“So, what is it that you actually want to accomplish?” Technica, in her civilian guise as Andrea asked. We were sitting in one of the many cafes around the UN buildings, enjoying a good cup of coffee. I had decided that asking her for advice was a good idea, partially because Karen, Sophia and I had started to argue in circles and partially because my therapist had advised me to actively include Andrea in my civilian life, hypothesizing that she would most likely feel guilty for her actions, even if they had been well intended. And so, when we had met to discuss the various proposals she had sent me to read and evaluate, I had brought the question up before we got to the actual work.

The question she posed to me in response made me stop for a second, realising that I had made a fundamental error, one that a scientist should not make, even if it was not a scientific question. I had failed to clearly define the conditions and objectives of my experiment, mostly because I had not thought of it as one and did not know some of the conditions, instead I had simply acted on an instinctual directive to help Tanisha. But what did it mean, to help her?

“I see what you mean:” I muttered, laying out the known conditions and objectives in my mind.

“The foremost objective is to reduce her alcohol-consumption to a level that does not put her in danger. Getting blackout-drunk, as she does almost every week, is bad enough if we only consider the effect of the alcohol itself, without considering the potential for harm coming to her from outside sources, whether intentional from bad actors or as simple accidents. Sure, the tram-system is highly automated and safe but even something simple as a stairwell or a sidewalk might cause dangerous accidents.” I explained my reasoning, deciding that the underlying problems would continue on but did not pose an immediate threat to Tanisha.

“Have you ever heard that the first step for someone is to acknowledge that they have a problem?” Andrea asked, after nodding at my explanation.

I frowned, while I felt Galatea satisfy her curiosity, the information where the saying came from filtering into my mind, deepening my frown.

“I do not think that further religious indoctrination is what she needs. That is what got her into this mess, her family preaching to her that homosexuality is a sin, to the point that she needs to numb her feelings with drugs.” I shot back, a reflexive dislike for all things religious, especially organised religious, kicking in.

My words brought an unhappy frown to Andrea’s face, but her response was as placid as a calm lake.

“Are you certain that you are fully aware of the conditions?” she asked, stopping for a second before elaborating.

“Do you actually know that her parents indoctrinated her or are you merely projecting a dislike for Martin onto her father?” she asked, a question I had not expected. Martin, the name of my father almost cracked my poker face, while she continued.

“Communication is difficult, especially between children and parents. Most children don’t want to disappoint their parents, want to be loved and cherished. To make their parents proud. On the other hand, most parents want their children to live the best life they can, to be successful in their endeavours and don’t suffer. Believe me, no parent wants their child to suffer.” she explained, her voice getting quiet towards the end, almost breaking.

“You mean that there might simply be a misunderstanding?” I asked in return, managing to keep my voice calm.

“Maybe. We simply don’t know.” she stopped herself after a few words, before shaking her head and continuing. “In addition, immediately losing your cool, just because I said something tangentially related to religion is something you need to work on. Yes, you kept your face and voice decently well under control but not fully. I know, I pushed you into the role of my apprentice but if you accepted and have actively worked towards truly filling it. One of the most important traits in my role is to be impartial, neutral when it comes to matters of belief, no matter if we are talking about the creed of a political party or the faith of a church.” she explained, making me sit back, once again seeing that Andrea, was just as much a mask of Technica as my own black mask was one. She was still speaking with the same authority as she did when ordering the deployment of powered groups. A calm, powerful voice that was not to be denied.

“You asked me what you can do to help your friend. I’m afraid you cannot help her with her actual problems, with which I am referring to both, the excessive alcohol-consumption and the potential issues with her sexuality. If you try, you will most likely be rebuffed, maybe even losing her as a friend. The best you can do is trying to keep an eye on her so that nothing bad happens and making sure that if she ever asks you for help, you are prepared to give it. That is, in my opinion, the best you actually can do.” Andrea explained and I felt myself nod in acceptance, not happy with the state of affairs but seeing no use in arguing further.

For a few minutes, we simply sat there, enjoying our respective coffee and ordering a bowl of ice each, stracciatella for me, while Technica got a cookie-and-peanut concoction. After we both had a few spoons, she got back to the original topic.

“Now, we originally wanted to talk about the proposals I sent you. First of all, I’m once again impressed that you managed to read them as fast and formulate responses to them, especially the toughness of your responses. I tried to read them all but there simply wasn’t enough time before our meeting, so that will have to wait. I read some of them, chosen at random, and they are excellent for a private report.” she paused, a proud smile on her face.

“However, they are wholly unsuited for public consumption, especially with the time you’ve taken. The powers that be would freak out, worrying how the information was obtained and correlated.” she added. I wanted to explain where I had got the data I had used, that it was all publicly available but she continued talking before I could do so.

“Most likely the data was out there, just not put together, I know. But you need to remember that the Guild is always walking a tightrope, trying to balance our own needs, with which I’m referring to the Guild itself and the Powered it is supposed to serve and help, with the outside pressures. A common tactic to unite a people is to give them an outside enemy, it worked when Nero accused the Christians of arson, it worked when the european Chrisitans accused the Jews of all kinds of misdeeds during the middle ages and it worked when populists blamed migrants for a slew of problems some thirty years back.” she paused again for a moment, taking a spoon of ice-cream and sighing in blissful pleasure.

“We don’t ever want to present a target, there are too many interests out there that would love to eliminate the neutral party that the Guild represents. When the Guild was founded, shortly after the Second Great War, the World was a different one. Both dominant Powers thought that the Guild would hamper the other, giving them an advantage, while the Powered who fought in the Wars just wanted to be left alone. Otherwise, the Guild would never have been established with its unique combination of strict neutrality and political power coming from our affiliation with the United Nations.” she explained, partially repeating something she had told me before.

“We can’t rock the boat or we might find ourselves suddenly treading water, trying to stay afloat. That’s especially true for you, you already made some waves with the Greenes and the execution of Clark Greene. It was necessary and justified, at least in my opinion, but it made waves. And that is without going into the things you can do, you and your power are a wonderful target for any politician who wants to paint you as some nightmarish villain. Armies of robots, controlled by an omnicidal Artificial Intelligence? That’s the stuff blockbusters are written about, such wonderful material to rile a population into a frenzy.” she added with a wry smile.

Again, I wanted to argue, to tell her that neither Galatea nor I were particularly omnicidal but I knew it was futile, that she was right. A well-told lie was a lot more powerful than the truth and the best lies were those with a kernel of truth in them. It was true that my power, especially after my joining with Galatea, had incredible potential. Even as I was sitting in the cafe, eating ice-cream, I was able to control a good two dozen macro-robots working in Technica’s bunker and a few billion nanites, both within the lair and within my body. There was no reason why I would be unable to create thousands, maybe even millions of macro-robots, controlling them in a similar manner. It was just a question of computational power and correct programming.

The idea made me smile, both for the challenge and the sheer potential it brought with it.