Headcount

[turbedon]

[A far too cheerful sounding voice pipes up over the Network, the owner of it nowhere to be found in Liminal Space in a rather telling way.]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking-

Everyone okay? Anyone gone missing after the last Jaunt?

... Any newcomers we need to get off the brainway asap? Because just arriving and then being run over would really not be astrous. At all.

Comments

[howexciting]

I thought of the only thing I could which might help. I used it to provide the Peregrines with eternal substance, and made it so they no longer had to drink blood and ichor. Essentially, I turned them into Immortali.

... but I suppose it was not what we were supposed to do with the Name. I am... sorry I failed you all. [His mental voice sounds defeated, now. Tired.]

[leftbehindagain]

[...There's a lot Naoki could say here, starting with 'what gave you the right,' but it sounds like Leonardo-sensei's already beating himself up enough over that aspect. On the other hand, he's still sorting through his first infiltration, so he can't let it go completely without comment.]

As I understood it, that's not how it worked. You might have only achieved that for one of them. Besides, eventually there will be more Peregrines who can't be helped with that, and that kind of sudden upset to the local balance probably only made things worse. I don't know what the actual solution to their predicament was, but I doubt this was it.

And, well, using a nuke-equivalent isn't going to be a popular move with some of us by default, even if it wasn't used for that particular purpose.

[howexciting]

As the one who activated it, that was how it worked. The Name that was smuggled out of Heaven was Ar-Rafi, the Exalter. It is responsible for miracles of redemption, personal empowerment too - it can be used as a destructive force, but it can also do far more than help one Peregrine. I could either have made a miracle so grand that it would leave for Heaven on its own, or allow Ezeriou to keep the Name and deliver it to the demon army. I thought what you have been referring to as a "nuke-equivalent" should not fall into demonic hands.

[His mind goes silent for a moment. And there is an unmistakable current of anger psychically creeping up on Naoki when he speaks up again.]

We all saw first-hand what struggles the Peregrines were going through, saw the oppression they faced by the rest of Melasurei! Most doomed to attack others to survive, more still doomed to serve cruel masters... and you are worried about the local balance?! They are souls, Naoki, living souls! They are not some simple product to be bought and sold! They are not slaves!

[leftbehindagain]

Oh, I know - damn well, for lack of a better word, which one it was. I was trying to find it and get it back where it belonged myself. And as noted, I can at least agree that 'the demons got it' is a worse outcome. I've seen photos of what that kind of thing can do as a destructive force. There are still people alive in Japan who remember it, if not many direct witnesses, for obvious reasons.

[He's not going to tell Leo not to get angry. The Peregrines' lot was, frankly, pretty awful. But - well, there's a reason one of the tattoos he suspects is somewhere under his clothes is cold, not to mention the lingering sentiments of a centuries-long resident of Melasurei.]

I never said I had a better solution, but don't think for a second I didn't try to find one. What I am saying is that the five-second fix might do more long-term damage than trying to set a more complex plan in place. Like it or not, a great deal of people paid for things in blood and ichor, and now that avenue is closed to them, with no true backup in place. There's going to be a massive scramble to fill that gap, if another riot doesn't start - or worse, the war we were all hoping to avoid, now that there's a lot more solid participants.

That's another thing. Did the miracle restore their memories as well as their solidity? Or are they still stuck wandering in Melasurei with no idea who they are or why they weren't quite up to snuff for either side to take? Is being solid going to be enough for the people who mistreated them to stop mistreating them? Human history suggests otherwise. And this still leaves the question of what happens when new Peregrines show up, because I doubt they're going to be benefiting from this miracle in the same way.

I don't know what the right answer was. I'm not saying you didn't act to solve a major problem, because it is a major problem, but I don't know what the right answer was. [It's obvious enough from their surroundings that Leo's solution wasn't the right answer, so he leaves that part be.]

[howexciting]

But it was not used as a destructive force--

[He cuts himself off before he gets too far, though he desperately wants to yell some more.]

Water. Sins and Virtues. Gold beyond measure. Land and titles. And just because Peregrines no longer need it to sustain themselves does not mean it is done away with entirely.

There was already going to be a war if I did not remove the Name from Melasurei. The Angels and Demons were going to spill innocent blood on the streets, and if I had not done anything the Demons would have obtained it. Riots might just cause some actual useful change now that the Peregrines have a solid form like the Immortali.

At least they have a chance to find it, now, instead of fading into obscurity! They don't require the blood and ichor of abusive monsters in order to survive anymore! They have a chance to find their memories, their names, new allegiances, a new life for themselves! They're free now to live the lives that they want to live instead of lives they're forced to endure until they fade into nothing, and you're worrying about the status quo?!

[He's seething with rage, now, but he stays quiet for a long moment to contain himself. When he replies next, his words are far quieter, a thin veil of calm metering the undercurrent of anger that clips every word.]

... new Peregrines will not be appearing. I saw to that.

[leftbehindagain]

And on one level, that's never going to matter. I can appreciate that you made the best choice you could in a bad situation, but I doubt I'll ever be able to accept the means by which you did it.

I'm worried about whether there's still a city there at all for them to find their way in, not to mention whatever retributions might be leveled at it for the thing being used at all. I'm worried about whether they'll ever be able to get away from their abusers, since that's no easy task itself, and whether they have the tools they need to function outside of those relationships without getting sucked right back into another of the same. I'm worried about the major upheaval you forced on everyone rather than allowing them a more gradual change. The question isn't whether the status quo was acceptable, but how to best disrupt it.

[Calm your breeches, Leonardo-sensei. You're angrier than the guy who's upset about your choice.]

How can you be so sure? There are always going to be people in that world who don't quite fall to one side or the other when they die. What is it you think is going to happen to them instead?