stop the gunfire. But they can’t stop objects that are very heavy, or very fast, too numerous or both at once.” Innocent paused for a while, giving Christopher time to process what he heard. Then he continued.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Continuation: Magnetic rifles, such as the one I believe you saw Lieutenant Nowak use or anti-tank weapons would pierce such a shield. Energy weapons would ignore such a shield. Machine guns would chew through it. Exotechs would, in most cases, ignore or pierce it. However, you were too afraid of enemy fire and thus you stayed behind an actual cover instead of trying to be a hero. Which is why you avoided this mistake, though for the wrong reason. The only way to save yourself from a magnetic rifle or tank round is to deflect them rather than stop. But that requires a reflex and precision that drives it into the realm of impossibility.”

The part about hiding behind covers was also what saved the Recovery Team Eight from suffering worse casualties. The soldiers accompanying them did try to return fire, resulting in their swift massacre.

“What about that missile launcher?” Christopher asked. “I did stop it.”

“Answer: No, you didn’t.” Innocent replied. “You placed a wall dense enough for its warhead to activate, as its computer decided that it hit something. You were lucky enough to place it perfectly. Closer to the launcher, and the warhead would hit your shield before getting armed, but with enough kinetic force to pierce through your wall. Beginner’s luck. I believe.”

This did burst his bubble. The one that wasn’t yet bursted by his earlier suspicions that Innocent was going to thoroughly butcher his combat experience.

“Summary: As a whole, your performance wasn’t bad.” The priest continued. “You returned alive, and managed to keep your team alive as well. You even saved some of the Texian soldiers. That alone makes your ‘proper’ combat debut a success. Of course, we’re going to later on go through every single detail of that. Things could be better.”

That much was obvious.

“Change of Subject: Let us proceed to your questions. Starting from the first one.” Innocent said. “You did, in fact, awaken the meta-empathy, though it is rather weak right now. While there are rare cases of people awakening a single primary power and one vestigial that’s excised during the post-Awakening stabilization procedures, you are not one of these cases. You are, in fact, a Divine-class sorcerer.”

He is quite calm for someone dropping such a bomb.

“So they do exist.” He had a certain degree of suspicions once he discovered that Supremes were a thing. There was also the fact that Ryan was a Supreme, yet for some reason Christopher went through a much tougher Awakening. Many times tougher, in fact.

“Swift Reply: Technically, they didn’t exist until recently.” Innocent said, surprising Christopher. “You are the fourth Divine within Human Space. Three of them are alive right now, though one of them might have died recently. However, all of your predecessors were created artificially. Making you the first ever natural Divine-class.”

It seemed the angels had some more unexpected tricks up their sleeves.

“I see.” He needed a while to digest the news. “Do you know of anyone who can teach me how to control meta-empathy?” It sounded like an extremely useful thing to have. Even descriptions of Inferno and Flame-class meta-empathy sounded awesome. How much better a Supreme had to be?

“Joyous Reply: Yes.” The priest, for some reason seeming excited with something, raised his arms. Above his right hand a small rosary started levitating. Above his left hand a small flame started burning. Telekinesis and pyrokinesis. Two different powers. “That’s me. One of the three artificial Divine-class sorcerers of Human Space.” Innocent casually dropped another bomb.

“I don’t think this is a coincidence.” Christopher said after a second. “Me here, a Divine, right when there is another Divine to instruct me.”

“Joking Reminder: I’m a priest.” Innocent said, once again seeming to have fun. “I’m technically not allowed to believe in coincidences.”

Right, God’s will and all that.

“And… uhm… the other Divines?” Christopher got curious.

“Answer: One in the Solar System.” Robot replied. “On Dione. The Solar Republic lost control, but he could have already surrendered to the elements, unless they simply swarmed him with soldiers or orbital bombed his hideout. One in the Discord, created by the joint experiment between the ___ and the Transhuman Alliance.” Christopher decided that the beep had to be the censorship in action. “One created by the Truthseekers Corporation. Captain Keller enjoys joking that it was a god of theirs. I killed that one.”

“You… killed that one?” What was the chance of two Divines facing each other in combat? Christopher actually was quite sad that he didn’t get to see that battle.

“Answer: Yes.” Innocent replied. “He was a horrible human being. Let’s leave it at that.” Christopher decided to agree with the priest. There were seriously spooky people out there, and the less Christopher knew about them the easier it was for him to sleep.

