08:45 Wednesday, March 6, CE 0

After Tia Monsalle’s initial speech and Dr. Cane’s confrontation, she left the stage to allow for the learned scholars and other leaders to start taking their turns. She joined Hawthorne and Evelyn in the crowd before the stage while merchants argued with an idealistic professor behind and above them. She found it somewhat difficult to concentrate on that, though, as she was dragged almost to the ground by the enthusiastic hug of Evelyn around her neck and shoulders. “Oof!” She seemed especially surprised as synthetic lips kissed at her cheek. “Gah!”

“Eve, you’re choking her, calm down, you’re almost twice her weight.” Hawthorne laughed as he helped peel his wife off of Tia, only briefly flinching as a slap landed across his back from Eve.

Evelyn’s android merely looked annoyed while her avatar had her cheeks puffed up at first, but as she turned back to Tia she bit her lip and dipped her head. “I’m sorry Tia! I was just so happy to hear how you were defending Mother and I up there. It means a lot to me that you’d do that after everything that’s happened. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you. Thank you so much.”

Tia coughed softly, stretching her shoulders and back a little to make sure she hadn’t been hurt. “It feels like I’m talking to total strangers every time I talk to you two. What happened to that sober, emotionless AI I used to ask for directions around the Ark? What happened on that ship, I wonder…?” She shook her head, sighing. “Anyway, you’re welcome, I wasn’t about to let that blowhard play this from the assumption that you two weren’t people. Even if I might need a little more convincing, I prefer to assume you are and allow myself to be proven wrong rather than the inverse. Innocent until proven guilty.”

Evelyn nodded emphatically at that while Hawthorne replied, hugging the android around the shoulders. “Thank you, you didn’t have to do that, but I’m glad to hear it. It took me a long time to believe completely, if I’m honest. There was definitely a point where I changed from just hoping she could be a person to knowing that she was. I had to grow a lot before I could recognize it. In a lot of ways she got there before I did.”

Tia and Evelyn spoke almost identically in concert. “You already were a person.” They blinked at each other, and Evelyn bounced a bit as she pointed out at Tia. “Jinx!”

Tia groaned as she lightly slapped a hand to her own face, her eyelids fluttering as she rolled them. “Act your age, woman.” She shook her head as she recomposed herself. “We’re missing the convention. I don’t want to spend all night reading a transcript.” She looked down at her phone. “We missed four challenges already!”

Hawthorne and Evelyn looked at their phones as well, though Evelyn’s was just a simulated projection as they gasped in confirmation at Tia’s statement. They all looked up onto the stage. Three people stood there, but the AR display above them showed five people barely taking turns speaking.

The stage held two women, and one man, but the projection showed three men and the two women. On the stage was a tall, bronze skinned brunette with a slender build and mediterranean features. The projection especially emphasized her large, brown eyes as she argued her points vociferously. She wore a light blue dress that clung to her hips and left her arms and lower legs visible, showing off a number of small tattoos. The projection identified her as User 1244, Maribelle Giambini.

The male on the stage was a shorter, darker, squatter man with a chubby face, stocky body and distinctly african features. His hair was short, black and slicked back. He had blue eyes and a friendly expression as he stood close to Maribelle wearing a dress shirt and slacks. He was the very image of mildly professional, and seemed like he specifically avoided gesticulating when he spoke to appear non threatening. The projection identified him as User 0893, Ross Fitzgerald.

The other woman on the stage, who stood in opposition to the other two, was none other than Dr. Heather O’Malley. The short brunette’s long, thick hair was pulled back into a ponytail down her back, her brown eyes glaring at the other two. Her waifish figure was partially obscured by her professional looking lab coat. Her projection identified her accurately as User 0003 Dr. Heather O’Malley.

The other two were mere projected heads for the moment as they appeared to the sides of the confronting people on the stage, but the two men appeared to be walking while they talked. The first man had a hard, chiseled face with dark skin and indian features. The top of his head was concealed in a perfectly white cloth wrapped about in a sturdy fashion almost a foot tall. Small, metal, paired sword emblems were attached to the front of this dastar. He had a long, thick, very well kempt, black beard. The projection identified him as User 0097, former Captain Akalbir Mankaran of the United Kingdom Special Reconnaissance Regiment.

The final man had a pale complexion, with black hair and a well shaven face. He had a caucasian complexion, and seemed reasonably fit and probably older than the four others. There were streaks of grey in his hair, but his expression and brown eyes showed a keen intellect. He appeared as though he’d arrive at the stage before Captain Mankaran, as the Captain should have been easier to spot considering his headwear. The projection identified him as User 0944, Dr. Wilfred Coff.

