Post by Iulia Iotapa on Jun 3, 2019 3:41:10 GMT -8
Iulia mulls one of the Vizier’s words over in her mind. Terrorist. It fits well enough, that was, after all, the intended goal of the attack on the Midnight Sun. There was no purpose aside from creating and spreading fear. And how better to do that than sowing uncertainty and apprehension? If this terrorist could strike once and fade away without a trace, they could do it again.
What is said next rocks the Investigator silently in her chair. She sets aside the utter butchering of her surname and leans forward as the elderly woman on the other side of the titanic desk drones on.
The first impulses are to laugh, outline the rigid procedural mechanisms in place binding Investigators to their positions, or walk out of the room. None of these were mutually exclusive courses of action. Instead, Iulia sits back in her chair slowly and thinks.
It had been brash impulse that saw Iulia removed from the Foreign Service by Empress Naoki herself. At that time, whatever thoughts came to her mind Iulia thoughts she said, and said quite well. There is no shortage of deft wit in the short woman’s mind. And that wit had disgraced her once.
The Guard had offered the chains of duty to her. By binding herself to protecting Isra and bringing justice to all her citizens, Investigator Iotapa had found peace and purpose. Fettered to the oath she took, Iulia was content. Yet she had pledged herself and her life to the Isran Empire, not this duplicitous woman sitting so sumptuously in her posh office.
“I’m afraid that I must decline this position, Vizier. There is simply no way I can drop all of the cases I currently have. It may sound boastful, but no one else can work them aside from me.”
Iulia stands to her full height, all five feet of it, and stares over top of her glasses at the Imperial Vizier. The crushing sense of inequality between the two women slips away slightly in Iulia’s mind as she presses forward in speaking.
“I would be going against orders from my supervisors, as well as betraying the oath I took to The Guard if I deserted my post. I am happy to work with you and your office, Imperial Vizier. Your plan is dearly important to securing peace in our Empire, and I will do my best to help you however I may within the confines of my station. I am yours to command, but not to possess.”
Iulia remains standing.
“By your leave, Imperial Vizier, I must return to The Square.”
What is said next rocks the Investigator silently in her chair. She sets aside the utter butchering of her surname and leans forward as the elderly woman on the other side of the titanic desk drones on.
The first impulses are to laugh, outline the rigid procedural mechanisms in place binding Investigators to their positions, or walk out of the room. None of these were mutually exclusive courses of action. Instead, Iulia sits back in her chair slowly and thinks.
It had been brash impulse that saw Iulia removed from the Foreign Service by Empress Naoki herself. At that time, whatever thoughts came to her mind Iulia thoughts she said, and said quite well. There is no shortage of deft wit in the short woman’s mind. And that wit had disgraced her once.
The Guard had offered the chains of duty to her. By binding herself to protecting Isra and bringing justice to all her citizens, Investigator Iotapa had found peace and purpose. Fettered to the oath she took, Iulia was content. Yet she had pledged herself and her life to the Isran Empire, not this duplicitous woman sitting so sumptuously in her posh office.
“I’m afraid that I must decline this position, Vizier. There is simply no way I can drop all of the cases I currently have. It may sound boastful, but no one else can work them aside from me.”
Iulia stands to her full height, all five feet of it, and stares over top of her glasses at the Imperial Vizier. The crushing sense of inequality between the two women slips away slightly in Iulia’s mind as she presses forward in speaking.
“I would be going against orders from my supervisors, as well as betraying the oath I took to The Guard if I deserted my post. I am happy to work with you and your office, Imperial Vizier. Your plan is dearly important to securing peace in our Empire, and I will do my best to help you however I may within the confines of my station. I am yours to command, but not to possess.”
Iulia remains standing.
“By your leave, Imperial Vizier, I must return to The Square.”