Amelia, Ch 387- Taylor
ConcernLoveHope. Wait, how long was I asleep? Why is it so dark? I tried to talk and my mouth barely moved. Oh fuck, what's- oh, right. I am currently a disembodied head. Huh, put that on the list of things I never imagined could come up in conversation.
"Taylor? Are you okay?" Amelia's voice.
Focus. I located the system in her armor that let me speak through it. At the best of times, it was more like texting than it was speaking. "Just tired. I can't believe I fell asleep." I closed my eyes as my little chamber started lighting up.
This was normally where Clarice stayed, when she was piloting her doll. It had a bunch of stuff I didn't recognize that I had to assume made sense to her, but I was just in it for the viewscreen and interactive communication tech. Not that I needed or could even use most of that.
ReliefGuilt. "Sorry, you needed your rest."
"So you forced me to go to sleep?"
WorryGuiltConcern. "More like I just stopped keeping you awake. If you can trust Clarice to surgically remove your head, surely you can trust me to care for you. Right then, that meant allowing your brain to recover. Almost a full day of being awake, plus low levels of hypoxia. You needed a chance to recover."
I could feel how worried she was for me, and I had to admit I felt a lot better now that I did before I went to sleep. The headache had even gone away somewhat. "Okay, you're right, so what happened while I was out?"
"Pakistan renounced claim on Khyber A. We're trying to sort through refugees, despite being outnumbered by them. And all our Yangban captives are now unconscious and being processed to our planet. Emma says she's about half done with growing you a new body and we'll need Riley and Missy for a lot of the job tomorrow and probably for the rest of the week."
She's getting tired. "You slipped on Clarice's name again."
FoolishFear. "Really? Fuck. I thought I was past that. Anyway, we'll be waiting until tomorrow before we do anything important."
Okay, I guess I could afford the nap, then. "So, umm, where's Vicky?"
"She recovered enough to be sent home. After regaling me with tales of how she thinks Lung would look good in a bikini and how you rocked the femme fatale look with your Skitter costume. Apparently she thinks your legs look good wrapped in silk. I agree fully."
"You... oh god you're not joking, are you?"
AmusementConfirmation. "Oh how I wish I were. On the plus side, I now know what I'm getting my sister for her birthday. Well, really it's probably more of a gift for Chevalier. Oh, and I'm going to want one for me, too."
I focused on concern and dread, more out of comedy value than because I actually felt dread. We weren't good at using the link to convey ideas, but we were starting to get there. "You're not going to tell me what it is, are you?"
"You know me too well, sometimes." AmusementLoveSafe. "Don't worry, you'll find out eventually."
In spite of myself, I smiled. It was entirely useless considering I was in a hole in Amelia's armor right now, with only the glow of a display system I didn't know how to read to see me. "So we should probably go to bed for real, then. Get some actual sleep before we're needed tomorrow." You need it almost as badly as I do.
AgreementDesire. "One last annoyance to go through. I took care of Pakistan, but we still got the UN Security Council to deal with."
Damn. "Are you sure we can't just put that off until tomorrow?"
"Probably not. There's already speculation that we used the Endbringers to access Khyber. All according to plan and all that, I know. But that doesn't stop it from being something we need to address right away. Laos, Thailand and North Korea are all expressing concerns that this is a precursor to us starting a war of aggression against China. Pointing at our deepening alliance with Japan as further evidence."
I would have sighed if it were possible. "Because wanting to help people, that's proof we plan a war? And I take it China's remaining quiet on this, letting their puppet governments do the advocating for them."
"Looks like it. Anyway, we've got five minutes."
There are so many things bodies are good for. Taking deep breaths to psyche yourself up, for example. Or laughing at the absurdity of it all. Or punching something just for the fun of it. "God, I miss having a body."
"I miss you having a body, too. Don't worry, we'll get you hooked up to a new one as soon as possible." MischievousAmusementDesire. "Maybe afterward, we can take a little while to break it in?"
Blushing. That's another thing having a body is good for. She didn't get to 'break in' any of my others, either. Leaving out how absurd having the ability to say something that crazy was, none of this was fair to her. I should say yes, I should want to say yes.
RealizationRegretGuilt. "Oh god, Taylor! I'm sorry! I just meant it as a joke! I don't want you to feel pressured into doing anything you're not comfortable with. I'm totally happy with how things are right now. Don't you dare feel like you need to change for me. We both know all that's going to do is make us both miserable." InsistenceFearLove. "I'm happy, you're happy, that's more than enough. It's more than I would have believed possible a year ago. It's more than I deserve after everything I've done."
"Don't say that. You deserve to be happy."
LoveGratitudeSupport. "Then keep doing what you've been doing. That makes me happy."
"Yeah, I can do that." I pushed my agreement and love into the link. She's right, we are happy. No point mixing in pointless drama that would only distract from that.
"Well, there's one thing you can do differently."
"Oh?"
"Stop losing body parts. Or bodies. It's really inconvenient for all of us."
