Yulai VIII, Moon 10 - CONCORD Logistic Support Station
15.01.YC118Seshet Akanagan of the Inner Circle Response Management office paced anxiously in front of the office of Chief Operative Tatoh Okkamon. The elderly Civre woman was not known for her good graces and Seshet was about to dump a steaming load on her desk. He clutched his hand terminal nervously as he waited for the stern looking Intaki secretary to wave him forward.
Seshet chewed his nails. This was all his fault, he could have ordered the removal of 92149662 months ago. But he had waited, stayed his hand, and when he was finally pushed to make the call, it was too late to have any effect.
The office door slid open with a soft metallic grinding that somehow managed to be ominous despite its mundanity.
"Director Okkamon will see you now." The secretary said without looking up from her paperwork.
Seshet took a deep breath and slipped a hand into his pocket. The dispenser looked like one that might contain mints, but the tiny disks were powerful stimulants and focusing agents, designed and honed through decades of use by national intelligence agencies. The Amarrian agent let the pill dissolve in his mouth as the world exploded into detail.
Everything grew crisp and sharp as Seshet's eyes narrowed. He noticed the streaks of grey in senior undersecretary Elia EnMurial's auburn bun. With his suddenly perfect memories, he knew the Intaki reborn woman would turn 47 this year.
The senior agent for the Inner Circle Response Management Office strode confidently forward into the brightly lit office. His ears popped as he passed through the privacy field and nodded to the senior operative, who was seated behind her glasstopped smartdesk. Seshet clasped his hands in front of his waist and stood quietly, waiting to be addressed.
Tatoh Okkamon glanced up from the screens embedded in her desk just long enough to make eye contact, then quickly averted her eyes.
"What can I do for you Seshet?" She said, continuing to write a letter using a stylus.
"We need to talk about 92149662. There's been an...incident." Seshet plugged his hand terminal into the desk, a capsuleer profile sprung into existence, floating in midair between the two inner circle members.
CONCORD DED Public Capsuleer Datasheet
Name: Saede Riordan Sgathiach
DED Callsign: Saede Riordan
Blood Type: AB+
Age: 28
Height: 1.7m (5'8")
Weight:51.7kg (114lbs)
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Gold
Political Alignment: Transhumanist
Date of Birth: 09.14.YC89
Place of Birth:Iddiserigard, Skarkon II
Employment History:Extinction Protocol, Sebiestor Tribe, Alexylva Paradox
Status: Wanted Criminal
DED Charges:
> Illegal destruction of DED Vessels
> Unlawful aggression of military forces - Amarr Empire
> Unlawful aggression of military forces - Khanid Kingdom
> Unlawful aggression of military forces - Ammatar Mandate
> Unlawful aggression of military forces - Caldari State
> Murder of DED Personnel
> Destruction of property - CONCORD
> Destruction of property - Amarr Empire
> Destruction of property - Minmatar Republic
> Murder of noncombatants - Assorted
> Terrorism - Amarr Empire
> Terrorism - Minmatar Republic
> Espionage - Amarr Empire
> Piracy - Assorted
DED Threat Assessment: Severe
Notes: Pilot espouses anti-concord speech and revolutionary rhetoric. Pilot has destroyed CONCORD DED Swat vessels on repeated occasions and shows no qualms about firing without seeming provocation. Pilot should be treated as armed and dangerous at all times.
Personality Assessment: Pilot seemingly shows compassion and expresses a desire to improve the world, even if it means tearing down social institutions. Pilot claims to act out of kindness and love of humanity. Pilot's actions seem to be promoted by political extremism and she has expressed willingness to violate numerous concord protocols.
Physical Assessment: Pilot has openly declared the fact that she has multiple clones of herself active at once. Physical attributes between clones vary too widely to be useful. Assume pilot is armed at all times and approach with caution.
"Okay." Tatoh Okkamon said flatly. "So what's the urgent problem with troublemaker #2899?" Her eyes slid back towards her half finished letter and she resumed her writing.
Seshet drew in a breath before continuing. "This is obviously only the public data, things the pilot in question has admitted to on the intergalactic summit, or through her colony's newsfeeds."
"Her colony?" The director said, raising an eyebrow.
