October 3rd, 2121
"So, apart from everything else, I think things have been going pretty well," you said to the image of Mary prowling around your quarters. She looked up at you, eyes flashing dangerously, and you shrugged helplessly. "Mary, she knew. Trying to tell her no wouldn't have helped anything. Y-" you cut off as she gestured sharply.
"I know, Mandy." Her eyes softened a little. "But that doesn't stop either of us worrying. She's still so young," she sighed, shaking her head. "And yet we weren't any older, where we?" You'd been reaching for the same words as she spoke again, and they fell away with an easy laugh.
"You always were so much smarter than me," you said, laughing softly as she blushed. "Working out what I'm going to say before I even get there myself." The words could have turned so easily into something hard, angry, but they didn't. Part of you wondered if they even could. "But to answer your question, no, we weren't." You brushed your hand through hers, one of the few ways you could try to show you cared more than words, separated as you were.
"I wondered if she'd take after us, that way." She replied, almost sadly. "She's so happy being what we never had the chance to be, and I don't want to take that from her."
"Neither do I, Mary. But," Mary met your words with her own.
"She's not just that. It's been such a joy to see her grow, to become more, but also more human. More ours." There was a faint crack in the last two words, but she mastered it. "Letting them know what she is beyond that, wasn't it a risk? What if they'd reacted poorly? They still could." You felt something compress in your chest, the same feeling from before, when you'd been talking with Kendl.
"Mary." She looked around from her pacing, and something in your eyes, or maybe more than that, stopped her dead. "If they try to hurt her, I will protect her. No matter what." Light flared against your skin, the faintest echo of your Aegis bleeding through, and Mary nodded slowly.
"I know." She said, after a long moment. "But I just wish that sometimes…" she turned away, and you rose to your feet, moving closer regardless of her not actually standing in the room with you. "That sometimes I could protect her as well. I'm," you moved round into her field of view, and shook your head sharply.
"Mary, you've given her more than I ever could." She looked up, something in her eyes almost daring you to stop, yet begging for you to continue. "That first year and a half when I wasn't able to be there properly, you gave her a life as more than a program. And you didn't need my help with her body. It might have taken you a bit longer to get it all right, but you would've succeeded."
"I," The worry and fear in her eyes had flickered as you'd poured the belief in your words into far more than just that. Now, as you finished, it started to fade. "And you call me the smart one." She chuckled at herself, stopping abruptly at your nod.
"It's the truth." You told her firmly. "Just because," a soft tone cut you off, and you jerked in place as the header of the incoming transmission popped up in front of your eyes. This was…unexpected.
"What is it, Mandy?" Recognising the signs of surprise wasn't hard for her.
"The," you shook yourself mentally. "The Nilean Emissary is calling me. I, Mary," you tried to find the words, hating yourself in the moment for searching for them, and she just smiled gently.
"You're here to do a job." She brushed a virtual hand through yours. "Go do it. I'll still be here when you're done."
"Thank you." They were the only words you could say, and Mary nodded once, still with that gentle smile. "I'll call you again soon."
"Not tonight," she said, chuckling a little. "I need to put Iris to bed, then get some rest of my own. Not all of us can stay up all hours, you know." You shook your head, knowing just how much of a lie that could be sometimes.
"Then tomorrow." You said, reaching for transmission control.
"Of course." She nodded, then reached up and cut her own holo. You took a moment to centre yourself, then touched the key to accept the call.
"Emissary Merizan," you greeted her coolly, "it is quite late."
"I know, Envoy." She said, signing apology. "And I'm sorry for bothering you. But I, we, have something that we'd like to offer you." You quirked an eyebrow, then remembering yourself, made a gesture for her to continue.
"It must be truly important to contact me now."
"It is." She nodded. "Envoy Hawk, I would like to extend an invitation to visit the ships of the Contact Fleet." Your thoughts screeched to a halt. They couldn't…could they?
"Which ships?" You asked carefully, your fingers moving to hesitant curiosity. If this was truly what it might be, then there was only one answer.
"All of them." It was. You breathed out slowly, mentally leafing through your available responses as Kendl continued. "We would like to offer you the chance to see some of what we are as you've offered with residence aboard Concordia."
"And what else would you wish me to see?" You asked, the words careful, but also more than that. If they were asking this, then you wanted it to be very clear. "You've known from our first meeting that I can see what even your best sensors can't. If you want me to sweep your ships, you had but to ask."
"That," she paused, signing confusion. "I'm sorry, had?"
"Yes." You said, "but also no." You dropped into your chair, looking up and across at the Nilean. "You want me to sweep your ships of Shiplord interference, yes?"
"Yes." The reply was only a moment in coming, that was probably a good thing.
"Then whose ships are they?" She blinked, a shared sign of confusion, and you signed sincere need. "Emissary Merizan, those ships are the agents of powers unknown, and though you have danced close to the line on many occasions, none of you have been willing to confirm it. But if I am to step onto those craft, then I and my government must know to whom they belong. That you came to us each time allowed this to be ignored, for you are our guests. But that doesn't go both ways."
"We cannot simply be concerned citizens, then?" Kendl asked wryly, and you smiled shortly, but in the same manner.
"Concerned citizens could not offer what you have, I think." You leaned forward. "Emissary, Kendl if I may, you have been here long enough, I think. You wouldn't be asking this if you and the others hadn't decided to trust us. All I'm asking, all my government would be asking, is confirmation for what you surely know we are smart enough to understand."
"Appearances can matter," she replied cautiously, and you could see the uncertainty even without her signing. Thousands of years living in fear of the Shiplords, not knowing who might be an agent, what might be a test. You couldn't begin to imagine what that did to a people. And yet if you were to help, if things were going to move to where they needed to, that had to take this step.
"Yes," your voice was very soft. "They can."
"If we are indeed what you say, if we admit it, and if even a single whisper makes it back to the Shiplords," she trailed off, teetering on the edge between a duty to fear and a duty to hope. You could swing the balance, if you spoke wisely. But how to do it?
[] Truth
[] Insight
[] Freedom
