>>5296826Let’s talk shop, then." You say, patching Julia, Dorian, and Amara in on the conversation through their Commlings.
Your words prompt Vector to lift their legs from the ground, crossing them as the ethereal being assumes a lotus pose mid-air, gentle tracks of vermilion lightning arcing between them and the terrain beneath, intent on your forthcoming questions.
"Have you scouted the No-Man's land yet?" You begin, and when Vector nods in the affirmative their allies can’t help the surprise that flashes across their faces.
“Whatever you may be expecting…it is worse.” Vector says, gravely. “The land is littered with the dead, but they’re infected. Infused with the same virulent corruption that’s spreading from the Cord, itself. Some are even animate, lashing out at anyone in reach. I was able to rescue a handful of Daughters that were in over their depth, but they had already lost a great deal to these…zombies, I suppose.”
"So, what basis or foundations in your pre-crucible life or current crucible career convinced you to approach this philosophical 'vector'?" You prompt, eager to not dwell to long on horrors you’re soon to see first-hand.
“Our perspective evolved over several thousand hours of deliberation and debate, and it has fallen upon me to put it into motion. It was not a decision we came to lightly.” Vector explains, their allies relaxing only slightly as they watch you both with as cautious an eye as your own do, several hundred meters away in the mountain tunnel. “Suffering is a human constant. It is one of the lynchpins of human experience. Something all humans experience, a thing that ties us together. Violence, on the other hand, is a willful disregard for the autonomy of another, of a being or beings separate from oneself. The world—both before and now—was infested with it, robbing countless peoples of choice…that fundamental freedom you and I both hold so dear.”
"So, then—what does 'curb humanity's violent impulses' mean, exactly?” You ask, prickling a little at the comparison, despite yourself. “Are you banning violence outright or simply imposing a global geas that restricts people's intentions to commit heinous acts? What sort of line are you drawing? Not to sound judgmental, but how much mind hacking do you plan on doing?"
“It will be a restriction of intention, cutting off the impulse at the source.” They reply, earning a set of mirrored nods from their Humoral Paladins. “Indeed, allowing humanity the choice to choose violence only robs others of choice. A single action can, in fact, deprive one or more individuals of an entire life’s worth of choices. For instance…”
(Continued)
