Log 0018 - [Video]

[keeps_a_cool_head]

[Someone is in an angry sort of mood, given post-flood shenanigans. Scorpius is keeping himself relatively calm by usual standards, but he's tense and bristling when he makes his post]

I should like the permission of a warden to work in the lab today.

[All day. Because hell if he's going to deal with emotions.]



[Private to Horatio]

I believe I owe you an apology. The responsibility of my flooded self lies with me.

[Private to Stephanie]

Thank you for keeping the situation under manageable control.

Comments

Private

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

That... Sir I'm quite aware that I don't understand the full circumstances that you are describing, but may I say that I regret very much that you were raised by a people who did not think you valuable.

Would it trouble you to tell me more about where you're from?

[He doesn't mean to pry, but... okay, maybe he means to pry just a little.]

Private

[keeps_a_cool_head]

I am not your superior officer, Horatio. It may do you good to get into the practice of calling me Scorpius.

And they found me valuable as a tool for study, but until I possessed radically varied genes, I'm afraid that's all they were able to see. Surface. And it appears that my female form sacrificed mind over appearance, to her ultimate benefit.

No. That is, it would not trouble me. But only if you promise not to divulge anything I tell you to others.

Private

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

Not my superior officer perhaps, but you are my teacher. Of course I'll address you by name though, if you prefer.

She looked more like them, so they didn't feel the need to test her.

[Horatio doesn't ask if Scorpius had gone through the same 'stress tests' that had almost befallen him. That, he feels, would be pressing beyond what his curiosity can justify.]

Did you never know your family then? You were just taken?

And of course, I'll say nothing of this to anyone. You have my word.

cw; discussion of rape/sexual violence

[keeps_a_cool_head]

I prefer you to feel comfortable treating me as your equal.

[Which means knock off the Sir talk, he gets enough of that from Peacekeepers. B[ ]

Essentially, yes. Additionally, her endurance levels far outpaced my own.

[He nods, absorbing Horatio's promise as if it were something concrete. He feels as though he's always risking things, and this next encounter is placing a considerable trust on word alone.

But oddly, Scorpius finds himself wishing he had someone to trust. This is as much Horatio's test as his own.]

I never knew specifically who my father was. My mother was a Sebacean woman named Rylani Jeema Dellos.

[The name rolls off the tongue easily: Scorpius has an excellent memory]

A Sebacean, for your purposes, is essentially a human. While no older than twenty-some cycles, she and her mate journeyed in a spaceship - a Leviathan - in order to settle a new colony on the outermost regions of our territory. The ship that carried her was attacked by a Scarran Dreadnaught - a much larger foe - and she escaped in a transport pod to land on the surface of a nearby planet.

[He's told this story to a few people on the Barge before, but the emotion always hits him right at this point. There's something distantly sad in his eyes, as he recalls the past of a woman he's never met but often thought of]

She was eventually discovered not long after by the creatures who had shot down the ship, and was taken aboard their vessel. There, she - along with ninety other captured Sebacean women - were raped, imprisoned, and forced to give birth to half-breed children for the purposes of genetic experimentation.

The tests were a disaster. All of the children died with their mothers.

All except for me.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

As you wish then, Scorpius.

[Horatio stills as Scorpius talks, his expression falling into something that is very carefully and deliberately blank. It seems somehow, fundamentally unfair to let how affected he feels by hearing this show. To put any burden of his discomfort on Scorpius's shoulders, after inviting himself to a close peer at what are, essentially, the other man's childhood wounds.]

And you rebelled.

[His tone is careful. Slow and deliberate and utterly controlled.]

And now are fighting your own war against the Scarrans?

[keeps_a_cool_head]

[Scorpius likely wouldn't mind the emotion - it is the human way, after all - but he appreciates Horatio's stoicism for what it is. Oddly, it reminds him of his lieutenant's behavior. Braca was discrete, honest, and loyal: he could only hope Horatio was much the same way.]

When I was twelve. After a significantly long childhood of torture and tests.

Precisely. What they did to those dozens of Sebaceans, they will do to everyone they encounter. They are relentless.

And they must be stopped.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

[Horatio says nothing for a moment. He feels a sudden, acute relief at not being Scorpius's warden. He doesn't know how well he could argue against the morality of acts of war against a race that did such things.]

I see. And the actions you took in endeavoring to stop them are what brought you here.

For what little it is worth... I know that justice, duty, and ruthlessness are a triumvirate of necessities in times of war. Whether we will be thought of as heroes or villains for what we do is unknowable to any man who serves in it.

[keeps_a_cool_head]

[Scorpius nods, acknowledging the sincerity of Horatio's words and being grateful for it. Too often he feels he doesn't get proper recognition and he loves to feel validated. It strengthens his resolve]

I believe the reason for my being on this ship was not that my cause was unjust: only the manner with which I went about procuring it.

But had I gone through more merciful channels, I would have been dead much, much sooner. Those I've allied myself with are infamous for their lack of mercy as well.

So it is a precarious position to be in. An intricate balancing act, to which I've grown accustomed.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

It's a lot easier to be a paragon of unqualified goodness when you don't need to seek out the least of any evils.

[He frowns, thinking hard for the first time about what, exactly awaits Scorpius when he graduates.]

Do you believe that a better way to fight them could exist? One where you can afford not to harm those who stumble blindly into your path?

[keeps_a_cool_head]

An insightful observation. Unfortunately, I am not so creative as to find the least evil path: only the quickest. In war, this may be essential.

[He allows time to think over the question, the same idea behind it clearly having bothered him for some while]

...Perhaps, given unlimited resources. The trouble is working within the frame I have been given.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

Perhaps that's why you were brought here, then? To... broaden the frame for you. To give you the time, and perhaps the tools to find a better path?

[Because as a punishment, it doesn't seem entirely right, to him. Not for doing your duty.]

[keeps_a_cool_head]

It's an encouraging thought, but..no. I am far too ruthless and ambitious to be allowed to live. That is the long and short of it.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

If that was true, S-- Scorpius, what do you believe you have been brought here for?

[keeps_a_cool_head]

Allowing the ends to justify the means.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

No, I mean... what end have you been brought here to fulfill? What outcome do you think The Admiral is pursuing in you, if you are too ruthless and dangerous to ever live again?

[keeps_a_cool_head]

I haven't the faintest idea. I believe the Admiral's will may be truly unknowable, but I have my doubts that he does these things out of a perceived kindness. Perhaps he sought fit to remove and remake me into someone less bloodthirsty, thus ensuring a doom for my galaxy. Or perhaps he did it on a whim, out of boredom. I doubt he has any allegiance except to himself.

In that, we may be..quite similar.

[sssiiiiirrrrr]

Perhaps. Then, I suppose all that remains is for me to ask what you intend to do about it?

Of course, you can't give up if you see your only choices as remaining the same, or permitting such creatures control of the universe?

[keeps_a_cool_head]

Not at all.

I suppose I'll learn about the Barge, while I'm here. I'm curious to know how it travels through time and space at will; whether it's on a whim, or whether there is purpose to the journey and direction.