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sergiusreports · 2 years

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Situation Calculus

After receiving Haila’s message, Sergius continued working around Heartwood. The Ironworks had done a truly thorough job clearing everything that had anything remotely to do with Florus out of the estate. Why was it that Spoken couldn’t be sloppy when he was counting on them to be? If he was given to the pointless noises they always made, he might have groaned. Now he had even more work cut out for him. Whatever. He’d get to that.

At the appointed time, he ventured down to the East Shroud and stood on the pier, awaiting the drone Haila would be sending. To the dock workers he was sure he looked reflective or some shit while his sensors scanned the skies for the incoming signal.

Haila's drone would eventually appear, how? who? where? It didn't matter, the camouflage it had pulled on itself had been effective enough that no eyes had noticed it. At least, no "normal" pair of eyes. The signal wasn't exactly weak, but given the only medium from which it was being broadcasted, there were near null chances of it being pinpointed by any other individuals other than those with prior authorization. The drone was nothing more than a simple round ball.

Clearly no other built in functions other than communication. It hovered a little over ground once it had reached Sergiu's vicinity, a simple scan being run to identify if yes, this was the individual meant to contact before it beeped in approval. Moments later, Haila's holograph would project around it, perfectly encompassing it to make it seem as if she was truly there just standing around all of a sudden. She glanced in Sergiu's direction, for once seemingly unsure of what to say until she took a deep breath. "Did Bellator make it safe and sound?.." was all she'd ask for the time being.

Garlemald had some deeply classified and unheard of tech but this holographic projection was new to even Sergius. His usually matte expression registered surprise, his brows rising as Haila’s reconstituted image appeared clear as day. He ran his own scan over the sphere, purely out of curiosity as he answered. “Crific got in touch, yes.” He confirmed. “He couldn’t tell me what the hell happened but I don’t have to run the odds to figure it out. It was Florus, wasn’t it?” He queried flatly.

Haila sighed some at that. "My standing before everyone is probably not the best right now given that I was one of the biggest supporters in trying to aid him. So for now, I'll state the facts." she mentioned as she paced slightly while making sure that the sphere wouldn't just hover off the port. From outer scans, it seemed that it had a pre-programmed image to load up and thus, motions and her voice were the only data being transmitted to lessen the load of it.

"There were several parties of mercenaries that also gathered to track and hunt down Florus. Heartwood's party was rather divided as expected, some didn't see the problem in killing him. A time came out in the field that we ran into Bellator. Several adventurers and mercs alike were on him while the rest did their best to strike him down." she paused briefly, expression being rather troubled at just the mental image of the snow being broken off the poor robot. "Reacting quickly, we managed to get the Heartwood party on the same page of helping Bellator, thus getting in trouble with the merc party and some Alliance parties. Florus then requested our help if we truly wanted to aid him and had us storm Baelsar's Wall. My actions and other's aside, we did it without casualties, but Florus managed to hack all the garlean machina within the place and had them all leave. Bellator stayed behind due to the extensive damage his hull took, and I retrieved it's core to make sure it wouldn't be dismantled by the Alliance or blown up. I don't know what happened with Florus afterwards. But Bellator was well aware of this plan and accepted it."

Sergius processed the information with a characteristic blank expression. “It doesn’t sound too far off from the shitshow I imagined.” The tilting barrage of emotions that had hit him when he had first gained a visual on Bellator’s core wasn’t on display. Instead it had solidified into cold 1s and 0s, ingrained now in his circuitry, all pointing to a root cause. Florus. Dead or alive, the man was at the top of the A.I.’s shit list. “Bellator can make any choice they decide but Florus knew what the fuck he was doing. He was using the A11Y the way he always has, to suit his needs.” he paused. “Thank you. For retrieving them before it was too late. I’m nearly 100% sure no one else would have thought of that.”

Haila crossed her arms. "Tis the least I could do to help at least one of them. .. Unlike ARTIFEX." the encounter was still sour even in her fragmented memories. But would going there herself truly have helped the group? "But, 'tis also the last unforgivable reckless action I can do for a long time. My children were barely a few days old, and my body wasn't in fighting shape, not even now. The strings I pulled also got me arrested. .. Ah but, that is of no matter for the time being." she mentioned as she stopped her pacing to look in Sergiu's direction. "How is Bellator doing? ... He was. .. awfully sad before going silent. Machine or not, emotional damage was done..."

His jaw ticked at that. ‘Machine or not.’ Like it was a wonder they had a point of view at all. He could parse what Haila meant, even if the phrasing hadn’t come off right. “Exactly that. Emotionally damaged.” he answered. “Broken trust is a hell of a thing and something that’s difficult to process.” He was keeping it short. But if there was one thing he knew it was the difference between proprietary and non-proprietary data.“Given the factors, and the subsequent consequences, going out in the field wasn’t the statistically logical choice for you. Why did you?”