Seshet cleared his throat and slid his hand through the hologram. The sensors in the smartdesk detected his hand and slid to the next
page in the presentation. "92149662 and the corporation she founded in June of YC114 currently occupy a class 2 system in Anoikis which they have dubbed Origin and began colonizing. It has five million inhabitants and is growing steadily."
Tatoh Okkamon set her stylus down and rubbed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. "I gather you're going somewhere specific with this?"
Seshet nodded. "I am. I'm sorry if it seems I'm being longwinded, I just want to make sure you have all the needed background..." He trailed off as the director began making a motion with her hand for him to get on with it. "We've been tracking Riordan at level 2 for a while now, since she posted some media that we believed might indicate she was willing to violate our omega-15 protocols. Not only did she prove to publicly flaunt
that concord policy with her issuance of personhood to a few thousand androids grown off rogue drone embryos, but she
also publicly admitted to operating multiple clones at the same time. On the intergalactic summit no less."
For the first time during the meeting, Tatoh Okkamon locked eyes with the concord agent, fixing him with a gaze that managed to be unsettlingly penetrating even with focus drugs coursing through Seshet's system. "Agent Akanagan, your department has authority to terminate capsuleers deemed to be overstepping bounds. You shouldn't need to bring this to me. You could have acted on this months ago. If this is an attempt by Response Management to strong arm more funding out of the Inner Circle then you'll be
sorely disappointed."
Seshet held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Director, please, its nothing like that. Here, look." He quickly slid to the next page in the slideshow. "We sent a standard cease and desist mail to 92149662 as per protocol. This was the reply our office received."
Hello there,
My name is Doctor Constance Rue of Origin. I am writing today as a diplomatic envoy of Origin, specifically on the behalf of Systems Coordinator Saede Riordan. As a Diplomatic Coordinator I have full legal authority to negotiate with foreign national governments, as dictated by article 19, section 7 of the Exodus Charter.
As you might imagine, this mail was triggered by the cease and desist letter Saede received from your office earlier today. Looking at the things Saede is claiming to have done, I cannot say this was an unforeseen confrontation.
I do not know who will read this letter, I assume it will be bounced around between departments and passed from underling to superior while someone figures out what to do about it. Take your time. I want you to truly understand what I am saying here, as the result of this correspondence will be of the utmost import.
First, I must unfortunately set the tone that this message will follow. Coordinator Riordan is the leader of Origin, and any actions taken against her by CONCORD will be seen as a declaration of hostilities between CONCORD and the Origin Colonial Authority.
Origin wishes no ill will upon the citizens of New Eden and merely wishes to be left in peace to pursue our vision of human destiny. And yet despite our peace loving nature, CONCORD comes along to tell us that what we are doing is wrong and illegal, and threatening the life of our leader if we do not conform to your wishes.
You want us to destroy all but one body of every citizen in Origin who has become a Multiple. If that is not murder then it is certainly approaching it, and it shows a sociopathic disregard for the wishes of the citizenry.
You want us to revoke the rights of our sentient machines and have them killed. You want us to commit genocide. Of course you do not see it that way, machines cannot be people under CONCORD law.
I must state in as strong terms as possible that Origin will not submit to these demands, especially not at the point of a gun. Who are you to make these judgments of us? Origin is not a member of the CONCORD Charter and does not submit to your authority. Your demands are barbaric and cruel, representing the worst parts of the human race, the things we fled New Eden to escape from. To say it is in poor taste would be putting it very lightly indeed.
All that being said, we truly wish no animosity between ourselves and CONCORD, and are perfectly willing to negotiate a tolerable compromise. I am prepared to offer the following concessions on the part of the Origin Colonial Authority.
At no time will a sentient machine person be allowed out of Origin into Known Space.
At no point will a multiple capsuleer operate more then one capsule at a time.
We would also like to offer to build an embassy on behalf of CONCORD in Foundation, our capital. This embassy will allow a permanent line of communication between Origin and the Known Space powers. Any further concerns, warnings, or issues, should be brought to myself via the embassy, not handed down to our pilots directly.
I hope we will be able to work together and achieve great things.
Dr. Constance Rue, Diplomatic Coordinator
Alexylva Paradox, Origin Colonial Authority
"What." Okkamon said with a shake of her head. "What is this? Do they seriously think their toy government can negotiate their way around some of our most serious regulations?"