Tia, Hawthorne, and Evelyn were definitely catching the conversation mid argument, with Dr. Coff speaking first. “We are more civilized than to need any manner of weaponry. This venture is an opportunity to have a branch of humanity that does not war amongst itself, that does not know armed conflict with one another. We can trust in the military and police for protection in an emergency, but we need not allow or encourage weaponry among the people. We are the best and brightest that humanity had to offer, and we need not wolves around the sheep,as well as among them.”

Maribelle shook her head, groaning. “Listen old man, you’ve spent too much time in ivory towers and in schools. Have you ever served in the military or worked as a police officer? I have. No matter how ideal you want to be, there will always be criminals. They may not be among those assembled here, but someone, someday will commit a crime. They might be us, our children, or our grandchildren, but eventually we’ll be unable to keep it from happening. We will all be safer if everyone knows that someone might be able and willing to defend themselves. Why would you rob someone if you know they might be armed?”

Ross nodded with her. “And even if we were to be able to stop criminals from ever having weapons, that wouldn’t stop people from robbing or attacking people. Almost anything can be a weapon. One of Miss Giambini and I’s employees could easily take a knife from the kitchen and use it to attack someone. I don’t have any reason to expect it to happen, but why would anyone ever have done it to begin with? We’re dealing with humans here.”

Heather laughed, interrupting Dr. Coff’s attempt at responding. “I’ve sewn up more wounds than I could possibly count. I’ve reattached precious things people never imagined they’d lose. I’ve seen trauma patients of almost every conceivable kind. If we could reduce the number of people I see in my hospital by keeping people from having the weapons to do that kind of damage, I’ll be happy. I’d much rather deal with bruises, scrapes, and the like rather then stabs, slashes, bullet holes, or anything of the sort. Leave the weapons to the police, we don’t need them.”

Wilfred Coff joined them on the stage, moving to stand near Heather, coughing slightly to cover a chuckle. He seemed to be physically average in just about every way. He was taller than all but Maribelle so far, but had nothing physically imposing about him. His narrow shoulders and slender limbs made it look like that Ross could easily squish him if he tried. His professional suit and thick glasses did not help that impression. “Indeed, the young woman has the right of- oof!” He grasped at his side briefly as Heather lightly elbowed him. “My apologies Doctor O’Malley, I did not mean to disparage your age, I meant to emphasize mine. Regardless, her points are valid, and certainly desirable.”

Maribelle scoffed. “No one is here questioning whether a person’s opinions are desirable. I totally understand why she feels that way as well, but the reason for the wounds she had to deal with are not because of weapons. They’re because of people. We need to change how people are brought up, how they think about solving their problems. They need to be taught to talk things out rather than let conflicts come to blows. I don’t want people to have the right to bear arms to allow them to hurt each other, I want them to be able to protect themselves from the monsters that humanity can become.”

“Right! Surely you can understand that, Doctor Coff.” Ross stuffed his hands in his pockets, his arms tensed in a desire to point at the other man. “You’ve dealt with those monsters back on Earth. They’re a natural byproduct of humanity, of people who do not recognize their own damaged psyches and seek help. I don’t know all the specifics, but it’s them we should be worrying about, not guns. Weapons are just tools. They’re not inherently evil. If you were really worried about weapons and inherently dangerous things, then we could talk about how Mother could easily blow all our air out the airlock if she were ever inclined to. Does that mean she will? Of course not.”

Heather grumbled a bit at that, but spoke loud enough to be heard since she knew the conferencing software would amplify her voice whether she liked it or not. “I can agree with that at least, Mother would never do that. She wouldn’t need guns to hurt us at all.”

Ross laughed a bit, but coughed to try and control himself. “Absolutely. We should ensure things like assault, murder, and negligence are illegal, not weapons. Actions are what matter, not tools.”

“Temptation is the question here.” Doctor Coff straightened his back and squared his shoulders, trying to look imposing. “Weapons tempt the hearts of men and women to evil, even if they are not the cause. They stir the imagination, and while fantastical imagery and recreational gaming have been shown to reduce aggression, it remains that no one can be shot if there is no guns present. I think Doctor O’Malley would agree with me that knife wounds would be very much preferable to gun wounds. If someone is going to try to kill someone, surely you would rather they have to look them straight in the eyes to do it? Firing a weapon at someone from a distance takes the human factor out of it, makes it easier.”

Making his way to the stage, Captain Akalbir Mankaran hopped effortlessly near Wilfred. He was technically shorter than Wilfred, but his headwear more than made up the difference. Akalbir was powerfully built, wearing simple blue robes that held tight to his shoulders and biceps. Hints of cotton pants could be seen above his sturdy boots. He moved his hands in a flash, drawing a hooked knife and moving to hold it a foot away from Wilfred’s neck. “You are fools! Educated, yet stupid. You speak of wolves and sheep, but do not understand the value of dogs among the flock.”

