Chapter 235
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
And I can post on Friday. Probably because I have a bunch of chapters already prepared. Funny how that works.
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Two days later.
"Huh." Mikel said. Lindy waved to him from at the railing. He walked over the woman.
"I didn't expect you to be here." He said.
"I assume you were expecting me to be somewhere nearby, then?" She asked. After his nod, she spoke again. "People watching."
He frowned, then realized she'd provided the answer to a question he hadn't asked.
"Nice view." He said.
"Yes." She said, simply.
"You obviously have a solution to the Vajra already, don't you?" He asked instead.
"Yes." She said. "To be specific, I have four, though two are varients of each other. Those two are the ones I like."
"And what are those?" Mikel pushed his glasses up his nose.
"1a: I provide Frontier with the information they need to solve the problem. 1b: I beat Frontier about the head with the instructions for how to solve the problem." Lindy said. "Free will and self-determination is important… even if I can guess what President Glass would do."
"That's not very polite." Mikel said.
"It was literally in official minutes." Lindy shrugged slightly. "I am not some genius with the ability to get in people's head and figure out what they're thinking."
"Still, though." Mikel said. "What are the other two plans?"
"Emergency backups to any plans I improvise. They exist to motivate me to come up with better plans." Lindy said, continuing to look down at the interior of Island 1. "In all seriousness, those are for absolute worst-case contingencies. Further plans are to be made as needed, based on more current information."
"Huh." Mikel said. "Well, I certainly prefer that approach."
"That explains some things." Lindy said. The evenness of her voice was annoying. It didn't give anything away. "Still, if you want to figure it out, you could probably swing a copy of the report from Ozma. The main reason I don't want it getting out too much is because of a3x.exe's catspaw. I'm not sure how they would react if it came out. Probably not murderously, which is why they're not in a medically-induced coma, but they could try to conceal their crimes."
"Wait, you would have put that person into a coma if you thought they would have killed someone?" Mikel asked.
Lindy raised an eyebrow.
"Actually, now that I say that out loud it makes sense." He sighed. "Still, aren't you going to help out?"
"If I solved all of your problems for you, you would hate me for being a smug interfering mastermind." Lindy said. "If I leave you to your slim chance of victory, I'm a neutral-stupid and responsible for whatever deaths happen. The middle path is best."
"But what if people die?" Mikel asked.
"Then I'll tell you." Lindy said. "Does that please you?'
Mikel just gave her a look. "Fine."
Lindy didn't say anything. Mikel left shortly after that.
---------------
She waited at the corner, having ordered a coffee for the woman coming to meet her. As she came into range, Lindy waved once.
The - perhaps spy was too strong a word - investigator froze for a moment, then shook her head, blinked her green eyes, and continued on. In a moment, she sat down. Lindy passed the coffee to her.
"Two creams, one sugar." Lindy said as she did that. "I am Lindy Ezros. Would you prefer I refer to you as Miss Falchion, Irene, or Iffy?"
The women froze again. "Irene is fine, thank you." Irene then grabbed her coffee and downed it. She slammed the paper mug on the table. "How do you know so much about me?"
"Research." Lindy said calmly. "Now, I believe you have questions for me?" She raised an eyebrow.
"What do you want?" Irene asked after a moment.
"A theory that explains the mechanics of Fold Drive field generation and sustainment from first principles." Lindy said, then waited for the women to blink. "But I suppose that is not actually what you were looking for, was it?"
"Do you want to get declared a threat against Frontier?" Irene groaned.
"It would be slightly inconvenient, but it would also be slightly amusing." Lindy shrugged. "But probably not."
"Then answer the question properly." Irene growled.
"You are of course looking for what I value, what motivates me?" Lindy replied blandly. "Well-being of society is up there, along with freedom and art."
"What about power?" Irene asked.
"I don't want to conquer Frontier, no." Lindy stated. "Managing a civilization is a significant sink of personal energy. In addition, for any sort of power that is not defined as power over people, Frontier is completely irrelevant to me."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Irene then chugged more coffee.
"If I was interested in collecting vast amounts of power, I would have gone elsewhere. The only reason I am here is because of a3x.exe's machinations." Lindy continued to look rather bored, as best she could with her limited affect. "Now, are you going to continue to probe at what my evil plan is, or do you have other questions for me?"