"Well actually Director..." Seshet said nervously, his voice failing as Okkamon skewered him with a piercing gaze.
"Seshet tell me you didn't..." She said rubbing the bridge of her nose again.
"We agreed to her terms and established a three person embassy team in Origin. We also managed to get the concession that only one body per multiple will be allowed into Known Space at a time." The agent sighed, deflating. "We thought it was the best course of action. We didn't want to create hostility between CONCORD and an otherwise peaceful independent colony."
The director sighed and pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead. "So you agreed to all their terms and you never shut down Riordan or otherwise impeded any of their illegal activity."
"With respect ma'am, they make the argument that Anoikis is not a part of CONCORD jurisdiction, and that we don't have the authority to tell them what they can and can't do. Their reply whenever we accuse them of breaking CONCORD law is that they're obeying all local laws and don't consider themselves subject to CONCORD rules."
"We should never have let things go so far that a one system colony with a few capsuleers protecting it is able to flaunt CONCORD regulation so thoroughly." Okkamon said. "You should have known better then to play their games. You should have terminated Riordan and smacked down these upstarts months ago."
"I know ma'am, that's a failing on my part." Seshet scratched the side of his head. "I let them talk me into treating them like a government, instead of what they are. A random collection of pirates, vagabonds, and criminals." He sighed. "It gets worse."
Okkamon shook her head. "You sure know how to lay on the good news."
"We agreed to the terms, worked with the Origin Colonial Authority for almost a year, and hammered out some basic treaties to ensure everyone was somewhat happy. It was fine until they broke the treaty. There was an incident involving an exploration ship piloted by Riordan going missing. They activated another clone of her, and got her into the pod, and then the exploration ship re-appeared. They shut down the second pod within a few hours, but we still picked it up. They broke their own agreements and had Riordan piloting two capsules at once."
"And what was your response to this? Not more hand holding and playing nice with I hope?" Okkamon raised an eyebrow and reclined in her office chair.
"We immediately tried to force terminate her pod connection and cause a clone transfer. We were hoping when the pod blew and transferred her clone, we would be able to get custody of it before she got back to Anoikis. That's where things went really wrong though. That's why I'm here now." Seshet took another breath. "The control commands were completely ignored by Riordan's pod. I've had three people trying to terminate her for a week, but she's managed to completely shut down our overrides."
Seshet now had the director's full attention. Her stylus sat forgotten on her desk. "She turned off our controls? How is that possible?"
"I don't know, but if this gets out, we lose control. Completely, utterly, and finally. Capsuleers will be running amok, bombarding cities in highsec, fighting off our rapid response forces. We're looking at a potential total loss of control over the capsuleer class if Riordan publishes the hacks she performed on her pod. And to twist the knife further, Origin contacted us a few days ago asking us to stop trying to terminate Riordan and threatening to go public with the pod hacks if we didn't." Having finally gotten the entire story out, Seshet seemed to deflate, as if the information in his head had been holding him in shape. "So what do we do?"
Director Okkamon sighed, "Well, you've managed to dig yourself this hole, and now we're forced to lie in it." She rubbed the bridge of her nose again. "They've got us effectively over a barrel. We can't risk them releasing that information."
"So we should keep negotiating with them then?" Seshet asked.
"You should have never negotiated with them in the first place, but you know that. At this point though, its all we can do. We can't terminate Riordan, if we sent a fleet into Origin they'd probably release the data out of fear right then and there." The director moved her hands through the holographic screen on her desk, banishing the letter from Constance Rue. "Stop trying to terminate Riordan, ask them what it will take to extract a promise to never release the pod hacks. Make sure that never gets out. If it does, then Riordan becomes the least of our worries."
"I'll have it seen to at once director." Seshet nodded rapidly.
"Good. And another thing Seshet? You ever let things go anywhere near this far again, and you will be looking for a new job."
"Oh of course." Seshet fumbled over the words. "I'll see to it right away."
"Now get out of my office." The director said as she picked up her stylus again. Seshet quickly turned and fled the room before Okkamon could change her mind about not firing him on the spot.
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Topic: We need to talk about 92149662 (Read 913 times)