“Oh my god.” Evelyn was staring up at the stage with wide eyes as Akalbir brandished his weapon.

“What is that idiot doing?” Tia watched on, interested in where this was going. They might have to test the legislature sooner rather than later.

Hawthorne held off for a moment. He knew everyone on stage relatively well, and was not as concerned as Tia and Eve. “Would it be in bad taste to say he’s trying to make a point?”

He received glares from them both in response.

Akalbir continued while he had everyone’s attention, shouting to the crowd in a thick Indian British accent. “There are already dogs among us! Whatever our decisions in this convention we will protect you, but you need to give us the tools to do so. Criminals will not follow your laws to prevent them from having weaponry. You can make murder illegal, and criminals will still kill. You can make theft illegal, and criminals will still steal. If you make weapons illegal, then only the criminals will have weapons. Do not make the dogs who wish to protect you criminals as well. Not all must have weapons, but only by having weapons can we defend those who do not.”

None seemed willing to challenge him yet. “Think on vaccinations! There are people who are too frail and weak to get such vaccinations, but because the rest of us get them, those weak ones do not need fear getting the diseases the rest of us are protected from. It is a herd immunity, a way to protect those who cannot protect themselves. We must allow weaponry to be in the hands of those willing to risk their lives to protect the weak. Do not make this mistake. Our right to bear arms will make all men and women equal, big or small. It will allow us to defend from a corrupt government should it come into being.”

Heather tried to get a word in, “But-”. Akalbir pointed the knife at her instead. A collective gasp filled the crowd once again.

“No! You listen! You are a small, weak woman. You very likely could be killed by any of us on this stage with bare hands. You have no leverage, no weight, no strength to defend yourself properly. If you had a gun, you would be equal in all these things, stronger even if the rest of us did not have a gun. No human is exactly the same as another. Weapons can make us equal. If you wish to speak of the ideology of our intellects, of us being the best and brightest, then trust that we will have the wisdom to do good with weapons rather than fear we will not. We can train, we can practice, we can have rules about their use, but do not take them all together.”

He slipped the weapon back into his robes, clearing his throat. “Besides, with our technology, you could not completely stop a criminal from making any weapon he or she needed. Wolf or sheep.” He proceeded to walk over to Maribelle and Ross, with both of them taking turns to shake the soldier’s hand.

Doctor Coff looked rattled, the older man falling to his knees with trembling hands. He looked up at Heather, who stared after Captain Mankaran. She looked down to Coff, walking around in front of him and offering a hand. She had a smirk on her face. “Well, I’m convinced, how about you… old man?”

He took Heather’s hand, watching her struggle to help him up as he stood. He looked up at Akalbir, looking away when he realized those powerful eyes were staring back at him. It took him a moment, but after a quick glance at Heather, he looked back to Akalbir again. They both started crossing the stage to join them.

Hawthorne nodded, mostly to himself. He made sure to give all the participants a good rating. They seemed to have covered as many points as he could hope for on the topic. “Point made.”

Evelyn and Tia groaned. “I wish I could give you a zero star rating for these puns.” Tia retorted.

Evelyn looked up at Tia, blinking. “Has he always done that? He didn’t do that with me very much.”

Tia shook her head. “No, thank god. The problem is he always seemed compelled to do it around me, like he knows it bothers me or something.”

Looking back to Hawthorne, Evelyn gave him a questioning look, to which he responded with a shrug. “I just blurted it out, I couldn’t help it. I totally forgot I even did that around you. I’m sorry.”

Shaking her head, Tia sighed. “It’s fine, just don’t teach that to our kid, or I might be going on trial for our station’s first murder.” She still had another 8 months in her pregnancy, and she didn’t want to spend it in a cell.

Earth, After Cataclysm 99677

“Scalpel.” Doctor Elena Price was wrapped in scrubs, latex gloves on her hands and a mask over her face. Her right hand was outstretched, a robotic arm depositing a tool in her hand. It looked superficially like a pen, a small prism at the tip. On the table was a large man, various tubes and wires hooked up to him as machinery monitored him. She had already opened him up, stainless steel implements holding open his abdominal cavity while the other doctor waited for her to cut. The patient had a large, black, metal spike run straight through his torso, with small spines protruding from it that clearly seemed to continue into the abdominal meat it had pierced.

Elena started cutting around the wound, the tool projecting a fine laser, the other doctor attending to any blood with a tube that supplied suction as she worked to free the spike from his body. An overhead robotic limb held it steady in case it came loose. “How the hell does someone think they can get in a fight with an Ironback? He’s lucky he only got impaled once.”

A male doctor grunted, shaking his head, his features almost entirely obscured by the scrubs and mask. He had a gruff voice and blue eyes. “He was inebriated. We had to be careful with our anesthetization to avoid interactions with his drugs. Alcohol and psilocybin. The Ironback said he was yelling something about a demon, about a man eating demon. As if such a thing would be allowed to exist. He must have thought the Ironback was something else.”

