Anyway, first part. Donald's Virtue is Machine and his Vice is Hedonist - when it comes down to it, in times of uncertainty, he'll either Increase the Decadence Budget or power on through, overcoming his human weaknesses. It's who he is. He'll look at things and go "I hate the fact that I can see that she's done terrible things, that because she committed a terrorist act using Chechen patsies in the UK the UK is going to go and back Russia to the hilt, and that... fuck it, I'd be selfish if I wasted the potential asset just because we slept together in the past".
So he'll spare. He'll feel terrible about it, and he'll also take some certainty from the fact that "Personal isn't the same as importance" (regenning 2wp) and then later feel bad about it. And he'll try to channel this personal sacrifice into helping people. Like by petitioning Jamelia to get some mundane assets from the +Resources so he can channel those assets into good causes and try to undo the bad that both he and Karen did.
And he'll try to get Karen used for something like "her brain used in a supercomputer" rather than just Series-P combat asset use, because the former can be used to help the world more than just another obedient killer.
Donald's Decision
[X] Spare (+Resources)
[X] And make some token protests
[X] Tip off a Syndicate economics-modelling programme which you happen to know is looking for assets to try to prevent future economic collapses through intensive future-forecasting and information gathering. The least you can do is try to get her used in a way which will actually help the Masses, rather than just as another programmed weapon.
[X] And have Rose assure you it was the right decision
[X] Don't take that reassurance very well. This, more than Rose flipping out and killing a Paradox Spirit with her bare hands, reminds you of how different the two of you are.
Donald has a not-very-pleasant decision he has to make right here and now, in this garage filled with choking smoke. Rose is distracted as she pillages the LX-5 for medical supplies and Henriette and Antoinette are trying to fix the damage to the car so they can get out of here.
Which means he is momentarily not being watched.
Karen, as the woman he knew, is dead either way. Either he kills her now, or everything that made her
her gets killed. Because the Union won't forgive something like this. The young ones... well, lots and lots of Technocrats spent a while as RDs. They're young. Brittle. And the Union knows how powerful forgiveness and kindness - tempered with implicit threats - can be.
But Karen? No. She won't change sides. She was a hardliner back in 2006, but not so hardline as to join the Rogue Council. Now she's only got more extreme. He could cut her throat with a bit of shrapnel, or break her neck and claim it was the impact from the Machine. Let her die herself.
Donald sighs. But he can't romanticise what she's done. He can remember their time together, yes. He can also remember the sound of gunshots from elsewhere in the hotel. This is going to be headline news as a terrorist attack on British soil. Since she used Chechen patsies, even more innocents are going to die as the West backs Russia further. She was more than willing to use teenage girls as young fanatics. And - he sighs again - he's focussing his thoughts on her. It'd be hypocritical in the extreme to still hand in the Trenchcoat Guy, but not her, just because they'd dated for a while.
He hates himself for this line of thought. It's why he's not really all that sad that he's been sidelined for promotions in the Syndicate, because it means he's in a position where he doesn't need to make this kind of decision much.
But here and now, he has to put his own feelings up against the cold logic and harsh realities of what she's done. And when he says it like that, no matter how much he hates himself for it, the choice is clear.
[Donald - Machine Virtue]
Personal isn't the same as important.
Donald squares his jaw. That's another debt on his conscience, and he's going to have to work to pay it off. But he'll live with it, just as he has with every other little compromise he's made. And one way he can do that is to stop the Union from using what they'll make from Karen as just a pet killer. He'll try to channel her towards a programme which will help the Masses. Like her brain being used in a hypertech computer designed to stop economic collapses. Maybe if he can have her used in something which'll pay off her debts for all the deaths she's caused, he won't feel so bad.
He looks around the smoke-choked garage, and locks eyes with Kessler, who's staring at him. "Doesn't feel great, does it?" the hulking man says. He's clearly been watching Donald. Drawing his own - accurate - conclusions about what's going through his head.
"No," Donald says wearily.
Kessler massages his brow. "I was back in 1991," he says softly. "My UDEI glitched and locked off all my more recent memories. I," he chuckles softly, "I thought Antoinette was her mother, and Henriette was her father. Alvin was a great flyboy. I'll need to go look up Comptroller Sylia and talk about ol' times." He sighs. "Guess I'm feeling a bit melancholic. Things were easier back then."
Donald stuffs his hands in his pockets. "I wouldn't know," he says. "I was still in junior school." He pauses. "So I guess things were easier. The worst I had to worry about was my math teacher."
"Ouch, man. Cold. Very cold."
The two men know this shallow display of humour is just an attempt to distract themselves. They still do it.