I smiled. "I'll do my best, but no promises."
"Good. Now the five minutes are up. Time to talk to a bunch of fat old guys who think they understand war better than us, even though we kill Endbringers and their only military accomplishments can be summed up as losing the Vietnam war."
I really miss being able to laugh. "It's like being taught about the birds and the bees by Mother Theresa."
Amelia laughed. Her laughter was one of my favorite things, and it made me glad for everything we had together. "Well, they're just going to tell us it's bad and we shouldn't do it. So, yeah, exactly like that."
"I can't take credit for it, unfortunately. Overheard Zach saying it to Theo. I don't even know what they were taking about."
The viewscreen shifted, forming a three dimensional representation of the United Nations for me to view. I couldn't help but glance down, seeing that my holographic representation was in my dress costume. Amelia's imitation was also costumed and standing beside me.
The holograms weren't quite perfect, but it was good enough. Given what I knew Dragon could do, I suspected that the occasional flicker and slightly transparent nature of the holograms were intentional design flaws. I went to take a breath and, to my surprise, the hologram actually acted like it did just that. Holy shit, Dragon's tech is awesome.
"For the record, Empress Taylor Hebert and Empress Amelia Lavere are present via telecommunications." I hadn't had a chance to memorize names, but this one surprised me. The US Secretary of Defense. Huh, they are taking this seriously.
I took the lead, letting Amelia play backup as per our method in these things. "Correct, Secretary Brown. We've heard some of the rumors, and I imagine there are others. First of all, we want to make it clear that we did not use the Endbringers in any military action. The oversight personnel you assigned to our research facility will be able to tell you there was no Endbringer activity at the time of the operation. We weren't running any tests. In addition, only Eidolon can command the Endbringers to activate. I'm sure he'll confirm that he did not." In fact I'm sure he already has.
Amelia took a step forward while I tried to take a breath, and the hologram did so. "The other rumor, that we instigated a conflict with China is also not true. We moved on a world controlled by a terrorist organization that we were granted preauthorization from the United Nations to engage. On land internationally recognized as belonging to Pakistan. True, some of the group appear to be Chinese, but we found Europeans and Africans in the group, as well as Japanese and Indians. In addition to large numbers of nonpowered slave labor that we're in the process of returning to their homes."
I didn't smile this time, the hologram would show it. "We are, of course, still investigating. And will likely need to do so for some time before any final conclusion can be reached. However, to our knowledge China has not declared war upon Pakistan or attempted to claim the Khyber A world. Until evidence exists to prove otherwise, we operate on the assumption that we are dealing with an independent militant organization. A sad reality of the world we find ourselves in."
"So we are to understand you've taken no aggressive stance against China? What of your forces in Japan?" Taiwan's representative, I wasn't sure what politics put him in this meeting but it didn't really matter.
Amelia had that one. "We have no forces in Japan. True, some of us were there during the time of the attack on the Nippon portal. But only because it was also part of a parade where Atropos was being honored by the Japanese government. Atropos intends to stay for personal reasons, not part of any military campaign."
"Then the portal between Avalon and Japan," the Taiwanese representative prompted.
My turn. "We have portals in both the United States and Mexico as well. And are hoping to negotiate for space to construct one or two more in Europe or possibly the Middle East or northern Africa. I hope you're not suggesting we plan a war against the neighbors of every one of those countries, because that would be absurd. It is simply that Japan is providing a significant number of our colonists. I admit, competition over colonists has become contentious in some places, but not to the level of military action."
I watched as Amelia took her next turn. "Avalon is trying for a practiced level of neutrality. Or, rather, equally supporting all nations. In our short history as a nation, we have done nothing but oppose war and acts of aggression against any nation. Provided equipment to allow legitimate, rightful governments to resist insurrections within their own borders. And push for peaceful coexistence between peoples. We want that to be our legacy. Starting with the destruction of the Endbringers, and ending with true peace for our world. All human worlds."
When she has that kind of passion, I can almost see myself being physically attracted to her. "To that end, we want to propose opening the gateways to Aleph. An offer of brotherhood to our dimensional neighbors. There is no longer a threat of Endbringers attacking Aleph. So we must ask ourselves, are they and their people any less deserving of the opportunities that the colony worlds offer, simply because they weren't lucky enough to have the right combination of powers?"
That got a reaction. Aleph gateways had been put off since the beginning. If we were going to press that issue, it would change a lot of political landscapes and everyone here knew it. It was Secretary Brown that spoke up. "I would remind everyone that it isn't the purpose of this meeting to hold a discussion of that nature. We merely wanted to address a possible war between two major nations. I think we've recieved a satisfactory answer from your side for the time being, but the issue of Aleph joining the colonization program is for another time."
I made my hologram nod in agreement. Shocked again that it even worked. "Yes, of course. And thank you for seeing us on such short notice."
We saved our smiles until after the holograms went down. That worked wonderfully, now began the next stage of our plans.
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A/N- Another pain in the duck chapter.