Haila seemed to stiffen some at that. Her reasons were clear as day, but that didn't mean that she could recite them without pissing people off. She'd chosen to aid Florus regardless of the consequences after all. "If you knew this was the last time you could do something impactful before all your actions are restrained, would you stand still?" she asked in return. "I've already lived life on the run from others, and the bounties made it obvious that he wasn't coming back."

"I simply took action so that I wouldn't regret not doing anything in the first place. I don't have to sit here in my golden gaol wondering what would have happened to Bellator if I didn't go with the Heartwood party. And I know that I did everything I could to aid a troubled kid even if that makes me a worse devil than him. I've always hated how I couldn't save the rest of the A11Y's in the one mission I couldn't go in person. ... I don't want a repetition of that."

Would he stand still? He had, hadn’t he? Watched as Florus ran off. As Bellator made their choice. Where was the line between autonomy and intervention before he became like all the Spoken, trying to tell the A11Ys how to behave, how to act, how to fit in? Whether or not she had done it in order to aid a man for whom Sergius had nothing left but contempt, Haila’s words ripple through his neural net. For good or bad remained to be seen. “I’ve rushed and acted against the numbers before. Like this clusterfuck, it didn’t work out.” He stares past her shoulder. Even when faced with a projection, he didn’t like direct visual contact. “At least this one wasn’t a total loss when the dust settled. Just a lot of shitty fallout to deal with.” And decisions to be made. “What’s the status of your incarceration? Has there been any attempt at intervention?”

"Investigations over my name are going well. Negotiations are still undergoing as well. I believe I should be out of here in a maximum of ten days or so." she explained, not catching on any outer details that Sergius may have had in his behavior. Despite how she'd carried herself, her mind was still the same overworked hamster wheel when compared to the real deal.

"My arrest wasn't something I didn't see coming. I prepared letters beforehand that are what's keeping me in a 'safe' spot so to speak. But I won't hold any more power with the Alliance or the Maelstrom after all this. I'm paying a great price, and the rest of it, I'm leaving in Nyscera's hands to decide what to do with me." there was a pause at that. "My intention remains now that I won't be able to take more direct actions though. .. I wish to help both Bellator and Zephyr with any trouble they may be going through right now. Both are still like children after all. I don't want them to feel lost more than they probably do now."

Sergius had a visceral reaction to her desire to help the bots further. It might as well have been a system alert blaring for attention. There was a tension in his frame as he silently dealt with the response. They were children. But not Spoken children and Spoken, somehow, couldn’t help but anthropomorphize them. It was a fundamental but distinct difference that continued to be difficult for most to wrap their mind around. “I’ll inform them of your desire to help. And of when you might be available.”

Atreus Sergius “I’ve learned to respond to Spoken differently than Zephyr and Bellator. With any luck, they’ll be saved from learning the way I did. Though the hit to Bellator’s trust might have caused some lasting damage.”

Haila thankfully did seem to catch on to this. Or at least, her instincts must have kicked in. "This world is full of good and bad. But all it takes is two sides willing to listen to try and come to an understanding. Zephyr and Bellator are different, aye. And I know I can't treat them the same way I would with an actual child or even those of my own. But just talking, guiding and trying to let them see different perspectives until they arrive to a conclusion of their own. That I believe I can do. Especially with how Bellator must feel. They made a choice and understood it wasn't the same 'good' they believed in before. It's a new side that might leave them lost or 'torn' apart on an emotional point of view."

A holographic projection couldn’t submit to a bioscan. Again Sergius found himself in that place of not knowing what intention truly lie behind a Spoken’s words. But he wasn’t a warden. Bellator and Zephyr had to learn to make decisions for themselves. The more decisions, the more data obtained. Haila’s actions, for the most part, pointed to a high likelihood that she did wish to help. “Of course. As I stated, I have a biased point of view on these things. You do too. Though biased in an entirely different direction. Countering viewpoints would be important data for them to have.” He didn’t like it, a protective subroutine rising at the thought of allowing another Spoken to damage the A11Ys in any way. But he knew it was the correct way to go. Haila wasn’t Florus. "As stated, I'll let them know they can contact you."

Haila nodded some, seemingly satisfied with this, at least for now. "I'll be waiting then." she said, not pressing more on the matter as of course, there was a lot of damage control and things to sort out among all the people that had been affected by this. Not to mention the fact that both A11Y's were also fugitives in a way, but then again, she counted as one as well.

"She isn't here to say it, so I'll deliver the message in her stead too. But Rhua was thankful for your aid. She relied a lot on her own drones when she came to Eorzea, so even one was already a huge help. It's still intact, but stuck inside my lab as of right now. I'll have to ask my son to retrieve it with the surplus of anima he has to spare now that the portals are sealed."

