storymasterb
Knight of RPGs
The Black Coast
Jericho thought back to the words Jaeger had spoken in the control room of Chromium’s Palace. Words about accountability. Of working towards atonement. Of being free to choose for oneself.
Would someone who valued freedom be okay deferring his fate to another? Would someone who had not finished his work forgive them if they let him die?
“The Empire does many things to the minds of its soldiers.” Jericho said. “It deadens your conscience so you will follow any order. It encourages turning a blind eye to inconvenient details while rewarding the acceptance of convenient narratives. But, perhaps most troubling of all, it makes you believe that you are nothing more than a cog in the greater machine. That your only purpose is to die to yourself so that you may willingly give all for the good of the Empire. Jaeger understood well, I think, of how valuable the sense of self was if it could survive the Empire and emerge intact. The last thing he told me to do, was to decide for myself what I would do next.”
Jericho was quiet for a moment as he looked down at Jaeger. “It is for that reason that I cannot decide his fate. And yet, at present, he is unable to decide it for himself. All I can say then is that Jaeger did not seem to me to be the sort of man who would want to let his spark go out before he was satisfied with his efforts.”
Ulysses frowned. "We should let him rest," he said softly. "He deserves it. Use the Chronicle. Heal Surrak. Let the tin--let Jaeger go."
"Did'ya listen to 'ol Rusty-saurus?" Demo scoffed. "Jaeger ain't done. He's gotta see this through."
"He is done," Ulysses said. "Only still alive by some miracle or fluke."
"Then we'd be dumb to ignore it," Demo shot back.
"It flies in the face of nature," Emmara said softly. Ulysses gestured to her as if she was agreeing with him and nodded. "No. I mean...it's odd, isn't it? That they would both be in this state? Close to death, but not dead, at the same time, in the same way?"
"Chromium..." Ulysses trailed off, then shook his head in frustration.
"You never liked Jaeger," Demo challenged. "You just wanna be rid of him."
"No," Ulysses said firmly. "That's sick."
"Oh? Then why'd ya want to let Jaeger die but were fine with bringing back Surrak?"
“Oh, would you two shut up already!” Sawyer blurted out. “You two are bickering like a pair of numemon over a fresh haul of garbage, in the meantime these two are running out of time while we prattle on.”
The Gokuwmon gulped nervously when he realized all eyes were turned to him. “Not sure how much I can speak for the metal mutt,” he gestured vaguely towards Jaeger, “but he struck me as the practical type, so maybe he wouldn’t mind carrying on the mission, even in another form.”
“Besides not every mon gets a second chance like this,” Sawyer said, his voice heavy with emotion. “Those filthmon...I grew up with them...knew many of them by name….They ain’t coming back. If I deny Jaeger and Surrak the opportunity to keep fighting, then I might as well spit on my friends’ sacrifice.”
“I’m not sure saving only one of them is even possible,” Titus spoke up softly. His golden eyes glowed with an unnatural light, as though seeing something hidden from normal sight. The dragon knight shook his head, his eyes returning to normal. “So much data is missing from both of them. It would have to be both or neither.”
"It would," Kytheon confirmed with a nod, fixing Titus with a scrutinizing look. "Valyrium could perhaps just save one or the other, but there is too much missing data to simply heal them. Valyrium would have to fill the missing spaces with something, whether by bringing them together, or by substituting data from the Realm itself."
"But they would then be tied, intrinsically to the Eternal Legion. They would not be able to exist as Realmless any longer."
"And they'd be vulnerable to any invocation of the Realmpact's authority," Emmara said.
"As long as the Legion remained within the Realmpact, yes," Kytheon nodded. Then a frown creased his features. "Words I never thought I would utter."
"I can't say I knew them well," Adirael interjected, frowning. "And I pause at the thought of forcing our decision upon them, but needs must. I don't think either of them would want such a miserable end as rotting away while the fight is far from over." It did trouble him even so, the thought of 'what if I were in their position' playing in his mind. Would he accept being mashed together with another Digimon without a word toward yay or nay?
Medraut nodded in hesitant agreement. "The Digimon Surrak and Jaeger become may well loathe us," he mused. "But if we can save them in some form, then to me it only makes sense to try." He glanced toward Goliath and Adirael caught the look, wondering what passed through the Duftmon's mind. Was it just tactical pragmatism that made him agree? He could hardly imagine it made sense in any tactical or strategic way to let soldiers fall when they could be salvaged, grim as that sounded. But then, there was that hesitation, the look toward Goliath as though seeking certainty from his commander.
The Beelzemon X could hardly pretend it was an easy decision to make, but it had to be made.