“Ok, so I have someone to teach me meta-empathy, yay.” Christopher decided to wrap up that part of the talk. “What about the other powers? I’m not even sure how I got that one. It just sort of happened.”

“Request: Describe what happened in detail.”

Christopher obliged. It took him a few minutes to describe everything. A lot of things happened, and he wasn’t sure what exactly was the trigger.

“Answer: I believe that it was the matter of a sufficiently strong emotion.” Innocent concluded. “You wanted to understand Nekia Sistonen’s emotions and calm her down. In a combat situation, with your emotions already heightened by overwhelming stress, you used the meta-empathy unconsciously.” It confirmed his suspicions.

“This… doesn’t sound like a reliable mechanism.” Christopher replied. “If I have to be seriously cornered, terrified and so on to get a new power activated.”

“Reply: That is correct.” The priest nodded. “I can’t think of ways to reliably activate your other powers. I could use meta-empathy to put you in an appropriate mental state, but for as long as deep inside you will know that the threat is fake, it will most likely not work. There is also a chance that your mysterious benefactors wired things to work only when everything is genuine. Thus I believe that the best way is to let things proceed on their own. If you get cornered enough, you might activate more powers.”

Christopher agreed with that. Sure, new powers would be neat. But having to experience the same fear… it wasn’t worth it, in his opinion.

“Sudden Decision: I believe it is time for what you’ve been waiting for ever since you met me.” Innocent said before Christopher could answer. “By which I mean enlightening your friends about me. Which also means telling them that you are a Divine.”

“Wait, really?!” He was overjoyed.

“Answer: Yes.” Innocent nodded. “It was Captain Keller that ordered me to keep your mouth shut. However I quite literally stopped caring about his orders when I believe them to be unnecessary and in any degree wrong.” Christopher wasn't sure what happened, but it seemed that the argument between Innocent and Captain Keller was something serious. “Let us proceed to the next subject.”

“Ok, so… Kivanna.” The talk seemed to have been progressing nicely. Innocent appeared to be in a talkative mood. “I have to seriously object to the idea of her being anywhere near the battlefield. While also I need some pointers on how to deal with her. She seems fragile.”

“Reply: Perhaps outwardly she does.” Innocent replied. “I wouldn’t be so sure about her mind. If anything, it appears to be made of steel.”

“Errr… pray tell me more?” This sounded to be something out of the blue. Like the majority of things Innocent told him. But sooner or later such things turned out to make perfect sense, so he could treat it seriously.

“Question: Even if it would mean violating her privacy, as you’d be learning things without her knowledge, nor acceptance?” Christopher understood what Innocent was trying to tell him.

Great. I guess curiosity isn’t THAT important.

“All right, all right, I get what you mean. If it’s like that, I think I’m ok with not knowing.” He still wanted to know. Though mostly because he wanted to understand what’s troubling her so much. But learning this against her will probably make things worse.

“Reply: Good. I will tell you then.” Innocent answered, surprising Christopher. “My meta-empathy is ten times stronger than yours. I can read your emotions without you even noticing. I know that your decision to not find out the truth was genuine. I also know that your primary motivation for the contrary is because you want to understand and help her. Because of that, I believe that if you know the truth you will not abuse it, and it will be beneficial to her.”

I think he enjoys testing people. To be honest, sometimes it feels as if everyone is testing me. Though Innocent might be the first person to tell me the test result.

“And what about my privacy?” Christopher asked, raising an eyebrow. Innocent, after all, admitted to reading his mind. Right after he showed his displeasure towards Christopher reading someone’s mind.

“Answer: I’m this ship’s chaplain, psychologist, and de facto head of Captain Keller’s personal counterintelligence.” Innocent replied, listing his roles on his fingers. “Knowing what you think is my job. I find no pleasure in that, though. Also, I’m not using the knowledge I gain for my benefit and I purge it from my memory right after the person in question retires from the Guild or dies.”

Too bad I can’t verify any of the things he used as an explanation for his actions. All I know for certain is that he truly is a chaplain and psychologist, so two-thirds of one argument. The rest? Nothing.

“Information: She is in the so-called outward adjustment state of rape trauma syndrome.” Innocent confirmed his suspicions. “Cue flashbacks, depression, and persistent fears. In fact, it might be for the best that you didn’t try to emotionally interface with her. There are things worse than interfacing with a person going through such a thing but without possessing skills and willpower to enforce your emotions on them. But there are not a lot of them.”