Irene slammed an empty mug on the table. "Get me more coffee if you want more interesting questions."
Lindy reached inside her jacket and pulled out another paper mug of coffee, steaming hot. "Ask away."
"Who do you work for?" Irene asked.
"The Exiles." Lindy simply said.
"And what position do you have with them?"
"Commander of Second Fleet." Lindy said.
"How did you get that position?" Irene asked.
"Nepotism." Lindy replied. "My mother is leader of the Exiles, as well as Commander of First Fleet."
"How big is Second Fleet?" Irene asked.
"Classified." Lindy responded immediately.
Irene took a moment to take a swig of coffee.
"How much bigger is First Fleet?" Irene tried.
"It depends." Lindy said. "First Fleet is, by definition, the assets under Mother's direct control. The same is true for myself and Second Fleet. Assets not in a numbered fleet are assigned to reserve fleets with defensive autonomy. A ship could be transferred between fleets even in the middle of battle."
"That sounds like a horrible idea." Irene said, downing her coffee.
"Your hearing must need work, then." Lindy said, pulling out another paper mug.
"The IT Department wants to know how you hacked the system and stole all those files, as well as how to avoid it." Irene snatched the coffee.
"Avoiding my method of intrusion is simple." Lindy gave a small smile. "Do not have any computer systems or hard-copy records."
"Hardy har har." Irene sighed. "How'd you do it?"
"Classified." Lindy said.
"So what are you even doing?" Irene took another swig of coffee.
"It's called a 'humanitarian mission.'" Lindy couldn't actually give the woman a flat look, since her face stuck to a neutral state unless she was really feeling something, or she was forcing it.
Irene just stared at her for a moment.
"This is a humanitarian mission?" Irene asked. "I don't think most humanitarian missions start with murder and hacking."
"There wasn't any murder on my part. Also, it will probably involve fewer induced supernovae than one of our previous humanitarian missions, so by that standard it is perfectly normal." Lindy said, putting another mug of coffee on the table and standing up.
"Wait, what?" Irene said, but Lindy was already gone.
Chapter 235
-------------
Mikel
------------Two days later.
"Huh." Mikel said. Lindy waved to him from at the railing. He walked over the woman.
"I didn't expect you to be here." He said.
"I assume you were expecting me to be somewhere nearby, then?" She asked. After his nod, she spoke again. "People watching."
He frowned, then realized she'd provided the answer to a question he hadn't asked.
"Nice view." He said.
"Yes." She said, simply.
"You obviously have a solution to the Vajra already, don't you?" He asked instead.
"Yes." She said. "To be specific, I have four, though two are varients of each other. Those two are the ones I like."
"And what are those?" Mikel pushed his glasses up his nose.
"1a: I provide Frontier with the information they need to solve the problem. 1b: I beat Frontier about the head with the instructions for how to solve the problem." Lindy said. "Free will and self-determination is important… even if I can guess what President Glass would do."
"That's not very polite." Mikel said.
"It was literally in official minutes." Lindy shrugged slightly. "I am not some genius with the ability to get in people's head and figure out what they're thinking."
"Still, though." Mikel said. "What are the other two plans?"
"Emergency backups to any plans I improvise. They exist to motivate me to come up with better plans." Lindy said, continuing to look down at the interior of Island 1. "In all seriousness, those are for absolute worst-case contingencies. Further plans are to be made as needed, based on more current information."
"Huh." Mikel said. "Well, I certainly prefer that approach."
"That explains some things." Lindy said. The evenness of her voice was annoying. It didn't give anything away. "Still, if you want to figure it out, you could probably swing a copy of the report from Ozma. The main reason I don't want it getting out too much is because of a3x.exe's catspaw. I'm not sure how they would react if it came out. Probably not murderously, which is why they're not in a medically-induced coma, but they could try to conceal their crimes."
"Wait, you would have put that person into a coma if you thought they would have killed someone?" Mikel asked.
Lindy raised an eyebrow.
"Actually, now that I say that out loud it makes sense." He sighed. "Still, aren't you going to help out?"