“Pff… a bigot and an idiot…” Elena kept her movements totally steady, her hand carefully moving to cut. It was a simple process for her at this point. Cut, bleed, clean, repeat. “He doesn’t seem like a local, either. Where did he come from?” Had people already started coming back from the new colonies? She’d been out of office for more than a decade, so her access to information was restricted to the news like everyone else.

The male doctor responded, shrugging as he spoke. “He had a weird accent. The friend that brought him in said he came back from the Asian colonies. I’ve never really seen skin color or features like this though.” He looked up at the man’s face, a mask providing air for him as they worked.

Elena restrained her laugh to a soft ‘hah!’ as she heard that. “Oh, he’s Asian alright then. Sounds like the colonists found locals. I wonder why we haven’t been told yet? This guy looks like the southeast Asians from my youth, before the Cataclysm.” She pulled the laser scalpel back, looking up at the other doctor. “Other survivors. Probably the first we’ve found. I bet he heard the stories about the Iron Roaches from the Phoenix Clan days and thought the Ironbacks were them.”

The male doctor groaned, tilting his head back. “So he only got part of the story. I’ll have to find him a book on the topic for him to read while he’s in recovery.” He reached out to dab a towel on Elena’s forehead.

“Thanks.” She nodded, leaning back in to get to work. “Don’t bother getting him a book though. Idiot obviously didn’t take the time to read enough before he jumped to conclusions. Just tell him the Ironbacks aren’t the Iron Roaches, that they came about from the Chloropoids that ate the Iron Roaches. It’s simple enough if he understands how the Anthropoids absorb DNA. Fuck, the idiot probably doesn’t even know what DNA is. Best to try to keep things as simple with him as possible.”

“Almost done, we’ll be able to start extraction soon. Don’t be prejudiced about their people, Doctor Price.” He reached into the cavity to pull at the reddish, pink flesh to give Elena a better angle. She almost had to put her whole face into the man’s guts to properly see the delicate cut between an artery and nerve.

“Two millimeters from hitting something that would have killed him or paralyzed him partially.” She completed the incision and pulled back, looking up at the overhead arm. “Begin extraction in four seconds, slowly.” The two doctors held the wound open manually as the arm started pulling the heavy, iron spike out of the man. She looked back up at the other doctor. “I’ll try, but this is a terrible first impression. I can only imagine them being stupid has something to do with why we haven’t been informed yet. They’re probably trying to educate them. This one probably didn’t do enough reading.”

The other doctor laughed, his expression softening as he looked across at Elena. “I can’t imagine what it must be like for them. They meet these new people, and they’re all so different from them. Four kinds of Anthropoids, other humans of lots of different colors, it must have been incredibly strange. Frightening even.” He waited quietly as the spike was totally removed, looking down to inspect the wound. “Nice and clean, looks like we’ll be able to close him up ahead of schedule. Wanna get dinner?”

Elena gasped softly, staring across at him. “Doctor Tetch, I’m literally over three thousand times your age.”

His cheeks lifted his mask, smiling underneath. “And you’re only getting more impressive with age, Elena. I’ve always been told you miss every shot you don’t take.” He started helping her close up the Indian, their gloved hands using tools to sew and seal him back up, making sure to keep everything sanitary and not drop anything into his body cavity.

She let out a sigh. “I know the man who put that line in the curriculum, and he would be very angry with me for saying no after you quoted it. Sure, I could eat.” She shook her head, smiling as she remembered her friend Vasille Tzen. Unlike herself, who moved from job to job a dozen times per century, Vasille had strictly remanded himself to security, policing, military, and education jobs. He was the Old One she most expected to have died by now, but his rigorous training and sharp wits proved up to the task of thousands of years of danger.

It didn’t hurt that he was much more prolific than she was, and typically had a large number of his children and grandchildren working with him. She was very pessimistic about having children these days, as they lived more than long enough to come to hate their parents eventually. Walt still hadn’t shared a holiday meal with her since the death of his wife and her friend. She’d outlive him, for sure.

Looking at Doctor Tetch though, she wondered if she might not give it another shot. He wasn’t intimidated by her age or myriad of skills. He might even be attracted by them. Surely with as much experience as she had she could make being a mother work this time. She found herself wistfully imagining raising another child, forgetting what a pain it could be.

“All done.” Dr. Tetch patted a hand gently on the man’s chest, smiling across at Elena again.

She looked startled to realize they had indeed finished. Her hands had just been doing what was needed while she got lost in thought. She’d been a surgeon on and off more than a hundred times, and the muscle memory was as sharp as ever. Only the technology changed. “Wash up, I’ll see you in twenty.”