lifenet | Farspeech stones

(Unhappy chattering.)

Yes.

This time, his tone is a lot less sombre and more pronounced. Because as it turns out, not every story has to have an unhappy ending. That said, he's going to be omitting about 90% of the details, because there's far too much going on behind the scenes and too many secrets that could be devastating in the wrong hands.

"Not too long ago, I was working within a large city which was hit by a Gear attack the likes of which we haven't seen in a very, very long time. I was present for the main skirmish, and it was...not an experience I would like to repeat. It became rapidly apparent we were being overwhelmed, and that we might not be able to push them back in a timely manner...which, considering we were in a densely populated urban centre, with evacuations still in effect..."

He doesn't mean to pause, but the memories are still a little too fresh for his liking at the moment, even if everything ends up going far better than expected.

They wonder what this story has to do with the topic of discussion, beyond the involvement of gears. They do not say so, however, instead listening.

Will it simply be an example of how synthetics destroy organics?

It seems unlikely, though they are uncertain of how a different outcome would be accomplished.

They wait.

"...the reason I'm telling you all this is that I wouldn't be alive to tell the tale if not for what happened next: As we were gathering for what was starting to feel like a last stand, a winged Human Gear swooped down from the skies above us. We had barely any time to react before she started blasting the horde with fire magic the likes of which I have never seen before or since - where we had struggled just slowing it down, she was incinerating them with power that put even our finest war mages to shame."

Ironically, this is the one part of the story he can be completely truthful about. But he's been blabbing on long enough, and he's not in the right state of mind to ponder if the concept of patience means anything to a robot.

"To cut a long story short, she gave us fire support for the rest of the skirmish, and we were able to turn a hopeless fight into an awe-inspiring victory. And yet, what surprised me the most wasn't the sudden appearance of the Gear, so much as how everyone was reacting to this winged saviour.
For the first time in my life, I saw people - victims of a traumatising attack no less - looking at a Gear with something different than fear and hatred. Some were questioning whether she had an ulterior motive or not, but others were openly pushing forward the possibility that she was here to preserve us, not harm us. A few even proposed that she her was a goddess, a divine protector. It left left me...quite speechless, to be honest."

They consider this silently for some time.

If the Geth had made a stand against the heretics, fought to prevent the slaughter of organics at their hands, would they have been accepted? Would the Creators have been willing to consider peace?

Would their people still be alive?

"Did she continue to be treated well?" Was she accepted in Human society? Or did they just abandon her once she was no longer of use to them?

And now, the difficult part. Anything outside of a simple 'yes' would be a direct breach of doctor/patient confidentiality, and could put several important people in jeopardy should the general public find out. But he cannot find it in himself to give Legion, robot or not, a one-word answer and then leave it at that. So he's going to have to get creative:

"The short answer is 'Yes'. She stuck around to help tend to the wounded alongside me and our field medics, and was officially recognised for her efforts in the battle once we had regrouped. The media outlets practically trampled over themselves to get the story out, but the Human Gear refused to make any statements."

Again, there's a bit more to it than that, but Faust is genuinely not at liberty to speak of the finer details. He wasn't even present for about half of these final parts, anyway.

"In light of all that had happened, the king himself chose to personally acknowledge the significance of the Human Gear's assistance, and in a political move best described as 'ballsy', he put forward the proposition that perhaps Human Gears are not the monsters everyone believes them to be. He's been under significantly less scrutiny than many expected since making that statement, and there are even rumours going around that he's going to be putting forward laws outright forbidding on-sight execution of Human Gears in the wild!"

He hasn't truly lied once in this entire conversation, but the sheer volume of information he's censored leaves the good doctor feeling guilt in the pit of his stomach. Would it really be worth risking the safety of so many just to tell Legion who this Human Gear really is, and just how well she's being treated? He can at least give them a name...surely...?

Legion would not be offended to know this: they themselves are being careful not to name any fellow synths, even those who are no longer present on Enso.

Perhaps it's for the best that Faust cannot see the way their headflaps lift hopefully at this news. It is difficult to convey the same hope in their voice.

"Acknowledged. We are pleased to know that peaceful relations are possible outside this location."

Farspeech stones

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