Jericho thought back to the words Jaeger had spoken in the control room of Chromium’s Palace. Words about accountability. Of working towards atonement. Of being free to choose for oneself.
Would someone who valued freedom be okay deferring his fate to another? Would someone who had not finished his work forgive them if they let him die?
“The Empire does many things to the minds of its soldiers.” Jericho said. “It deadens your conscience so you will follow any order. It encourages turning a blind eye to inconvenient details while rewarding the acceptance of convenient narratives. But, perhaps most troubling of all, it makes you believe that you are nothing more than a cog in the greater machine. That your only purpose is to die to yourself so that you may willingly give all for the good of the Empire. Jaeger understood well, I think, of how valuable the sense of self was if it could survive the Empire and emerge intact. The last thing he told me to do, was to decide for myself what I would do next.”
Jericho was quiet for a moment as he looked down at Jaeger. “It is for that reason that I cannot decide his fate. And yet, at present, he is unable to decide it for himself. All I can say then is that Jaeger did not seem to me to be the sort of man who would want to let his spark go out before he was satisfied with his efforts.”
Ulysses frowned. "We should let him rest," he said softly. "He deserves it. Use the Chronicle. Heal Surrak. Let the tin--let Jaeger go."
"Did'ya listen to 'ol Rusty-saurus?" Demo scoffed. "Jaeger ain't done. He's gotta see this through."
"He is done," Ulysses said. "Only still alive by some miracle or fluke."
"Then we'd be dumb to ignore it," Demo shot back.
"It flies in the face of nature," Emmara said softly. Ulysses gestured to her as if she was agreeing with him and nodded. "No. I mean...it's odd, isn't it? That they would both be in this state? Close to death, but not dead, at the same time, in the same way?"
"Chromium..." Ulysses trailed off, then shook his head in frustration.
"You never liked Jaeger," Demo challenged. "You just wanna be rid of him."
"No," Ulysses said firmly. "That's sick."
"Oh? Then why'd ya want to let Jaeger die but were fine with bringing back Surrak?"
“Oh, would you two shut up already!” Sawyer blurted out. “You two are bickering like a pair of numemon over a fresh haul of garbage, in the meantime these two are running out of time while we prattle on.”
The Gokuwmon gulped nervously when he realized all eyes were turned to him. “Not sure how much I can speak for the metal mutt,” he gestured vaguely towards Jaeger, “but he struck me as the practical type, so maybe he wouldn’t mind carrying on the mission, even in another form.”
“Besides not every mon gets a second chance like this,” Sawyer said, his voice heavy with emotion. “Those filthmon...I grew up with them...knew many of them by name….They ain’t coming back. If I deny Jaeger and Surrak the opportunity to keep fighting, then I might as well spit on my friends’ sacrifice.”
“I’m not sure saving only one of them is even possible,” Titus spoke up softly. His golden eyes glowed with an unnatural light, as though seeing something hidden from normal sight. The dragon knight shook his head, his eyes returning to normal. “So much data is missing from both of them. It would have to be both or neither.”
"It would," Kytheon confirmed with a nod, fixing Titus with a scrutinizing look. "Valyrium could perhaps just save one or the other, but there is too much missing data to simply heal them. Valyrium would have to fill the missing spaces with something, whether by bringing them together, or by substituting data from the Realm itself."
"But they would then be tied, intrinsically to the Eternal Legion. They would not be able to exist as Realmless any longer."
"And they'd be vulnerable to any invocation of the Realmpact's authority," Emmara said.
"As long as the Legion remained within the Realmpact, yes," Kytheon nodded. Then a frown creased his features. "Words I never thought I would utter."
"I can't say I knew them well," Adirael interjected, frowning. "And I pause at the thought of forcing our decision upon them, but needs must. I don't think either of them would want such a miserable end as rotting away while the fight is far from over." It did trouble him even so, the thought of 'what if I were in their position' playing in his mind. Would he accept being mashed together with another Digimon without a word toward yay or nay?
Medraut nodded in hesitant agreement. "The Digimon Surrak and Jaeger become may well loathe us," he mused. "But if we can save them in some form, then to me it only makes sense to try." He glanced toward Goliath and Adirael caught the look, wondering what passed through the Duftmon's mind. Was it just tactical pragmatism that made him agree? He could hardly imagine it made sense in any tactical or strategic way to let soldiers fall when they could be salvaged, grim as that sounded. But then, there was that hesitation, the look toward Goliath as though seeking certainty from his commander.
The Beelzemon X could hardly pretend it was an easy decision to make, but it had to be made.