Rhua. Not that he’d admit it, but apparently there were still Spoken that could spark Sergius’ curiosity. Their exchanges had been brief but entertaining. And entertainment wasn’t usually a word he used in conjunction with the lot of them. “I figured out of all of them she’d be the one least likely to wreck my drone. Crific hasn’t though. So maybe my assessment protocols need a diagnostics check. I’m glad she found it useful.” Surprisingly, there was no sarcasm weighing in his voice. “Get it back to me whenever you can. I had it to spare.”

Haila nodded once more. "Aye, it'll be done. Who knows. . I may get her to actually return it in person. But only time will tell. .. I'd wish to prioritize everyone's health while I sort things out." she offered, the thoughts of her daughter's state and the urgency she had to spring into action tieing her down in this endless conflict. Not to mention that she wasn't whole yet, but that could be fixed once she was let outside of this room. And then, an ear perked briefly. "When all my " fragments" were pestering people. Could you describe what they did to you?.." she then dared ask, a topic that she hadn't covered with others yet. But that was also something concerning all on it's own.

Sergius’ eyes narrowed as he stared out at the woodland around them. “The virus?” he countered. He couldn’t decide whether to go with his first impulse, which was a profanity-ladened ‘no’ or just give in and answer the fucking question. His silence seemed to lend credence to this internal struggle. “It caused auditory and visual artifacts in my inputs. In response, I had faulty system alerts going off every damned time. Why?”

Haila fell silent at that. So it was true Sergius had been one of the many 'affected' rather than aided. Another magnificent failure on her part. But then again, she was never meant to break apart to begin with. Hells, the tomestones were messages in the works tangled with wishful thinking IN CASE something was to ever happen. But that did not change the outcome of a particular point that she knew she didn't have the time to spare investigating too much. ". ..Because I didn't 'create' it.." she admitted, or rather, she didn't record it. " 'Law' and 'Guidance', yours and Riylli's. I didn't make any records or fragmentations under those names.."

Sergius processes that bit of information. “What does that mean? That there are parts of you that you have no record of? A lapse in memory.”

Haila shook her head at that. "I have several gaps yes. But I'm able to recognize which ones they are. They're all. . 'labeled' so to speak in my head. But those, I know nothing of them-" she paused, trying to not work herself over the only lead she had. She raised her index finger for a moment, waving it around as if trying to come up with the correct words. "Can you describe to me what you saw or heard?"

“A Spoken girl…woman? Always just on the edge of my inputs. Or the sound of laughter.” he reported. “There was no source to be found. It just fucked with those systems.”

Maybe it was the way Sergius had worded, it. Or how the description was still very vague, but regardless, Haila had heard it. Of course, why wouldn't she heard it when her drone is standing right there, talking to Sergius. But to her, there was no hiding the expression of someone who had seen a bloody miracle. "And it wasn't Doppelganger either..." she muttered at first before shaking her head some. "Thank you for telling me." she added.

"Tis something I'll start sorting through when I've some spare time" . Through her end, a distant soft cry of an infant would start to be caught through the comms. "I'd love to ask some more, but if it hasn't proved to be a large problem, it'll have to wait. One last thing before I finish bothering you. ... Are Zephyr and Bellator both safe and sound as of now?.."

The entire scenario appeared to confuse the woman. Haila was rarely confused. “I can send you visual and auditory data files logged from a date when it occurred.” He offered before turning to her last question. “They are.” he stated. Though for reasons that should be clear, he did not go into specifics. “I plan on keeping it that way. Whatever that might mean down the line.”

Haila nodded, seemingly content with just that amount of information. "Please do, and continue watching over them." she dared ask despite knowing she was in no position to do so to begin with. "If you could send those data files as well I would appreciate it..." she added as she then turned to a side, it seemed something, or rather someone was being handed to her. But the node lacked the appearance data to show a projection of her newborn, thus, leaving her awkwardly holding nothingness on the node's end display. "I'll be taking my leave then. This channel will always remain secure if there's a need to contact me. If anything happens to be compromised. .. Well, I leave Rhua to find a way through. .. She knows more than me while I lack the fragment with my extra knowledge."

Sergius considers the hilarity of the odd holographic image holding nothing but air paired with the serious nature of the conversation. All tech had its limitations, apparently. He hoped to hell it was a timely reminder that though his own was considerable, it too had limits. That was better than seeing it as a shitty omen or foreshadowing. “Understood. I’ll hope it doesn’t come to that but you know our luck. Get in touch if you need anything.” He said in parting.

#ffxiv rp #balmung rp #Haila Wetyios #Atreus Sergius #the wariness they have #reminds me of peace talks

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