"If I solved all of your problems for you, you would hate me for being a smug interfering mastermind." Lindy said. "If I leave you to your slim chance of victory, I'm a neutral-stupid and responsible for whatever deaths happen. The middle path is best."
"But what if people die?" Mikel asked.
"Then I'll tell you." Lindy said. "Does that please you?'
Mikel just gave her a look. "Fine."
Lindy didn't say anything. Mikel left shortly after that.
---------------
Lindy
--------------She waited at the corner, having ordered a coffee for the woman coming to meet her. As she came into range, Lindy waved once.
The - perhaps spy was too strong a word - investigator froze for a moment, then shook her head, blinked her green eyes, and continued on. In a moment, she sat down. Lindy passed the coffee to her.
"Two creams, one sugar." Lindy said as she did that. "I am Lindy Ezros. Would you prefer I refer to you as Miss Falchion, Irene, or Iffy?"
The women froze again. "Irene is fine, thank you." Irene then grabbed her coffee and downed it. She slammed the paper mug on the table. "How do you know so much about me?"
"Research." Lindy said calmly. "Now, I believe you have questions for me?" She raised an eyebrow.
"What do you want?" Irene asked after a moment.
"A theory that explains the mechanics of Fold Drive field generation and sustainment from first principles." Lindy said, then waited for the women to blink. "But I suppose that is not actually what you were looking for, was it?"
"Do you want to get declared a threat against Frontier?" Irene groaned.
"It would be slightly inconvenient, but it would also be slightly amusing." Lindy shrugged. "But probably not."
"Then answer the question properly." Irene growled.
"You are of course looking for what I value, what motivates me?" Lindy replied blandly. "Well-being of society is up there, along with freedom and art."
"What about power?" Irene asked.
"I don't want to conquer Frontier, no." Lindy stated. "Managing a civilization is a significant sink of personal energy. In addition, for any sort of power that is not defined as power over people, Frontier is completely irrelevant to me."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Irene then chugged more coffee.
"If I was interested in collecting vast amounts of power, I would have gone elsewhere. The only reason I am here is because of a3x.exe's machinations." Lindy continued to look rather bored, as best she could with her limited affect. "Now, are you going to continue to probe at what my evil plan is, or do you have other questions for me?"
Irene slammed an empty mug on the table. "Get me more coffee if you want more interesting questions."
Lindy reached inside her jacket and pulled out another paper mug of coffee, steaming hot. "Ask away."
"Who do you work for?" Irene asked.
"The Exiles." Lindy simply said.
"And what position do you have with them?"
"Commander of Second Fleet." Lindy said.
"How did you get that position?" Irene asked.
"Nepotism." Lindy replied. "My mother is leader of the Exiles, as well as Commander of First Fleet."
"How big is Second Fleet?" Irene asked.
"Classified." Lindy responded immediately.
Irene took a moment to take a swig of coffee.
"How much bigger is First Fleet?" Irene tried.
"It depends." Lindy said. "First Fleet is, by definition, the assets under Mother's direct control. The same is true for myself and Second Fleet. Assets not in a numbered fleet are assigned to reserve fleets with defensive autonomy. A ship could be transferred between fleets even in the middle of battle."
"That sounds like a horrible idea." Irene said, downing her coffee.
"Your hearing must need work, then." Lindy said, pulling out another paper mug.
"The IT Department wants to know how you hacked the system and stole all those files, as well as how to avoid it." Irene snatched the coffee.
"Avoiding my method of intrusion is simple." Lindy gave a small smile. "Do not have any computer systems or hard-copy records."
"Hardy har har." Irene sighed. "How'd you do it?"
"Classified." Lindy said.
"So what are you even doing?" Irene took another swig of coffee.
"It's called a 'humanitarian mission.'" Lindy couldn't actually give the woman a flat look, since her face stuck to a neutral state unless she was really feeling something, or she was forcing it.
Irene just stared at her for a moment.
"This is a humanitarian mission?" Irene asked. "I don't think most humanitarian missions start with murder and hacking."
"There wasn't any murder on my part. Also, it will probably involve fewer induced supernovae than one of our previous humanitarian missions, so by that standard it is perfectly normal." Lindy said, putting another mug of coffee on the table and standing up.
"Wait, what?" Irene said, but Lindy was already gone.