“So she was…” He couldn’t even tell the word. It sounded wrong and horrible.

“Answer: It’s hard to be a woman of this age living in Plesja and not go through this.” Innocent replied. Despite his robotic words being emotionless, the priest literally oozed disgust. Was Christopher unconsciously using technopathy too? “Might get even worse than that, as the idea of an age of consent is a bit too reactionary for the enlightened inhabitants of Plesja.”

“I guess it’s too much for me to hope that we’ll use the newly captured ships to burn the entire country to the ground, right?” Christopher asked, receiving a nod in response.

“Answer: You are, unfortunately, correct.” Innocent replied. “Knowing the length of the list of people, organizations and groups wanting to burn the country to the ground as soon as it stops being an official protectorate of the Confederation fills me with faint hope for the future of Mankind, however.” Christopher resolved to join that endeavor if he’d be still alive and in the future once that happened.

“And why are you telling me all of that?” Christopher crossed his arms. He had an agenda in violating medical secrecy. “To help her, right? But in what way?”

“Answer: Because I see that you are trying to help your subordinates.” For Christopher, this came out of nowhere. “You already knew that something was wrong with Kivanna. There is a risk that you’d sort out what you felt on your own and either arrive at a wrong conclusion or try to help her with the best intentions in mind… but make things worse. I prefer to avoid both outcomes, and ever since I concluded you to be trustworthy, a bit of honesty with you seems to be the best option.”

“So, what do you expect me to do?” Christopher held his palms open. He was no therapist.

“Answer: To give her both space and support.” Innocent replied. “Have some patience, don’t push her in any direction, recognize the moments when she is down and give her some time to sort things out on her own. But try not to dote on her. Finding the middle ground between support and giving her space to recover with her own strength is crucial here. She is having a bit of a resurgence of her... issues following the unfortunate incidents with the Plesjans, but I estimate that the clouds should part before we reach our current destination.”

“Can’t you just use the mindsculpt if it’s this bad?” Christopher heard about this ‘procedure’ being a panacea for mental problems. Save for cases of the madness brought by Hyperspace, as the cost of reverting them was too great to pay for most.

“Answer: No.” Christopher had expected that answer - if it was possible, Innocent would have done it already. “The only way to get rid of such trauma permanently with a mindsculpt is to erase the memories of the act that caused said trauma together with it… as otherwise, it would return. This time together with various negative effects of a major discrepancy between memories and accompanying emotions. Besides, even if I could, I’d still not use it in this case.”

“Why?” The procedure was safe and very effective. Of course, it could also be used for brainwashing, which was the unpleasant side of its existence. One that was overused during the Unification Wars, especially by the extremists. Tendrik mentioned it once, but without going into details.

“Explanation: Many psychologists and psychiatrists consider it a panacea, used without trying other options.” Innocent felt a bit… irritated. Though Christopher still wasn’t sure how he guessed it. Was Innocent intentionally radiating his emotions? “However, human minds grow by facing and defeating adversities. Mentalsculpts are useful as a reset button when someone breaks under the strain. But for someone who didn’t break, it’s counterproductive. Especially as you have permanent access to a skilled psychologist willing to help you find a way out of your issues.”

“And she didn’t break?” Christopher said, amazed. It looked like she had lots of issues.

“Answer: No. Despite a lifetime of abuse that would break most of our marines, she didn’t.” Innocent replied. “That’s willpower you rarely get to see. And one that would be a shame to take away from her. Besides, it was Kivanna herself who decided to not have her memories erased. I suspect that she sees such a procedure as a form of surrender. She is devoted to the idea of living with those memories, if only as a last, final middle finger to the Plesjans she had the misfortune of knowing. Since said Plesjans made a mistake of saying ‘no’ to Captain Keller’s ‘we are taking her’ while he was accompanied by me, it will be a post-mortem middle finger to them.”

Was Captain Keller killing people and/or infuriating governments on each planet he visited? Christopher started to suspect the same question could be asked about Innocent. On the other hand, Plesjan government had to be suicidal to let in any priest with that name, regardless of whether he was a human or not.

“Fine, I’ll do my best to help her, then. And Keller?” He decided to ask.

“Cryptic Answer: A misalignment of principles.” The priest certainly didn’t want to talk about it. “Change of Subject: Let’s start your first meta-empathy training.”